::sigh::
Let's have an Eva discussion again then!
I don't find Eva depressing. CG hit the nail on the head with "profound" I think. However, it's a matter of debate as to whether it was *intentionally* profound, or whether the end is a rushed mess because of budget cuts, and fans inject meaning into it that wasn't there. Eva was a well developed, good mech show until the budget cuts undoubtedly affected it, but to my mind that was what made it into something it was never intended to be: Metafiction.
And that makes it absolutely fascinating. A quick Wiki quote from a Gainax staff member as I can't be bothered to trawl the net for more insightful stuff:
"About the time that the production system was completely falling apart, there were some opinions to the effect that, "If we can't do satisfactory work, then what's the point of continuing?" However, I didn't feel that way. My opinion was, "
Why don't we show them the entire process including our breakdown?"
And to me the last few episodes are Anno and the production crew totally collapsing and breaking the story and the characters down into their elemental components. One scene which I love is where Shinji is just falling through the air on a blank background and is told that this is what total freedom is. But he doesn't know what to do with it. A line is drawn beneath him and he is then told that now he has lost some of his freedom but that makes it easier for him to choose. At some point I thought "Actually, screw the story. Screw the Mecha. This is *far* more interesting." And the more I think about that the more I come to believe that might have been the whole point. Anno's frustration with Otakus and Gainax's frustration with it's workload and budget, they seem to be saying look. Look at everything that's more interesting or important than big robots fighting.
And perhaps it suceeded for a short while until it became the very thing it was an antidote to. Such is life. Eva is always going to mean different things to different people - so what's the point of arguing over it?