

For example, the end-of-season fights in Dragon Ball Z, the fights between the
Eva and the Angels in Neon Genesis Evangelion. I've noticed it in far more
things but these are the most recent in my memory.

When a fight is occurring, the more damage which is done to something, even if
it is mechanical, the more powerful it (sometimes) becomes. That doesn't make
any sense to me.

I would prefer an explanation which relates to Japanese culture, if such a
thing exists (for example, the reason why anime has a lot of characters /
machines with weapons attached to their arms is because the Japanese are of
the view that weapons are an extension of the body, not something to be picked
up and thrown away like a pistol in an American action movie - that kind of
thing). However, any insight at all would be great!


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tropes
Why does damaging something sometimes make it more powerful?


Well in both cases you cited it relates to released energy that was somehow
blocked because of the danger of its release. In Dragon Ball, I remember the
scene near the end of the fight with Frieza where Goku tells Gohan something
like this: "If the forces inside of me start unleashing, it will destroy this
planet. You have to get out".

In Evangelion, we learn that the armor of the Evas are actually blockers to
prevent them from going berserk, also hiding the true nature of the Evas, that
they are composed more as a human would be, with skin, flesh and organs, than
as a robot.

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/rGHJ0.jpg)

So these two things are common: the released energy that comes from hard,
critical situations, near death experiences, and the revealing of the true
nature of something, the dark forces inside all of us. I think it could be
symbolic of the awakening of the unconscious part of the self.


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In real life, when your muscles get worn and slightly torn up from use, after
you rest and recover, they will have grown back stronger.

There's a word for the practice of purposefully wearing down your muscles to
cause this phenomenon to happen. It's called _"exercise"_.

What you're seeing(or at least in DBZ), is an exaggerated version of that.


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