Holy Week recommendation V: "Neon Genesis Evangelion"

Just like with anything out there, there are lots of bad stuff, some good ones and few great ones. When it comes to Japanese animation, Neon Genesis Evangelion is the best of the best.


From it’s opening theme to the controversial and nerve-wrecking plot, Evangelion appeared during the mid 90s and became a breaking point in animation. We know the Japanese don’t make their cartoon only for kids, but for anyone who wants to be bombarded with a blast of imagination without being bounded by reality. Evangelion pushes that concept to the limit.



Evangelion has 26 episodes for TV and 2 movies, which, depending on who you ask, could be a real finale, or another look at the end we were already told. And by finale, I mean it. With the final episode (or movie) in Evangelion, the world ends. There is nothing more. Or maybe there is, but not as we know it. So, let’s take a look at one of the greatest, if not the greatest piece of animation ever made.

In the year 2015 the Earth is devastated by what is knows as “The Second Impact”, a disaster of cataclysmic proportions that destroyed Antarctica and killed half the world’s population. A 14-year old biy, Shinji Ikari arrives to the city of Tokyo 3 after being called by his father. After arriving, he will witness a huge monster being attacked by civilian forces and finally stopped momentarily by a bomb. After being rescued, he is taken to the Nerv, where his father is commander in chief.

Sachiel, the third angel

In Nerv, Shinji finally meets his father after several years. But also, he learns the harsh reality. The monsters that are attacking the city are angels send by God to produce the “Third Impact” and move forward to another reality. Eventually we will learn that to do this, they have to fuse with Adam, the first angel, who is being held captive in embryonic from by Nerv.

Adam, the first angel

Lilith, the second angel, is held captive in Nerv's headquarters

Furthermore, Shinji has been summoned to serve as a pilot for the Evangelion, giant organism made with Adam’s angelic DNA. These Evangelions lack a soul and Shinji, as well as the other Evangelion pilots, will have to serve as such.

The Eva 01

The battles are quick, bloody and breath-taking, enough to gather a huge legion of fanboys. Add to that the deep psychological processes between the different characters, from the loud and arrogant Asuka, to the silent and almost autistic Rei, both also Evangelion pilots. Every battle will take a mental toll on the characters, to the point in which an inevitable fate will come to occur, for better or for worse.



The idea that God wants to destroy his creation to “improve it” is not a new one. Having already destroyed its creation with a flood, this time God starts sending his angels with a specific purpose and it’s up to us, humans, to stop them.

Personally, I have to admit that Evangelion played a key role in my questioning of the beliefs I once had. The different interpretations of Christianity and its lining along other beliefs, even as part of a cartoon show, made a crack in what I once thought was rock solid. If there is only one cartoon you should ever consider to watch, that cartoon is Evangelion

Holy Week recommendation II: "The Crime of Father Amaro"

The movie is based on a novel written in 1875, which means that priests haven’t been that holy for a long, long time. If they ever were. "The Crime of Father Amaro" was nominated for best foreign movie.



Father Amaro (played by Gael García Bernal) arrives to a small town in Mexico, where he is sent to learn from the elderly priest in charge. He starts celebrating mass and is admired by the extremely Catholic inhabitants, especially by Amelia, a young woman who teaches catechism to the children. Amaro soon notices that the older priest has an affair with Amelia’s mother, but says nothing. He also says nothing about the construction of a hospital that is financed by drug money.

"You will go to heaven, but there is room for only one Virgin there

On the other side, there is another priest who is criticized for helping a leftist guerrilla. He eventually will get defrocked, but will continue to help the insurgents.

Having feelings for Amaro, Amelia dumps her boyfriend Ruben, a journalist and an atheist who has proof about the relationship between the church and the area drug lord. He writes an article for the local newspaper, but the church threatens it with withdrawing their advertisements from the newspaper. Ruben is fired and then his home vandalized by angered Catholics and his father results injured

Not even God can escape this temptation

Amelia announces she is pregnant with Amaro’s child. Despite the words about love being a blessing, Amaro refuses to acknowledge that he is the father, since that would threaten his career as a priest. Amelia asks Ruben to marry her, but he refuses. Amaro then arranges for Amelia to have an abortion. At night, he takes her, along with a devout catholic woman to a clinic, but she starts bleeding profusely. Amaro tries to get her to a hospital, but she dies in the way.

Days later, Amaro celebrates mass, while the town thinks that Ruben was the one who impregnated Amelia and Amaro saved her.

Oh, yeah, thank you guys for blaming the atheist.
Now come and keep drinking the cool-aid.

The depiction of the admiration the people feel for their priests (“Father Amaro is a living Saint”) is a great reflection of reality, a reality in which people, especially poor and uneducated, tend to blindly trust their priests, pastors, and in general, anyone who claims to represent God. A sad reality that ended up in thousands of children being abused.

Another thing worth noting is that among the “bad” priests, there is a good one who chooses to serve where he is needed. More than trying to patch the Catholic Church’s reputation, I think this represents pretty well that those who get the most recognition aren’t usually the best ones when it comes to “serving God”.

There is also the fact that Amaro feels guilty for what he does, at least at first. But then, he finds a way to reconcile his conscience with his priestly duty and then keep doing what he does, meaning, Amelia. At least this time it was a willing young woman instead of a boy.

Finally, the people’s zeal about defending their priests against those who criticize them depicts pretty well the kind of sheep religion breeds.

Overall, The Crime of Padre Amaro is a great drama that will have viewers, both believers and non-believers entertained and outraged. And maybe, might make some believers rethink their ideas about priests, pastors and other snake-oil dealers.

Holy Week recommendation I : Chocolat

If you live in a place with a Catholic majority, you have to live with the Holy Week. This is the week that precedes Easter (when Jesus came back to life and became a zombie) and should be of preparation for such an important date (even though it's not a fixed date and changes depending on the lunar calendar (Pagans called, they want royalties for using their way of choosing dates for their rituals).

This is a Holy Week celebration in Spain.
Yes, I know it looks like something else.

Regardless of how it started, the problem is that everything around smells like incense and over-the-top holiness. But not everything is really that bad. I remember, as a schoolkid, I loved holy week since we got 2 days off (Good Thursday and Friday). Had I known that kids in the United States got the whole week off with a less pretentious name (Spring Break) it would have been really pissed off.

Another thing I had to live with was that locals TV stations would broadcast biblical films and cartoons. At that time I enjoyed them, I think because those were once-a-year films. Nowadays it's not funny anymore.

So if you live in that kind of environment, you might want to watch something less preachy. During these week I'll be updating daily with recommendations to have an entertaining and sane Holy Week.

Today's recommendation is Chocolat:



A woman and her daughter arrive to a conservative French town, desiring to open a candy store. The villagers get intrigued during the time she makes the preparations and when she does, some arrive, curious to know what she has to offer. The problem is, she opened her candy store during lent. And the conservative major (played by Alfred Molina) cannot accept that people might have some kind of pleasure (like eating delicious chocolate) during a time that is supposed to be of suffering.

At the same time, a group of gypsies (led by Johnny Depp) arrives to town. They set camp at the riverside, since they are usually shunned by the townspeople. However, they get along pretty well with the chocolate store owner, which infuriates the major and some other conservative villages even more, to the point of burning down their camp.

What? You are an atheist who doesn't celebrate catholic rituals and sells chocolate?
I'll crush you to death!

It's interesting how the protagonist is hinted to be an atheist. But more interesting is how her actions, while not disregarding of the village traditions, are viewed as threatening to the town's morality. While wrapped in a comedy/drama/romance format, it reflects very well how many believers feel about others who won't share their delusion or traditions.

So, go to the rental store, ask a friend, or get it from the internet (you know how, right?), this is a very nice film who would slip well as a family movie.