[EVA] 2nd Coming??

[greg at ghost2138.org]

On Thu, 5 Dec 2002 17:07:10 +0200 (EET)
  "Ciprian Necsutu" <cipiamon at cotidianul.ro> wrote:
>I don't think they'l update the animation, is very good 
>the way it is,
>does not need any update, this reminds me of the time 
>when they "forced"
>Akira Toryama to do more of the DBZ and the show turned 
>to crap. Anime is
>art, must not get very comercial, then it will be more 
>fanservice.

I have no opinion on what the odds are that Anno could be 
brought back to do more EVA and that this is what the 
announcement is about. 

On the point of commercial vs. art, Michaelangelo 
considered himself to be a sculptor and only painted to 
pay the bills. The Sistine Chapel was a way to pay the 
bills. 

It's possible to make good art even when you're simply 
being paid for it, even when it's not what you wanted to 
be doing. That, to me, is the sign of a good artist, being 
able to make great work out of poor materials. Hell, if 
you want a really good example, look at the GI Joe comics. 
The editor whow as saddled with that project set himself 
the goal of making something worthwhile out of a 
childrens' comic and he ended up doing an excellent job, 
despite the absurdity of the premise. 

There's only a few ways an EVA sequel could work. 
1. Straight continuation, post Impact, everyone is dead. 
Pretty boring, just Shinji and Asuka fighting. Or, if we 
believe people are coming back to life out of the goo, 
then it'd be people putting their lives together on a 
vastly changed world. 
2. Rewrite the end, Third Impact is averted, story 
continues from there. I extremely highly doubt they'd do 
that. 
3. Taking a page from Tenchi, reuse the same characters in 
a totally new setting. Love EVA would be an example. 
4. Variation on #3, alternate EVA universe where there are 
still giant robots and angels but the storyline goes 
differently. 
5. My favorite scenario: remember that excellent EVA 
sequel image that was floating around, Neon Genesis 
Repreise? Rei, Shinji, Asuka, all looking about 10 years 
older, implying a story after Third Impact. Niced touch, 
Shinji is wearing Misato's cross. Just one look at the 
picture sends the mind racing to figure out what the 
storyline could be. 

If I were a betting man I'd put my money on #3. The most 
recent EVA products coming out, from what I understand, 
are all dress-up doll games and the like, taking the 
characters totally out of the context of EVA itself. The 
fans like the personalities and the play of interactions 
between them, giant robots are not necessary for this to 
continue. 

Why would Anno be involved in an announcement of this? 
Could just be PR, like Tom Clancy putting his name on the 
Ops Center books that aren't really written by him. Anno 
needs the money, lends his name to whatever sequel is 
made, then quietly goes away to work on his own projects 
while Gainax gets moving. 

All in all, though, I'd still consider any sequel to be 
unlikely.