This video essay explores recurring imagery of trains in the work of Hideaki Anno. By linking together disparate audio and sound effects from Anno’s TV and cinema, it attempts to explore Anno’s coiled, labyrinthine train space, and chart its phantom contours. It begins by analysing train carriages as a site of mental unrest in Neon Genesis Evangelion (1996). It then contextualizes Anno’s train fixation within film and Japanese history more broadly. In its conclusion, it looks at Anno’s live-action works, before ending on a scene from episode four of Evangelion which uses a train station for a moment of stasis and reconciliation.
Phantom Rides: Trains in the work of Hideaki Anno by River Seager
Submitted 1 week ago by hitagi@ani.social to anime@ani.social
hitagi@ani.social 1 week ago
I found this video essay interesting. The style is a bit different where narration is text on screen but I found it enjoyable without an audible narrator.
I never really thought about the trains in Hideaki Anno’s works but now I’m a lot more conscious about it.