Waypoints 36: Neon Genesis Evangelion Episodes 20-21

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VICE

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4.6 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 18 July 2019

⏱️ 141 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Content Warning: Discussion of suicide from around 1:48:00 through 1:52:00 and 1:59:00 through 2:04:00

Neon Genesis Evangelion is often touted as a "thinking person's anime." Despite it's unevenness, it does tend to stay away from a monster of the week narrative and will often devote entire episodes to the mental states of it's main characters. What sometimes gets conflated with this fact is that all of this deep introspection lands or has narrative weight every single time it happens. At its best the show weaves plot and themes effortlessly, but sometimes just asking existential questions isn't enough to hand wave the ways characters have acted or been treated throughout the show. Can an existential line of questioning feel earned even if it ignores previous character growth? Does it cheapen earlier plot points when thematic elements begin overpower literal narrative? We tackle these questions and more as we discuss Episodes 20-21 on this week's Waypoints.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	What's good internet? It is Thursday, July 18th and that means it is once again time.
0:26.0	We're here at Waypoint to Nerd Out and Deep Dive on the culture, art and entertainment that has been inspiring and provoking us today, today, or lately, today that continues to be.
0:36.0	You're saying you act like I have a choice here.
0:38.0	Like you're gonna have options in front of me. It was get in the robot and talk about this show or nothing.
0:45.0	Get in your entry plug.
0:46.0	Get in your entry plug.
0:47.0	Get in there.
0:48.0	Let's get in your entry plug.
0:49.0	You know what it turns out? It doesn't even matter if you're in your entry plug.
0:51.0	Some people can move a business around without being in the entry plug.
0:53.0	Other people get stuck in the entry plug.
0:54.0	Sometimes the entry plug is empty, visibly, but actually there's a person in there.
0:58.0	And you're not even in your suit.
1:01.0	You're not even in your suit.
1:02.0	We are continuing our deep dive into neon genesis, Avon Gallion.
1:06.0	This time we are focusing on episodes 20 to 24, which in my opinion is a set of episodes that writes a set of very large checks that I am not convinced the show can cash.
1:17.0	I'm your host Austin Walker joining me today. Daniel Riendo.
1:20.0	Hi, I'm inspired. I'm provoked. I'm in my entry plug. I'm ready.
1:24.0	All right. Patrick Kleppek.
1:26.0	I have a question. I've heard lots of people call it Avon Gallion.
1:30.0	Is that just wrong?
1:31.0	No.
	...

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