![]() ![]() During these pivotal moments, Shinji somehow falls unconscious or is unable to fight, and the EVA roars to life with a mind of its own. Some of the most iconic scenes in Evangelion are when the EVA-01, the protagonist Shinji’s mecha, goes berserk. ![]() If you’ve seen Neon Genesis Evangelion, you probably know where this is going. In the Super Robot Wars games, the power of the Ideon’s strongest attacks, Ideon Sword and Ideon Gun, are labeled as having infinite range as a reference to this, though the mechanics are gamified into something manageable). As they continue on their journey, and as they continue to fight the Buff Clan, the heroes are made increasingly aware of the fact that the Ideon is powerful enough to destroy entire worlds, rend galaxies into nothingness, and wipe out civilizations… and they have absolutely no control over it. Rather, they were at the seemingly serendipitous whims of the Ideon itself. Though they’re happy to have escaped with their lives, one important detail looms over their thoughts: it was not by the humans’ actions that they were rescued. ![]() Suddenly, the Ideon achieves a power greater than anything seen before, and wipes out the enemy in an instant. Then, deep into the series they find themselves cornered and at the brink of death. It is ancient alien technology that they are unable to fully grasp. If there’s a pattern as to how strong Ideon will be in any given fight, it is utterly unclear to the humans responsible for it. It powers up and powers down seemingly with a mind of its own, as indicated by a mysterious display called the Ide Gauge. The pilots from the very beginning are even unsure as to how to rouse Ideon from its dormancy. This sounds pretty par for the course for the time in which it was airing (early 1980s), but one thing made Ideon, as a mecha, different: it didn’t like to behave. Though they take a number of casualties, the humans escape with Ideon, and spend the rest of the series fending off attacks from the Buff Clan with the help of the Ideon. During this time, they also encounter an alien race of conquerors called the Buff Clan, who possess legends about Ideon as a mighty god of ancient times. A group of archaeologists discover three ancient vehicles, which they find out can be brought together to form a giant robot called Ideon. Its story takes place in an era of space exploration and colonization. To understand Ideon, it’s useful to start at the beginning. Ideon, while bearing a few minor similarities to these series, brings something else to the table. The escalation of trauma and the mistrust between humans comes from Devilman. In fact, if you want to see just how much Ultraman influenced director Anno Hideaki, check out the manga Insufficient Direction, drawn by his mangaka wife, Anno Moyoco ( Hataraki Man, Sugar Sugar Rune). The city structure, otherworldly invaders, time limits, and the sense of scale when the titanic EVAs fight the similarly enormous Angels all come from Ultraman. “ Evangelion is just a rehash of Ideon,” the argument goes, but structurally they don’t have very many things in common. For this post, I’m going to be writing about one of the major progenitors of Evangelion, Space Runaway Ideon, because it’s often brought up as evidence against Evangelion‘s originality and innovation, without thorough understanding as to what Ideon did and did not do relative to Evangelion. However, Evangelion itself carries its own influences from shows of yesteryear. The story of youths with crippling psychological problems who must fight to save the Earth resonated with many, and anime came to copy, challenge, and rethink Evangelion in the years since. Love it or hate it, Neon Genesis Evangelion, is one of the most influential and well-known anime ever. This post is dedicated to Anime World Order‘s Daryl Surat, who over 10 years has pointed out repeatedly that people will bring up the relationship between the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion and Space Runaway Ideon without knowing exactly how they connect. ![]()
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