Hit the nail on the head. One thing I always fixated when it came to Eva was all the mechanical designs and the architecture. It may not be noticeable to everyone, but it is certainly something I appreciated. Utena is just really pretty and the architecture in that show is very hard to miss.
Honestly, as a storyteller, I think a lot about environments, architecture, and how they can convey worldbuilding and meaning, so I was ecstatic to see you bring together two of my favorite anime for some analysis of their architecture and how they intersect this way! I had never really thought of mecha as architectural in design and spirit, but it makes total sense. I especially liked hearing about how Utena's architectural shift from series to movie was so closely linked to the characters' development and advancement towards more mature versions of themselves. Something I'm reminded of as well is the great attention and detail given to architecture in Bong Joon-ho's Parasite, and how it's directly connected to a lot of the film's themes on wealth gaps, class, and class mobility, with the vertical stratification of layers in architecture becoming a visual metaphor for the rigidity and institutional structure of economic inequality. I kinda wish you had done a bit more thematic/narrative analysis of Evangelion's architecture, but overall, I still love this. I'm surprised this video has gotten so little widespread exposure, because it's really neat!
I did a panel once on Evangelion and Utena, how deeply related they are. This was in 2020 (before the quarantine) and I'm still finding new ties! The architecture in Utena goes so hard! I haven't really given it much thought that the entire cast of Utena is insanely priviledged. What are the masses doing while the elite put on a show of duels and personal drama? That obelisc in front of Utena's dormitory is a zodiac sundial, representing the idea of destiny, one of the themes of the show. How many people noticed that? Did it have to be there? Such attention to detail! And Evangelion has so much rotation in its architecture, so many systems of screws within screws, even the solar energy whatever-it-is rotates. Is it like the rotating roses of Utena, révolution having a double meaning in French as it does in English? Quality video, education in the arts helps one better appreciate anime!
As a frog who has already spend hours arguing about how Le Centre Pompidou is one of the coolest building in Paris, I approve this video. Great stuff as usual.
I remember when i first was shown it in a class, many people hated it, but it honestly is just very different from the generic mental image of a neoclassic/baroque Parisian affair, so the Francophile stereotype here ironically restricts peoples acceptance of other, newer and interesting french designs. Structural Expressionism is something i think i always enjoyed but just got better at voicing my like of, the HSBC Hong Kong main building is a personal favorite of mine since i was very young.
Anything well designed i appreciate, but also i tend to just naturally build up a sense of taste for whatever i get into. As for the steel thing, i will have to get around to the whole biology and mecha deal at some point...
I really like your whole point, but dammit Versailles is not Baroque, it's literally a showcase of Classic, emphasizing the straight lines and proportion, while baroque is all about curves and finding beauty in natural accidents
Not sure what you mean there, Versailles certainly has classic features but it was literally taught to me as one of the big examples of Boroque in action. It is important to note that Boroque was blended into classical quite frequently, with exteriors running the traditional classical tripartite details while interiors were fitted out in the Boroque. This trend can be seen in many contemporary examples like the Plais Garnier or even Spanish new Royal Palace of Madrid.
@@argonbolt i guess you are right ^^' The way I was taught it, classic was the big thing pushed by Louis XIV, leaving the baroque and taste for the nature behind But tbh I didn't study the question further
