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cheshire88-blog · 7 years ago

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Star Wars and Eva, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the reboots

Star wars is this huge media franchise that has grown by leaps and bounds since it’s creation. I think the only other series I often compare it to would probably be the anime franchise Neon Genesis Evangelion. Think about it, both shows technically started as bold new experiments in their respective mediums. Both would go on to gain world wide fandom, and spawn endless merchandise, all to a level neither of their creators could have anticipated.

But the most interesting comparison I found came from my own personal feelings regarding the new generation of Star wars films, particularly the very controversial Episode VIII, The Last Jedi.

Many fans are already pretty torn on the new movie, I personally really enjoyed it, but I’ve been trying to sum up exactly why it is this new trilogy has satisfied me, while disappointing so many, even those I normally agree with.

This brings me to my main comparison, between the two juggernaut franchises’. Both Eva and Star wars have enjoyed a rebirth of sorts, or one could even say a “Rebuild”. For Star wars I’m obviously talking about the new sequel trilogy that started with The Force Awakens. And with Eva I am referring to the, somewhat, recent batch of new “Rebuild” movies that seek to both retell, and reimagine, the original TV series.

In both cases a now classic, and Iconic, series is brought back into the main stream lime light. And in both cases we have what, more or less, amounts to a retelling of a now familiar story.

So get this, both “Eva 1.0 YOU ARE NOT ALONE” and “The Force Awakens” very closely, and deliberately, replay all of the same narrative beats that their respective predecessors did, With many variations, both big and small.

And yes, as a quick side note, I am aware that the new Eva films remake the Eva story, whereas the new Star wars films are a continuation, but stick with me here.

And then there are the sequels, or middle movies, to these new next gen reboots, and that’s where my comparison really hits home. Eva 2.0/3.0 and of course The Last Jedi, both reboots i.e. rebuilds, take the familiar foundation they started on and smash them to bits in ways that have both enraged, and enthralled it’s respective fan base.

For both franchises fans have thumbed their noses at the bold, and contradicting ways, these stories carve out new paths for themselves, for the sake of continued relevance, and discussion.

For Evangelion this fan outrage is often aimed at the transition to a more spectacle driven format, and structure, as opposed to the slow, and more intimate, serial pacing of the original series. With many Eva fans claiming that this more streamline direction betrays the carefully laid psychological thesis that underlined it’s tortured characters.

In the case of Star Wars the fandom circles couldn’t be more mixed, and varied in their opinions, especially since it’s been around far longer then Eva, and has cradled at least three generations of fans.

Regardless, reactions to the latest Star wars film are certainly similar to those of the new Eva films, especially “3.0 YOU CAN NOT REDO” like “The Last Jedi” 3.0 was perhaps the most controversial of the new Eva films. The story for 3.0 is quite a divergence from the original TV series. We get a ten year time jump, along with a sharp change in tone, and visuals that totally upend what fans normally expect from the Eva universe. Perhaps most shocking of all would be the role reversals for it’s main cast of characters. Main protagonist Shinji Ikari has long been known for his reluctance to pilot the Eva mechs, i.e. play the assertive hero role, yet in this film he finds himself stifled not by his own doubt but by the very same support team that edged him on to the frontlines in prior films.

Misato, once the kind hearted big sister figure pushing to free Shinji from his withdrawn demeanor, and become the hero needed to fight the Angels. In 3.0 she is revealed to have shifted into a cold, war weary, commander much closer in nature to Shinji’s father Gendo. The world Shinji knew has changed, and so has his role in the series, the nature of the Eva itself has been flipped. No longer the reluctant hero struggling with his personal fears, while his friends demand he stand up and fight, instead we see a boy who has finally found that courage, and takes action in spite of his elder’s attempts to keep him grounded.

The Last Jedi performs a similar flipping of our expectations, a film that, from a distance, seems to be replicating the narrative fabric of The Empire Strikes Back. However, early on we can see tears that rip away such notions, Rey’s meeting with Luke, for example, is clearly a twist on the master student role between Luke and Yoda. She seeks out the old Jedi legend hoping to a find strong confident teacher. Instead we learn that Luke has lost his faith in the force, and hear his grave resignation “it is time for the Jedi… to end”. Luke has no interest in training Rey, In fact he is revealed to be so stuck in the midst of his past failure, with former pupil Kylo Ren, that Rey decides to take action into her own hands, leaving Luke behind, and forging her own destiny. Through this reversal we see a parallel to how Luke left the wise and mindful Yoda before completing his training. Only hear it is the master who’s foolish behavior has failed the student.

Another example of this could be seen in the throne room scene, where Rey and Kylo Ren briefly join forces to overthrow the sinister, and deliberately very Palpatine like tyrant, Supreme Leader Snoke. This scene is a wonderful subversion of a similar moment in Return of the Jedi, with Snoke repeating many of the same lines as the evil emperor from that film. He seems all powerful, an unstoppable, all knowing, dictator. But the outcome reveals him to be easily bested by the two young warriors who decide, if only for a moment, to quickly put aside the legacy of opposition that has dominated this series since it’s inception.

Yet perhaps the biggest surprise to break away from the standard Star wars mold, is the reveal that follows after that epic team up. We learn that Rey’s parents weren’t the sort of force wielding legends that run through the Skywalker bloodline. They were merely junkers that sold her into labor for drinking money, a reveal that in every way directly contrast that of Luke’s tragic discovery in The Empire Strikes Back.

And just like that, a series once concerned with bloodlines, heritage, and familial legacy, evolves into a story about drawing power, not from shadows of the past, but from within the self, in the present. In the absence of a great legacy, Rey learns to leave the past behind and create her own legacy, free from the shackles of what came before.

So both films, from these two iconic sagas, can be seen as pivotal peaks of liberation, what was once familiar becomes fresh yet again. Playing on our expectations, not to anger the fans, but to give them a chance to gasp again, to feel awe once more. Rather then simply service the fans, these reboots seek to rejuvenate our interest, to challenge the foundations that made us fans to begin with.

So yes, perhaps the new Star wars films now come with a layer of gloss and marketing glamor that would seem to go against the low budget pioneering spirit that first gave it life. The same could be said of the newly minted Eva films and how they contrast the more subtle nuanced pacing of the original series.

But is this wrong?, both Star wars and Eva are the kind of big, successful works of fiction that will live on, so long as there is an audience support them. Nowadays these reboots are on the rise, whether we want them or not, studios will still make the attempt to bring back a beloved franchise. Yet why shun the existence of a reboot that actually succeeds in bringing new ideas to the table?. If the original work is still around for us to cherish, and a new variation of that same story can take us to new places we didn’t know existed, then why not at least welcome that chance.

After all, what good is a reboot, or continuation, if it is only content to mirror what came before?. Of course not every attempt at flipping the table, and defying our expectations will be successful, but even so, I’ll take even a messy table flip any day over the safer cleaner approach. At least that gives us all something to talk about, regardless of whether we love, or hate the result.

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