(L) New Evangelion Project: Rebuild of Evangelion [Movies 1 & 2]

[Reckoner]

Yes there are several details that were unused or changed as the movie was in the works. That's natural. What's bad though is the reason for many of the changes that made this movie your average generic mecha anime with moe and shonen willpower.

[Hagoshod]

Originally Posted by Reckoner

Yes there are several details that were unused or changed as the movie was in the works. That's natural.

Are there any story boards for it? I've seen the ones for Asuka getting her face eaten or whatever, but I never heard about the EVA-03 retrieval scene.

Originally Posted by Reckoner

Spoiler:

Here are translations of the two memos included with Enokido's interview. These translations were done quickly, and are rough, like everything else, so corrections are appreciated.

The first memo is a "group memo" taken down by Ikki Todoroki on the third day of the Atami retreat and contains a list of all the scenes expected to remain in the script. There are some interesting differences between this and the final film. The final scene appears to be a synthesis of the original Rei "suicide scene" and the "Shinji saves Rei" scenario.

The second memo is the one referred to in the interview above and is an attempt by Enokido to "develop" the Asuka-Mari rivalry. Only four pages of this memo are reproduced.

Edit: going to put my speculations/feelings/prejudices aside for the moment.

---------------------------------------------


"Evangelion New Theatrical Edition: Break" Screenplay Retreat Memo
2007/10/31 - 11/2 Atami

"Break" hakogaki

North Pole: Mari/Unit-05 versus the 3rd Angel

[On Lake ??]: Asuka/Unit-02 versus the 7th Angel (Main Staff Titles)

~ Main Title ~

- Graveyard: Gendo and Shinji visit Yui's grave
Rei's appearance in Gendo's VTOL aircraft.
Shinji returns in Misato's car. Regarding Operation Yashima: "Your father appreciates you, too." Shinji recognizes Misato's concern.

- Navy port? : Arrival of Unit-02
Misato and Shinji returning from Yui's grave.
Appearance of Mari as Unit-02's backup pilot.
Appearance of Kaji.

- Depiciton of everyday life
Kaji and Ritsuko.
Asuka and Mari become part of Shinji's class.
Asuka, Shinji, and Misato's daily life together. A conversation about Misato's scar and Second Impact?
Mari living at Hikari's house.

- Nerv HQ: Synchro Test
Mari's synchro rate exceeds Asuka's.

- The Moon: Gendo and Fuyutsuki observing Unit-06
Meeting with Kaworu.

- Aquarium: Shinji, Asuka, Mari, Hikari, Touji, Kensuke, Kaji
Everyone eats Bentos made by Mari and Hikari.
Rei understands the value of cooking.
Asuka is isolated.
Shinji calls Gendo but doesn't get through.
Kaji tells Shinji about Second Impact.

- Spaceship returning from the moon: Gendo and Fuyutsuki viewing the Earth's tragic appearance

- Attack of the 8th Angel
Mari selected as Unit-02's pilot. She is injured from the battle with the 3rd Angel, but instead of declining, she accepts.
Asuka is shocked.
Shinji asks Mari why she pilots. Mari talks about "severe reality."
A confrontation between Misato and Ritsuko concerning the pilots.

- Battle with the 8th Angel: A victory where Unit-01 takes the leading role
Shinji is praised by Gendo.
"What Misato said was true." Shinji and Misato make eye contact.
Unit-00 and Unit-02 are partly damaged.

- Depiction of everyday life
Conversation between Rei and Shinj. "You seemed like a mother."
Shinji makes Bentos for everybody. Rei, Hikari, Mari, and Asuka eating them.
Conversation between Touji and Shinji. "You've changed."
Rei's room. "Thank you. Words of gratitude. The first time I've used them."

- Rei's tank - A meal with the commander
Rei in the tank. Gendo and Ritsuko, "Rei no Kankei". [Rei's connection? A conversation connected with Rei??]
Rei invites Gendo to a dinner party with Shinji.

- Nerv HQ Lounge - Watermelon Patch
Conversation between Kaji and Shinji. "Something good happened?" "Somewhat." "You gained some self-confidence?" "A little bit."

- Rei's room - School
Rei practicing cooking.

~ Eyecatch ~

- Misato's Apartment
Asuka making Miso soup. She knows about Rei's plans for her dinner party.

- Unit-04's disappearance
Explanation of Eva's relation to world affairs.
Discussion regarding the Unit-03 activation experiment.

- Preparation for the Unit-03 activation experiment
Unit-02 goes to Sasebo (is this necessary?)
Gendo has the dummy plug installed in Unit-01. Conversation between Maya and Ritsuko.

- Who is the pilot of Unit-03?
Unit-03's activation on the same day Rei plans to have her dinner party.
Asuka understands Rei's feelings for Shinji.
Asuka declares herself a candidate to pilot Unit-03.
Rei phones Asuka "Thank you."
Touji's sister leaving the hospital.

- Unit-03 activation experiment
Conversation between Asuka and Misato. "It's a nice feeling to talk to someone."
Unit-03 taken over by the 9th Angel.

- Battle against Unit-03
Unit-01's dummy plug is installed.
Kaworu watching what happens to Asuka (アスカの成り行きを見ているカヲル).
Shinji refusing to destroy Unit-03 ("I won't do anything" Shinji)
Unit-01 switches over to the dummy system.
Unit-01 crushes Unit-03's entry plug. Asuka, terribly injured.

- Nerv Headquarters
A rebellious Shinji remains inside Unit-01.
Shinji faints due to increased LCL pressure. Unit-01's power stopped.

- Hospital
Rei in the lobby holding a Bento box.
Shinji's dream. "I couldn't forgive my father's betrayal." And so on.

- Nerv Command Room
Conversation between Shinji and Gendo. "I don't want to pilot Eva anymore."

- Shinji leaves Nerv
Hikari, Kensuke, Touji call Shinji.
Ritsuko talking to someone. "Rei, she didn't cry."
Shinji's DAT player abandoned in a garbage container.
Rei's room, abandoned cooking utensils.

- Considering the Location (is the scene itself necessary?)
Conversation between a departing Shinji and Misato. Conversation with Mari?

- 10th Angel Attacks
Nerv battles an Angel that invades the Geofront. The Angel shrugs off every attack.

- Shelter - ?
Shinji sees the tragedy of the ordinary people (Nerv staff members?).

- Nerv Command Centre
Unit-01 refuses the dummy plug. Gendo facing the cage.

- Watermelon Patch
Coversation between Mari and Shinji. (At the time of the Unit-03 affair, protect Asuka or kill her and protect the world, there was nothing you could do).

- 10th Angel versus Unit-00
Unit-00 plunges forward with a bomb. Unit-00 is seriously damaged and can no longer fight.
The Angel eats Unit-00. In headquarters, Rei's signal vanishes.

- Watermelon Patch / Geofront
Shinji decides and stars running. Shinji struggles over rubble and other obstacles.

- Nerv Headquarters
The Angel penetrates into headquarters.
Gendo faces a wounded Shinji covered with blood.
"Let me pilot."

- 10th Angel versus Unit-01 (1)
Eva-01 plunges into the command centre.
Eva-01 is shot into the geofront and attempts to tear Unit-00 apart from the Angel.

- Angel becomes the "corroding type"
Rei's heart wants to be one with Shinji. Unit-00 (taken in by the Angel) corrodes Unit-01.
Unit-01 is accepting and nonresistant. "So you came to trust Rei that deeply, Shinji-kun?" [そんなにレイに心を許していたのね, シンジ君. In the storyboard, そんなに is そんなにまで and the line is spoken by Ritsuko.]
Unit-01 is near its power limit.
Rei begins to self-destruct.

- 10th Angel versus Unit-01 (2)
Unit-01's power limit reached.
Unit-01 goes berserk.
400% synchro rate, furious Shinji. Unit-01 plunges its body (arm?) into the Angel. In the same way, Shinji stretches out his arm inside the entry plug. Rei's hand materializes; when Shinji pulls her out, her body materializes.
The berserk doesn't stop; Unit-01 transforms into a giant of light.
Unit-01 destroys the Angel with overwhelming power.

- Unit-06 Arrives
Suddenly, a spear flies in. Unit-01's berserk is halted.
Unit-06 enters the atmosphere. Removes Unit-01's entry plug.
Fuyutsuki and Gendo's conversation. "Finally, he has come." "From here, everything begins."
The reunion of Kaworu and Shinji.

~ To be continued ~

I... actually kind of like this version of the screenplay and wish they would have animated it. Yeah, it still suffers from the horrible decisions of "Hey, let's needlessly throw in a new character when we admit we're already rushed for time" and "Hey, let's suddenly pretend EVA-02 doesn't exist for no believable reason," but it's better than the crap we got for 2.0

For one thing, Mari actually INTERACTS with the other characters. She develops CHEMISTRY with the rest of the main cast and feels more like she's part of the "team." Yeah, she's still basically an author avatar who has nothing to do with the original story, but at least they're TRYING to make her fit in with this draft. They even find room to acknowledge the supporting characters (Toji, Hikari, and Kensuke).

I cannot fathom what made Khara think "Let's trash all of this and make Mari into the most loosely tied character possible" was a better idea.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Reckoner

What's bad though is the reason for many of the changes that made this movie your average generic mecha anime with moe and shonen willpower.

& you have all that in the original TV series as well.

[Reckoner]

Originally Posted by Hagoshod

Are there any story boards for it? I've seen the ones for Asuka getting her face eaten or whatever, but I never heard about the EVA-03 retrieval scene.

Hmm, I'd have to look around.

Originally Posted by Hagoshod

I... actually kind of like this version of the screenplay and wish they would have animated it. Yeah, it still suffers from the horrible decisions of "Hey, let's needlessly throw in a new character when we admit we're already rushed for time" and "Hey, let's suddenly pretend EVA-02 doesn't exist for no believable reason," but it's better than the crap we got for 2.0

For one thing, Mari actually INTERACTS with the other characters. She develops CHEMISTRY with the rest of the main cast and feels more like she's part of the "team." Yeah, she's still basically an author avatar who has nothing to do with the original story, but at least they're TRYING to make her fit in with this draft. They even find room to acknowledge the supporting characters (Toji, Hikari, and Kensuke).

I cannot fathom what made Khara think "Let's trash all of this and make Mari into the most loosely tied character possible" was a better idea.

Yeah, it's better than what they currently gave us, but I'd rather she just not be there in the first place I suppose.

Originally Posted by Shiroth

& you have all that in the original TV series as well.

You damn sadist .

I guess what I'm trying to say is that rebuild presents these more general tropes in a far more exaggerated and uninspiring manner than the original series.

There's just quite a different feeling, for example, from Shinji during the Zeruel fight in rebuild and the original TV.

[Hagoshod]

See, the thing about comparing the TV series to Rebuild is this:

The TV series provided a reason as to why the pilots are random teenagers. It made the effort to make sure it WOULDN'T follow mecha norms by establishing the giant robots weren't just simple machines, and the pilots weren't interchangeable due to the whole soul-linking system. Regardless of how well it may or may not have been pulled off, you can't deny the original NGE at least tried to make itself be the Anti-Gundam.

Rebuild? Oh, no. The Evas are machines with easily removable motors and, as Ritsuko tells us during Asuka's temper tantrum, completely expendable pilots. Wow. Way to totally miss the point on what Evangelion is supposed to be. And then it has a glasses-wearing character who changes her eye color and shouts out some mysterious codename to cause her mecha to use an armor ejection gimmick.

Ho. Lee. Shit.

This is the pinnacle of "We wanted to do something different with Eva, but we don't have a single original thought of our own so we'll just blatantly rip off whatever's popular right now."

On top of the abysmal Vatican Treaty swerve, Rebuild 2.0 goes out of the way to intentionally violate ever principle NGE tried to establish and drag the entire work into a pit of mediocrity. Something that was explicitly designed to be the Anti-Gundam is literally now just another Gundam series.

[minagoroshi-hen]

Yeah. Too bad there arent't two more movies left to develop Mari's character, tell us about her origins, explain the (possible) reasons behind the expandable pilots and the removable motors (see the sequel theory). Oh wai-

[Reckoner]

Originally Posted by minagoroshi-hen

Yeah. Too bad there arent't two more movies left to develop Mari's character, tell us about her origins, explain the (possible) reasons behind the expandable pilots and the removable motors (see the sequel theory). Oh wai-

I think you're a little confused. The next two movies combined make up the length of 1.0 or 2.0 (At the moment at least). So really, it's 1 movie.

Basically she was introduced in the 2nd third of a series and was not developed at all. In fact the only time she did have in the film consisted of pointless hotblooded mecha fighting, something you'd see in something like Gundam. And even worst? This time only served to screw other character's development in the film (Asuka), as if she wasn't already damaged enough.

Sorry, she's Anno's new cash whore through and through.

[minagoroshi-hen]

Originally Posted by Reckoner

I think you're a little confused. The next two movies combined make up the length of 1.0 or 2.0 (At the moment at least). So really, it's 1 movie..

Sauce on this?

she was not developed at all =/= she will not be developed

Kaworu had like 15 minutes of screentime in the TV series and those 15 minutes were enough to turn him into a memorable character.

[Reckoner]

Originally Posted by minagoroshi-hen

Sauce on this?

she was not developed at all =/= she will not be developed

Kaworu had like 15 minutes of screentime in the TV series and those 15 minutes were enough to turn him into a memorable character.

Sankei Shimbun said "he First Volume, REBUILD OF EVANGELION:01 is due out in early summer 2007 it will have an estimated running time of 90 minutes. The Second Part, REBUILD OF EVANGELION:02 is expected in January 2008, also with a running time of 90 minutes. The Latter Part + Last Program of the series, REBUILD OF EVANGELION:03-04 are expected in early summer (possibly June) of 2008, they will have an estimated length of 45 minutes each. Additionally, ANS has learned the 3rd part (Latter Part) (which corresponds to the events of the movies and episodes 25 and 26 of the TV series) and the 4th "Last Program" will be mostly new stories and material. Parts 1-3 will use some key animation sequences from the original TV series, with new backgrounds (settings) and music. Shinji Higuchi is confirmed on the project and has already completed a new story board for the 1st film."

9-9-06 (8:55AM EDT)---- Further Evangelion Shin Gekijou Ban Details

With Newtype's scoop out in Japan this weekend the floodgates of inquiry on the 4 new Evangelion movies have apparently opened wide. While the Newtype information is new to general public, like most print magazines the material was most likely put together several weeks to a month in advance of publication. In that time new things with story have happened and Sankei Shimbun has interesting new information on the project already. First off they mention the original 3 Eva films made 4.5 billion Yen in total at the Japanese boxoffice. The manga published by Kadokawa Shoten has exceeded 15 million copies sold over the existing 10 volumes. Videos and DVD's sold exceed 4.5 million copies and about 30 billion Yen. Total goods sales exceeds 100 billion Yen. While the overall project is being called "Evangelion Shin Gekijou Ban" as mentioned in Newtype, the individual films are being titled "REBUILD OF EVANGELION". The First Volume, REBUILD OF EVANGELION:01 is due out in early summer 2007 it will have an estimated running time of 90 minutes. The Second Part, REBUILD OF EVANGELION:02 is expected in January 2008, also with a running time of 90 minutes. The Latter Part + Last Program of the series, REBUILD OF EVANGELION:03-04 are expected in early summer (possibly June) of 2008, they will have an estimated length of 45 minutes each. Additionally, ANS has learned the 3rd part (Latter Part) (which corresponds to the events of the movies and episodes 25 and 26 of the TV series) and the 4th "Last Program" will be mostly new stories and material. Parts 1-3 will use some key animation sequences from the original TV series, with new backgrounds (settings) and music. Shinji Higuchi is confirmed on the project and has already completed a new story board for the 1st film. A good deal of 3DCG animation will be implemented. The total economic effect of the 4 new Evangelion films is estimated at around 100 billion Yen or more. Director Hideaki Anno has chosen this point in time specifically to produce the new Eva, waiting until the hype of the previous works to cooled down.

http://www.animenewsservice.com/archives/septxo.htm

------------------------

Until otherwise noted, this is what we have to go by.

And uh, I never said she wouldn't be developed. The point is that every second she was on screen was basically pointless, if not insulting to the Evangelion franchise. She's as close as oyu can get to mary sue without actually being one. It's pretty funny though.

And btw, your example of Kaworu is a piss poor one for a couple reasons.

1. He is one of the most widely criticized characters in the entire show. He enters the show EXTREMELY late, then leaves just as suddenly as he appeared.
2. The effects he has on Shinji are much more notable than the character himself.

[minagoroshi-hen]

Originally Posted by Reckoner

And btw, your example of Kaworu is a piss poor one for a couple reasons.

1. He is one of the most widely criticized characters in the entire show. He enters the show EXTREMELY late, then leaves just as suddenly as he appeared.
2. The effects he has on Shinji are much more notable than the character himself.

That wasn't the point. I was trying to say that a character can be presented in an interesting manner in a short period of time. A memorable character doesn't need 100+ episodes of development. Heck, one of the most iconic characters from any medium, dr. Hannibal Lecter, serves just as a ''guide'' for Clarice.(i'm only talking about the movie adaptation of the novel). That doesn't make him less interesting. He's interesting in his own right even without the background provided by Rising.

Same with Kaworu. The effects he had on Shinji make him a great character because by affecting Shinji, he fulfils his purpose as a character. Also, I couldn't care less about the ''widely criticized'' bit.

[Reckoner]

Originally Posted by minagoroshi-hen

That wasn't the point. I was trying to say that a character can be presented in an interesting manner in a short period of time. A memorable character doesn't need 100+ episodes of development. Heck, one of the most iconic characters from any medium, dr. Hannibal Lecter, serves just as a ''guide'' for Clarice.(i'm only talking about the movie adaptation of the novel). That doesn't make him less interesting. He's interesting in his own right even without the background provided by Rising.

Same with Kaworu. The effects he had on Shinji make him a great character because by affecting Shinji, he fulfils his purpose as a character. Also, I couldn't care less about the ''widely criticized'' bit.

I guess I have no choice but to debate this for the 10000000th time.

OK.

First can we agree on one thing... In context of 2.0, as a stand alone film, can you at least admit there was nothing really "interesting" presented by her character? If not I'll have to debate this too. She represents everything that Eva TV was not about.

Anyhow, your example so Hanibal Lector is also quite a poor one. He was featured prominently in the film, and played an integral role in the capture of Buffalo Bill by Clarice. His character was a particularly memorable one because of the wonderful presentation, interesting ideas, and of course as well, some great acting. The key thing to note about this? Execution.

Execution is what is lacking with not just Mari's character, but even your example of Kaworu. Yeah sure, he had a deep impact on Shinji, yada, yada. But why was Kaworu able to gain such a strongly intense emotional bond with Shinji in just the mere span of an episode? I mean c'mon now. Even the production team has noted several times that they his character was intended to be introduced much earlier. It was just a bad error.

I said the impact was more notable because it was something we had to take a face value. Basically Kaworu served as more of a plot device to worsen Shinji's mental state with the hedgehog's dilemma than anything else. I'll give you this, for a character that was only on screen for a short as time as he was, he probably is the most memorable 15 min anime character of all time . But really, we barely got a feel for his character.

Anyhow about Mari... There's nothing about her character to enjoy. She provided moments of fanservice, whether it is sexual or hot blooded mecha battles, and posed a "tiny" mystery around her identity. Oh great. Guess what happened by the clumsily way they introduced her? She was basically on the sidelines the whole time and felt like she was part of a whole different film. Other prominent characters (Asuka) had their screen time further reduced, if it was not already strained enough. She's just plain unnatural.

I'll quote a poster I like from another forum...

Well, there's always your butthurt Asuka fanboy (someone had to say it), but honestly, looking at things the most objectively i can, i really think that her "Wheeee, giant robots are teh fun!" attitude actually managed to lessen dramatic tension whenever she appeared.

I just couldn't take her or her involvment seriously. Singing before engagement? Exclaiming "Nyah!" before jumping Zeruel, the uberdestructive harbinger of Armageddon? Come on!

Maybe she is a character who is meant to both enthrall and entertain, but call me weird: i don't want to be "entertained" in the classic fun having sense when i watch anything Eva related. I want to be pulverized into my chair and have my emotions violently be played with, something i just couldn't get out of her so far (for the record, 2.0 as a whole was pretty slim in this department for me).

We know almost nothing of her yet, and can't even make guesses at how she will contribute to Rebuild as a whole in the future, but i honestly fear that she represents a paradigm shift towards "Fun with biomechs" from "Gritty inter-Apocalyptic tragedy". And Rebuild or not, happier Anno or not, in my mind, the latter is the only way for Eva to really work. Otherwise, it's just Gurren Lagann/Mazinger Z/<insert> with different giant robots.

[minagoroshi-hen]

Originally Posted by Reckoner

I guess I have no choice but to debate this for the 10000000th time.

OK.

First can we agree on one thing... In context of 2.0, as a stand alone film, can you at least admit there was nothing really "interesting" presented by her character? If not I'll have to debate this too. She represents everything that Eva TV was not about.

Actually, the scene where 02 holds Shinji in its hand showing him the damage sustained by Tokyo-3 is pretty damn powerful. So, here's something Mari-related which I thought was well done. Other than that, she's pretty fun to watch and somehow fits with Rebuild's atmosphere.

And about Kaworu, can you really say he wasn't at least somewhat nicely presented? It's true his screentime was incredibly short, but he actually was and felt like a part of the show. He was a plot device but a pretty damn interesting one. Kaworu is nearly empty as a character. He's 'developed' not as a character but as a type, as a role, as what Shinji sees him as.

Also, Hannibal didn't have a lot of screentime. He played his role as a ''guide'' for Clarice. Apart from the subjective 'execution' excuse you presented, I don't see how my example was a poor one. Kaworu and him are essentially from the same gens if we are to consider their role as 'guides'.

The whole thing started with me saying that: ''Mari could be developed in an interesting manner in a short amount of time''. I myself am not satisfied with her character as it is. That doesn't mean I should randomly start bashing an incomplete work

[Reckoner]

The film is supposed to stand on its own. 2.0 isn't supposed to rely on 3.0 and beyond to be "good." I am not randomly bashing an incomplete work. The film did a bad job at integrating her character into the Evangelion Universe, and really just felt like a self-insert by Anno. There was nothing powerful about her character, and the fact that she had aserious talk with Shinji like that, as if she understood him, although they met for a period of like 10 seconds is pretty much unbelievable.

If you can't see though that Kaworu obviously didn't get enough screen time to be developed naturally as a character, in an unrushed manner, then whatever. Yeah the plot demanded that X happens. How best to do that? Oh yeah lets introduce a character that (quite unbelievably) manages to get attached to Shinji in the span of a few days in the show that no one else is the show was able to, and then precede to execute a grand plot point just as fast and unnaturally as he was introduced.

Look, you're talking to someone whose favorite series is Evangelion, but it doesn't mean I can't admit a glaring fault/problem that arose with the production team's planning.

Oh yes, you threw in the word "subjective..." Guess what? All of what we are saying is subjective (Though Kaworu's introduction is basically as close to objectively bad of a flaw as you can get).

[SoldierOfDarkness]

Originally Posted by Reckoner

Sorry, she's Anno's new cash whore through and through.

And a good looking one at that.

On that matter I just bumped into a girl who I thought looked familiar and then when I re-watched Eva 2.0 again I realized that she looked almost alike. If the guys were looking for a model to base the looks off of she could easily do it.

And on another matter, when in the Emperor's name will we be getting the next eva movies? I need my eva fix darn it!

[minagoroshi-hen]

Originally Posted by Reckoner

The film is supposed to stand on its own. 2.0 isn't supposed to rely on 3.0 and beyond to be "good." I am not randomly bashing an incomplete work.

It's a series of movies, not an anthology composed of 3-4 movies. I agree that some of the 'flaws' you pointed out are relatively legitemate, but eva 2.0 is a sequel to Eva 0.1 and a prequel to the not yet released Eva 3.0. It's bound to rely on the other 3 movies because it can't function as a standalone.

Other than that, I agree that Kaworu's lately introduction was a 'flaw'. I never denied that his interactions with Shinji felt unnatural.

Guess I should stop here. Keeping myself busy till Eva 3.0 comes out has proven to be quite a tough task.

[Archon_Wing]

If they somehow make good use of Mari's character later on, I'll give credit to them when that happens.

I don't judge according to what they could do, since that's pretty meaningless. I judge by what they have done, and to say that the priorities weren't straight for 2.0 would be an understatement.

They could have developed Mari instead of wasting time pissing on Asuka's character. Or what's left of it.

[DragoZERO]

Originally Posted by minagoroshi-hen

Guess I should stop here. Keeping myself busy till Eva 3.0 comes out has proven to be quite a tough task.

That is the truest statement that's been written in this thread in a while. Too many things are up in the air right now. We have to wait for (some of) the dust to settle first.

[Bri]

Originally Posted by Hagoshod

The TV series provided a reason as to why the pilots are random teenagers. It made the effort to make sure it WOULDN'T follow mecha norms by establishing the giant robots weren't just simple machines, and the pilots weren't interchangeable due to the whole soul-linking system. Regardless of how well it may or may not have been pulled off, you can't deny the original NGE at least tried to make itself be the Anti-Gundam.
[...]
Something that was explicitly designed to be the Anti-Gundam is literally now just another Gundam series.

I don't see the anti-Gundam side at all. The NGE TV-series was just more retro then Gundam. Going back to a more 1970s style of humongouss mecha placed in a near future setting, drawing heavily on Mazinger Z, while inserting the grimness of 1980s real robot shows.

Both NGE and Gundam both gave clear explanations for teenage pilots, whether soul linked or newtype. Shinji's background for that matter is quite similar to Kamile Bidans. NGE main innovation compared to older mecha was in the way it portrayed and focussed on it's characters emotions and thoughts.

Universal Century Gundam shows and later Alternate universe shows differed significantly in tone and realism. NGE aired roughly around the same time as the first Gundam alternate universe series, way too late to be any kind of reaction to them.

[Reckoner]

Originally Posted by Bri

Universal Century Gundam shows and later Alternate universe shows differed significantly in tone and realism. NGE aired roughly around the same time as the first Gundam alternate universe series, way too late to be any kind of reaction to them.

I suppose we're drawing contrast between NGE and the AU universe gundam shows. Rebuild is to NGE, what AU gundam is to UC gundam in my eyes (The former often being worst than the latter).

[Hagoshod]

Originally Posted by Bri

Both NGE and Gundam both gave clear explanations for teenage pilots, whether soul linked or newtype.

Except adult Newtypes exist. NGE pretty heavily relies on the idea that only a small population of children can pilot Evangelions as some weird biological result of being in utero during the Second Impact, and/or the souls of their mothers being bound to specific units.

For as innovative as it was, even MSG boils down to Amuro being some random kid who winds up in the Gundam's cockpit purely by accident/coincidence, and nothing deeper than that.