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Typography of Neon Genesis Evangelion

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Re: Typography of Neon Genesis Evangelion

#61

Post by ethbro »

jandrese wrote: post #55
oweiler wrote: post #51

For me, NGE was both the best and the worst anime had to offer. On one hand, the music, art style and the fights were amazing. On the other hand, I found most characters downright disgusting (mostly Shinji and Asuka).

Not to mention the pace killing scenes where nothing happens for minutes at a time. They paid for those incredible fight scenes with interminable shots of the interior of elevators or close ups of Shinji's walkman.

I liked the shots of power lines with cicadas chirping.

Best part of the series.

Re: Typography of Neon Genesis Evangelion

#62

Post by kadoban »

oweiler wrote: post #51

For me, NGE was both the best and the worst anime had to offer. On one hand, the music, art style and the fights were amazing. On the other hand, I found most characters downright disgusting (mostly Shinji and Asuka).

For me, the broken and flawed characters/relationships were what made the show more than just another action anime.

Re: Typography of Neon Genesis Evangelion

#63

Post by AceJohnny2 »

basseq wrote: post #35

I love the level of detail in this analysis. Just typographic nerdiness at its finest. And I have never watched NGE or have particular interest in anime. I found the mechanical compression the most interesting part of this. I suspect it started out as limited technical aptitude and/or an "efficiency hack", but has since morphed into an actual stylistic decision that both makes thematic sense[1] and sets NGE apart. To…

> I suspect it started out as limited technical aptitude and/or an "efficiency hack", but has since morphed into an actual stylistic decision that both makes thematic sense[1] and sets NGE apart.

I forget which famous modern composer said it, but there's the wonderful observation that "the artifacts of your medium will become its defining and desired characteristic".

See how we have systems trying to emulate CRT scanlines, or Synthwave style of music that not only reproduces the limitations of early synths but applies those limitations to newer sounds.

Edit: I think it was Brian Eno, though I can't immediately find the quote

Re: Typography of Neon Genesis Evangelion

#64

Post by jandrese »

ethbro wrote: post #61
jandrese wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention the pace killing scenes where nothing happens for minutes at a time. They paid for those incredible fight scenes with interminable shots of the interior of elevators or close ups of Shinji's walkman.

I liked the shots of power lines with cicadas chirping. Best part of the series.

Well, I have some good news for you! You may also be interested in literally every anime that came out after Eva with a city setting.

May I recommend Serial Experiments Lain for more power lines and cicadas goodness? As every Anime sound director knows, those obnoxious bugs are the only available auditory shorthand for "it's summer".

Re: Typography of Neon Genesis Evangelion

#65

Post by claudeganon »

oweiler wrote: post #51

For me, NGE was both the best and the worst anime had to offer. On one hand, the music, art style and the fights were amazing. On the other hand, I found most characters downright disgusting (mostly Shinji and Asuka).

I think that’s kind of part of the story? It’s about kids handed a dying world, a world whose death their parents selfishly brought about, and devolving into madness and nihilism as a result. They’re conscripted into work that has no real purpose other than propping up the existing order and justifying its instrumental, destructive logic.

I watched it again recently and it struck me as incredibly relevant and a prescient warning about the trajectory of contemporary society, especially in the face of climate change. I mean, the entire setting is nearly flooded following a catastrophic event at one of the poles...

Re: Typography of Neon Genesis Evangelion

#66

Post by claudeganon »

throwaway66920 wrote: post #25

One thing I love about anime is that when the authors really want to drive home a thematic concept they throw in these humble observations about the human condition and demonstrate it in the most absurd contexts. Evangelion does this. I would highly recommend Mob Psycho 100 for this as well (by the one punch man guy, and similar but not sarcastic)

The first season of Psycho Pass is really good in this regard as well (second season not so much). Some of the best sci-fi I’ve seen in a long time.

Re: Typography of Neon Genesis Evangelion

#67

Post by emj-io »

jandrese wrote: post #55
oweiler wrote: post #51

For me, NGE was both the best and the worst anime had to offer. On one hand, the music, art style and the fights were amazing. On the other hand, I found most characters downright disgusting (mostly Shinji and Asuka).

Not to mention the pace killing scenes where nothing happens for minutes at a time. They paid for those incredible fight scenes with interminable shots of the interior of elevators or close ups of Shinji's walkman.

Different strokes for different folks, but I found their willingness to let a scene breathe (even to the point of absurdity) a wonderful counterpoint to the fight scenes.

The show is not about mecha fighting monsters... it's about the spaces in between people, and how we fail and succeed to connect. The elevator scene, Misato and Kaji, Shinji's tape player, Shinji and Kaworu... those are some of my favorite scenes because they show the connection or disconnection between the characters.

Yes, it does save them money to not have to animate. Art always has to deal with the limitations of the medium, in this case budget.

Re: Typography of Neon Genesis Evangelion

#68

Post by pcstl »

dmix wrote: post #48

> After starting out as a typical mechanical-robot (“mecha”) anime, Evangelion gradually evolved into an existentialist deconstruction of its own genre, immediately winning critical acclaim. What does that mean?

As someone said in the replies to this, Evangelion is, in a way, to giant-robot anime what Watchmen is to superhero comics.

Re: Typography of Neon Genesis Evangelion

#70

Post by pcstl »

cosarara wrote: post #38

What does "mechanical compression" mean, exactly? Googling "mechanical compression typography" turns up this article as the first result.

Fonts aren't just images. Characters have certain visual features we rely on to differentiate them from each other. When characters are scaled in size, the scaling is usually not done in a uniform manner - instead, the less significant features are scaled differently than the more visually significant features so as to minimize the loss of legibility.

In this context, "mechanical compression" means that the fonts were stretched and/or squashed as if they were mere images - without concern to whether the typographic features would be preserved.

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