It's got a fair bit of the classic "teens in mechs" tropes to it, but there's definitely more to it under the hood, and it's universe is rather well put together in my opinion.
I'd try to walk into it without focusing on it being animated though. It's cinematography like anything else, it's just a different medium and a different style that makes use of the flexibility it's medium provides.
I grew in a environment where admitting to even thinking about watching anything anime was like a social suicide. Only in high school it changed.
I just can't help but treat everything anime related as childish (and I know that genre has some problems, with, uhh... fan service).
Thank you, I will. The only thing I know about NGE is that ending(?) song, Komm Susser Tod.
> and I know that genre has some problems, with, uhh... fan service
NGE is quite Freudian and psycho-sexual. If you're worried about fan service moments, I'd say stay away. NGE isn't quite the worst when it comes to fan service, but its pretty up there IMO. This ain't a "waifu-simulator" or a harem but... its like 80% of the way there.
I mean, full on themes of Oedipus complex, teenagers discovering their sexuality, and other such sexual issues. Its certainly a mature theme and if you're worried about it... maybe its a better idea if you do stay away.
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There's a reason why I push "Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood" in my other post. There's almost no fan-service in that show. (Like, "Lust", the character representing the deadly sin has a low-cut dress but that's about it in Full Metal Alchemist, and its kind of acceptable for her character to do that cause she's Lust after all. Despite the name, she has almost no themes of sexuality and mostly serves as an incredibly powerful villain for the heroes to take down).
In contrast, NGE takes sexuality front and center in many episodes. In most cases, I think it does advance the story and is therefore acceptable, but plenty of blush-worthy scenes that are largely explained by "fanservice".
In the 90s it was ok to like DBZ but nothing else. I think anime fan sites linking to hentai didn’t help kids feel like it was anything but a gateway to porn either.
Just as a warning, its a relentlessly horny work. At least in the original series every single female character is sexualized, and two of them are 14 years old. There is at least one instance of "casual" sexual assault. The plot might be great, but it felt pretty gross to watch
There's a lot of good anime without fanservice if you find that sort of stuff icky, in all genres too.
* The Promised Neverland (Thriller / Shonen)
* Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle (Comedy)
* Spirited Away (And really, virtually everything by Miyazaki has no fanservice)
* Oddtaxi (Film Noir / Zootopia world)
* Little Witch Academia (Iyashikei / Healing genre / School)
* Full Metal Alchemist (Battle / Epic Journey anime)
* Fate / Zero (while the Fate/series in general has fanservice and/or harem tropes, Fate/Zero has none)
* Your Lie in April (Romance / Drama)
I know some people just find the fanservice scenes icky, so I try to keep an eye out for the fanservice-free shows for them.
There are also some kinds of nudity which are more artistic in nature rather than fanservice. I think Spice and Wolf handled that sort of thing well for example: Holo's occasional nudity is somewhat representative of her Wolf Goddess form / Pagan diety background, and I don't think it was really used too much for what most would call fanservice (and certainly fit the setting of "Pagan Diety travels across Europe with Merchant").
I would reword "fanservice" since its more like pleasing the audience, I consider Macross Frontier fanservice with singing SDFM songs for instance, oversexualization for male viewers is always fan service but not vice versa, Miyazaki I also see as a lot of feminist fanservice (which I enjoy, having a female lead with depth is great!). Many of those I haven't heard of, but do you consider something like Gurren Lagann as fanservice to Evangelion fans? I also consider GiTS nudity non sexual.
Well, I definitely feel like a lot of people think that anime is overly sexual to a fault.
Now don't get me wrong, I like Konosuba, but if people don't like sexual scenes, I'm going to keep those kinds of shows away from them.
Its mostly a matter of matching tastes with people's expectations. If something thinks that sexy / horny scenes are bad, then its best to find anime that avoid those kinds of "fanservice".
Yes I agree, its a genre of entertainment mostly made by men, featuring women with non realistic archetypes, much is made to be mostly consumed by men who have no experience with women as well, if not just for them sexual fanservice is added since they make such a huge market and it is to entertain the male gaze. The animation quality is excellent as a visual treat, but I often find it lacking in many ways, depth isn't very common, its like superhero movies except featuring female fantasies, and anime archetypes.
Anime as a whole is pretty bad in quality, so its not surprising that people look down on anime viewers, especially if they are awkward men. There are excellent animes, and there are mature cartoons, but inexperience with the genre and the pareto principal gives it a very realistic assessment, especially since if you liked it in the 90s, all the anime fan sites linked to hentai in a few clicks. Remember this? https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/fairy-bounce
I luckily got into anime right on the verge where it became more socially acceptable (late 90s early 2000s). Also, I grew up in an area where the dominant local culture was more accepting of anime since Dragon Ball Z, Gundam (of some flavor), and Saint Seya were all localized into Spanish and popular with my age group.
The more off the beaten path animes like NGE, Hellsing, etc. didn't become as popular until a few years later when I hit high-school.
I remember my mom walking into the room during one of the more soap-opera-ish moments of Robotech and saying "What on earth are you watching?" I assured her that people would start shooting lasers at each other in giant robots soon...
It's got a fair bit of the classic "teens in mechs" tropes to it, but there's definitely more to it under the hood, and it's universe is rather well put together in my opinion.
I'd try to walk into it without focusing on it being animated though. It's cinematography like anything else, it's just a different medium and a different style that makes use of the flexibility it's medium provides.