Welcome one and all, to the Granddaddy of Eva fics. When you're stuck
with that horrible writer's block and your story is not doing what you
want, you tell it, "Be a good little fic and someday you might grow up
to be 'Eva-R'."
This is what fics aspire to grow up to. Well, maybe not all of them,
but still...
'Neon Genesis Evangelion: R' is a site only fic.... No, scratch that. 'Eva-R' is
_the_ site only fic out there. First time I walked in, I seriously wondered
if they guys were in some way working for Gainax. The site design alone
is enough to make mere mortals weep in shame. Even those who hate the fic
itself can have hours of enjoyment just wandering around this place, stunned
by the surroundings. Granted if you're not using a cable modem this can
take a whole lot of time to upload even a single page, but in the end,
it's worth it.
Pictures, fake video covers, radio plays, character bios, partially
done manga (yes, manga!) all make this an experience, almost a religious
experience for those of us who actually know the kind of trouble it is
to just write a fic. Actually doing all the rest of this as well... these
people are not human. (Which is okay, as some of my best friends are inhuman.)
Naturally, once you've gotten your jaw out your own personal Terminal
Dogma, then you'll want to move on to the fic itself. In a rather interesting
fashion, the author labeled his fic chapters 27-52: basically, Neon Genesis
Evangelion, the Second Season. At first I thought this was the height of
arrogance, after all they really didn't get Gainax's permission, and this
fan-fiction is no more valid than any other one that pays even a moderate
amount of attention to keeping everybody in character. However, once through
this fic, you realize that if anyone deserves a bit of leniency for their
hubris, it's this gentleman.
Some of the ideas brought up in this fic are stunning in their originality,
execution, or both. The author thought about this fic, I mean really thought
about it. It's not perfect, but it certainly takes a good shot at trying
to be. As a continuation fic, it begins after the death of the 17th Angel,
and continues on with the trials and lives of the characters. Basically,
that means another 26 episodes of angst, dark plotting, angst, marauding
Angels, angst, chilling secrets, and... you guessed it, more angst.
While well thought out and wonderfully done, there still are certain
problems with this. For one, it's a long fic, and takes a considerable
amount of time to get anywhere. Also noticeable is, as I mentioned, the
angst. You have to wade through a lot of anguish in this fic, so much so
that you will either care very deeply for these characters by the end,
or
just laugh your head off if you think they've O.D.ed on it. NGE suffered
from this too, but with only 13 hours to tell the whole story in, including
commercials, it never totally overwhelmed you.
There are points in this with heavy use of German from the world's most
aggressive EVA pilot. I'm not saying it's wrong (as the use of German in
NGE was unlikely to be known by the Japanese audience either), but it wouldbe
nice to actually know what Asuka's saying at points. I understand the desire
to keep certain things hidden, but stretches where I'm wondering
what's being said do take away from the enjoyment.
Those familiar with my reviews will note I take great joys in mocking
'Eva:R's tendency to do stuff like this:
Character A:....
Character B:....
Character A: [considering the ramifications of drought upon the farm
economies of lower central Asia and how it would affect capital investment
for the next fiscal quarter.]....
Character B: [wondering if their butt is too big]....
Yadda, yadda, yadda. These spaces were done by the author to create
suspense and drama by indicating silence. Unfortunately, it is a weakness
of the chosen script format in that scripting has trouble effectively conveying
periods of inactivity. Done to build tension, these gaps become self defeating
when seen time and time again, as they lose their intended
effect.
(Note: while rereading the fic for this review makes me think that
such scenes may be less ubiquitous than I previously thought, I still found
them more effective in moderation.)
And of course, no self righteous continuation fic would be complete
without the required 6th Children. And he is, as you no doubt guessed,
an Author Created Character. (I usually try to avoid naming ACCs in my
reviews, but sometimes I have to. This is one of those cases.) In fact,
there are four ACCs of importance (be still my Fist of Death), and I'll
discuss them individually.
First is Lyn, the aforementioned 6th Children, a.k.a. the English wuss.
The biggest complaint leveled against him is that when all's said an done,
this is a Shinji who knows the words to 'God Save the Queen.' While I like
the eternal wuss... er... Shinji, there are points where Lyn's level of
angst can get... disconcerting. He's not a bad character; unless of course
you already hate Shinji. If that's the case then you're going to 'Pg Dn'
every time he appears. Definitely no DJ Croft, Lyn's weakness is that he
really doesn't do all that much to actually give himself a personality;
he whines a lot, but that's about it. His greatest strength comes from
interactions with the third ACC, who I'll get to in a minute.
The second ACC is Seyoko, a.k.a. the English wuss' Misato. As the guardian
of the 6th Children, this character would have to undergo a great deal
of development and growth to move her out of the shadow of being a Misato
clone. Unfortunately, she never does. Being more up-beat than her ward,
she tries on occasion to lift his gloomy spirits and gives advice on opening
himself up; such actions however only reinforce her role as a red-headed
Misato. So to is her job as a snoop, looking around for information. I'm
not sure if the author gave up on her (as she leaves the series for a number
of episodes), but I can't find her absence to have taken away from the
story very much. The character herself is fine, but could never quite escape
the 'guardian of a wuss' trap that Misato laid out for her.
The third ACC is Aoi, a.k.a. .........
Come to think about it, this ACC doesn't seem a near copy of anybody
else. She's lively, friendly, open, teeth-grittingly annoying at times,
given to certain bouts of angst (but hey, this _is_ an EVA story after
all).... Probably the most balanced, and certainly the most cheerful person
we've had in the main cast for a while, Aoi comes across as someone these
gloomy gusses need. She, just like everyone else, has secrets she's hiding,
but that's fine too. Her main strength is that she actually makes Lyn seem
a bit interesting. Their interactions together add some life to his character,
and make him a more interesting read. Much like Shinji and Asuka, Lyn and
Aoi together are more than just the sum of their parts. Instrumentality
indeed.
Final ACC is Tenkei, another person who really has no comparison to
the original cast. Not exactly one of the children, not exactly an Angel,
not exactly an EVA... Tenkei is a lot of things, but very difficult to
consider effectively. Since he spends most of his time spouting gibberish
(and I do mean gibberish), figuring out his personality is very difficult.
His main role, and strength, is in his interactions with Rei. Most authors
use Shinji as a springboard for Rei character exploration, this author
used Tenkei. A rather interesting method, and it generally works quite
well.
Near the end, the fic attempts to integrate what can basically be called
'The End of Evangelion:R.' Pretty much the movie rewritten to include the
ACCs, there are points where it strikes gold and places where it strikes
out. Certain sections go a little too long, as the fight scenes around
the Geo Front seem like they were done by director James 'Who-Doesn't-Know-When-To-Let-Things-Stop'
Cameron. As for the final ending itself... many will not like it. For a
fic with too much angst, the ending perhaps swings the pendulum too far
in the other direction. Personally while I consider it to be a cop out,
it is the _best_ of cop outs. ^_^
Still, taken as a whole, this is a very enjoyable work of fiction.
Definitely a must see, if for no other reason than to find out what all
the fuss is about. There are points in this that fail, but that is the
case in any work. I suppose 'Eva-R' can be thought of as the Shakespeare
of the Eva fan-fic world: not everybody likes it, but you do have to respect
it.
Note: 'Eva-R Prime' is a divergence fic that takes off about half way
through the 'Eva-R' series. Assessment of that work is beyond the scope
of this review.
Till Instrumentality is called forth again...
SEELE-04
January 31st 2000
To briefly add to the remarks of my esteemed monolothic colleague, I must concur that the production quality of EVA-R is unrivalled - they've got a website that would put lots of commercial services to shame.
While I enjoyed it, certain things about EVA-R didn't quite work for me. Firstly, I prefer narrative to script. That's a matter of personal preference that impacted on my impression of EVA-R.
Secondly, most good epic-length fics have a 'grand theory' or overarching idea/interpretation that holds it together, makes it intelligible and gripping, providing a context against which characterisation is fleshed out. The best examples are probably Stefan Gagne's 'Slayers Reflect/Chaos/ReBirth Trilogy' and 'Slayers Demiurge'. Ditto John Biles and Rod M's 'Children of an Elder God'. EVA-R's central ideas can be a little difficult to discern, making it overly cryptic at times - which makes the symbolism, portents and dreams a little frustrating. Having said that, it could very well be mostly because I don't absorb script that well. And there are other fics out there with 'grand theories' that plumb the depths of pointlessness and pretentiousness.
Of the characters, I particularly enjoyed Aoi Tamaiishi as being original and interesting. And Tenkei teased out aspects of Rei's and Maya's characters very well. As for Lyn, one sometimes wonders "What's the point?" and feels that his connection with UNSynaps (what a cool name and logo!) could have been made use of more extensively and explored in greater depth. I also associate the 'angst overdose' aspect of EVA-R most closely with Lyn.
A point not related directly to the writing but I thought recognition is due to Elaine Cardenas' masterful fanart in EVA-R especially in the manga section. Her style of drawing captures the familiar feel of Eva characters while having an original and distinctive spirit.
Overall, EVA-R is a masterpiece with some flaws - a monument in the field of Eva fanfiction that is impossible to ignore.
SEELE-06
February 7 2000
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