CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Ok, if my mom finds out about my Neon Genesis Evangelion Vol.1 Graphic novel, she's prolly gonna freak and burn it or something. Mainly because of the name I think because we're strong christians, So I need help on a good defense to give. Any ideas?

if the name is the only reason, you could have her actually read the manga and determine from there. i've never read this manga, so i dunno about whats in it context wise, and i've never seen the anime so i dont even know what it's about... but if its just the name she's against, having her reading it should take care of it.

Well, I think her reading it will make it worse possibly. if only you knew... CAN ANYBODY ELSE HELP ME OUT HERE?!!

Sorry, I don't know enough about that series to offer any advice

uh o! sounds like trouble! how old are u? i wouldn't recommend this series for anyone under 14 or 15. i dont think its good to hide it behind ur mom's back, but i dont want u to get into trouble either. if u feel quilty about reading it cuz u know it isn't good to read as a christian then maybe u shouldn't read it at all. i dont want to sound harsh sorry if i did, i just wanna help cuz i've seen the series, but not the novel. does ur mom even know ur into anime? if not maybe u can have a talk w/ her about it. sorry if i didnt help or sounded harsh. i hope things work out!

ally-san wrote:uh o! sounds like trouble! how old are u? i wouldn't recommend this series for anyone under 14 or 15. i dont think its good to hide it behind ur mom's back, but i dont want u to get into trouble either. if u feel quilty about reading it cuz u know it isn't good to read as a christian then maybe u shouldn't read it at all. i dont want to sound harsh sorry if i did, i just wanna help cuz i've seen the series, but not the novel. does ur mom even know ur into anime? if not maybe u can have a talk w/ her about it. sorry if i didnt help or sounded harsh. i hope things work out!

I just turned 15. Yes, she knows I love anime and that a bunch of anime and manga. I don't feel guilty reading it because I'm just in it for the characters, art and mecha battles. yah, you didn't help at all. *sigh* HELP!

If your mom knows you're into it, the best approach I can give (and the only feasible one I can think of) is to just sit down and talk to her about it. Explain why you want to read it, just like you did for us. Tell her you know some of the stuff is wrong, and you don't defend any of it. Compare it to modern shows/books. If she still doesn't approve, you should of course obey her, even if you really really want to read it. And there could be several reasons for that--God testing your faith, your obedience, your patience....any number of things.

I can't help you with this as I would always go with what my parents wanted. If you're reading something that you don't think she'd approve of, then don't read it, because it's very dishonest. If you like art/mecha, read Gundam Wing. I can't help you dishonor your mother. Best advice I can give you is to return it.

(Sorry if that sounded harsh, but I don't think it's a good idea to read something that your mom doesn't like.)

Ashley wrote:If your mom knows you're into it, the best approach I can give (and the only feasible one I can think of) is to just sit down and talk to her about it. Explain why you want to read it, just like you did for us. Tell her you know some of the stuff is wrong, and you don't defend any of it. Compare it to modern shows/books. If she still doesn't approve, you should of course obey her, even if you really really want to read it. And there could be several reasons for that--God testing your faith, your obedience, your patience....any number of things.

I think that helps. Thanks Ashley.

Zip, my man, if you're scared of your mom finding your NGE, it's quite possible that you have good reason for nervousness. If your mom wouldn't knowingly let you keep it, you might just want to go ahead and get rid of it. That or give it to her of her own free will and let her decide wether you can have it or not.

Mangafanatic wrote:Zip, my man, if you're scared of your mom finding your NGE, it's quite possible that you have good reason for nervousness. If your mom wouldn't knowingly let you keep it, you might just want to go ahead and get rid of it. That or give it to her of her own free will and let her decide wether you can have it or not.

Well, I'm pretty much scared of her reading any of my manga ever since if she could, she would throw out just about every single comic book I own cause she thinks I should be spending my time on other things. (NOT!) I'm not sure if she'd let me keep it or not. It's just the name that's killer(in a bad way). She prolly wouldn't mind it at all if it had some name that wasn't so religious sounding. Gundam Wing is a poor substitute for Evangelion I think. I've read half them before, and the art doesn't have much soul or hard work in it I think. Half the mangas I have are purely for the artwork, (FLCL, Gundam 0079, Evangelion, etc) I mean, if the art was totally different in Evangelion, I wouldn't give a crap about it. So can ANY of you people tell me any good reasons why Evangelion is good besides mecha art? I mean, is there ANY good morals or anything like that? Or is it just hogwash with great art? HELP AGAIN!

Ok, I think this helps out alot in my defense. But still, the name is quite a booger...

Quote from CAA member: "There are essentially three categories. The first is the symbolism that is only there to look cool. Evangelion is the number one example of this - Hideaki Anno (director) said that the cross-shaped explosions, names of the Angels, etc. were selected only because they thought it would look mysterious."

mean, is there ANY good morals or anything like that? Or is it just hogwash with great art?

That my friend, is PRECISELY why we created a review section here! The only issue is I can't seem to find the Evangelion review, but I can hook you up with the original review thread (before it was added to the database). I hope this helps answer your questions about the series.

And because of the nature of the series (and our do-not-discuss list) I ask that this please be the only response as to the "morals" of the show, ok?

http://www.christiananime.com/showthread.php?t=68

ZIPO_MASTER* wrote:Mainly because of the name I think because we're strong christians

Okay, if you're just thinking your mom will object to the fact that it's titled "Neon Genesis(bible world) Evangelion(religious word)" then I migh tbe able to help you on that score. Take the actual meanings of the worlds themselves. While Genesis does happen to be the first book of the Bible, is also is a word which just means "beginning". I'm not sure about "neon", but I'm seeing the world root "neo" in there. That means "new", if I'm not mistaken. So if you want to take them to mean that-- it would just mean "new beginning", er, something like that. And then there's the evangelion part. What I find interesting is that it Evangelion from the title of the manga in question isn't pronounced the same as the religious words which people see when they look at it. The "g" in evangelion is pronounce like the "g" in "goat" (for it to sound like the word "evangelism"-- that "g has to make a "j" sound, if you follow me.) And the end "ion" is pronounced "E(long E)-un". Atleast that's the pronunciation I've heard in trailers. I've never seen the anime so I can't be sure.

Don't know if that holds any water, but I'll probably PM you about this whole thing later, because I have a few thoughts and ideas that probably wouldn't unterest anyone who wasn't in your predicament. Plus, I don't want to smudge any "no discussion" lines.

Mangafanatic wrote:Okay, if you're just thinking your mom will object to the fact that it's titled "Neon Genesis(bible world) Evangelion(religious word)" then I migh tbe able to help you on that score. Take the actual meanings of the worlds themselves. While Genesis does happen to be the first book of the Bible, is also is a word which just means "beginning". I'm not sure about "neon", but I'm seeing the world root "neo" in there. That means "new", if I'm not mistaken. So if you want to take them to mean that-- it would just mean "new beginning", er, something like that. And then there's the evangelion part. What I find interesting is that it Evangelion from the title of the manga in question isn't pronounced the same as the religious words which people see when they look at it. The "g" in evangelion is pronounce like the "g" in "goat" (for it to sound like the word "evangelism"-- that "g has to make a "j" sound, if you follow me.) And the end "ion" is pronounced "E(long E)-un". Atleast that's the pronunciation I've heard in trailers. I've never seen the anime so I can't be sure.

Don't know if that holds any water, but I'll probably PM you about this whole thing later, because I have a few thoughts and ideas that probably wouldn't unterest anyone who wasn't in your predicament. Plus, I don't want to smudge any "no discussion" lines.

Ok, well that helps out alot too. but then we get to Evangelion. Yes, I knew how to pronounce it right, but the word it originated from was an evangelist, which is basically a preacher of the word. So the in a way the Eva 01 (robot in Evangelion series) is like, preachin the word to these evil alien/angel demon things by blasting them up, huh? LOL, this isn't working...I'd like to hear what your take on it is. Please PM me soon.

GOOD NEWS! She doesn't have a prob with it at all. I didn't even have to explain it to her. She trusts me enough. I bought the Evangelion Platinum DVD Vol.1 today with her and it was no sweat! WOOHOO! *takes Vol.1 out from behind bed and proudly displays with other mangas on shelf* Oh, and I also got Eva Vol.2 manga as well. *BEAMING* I feel like a million bucks! *punches wall by mistake. Cries* OW OW OW OW OW!

Good. I'm happy for you. Maybe all parental conflicts have the same out come.

So, let's here it. How'd you do it.

ZIPO_MASTER* wrote:I just turned 15. Yes, she knows I love anime and that a bunch of anime and manga. I don't feel guilty reading it because I'm just in it for the characters, art and mecha battles. yah, you didn't help at all. *sigh* HELP!

walks off sadly with head down....

*Pat's Ally on back for good effort*

I ws trying to decide between Big O II Vol.4 and the Evangelion Vol.1 DVD, she looked at them and even insisted Evangelion over Big O II. So I'm A OK in this department. I didn't have to explain anything. WOOT!

way to go.... *for info purposes only... say HOOAH, not WOOT... u sound like a owl