Hello Hello!
Hi Everyone!!! I've been actively watching and collecting anime for quite a few years now (10+); and attending anime cons since 97 or 98. The first anime I became addicted to were Kimba the White Lion and Speed Racer when I was in grade school. The first "cartoon" that I realized was from Japan was Robotech in the 80's. I remember when fansubs were traded back and forth on VHS through club/fansub groups; still have quite a few of those tapes! Several of my friends even have domestic & imported laser-discs from the early days (yeah we're all old..) There are may anime series and movies that I enjoy; too many to list here! My favorite of all time is Evangelion, with Fushigi Yuugi and Naruto close behind. I have staffed at both Katsucon and Nekocon anime conventions. Katsucon in registration (3 yrs.-staggered); and Nekocon (6 yrs.) as Head of Video Room Programming and currently as Dealers Room Department Head. It's hard work, but also great fun to be part of a team effort to ensure the fans have a wonderful time! I also collect anime and animation cels; you can check out my gallery and other cel galleries at www.rubberslug.com; my gallery is http://nhc.rubberslug.com Feel free to ask me about cel collecting, or Evangelion or Naruto or.......the list goes on!!

Allow me to welcome you to the South Carolina Anime group. Hopefully you will be an active member, and enjoy everyone's company here. And also, Kimba the white lion is a great Anime. Kind of a shame that Disney overshadowed Miyazaki's work, when they made "The Lion King".

WEEE!!!! A NEW MEMBER!!!! ^_^ A friend of mine has a huge collection of anime on laser disk. I didn't realize what anime was until the late nintys even though I had been watching it for YEARS!

oh a cel painting collector! I always wanted to try that but they always seemed more expensive than buying a few books as are many aspect of the anime/manga world. However I do put some effort into collecting a few art books. Anyway I'd love to see your collection sometime! ^^ Oh and welcome to the south carolina anime club!

Welcome to the forums! Now that that's out of the way, did you actually watch the last two episodes of Evangelion?

Thanks for making me feel welcome! In answer to your questions; Yeah, even though The Lion King was a wonderful Disney film, copying another creator's work almost frame for frame (watch Jungle Emperor Leo and The Lion King back to back and you'll see a lot of the same scenes); and then trying to worm out of it by saying that they had never heard of Ozuma Tezuka or Kimba, is just plain nasty. In fact, Walt Disney and Ozuma Tezuka were great friends, staying at each other's homes when visiting here or in Japan. I'm sure Walt was cringing in his grave over what Eisner did to his company. Thanks, for taking an interest in my cel collection! You can visit it at the web addresses I listed above; Rubberslug has many astonishing collections that I drool over, wishing I had just one of those impressive cels! A good way to collect really nice art is Pencil Boards (Shitajiki); most are around $3-$7 at conventions; more on Ebay for the hard to find ones. As for Evangelion...let's just say I've watched the entire anime more times that I can remember, and even pull out the movies to watch when I'm bored! I always thought of myself as a bit of a sadist, but in this case I suppose I'm a masochist. The last 2 eps./movies/director's cut are definately a severe mind ****. (I hope I can use * in place of something bad)

That's what I thought about the last two episodes. I liked Evangelion right up till I watched those two, and it turned me off.

There are all sorts of "theories" and or "urban legends" as to why the last two episodes are the way they are; most common being that Gainax ran out of money. Personally, I don't believe that theory; they were making way to much money from Evangelion licensing. The tax evasion came several years later for not reporting all that they made from said licensing. It was probably because of all the flack Gainax was getting from the TV sensors and Japan's Nat. PTA due to story content. It was originally aired at 7:00pm, family viewing time. The series was considered too intense even by Japanese standards for that viewing slot. Especially the episode where Asuka may or may not have tried to commit suicide, a very touchy subject in Japan. Thus, the last two episodes were slapped together as Anno's protest over censorship.

I watched that Death and Rebirth thing... and that let me doing the.. .O_o WTF?

"Thus, the last two episodes were slapped together as Anno's protest over censorship." Is this another one of the theories?

Yeah, it's a theory, but in my opinion the most plausible. It's all true about the censors and PTA coming down hard on Gainax with complaints from parents; and after the epsisodes with Kaji and Misato in bed and Asuka's attempted suicide, they were told to cut back on the content (make it more of a kid's giant robot show). Of course Anno got angry, as we all know Eva is definately not a kid's show...it still surprises me that Cartoon Network picked it up.

He may have gotten angry, but if this theory is right it certainly doesn't excuse him for mind ******* everyone.

What can you say, that's what Anno is known for; he doesn't much care what the fans think. He definately comes across as a twisted and strange guy..... BTW he's doing live action directing/writing now. Love and Pop and the live action Cutey Honey are his.