The Cart Driver

I could have made my entire 12 days of moments from Aquarion EVOL. The scene where Andy yells about filling holes to Mix. That sudden realisation that Kagura was talking in reverse. Shrade joining in the strip fest as he’s overcome with the emotion emanating from the giant robots. The final episode and Aquarion LOVE. But you know what? Picking something awesomely dumb from EVOL is too easy and obvious. I want to make a point with this post that EVOL is more than the sum of its dumb parts. It has heart and characters with arcs that revolve around themes and all these other things that make up what you normally consider a fine story to make. The best story is that of Andy.

Andy W. Hole is the best character in EVOL. Not just for the awesome name or his general enthusiastic outlook on life, but because he is the character with a development that most embodies what EVOL is all about. At the start of the series he’s a booby obsessed enthusiastic perv. His fascination with trying to break into the ladies side of the dormitory is based on a rather immature attitude towards women. So of course he’s paired up with Mix, the girl who believes that all men are wicked and evil and will corrupt the minds of young women. Exactly the person Andy’s enthusiastic attitude wouldn’t win over, and Andy is exactly the kind of person that Mix believes all men are like.

But poor old Andy eventually does fall for Mix. At first it’s because of those impressive Big Bangs, but as the series progresses it starts to be based off mutual respect and fondness for each other. It stops beings lust and starts being love, if you forgive the incredibly sappy turn of phrase. Mix too starts to respect Andy a bit more as she sees beyond his perv exterior to his loyal and loving side beneath. But then the shocking happens. The end of the Big Bangs! Mix turns into Mixy! Andy is distraught! What has happened to his first real love? He was never able to apologise for his terrible attempt at a confession, and he was left stewing in his own depression.

What I figured EVOL would do is have Andy’s power of love or his determination would cause the big bangs to re-appear. “I don’t like Mixy, I love Mix” and *poof* boobs. Because you know, he can’t say he loves a dude. That would be ewww gross. But no, EVOL defied my expectations by having Andy declare his love for him/her anyway, because to him it doesn’t matter. It’s the perfect growth of his character. At the start he only cared about purely superficial qualities, but by the end Love had won and even when the object of his affection was no longer a girl, that really didn’t matter to him. For Mix too, it was the true sign that Andy really believed in what he said and would go to the ends of the earth for her, no matter what she was like on the outside.

(As an aside, Mix did get those Big Bangs back in the ending credits, but I’m OK with that. The key part was Andy accepting Mix no matter what she looked like. Ultimately though, Mix still identified as a girl and forcing her to remain as a dude would be unfair to her).

That’s what Aquarion EVOL is all about. The power of Love breaking down all boundaries  from time and space to physical and mental form. As sappy as that may be, it’s so fully embraced by everything EVOL does that it far transcends the rather ridiculous way it tells this story.