(Copied and pasted from a Wordperfect article.)
Hey kids, ever watched a movie where, when you get to the end, you are neither happy for the heroes, depressed because the bad guys won, or simply thought, “wow, what a good movie!” but rather, you have a completely puzzled expression on your face, you stare at the screen not saying a word, and then ask yourself, “What just happened?”
This is what happens when you experience a movie, novel, or videogame afflicted with Evangelion Syndrome.
What is Evangelion Syndrome? Simply put, Evangelion Syndrome is when a creative artist deliberately makes a work of art as confusing as possible, believing that utter nonsense equals good storytelling. In other words, it’s when the whole point of a movie, game, or serial is NOTHING IS SUPPOSED TO MAKE ANY SENSE!!!!! No matter how often these works are analyzed, scrutinized, and televised, no one can ever figure out everything that happens, not even the original author(s).
Evangelion Syndrome gets its name from Neon Genesis Evangelion, a comic book series from Japan that also had an animated tv show adaptation which took over Japan’s pop-culture during the 1990's. Evangelion was not the first work of science fiction to be as deliberately confusing as possible, but it was the first one that was a huge hit, the first one that legitimatized the art of making peoples’ heads explode from trying to decipher what happens. Given that Evangelion was popular only in Japan, it’s no surprise that many other works with Evangelion Syndrome also come from Japanese authors. However, this is not to say Evangelion Syndrome is endemic only to the Land of the Rising Sun. Many other authors the world over are also guilty of creating something with Evangelion Syndrome.
Now, an observant reader might say, “Hey, wait a minute. Science fiction has always been confusing. That’s what sets sci-fi apart from ordinary fi, that nothing is ever as it seems in sci-fi! That’s why it’s called science fiction; because it’s probing the unknown and trying to understand how it works, just like science!” And you would be correct. Science fiction has always carried an air of mystery around it. We never figure out just how that rock creature in the original Star Trek series was able to conjure a facsimile of Abraham Lincoln, for example. Sometimes, also, stories are written in ways that you must experience them multiple times to figure them out. I couldn’t understand the ending to Star Ocean: Till the End of Time when I first saw it, but after reviewing some information and seeing it again, I came to understand what happened in the game’s finale. That’s not what I mean.
Evangelion Syndrome makes it so that even if you do try to come to your own conclusions, your own hypotheses will not any sense whatsoever, because the universe of that story is just too out there to properly comprehend without the aid of pharmaceuticals. Here now is a list of a few works of fiction that have Evangelion Syndrome. Please note that Evangelion Syndrome can also afflict stories that aren’t science fiction:
Neon Genesis Evangelion, the comic series and the tv series and the movie series, and hence who the syndrome is named after.
Xenogears, the PS1 cult-favorite.
Wild Arms 4, a PS2 game that, soundtrack notwithstanding, makes me hurl.
The Xenosaga series. Xenogears and the Xenosaga series were written and directed by the same director. Not surprising.
The Matrix franchise. The most popular example.
Kingdom Hearts II. A Disney game for the PS2 that, story-wise, strayed from the basic yet understandable roots of the original.
Princess Mononoke; AKA, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind redone to make absolutely no sense at all. What was Miyazaki-san thinking!?
FLCL: Good luck trying to make any sense of this straight-to-video miniseries.
These are but a few examples. There are some series that make no sense at all, no matter how much they are analyzed, but don’t have Evangelion Syndrome. A good example is the Dragonball franchise. Much of what happens in Dragonball, and its sequel Dragonball Z, makes no sense at all, but that is because they were written in a very sloppy manner. Works with Evangelion Syndrome are written by competent authors who chose to make their works confusing.
Now then, products of Evangelion Syndrome have a few common symptoms which I will list now:
-There are scenes that cannot be explained in words. “Okay, so there’s this android chick, right? And she’s fighting all of these aliens that can’t die, right? And then all of a sudden, her torso opens up, right? And her torso opening starts to suck in space, like a vacuum, right? And then all of the unkillable aliens all get sucked in, and disappear. A definitive example of a deus ex machina if I do say so myself.” I still can’t figure out how “the android chick from Xenosaga” can do that.
-A large amount of philosophy is injected into the characters’ dialogue, philosophy which adds nothing to the plot, nor furthers any characterization, but rather, is just there. See for example nearly every scene in the Matrix: Reloaded. In professional critiquing fields, this is known as “Card Tricks in the Dark.” You do a bunch of fancy tricks with playing cards, yet no one sees it, and therefore, it is unnecessary.
-There is a large number of religious symbology that reoccurs throughout the series, which, like the needless philosophizing, adds nothing to the actual plot. Everyone loves throwing crucifixes and angels everywhere, as if it were window dressing. Another example of a card trick done in total darkness.
-The ol’ bait ‘n switch: The author(s) promise something by hooking you in with a plot point,(the bait) but by the climax of said plot point, the author(s) move on to something else. (The switch.) Example, in the Matrix Reloaded: it was revealed that Agent Smith broke free of the will of the Machines. The film didn’t show how he did it. It was assumed that this would be explained in the Matrix Revolutions. Well, one movie and two videogames later, and we STILL don’t know how Agent Smith did it.
Of course, products afflicted with Evangelion Syndrome don’t necessarily “suck.” The Evangelion tv series is a decent action/drama series with its moments, The first Matrix movie also has its moments, Xenosaga III is one of my favorite PS2-exclusive games, and Kingdom Hearts II is a very fun game to play. However, this syndrome has prevented each of these franchises from achieving storytelling brilliance.
In the long scheme of things, a tv show or movie or game whose primary purpose is to screw with your mind isn’t going to affect human society that much. At worst, you’ll only suffer a headache, and probably ask for a refund. Still, when I want to unwind from a hard day of work, I want to ingest a story that won’t make me befuddled on top of exhausted and stressed out from work. And also, this article exists as a warning. To inspiring novelists, DON’T MAKE A PLOTLINE DELIBERATELY CONFUSING AS POSSIBLE. You will turn off more consumers than you will turn on.
(end article.)
So, in the future, if I say I didn't like something because it had Evangelion Syndrome, well, now you know what I'm talking about.
LATE EDIT: Oh wait. Someone already beat me to an article about Evangelion Syndrome. They just call it a mindscrew instead. Same thing, though.
