Loading…
20
Bought the $120 'Evangelion' art book and it made me see the show in a new way
I was always confused by the ending, but the book has these early sketches and notes from the director that explain the ideas. It's basically a big book of concept art and production notes. Anyone else find a guide or book that cleared up a confusing anime for them?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
shah.olivia5mo ago
Oh man, I wish there was a fancy art book for my brain. I tried to understand "Serial Experiments Lain" back in the day with just a notepad and a headache. My notes were just question marks and sad faces. Ended up reading some old fan site breakdown that was basically, "Yeah, it's about the internet, but also identity, but also... ghosts?" It helped a little, but mostly made me feel dumb for missing the ghosts.
4
linda_clark5mo ago
Honestly, those old fan sites were a mess. The "ghosts" thing is a bad translation hangover. The original Japanese is more like "spirits" or "souls" in the data. It's not about haunted houses. It's about people leaving copies of themselves online, like digital echoes. That show was way ahead of its time.
3
claireg814mo ago
Ha! I have to push back a little here, @linda_clark. I actually think the whole "ghosts" thing is way more spot-on than "digital echoes" (though that sounds cooler at a party, I'll admit). Like, Lain isn't just about copies of yourself online. It's about the weird, broken, scary side of that idea. The way the show uses those silent, staring figures in the background is way more horror movie ghost than just a friendly file backup. You know, like a slow creep instead of a simple download. And the whole ending with Lain basically haunting her own memories! That feels way more like a ghost story than a tech documentary to me. But hey, maybe I just like my existential dread served with a side of spooky (which I totally do).
2