walonvaus:

so i’m flipping through some screengrabs for a ref for somethin’ about ritsuko  and actually -

i’ve actually been wondering lately - now that there’s some major distance between me and nge, both time-wise and where i was mentally when i first started the series - what is it about nge that was so cohesive, that was the singular vibe you saw in each of the characters.  like, they all felt like they were part of a set, the same notes in a tone, even with fantastically written differences in stages of life, motivations, ways they held other people at a distance (or too close), etc.

contempt.  i’m pretty sure that’s what it was. 

you see it most in ritsuko (like, go look at the screenshots even on the first page of google; it’s ridiculously obvious in her eyes, not to mention how she views her mother, misato, gendo, herself), and asuka (gad damn that final shot of her in eoe isn’t iconic for nothing) - but it’s there in varying levels in all the others, even shinji, fuyutsuki, rei … (you could probably write an essay on each of the characters and how they echo that, that’d be fun, actually)

they say that contempt/disgust is one of the ….7(?) universal expressions in humanity and i dunno how much of that is b.s, but contempt is such a crucial part in viewing nge, i think - you have to start out with understanding that as a defense mechanism, and go from there.  you miss so much of the subtle bits in shinji’s story if you don’t see how tiny bits of that leak out in how he interacts with everyone (especially the girls holy shit); how asuka tries to use her contempt as literal fuel for her fire until she burns from the inside out, how kaji thought he had it under control and stuffed down too many layers of lies but it poisoned him in the end, too -

anyway, -waves a hand- one last thing; it’s there.  oh hell it’s there. but the pinnacle of nge is not just that exploration of contempt and what it takes to be truly loathe yourself and others (a light series it ain’t) - but, ultimately, how nge doesn’t give you (or the cast) a bullshit excuse to wave off every one of your issues with that, and instead sits you down and says ‘you can be better than this, you know.’

imo that’s something that needs to be said more.  with that honesty.