Classical literary and artistic works are traditionally generated by the life experience of their authors, a figurative rethinking of reality. However, in the XXI century this trend was disrupted. The literary genre fan fiction appeared, in everyday speech - fan fiction, suggesting a higher level of abstraction. Its primary principle is considered not primary reality, but subjective secondary - anime, computer games, reality through the prism of the director, creator of the game, etc. Hundreds of thousands of anime fans around the world have become authors of works of the fanfiction genre (fanfiction or amateur narratives).
Art, capable of giving such a powerful impetus to human inspiration, certainly deserves attention.
Prologue to fan fiction
Consider this phenomenon in one article is not possible due to the variety of reasons that cause fanfiction. Our task will be narrower - the study of the phenomenon of amateur narratives based on one of the best examples of anime series.
Briefly, in one paragraph, we will touch on the history of this art. The directors of the Land of the Rising Sun were the first to make the comics come to life (in Japanese - manga). This work in its essence reduces literature and visual art to uniform images.
What made hitherto purely endemic (characteristic of one country) anime in 1995 thunder throughout the whole world? Implemented precedent: the Evangelion series created in the fur genre (with robot characters). The “necessary” content manga served the future creator of the anime saga as an impulse for creativity. As a result of his inspiration, the whole world has discovered a new dynamic and contemporary art.
Among connoisseurs of this genre, there is a strong opinion that a true self-respecting expert in this field is simply obliged to carefully examine the Evangelion and be well-versed in its storylines and characters, since this series is unofficially considered a classic of the genre.
If your anime fan status is in jeopardy, let the spiteful critics know that you’ve just revised the entire Eve for the hundredth time in one session. If it doesn’t help, significantly add that I understood a lot and rethought everything.
The resounding success of the first anime - creation with robots and Christian-cabalistic filling inspired its creator to the series-continuation: “Evangelion. Death and Rebirth ”and“ The End of the Evangelion ”.
Evangelion and its author
Isn't it time for us to finally meet the great and terrible gurus of an entire army of fanfiction authors? The one whom they exalted to heaven, then cursed (and such was). He is the author of the Evangelion saga, in the original - Neon Genesis Evangelion. However, with the light hand of film critics this creation is most often called in abbreviated form - “Eve”.
This bearded man is directed by Hizaki Anno. Inspired by the manga of the artist Yoshiyuki Sadomoto, he developed, supplemented the storyline of the original work to the level of a good novel. He was in love with anime art, and in the mid-90s it was almost physically painful to see how, due to mediocre authors, the fur genre (where cars are heroes along with people) stagnates and dies. Hizaki believed and believes that the future of mankind is eccentric, “money bags”, like “gray” people living “for food”, will not create it.
For an example, the director did not have to go far. His exuberant fantasy is a brake in the world of routine and everyday life, in art it has become just a gold mine. From a young age and all subsequent life, he was perceived by those around him as “a man not of this world,” speaking the language of literature, “a fool.”
The director, who had personal experience of treatment in a psychiatric clinic, working on the characters of the series, simply shifted his views to our very often pseudo-real and today already mostly virtual world.
He created a creative cliche with his personality in the anime genre.
“Eve,” in the psychological and author’s context, is a reflection of Hizaki’s personal cabalistic-gospel views. He once said this in an interview, answering a completely harmless question when and how he felt inspired to write a script.
“The main thing is the starting point. Imagine that you yourself, your life and your world are anime. The art of the director is when you throw your inner world into the script, everything else is fake ... Then there are moments of insight: you, immersed in yourself, write the script, just as a fan would do, calling your fan fiction “Evangelion”.
Hizaki Anno, a fighter who, to the great joy of anime lovers, is really talented in portraying the world of his fantasies. He (he should be given his due) is so consistent in his work that presenting his heroes as living in the world of machines, he wondered about the harmonious social coexistence of bio- and cybernetic organisms.
His views on how machines, interacting with people, humanize themselves, were noticed. Not a fact, but nevertheless a parallel can be traced chronologically: since 1995, legal documents have appeared in the world that regulate taboos in gene modeling and the creation of cybernetic organisms. Perhaps it was this Evangelion that made the world take a new look at the future problem of the socialization of machines?
Anime design
The humanistic idea of ​​this creation can be expressed by a single phrase given by its creator in the title:
Simple human truths are obvious and easily visible, but for some reason it is difficult for many to fulfill them and hard to realize and think about.
The logical connection of the animated saga and the works on it is similar to the connection of an abandoned cry and echo. "Evangelion", fan fiction which arose as a natural response from the audience, was originally created based on a teenage audience. As a matter of fact, the genre of amateur narratives became popular in the world precisely after the release of Eva.
Only in the first episode of the anime “Attack of the Angel” several tens of thousands of fanfiction works were written.
Briefly retell only the plot of the plot, which has become a classic. We hope this will sound like nostalgia for fans of Eve over the biblical-controlled fur world created by Hizaki Anno.
15 years have passed since the millennium, when for the first time the Angels committed unpunished aggression (in the saga - the “second blow”) against humanity. Earthlings, fearing such excesses in the future, then created the NERV Institute to create technologies that can withstand attacking supernatural forces. He was led by the charismatic scientist Gendo Ikari, possessing a bottomless intellect and equanimity. The Institute constructed the Evangelion combat robots, each of which was mentally controlled by a person associated with it ...
In 1995, after the resounding commercial success of the series, reviews appeared in the press like “a complete and colossal work” or “the best anime of all time”. The logical structure of the saga unfolds over 26 episodes.
Plot structure
Hizaki Anno subtly and multifacetedly structures the plot to get maximum contact with the viewer. He achieves this by combining the narrative, evaluative characteristics, illustrating the secret thoughts and desires of the characters, saturating the script with linguistic biblical symbols. Due to the latter circumstance, in fact, the anime series got its name - "Evangelion". The impression of structuredness is complemented by the layered design:
- The first layer is the protection by a special unit of earthlings Nerv of the foundations of civilization against aggressor angels (darkness). To counter the supernatural adversary, biorobots (evangelions) are used. They are controlled by evolved teenagers, i.e. children associated with them psychic.
- The second layer is the identities of the Children. They, superheroes, potentially have the characteristic weaknesses of the teens of our time. Their social life is often illogical. So, the melancholy main character Shinji is periodically covered by depression, and the main character, Asuka, trying to assert herself, impulsively slander and get bored with others, suffering from it herself. The director’s calculation is obvious: when superheroes see their weaknesses, viewers relate themselves to them and become their fans.
- The third layer - under the events of the world created by Hizaki Anno, a philosophical foundation is brought. Fantastic heroes, falling into crisis situations, find support in the eternal moral values ​​of religions and great teachings known to people. This technique gives "Eve" integrity, a sense of the depth of the work, the illusion of likeness to the real world.
Eve Fan Fiction
Immediately, upon reaching the screens, he won the hearts of first Japanese viewers, and then fans of anime all over the world, Evangelion. Fan fiction - amateur works conjecturing the plot - proof of that. Over 800 websites of residents of various countries have become real ficbooks, i.e., the place for posting author's stories and communication between the fans of the series and their authors. What is noteworthy in them is real youth’s informal work, because the stories were not written for payment, but simply from the heart of people who were touched by the work of Hizaki Anno.
“Evangelion”, “fanfics”, “fikbuk” - these words in the late 90s sounded at the forefront of national youth culture. It just so happened that the more conservative people of the older generation noticed in them only an absurd animated form, not interested in the content. And it would be worth it! After all, anime, without bringing the viewers the familiar drug of cartoon relaxation, solved other creative tasks.
Older people did not realize that the "new drawn cartoons" are able to strain the brain and human feelings no weaker than a solid novel. Initially focused on relaxation on the TV, they, seeing "unkind cartoons", preferred to switch the channel.
Young people perceived the Japanese saga in a completely different way. Domestic fans made their unique contribution to the fanfics created based on the Evangelion saga. For them, three main sites about “Eve” became an Fickbook, which we will tell about later.
Someone from the ancient philosophers said that time is merciless to everything except the classics. Although these forums today show a decline in interest in the 1995 series, but not all anime lovers believe that over twenty years the topic has run out.
Domestic ficbooks and fan fiction
To this day, Evangelion Not End, Eva-fiction, ficbook.net forums are quoted among Russian-speaking fans. Translations of the best articles from the world trendsetter of anime and games, the English-language forum fanfiction.net, are also found on these popular sites.
The forum admins, demonstrating obvious tolerance, allow the publication of the most different in quality fanfiction of the Evangelion. Jump (the term anime, not only means flying is a fantasy leap) is also different for different authors. But most articles are interesting. This can be traced at least by the number of messages regarding the publication of amateur stories on the Evangelion Not End fiction book, and the latter number about 27,000. And this is subject to admins: one message - one fan fiction!
Following the objective trend of fading interest over time, starting in 2015, many sites began to collapse the fan section for Eva, moving it to the archive.
However, there was still an outlet on the Internet for domestic Eve lovers. Ultimately, it all depends on the talented organization of the process. The level of creativity should initially be set by the site policy to the proper level. This was precisely the difference between the authors writing on the Evangelion fan fiction forum ficbook.net.
Pen-Pen (author login), for example, demonstrates a really interesting author's style, which should be recognized as professional. If someone was engaged in copyright, then he will understand the phrase following this, worthy of sounding like a challenge to any author: “745 positive reviews (not views, but reviews!) In one story - not weak?”
Grateful associates of the forum, in addition to the banal “thank you for the good work” and “read without stopping !!!”, I often write reviews to Pin-Pen that can inspire any writer: “Thank you for a week of good emotions!”
Even today, this demonstrates the relevance of authors writing on Eva.
Based on the foregoing, the Evangelion fanfiction book, if properly edited and reached agreements with the best authors of the three sites mentioned, if published, may turn out to be a rating literary project.
About the criticism of the series
With all the artistic merits, this anime series is a commercial project that has earned more than 9 billion yen. The saga was created in Japan and the director - an avid bachelor - the producers still forced to develop the theme of love and relationships. Although the general outline of the narrative remained unchanged, elements of eroticism were added there.
With director Hizaki Anno, this played a trick. Some of his opponents to this day claim that "Evangelion" is a hentai (referring to the erotic scenes of the series). However, such a comparison with a frank strawberry does not correspond to reality, and serious film critics refute it. In Japanese culture, eroticism is more pronounced than in Western, therefore, the corresponding scenes of "Eve" are predetermined by a purely Japanese understanding of the friendship of a guy and a girl.
However, in the army of fans there were also fanfiction that created frankly erotic, distorting the very idea of ​​the Evangelion series. "Harem!" - indignant in response to these creations, other fans of the saga devoted to the primary idea. After all, for them, psychologism remained primary.
We already mentioned, and readers, rightly, wondered why the fans of the series cursed their author. The answer is simple: for the "greased" 25 and 26 series. Hizaki Anno, unfortunately, creating them, succumbed to the entreaties of commercial partners - to reduce the price of the project, and allowed a frank decrease in the level of creativity.
However, he fully rehabilitated himself before the fans in the next two sequels of the series.
About the main characters
The storyline of the main characters as they participate in the plot runs through a red thread through each fan fiction ("Evangelion"). Shinji, Asuka (boy and girl) are both pilots of the Ev-Robots, two of the twelve Children. Why did the institute entrust the most formidable weapon of mankind to such young people?
Scientists have found that adults could not drive machines. NERV entrusted its development to 14-year-olds (called “Children” in the series). The use of the phenomenon by the author and the technique generated by fiction, called popanism, makes the characters of a guy and a girl realistic. However, Hizaki Anno does not use this principle directly, transferring the modern hero to the world of fiction, but indirectly: endowing the pilots - Children with the characteristic features and shortcomings of modern adolescents. Moreover, he conceived, modeled how these flaws that impede socialization today, in the pseudo-reality of the series, turn into virtues.
Shiji
Without a doubt, the greatest number of fanfiction works is dedicated to this Eva hero. Some of them even have a novel format. For example, "Business trip of the prince of darkness", "Demon and angels."
The main character of the series - Shinji Ikari - the third of the Children. He lives in the 17th house of a business-class hotel block. With a guy lives his teacher and guardian. Ikari is melancholy, not inclined to active communication, but has a powerful introverted intelligence.
In life, he feels miserable. His father refused him, at school he also has practically no friends, communicating with only two classmates. His duties - to pilot Evangelion-1 - he performs without zeal. He does not like to carry out orders, not understanding abstract humanism, but a feeling of compassion for familiar people is close to him. So, initially refusing to defend the Tokyo-3 human stronghold, he then still does it after learning that they will send the wounded Rei Anayami, the First of the Children, to this task.
It is distinguished by the perfect communication and control of the Evangelion-1 combat robot. Despite teenage melancholy, he is potentially the most powerful fighter among the Children.
The fact that the relationship between the main characters is very difficult, convinces the viewer every fan fiction ("Evangelion"). Shinji, Asuka, of course, are not indifferent to each other, but the range and depth of their feelings is so wide that they contain the diametrically different manifestations of a living soul: either contempt and rejection, then complete self-dissolution in a loved one.
As proof of this, the characters of Shinji and Asuka, from 1995 to the present, have consistently been at a decent level of the most popular anime characters.
Reviews from the authors of amateur stories about Shiji are mixed. This hero is an introvert, always doubting himself, constantly engaged in self-digging. It was created whole, but in order to understand its essence, the viewer should apply subtle psychoanalysis.
Asuka
This character is devoted to many amateur stories. We will name only a few of them: “The Ragnarok of the Elder God of the Evangelion”, “Evang-ha-ha-gelion”, “The sound of silence”, “Evangelion: the rest between the lines”, although this list may contain hundreds of headings.
Asuka Langley Soryu is a girl born of an interracial Japanese-German marriage. She appears in the 8th series of the saga. Her mother went crazy and did not recognize her daughter, and then hanged herself. Her father married a woman - a psychologist who treated the deceased spouse. She looks very spectacular. Asuka has zero blood type, red hair and blue eyes. The girl is emotional, egoism is inherent in her, she is contradictory: she strives for leadership among pilots. But in the 16th episode, Shinji, experienced in piloting, synchronizes with his Evangelion much more effectively than she does.
She is defeated by the 14th angel Zeruil, forcing her to survive childhood traumas. As a result, the girl loses faith in herself, her pilot skills are weakening, she is losing her mind, she is being treated in a hospital. Then, during the storming of the institute by the military (“The End of Evaegelion” series), Asuka with her robot Eva-2 gets damaged. Then the girl first appears in Shinji's visions, and in the final scene appears next to him, admitting that she is hard on her soul.
Conclusion
On the pages of some forums, unfortunately, you can find opinions that fan fiction is an “empty” genre created by fans to amuse fans. However, hardly anyone will dispute its present. It remains only to find out what is behind this modernity?
At first glance, all this symbiosis of authorial and spectator fantasy (meaning the fanfiction created on the Evangelion series that develops its storyline) is still relatively little associated with our daily lives. But will it always be like this?
Back to the real world. To date, it already has several self-taught biorobots with powerful artificial intelligence. Their external parameters are as close to human as possible. For example, the autonomous highly intelligent machine “Sofia” is already practically living a public life. Her behavior is logical, and the judgments that everyone notes are deep and characteristic.
And what is the mysteriously dropped phrase of the guru of Silicon Valley, Ilona Mask, that pretty soon people will be only part of the intelligent creatures that inhabit the Earth. Isn't the saga of the Japanese anime master talking about this?
Readers will ask: “And what about the logic of fans developing the plot of the Evangelion series, and fan fiction created by them?” However, everything is clear here. The one and only work “Eva” inspired amateur writers to consider hundreds of thousands of aspects of the relationship between people and robots. All these variations can be considered not only as a literary phenomenon, but also as logical testing, which will someday be followed by the development of legal norms for the socialization of robots.