> It's not that deep.

Did we even read the same article?

I do know it's not deep at all. Yet there really is this aura of not just "philosophical curiosity" but even "academical relevance".

> Like most shows do.

Most shows have lots of inspirations and references, yes. But that's it then. Fans may then write whatever they want, and perhaps a few of them reach really thoughtful levels.

Yet it's always only NGE that you hear. Like, I get it's also the most popular (for as much as this is kinda a circular explanation) but this is totally despite its shallowness. And wrongness (because jesus H. christ anything that mentions freud should have a disclaimer)

It's almost as if people were working backwards from some kind of need to validate/romanticize/elevate the characters (as opposed to them only being the eventual object of the analysis) if everything and the kitchen sink is good enough to throw at the wall just because they have been named once.

> The Christianity stuff was done for stylistic reasons

I mean, that's seemed to be the topic you were focusing this comments tree on.