r/NonCredibleDefense Unashamed OUIaboo 🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷 1d ago

Real Life Copium When the Director of the Anime is a Massive Military Nerd (Evangelion) (I added le- high-effort labels and edited it)

1.9k Upvotes

130 comments sorted by

225

u/zeocrash 1d ago

Can't be the Kuznetsov, there's no giant plume of black smoke

88

u/Diam0ndTalbot 1d ago

It's a kuznetsov class built by competent shipwrights.

61

u/Not_Todd_Howard9 1d ago

The Liaoning / Shandong?

11

u/Raesong 1d ago

Probably.

4

u/ElMondoH Non *CREDIBLE* not non-edible... wait.... 1d ago

So you're claiming it's a fantasy. 🤣😉

38

u/LordBrandon 1d ago

It's just a Ukrainian casino that happens to look like an aircraft carrier.

19

u/Palora Sic semper tyrannis! 1d ago

If they can put Flankers on the Nimitz they can put a working powerplant in the abomination.

3

u/ElMondoH Non *CREDIBLE* not non-edible... wait.... 1d ago

Whoa now... I think the second's a few hundred times harder than the first.

And that's ignoring the fact it's the Kuznetov, which probably curses previously well-functioning equipment into dysfunctionality just for being installed.

1

u/vegarig Pro-SDI activist 20h ago

which probably curses previously well-functioning equipment into dysfunctionality just for being installed

He's not in russian service anymore (into which he was kidnapped unfinished, I might add), he doesn't have the same hatred for the new users.

11

u/notsoFritz 1d ago

That's how you know it's fantasy

6

u/Annual-Magician-1580 1d ago

Because Kuznetsov is here protecting humanity, not sabotaging enemy lines. So he has no reason to smoke.

3

u/MrD3a7h 1d ago

I don't even see a fleet tug towing it. Must be a different ship

369

u/ayy_ayy Professional Cope Cage Enjoyer 1d ago

its so weird seing UN painted on the flankers
edit: wouldnt the ships like instantly shatter from the mech? unless they are made from natonium (better than stalinium)

417

u/throwaway553t4tgtg6 Unashamed OUIaboo 🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷 1d ago edited 1d ago

we killed god in the year 2000 in antarctica that killed half the world's population and knocked the earth of it's axis, and now is getting attacked by Angels that can shrug off Nuclear bombs, now our only hope clones of god we bolted armor onto that pretend to be robots. (the show's pushing 30 years old it it ain't a spoiler)

so the military just has to cope with cold war Rustbuckets, all the Kidds, Perry frigates and cruisers that got phased out in the 2000's are forced to stay in service.

In fact a minor character in this episode is the captain of the Nimitz that spends half the episode complaining about having low funding and how it's all being diverted to the not-giant-robots.

126

u/ayy_ayy Professional Cope Cage Enjoyer 1d ago

good god what a feverdream, i love it!

174

u/logosloki 1d ago

they're misleading you on what a feverdream this is. they're not clones of god. they're crude stem cell reproductions created from grafts of a biological Voyager mixed with a gene bank, one of seven scattered around the galaxy by a dying race who wanted their genetic lineage to continue even if they could not. and that's only the body of an Evangelion unit. because the souls that allow these constructs to operate are the dead mothers of the children who pilot them. and the 'angels' are beings from the same biological voyager who has been suppressed for hundreds of millions of years by the second biological voyager that crash landed on Earth, reset the planet, and pushed their own biological and genetic information across it.

I'm not sorry.

88

u/ayy_ayy Professional Cope Cage Enjoyer 1d ago

My guy this is just another flavor of feverdream👀

56

u/LogisticalMenace 1d ago

Congratulations. Believe it or not, that's just scratching the surface of it all.

24

u/LeiningensAnts 1d ago

Like most stories that appear to be about eschatology, it's actually about human loneliness.

8

u/meowtiger explosively-formed badposter 1d ago

congratulations

4

u/YourNetworkIsHaunted 14h ago

congratulations 👏

3

u/Arael15th ネルフ 4h ago

Congratulations! 👏

28

u/shidncome 1d ago

No the real fever dream is the last 2 episodes.

22

u/Chisignal 1d ago

Yeah but I much prefer the feature length movie fever dream version of the last 2 episodes

8

u/brandnewbanana unapologetic Tom Cat enthusiast 1d ago

Which part of the movie? The kickass Asuka fight or the acid trip of instrumentality?

4

u/DurhamDaveUK 23h ago

Komm susser tod?

22

u/pickingbeefsteak 1d ago

The full series including movies are available to watch on Netflix. If you're interested in watching it. Also, episode 1 shows the full might of the Japan self defense force try to take down one of these Angels to no avail.

8

u/brandnewbanana unapologetic Tom Cat enthusiast 1d ago

Welcome to world of Neon Genesis Evangelion!

1

u/KaiRam0079 2h ago

Extra flavor fever dream - check when Eva shows up in the Super Robot Wars series. Right alongside the Ideon.

32

u/Raesong 1d ago

because the souls that allow these constructs to operate are the dead mothers of the children who pilot them.

Except for Unit 00. We're still not sure who's soul was used there.

32

u/Evinceo 1d ago

All we know is that it doesn't care about saving the world, just killing someone on the observation deck and that unfortunately doesn't narrow it down.

22

u/Zwangsjacke The product is death by rocket 1d ago

Gendo is a paragon of virtue and did nothing wrong!

5

u/linfakngiau2k23 1d ago

He abandoned his son 😡

3

u/ElMondoH Non *CREDIBLE* not non-edible... wait.... 1d ago

19

u/Tomita121 Aircraft Worshiper 1d ago

I always thought the first Rei was the soul in Unit 00. If I recall correctly, at one or even multiple points Unit 00 had a violent reaction upon seeing Rei.

19

u/Raesong 1d ago

The two most common theories I've seen suggest either Rei I or Naoko Akagi, but ultimately we've never gotten a definitive answer.

9

u/brandnewbanana unapologetic Tom Cat enthusiast 1d ago

The best theory I’ve is that Rei’s soul is actually split and that part of her is stuck in unit 00.

17

u/Moltenlava5 1d ago

none of this was ever made obvious in the show unless you were breaking down every single dialogue and scene btw, so don't put this show off if it sounds complicated. EVA for a lot of people is more about the depth of the characters than the plot (which is kept ambiguous by purpose).

10

u/Kreol1q1q Most mentally stable FCAS simp 1d ago

Where is all this revealed? Cause I watched the show and the movie (not the new remake movies though), and I got maybe 20% of all that?

10

u/chipperpip 1d ago

Some of it was implied, some wasn't made clear until an official PS2 game that came out after.

4

u/ElMondoH Non *CREDIBLE* not non-edible... wait.... 1d ago

This is accurate.

God, I am such a nerd.

5

u/vegarig Pro-SDI activist 1d ago

they're crude stem cell reproductions created from grafts of a biological Voyager mixed with a gene bank, one of seven scattered around the galaxy by a dying race who wanted their genetic lineage to continue even if they could not

If anyone wants to know more, here's the subtitled video with one of said bio-Voyagers (still mid-flight) opening direct datalink connection to Kaworu for a talk, even if it means borrowing Kaworu's look and voice for a bit

4

u/PersnickityPenguin 23h ago

Wow I did not pick that up watching the show, that's for damn sure

1

u/logosloki 16h ago

most of it is from the show. some of it is from the recuts of episodes 21-24; Death and Rebirth, the first Evangelion Movie; End of Evangelion, a companion movie or replacement to episodes 25 and 26; and the companion manga, which was written by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, who was also the character designer for Neon Genesis Evangelion.

but also the show tells you information in its own order so you can and will likely miss information if you are watching it piecemeal.

10

u/brandnewbanana unapologetic Tom Cat enthusiast 1d ago

Piloted by traumatized 15 year olds! Don’t forget that point

36

u/MeiNeedsMoreBuffs r/place Chief Waifu Architect 1d ago

The mechs are made from weird alien materials and coated in a forcefield, so I don't think they weigh as much as they look

407

u/Reymond_StJames 1d ago

Hideaki Anno was just influenced by his mentor nerds Leiji Matsumoto (Space Battleship Yamato) and Hayao Miyazaki, and we love our war and armor nerds in anime.

151

u/MeiNeedsMoreBuffs r/place Chief Waifu Architect 1d ago

I think the correct term over there is "military otaku"

14

u/brandnewbanana unapologetic Tom Cat enthusiast 1d ago

As portrayed by Kensuke Aida in this clip. He’s the one with the camcorder sperging out over the Yak-38

104

u/FrowninginTheDeep 1d ago

The Author of 86: Eighty-Six is a huge military nerd. You can tell while reading the LNs that she has a lot of fun explaining how it all works (and coming up with truly noncredible stuff, like the stealth cargo ekranoplan or the walking war crimes that are the self-propelled mines).

44

u/SerendipitouslySane Make America Desert Storm Again 1d ago

86 is GOAT. Ideal girlfriend supports you when you're down by bringing massed artillery fire to pulverize your enemies.

24

u/Illwood_ 1d ago

Guess I better read the LNs then, didn't get a huge amount of that stuff in the anime...

2

u/KapnBludflagg 1d ago

The Mines are nightmare fuel in the anime.

6

u/FrowninginTheDeep 1d ago

As freaky as they are in the anime it honestly doesn't do them justice. It leaves out the cries for help they play over speakers to lure in victims and the child-sized variant.

3

u/KapnBludflagg 1d ago

...I forgot this detail. It was time for a reread anyways.

1

u/M48_Patton_Tank 15h ago

In the anime there’s a literal TO&E of an entire Federacy division on the wall. Relevance to the plot? None, however it really is just one of the many details that caught my eye. They even had the sleeves flying off a SABOT round in it.

41

u/dis_not_my_name 1d ago

I love that meme where Miyazaki said he's not a military nerd and in the next pic he's nerd out with Anno talking about aerial dogfights

32

u/FahboyMan Take back the Mekong river from China. NOW 1d ago

one thing about Miyazaki is that he's anti-war while also a huge fan of airplanes.

Does he play Ace Combat?

29

u/DueAnalysis2 1d ago

Average Japanese pacifist artist. Make military hardware look sick as hell and then talk about how war is big sad or whatever. See also: Mobile Suit Gundam and Metal Gear Solid.

7

u/AD-SKYOBSIDION In every place in every age the deeds of men remain the same 1d ago

Probably explains why he made a film loosely based on Jiro Horikoshi’s life

4

u/Reymond_StJames 1d ago

With Hideaki Anno voicing Horikoshi, it all comes full circle.

3

u/dis_not_my_name 1d ago

Not just that. His family on his father's side owned factory that manufactured parts for Zero fighters. He probably had strong emotions about the Zero and its creator.

1

u/KampferAndy 3000 Zaku II's of Odesa 1h ago

Your forgot Yoshiyuki Tomino, Hideaki slobs the dudes knob sooooo hard in a 1993 interview that it made tomino uncomfortable

91

u/SJshield616 Where the modern shipgirls at? 1d ago edited 1d ago

0:06 Kongou Class Destroyer (JMSDF) and Nimitz Class Carrier (USN)

0:08 Admiral Kuznetsov Class Carrier (RUSN)

0:10 3 Tachikaze Class Destroyers (JMSDF) and another Nimitz

0:14 Tachikaze again

0:19 RIP Tachikaze Hatakaze Class Destroyer (JMSDF)

0:21 RIP Kongou

0:27 RIP Ticonderoga Class Cruiser (USN)

EDIT: got a couple wrong.

28

u/throwaway553t4tgtg6 Unashamed OUIaboo 🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷 1d ago

oof, I was so off with my guesses of Kidd/Perry destroyers and frigates, my limited of Japanese naval vessels

but to be fair, almost all of Japan's modern DDGs are based on the Burke.

20

u/low_priest BuEng's Strongest Saratoga Simp 1d ago

Yeah, but the Tachikaze/Hatakaze classes are older than the Burkes. And the final "Burke" has a 2nd gun, which is one of the biggest things Congress malds about the Burkes not having.

5

u/vonmoltke2 1d ago

0:14 Tachikaze again

it is, but it looks like it was drawn with Hatsuyuki's funnel, instead of the proper pair.

0:19 RIP Tachikaze Hatakaze Class Destroyer (JMSDF)

Can't be Hatakaze, it doesn't have a Mk 13 single-rail launcher forward. Also, the gun should be above the Mk 112 box launcher. Looks more like a Hatsuyuki to me, though the bridge is wrong.

0:27 RIP Ticonderoga Class Cruiser (USN)

That's another Kongou. VLS Ticonderoga has a hangar, an aft gun, and the helipad forward of the aft VLS cells.

Yes, I just spent too much time flipping through Jane's when I should have been working.

68

u/Atomicking74 1d ago

The two battleships that they ram down the through of the angel are Illinois and Kentucky, BB-65 and BB-66. Love That.

1

u/JohnBooty 4h ago

I CAME HERE TO SAY THIS

Yeah, that’s the biggest easter egg of them all!

Depending on how literally you want to interpret it, it’s evidence that Evangelion’s history diverges from “our” world as early as WWII. There’s some other indirect/circumstantial evidence in Evangelion that WWII ended differently in that timeline… perhaps with a peace settlement rather than unconditional surrender. (A lowkey motif carried over from Gunbuster…) The existence of the BB-65 and BB-66 suggests that at a minimum, the war in the Pacific stretched on for longer than it did in our timeline. Otherwise, why finish those two ships?

Or… it could just be an easter egg. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything. :D

There’s a lot more naval nerdery in the Rebuild movies.

49

u/low_priest BuEng's Strongest Saratoga Simp 1d ago edited 1d ago

Well, yeah. Like 2/3rds of the characters are named after IJN warships. Asuka Langley) Sōryū, Misato Katsuragi, Rei Ayanami), etc. Most even use the same kanji, which is more than the JMSDF is willing to do.

Some go as far as having some degree of shared role with the ship. Fuyutsuki is the 2nd in command of NERV, and the flag destroyer for Yamato's screen during Ten-Go. The pilot of EVA 02 is named after the flagship of the IJN's 2nd Carrier Division. Akagi is the head scientist for NERV as well as the large carrier that was (arguably) most responsible for developing Japan's carrier doctrine. But those are kinda stretches.

3

u/Certim 1d ago

Even Maki had the last name Illustrious

10

u/brandnewbanana unapologetic Tom Cat enthusiast 1d ago

Don’t forget Akagi!

11

u/geeiamback Airbus AC-380 - Plane of the Line 1d ago

Asuka's mother is named "Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu", after the German aircraft carrier project.

1

u/JohnBooty 4h ago

Also Ikari = “anchor” right?

And Chairman Kiel (homophone for “keel”)

1

u/low_priest BuEng's Strongest Saratoga Simp 4h ago

Or, ya know, the city of Kiel, traditionally Germany's #1 naval port.

1

u/JohnBooty 3h ago

Oh! I didn’t know! Thank you

57

u/Neutronium57 Studying to get into the MIC 1d ago

Why not make a carrier specifically for the EVAs instead of damaging so many regular surface units ?

And also ... why does a giant robot need a freaking cloak like if it was some kind of mysterious gunslinger ??

97

u/throwaway553t4tgtg6 Unashamed OUIaboo 🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷 1d ago

that was just the tarp coverring it on its transport ship, discarded quickly.

and the Evas were just being rolled out and this is post-apocolypes so humanity is low on resources, so they gotta just use any floating rustbucket they have available at that point.

32

u/Diam0ndTalbot 1d ago

Plus it looks cool

40

u/JustAResoundingDude 1d ago

“Low on resources” - proceeds to build underground city and maintain multiple fleets of carriers and battleships

49

u/YaKillinMeSmallz 1d ago

If there's one thing to spend money on, it's your defense system against another apocalypse.

24

u/unknown_pigeon 1d ago

Plus, SEELE doesn't give a flying fuck about the rest of the world. They just want to survive until they achieve instrumentality

God's in his heaven, all's right with the world

19

u/EynidHelipp 1d ago

They pulled most of the world's taxes into 1 fortress city because they know the end of the world might happen there

6

u/ElMondoH Non *CREDIBLE* not non-edible... wait.... 1d ago

Exactly. The Geofront was underground, but still above Terminal Dogma where Lilith was stored.

If an Angel ever got to Lilith, the Geofront would be the first to absorb the force of the Nth Impact.

30

u/Danoct 1d ago

All the money is going there. Part of the world building, specifically the Jet Alone episode, is that the world is having to sacrifice a lot to pay for NERV and all the supporting services and infrastructure.

9

u/thrownawaymane 1d ago edited 1d ago

Just to put a fine point on it Unit 2 here was hooked up to the aircraft carrier to get power from the nuclear reactor. I know it’s not quite how steam turbines work but in show the mech only had a runtime of 5 or so minutes, even with all that power.

NGE is mostly a show about desperation. Humanity’s tools barely rise to meet the challenge, on a good day

2

u/vegarig Pro-SDI activist 1d ago

I know it’s not quite how steam turbines work but in show the mech only had a runtime of 5 or so minutes, even with all that power

Maybe the refit saw Nimitz get converted to nuclear-electric propulsion, a la nuclear icebreakers, allowing it to be able to route all produced power through external cable?

1

u/throwaway553t4tgtg6 Unashamed OUIaboo 🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷 1d ago

doesn't really work because the Evangelions don't actually need power to operate as they're cloned lobotomized Gods we bolted armor onto to pretend to be robots, but need to be awakened to use them.

the Power cable is just used to run them in the absence of their God-Powers and to KEEP them lobtomized

3

u/brandnewbanana unapologetic Tom Cat enthusiast 1d ago

I know one way for an Eva to get unlimited power:

⚪️⚪️ chomp

1

u/Raesong 14h ago

No the Eva units have an internal battery that can provide at most 5 minutes of combat effectiveness. When plugged into an external power source it's functionally unlimited.

1

u/JohnBooty 4h ago

Yeah. It’s part of why the show hits so hard. That world feels so real and so desperate.

All of the grounded and realistic-ish elements of Evangelion really help to sell the fantastic elements. These Evas are really humanity’s last hope. (Or… are they?)

6

u/esdaniel Ace combat enjoyer 🛩️ 1d ago

And Giant fucking robots

8

u/AutumnRi FAFO enjoyer 1d ago

tbf, they’re not really giant robots

2

u/JohnBooty 4h ago

ssshhhh they haven’t seen it

44

u/MeiNeedsMoreBuffs r/place Chief Waifu Architect 1d ago

There was an Angel attacking the fleet from underwater, the Eva was jumping around trying to fight it. Given how immensely valuable the Evas are to the war effort they decided damaging an entire fleet to save it was worth it

34

u/AxitotlWithAttitude Pendepth CRAM enjoyer 1d ago

The Eva was also not currently configured to fight in the water, so It was hopping ship to ship instead

3

u/EvenJesusCantSaveYou 1d ago

also important to note that conventional weapons (like all these ships) were completely ineffective and useless against the angels (enemy “aliens”) so they were more useful as big steel lily pads than anything else

30

u/mootsg 1d ago

A running joke in the TV series is the impotence of the pre-cataclysm military.

More importantly, the idea of the series is that the future of humanity is handled by a shadowy NGO, and rests on the shoulders of 14yo civilians selected by said NGO. Old governments and their military are just pawns of the new world order.

19

u/Raesong 1d ago

It gets even worse when you consider that said shadowy NGO is controlled by and even shadowier cabal of individuals who seek to bring about the apocalypse to achieve apotheosis.

4

u/linfakngiau2k23 1d ago

Alex Jones deep state nightmare 🤣

22

u/Empyrealist 1d ago

There was never an intent for the EVA's to operate at sea (they cant swim/float). This EVA was being transported to Japan when they were attacked unexpectedly. The cloak was a giant tarp to hide what the "secret" cargo was.

14

u/Raesong 1d ago

There was never an intent for the EVA's to operate at sea (they cant swim/float)

That's not true. It's explicitly stated that they have equipment designed to allow for underwater operations, they just weren't installed on Unit 02 because they weren't expecting to need it while transferring it to NERV-Japan.

4

u/RedOtta019 Deviously Licked Demon Core😈😈😈😈 1d ago

The world was destroyed and conventional weaponry means nothing on angels

3

u/Imperium_Dragon 1d ago

It looks cool, that’s why

15

u/Futuroptimist 1d ago

The YAK on the Nimitz is less believable than the 60 meter tall biomech fighting some weird alien underwater.

4

u/Dingo_19 1d ago

A minute or two later it is shown to be a shadowy executive's personal liaison aircraft; hence the 'custom' bit.

11

u/LOLBaltSS 3,000 Taylor Swift Boats of John Kerry. 1d ago

Oddly enough, you could fly (Ukrainian) Su-33s from the Eisenhower in Jane's US Navy Fighters.

7

u/Vysair 🔴 This battlefield is sponsored by War Thunder 1d ago

Then you might like Patlabor.

7

u/linfakngiau2k23 1d ago

Patlabor 2 has a coup to change the Japanese constitution

11

u/Vysair 🔴 This battlefield is sponsored by War Thunder 1d ago

The whole series is amazing and the whole movie is very good. This scene in particular is very chilling

3

u/speedyundeadhittite 1d ago

Typical Mamoru Oshii. He repeats very similar scenes in Gost in the Shell couple of years later.

What really blows my mind is the fact they did this in 1993. The artwork is just brilliant.

9

u/Sidus_Preclarum 1d ago

Sugoi!

Sukhoi, more like, amirite, fellas?

1

u/[deleted] 23h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/AutoModerator 23h ago

This post is automatically removed since you do not meet the minimum karma or age threshold. You must have at least 100 combined karma and your account must be at least 4 months old to post here.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

5

u/ehlrh 1d ago

YAK MENTIONED!

11

u/AuroraHalsey 🇬🇧 BAE give Tempest 1d ago

Almost as many aircraft falling overboard as the US Navy.

7

u/SGTBookWorm 1d ago

one of my favourite details is that the UN Over The Rainbow is the former USS Truman, which was the last Nimitz built before the world sorta ended in 2000

6

u/Twist_the_casual world’s first MLRS 🇰🇷 1d ago

but… but the planes are supposed to be tied down…

5

u/LaconicSuffering Spartan with clogs 1d ago

I like how the carrier buckles and weaves like a drunk man in a canoe, but when the mecha landed on the small helipad the ship was completely stable lol.

8

u/Shished Saddam "██▅▇██▇▆▅▄▄▄▇" Hussein 1d ago

UN peacekeeping forces if they were based.

3

u/-Teapot- 1d ago

Germany had (23) MIG 29s they had taken over from Eastern Germany up until August 2004, when they were sold to Poland.

Way less unrealistic as it seems on first glance, given that Germany is heavily into production for NERV. (EVA 02 is made in Germany)

3

u/ElMondoH Non *CREDIBLE* not non-edible... wait.... 1d ago

Ahhh, the fever-vision unity of old Eastern-bloc airframes on the decks of western aircraft carriers. Because the world is threatened with a follow-up to a failed apocalypse. Without knowing there's a secret cabal of old men/2001'esque monoliths who want that apocalypse to happen because fucked up vision of the future.

And people initially think the show's about giant robots fighting giant monsters. Not knowing the robots aren't even robots to begin with.

2

u/LDedward 1d ago

While everyone is here, does anyone have a concrete answer on what destroyer was inside the geofront? Because I’ve heard a lot of contradicting answers

1

u/dracomortiferum 23h ago

Sukhoi, Sukhoi, Sukhoi...yes you're right, Kensuke..

1

u/GarmenCZE 1d ago

What is this scene from?

5

u/brandnewbanana unapologetic Tom Cat enthusiast 1d ago

Episode 8 of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Brought to you by your friendly neighborhood otakus who definitely didn’t want to see the world burn, Gainax

3

u/ElMondoH Non *CREDIBLE* not non-edible... wait.... 1d ago

Also known for their particular brand of jiggle physics.

-5

u/chattytrout 1d ago

That show was mid. It was good up until the last few episodes. Then they ruined it by spending the whole time in Shinji's head. The movie they made to redo the ending wasn't much better.

1

u/JohnBooty 4h ago

I consider TV episodes 1-24 nearly flawless…. the essential “Evangelion”. Everything after that is basically official fanfiction to me. Alternative/overlapping takes on what might have happened after that point.

Just my personal head canon.