[rllyboredonline]

Anno isn't an idiot.

This comment, while oft repeated, is simply not true. There is plenty of symbolism going on in the show. There is a lot of PoMo "mask on top of a mask" stuff going on with the biblical references, but some stuff is more on the nose. There are plenty of articles on this, including this one: https://reelrundown.com/animation/Symbolism-in-Neon-Genesis-...

[missosoup]

There's plenty of symbolism but there's no deeper plot, no master plan.

Eva is a great anime series and a solid 'philosophy exists if you want to check it out' message for 12 year olds that worked for me back in the day, but let's not go overboard with assigning deep interpretations to it.

[Inu]

I'm 99% sure that I read an interview in which Anno said that he included the Christian symbolism simply because he thought it looked cool. Of course, that doesn't exclude the possibilty of it still making sense somehow.

[kipchak]

I can't quite get a read on Anno. Sometimes he'll answer a question like who's his favorite character almost flippantly with "Asuka, because she's cute" and sometimes he'll describe Eva as being almost autobiographical and diagnosing himself as stuck at the Fruedian oral stage and fundamentally disliking living things.

He's also described Eva as like a puzzle, and not wanting to give answers and instead let people come up with their own interpretations.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I both wouldn't be surprised if he did pull much of the visual symbolism out of a hat, or if he did come across it while exploring western philosophy and decided to incorporate it.

There's some great bits in Extra Curricular Lesson with Hideaki Anno, like him talking about disliking the parts of what he makes he sees himself in or sleeping through a fire in his apartment.

https://youtu.be/rGJ_Kq8qifQ?t=429

[Hamuko]

https://i.redd.it/07jfr8v44j631.png

[rolltiide]

ah yes the classic "but which symbolism" rebuttal. predictable, there are great plot points, but ultimately there is no deeper meaning to a lot of it. There are crosses for the sake of crosses, and there are crucifixions for the sake of crucifixions, there are crosses popping out of forehead vagina eye sockets for the sake of crosses popping out of forehead vagina eye sockets

[cthalupa]

I mean, your comment doesn't really deserve a real rebuttal. You just state something as fact without any supporting evidence.

At least the person replying provided some evidence to their counter-claim.

I have no idea who is right, but you're not making anything close to an argument for your point here.