#nge watchthrough

[faglaios]

also boys im starting to think this show isnt going to have a happy ending

[absolutebirth]

READ THIS ON NEOCITIES @ ABSOLUTEBIRTH.NEOCITIES.ORG

I watched Revolutionary Girl Utena for the first time on my parents thrifted green velvet couch, HDMI-plugging my Dell laptop into the TV to stream on 9anime (HD to the youtube mirror's fuzzy graphics), and after every episode I would slide onto the floor, pull my laptop toward me, and search up Vrai Kaiser's Utena analysis. I felt an overwhelming amount of pity for those who went into Utena without that sort of guide. It's a beautiful show without a second thought, sure, but like its older brother NGE, analysis is what takes it from a surrealist shoujo with the conventional twist of a lesbian relationship to one of the greatest pieces of feminist television of all time.

THIS WAS ALL WELL AND GOOD, BUT SO IMPRESSED WAS SHE THAT THE PRINCESS VOWED TO BECOME A PRINCE HERSELF ONE DAY

On a first watch, it's difficult to do much more than take in the beauty and strangeness of Ikuhara's mind. Kaiser's analysis is what saved me from immediately needing to rewatch all 38 episodes, what prepared me for the End of the World and let me leave episode 38 feeling like I understood the foundations of Utena and so could confidently say that I was, of course, obsessed.I did rewatch it a few weeks later with a friend, in the insufferable sort of way RGU fans are likely familiar with, pointing out every piece of color parallels, half explaining the shadow girl snide remarks, gasping at early-show visual parallels and giving my friend just a quick "no, no, nothing."

About five years later, it's time for my third rewatch, this time with my girlfriend. There isn't anything quite as dyke-ish as watching Utena with a girl you're enamoured with. It's the sort of thing that makes you feel really, deeply connected to all those late 90s, early 2000s lesbians wearing Sailor Moon t-shirts over chunky long sleeves, introducing their own college girlfriends to Revolutionary Girl Utena, sitting on a tan corduroy couch in their parents basement. There's something cosmic in the simple timeless genius of a show like that. Since I began to read theory and smoke weed, I've only become a worse movie-watching partner, and so to spare her the misery I've decided to focus my analysis outwards, into a resource like Kaiser's.

BUT WAS THAT REALLY SUCH A GOOD IDEA?

This blog aims to be, starting 5/22/24, a biweekly Utena watchthrough with analysis for each episode, with the end goal of both allowing anyone following along with the blog to participate in a communal rewatch and creating a future resource for anyone who wants to read along with something as they watch Utena for the first time, like I had. I also aim to make a trigger warning resource for Utena, because the currently available ones seem to me to be flawed to the point of unusability. If there are any other first-watch resources you wish had been around on your first watch-through, let me know! I can be reached in the comments section of any post, at my email wittctm108@proton.me or at my personal tumblr, @carbootsoul. My About page has more information on my Utena biases, the lenses I'm the most inclined to view the show through, favorite characters, general personal background, post format, and more-- if you're interested in that sort of context, please check it out. Otherwise, stay tuned. Smash the world's shell.

[marshmallowgoop]

What are your thoughts on nge now that you finished it?

I enjoyed Neon Genesis Evangelion more than I thought I would.

Coming into the show, I thought the story would be a “Bad People Doing Bad Things” kind of deal, which… as a complete and total sap, is not particularly my jam. Works of that sort aren’t bad, of course; they’re often excellent pieces of art. But personally, it’s rare for me to ever grow particularly attached to those types of stories. Bojack Horseman, the absolute epitome of “Bad People Doing Bad Things,” is probably the one rare example that I seriously do enjoy and care about. I never thought I would like that cartoon, but then suddenly it’s 3:00 am and I’m crying about Princess Caroline.

Unlike Bojack, though, it only took me one episode into Eva to realize that this “Bad People Doing Bad Things” impression I’d gotten from the series was totally wrong. Aside from the obvious baddies like Gendo, none of the characters are kind of awful people whom I still care about (like Bojack himself); they’re simply human. They’re flawed, they’re imperfect, and I was so pleasantly surprised to find that Eva’s cast isn’t made up of a bunch of terrible people, but rather people who feel like people. Shinji, Asuka, and Misato in particular stood out to me as wonderfully realistic characters. They had all these traits that might be considered “ugly”—insecurities, jealousy, cowardice—but the fact that they did have all these qualities only endeared me to them more. They didn’t feel like pretty cardboard cutouts. They felt like people I could actually come across in real life.

But all that said, I’ve written in the past that I’m basically a Kill la Kill blog rather than an Eva blog for a reason: “I am a total cheeseball and I prefer something wacky and silly over something deeply uncomfortable and depressing.” And this statement still holds true. As much as I can appreciate Eva, and as much as I can say that it’s largely well done (goodness those hand-animated mechs!), it’s far from my favorite work and far from my favorite story. It’s dark and unsettling when I’d much rather engage with something more cheerful and cheesy—after all, I’m the lady who absolutely craves a kid-friendly Kill la Kill and even has the best tag on her blog for it (#dark sushio show me the forbidden kid friendly kill la kill).

I’m also not too proud to say that I totally didn’t get a lot of the show. It’d probably take a few more watchthroughs to really appreciate Eva, and even then, I’m not sure I’d ever get anywhere near totally getting it. Of course, I’m sure some aspects of the series will never make any sense at all; for example, I’m flabbergasted that practically all the women in Eva were in love with Gendo, and for all the accusations DARLING in the FRANXX gets for ripping Eva off, I can at least say that Dr. Frank was kind of cute in his younger years, and I can see why Karina was into him. Can’t ever say the same for Gendo, who’s always come across as creepy! 

But I digress.

In the end, Eva strikes me as one of those 2deep4me anime, kind of like Devilman Crybaby, a series I would tell you is absolutely excellent but that I don’t particularly understand at all. In the same way, I can appreciate and applaud Eva for what it’s doing, but I know so much of it is flying right over my head.

I still intend to watch End of Evangelion and the rebuild films, but for now, my personal feelings on the franchise are rather lukewarm. I enjoy the characters, there’s a lot I can laud about what the work is doing, but it’s still not particularly my own cup of tea, and I know that I’m not really getting it, either.

[faglaios]

Ok bot is fine(not exploded at least) but like are shinji rei and asuka gonna have to. Kill it

[faglaios]

Part of the reason i doubt shinji’s classmate survives or is even important is the fact that i have never heard of him ever before watching this. Like shinji is. The main character, asuka is my bitch wife, rei is that one screenshot. Ive never seen this guy ever so i doubt hes like. Anything really

[faglaios]

where are you gay boy im starting to think youre a fanon creation……….

[faglaios]

so like does the Netflix version not have the fly me to the moon end song or does that start later in the series

[faglaios]

For real what is this theme song called i gotta like it on spotify

[faglaios]

MY BITCH WIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[faglaios]

what if shinji had some fucked up link to the angels and that’s why he goes fucking insane when he’s killing them, bc it’s hurting him too or something

[faglaios]

Playing the theme song in strings……. I’ve figured you out

[faglaios]

Oh i love this so much I’m so happy for all of them

[faglaios]

Why does katsuragi have a framed photo of a car above her desk

[faglaios]

EATING THE ANGEL. EATING IT

[faglaios]

Something something asuka and shinji are two different responses of an abuse victim with asuka lashing out and shinji being passive and apologizing at everything just to avoid a conflict is this anything

[faglaios]

So they named all these angels biblical esc names, are we gonna have an archangel