Quote:
Originally Posted by Dharma & Greg
Neon Genesis Evangelion is the best TV show ever made of any kind. I get that it's not going to hold up in the same way with modern golden age Western dramas in certain ways, but I think that's because anime in general isn't as concerned with story beats and plot twists and perfect pacing or whatever creating a meticulously crafted episode as it is with mood and expressing ideas in a more general way. More or less a cultural difference in story telling I think.
But I can't think of any Western show (or any other show of any kind) that could ever do what Evangelion did in expressing existential despair in a way that made those ideas feel literally apocalyptic. Neon Genesis Evangelion is literally the only show that has ever made me want to die. No other show has grabbed me by the soul like Eva has and no other show means what Eva does to me no matter how well crafted it might be.
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Did you ever watch Angel's Egg? It's only like forty minutes long, and you can watch it for free on Youtube since it was never licensed for release here in the US.
Also, I've gotta rec Beautiful Dreamer and GoShogun: The Time Etranger for the millionth time. Both are movies based off of lighthearted comedy shows, but ended up in bizarre experimental territory.
Like, GoShogun was a cheesy 80s parody/tongue in cheek ripoff of Gundam, and the movie is about one of the aging main characters hallucinating on their death bed, trying to turn the abstraction of their disease into some physical manifestation that can be fought and defeated.
And Beautiful Dreamer is Mamoru Oshii (director of Ghost in the Shell and Jin-Roh) deconstructing not only a silly romcom but the entirety of anime and the people who watch it, as well as why they watch it. And more than that, it's a goddamn visual playground.