Everything About NEON GENESIS EVANGELION

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Evangelion Tropes and Idioms [ T ]

GUYS : Read it if you have time .. ^^ It's interesting ..

NOTE : Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations. On the whole,tropes are not clichés. The word clichéd means "stereotyped and trite". In other words, dull and uninteresting. We are not looking for dull and uninteresting entries. We are here to recognize tropes and play with them, not to make fun of them.

[ the following bold words are clickable dude .. per click is free , no need to worry .. ^^ ]

Take Off Every Zig (...but with mecha instead of fighters.)
Takes One To Kill One: The Evas are basically the only weapons humanity has which can go toe to toe with the Angels themselves partially because they are derived from Angels.
Tear Jerker (Don't even bother putting down the tissues.)
Technicolor Eyes (Both Rei and Kaworu have red eyes, while Shinji's eyes are blue in the anime and Yui's are light green in the manga, both very unusual colors for Japanese characters.)
Techno Babble (Reams of it.)
- "Pattern Sepia!" You've got to hand it to an organization that comes up with a code phrase for "The pilot's self-destructive impulses are taking on independent physical form."
Ten Minute Retirement (Shinji keeps doing this: when he runs away in episode 04, when he leaves Nerv after the Unit 03 debacle, when he breaks down in the movie...)
Theme Music Power Up (Whenever "The Beast II" plays, something's going to die.)
Theme Naming (The characters' last names are those of Japanese ships that were sunk during World War II. Also, Hikari and her two sisters Kodama and Nozomi are named after Shinkansen lines.)
- There is one exception to this: Maya Ibuki's surname-sake would have lead the Imperial Japanese Navy's "next generation" cruiser class, but the keel was never laid and the class was cancelled. The HIJMS Maya, however, keeps the theme intact, having been sunk at Leyte Gulf.
- Even more blatant in Rebuild: First we have Rei Ayanami. Then we have Asuka, whose full name has been changed to Asuka Langley Shikinami. And we have the new female Eva pilot, Mari Illustrious Makinami. (For the record, "nami" means "wave". Whether this has any significance is not yet known.)
  - Shikinami is "Following Wave", the title of 2.0 is "You can (not) Advance". I'd say, yeah.
  - Ayanami, Shikinami, and Makinami are all Ayanami-class warships. Langley and Illustrious are also ships; Langley was the first US aircraft carrier, while Illustrious could refer to one of several British ships, including a battlecruiser and a carrier.
There Are No Therapists (The world would fare better with them.)
They Changed It Now It Sucks (Rebuild 2.0 alters quite a few things about Asuka's character, starting with changing her surname from Soryu to Shikinami. Reaction from the fans of the original series have been generally negative so far.)
- A lot of the changes in the manga have gotten this reaction.
Thirty Xanatos Pile Up (As the series goes on, it becomes increasingly difficult to know who knows what, who has what interests, and who's leading the game. It gets worse in The End Of Evangelion.)
Through Her Stomach (In Rebuild 2.0 Shinji offering Rei some food is the catalyst for her opening up emotionally.)
Throw The Dog A Bone (Shinji's only moments of 'happiness' are so far and few they deserve their own drinking game. Let's see: when Gendou or Misato actually praise him overtly (drink the whole bottle!); when Rei reacts somewhat warmly to his presence; when he can hang around with Touji and Kensuke; when he thinks he's fusing with his mom; when Kaworu stands close to him looking handsome and saying ambiguous things. That's all. Every form of comfort has gotten out of his reach by the time The End of Evangelion happens. But congratulations, Shinji and all the children of the world!)
Tokyo Is The Center Of The Universe (Why are the Angels attacking Tokyo-3? Turns out that the "Black Moon" from which all life on Earth emerged just happens to be right underneath Japan, and their ultimate goal is to get in there and reunite with Adam. Subverted when Adam wasn't there originally and they were completely heading the wrong direction.)
- And then played straight after episode 8 when Gendou has Adam brought there.
Tragic Hero (The highly flawed and admirable Shinji oscillates back and forth during the series between terrified near-catatonia and insane superhuman courage, though by the end he's clearly heading for a nervous breakdown, and completely snaps in End of Evangelion.)
Transformation Trauma (Especially in End of Evangelion where Rei merges with Lilith and embryonic Adam and becomes a giant...something... And the infamous "Everyone hugs and turns into Tang" sequence.)
- On the other hand, the trauma is noticeably absent in the case of Gendou merging his hand with Adam. Heck, he's so stone-faced about it that in the manga, he even eats Adam in a very insane and Squick-inducing scene.
Trauma Conga Line (End of Evangelion.)
Tricksters (The Evangelions, Rei, Lilith and the Angels (with special mentions to Kaworu in all versions, Adam, Iruel and Rebuild Ramiel) are noteworthy examples. Yui (especially as a Spirit Advisor) is a more debatable case, and let's say Gendou is very mysterious and manipulative.)
Troubled Fetal Position (Shinji does this a lot in The End Of Evangelion. Asuka, too, both during and after her Mind Rape.)
True Art Is Angsty: Oh, so angsty...
True Art Is Incomprehensible ("Soooo, what is an Eva? Is it a Freudian thing?". NGE is probably best summarized by the True Art page.)
Tsundere (Asuka is a glorious Type A; Misato has a few tsundere characteristics too. Some fans view manga Shinji as a tsundere character, mainly in his sarcastic treatment of Asuka and Kaworu. In Ikari Shinji Instrumentality Project, Yui is a Type B with violent approaches and Hilarity Ensues, whereas Rei tends to be a Type B who gives the cold shoulder to Shinji whenever she can't deal with her feelings towards him.)
- More generally, the Hedgehog's Dilemma could be nicknamed "the Universal Tsundere Theory": "everyone is a tsundere for everyone." Emotional ambivalence and various love-hate relationships are one of the main themes, after all.
Twenty Minutes Into The Future
Two Teacher School
Tykebomb (Rei and Asuka.)
Ugly Guy Hot Wife (Possibly Gendou-Yui.)
Uncanny Valley (Rei was aimed to be in this by the creator. Apparently, he missed.)
- Still, Rebuild of Evangelion managed to have Rei be further in the Uncanny Valley. The ominous BGM that always plays in her presence (at least in the beginning), added to his hallucinations implying her and probably aggravated by EVA-induced Mind Screw made it quite clear in this troper's mind that Shinji definitely senses something very unsettling in her.
- This is definitely confirmed in Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0: Ha (kanji for "wave", incidentally also read as "nami" as in ... Ayanami, Shikinami and Makinami) where the three aforementioned characters who could be regarded as "moe" get moments or musics that definitely raise several levels and flavors of Squick in this troper's heart. Asuka being crushed by EVA-01 in the EVA-03 hijack accident, then featured with an eyepatch in the preview; Rei LITTERALLY eaten by Zeruel, then saved by Shinji, and "reformed" using Zeruel's remains, though this nearly triggers the Third Impact; Mari going totally batshit insane while STILL in control at Zeruel, and RIPPING through Zeruel's AT Field with EVA-02's teeth! It feels like a big Take That from Hideaki Anno about fans thinking his characters are moe.
The Unfunny (Gendou and Fuyutsuki, with the exception of one scene in episode 11; some of the bumbling, useless UN officers.)

Labels: Tropes and Idioms : T

Posted @ [10:49 AM]