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aabir

Neon Genesis Evangelion has, across multiple generations, spawned varied responses. Some respond with utter glee, others still pride themselves on the sole fact that they understand it, and others yet equate it to the Mariana trench (that is, 2deep4you). While clearly, it's faults cannot be downplayed enough, there is no doubt that Evangelion has made a spot for itself in the history of anime (and maybe even entertainment in general). After all, its been almost 20 years since it aired, and we are still talking about it. How many series that air today will be mentioned twenty years down the line? In fact, how many will even be remembered after a month? Still, Evangelion lives on in history, for what though, still remains. img(http://i.imgur.com/Fu88CKo.jpg) Artwork and Animation (3/10) While NGEs animation was top of the line when it released, nowdays, it just looks like absolute trash. While NGE in itself shouldn't be blamed for the technology of its time, I must take into account what a person watching it now must go through, and the artwork stands as the biggest hurdle between you and NGE. First of all, the problems start with the fact that while NGE aired (1995), TVs used to be round screen and CRTs were the shit, a HD720 flat screen monitor was almost science fiction at that point. From that perspective, it is no surprise that NGE was never made in 720p (or a higher quality), and as such, a release of that quality cannot exist. So the best you can possibly get off the web is a 700~ x 480. Not even 480p. Oh, and this pseudo 480p release? Yeah, even that is upscaled. No wonder your viewing experience will be terrible. img(http://i.imgur.com/s6nw5aR.jpg) >pic related. See how bad it scales? While the choppy animation in itself isn't all that terrible -more like, you can get used to it- the artwork is bad. Yeah, twenty years of technological enhancement really spoils people. Any more on the art section is pointless. It is horrible (even the anilist icon for it is an exaggeration) , get used to it if you feel like watching NGE. Still, I'm going to rely on the pictures from the TV series (mostly the OP since it has much, much better artwork), just maybe you will get acclimated to it by the time we are done here. Maybe. Sound and music (9/10) Let's start with the Voice acting. Almost all the releases that you can find on the web today are dual audio. Now, even though I'm no fan of dubs, the english dub is decent enough to be watched. Still, my preference goes to the Japanese dubs.While the voice acting for the Japanese side is fairly good, it isn't all that clear in terms of quality (not by modern standards anyways), though that can be chalked down to poor equipment more than anything. The environmental noises are great (2D4U's release somehow has 5.1), so there is something of value there. Now, let's talk music. You know how all the old timers keep talking about how the music was better in their time? Yeah, well get in your seats for the greatest OP you ever listened to. Cruel Angel's Thesis (by Yoko Takahashi) is by far one of the greatest openings of all time, and its music video is extraordinary (if a bit mature) to say the least. youtube(3nQNSLB3Lpk) But we aren't done yet, the ED, Claire's "Fly Me To The Moon", is iconic in its own way, but its a sad thing that its actually just a copy paste. Not that you would realize if you were born in the 2000's or don't listen to Frank Sinatra. Story (29/30) Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up, back up. Did I honestly, seriously, crazily just say that a story was 20/20? Why, that is the same thing as saying its perfect and perfection doesn't exist! Admittedly, 20/20 is a bit...too much, but I must say I'm impressed by the story. More impressed than I have been of anything. Some people like to point out (repeatedly) that NGE is 2Deep4you, and that that is a fault. To which I reply, how is deep anything but a compliment? How is, saying that a story is meaningful and complex possibly a fault? Do you not like an engaging story that keeps you at your wits end? Do you not like a story that all but blows your mind with its sheer size and complexity? If you said "I don't" to even one of the above, then you are a hundred years too early to ever watch (and enjoy) Evangelion. I suggest you flock to SAO or To-Love Ru for mindless grazing on the plains of fap material. See ya when you get bored of watching the same shit over and over. img(http://i.imgur.com/OFyapjc.jpg) __Premise__ - The premise of NGE relies on a dystopian world set in 2015 (almost there!) when out of absolutely nowhere -for the second time- an angel attacks. This isn't your average god's messenger though, it is a big fucking robot/alien thingy which blows everything to bits, because why the fuck not - explosions are cool. The United Nations responds like it always does - with a LOT of firepower. Sadly, their firepower falls flat on their faces, because, well, its a fucking angel. It doesn't give a fuck about your democracy. At this point a secret branch called NERV comes in, hoping to destroy the angel using their own brand of killer robot - but science hasn't progressed far enough for the killed robots to be properly utilized. Half the time, that shit doesn't even launch and its a big thing if it can walk. Can humanity really save itself from getting rekt at the hands of the thirteen angels that will bring doom upon earth? img(http://i.imgur.com/BOaFwAD.jpg) __Execution__ - Say what you will about Evangelion, but the hard fact is that its execution couldn't be better. If you are even slightly impressed by the story before ep13, get prepared to get blown off the ridge. Because when I say NGE is extreme, I mean it. You will never see the turn on the road and half the clues will slip right by you. But when they come together, you will go "holy jesus fucking christ on a moped! That was awesome! Where did they pull that out of? I never noticed" And that my friends, is what a story is. Something that keeps surprising you, something that engages your mind -fucks with it even- and most of all, something that makes you say "What happens next?". Evangelion puts a big red tick in front of all of those. Its almost akin to playing a card game, just that Evangelion's entire hand is filled with trumps and every card it plays hits you, and as you get _ just _ that much closer to knowing what's in store for you the next turn, you get hit by yet another trump. If, even after finishing it, you feel like you don't understand something, then /a/ occasionally has "ask any eva question" threads. Just post (do lurk before though) and some kind anon will probably answer you within five minutes. But the biggest problem with Evangelion is that it only has 26 episodes, and you _ will _ want more. In that case, I would suggest you to follow it up with the Eva movies, which are quite brilliant (Actually, they are better than the TV series, especially "The end of evangelion"), and even have better artwork and animation. After that? After that you wait until 2015 for Evangelion : Final. Characters (24/30) The crew of Evangelion was as real as real goes, but not a single person was likable. I'll explain that statement. First, the reality part. From the start, I could see where Eva was going with the characters, the dense guy, the girl that fawns over him for no reason, the trauma'd girl and the overconfident tsundere with the god complex. It couldn't have been more clear. And I couldn't have been more wrong. When the characters suddenly started changing, NGE dragged me out of my comfort zone. This isn't how it was supposed to be! Well, no-fucking-pe. Combined with the steep change in the direction of the story, I was suddenly in a unknown land. This wasn't the series I have been watching for the past 14 episodes! I had that one figured out till the end! Yeah, sure the characters seem cliche at first glance, but it suddenly changed as all the pieces fall into place and people's ulterior motives come to light. img(http://i.imgur.com/2Jqy2NC.jpg) On the other hand, there was no one on the character board that I did like - as is what happens when you completely bare your characters to their innermost, most fucked up, thoughts. And then there is Shinji. I didn't like the other characters, because -as I pointed out- they bared themselves and changed too much. Shinji on the other hand is a dipshit crybaby. Honestly. I hate that guy. All he does episode in, and episode out, is whine about his crappy dad and his crappy life and his crappy *insert moronic teenager bullshit here*. Enjoyment (16/20) NGE's sole source of enjoyment is its extremely great storyline. Sadly, even that is hampered by a technological gap in the art department which all but wrecks the series if you can't handle low resolution. If you can, though, you just hit the metaphorical goldmine of anime. While other factors may hamper your ability to handle Evangelion, if you actually sit through it, you won't be disappointed. __Final Verdict - 81/100__ img(http://i.imgur.com/kZbyzOi.jpg)

Goukeban

[Warning: this review will contain vague, but consistent minor spoilers] Around 2008 or 2009, I don’t remember exactly, in a decently warm Saturday, I went back home and decided to check out the site from where I got my anime. The news that day was that they were able to upload Neon Genesis Evangelion, a 1995 TV series that was apparently a very influential piece of the Mecha genre. Intrigued by the description I decided to check out the title, completely blind. That was my introduction to the inevitability of Evangelion, possibly the most divisive anime ever made. By the score you probably guessed already my stance in regards to the series: I don’t like Evangelion, I didn’t like it when I first watched, knowing little to nothing about it, and I don’t like now that I have better critical mindset. However, I’m not beyond admitting when the series does something right. I write these self-indulgent pieces called Reviews when I think I have something at least mildly interesting to say about the work and I believe I can give my 2 cents to the discussion in the fairest manner I can pull off. A little warning, though: discussing the most contemptuous points about Neon Genesis Evangelion is difficult without spoiling anything, so I’ll try to comment about late events without giving the most spoilerific information away, all the while trying to make my points as clear as possible. Story and Characters Before anything else, there are two important external factors necessary to understand when analyzing Neon Genesis Evangelion, as they had massive influence during the production of the TV series (the movie is a beast for another time). The first is the role of director Anno Hideaki, the main creative force behind Evangelion, the second are the budget constraints that plagued the series and lead to some of the more controversial decisions that created the massive split in opinions the series is known for. Firstly, director Anno Hideaki is a person that has dealt with depression in many instances of his life and is, according to second-hand information and some interviews, someone with a very low opinion about himself. When the time slot for Evangelion was pitched to him, Anno and Gainax were in a period of failure in which the studio tried various projects that were never able to get off the ground. Rumors even tell that he was at a bar, drinking to escape his depressive state, when the idea was offered. The budget issues we’ll discuss along the review, so for now let’s understand how Anno’s emotional condition at the time affected the conception of Evangelion. Initially, the series was conceptualized to be a deconstruction of the Mecha genre, bent on straying from the escapism centered narratives provided by the anime media. For those not in the know, a deconstruction is, in fiction, a work or character designed to break apart and analyze the tropes that make traditional examples of said genre or archetype. The common method of doing so is by inserting realistic outcomes the different elements of the genre would have if the setting followed the rules of the conventional world, a notable example being the graphic novel Watchmen. Works of this nature tend, but are not limited, to be very dark in tone. Having that in mind, makes sense that Evangelion would take to a very unusual level the depiction of unstable young teenagers having to pilot immensely powerful mechs to defend humanity from a mysterious threat, as well as exploring in depth the mental and emotional problems derived from that role. However, this very nature opens the work to some criticisms that works that follow the genre straight are not victim of, as the suspension of disbelief dispensed to a deconstruction is tighter. By watching Evangelion you can raise questions like: - Why were NERV’s headquarters built under a populated city, putting in danger the lives of innocent people and exponentially raising collateral damage, especially when the Angels seem drawn to the Eva Units? - Why aren’t the pilots offered psychological assistance, given the immense levels of pressure they suffer, as well as mental and emotional scars the fight against the Angels bring them? - Why doesn’t NERV share at least some of its technology with the military, so that they can pose a threat to the Angels too? - Why there are tits and a boner joke on my deconstruction? Before I get ahead of myself though, let’s talk about the characters: Ikari Shinji is the main protagonist of the series, the pilot of Eva Unit 01 and the one the internet is more used to bash for being a “pussy”. Introspective, socially awkward, extremely afraid of rejection, full of self-pity and having massive difficulty to express himself, he makes clear that he only pilots the Eva because people tell him to, and in some instances seems to try forcing his acceptance onto others. Shinji is the center of the majority of discussions about Evangelion, either hailed by supporters of the series as a realistic representation of someone with depression and low self-esteem or bashed by its detractors as the rock that holds the anime from improving. Now, before you jump on me, let me tell you I actually believe Shinji is the least of the problems with the series. I’d even risk saying the he is in fact a very good character, but one that is handled particularly bad by his own series. All of his issues at the beginning of Evangelion are grounded, realistic and believable, and his development doesn’t take long to appear. The issue is how that development is handled during the anime’s second half, which we’ll discuss in due time. Katsuragi Misato is the commanding officer in charge of orienting the pilots during the battles against the Angels, as well as the main caretaker for Shinji and Asuka. Having contrasting personalities when at work and at home, being professional and quick on thought in the former, but carefree and irresponsible in the latter, she plays major role at Shinji’s development, being the first one to try to form a connection with the boy and give him better motivations to fight, besides simply obeying orders. She is also the character with the most fully realized character-arc during Evangelion’s first run and the only figure the anime doesn’t shit on by the end. Early on, it’s introduced the idea of the Hedgehog Dilemma, in which the closer people with deep-rooted emotional issues try to get, the more they risk hurting each other. This dilemma is the main topic for Misato’s relationship with Shinji during the first four episodes. The next pilot is Ayanami Rei, the first children chosen to pilot the Evas, and responsible for Unit 00. Rei is the least problematic of the pilots, both in the context of the story and among the debates sprung from the anime. Considered the prototype for all kuuderes, Rei is quiet, reserved, keeps herself distant from most social interaction, seeming to only open up to Shinji’s father, and generally holds her own life in very low regard. These traits are originated from one particular information about her origins that I cannot spoil, but one can always question the level of realism of her depiction. According to Anno, her purpose in the story was to show the audience how unsettling it is to face an emotionless being, basically a character that could personify the Uncanny Valley. Asuka is the second children and the pilot of Eva Unit 02. She is brash, outspoken, eager for attention and to show herself, and packs a massive superiority complex, underneath of which lies her deep-rooted need for praise, in order to keep her self-esteem up. Asuka’s introduction in episode 08 marks a shift in mood to the series, as from the point she appears, NGE develops a campy mood, closer to traditional Monster of the Week shows. It’s actually a very natural root to take. At this point, while old personal struggles are still present in the cast and some of them are yet to be introduced, Shinji is a lot more comfortable with his new living situation and his role as a pilot, so, while the serious stakes remain, the series is considerably lighter at this point than in the “hedgehog dilemma” days. This is also the segment of the anime that features the most frequent use of sexual fanservice, or cheesecake if you prefer, which by itself is not a problem (I’m not that much of a hypocrite), but will bring up an issue, in comparison to other aspect I’ll comment later at this review. Ikari Gendo is Shinji’s father and the main reason for the boy’s issues. Having abandoned the son right after the death of his wife, Gendo displays little to no interest for him, is completely driven by his objectives as the head NERV, acts arrogant and doesn’t take much time on making decisions that might often put in danger the lives or mental stability of the pilots, quite often in ways that can only be described as plot-driven stupidity. The only person Gendo seems to be relatively worried about is Rei, as indicated in the event when he rushed to take her out of the Eva Plug, burning his hands in the process, and by the more tender expression he exhibits when talking to her. Kaworu is the final pilot introduced in the series, but his appearance comes very late, making in depth descriptions difficult without spoilers. He’s strongly drawn to Shinji, seeming to have deep understanding of his emotional state. Not knowing the secret of his character, though, that fact gives their interaction strong homosexual undertones. Well, if you can call that “undertone”, anyway. Other characters that play important roles would be Ritsuko, head-scientist responsible to keep the Eva Units working and later the anime’s punching bag, Kaji, a man that shares a romantic past with Misato and plays a dubious role dealing with important information for NERV, and Fuyutsuki, second in command in NERV and main advisor for Gendo. The first half of Evangelion is the part I consider worthy of genuine praise. Sure, it soon assumes campier tone than it had at the beginning, but the psychological themes are far less blatant and still stealthily addressed, as they should be. This is also the point where character development is implemented in its most effective and subtle form. For once, it doesn’t take much for Shinji to stop imposing his acceptance to others and under the influence of Misato’s early support he soon starts attempting genuine interaction with the people around him. While piloting Unit 01, he also becomes much more focused, internally compelled to improve at the job and quicker to take action. He’s, off course, still socially awkward, a trait that becomes noticeable when confronted by Asuka’s upfront demeanor. Asuka also plays the role of a conflicting force to Shinji stern from the fact that he’s still a teenage boy and those hormones gotta go somewhere. While the boy is drawn to her appearance, he is also turn away by her personality and his own lack of social skills. This subject, however, unfortunately ends up being forgotten as the series progresses. Rei, in the other hand, doesn’t display any interest in strengthening the relationship with other characters, but becomes slightly more receptive to interactions others initiate with her, as shown by Shinji being visibly confortable in conversations with the girl. She’s still very inexpressive, though. Being someone with little personal motivational to pilot the Eva, she becomes an object of contempt to Asuka, who pilots in order to gather external approval from others. Asuka becomes increasingly spiteful of Rei, as she can’t accept that someone like her gets recognition and attention from her superiors without attempting so. Even Shinji’s confortable expression while talking to Rei is a point of contempt for her. As you can see, Asuka’s character arc is a downward spiral, the “conclusion” of which will see at the second half. The last bits of this segment of the story are the ones most focused on driving home the motivations of the pilots, while giving hints of deeper issues. Before moving on, it’s important that I address the religious symbolism present in Evangelion. This is a target of criticism for many, as they believe it makes the show pretentious, since the symbolism doesn’t play a role in the story itself. You can extract from the series a commentary about how humanity uses science to challenge the Higher Power, be it God, fate or simply the inevitability of death. The symbolism, however, plays no role in that commentary and is used only for aesthetic purposes. This might surprise you, but I don’t consider this an issue. Japan’s culture is barely influenced by Judeo-Christian principles, being instead influenced by Shintoism and Buddhism. Biblical references for Japanese authors are not too different from what Greek or Nord mythology is for the West. Ok, Evangelion fanbase, you had your 6 episodes of fun with Asuka, but now it’s time to talk about the real meat of the issues with the series, its second half. The problem with addressing the issues at this part of the series is that they are not standalone problems, they merge until they create one single monstrous beast with several heads. In fairness, it doesn’t start all that menacing: episode 14 is part recap, but soon it goes back to the regular format. What this episode does is to signalize a mood-shift and foreshadow heavier emphasis on Seele, the organization that oversees NERV, and the Human Instrumentality Project. From this point on, Evangelion would feature significantly different mood, structure (again!) and severe problems with character consistency. It’s also here that Kaji becomes a prominent character in the story, although it calls attention to the question of what exactly is his role on the plot. All of that in mind, let’s start with the simpler issue, the Mind Trips. For mind trips, I refer to the segments where characters would go to hallucinations where the majority of the issues they faced up to that point are regurgitated at them. These segments also feature some exposition about backstory, which leads me to ask: couldn’t this be exposed in more graceful manners? The first one, at episode 14, is fairly harmless, featuring Rei inside the Eva Plug, making vague definitions about random objects and some of the characters. It’s possibly a hint to the real nature of her character, but this possibility is unclear. The issue starts when we move to the other pilots, most notably Shinji. Now, up to this point, Shinji’s character development was pretty much set, what the series needed to do was to continue expanding on it and address the issues the boy had not faced yet and he would have a complete and rounded arc, going from a simple and depressed kid caught up in events much bigger than himself to a competent Unlikely Hero. The mind trips, however, work in contradiction with this development. In them, Shinji is displayed as he was in his Hedgehog Dillema days, in complete opposition to his behavior and natural demeanor outside of these sequences. In some points they try to actively disregard that development. Do you want an example? In episode sixteen, during his first mind trip, Shinji utters the following line: “I already had my happy moments and just tried to hold on to them. Is there something wrong with that?” That is a very good question, is there something wrong with that? By holding to those happy moments is how he was able to improve and become truly effective as a pilot and meaningful as a character. What is even more obnoxious is that these segments have no effect on his depiction in the real world, only serving to stagnate his development up until the end of the series. Meanwhile, Asuka continues her downward character arc. Her progress is, interestingly enough, inversely proportional to how Shinji develops alongside with her: as the boy becomes increasingly prominent as a pilot, she becomes more frustrated by the growing competition and the likelihood of facing opposition in her fight for attention and praise. Her mind trips come in to expose her past, where we can see the reasons for her low self-esteem and obsessive need for validation, essentially stuff that could be featured in a flashback, as well as allow for narrative padding. Just for clarification, I’m not implying that pessimistic character development is a bad thing. Part of the fun in Black Lagoon is witnessing Rock’s gradual loss of his good-will while traveling to the darkness of Roanapur and, if you want an example outside of anime, Will Munny, from The Unforgiven, is a man trying his best to be a decent person, but still has to cope with the fact he’s someone with a scary and violent nature. The issue here is that those were complete character arcs, while for Asuka’s case, just like other points I talked about, we’ll have to discuss while tackling the final episodes. Moving on. Remember when I mentioned that Gendo seems to suffer from plot-driven stupidity at key events? That is not exclusive to him, as in several instances multiple characters will hold the idiot ball for the sake of progressing the narrative. This is a a common situation for when a writer wants to include an specific plot point in the story but has no proper set up to do so, resorting to make the characters act stupid so that such set up can be achieved. Let’s discuss some of those instances. For starters, there’s the ever-lingering question of why there aren’t psychologists available to help the pilots. These are clearly people under severe mental and physical stress and since one suffered from depression from the beginning, one is almost completely detached from human interaction and the last one is in a downward spiral of self-hatred and need for approval, all factors that heavily influence their performance at the job, the dire need for mental assistance for those kids becomes increasingly more apparent. Some might say I shouldn’t think too much about it, but remember: this is a deconstruction, it’s supposed to be grounded in a realistic setting, just including out-of-this-world elements. Now going to a case-by-case take, one of the main arcs of the second half involves the fourth children selected to pilot the Evas, responsible for Unit 03. The problems arrive when Unit 03 goes rogue due to being infected by an Angel (these things seem to gain abilities based on what is convenient for the episode) and the pilots are sent to take care of it. When the responsibility comes to Shinji to fight Unit 03, he freezes because there’s a person inside the Eva and he fears harming them. At no point comes to his mind to just immobilize Unit 03, neither any of his superiors gives him that idea. This leads Gendo to order the activation of the Dummy Plug, a project he knows still has problems to be fixed and whose efficiency is uncertain. In the following sequence Unit 01, under the control of the Dummy Plug, proceeds to brutalize Unit 03, far beyond the point it was necessary, without Gendo ever ordering it to cease the attack. This whole sequence is designed for shock factor, to lead the audience to feel repulse by what’s happening on screen, ignoring the lack of logic. It culminates when Unit 01 rips off and destroys the plug. Apparently Gendo decided they didn’t need that pilot anymore, either that or he’s an outstanding idiot. See? It took me 6 pages of text to finally have a problem with Shinji. Besides shock factor, another purpose for this event is to lead Shinji to rebel against Gendo, reviving the tension between them. It’s hard to reprove the boy for the attitude, though, since most of what happened was due to Gendo’s incompetence at commanding. When he comes back, he’s displaying even better resolve to fight them before the incident, and coupled with how little of that is mentioned in the rest of the series, the whole Unit 03 arc becomes effectively pointless. After Shinji’s return, we’re lead to the events of episode 20, which also has minimal relevance to the progression of the story, since soon after that comes a flashback detailing Fuyutsuki’s past in relation with Gendo and the Second Impact. Hell, not even Shinij seems bothered by the absurd experiences he just went through. Actually relevant stuff starts happening right after, as Asuka’s descent is leading her to get progressively worse synchronization rates with Unit 02. Since nobody does absolutely nothing to solve that, while still placing her in scenarios where maximum efficiency was needed, she ends up in a situation where her life, or at least her mental stability, is in serious danger. None of the people at NERV comes with the idea of ejecting Unit 02’s plug, a method they’ve resorted several times up to this point, in order to save her. Why? I mean, besides artificially raising the tension without it being earned. Later, they continue to send her to combat, resulting in a situation where her synchronization is so low she can’t even move the Eva anymore. Before moving on to the final stretch, where I’ll talk about the series final episodes, I’d like to address the shift in mood taken by the anime on its second half. I mentioned before about how the fanservice present in the first half was not an issue at the time, but this is the point where it becomes an issue. The mood in the series becomes progressively darker and some particular scenes, specially one from episode 23 (you know which one), have potentially disturbing content, and compared to the fanservice and campy atmosphere from the first half it gives the anime an very uneven tone. The bleakness of tone stretches all around, reaching even secondary characters. Remember when I commented the character of Ritsuko becomes the punching bag of the series? Up to this point, she was a character with importance to the plot and noticeable characterization, but essentially a secondary figure, with no relevance to any of the themes and only needed to keep the plot going, and she was good that way. In the final episodes, though, she basically retreads the exact same path of misery faced by her mother, detailed in episode 21, only to be moved away from the plot for the remaining episodes and become irrelevant. Unlike works like Trigun, where the tone shift works to test the protagonist’s morals and allow him to come off as a fully rounded figure, or even Shingeki no Kyojin, where the brutal outcomes serve to emphasize the resolve the humans have to achieve their goal, this is not misery for the sake of advancing a character arc or improving the plot, it’s just characters being miserable for no purpose, and in the words of GoatJesus, if it doesn’t play a purpose, why have it at all? With Asuka falling to her deepest depressive state and the introduction of Kaworu, the series has its climax at episode 24. The two remaining episodes are the biggest source of diversion when discussing Evangelion. For once, they are giant mind trips. It’s supposed to take place after Gendo has initiated the Human Instrumentality Project and merged all of humanity under one collective conscience. How the project was initiated or what were the pieces for triggering it is left unexplained, the episodes simply start in the mind trip and no proper context is given until the information that Human Instrumentality began comes up. It’s clear that it was at this point during production that the budget expenses reached their limit and Gainax was forced to compromise, bringing this as the result. For the remaining 40 minutes of the series, it’s just a dream sequence where the emotional issues of the characters are retreaded and blatantly spelled out without ceremony or the least shred of subtlety. Asuka appears in her pre-decay persona to spout why she’s so eager for attention, Shinji reminisces his issues with rejection and even Misato, who had a complete character arc at this point, reinforces her Elektra Complex when she was supposed to have come to terms with it already. At this point something finally came to my mind: Anno was able to create the basic state of his characters and the problems they would face very well, but he was not able to make them properly deal with such problems. That is why there's such a disconnect between Shinji's portrayal in the real world and in the mind trips, the characters in Evangelion are not able to fully develop their issues towards a solution, only being capable of flat out explaining them, without sublety. After many divagations, with characters bringing up philosophical concepts to replace more pertinent psychological matters, the series comes to an end with Shinji’s epiphany, in which he concludes: “But maybe I can learn to love myself. Maybe my life has a greater value. Yes, I’m no one besides myself. I am me, I want to be myself. I want to continue existing in this world. I’m worthy of living here!” And THAT is the problem with the ending of Neon Genessis Evangelion: it’s not the resolution of the numerous character arcs and plot points raised, but the acceptance of stagnation, the simple possibility of a conclusive development without truly having one. At this point, I have to ask: Why is this acceptable? Why is uncertainty preferable over closure? Let’s take a look at some questions that were left unresolved: - What really are the Angels? - Who was Kaji really working for and what were his objectives? - What was Seele’s objective with the Human Instrumentality Project? - If Both Seele and Gendo want the Human Instrumentality Project, why there’s so much animosity between them? - What is the origin of the Dead Sea Manuscripts, or even their nature itself? - What was the fate of Asuka and Ritsuko? - How did Seele “find” Kaworu? And before you tell me that the series is not about these mysteries, but about the issues characters face, let me stop you, because Evangelion built a sizeable chunk of its appeal on these questions. For the last 11 episodes, give or take depending on your perspective, the audience has watched ever-increasing pain plaguing the main cast, but unlike something like Berserk, for example, where the horror of what is happening to the characters is compensated by the full realization of multiple character arcs, as well as the conclusion to an event that has been foreshadowed through the entire series, here the audience is rewarded with vagueness and uncertainty. Presentation Well, here is the boring part of the review. Ok, everyone knows by now of the effects the budget limitations had on Evangelion’s presentation, but before we get into that, let’s talk a little about what are really strong moments for the visuals display in the series. For once, cinematography is excellent. Multiple scenes feature various meaningful details, giving away subtle information that could not be included in the dialogue, and when there’s little time for details, and framing is effectively used to convey the emotions of the scene. There was a clear understanding among Gainax that animation is also a tool for storytelling and not just a fun way of putting images on a screen. A sequence like Shinji entering Misato’s apartment for the first time could be just a bland moment unimportant for the story, but is used to emphasize the importance of the decision the two are about to make and, in the same vein, lighting also plays a big role in moments of dialogue, helping establish the mood for the scene. Colorization is usually realistically applied, not counting the traditional oddly-colored hair-styles, with mostly pale colors applied throughout the enviroment, but good care is put into making what is important pop in the screen, from relevant characters to information about the action and, obviously, the action itself. Aside from the traditional methods used by studios to cut corners in animation, the symptoms of the decreasing budget appear distinctively in two areas, one being the long stretches of static imagery, where time was really moving and, no, your computer did not freeze while you were watching it (for real, I once thought that was the case). Oddly enough, there are people who argue that those moments of absolutely nothing happening are what add to the artistic intent of the story. To them I say “stop inserting meaning where there isn’t any”, there is nothing there that really needed a minute and a half to achieve what could be done in ten seconds. The other practice that made the money issue noticeable was the reuse of footage and in no place is that more apparent than in, again, the mind trip sequences. During such sequences the amount of reused frames was too much to count and details on screen were kept to a minimum. Unsurprisingly, those were also the instances where the cinematography also took a nose-dive in quality. Now to the sound: I watched the series subbed, because off course, that how I do it. The performances in Japanese are nothing to complain about. Shinji’s voice work is nowhere near as annoying as his western counterpart, playing a much more subdued tone when away from the intense sequences, Asuka is, in the other hand, just the right degree of annoying she should be, but smoothly transitioning to lower tones when the character reaches her lower points, and Rei is… well, Rei. Fun fact: the voice actress for Rei was Hayashibara Megumi, the same one who played Faye Valentine in Cowboy Bebop. The opening is the iconic Zankoku na Tenshi no Teeze, or Thesis of a Cruel Angel, an extremely catchy song, but I’d also advise you to look for the lyrics, which is very compelling and fitting for Shinji’s character. The ending is a rendition of Fly me to the Moon, which is not really my kind of music, but if it’s yours, good enough. Personal Ramblings As harsh as I might have sounded in this review, I want to make it clear that I didn’t do this to diminish and lash out against fans of the series or to provide ego-boosting to detractors, I’m not ThatAnimeSnob. I wrote it with the purpose of showing my perspective, the perspective of someone who went into the series open minded and willing to take the most out of it, but came out disheartened by clumsy writing wasting away solid potential. I bet 19-year-old me really wanted to like Neon Genesis Evangelion. Besides what my favorites list might indicate, I’m all for appreciating what is old and influent in a media and that was one of my biggest drives while going into the series for the first time. Unfortunately, by the end of it I could just repeat to myself: If only! If only the tone was kept consistent throughout the whole series; if only the unnecessary plot points were discarded in favor of tightening the script; if only the mysteries had been fully explored; if only the character dilemmas had been properly addressed and character arcs were completed; if only money was used to animate actually relevant plot-threads, giving the series the proper resolution it needed. Ironically, many of these problems are what makes Evangelion, to this day, such a divisive series and highly talked about subject, spawning countless interpretations and counterpoints. Perhaps if the series didn’t have all of the problems I discussed about and was a self-contained, complete story, it wouldn’t be nowhere near as influent and heated topic. Yes, its flaws are what make it memorable. Evangelion is inevitable by this point. It’s considered obligatory watch for any anime fan and the result is almost always a passionate inclination to either love it or hate it. Believe it or not, I used to dislike the series even more than I do now. There was a time where I couldn’t comprehend what people saw in the anime and my reaction to anyone who placed it among their favorites was “Really?” Nowadays I’ve grown to better understand their reasoning, even though I still stand by everything I said here. I even got to be far more forgiving to Shinji than most detractors of the series are. If you like Evangelion, if it’s your favorite anime and something you wholeheartedly cherish, here is what I have to say: it’s OK, that won’t lead me to have anything against you, I might even like you, but, by the end of the day, my opinion is still the one I trust in the first place. Oh, one last thing: stop calling Asuka a Tsundere, she has no dere-side and only going halfway isn’t enough to fit the archetype!

WanderingSage

Everyone seems to have to watch Evangelion at some point, if for nothing else, so that they can wax philosophical about it. I avoided Evangelion for a long time as I had heard that the director had a lot of mental issues he was dealing with at the time, as well as the anime running out of budget near the end and having a somewhat "interesting" resolution. I was concerned that it was going to end up as too much of a mess to end up making any sense, but after viewing TTGL and a few other Gainax studio mech shows, I figured I should take finally take another look after 10 odd years or so since last seeing it. Well, I finally ended up getting around to watching the series again, and I have to say that I'm left at a bit of a loss as to how to properly evaluate in comparison to other shows, especially considering my personal reaction was to be turned off by just about everything about it, but also wanting to try to be fair towards what (I think) the show was trying to do. With regards to the technicals of the anime: The art is a bit dated, but is actually pretty good for the time. Many of the mechas and angels are unique and interesting to look at. There are issues as the series goes on with reusing things quite a bit, but for the most part, the art is fine. The sound and voice acting are pretty good. For the material that they were working with, my opinion is that the voice actors did an admirable job. The theme is a classic, and most of the soundtrack choices are nice as well. As the technicals are done fairly well, it's a shame what actually ended up being presented as a story through the characters just didn't work that well given the issues I mentioned earlier. Mecha is a tough genre to evaluate at times as it has such a storied history from Gundam on forward. Liking one series doesn't even necessarily mean that you'll enjoy a different season or sequel either. Evangelion is interesting in that it is at its heart, a deconstruction of sorts of the mecha that came before it. A bit more of a surreal version of kids at war stories and what may psychologically be happening. Even shows such as original Gundam deal with this somewhat, but Evangelion takes this theme of apocalypse and the kids fighting against it to interesting places and ultimately has you wondering a bit about what exactly is happening here as the internal and external worlds seem to be falling apart as the story progresses. There are occasions where art through adversity and stories told through depression make for some interesting looks into the darker side of character development. The problem is that as opposed to creating compelling story material, Evangelion relies heavily on shock factor, faux religious imagery (as the author himself has stated), and self indulgent trips into pointless downward spirals of self pity that become a tiresome pattern after a few episodes. I think that different people are going to get different things out of Evangelion, but as someone who doesn't, and never has for that matter, had to cope with depressive episodes, I don't think that Evangelion was actually written for someone like me to relate to. I've seen terrible things in my life that I don't enjoy remembering. I've also dealt with emotionally abusive people in many different life situations and while it's sometimes difficult, have developed healthy ways of coping and moving forward. Everyone in the show seems to need an intervention before they get anywhere near their mechs and spiral into chaos. The major characters Shinji, and Asuka have a host of personal issues and angst that is related to the story, and unfortunately they are surrounded by people and situations that do nothing but enable downward spirals of negative character development for the most part. I was left wondering where the psychiatrists and emotional counselors were hanging out, because it seems like everyone trying to save the world had no business doing so. There are no traditional heroes here save perhaps Misato. Generally speaking, you need something in your heroes to root for, and while heroes are allowed to be flawed, at some point, you expect them to at least make an attempt to put aside their personal issues for the good of others. Generally speaking, outside of a few acts, this is a show where the heroes never get out of their own selfish, narcissistic, woe is me silliness and things continue to spiral because of it. Having the director going through mental issues during the production no doubt had a lot of influence in this, and it felt quite a bit like watching someone railing at the world at times more than a coherent narrative that actually had some sort of meaningful resolution. My biggest problem with the main characters was that I kept waiting for the payoff, where the heroes would ultimately step up and become something to aspire to, or at least have someone mature drop the hammer on them, and I was left with a character study of what might happen if you were to throw psychologically damaged and unstable people together and tasked them with "saving the world". It's a pretty frustrating experience from that standpoint. Of course, this was quite likely besides the writer's ultimate point here. There is a layer of tragedy to the interactions between these broken individuals that could potentially be related to. As I mentioned earlier, as someone who works beyond these issues in life, I found it really difficult to get through the series and relate to the characters. I honestly didn't like any of the characters in this show. I can understand and sympathize with their plights, but as much of it is self-inflicted and driven by choices they make, it's impossible to root for them and eventually they become quite tiresome to watch. Real people would also show some sort of empathy during these difficult situations too. Not once did Shinji ask anyone else how they were doing, he just worries about himself. To be fair, no one else in the story, save for Misato seems to have any basic empathy at all. The characters are so deep in their own issues that they are difficult to relate to as a human being. I kept hoping for some meaningful resolution and growth that never quite got there in the end. It isn't fun nor is it cathartic (at least for me personally) to watch characters spiral into the depths of despair and self pity and not find some growth to overcome obstacles. It's best to avoid falling into these traps in real life and help people you know suffering like this get help, not wallow in the depths with them. A quasi-military group like NERV would have to understand that keeping their pilots mentally sound and healthy is a top priority to keep them effective, especially when their mental state directly impacts their combat effectiveness. Yet, they just seem to ignore it, or just be "disappointed" when Shinji doesn't want to get in the robot. When they're treated like tools and not people, and the people themselves show little care for others, it's really tough to like them or see them as inspiring at all. It almost seems to be a parody at times with how these people are responding to each other. If these characters are "realistic" than reality is in a lot of trouble. These problems ended up making Evangelion a slog to get through. As the budget ran out and the story took the tone shift into these downward spirals of character development, I was relying on inertia to get me through the final few episodes. Much has been written on the ending to Evangelion, and my general feeling is that I was disappointed with it for the simple reason that it is obvious that you should "accept yourself and move forward". As I mentioned earlier, any competent therapist could have worked with all these people and got something like that into their minds earlier and saved us all the freshman tier philosophy and pseudo-Freudianism. Budget issues or not, rehashing the characters problems and trying to add some kind of deeper meaning to the narcissistic self-pity was taxing and in the end, it felt at best a cop out, and at worst a middle finger to everyone who hung around. Much has also been written about the supposed religious symbolism that the show used as well, but I tend to side with the folks who believe that it really doesn't mean much unless you are trying to insert your own meaning as it's difficult to find a coherent pattern to the symbolism and haphazard usage of actual religious lore. I tend to view the religious symbolism in much the same way that I view the Galactic Empire in Legend of Galactic Heroes vaguely Nordic religiousness. It was tossed in there to add a bit of flavor, but not much else. There isn't anything wrong with inserting a personal meaning, as this show leaves you with a lot of questions if you look for them, but personal interpretations are just that, personal. At the end of the day, I understand why the show is discussed as much as it is, but I'm also disappointed that it's discussed as much as it is as I can definitely see a path towards what happened to more modern anime because of this show. I wanted to enjoy the series, but it felt far too self-indulgent and pretentious and ultimately didn't end up moving me like I thought it might. I was pretty disappointed in that as the actual conflict with the mechas and the behind the scenes political intrigue gives this show the tools to be great, yet the overall themes I mentioned clumsily derail the train into a psychoanalytical mess of sorts. The later rebuild movies make this far more explicit, which is likely why they get mixed reviews from Eva fans as well. For mecha, Tengan Toppa Gurren Lagann is a better (albeit cheesier in a great many ways) mecha story by the same studio. I have rewatched that show after Evangelion and have a deeper appreciation for TTGL reconstructing what Evangelion deconstructed. Simon from TTGL is a flawed character in terrible traumatic situations in a crappy world who finally ended up "getting it" and stepped up in meaningful self-actualizing ways. Shinji... well, I just don't know. I'm sympathetic with the poor kid, as it's an impossible situation and his colleagues certainly don't help, but I don't watch giant robot fiction to be disappointed with the protagonist's lack of development and triumph over adversity. At the end of the day, I believe that an anime ultimately stands on its entertainment value. Evangelion was a chore to sit through. I didn't hate it, I certainly didn't like it, but I was very happy when I finished it and could check it off the list of "must sees" as I really wasn't enjoying it all that much and was a bit frustrated by how it ended. The rebuild movies add some meta context which I'll spoiler as the 4th rebuild movie has only been released in Japanese as of the time of this writing. I saw the movie recently and have a few additional thoughts on the series that I'll spoiler. I won't give away the broad details of the movie, and I offer a deeper overview in my review of the second rebuild movie to flesh out these thoughts a bit more. ~!After watching the full rebuild series, including 3.0+1.0 in Japanese, it becomes far clearer what Anno's intention with this story is. The arc through 1.0 simply being a remake without comment, showing us how things were. Not much needs to be commented on as it's mostly the same as the original six or so episodes of NGE. The second rebuild showing a more idealized look at Evangelion, complete with personality changes and an almost rom-com feel at points. Showing us that we're not advancing at all, and falling back into empty escapism with Shinji and his headphones. The unfortunate connection with more modern anime can easily be seen here, as Asuka and Rei become harem protagonists showing affection for Shinji and the addition of Mari, who is so out of place that's it's amusing. The third movie showing us the consequences of this escapism, where nothing changes in 14 years and we actually fear changes and moving forward. This is clearly seen in Shinji's interactions with Kaoru. Shinji refuses to move forward while the real world moves on without him. Finally, the 4th movie, which ultimately ends with Shinji accepting that things need to move forward and that it's best to leave Evangelion behind and live life and progress. This series is ultimately Anno's journey through depression and out again and realizing that the world is worth living in and him not so subtly telling the fans that's what we need to be doing too. Really, if you came for the robots and political intrigue, or perhaps enjoyed trying to decipher what all the religious symbolism meant, Anno doesn't have all that much of a coherent answer for you. Show it to 5 different people and you'll get 6 different interpretations of scenery that was added essentially "to look cool and be different". Evangelion seems all along to be a big therapy session where Anno pours out his mental issues and ultimately tells us to go outside, get a cheerful big boob girlfriend, and move forward in life. Much like the man himself did. Good luck everyone! Sabisu Sabisu! !~ It's tough to recommend people avoid something like Evangelion, as it is discussed so much that just about everyone who gets into this medium is going to be exposed to it sooner or later. There is some merit is seeing it if for no other reason than to help connect the dots on how anime was affected by it, but I don't consider this to be a show that I can say I enjoyed. There are also works that offer different endings, such as End of Evangelion which can add a bit more context, but as a stand alone series, Neon Genesis Evangelion is a bit of a hot mess. Best I can offer as a final thought is to go in without preconceptions and see what you get out of it. Hopefully it is more enjoyable for you than it was for me.

CaninnTurtle

Neon Genesis Evangelion is closer to being _the_ classic of anime than anything else in the medium. The amount of debate that follows Evangelion is absurd, from the controversial ending of the TV series, Asuka vs. Rei (clearly Asuka is better), to the craziness of End of Evangelion, discussion follows. There have been so many essays written about certain characters or episodes that it's mind boggling. Additionally, the sheer number of shows that were influenced by Evangelion is almost to the point of incomprehension. No one can deny that Hideaki Anno has created probably the most influential and, perhaps, the most important anime of all time. (__WARNING__: There may be some lighter spoilers in the second to last paragraph, where I discuss some of the complaints with Evangelion, feel free to skip that one if you haven't seen the show yet) Evangelion just did so many things _right_. It didn't overload you with information at the beginning, it just slowly and carefully fed you information with each episode, not overwhelming you with info dumps, like many shows do these days. I won't say that they never info dump you, but when they do, it's usually something that the watcher has a slight understanding of anyway, making it more digestible. Piggybacking off that point, it doesn't bog the watcher down with characters either. Shinji, Misato, and Rei are clearly the focus of the first 7 episodes and it doesn't deviate much from that. Then, Asuka makes her appearance (And the show gets 10000% better) and the focus shifts. Evangelion is kind of clever that way with its characters, sidelining even Shinji to develop whoever they're focusing on. Of course, the soundtrack is phenomenal. A Cruel Angel's Thesis is one of the best openings out there, even two decades later. Fly Me To The Moon is a great ending, with all its different versions, keeping it unique throughout 26 episodes. The regular soundtrack is good too, though, I don't have too much to say regarding that. Artistically, you'd never be able to tell that Evangelion was made in 1995. It's just so beautiful and fluidly animated that it's comparable to many of the more recent anime. The color palette is something to be commented on too. The neon (heh) colors used to illustrate the Eva's is beautiful, adding a pop of color to a show that can be extremely heavy at times. A couple of things to address, however, are two complaints I see fairly often. Those would be the TV ending and Shinji's whining being annoying. Not to be contrarian or anything, but I really liked the TV ending. In my opinion, it suited the message that Evangelion was trying to get across the whole time. The message that you can't close yourself off from people, push them away, and expect them to treat you with respect and kindness. We see Shinji and Asuka struggling with the same problems in opposite ways throughout the entire show: connecting with others. In fact, that's kind of the overarching theme of Evangelion, illustrated by their struggles with the Hedgehog's Dilemma. I just think that Shinji reaching the conclusion that he did was a beautiful capstone to that struggle, closing his character arc in a satisfying manner. Speaking of his character arc, many people complain that Shinji's whining is unbearable. I have one simple statement to make concerning that complaint: He's 14 with the weight of the world thrust onto his shoulders. Of course he's going to buckle under that weight, would you have been able to handle that kind of pressure at 14? It's kind of a double edged sword too. If he had been too capable of handling the burden, then people would complain about him like they do Kirito from Sword Art Online, like that he's a Gary Stu who can do no wrong (Which I disagree with, by the way). But I digress. As a conclusion, Evangelion is phenomenal. Sure, you could debate certain aspects of its story or narrative, but the fact remains that it's objectively really good. I don't like it when people tell others that you _have_ to watch a show, but in Evangelion's case, it may be the exception. It's simply too good and its legacy too great to pass up.

CodeBlazeFate

Part 1: A loving embrace “Just...hang in there...” -Misato Katsuragi Neon Genesis Evangelion is the 1995 classic and brainchild directed by the legendary Hideaki Anno. It is a juggernaut that garnered fame and influence by challenging art that came before, directly spawning a cornucopia of successors, some of whom managed to become success stories themselves. Few pieces of animation hold such an honor, and monumental works such as this have a ginormous presence in their medium’s landscape, regardless of the fact that each of these select few titles are still around today with new, if less well-received installments gracing our screens. Apart from what it became, Neon Genesis Evangelion is first and foremost, a brutally somber, touching, and emotional mech series that challenges the conventions of the genre. It is a story of broken people being thrust into a dangerous situation and forced to confront and harness things they don’t understand, such as their new biomechanical technology and even their own feelings and psychological hang-ups, in a desperate attempt to survive with their sanity intact. It is horrifying to witness, managing to eradicate one’s heartstrings with such sheer understanding of what demented, somber, and lonely states of mind are being depicted here. Not only does it exhibit how these broken, alone, depressed, and scared people came to be the way they are, but it does something even more important: it tells us that everything will be ok if we make it. It understands people. It encourages. It wants you to understand too. So, it shows a fraction of the desolate state its characters are in with its main character, fixes him, builds things back up and shows people adapting to their new lives and overcoming hardships, whilst slowly revealing, meticulously peeling the layers of everything out from under us. Then, it tells it all down systematically, dragging everyone through the mud and truly showcasing just how insecure these people are. It calls for and demonstrates introspection, and tells us that no matter what, we must live our lives and accept ourselves. We cannot have our perfect world, but we can try to have our perfect selves, our selves that we, above anyone else, understand and care about. Needless to say, it accomplishes all of this resoundingly and passionately. It was a loving work created by a depressed, mentally stressed director, a loving work crafted by a visionary who understood our pain, and entire teams in Gainax and Tatsunoko Production who sought to make his vision, his message, a reality. Even with reuse of animation, the show still manages to do inventive things with it, take hold of that reuse, and channel it as a weapon for introspection. With oppressive, moody colors, brutal tones are set that wildly enhance how we are to feel in many scenes. Shots highlighting desolation and especially isolation from beginning to end, even when lingering for far longer than t needs to. The battles roar with intensity, especially in its mind-peeling, emotion-shattering second half. This roar rivals the roar of the Eva Units, fantastically designed bio-mechanical gods of death man hopelessly tried to wield and understand. These specimen who wield the machines are as fantastically and iconically designed. Everything works in tandem to craft a surprisingly well-produced product on a canvas where anything, even raw emotion and madness are both possible and allowed. It may cut abruptly on an insanely frequent basis, but such is merely a minor hitch that does little to impede on the visual splendor, especially once the show reaches its climax. Each episode is accompanied by fantastic pieces from beginning to end that convey so much emotion, from pieces like “Rei I” that show a more desolate and disturbed feeling, to “Angel Attack”, which shows the severity and intensity of it all. By the show understands people, so it knows that bleakness is far from all there is, unlike many shows that are claimed to be mature. The piece “Misato” is the shining example of such music that accompanies the deceptively constant hilarity that ensues on occasion, with episodes such as 7 and 11 being the most predominant examples of this show’s sense of humor. Another shining example of this show’s range would be the triumphant piece “Nerv” that really sells the tense and roar-inducing impact of success after a deadly struggle that can nearly bring the planet to extinction. There are a myriad of other fantastic music pieces crafted for the show, courtesy of Shiro Sagisu. The incorporation of famous pieces of classical music works gloriously as well. Outside of those, the show is embraced by fantastic music at the beginning and end. With the opening, “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis” by Yoko Takahashi, you see an iconic piece of incredibly catchy music tailored to inspiring the main character to rise up. Whilst not a personal favorite, such an iconic song is commendable. However, with the ending theme, “Fly Me to the Moon” by Claire, a personal favorite in both television and full versions, we get a truly majestic and heartfelt melody, from the vocals to the string instruments, to the piano, and the lyrics. It is a majestic song, with all alternate renditions in the show being unable to replicate its beauty, even if a few, more instrumental versions come somewhat close to playing those heartstrings. Heartstrings...emotions… all get played with immensely, particularly with the oft-misunderstood cast. From the desolate and fragile Shinji Ikari who picks himself up when he needs to even when he runs away, to the insufferably egotistical and fragile Asuka Langley, and more, we receive a truly colorful cast. Misato Katsuragi, an absolute bundle of joy and comedy despite her ties to her father that make her connection to Shinji all the more powerful. Rei Ayanami, a constantly shaping conscious who seeks to release herself and wonder about life and death. The rest of the surprisingly fleshed out and grounded supporting cast of adults and each with their twistedly brutal moments and fates, such as Kaji, as well as others who are fortunate enough to survive seemingly contently. We have a fantastic high-school friend duo that has yet to be topped in Toji and Kensuke, the hilarious penguin Pen Pen, on top of the fantastic adults who remain grounded as they are unraveled piece by piece with foreshadowing littered throughout. We get a sense for who they are, why they are what they are, and who they like in what sense. No one is a monster despite how lovable or hateable they are, even Asuka and Gendo; everyone is complex human. The more we get to know them, the more we get to witness, the more we get to understand, even if we may forget the names of some of them, and loathe at least a few of them as people. Everything culminates into the end, into the ultimate, tragically, nay, criminally detested two-part finale of sheer introspection. Said introspection is majestic. Even outside of how accidentally prophetic it became of terribly cliched school anime, the two-part finale is a work of genius. It shows everyone tearing themselves apart as they unravel who they truly are, what their desires are, and everything that made them who they are. By the end, Shinji realizes that there are many possibilities in the word and that the perfect world cannot be one of them. So, instead of trying to make a perfect world where he can be loved by all in a peaceful environment free of real pain, he should love himself, interact, take the chance and truly live. He should better himself and understand himself just like anyone else. He must embrace himself if he wants to be embraced. Everyone should strive to do the same. The presentation of this introspection is raw, raw and seemingly scattered. Interwoven with so many other moments of characters digging within themselves with the help of their perceived versions of others, and with impeccably inventive use of other moments, cut together with new dialogue to match the disputation for the characters’ state of mind, much like prior episodes such as 16 and 22. It uses crayon drawings, pencil drawings, marker drawings, 8-bit pixel renditions of scenes, all to illustrate a point that Shinji finally realizes and accepts. It isn't a disaster of production, it is an understanding reach to pull out a realization and tell a message, in which it goes where no series has in terms of visuals. It does so wonderfully, sometimes with immense fluidity and transitions, other times with purposely jarring static moments with incredible shots, often cutting to one another in quick succession. It is the culmination of everything Evangelion. It is more human than most pieces of art could ever hope to be, and it deserves all the respect it can get. It may be raw, it may be gut-wrenching, it may showcase people who you cannot stand, it may try to get you to infer more than you should, and it may leave you floored with everything it does, particularly in the second half. From beginning to end, it grabs you by the wrist and rushes away with you to explore. It may be a tiresome watch or an enthralling watch. It may leave you with questions that like it or not, are meaningless for most part, minus insignificant details and loose things that require the most adamant of searching to understand and accept. It may move too fast and just ram you with far too much at once, or leave you with just enough to stew over, for too long or long enough. No matter what, it wants to tell you something important and showcase hell, depravity, grief, denial, and sorrow to illustrate its point. It does so lovingly, shouting it loud with sheer understanding. Remember that, even if you take nothing else from the show. Accept its embrace; you'll get your closure soon. Part 2: https://anilist.co/review/3085

Grassman

_Neon Genesis Evangelion_ is a remarkable show that combines a gripping plot of giant robots fighting aliens and a captivating message about the human psyche. Two decades have passed since it aired back in 1998 and it is still subject to praise and recognition. The show (and its movies) sparked an immense amount of discussion and countless reviews and analyses. It is because of Evangelion's legacy and its story filled with meaning, symbolism, and interesting characters that I recommend it to anyone slightly interested in anime. img(https://static.vix.com/es/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/e/evangelion-portada-frases.jpg?itok=-LDKxfYL) # Story and Characters The show, as it is iconic of the mecha genre, isn't really about giant robots fighting giant aliens (Angels). However, as it is still an essential part of _Evangelion_, I feel it should be mentioned. The whole premise of Tokyo 3 and NERV being humanity's last stand, and the sub-plots concerning SEELE and other world organizations, was pretty solid. The universe the show is placed in makes sense, even if it is confusing to comprehend in its entirety the first time watching, and makes for brutal fight scenes and an intriguing science-fiction story. It isn't just an excuse to have our characters to participate in cool action scenes, an example of this strategy utilized poorly would be [_Darling in the Franxx_](https://anilist.co/anime/99423/DARLING-in-the-FRANXX/) (mainly due to its terrible world building). _Evangelion_ has some of the most complex and interesting characters I have seen in anime. Even when the cast of characters was pretty large, Gainax was able to give every single one some form of individuality. It felt like most characters were main protagonists. For example, even if the three children and Misato were technically the main characters, other characters such as Ritsuko, Fuyutsuki, or even Touji, were given enough development so they weren't just part of the supporting cast; they were much more than that. To accomplish this the writers made sure to give each character personal motivations, strengths, flaws, a reason to be in Tokyo 3, and most importantly, a form of connection to the core theme of the show: loneliness. Loneliness, depression, and a lack of purpose are all recurrent traumas our characters undergo. Some characters find their answers and are able to move forward, and others are not as lucky. However, by the end of the series we have a clear view of what [Hideaki Anno](https://anilist.co/staff/100111/Hideaki-Anno) wanted to convey to his audience through his work. I will leave it up to you to understand what you will of its last two episodes and [The End of Evangelion](https://anilist.co/anime/32/Neon-Genesis-Evangelion-The-End-of-Evangelion/); as I feel like this is the most complex part of the show and is more of an experience than an absolute solution for depression. These core themes are what made _Evangelion_ the masterpiece it is today, for they sparked discussion and allowed every member of its audience to interpret it differently. # Animation and Sound The animation quality of a show is a topic with divided views. It is true that the show cannot be compared to today's standards and the lack of a remaster makes it a difficult viewing, however I had no problem with it and was still impressed. The fight scenes are brutal and exciting. They are filled with dynamic movement and well-crafted facial expressions from the pilots. The soundtrack is very well done. It didn't stick with me unlike other shows, but it is able to set a tone and portray emotion to the viewer with ease. The opening is iconic and for a good reason, in a few minutes we know through the music and cryptic imagery what the plot and characters are about. The ending, even if it doesn't use an original song, makes good use of its simplistic visuals and Frank Sinatra's [_Fly Me To The Moon_ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQR0bXO_yI8) to establish a tone consistent with the events of its respective episode. I should quickly mention my opinion on the christian symbolism. I appreciated it because it demonstrated the effort the creators put into the show. They used real world imagery and terms to tell its story in an unique style. Although some might consider it was ham-fisted and unnecessary, I do not think _Evangelion_ would be the same without it. The shows undergoes various tone shifts throughout its run-time, however the animators and voice actors do a good job of accommodating the scene to fit the tone of the episode. We feel happy in the slice-of-life episodes, we feel fear when faced by the feral Eva Unit 01, and we feel sad when characters dies. From an audiovisual standpoint, the show excels the most in its shot composition and visual directing. Almost every scene is crafted with care for the viewer to understand the emotion, tone, and what is happening in the scene only from looking at it. The opening scene is a good example of that. The alien enters the view of the soldiers by emerging from the now-underwater Tokyo, we get the idea that this is a post-apocalyptic world. We understand the severity of the situation as we see a barrage of missiles unable to scratch the invading Angel and the many cigarettes found in the commanders' desk add to the tension of the scene. However, the day is bright and the landscape is filled with green, as if fighting Angels was common practice for humans. Lastly, the faceless military officer's descend and are out of frame. We are presented with the new man in charge, Gendou Ikari. A menacing figure, one that uses gloves and orange glasses to separate himself from the outer world, almost like a hedgehog. img(https://i.gyazo.com/4182c690548d3ef97251bc841079b183.png) # Conclusion I understand that at this point the quality of _Evangelion_ might have been blown out of proportion as there is no such thing as a flawless show. However, it is undeniable the effect the show has had on the industry and its work in popularizing anime as a whole. Almost every single anime fan should be able to watch this and enjoy some part of it. As there is a lot of stuff to enjoy here, ranging from best girl Asuka to robot battles that will decide the fate of humanity.

TheRealKyuubey

The year is 2015. It’s been fifteen years since the world suffered a cataclysmic disaster, which wiped out unimaginable portions of life and land mass, a great deal of which is now permanently underwater. While the cause of the incident is unknown to the general public, those with special clearance are aware of The Angels, giant celestial beings from the heavens who’ve come to Earth with the apparent task of ending humanity as we know it. In response to this, the secret organization NERV began to recruit a select few overbearing and overemotional young people, yes, teenagers, all of whom were born one year after the incident, which has been mysteriously dubbed “Second impact.” These young heroes have been tasked with piloting the Evangelion, a trio of giant cyborgs that have been proven to be the only weapons capable of fighting off the extraterrestrial threat and defending the remaining populace of this post-apocalyptic world, including what few loved ones they may have, all as humanity clings to the last remnants of society! But all is not what it seems, as NERV seems to have it’s own agenda, independent from the harrowing exploits of the young pilots. Their seemingly altruistic goal of protecting humanity from the ever-present threat of extinction may only be a ruse that’s concealing a deeper, perhaps even more sinister scheme. These pilots consist of the first child, Rei Ayanami, a quiet and emotionally closed-off girl who’s shrouded in mystery; The Second child, Asuka Langley Soryu, a half-German girl with deep-seated superiority issues and an attitude to match; And the third child, Shinji Ikari, estranged son of the project’s director who wants nothing more than his father’s approval. These children must battle the constant threat of the Angels as well as each other and the increasingly shady people pulling their strings, all while coming up with new strategies on the spot against enemies that never show up in the same form twice, and especially never from the same angle. In order to understand each other, they’ll have to understand themselves. Will our heroes be able to protect us from total annihilation, or will they themselves prove to be the unwitting heralds of our demise? Over the years, Neon Genesis Evangelion has garnered something of a larger than life reputation, which is why it’s so strange to hear people gloss over it’s massive budget restrictions. To be fair, they’re not a problem too often, as Gainax has proven themselves time and time again to be good at working under shoestring budgets, but it does become a problem once in a while, and to the show’s great detriment, it does so really early on. While there are later episodes that use obvious budget saving tactics that wouldn’t fool even the greenest of novice otakus, the ugliest material of the series takes place right in episode 3, where Shinji is settling into his new life at school. The budget for this particular episode was clearly drained bone dry, with stilted movements, frozen pictures with moving mouths for extended periods of time, and I swear I’m not making this up, a lengthy sequence where the number of students in Shinji’s class appears to change drastically between shots. Even by the standards of low budget old-school anime, this is just embarrassing. Thankfully, it’s not the norm. It’s the exception, not the rule. There are other episodes where characters are badly drawn or inhumanly stiff, but never to the same level of concentration, and the animators clearly got better at it as the series progressed, right up until the obvious budget crash towards the end. I don’t think the budget ever really picked up, at least not to any sort of progressive degree, but it does get a lot better at preserving and allocating money, so that the big action scenes that take up the middle of the series can be just as epic as they need to be. The increase in artwork quality is also a huge point in it’s favor, as an improved grasp on framing and shading make even the stiffest of dialogue exchanges and character moments look passable at worst and thoroughly engaging at best. The character designs are a bit rough, but they’re thoughtfully done, incorporating similarities between certain characters that you don’t even realize are there until further viewings, with Shinji’s similarities to his father only being the tip of the iceberg. When I said earlier that Evangelion employs budget saving techniques that wouldn’t fool most viewers, I was of course referring to the more discerning viewers who wouldn’t be drawn in by the animators dangling keys in front of their faces. There are too many moments where they stopped having the characters do stuff and instead just switch to a minimalist perspective and psychoanalyze the characters, with a thin veil of lore giving it enough of an excuse to separate it from similar Gainax shows that did the same thing, like that old trainwreck Kare Kano. It’s easy enough to get drawn in by all this psychobabble, and I’ll spend a fair amount of time later on going into detail about why you shouldn’t, but if you don’t, then you’ll likely see nothing more impressive in it than a cheap, transparent attempt to save a buck. This is concentrated mostly in the final quarter of the anime, which means you won’t have to put up with it often, but damned if seeing that one extended shot of Unit 1 and the final angel doesn’t attract most viewers to start massaging the fast forward button. The music, composed almost entirely by Shiro Sagisu and distributed by King Records, received the 1997 Kobe animation award for Best Original Score, and I feel bad for whatever anime it was competing against, because they had no chance. The entire score is largely comprised of big, elaborate orchestral band pieces, and unlike the shaky at best animation quality, they go all out with the musical accompaniments. There are too many memorable tracks to count, including most of the angel battle themes(Dance like you want to win is a particular favorite of mine) and the repeated domestic tracks from the show’s more contained moments. There are a handful of pre-existing songs, like Hallelujah(The generic choir version, not the Leonard Cohen version). It’s a fantastic soundtrack, but the best part is still the opening, Cruel Angel’s Thesis, which in addition to being a great song is probably the greatest use of stock footage in an op that I’ve ever seen. The closing theme, a direct cover of Sinatra’s “Fly me to the Moon,” is sung by a different actress and in a different style every episode, in all of it’s engrishy glory. Since the dub for Evangelion was released over ten years ago, it contains a lot of names you might not be used to hearing. That’s not to say they don’t show up anymore… Although Sue Ulu, Jaxon Lee and Kurt Stoll have long since retired… But for the most part, they’re names that have faded from the voice acting A-list with time. The Evangelion actor who’s probably the most well known these days is Tiffany Grant, who’s still churning out an impressive amount of work 23 years into her career. She also puts forth what’s probably the best performance of the series, playing the egotistical glass cannon Asuka, speaking in flawless German when she needs to and brilliantly following along with every single psychological facet of her character, from the arrogant boasting to the more tsundere-like ranting and nagging, including what easily puts her over the top, the young fraulein’s more fragile and broken moments. Alison Keith probably comes in second with her portrayal of the fan favorite Misato, the guardian of two of the pilots as well as a strong, dependent Major seeking revenge against the Angels. I don’t think Spike Spencer did a bad job with Shinji, and after all, he was probably the perfect choice for the role, but the material he was given did him no favors. Shinji is a whiny and self-loathing adolescent boy, so in turn, that’s exactly what Spike plays him as, all the way down to the cracking voice and doubt-filled inflections. He didn’t exactly make the character likeable, but to be completely honest, I go back and forth on whether or not he was even SUPPOSED to be likeable, so points for accuracy. The same goes for Amanda Winn, later Amanda Winn Lee, for her performance as Rei, which she excels at despite it not being a very demanding role. She stays flat and monotoned throughout, but there’s still nuance to the performance. It is worth noting, however, that this is quite possibly the only good performance I’ve heard from her, as she is in fact my least favorite English dub voice actor. Her voice has a very uneven and unnatural quality to it, to the point that some of her roles have sounded like she was recording her lines in the back seat of a moving roller coaster, and while I’d love to give you some examples, all I have to do is point you to when she breaks character in the final episode. Beyond these, there aren’t really any stand-outs, as almost everyone plays their roles equally good. Gendoh Ikari had two different voice actors, one for the series and one for the Director’s Cut, but you can barely tell the difference, and I mean that in a good way. He’s kind of a flat character like Rei, but instead of apathy and a lack of emotions, Gendoh needs to be played with a very specific level of strength and determination, the voice of someone who never leaves the office and can’t help but look down on anyone who’s less committed than he is. The directors’ cut also swaps a bunch of other modern names into the cast, such as Greg Ayres, Vic Mignona, Monica Rial, and even the short-lived Mandy Clark. The adaptive writing is mostly faithful, rarely making any changes beyond rewording certain lines to match the lip flaps, or just to change the timing of certain lines and the order in which they’re said. I know that sounds like a lot, but it never really takes away from the intent of the original material, and even when it comes close to doing so, it happens during moments that are acted more than well enough to justify them. Is it as good as the dub? No, but it does grow on you if you give it a little bit of time, and it’s pretty good in it’s own right. In the 20 years that it’s been out, the public perception of Evangelion has been all over the place. It’s not the MOST poorly aged anime I’ve ever seen… I can think of a few certain titles from far more recent years that have fallen much harder and faster from grace… It was once considered one of the greatest anime of all time, if not THE greatest, which is an attitude that’s not only declined, but in today’s market, Eva worship is a simple, recognizable sign of rookie status, someone who hasn’t seen enough titles to compare it to. There are still die hard fans out there, who believe it to be some profound psychological masterpiece… We’ll stick a pin in that idea for now… But the growing critical consensus is, and has been for a while now, that Evangelion is little more than pretentious nonsense. In order to talk about this anime, I’m going to have to address these concerns, because no, I don’t think it’s THAT pretentious. I’m aware that I may be alone in this, but from what I can tell, a few problematic elements have been blown way out of proportion. First of all, the definition of pretentious is as follows; If someone or something is attempting to impress by pretending to have greater importance, wisdom, depth, meaning, etc. than it actually possesses, then it falls into the official definition. Things aren’t pretentious because they seem smart, but because they’re not as smart as they want to look, and frankly, to tell the difference, you’ve gotta be smart enough to compare what’s being boasted to what’s actually there. In the case of Evangelion, there are a few pretentious elements at play, but it takes up nowhere near the majority of the material. For starters, I have to call them out on this because I don’t think anyone else has, there’s the episode titles, and I can provide a quick example; In an episode where two kisses take place, the title will be “Those women longed for the touch of other’s lips, and offered them their kisses,” or something, I’m paraphrasing. Titles that sound overly busy and full of purple prose that are meant to give the feeling of greater meaning or profundity to otherwise unimportant moments. The other example is some stream-of-consciousness material that occurs toward he end of the series. I won’t go into too much about the bullshit this part of the series is loaded with, because I already said a lot of it in the animation portion, and besides, other reviewers have done a far better job of it than I ever could. Seriously, if you want to see the philosophies of Evangelion get a triumphant curb-stomp, look up Jesuotaku’s review, it’s not as hard to find as you might think. What I will say is that there’s a pretty good rule of thumb for judging pretension… If a story uses very little words in order to say a lot, then it’s probably profound in some way. If it uses a ton of words to say very little, then yeah, it’s pretentious. I won’t give away what’s going on in the official series ending, but to paraphrase(something I can do far too easily), it’s saying that with billions of different perspectives of awareness existing in the world, it’s impossible to fully understand anything, least of all other people and even yourself. They find so many different ways to say this, through constant repetition and rephrasing, that it very soon starts to feel like padding for episode length. So yes, there’s some obvious pretension going on, but to it’s credit, that stuff is mostly only relegated to the final quarter of the series, and even then, barely half of that. Having said that, the series doesn’t get off to the best start either, as the first quarter of episodes suffer a slight case of growing pains, introducing a few of it’s main characters, who really don’t flourish well on their own, and the lackluster animation from those episodes doesn’t offer much support. Thankfully, the very concept of teenagers with room to grow piloting giant cyborgs to fight celestial monsters is more than promising enough to carry even the most reluctant viewers through, and thank God for that, because something happens a quarter of the way into the series that automatically brings all of it’s best qualities to the forefront. Evangelion truly shines when it’s in it’s element, with all three pilots gathered and a brand new Angel showing up to challenge them in brand new ways each episode, and the level of creativity and thoughtful writing that goes into these battles is nothing short of insane. It’s a bit episodic, yes, but it’s by far the best Eva has to offer. Unfortunately, this all adds up to an extremely inconsistent level of quality throughout the series. I’ve seen shows that started out great but went downhill towards the end, and likewise, I’ve seen shows that were difficult to get into, but turned out to be rewarding at the end. Well, Evangelion is one of very few anime whose best material is in the middle. For more than half of the episode count, you could easily count this series as not only one of the greatest action anime of all time, but one of the greatest mech shows of all time, and that’s coming from a guy who’s not easily impressed by giant robots. It’s exciting, it’s inventive, and it’s damn funny to boot, but that’s still only a portion of the series. Now, you might be asking, how is this possible? The truth is, while Evangelion has many different problems plaguing it, there’s one issue in particular that I believe to be the core of everything wrong with it. For all the intense action and sci-fi fantasy that it offers, for all of the rich lore that’s so easy to get lost in, for all the intrigue keeping us guessing, let’s just say there’s a reason I worded my plot synopsis to not highlight any character in particular. All of Evangelion’s worst problems begin and end with Shinji Ikari, who is… By all conceivable measures… A terrible main character. He doesn’t do anything you’d expect a protagonist to do, and he winds up hurting not only the story as a result, but other characters as well. The reason the middle of the story is the best part is largely because, for that stretch of episodes, Shinji’s not treated like a central main character. He’s not given any special attention, or any special development. Starting immediately from the debut of Asuka, Shinji just kind of fades into the rest of the cast. If you took any given episode from this portion out of context, you could be forgiven for thinking that Misato was the main character, or that there ISN’T even a main character, and instead the focus is on an ensemble cast, or more specifically the three pilots as a unit. I know a lot of people give Asuka shit for being egotistical and annoying, but she is the life of this series, as Shinji is way too busy reacting to her capriciousness and Rei actually shows some personality in response to the competitive Asuka provoking her. I may complain that Shinji has so little agency that he makes Jupiter Jones look like Indiana Jones, but he gets more tolerable the less he’s expected to do, and that should have been a warning sign right from the first story-board panel. As a cypher, his job is to have the plot and premise of the story explained to us through him, and he does the bare minimum of this, learning about the fight between Angels and Evas for our sake before breaking off from the larger plot by whining about his own self-interests. He’d rather complain and refuse to make any forward progression, but due to his lack of agency, his refusals ultimately amount to nothing. Throughout the anime, the only thing he’s interested in is gaining the approval of others, and he gets so singularly invested in his own shit that they had to introduce an entirely different character… Misato’s “It’s complicated” guy Kaji… Just to get the ball rolling on what’s supposed to be shocking reveals later in the series. That’s supposed to be the main character’s job, and the fact that his story is so entirely divorced from what’s actually going on behind the scenes creates a huge tonal dissonance that ruins the impact of what could have been a much more interesting build to the climax. There’s a critiquing device out there that has you asking one very simple question: Whose story is it? Who’s the real main character? Who has the motivation, who has the arc, who’s affected most by the plot? Well, let’s look at Shinji. He wants approval from his father. Okay, I’ve heard of worse arcs… How does it play out? Well, if Gendoh was a more interesting character, which I’m sad to say he’s not, then he’d use his heartlessness and lack of love for his son to manipulate the kid, using Shinji’s longing as a carrot on a string, offering false hope that Shinji would uncover so he could reject his own father and rise above it as a stronger character. Instead, the writers make no attempt to hide how little Shinji matters to Gendoh, making him as unlikable as possible to the detriment of the plot. We know Gendoh will never love Shinji, because there’s no nuance to his character, leaving Shinji to be motivated by little other than the fact that he’s good at something he thinks others can’t do. We’re supposed to grab onto his belief in his father’s humanity, but when Gendoh’s heartlessness is played up to the point that he winds up making borderline nonsensical decisions just to look as evil as possible, it just feels like everything our hero does is in vain. We know Gendoh’ll never open up, there’s no reason to get invested. Towards the end of the series… And I’m going to try and avoid spoilers here as much as possible… Something disastrous occurs, involving one of Shinji’s friends. The build-up is contrived as hell, with everyone connected to the event either assuming Shinji already knows what his friend is doing, or just not wanting to tell him for one reason or another, and it gets even more contrived when the thing goes wrong, and Asuka is cut off from telling him, because Gendoh’s solution relies heavily on his son being in the dark, but he shouldn’t even KNOW that Shinji’s in the dark over it, and that’s not even considering that he could have easily explained the actual problem to them while achieving a better outcome. But hey, screw logic, we’ve gotta make him look like a complete sociopath so that Shinji can rebel… Again… And try to leave… Again… And ultimately come back for the same reasons that he came back before, albeit with greater stakes. It’s probably the worst episode in the series, and it serves as a perfect example of how the writers went out of their way to keep Shinji in his own little bubble. Of course, what Shinji and Gendoh DO have in common, aside from their looks, is that neither of them are given a proper backstory. Oh, we see them in the past, but it’s always in someone else’s backstory, and we’re never shown anything from their own. We see Gendoh as a part of Professor Fuyutsuki’s backstory, but we never learn where he came from, what his motivation was before Yui came into his life, or what drove him apart from his son. Speaking of the devil, we see Shinji as a child in other peoples’ backstories, and we learn that he ran away to live with his teacher, but we’re never shown why he ran away, what his life was like with Gendoh as a single parent, what his life with his teacher was like… All we know is that not having his father love him was hard on him, but he was told this, not shown it, which makes him very difficult to sympathize with. So who is the main character? It’s hard to say. If you include the movie, then Asuka has the best arc. Rei has the best backstory. Misato has the best relation to the ever thickening plot. And yet, Shinji is the focal character, dealing with issues that are annoying in the beginning and pushed aside for the show’s best material, before they have to pull some pretentious post-modern existentialist bullshit just to give him a resolution that it would take a theatrical ending to not conclude, but ultimately rewrite by using him as a tool for other character’s resolutions… Which is where he’s at his best. Neon Genesis Evangelion, at least the original series, is currently out of print, although I have heard rumors that Funimation is planing to rescue it. A couple of different collections are available online, including the thin-pack Perfect collection, which I luckily bought when ADV films put it out twelve years ago. It’s worth about 350 dollars now. The movie, End of Evangelion, which is required viewing if you want to skip the last two bullshit episodes of the series, as it’s really the only way to complete the experience. Another film, Death and /rebirth, is literally the worst, so don’t get tricked into wasting your time and money on it. The Rebuild movies, released a decade after the series debuted and dubbed for American release by Funimation, is much easier to find, at least in regard to the three films that have been released so far, and I do highly recommend them. There are also several manga adaptations of the series, most of which are available stateside, but I haven’t read any of them. Evangelion has been a highly influential series ever since it was released, with it’ themes, ideas, and story elements being simultaneously ripped off wholesale and used with respect, to the point that even Attack on Titan probably wouldn’t exist without it(seriously, compare the two). It also proved, for better or worse, that anime could deliver more depth and mature themes than people were used to, especially from a mass-marketable action series. While it may have struggled to find it’s stride and stumbled towards the finish line, you have to remember that before Eva came out, there really wasn’t anything like it in existence, it’s similarities to other Gainax properties aside. It was a pioneer, and it took a lot of major risks, which paid off a thousand-fold in helping to form the market as we know it today. It’s a flawed series, with uneven quality and one of the worst protagonists in anime history… I mean, this is basically the story of an entire chessboard where the focus is on a pawn who doesn’t even make it to the other side… I still highly recommend watching it. Just don’t forget to skip the last two episodes and conclude with End of Evangelion instead. I give Neon Genesis Evangelion a 7/10.

Mator

An incredibly ambitious story about being human in a world ravaged by supernatural beings, Neon Genesis Evangelion is fascinating in how it takes the initial concept of mecha and transforms it into a uniquely philosophical take on what it means to be human. On a surface level, Evangelion is a masterpiece. It has a well-executed and deeply original story which weaves the emotional arcs of its characters into a compelling, high-stakes narrative. Its visual direction is incredibly powerful. The music is functional, with the series' greatest strength being its OP and ED. The themes are solid, and the series doesn't let the audience forget about them. That said, while Evangelion is fascinating and complex, it is not without its flaws. It is, at its core, a deeply confusing story. Many of the details of the story seem irrelevant to its central thematic element - a boy who is afraid of the world. A lot of the plot feels unnecessary when considered in the context of the entire show - serving as little more than a distraction from what the story is truly about. The extended pacing sees a lot of repetition, and this leads to the characters becoming obnoxious as the series continuously pounds their flaws into the audience's head, as if they hadn't already been shown to us a million times over. This all, unfortunately, detracts from Evangelion as a whole. However, while Evangelion's story may seem drawn out, it would be negligent to not mention the significance of its impact. NGE had a huge impact on the anime industry, and is truly a titan of the times. It is quite possibly one of the most influential mecha anime ever created. Considering the show up until the finale, it is certainly an incredible work and something that is worthwhile to watch. That said, I have one more area I wish to address - the ending. The ending of Evangelion is very interesting and unique. It is, perhaps, one of the most unique anime endings I have ever seen. It is profound, and manages this profundity in a way that is neither fake nor completely detached from the thematic or narrative arc of its story. This makes it worthy of praise. Unfortunately, I don't actually like the ending much at all. Don't get me wrong - I think it's interesting and not entirely unreasonable, but I fundamentally disagree with its philosophical thrust. What follows below is a spoiler for the ending - read at your own risk! ~!I find the ending to be surprising in how it implies the success of the human instrumentality project and unification of all human souls into a single entity. While this sort of event had been mentioned throughout the story, the term "human instrumentality project" doesn't have a specific explicit meaning, so it was never really clear exactly *what* it was. This makes the ending something of a deus ex machina - it comes out of left field and the audience is given very little to go on to interpret it. The effect this has on the audience - that of confusion - isn't necessarily a bad one. It inspires viewers to think about the story, and try to understand what its trying to say. That said, many viewers may just completely fail to understand the ending. This makes it technically questionable. More importantly, I find the ending to be philosophically lackluster. The ending frames the unification of human souls in a positive light through Shinji's self-reflection and character growth, and this is the core of my issue with it. Because of this, I can't help but interpret the philosophical thrust of the finale as decidedly pessimistic and depressing. It suggests that a supernatural apocalyptic event is the only way to grow and discover personal truth. This is an incredibly anti-human sentiment - fundamentally cynical and fatalistic. The fact that it wasn't until a supernatural apocalyptic event that Shinji could truly have meaningful character growth is so *wrong*, it feels like a giant slap in the face. It feels like the story is saying that humans are fundamentally incapable of growth - that we're trapped by our insecurities - that the meaning of being human is to be *broken*, and that we cannot be fixed barring a supernatual event. I fundamentally disagree with this sentiment. While I acknowledge that humanity is flawed and that life is challenging, I refuse to give into pessimism and believe that humans are incapable of growth.!~ Overall, Evangelion has interesting ideas, and presents them in a compelling fashion. I think it is impressive and worthy of note for this achievement, but its execution is not without flaws. Ultimately, the fact that its thematic thrust is decidedly dark and pessimistic is what makes this anime less than a masterpiece, in my eyes. # The breakdown **Art:** 10/10 -- Incredibly powerful, visceral work. **Sound:** 7/10 -- Fantastic OP, but otherwise unremarkable. **Narrative:** 9/10 -- Very unique and compelling, but some issues with pacing. **Characters:** 8/10 -- Deeply flawed and interesting, but a bit repetitive. **Themes:** 6/10 -- Dark and pessimistic. Focuses on humanity's flaws and denies our potential for growth. **Overall: 8/10, B-**

Ab3Saucy

Found myself so wrapped up in the humanely flawed yet amazing characters and sick action scenes that I binged it without even realizing. If you're not willing to open your mind to different views or look back through the series to understand better then you might not love it as much; however, if you are then you will find instances that resonate with you and like me you will love the series. If I had to point out the first thing that really hooked me to continue it wouldn't be the ambiguous yet suspenseful story, great animation quality (for 1995 lol), or even the sick action scenes but the characters. These aren't your typical black and white, good and bad characters. They're grey characters who's attitude you feel toward them is dictated by the scenarios in the episodes and how the character chooses to act to conflict. I found my attitude to Shinji (the protagonist) changing from feeling sorry for him, to being angry at him, and even feeling proud in him. Furthermore, instead of just being thrown flawed characters and being told to accept them as is we are given their reasons for being the way they are. Episodes that elaborated in this were intriguing because they made me like these supporting characters and actually accept their flaws. The relationships between character like Shinji and his father, Misato and Ryogi, Asuka and Rei etc... were incredibly believable human behaviour. These interactions furthered the plot and furthered the feelings of empathy I had for the characters. Now for the sense of playing the devils advocate I will point of some of the things that might push you away from the anime. First its the quality of the animation (I know I know I praised it above) because this was created in 1995 its hard to be drawn to it and the quality you find from streaming websites that aren't legit make it even worse. Their is some flimsy animation scenes when it comes to the characters face, but I can guarantee that mostly every scene where the EVA (big mecha robot) is in is absolutely crispy. Those scenes look amazing and attention to detail is great for it times. The second thing that might push you away is all those out of body scenes. They can be confusing at times but if your experienced in anime I'd say you'll understand if not just keep rewatching the scenes (that's what I had to do at times I'm pretty experienced :) ) Then comes episode 25-26 these were difficult to digest/interpret but once I took my time to really experience and plug previous scenes together I found these two episodes to be the most rewarding. Overall Neon Genesis Evangelion is an iconic must watch anime that left a huge impression in me that made me want to even write this review. For anyone who read this entirely thank you and I hope you watch it!

shisha

~~~img420(https://filmschoolrejects.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/fixed.jpg) Can't afford therapy? Watch Evangelion!~~~ __Score__: 9.5/10 - __Plot__: 9/10 - __Characters__: 10/10 - __Art & Music__: 10/10 __Recommended for__: lovers of philosophy and psychology, realistic characters, blend of action and humor, dark undertones, apocalyptic world, character focused, religious symbolism, shows that make you think, shows that make you depressed. First off: nothing can be said about Evangelion that hasn't already been said. It was hugely influential, it changed the way people look at anime, its imagery is still being referenced and reproduced today, and so on. Yet for someone who has never seen Evangelion, it doesn't say much. I'm just here to tell you why I like it, and hopefully it will convince you to give it a try. __Plot__ Your name is Shinji Ikari, you're fourteen, and the fate of the world is in your hands. That's the premise of Evangelion and for the first few episodes, it does seem that simple. There are some funny interactions, the monsters are imaginative, and the fights are exciting. Then we get glimpses of a deeper mystery, and as we pass the halfway point, the story takes a morbid turn. Who are the Angels? What is the First Impact? Why did they build the city right above the epicenter of conflict? We don’t quite get an answer to these questions, which leads to understandable frustration. Evangelion is often called ‘pretentious’ because of its philosophical undertone and heavy reliance on symbolism, be that as it may, it's still impactful. People have theorized about themes of determinism, nihilism, Oedipus complex, and every other term in the book. Few other anime have sparked such versatile debates, and isn't the point of a good story to make you think? It's interesting that the religious imagery was chosen simply because it looked exotic. Does that mean Evangelion is a matter of style over substance? Is it a satire? What is this show trying to tell me? Quite frankly, Hideaki Anno takes you on a whirlwind trip and leaves you standing in the rain. While being a story about saving humanity, everyone is in it for their own personal reasons. The story is propelled by the choices of these characters, and the fate of the world hinges on these decisions. Despite Earth being a post-apocalyptic wasteland, humans are still trying to come out on top, like humans always do. The Human Instrumentality Project, the battle against the Angels, to me they’re a plot device that is used to guide viewers to a more introspective nature of the show: to make us examine our own consciousness and confront our fears. ~~~img300(http://i.imgur.com/OFer9Po.jpg) ~~~ __Characters__ Shinji is painfully human, so much so that people hate him for it. He is weak, indecisive, he's a pushover, a crybaby, and you hate him so much because you hate yourself for the same reasons. And you hate Asuka, because she's annoying, loudmouthed, needy, manipulative, you hate how she's constantly yearning to be acknowledged because you too are looking for other people's approval. And you hate Rei, because she seems apathetic throughout it all, and you hate Gendo too. You hate everyone in this anime because they're weak and flawed and you realize you hate yourself more than you hate any of them. We tend to dislike these characters for they represent the fragments of ourselves that we hide from others. The characters are realistic this way. Their behavior is in line with their flaws, they make decisions influenced by it and they make mistakes because of it. Similarly, some fight against their fate until the very last moment, and some resign to it. In the end, while events of Biblical proportions are taking place, we humans are still thinking about the small, insignificant desires that pertain our existence. The mistakes we have made, the things we still want to say, want to do. Life is too short for regrets but oh do you regret it now. Does that make us worth living? Does humanity persevere despite of its flaws, or because of it? These are the questions that I asked myself while watching. And the answer to that? It’s all quite beside the point. ~~~img300(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/44/94/e1/4494e1ac1dbb230324959fad8d1d358d.jpg)~~~ __Art & Music__ Dystopian but make it art house. Evangelion is stunning in its use of static shots, we see Tokyo-3 at twilight, the cold interiors of NERV, these scenes are drenched in an oppressive atmosphere. It truly is a beautifully crafted piece of art. The iconic opening song, the various covers of Fly Me To The Moon, the use of classical music, the constant hum of cicadas in the background: Evangelion wouldn't be Evangelion without it. Perhaps my favorite soundtrack is one titled ‘Mother is the First Other’, it’s wonderfully haunting. 「Definitely check out Evangelion. While watching this show you might ask yourself questions such as, _'What is the meaning of life?'_ or _'What is reality? What does it mean to be an individual?'_ Does the answer really matter? Because no matter the circumstances, we always have our own desires, the need to connect with others, to have a purpose, to feel a sense of belonging, to enjoy the little things in life. And it is often these little things that keep us driving forward. Evangelion is catharsis, If you can come out of it with a personal interpretation of its message, I feel the show has done its job.」 We all go through dark periods, and sometimes we just need someone to take us by the hand, and tell us: _it's okay, you're gonna be okay, it's gonna be okay._

Lenlo

~~~img(http://starcrossedanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Evangelion-Banner-683x1024.jpg)~~~ It’s not often that I get to review seminal works in a medium. I read and watch them often. _Vagabond_, _Monster_ and _Berserk_ are some of my favorite manga. Meanwhile _Fullmetal Alchemist_ is perhaps the epitome of Shounen. But not once have I thought I could, and should, transcribe my thoughts about them into a single review. To boil down my feelings on them to a scant 4,000 or so words and a final, numerical score. Yet here I am having to do the same for a work arguably more important than any of the ones I mentioned previously. A work so universally known in the community that its like Japan’s Star Wars. I am of course talking about _Neon Genesis Evangelion_ (Director’s Cut), directed by [Hideaki Anno](https://anilist.co/staff/100111/Hideaki-Anno) and made by the now fallen from grace [Studio Gainax](https://anilist.co/studio/6/Gainax). With that, there is no point to dawdling anymore. Let’s dive in. And one last thing! An _End of Evangelion_ review will soon follow this. I am aware it completes the story, but this review is for the TV anime and that alone. I have not watched it yet. The movie will cover everything and how it completes the series as a whole. Also there will be spoilers so we can talk about the work in its entirety, minimal vagueness here. You have been warned. __(_Disclaimer_: This review contains spoilers for _Neon Genesis Evangelion_. I am also working to make 50 the new "average". 70 is not an average score people. 70 is above average. You can also find individual episode write ups and comment on this review on my [Star Crossed blog](http://starcrossedanime.com/neon-genesis-evangelion-anime-review-77-100-throwback-thursday/). Carry on.)__ ~~~img(https://i1.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Neon-Genesis-Evangelion-19.9.png?resize=685%2C514)~~~ # __~~~Art/Animation~~~__ As always, we have to start off with the Animation of an anime, and for _Evangelion_ that’s a loaded topic. What I mean is, _Evangelion_ came out in 1995, almost 25 years ago. This was right on the cusp of when anime started transitioning to digital animation, with works such as Princess Mononoke and Ghost in the Shell starting to blend the two. The reason I bring all of this up is because of this question: How do you judge older cel animation? Do you judge it as a product of its time? Or is it a critic’s duty to review it in the context of the present? Generally for me, and for the purposes of this review, I tend to judge things on when they came out. Not only because I feel it’s fairer, but because cel has a unique texture compared to digital, something we rarely get anymore So the preamble over with, how does _Evangelion’s_ animation stack up? Well let’s start with the good, because when _Evangelion_ is on it is on. There are numerous sequences throughout the series that are simply stunning, though some in a weird way. The best examples of this I can give are, of course, the EVA fights with the Angels. This is where Gainax really stretched their muscles, giving these giant robots incredibly fluid and organic movements. It only gets better when the EVA units get out of control, reverting almost to beasts, the animation changing with them. And even during the aforementioned “weird” parts _Evangelion_ still looks good. For instance episode 9, Moment and Heart Together, where Anno basically gives us a mecha dance number. Is it weird? Yes. Does it look good? Hell yes. Effectively anytime the EVA units are on screen, we can expect something great. But what about whenever they aren’t? As with a lot of anime, not just the 90’s cel, outside of set piece scenes can be rather… static. Here _Evangelion_ is no exception, and though Anno attempts to mitigate it with his direction, it isn’t always successful. We will dig into it a bit more in the next section, but for now I am referencing things like the escalator, the elevator, etc. These scenes take what is often one of cel animation’s biggest strengths, its handmade backgrounds, and ignores them. Instead giving us largely static images with dull backgrounds. There is nothing here for us to latch onto, nothing to engage the eye. Even if the conversation might be interesting, visually it’s dull. And the sad thing is that this isn’t even the worst of it. The further you get into _Evangelion_, the more and more you might find yourself recognizing certain shots. Scenes, animation pulled directly from previous episodes, basically reinstated. Yes, some of these have thematic relevance, but that doesn’t change how lazy they are. Love them or hate them, packed with thematic relevance or not, it doesn’t change how visually uninteresting many of these shots are. So what does this mean for _Evangelion_? Well, as egregious as a lot of these were, they never took away from the highs. They only really cropped up on review or when looking back on an episode after it finished. However they rarely took away from the scene in the moment because of how invested I was in the narrative. Basically, _Evangelion’s_ highs are good enough to make me want to ignore the lows. ~~~img(https://i2.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Evangelion-22.5.png?resize=685%2C514)~~~ #~~~__Direction__~~~ Moving on we come to _Evangelion’s_ Direction, a very polarizing part of the show from what I have heard. Many view it as the work of a visionary, meticulously setting scenes. Others as evidence of a troubled production starting to lose its wheels and hobble across the finish line. Personally, though, I look at them as a clever man making the best of a bad situation. Clearly there are better alternatives, things Anno could have done had his production been in a better state at the time. I also don’t blame those who detest these scenes, as they require a minimum level of investment in the characters to be even marginally interesting. They are weird, static, often dull shots and are incredibly hit or miss, even for me. Take the ending of episode 4 at the train station as an example of one I don’t think landed well. However when Anno’s scenes land, I think they land _really well_. The end of episode 24 for example, minimal spoilers, did a great job depicting Shinji’s hesitance and eventual acceptance. Meanwhile _Evangelion_ has plenty of shots throughout the series with fantastic composition, with no hint of production woes. One of my favorite reoccurring examples of this are the EVA Units. Anno has them hiding in the background throughout the series, always looming, always watching, always present. As the series goes on and we learn more about them and the greater story, this presence becomes more and more disconcerting. And as this tone in the series shifts, Anno shifts how he presents the EVA’s in these shots as well. Making them darker, more looming, focusing in on the eyes more and more. It’s the same basic shot, yet it works from episode 1 all the way to episode 26. This isn’t to say that _Evangelion_ isn’t without it’s issues here though, Anno has plenty of inconsistencies. For instance in episode 20 we see Shinji’s plugsuit in the EVA, yet he entered it while not wearing one. Throughout the series _Evangelion_ also routinely confuses or messes up the layout, making it nigh impossible to tell where a lot of things are in relation to each other. However for all these issues, and there are many more I could pull but I don’t want this to be to spoiler-y, I don’t think they negatively affect the narrative to much. The story beats still land, although muted a bit, and the experience was ultimately still enjoyable. I don’t think Anno is a genius or a visionary, but rather a skilled director who did the best with what he had. So ultimately, for all of its flaws, I think Anno did well with _Evangelion’s_ direction. It’s different of course and not something I think would work universally. And the final 2 episodes are a big old mess. But for the kind of story _Evangelion_ is, the messages it wanted to get across managed to do so. And while its lows can be annoying, its highs are fantastic and evocative, leaving me with imagery I will remember for a long time to come. So even in spite of its clear production woes and worsening timeline, _Evangelion_ succeeded at keeping me engaged throughout the story with only a few hiccups here and there. Sadly however all good things must one day come to an end, and while I am aware that _End of Evangelion_ exists and truly finishes out the series, as its own production I find _Evangelion’s_ story… wanting. ~~~img(https://i1.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Neon-Genesis-Evangelion-23.3.png?resize=685%2C514)~~~ #~~~__Setting/Story__~~~ What do I mean by wanting? Well the easiest way to say it, metaphorically ripping off the band-aid here, is that _Evangelion_ is unfinished. As a stand-alone TV product, _Neon Genesis Evangelion_ is not complete. It fails to finish it’s story, it fails to follow up with the myriad of plot threads laced throughout, and the only thing it really delivers on are it’s characters. And don’t get me wrong, I love _Evangelion’s_ characters, we will talk about them in depth later on in this review. But as far as the core story involving the Angels, Eva Units, Gendo and Seele goes? Well since I am saving _End of Evangelion_ for after this review, your guess is probably better than mine. For now though let’s go through this bit by bit. From the setting, to the Angel’s plot to the Seele/political intrigue B-plot, and break it all down. Setting wise, _Evangelion_ is great. The city of Tokyo-3 is well realized, makes for some beautiful backdrops and the underground aspect is just fascinating. It’s a mecha series playground! At the same time, the core mystery of the world is established well and early. Immediately throwing us into the action with the Angels, making us question what they are, where they come from and how NERV will beat them. From the start these things feel alien, and humanity feels on the back foot. All the while as we chip away at _Evangelion’s_ world, learning the truth behind the Evas, the Angels, Adam, etc. Personally, I was engaged from the beginning and grew more interested and more invested as the series went along. No, the setting of _Evangelion_ is fantastic. Sadly however, this very engagement actually worked against me, as _Evangelion’s_ story does not live up to it’s world. Now that sounds rather harsh, but hear me out, because for 24 episodes I loved and enjoyed _Evangelion_. Yes, the political/intrigue B-plot was rather unsatisfying, involving SEELE and such. But it served a purpose within the greater narrative, so even a lackluster B-plot was fine because I was engaged in the world. The mystery of the Eva Units for instance was fantastic and _Evangelion_ did a great job of slowly building them up throughout the series, peeling away the layers episode by episode. All the while managing to sew beautiful character drama into the greater narrative. However, for all of these plot points with the Angels, Nerv, SEELE, Adam, etc, _Evangelion_ delivers on none of them. The final 2 episodes, the finale of the entire series, becomes focused purely on the characters and ignores everything around them, everything that gave them context in the larger story. I have seen some claim that is the point, that the characters are the focus, not the story. However I vehemently disagree. Now, none of this is to say I don’t like the characters, I love _Evangelion’s_ characters. As far as they go, the ending did well by them. However when you spend 24 episodes building up a world and a narrative, a greater plot with intrigue and questions, people are going to get invested in them. People like me. And so it should come as no surprise that when an ending ignores large chunks of its narrative for a 2 episode long monologue focused entirely on the characters, some people will be frustrated. In this case, I am one of those people. However satisfied _Evangelion’s_ ending may leave you personally, as an ending it fails horribly on actually concluding _Evangelion’s_ story. It’s as if Anno ran out of ink… For all that I rag on this ending, for all the issues I have with it, for what little it did right, there is a silver lining though. The _End of Evangelion_ movie exists, and from what I have been told it is an alternative to the TV series finale. Mostly in that it approaches and looks at the ending from a different direction. Basically, I was told that _Evangelion’s_ TV ending is for the characters, while _End of Evangelion_ is for the world/narrative. And while that is great for fans, and I am really looking forward to watching it, it’s terrible for a standalone series. However bad a film/series is, I don’t believe a sequel rectifying its problems should erase them from criticism. A series should be able to stand on its own, and _Evangelion_ trips, falls and only barely stumbles across the finish line. Incredibly disappointing. ~~~img(https://i0.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Neon-Genesis-Evangelion-6.6.png?resize=685%2C514)~~~ #~~~__Characters__~~~ That done with, we can finally get to what is _Evangelion’s_ best part, its characters. There is no two ways about it, I love this cast, their growth and how _Evangelion_ uses them. Everyone from Shinji to Asuka to Misato to even Gendo have their own stories, of varying degrees of quality of course. Each one tying into _Evangelion’s_ core themes of human connection and relationships. Even the ending which I just got done ripping into manages to clean up and complete these core character arcs. Yeah, it has a lot of issues, and it isn’t the best way it could have done it. It’s obvious the scheduling was a problem there. But the characters are the one thing to come out of that finale squeaky clean. So for this review, I want to take a look at my 3 favorite characters, to try and explain why I love them. First up we have Shinji “Get in the fucking robot” Ikari, who didn’t have the best start for me. Early on he came across as whiny, needy and pitiful. However that seems to be the point, for as _Evangelion_ progressed and we saw more and more of him, I grew to empathize with Shinji. His fear of getting hurt, of opening up to others and his desire to be accepted are all incredibly common emotions, ones I myself have felt at times. So watching his progression over the course of 26 episodes, watching him rise, fall and rise again, was incredible. Almost every episode it felt like we got some sense of progress from him. Whether it was opening up to a character, standing up for himself or even when he ran away. Every single one of these were properly setup, presented and acted on, and I loved it. Next is Asuka, who provides a more active example of the same core things as Shinji. As far as first impressions go, Asuka came off as your stereotypical tsundere. Hot headed and rude, it wasn’t the best example. Yet once again as _Evangelion_ progressed and we learned more and more about her character, I came to love her. Asuka’s prideful nature isn’t just to check a box, but rather is deeply rooted in her insecurities. Her desire to be seen as an adult, to be accepted, to be loved and given attention, all built around her skill as an Eva Pilot. So as that skill is challenged, waxes and wanes over the course of the series, it becomes a direct challenge to her character. Forcing Asuka to deal with the fact that she is projecting herself onto her work, rather than forming relationships based on her own personality and desires. Finally we come to Misato, my personal favorite character in the series. Similar to the other two, Misato paints a very different picture early on in the series. Coming across as confident, flirtatious and outgoing, welcoming Shinji into her home and becoming an almost motherly figure. Yet as the series goes on, _Evangelion_ begins to break all of this down and let us see the cracks. Showing us 2 very different versions of Misato, from the public, outgoing one to the more private and quiet one. Where Shinji and Asuka are youths, wearing emotions on their sleeves and fearing any connection, Misato is the jaded adult who has grown used to it. Meeting people, but keeping them at arm’s length, never showing them her true self for fear of rejection. All the while longing for the exact same thing as our two young leads. Yet for all that I love these characters as individuals, their true strengths come into play as a full cast. The way each of them bounce off and relate to each other is nothing short of fantastic. Watching Asuka compete with Misato for Kaji or resent Rei for effectively being her polar opposite. Meanwhile Misato and Kaji have some of the best, most human feeling conversations I have heard in anime in a long time. Seeing Shinji’s fear of connection in Gendo’s desperation for certain someone or Shinji slowly growing on Asuka throughout the series run. There are so many little things, little interactions and scenes, that I could spend the rest of this review just talking about them. For all of the problems I have with _Neon Genesis Evangelion_, its characters are one of the few parts to truly live up to and exceed its reputation. ~~~img(https://i1.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Neon-Genesis-Evangelion-9.5.png?resize=685%2C514)~~~ #~~~__OST/Sound Design__~~~ Next up we have _Evangelion’s_ OST and… I am really not sure how to approach this one. Just looking straight a the OST, stand alone, there is some great stuff in here. From the adventurous epics like [“Nerv”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIVf6KC0CS0) or upbeat tracks like [“Misato”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5zlgbalFYc) to the somber tones of [“Thanatos”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4D966TDBzc) and the various versions of [“Fly Me to the Moon“](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTxRm9HD7lo). _Evangelion_ is filled with iconic music that is still memorable to this day for a very good reason. It even pulls in classics such as [“Ode to Joy”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7XCRtGDEbU) for some scenes, really nailing the scale of some of these events. However there are times that these odd music choices just… don’t work, or come off as incredibly silly. Take for instance [“Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win“](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6iC8O8fM7M). As a standalone track, it’s great. Yet the way _Evangelion_ used it completely took me out of the moment, however memorable. Still when all things are said and done, 99% of the time _Evangelion’s_ soundtrack was great. It was evocative, beautiful and though sometimes ill-fitting, I wouldn’t have enjoyed the series as I did without it. In fact, I want to take a moment to point out some tracks I personally loved in particular. Previously I mentioned “Fly Me to the Moon” and while that’s great, and the options _Evangelion_ gives us are fantastic, I especially liked episode 6 and 11’s versions. Meanwhile ["Jikai Yokoku"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8Y9uAekkgs) is simply iconic and a fantastic way to end each episode and lead you into the next. And of course I can hardly go this whole section without talking about ["Cruel Angel’s Thesis"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6r79HxmKw8), one of the most infectious OP’s I have ever heard. All of this is to say, in as few words as possible, that _Evangelion’s_ OST is fantastic. I only question how it’s used. Finally we have the actual sound effects of the series. Now I am hardly a qualified sound engineer, so this section is going to be kept rather short. However there is one thing even I know: The Eva Units sound amazing. From the crunch as they walk to their screams of rage, these things make for fantastic giant robots. It’s no wonder they are so iconic, everything from their design to their sounds stand out. Naturally this also holds true for many of the Angels, with some such as Ramiel really selling their otherworldly nature. All around I think _Evangelion_ does a pretty good job of giving life to its world through its sounds. And wherever it wasn’t amazing, at the very least it never hurt the experience. Well… except for maybe the SHING of the AT Field. ~~~img(https://i2.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Neon-Genesis-Evangelion-24.3.png?resize=685%2C514)~~~ #~~~__Themes/Message/Symbolism__~~~ Finally we get to what will no doubt be the most difficult to write and heavily judged portion of this review: the themes. Now before we begin, fair warning, I have tried to keep spoilers light but I simply cannot do that in this section. So if you have not watched _Evangelion_ 1) Why are you reading this, and 2) Skip this. That said, I suppose the easiest place to start is with the heavily religious overtones of the series. Namely its use of Judeo-Christian symbolism. Personally, beyond the general aesthetic of it all, I don’t think the religious imagery is all that pertinent to the series. Yes it exists, yes it makes for some pretty visuals. But I never felt like _Evangelion_ was a particularly religious series or that it was truly exploring any religious concepts. Instead they were primarily a backdrop, if a rather interesting one. Rather, I thought Anno’s core themes were much more grounded and human in nature. Focusing in on relationships, connection, depression and your own personal place in an ultimately uncaring universe. The first few are of course explored through _Evangelion's_ characters, we already talked about it a little bit. How terrifying it can be to put yourself out there, that fear of rejection, and the various coping mechanisms for that. Whether it be Shinji, who runs away and instead seeks 1 way relationships where he gives nothing but takes everything, like Kaworu. Or Asuka throwing herself into her work, placing all of her value as a person on that work. Only to fall apart and lose all personal meaning when she is no longer able to perform that work well. From Misato to Rei to Gendo, human connections and relationships are paramount in _Evangelion_. Meanwhile depression is laden throughout the series, and based on what little I knew going in, Anno struggled with it as well. Once again, we need only look at Shinji and his arc throughout the series. As from episode 1 _Evangelion_ presents us with characters who don’t believe in their own worth. Who don’t believe they are worthy of love, while simultaneously desiring yet pushing it away. We see this in Shinji and his deep rooted insecurities, believing that no one can love him and pushing people away when they try, resulting in a self-sustaining cycle. One that is only broken in the finale when he comes to realize his own self-worth and moves forward. At the same time we have characters like Rei who are defined by their relationships with others, yet know nothing about themselves. Seeking death, an end to it and all the confusion. These sorts of themes permeate _Evangelion_ from the very beginning. Working their way into every pore and every character. From Gendo and his quest to reunite with his dead wife to Ritsuko, finding comfort in the man who killed her mother. From Misato seeing her father in Kaji and pushing him away only to return later, to Shinji’s eternal quest for acceptance. These are good themes, and for the most part _Evangelion_ uses them well. However as a whole I can’t help but feel the series is too jumbled at times. Mixing its religious themes with its more psychological ones while simultaneously using copious amounts of motherhood/pregnancy symbolism. It makes for some evocative scenes, but at the same time many of those scenes were just bloated, such that their original intention feels like it got lost in places. Ultimately however, I think _Evangelion_ did a pretty good job. ~~~img(https://i1.wp.com/starcrossedanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Neon-Genesis-Evangelion-18.6.png?resize=685%2C514)~~~ #~~~__Conclusion__~~~ So, all in all, how was _Neon Genesis Evangelion_? Did it rise up to the hype, is it truly a cornerstone of Anime, something that all fans should watch? Looking at the show as a whole, ignoring _End of Evangelion_ for now, I can only say… yes. For all of _Evangelion’s_ issues, it lived up to its reputation. For the first 24 episodes, everything leading up to the finale, I loved it. The action was great, the characters great, the thematic underpinnings were great. _Evangelion’s_ biggest weakness is simply that it stumbles across the finish line, face-planting into the dirt. And while that ending might be emotionally satisfying for some, for me it just leaves _Evangelion_ feeling like an unfinished product. A glorious, incredibly meaningful product, but unfinished nonetheless. So while it isn’t perfect, it’s definitely worth your time and entertaining to boot. And as for the finale? Well, I have hope _End of Evangelion_ will give me what I wanted. Stay tuned for that review in about a week. Thanks for reading!

cital0pram

Let's talk about Evagelion, one of the best works of Japanese animation. They do not believe me? Even the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology confirmed in 2007, through public surveys, that this series has been chosen as the best anime of all time. Few series can cause a stir more than twenty years after their premiere and this is the case of Neon Genesis Evangelion. A cult anime that was born from the mind of Hideaki Anno when he was in a depressive well, perhaps that's why many of us identify with various characters haha Neon Genesis Evangelion is a science fiction series of a post-apocalyptic future, a fragmented world that licks its own wounds, just like each of its characters, who fight for a tomorrow and for their own happiness. It is a series of action and adventures of great psychological weight in which each character saves a space to be occupied by the viewer, and thus present a change. What exactly is happiness and human strength to live? Or more interesting still, what is the individual compared to the rest? Why do people feel the need to bond with each other even despite the damage and destruction they inflict? In the first chapters one gets bored thinking that it is a common and ordinary wick without any sense, but as the story progresses, a totally new world is created that makes you change your mind. Not only is the physical action of the Eva fighting against the Angels captivating but also the psychological question behind it. Are the Eva alive or are they zombies? Are angels aliens or really disciples of God? Who is and what is God? Something I always like to talk about is the psychic complexity of its characters; as someone said, "in Evangelion everyone is totally crazy". There is not a single character that does not have some kind of obsession, complex, trauma or morbid fixation, which gives them a wealth that no character in the anime had before. The plot is very elaborate, with exceptional documentation and fantastic Biblical references. So many stories arise, so many reflections and dilemmas of the human race. Many love it but also many hate it and perhaps it is because of its strange ending that today leaves many in doubt of WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED HERE AND WHY EVERYONE BECOME ORANGE JUICE? >Toussaint Egan in Paste Magazine says: Perhaps one of the most nihilistic, edgy, and devastating endings of an anime series ... But its story is not the only good thing, the soundtrack is excellent. let's start with its opening, _ Cruel Angel´s Thesis_ youtube(https://youtu.be/bNBzOiavw_4) IS AMAZING but his ending is not far behind, the series gives us a beautiful cover of fly me to the moon originally composed and written by Bart Howard youtube(https://youtu.be/eq5tXnflvKQ) His soundtrack is so wonderful that even the Japanese military band performed it at the JSDF Marching Festival 2017 youtube(https://youtu.be/Gzo2St_NU3M) From head to toe, wherever you look at this anime is a work of art.

unimportantuser

*I might bring up some talking points about end of evangelion & might end up spoiling things on accident Neon Genesis Evangelion is quite the something in this community. For 2 and a half decades it has inspired many, & created a bunch of hate surrounding the series. I don’t really know what else to say in this introduction that hasn’t already been said about the series prior, so lets go I guess. Story: 9/10 The story of Neon Genesis Evangelion is really good albeit has minor flaws. The story is that 15 years after the second impact, organization SEELE is trying to pass the human instrumentality project, assisting in this operation is organization Nerv. In that same 15 years later, beings known as the “Angels” begin to attack again, & Nerv has to stop them. The only minor flaws I can really think of is the purpose of fighting the angels & what exactly they have to do with achieving the human instrumentality project that SEELE wants isn’t the most clear thing in the world, & it really isn’t explored all that much, we’re just told that the angels are preventing SEELE from achieving their goals, they’ll destroy the world if they aren’t stop, so we must stop them. While saving the world is a pretty big deal, the intricacies aren’t explored in depth & they give us just what we need to know. This flaw is easily forgiven with how great the angel battles are. From the staging, the directing, & visual flow of the battles, this minor grievance is made up for. One of the other things that makes Evangelion’s story really good is the great visual directing, & storyboarding on the part of Hideaki Anno & his team. Shots flow into one another pretty seamlessly for the most part. The dynamic camera angels & far out shots of the city & other environments really sell the scope of this world. Compliment that with how well the storyboarding flows & you’ve got yourself some of the most memorable episodes of TV anime I’ve ever seen. Characters: 10/10 Evangelion has some really good characters. The main cast has a lot of things going on for them & offer a ton of great character moments. Shinji for example suffers from abandonment & trust issues, his father abandoned him when he was a kid & Shinji was an orphan until he turned 14 & his father called him to Nerv because he needed him to pilot the Evangelion unit. The thought of hurting others pains him more than the thought of being hurt himself. Shinji is a well built character with flaws, but his flaws aren’t overexaggerated to a point where they become unbelievable. He also isn’t a pussy because he has to pilot a giant mech that connects to his nerves, so whatever pain the Eva feels, Shinji also feels. In contrast to Shinji, we have Asuka Langley Souryuu, brash, outspoken, obsessed with being the best, Asuka is also a great character. Much like Shinji, Asuka also suffers from abandonment issues, as her mother mistook a doll as her own child, neglected Asuka, & committed suicide, leaving Asuka not only a sight, but a traumatizing image that haunts her for the rest of her life. Asuka’s combative & brash personality might come off as annoying to some, but for me, I find the show punishes her enough by putting her into embarrassing situations or having Shinji or Rei do a better job than her on missions, so the show does punish her in some way, & once you learn the backstory, she becomes much more sympathetic. The rest of the characters in Evangelion are all characterized well, & receive some good development & backstory. The side characters come off as underdeveloped, but that’s ok. As the side characters still have their own character traits & enough of a personality to belong in the show. The show also doesn’t give them excessive screen time that detracts from the main story at hand or the development of the main cast, so the side characters are a welcomed edition & help bring some life to the world of Evangelion. Art & Sound: 10/10 Art is one of Evangelion’s strongest points. The colors are bright & vivid, backgrounds are detailed and have a lot going on in them, but aren’t so cluttered as to become to much of a busy mess. The design work is great, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto’s character designs are excellent & do a good job at selling who the characters are before you even watch the series & learn of their personality. The color choices also help them to stand out from the background & the main 3 of Asuka, Rei, & Shinji look great together in any scenario. Ikuto Yamashita’s mechanical design work is iconic, anything less than that is a disservice, you all recognize the Evangelion units even without watching the series, & his work elsewhere in the series is no less great. Animation is also excellent, it flows well, blends well, moves well, has weight, & is largely consistent. Sequences such as ep 2’s angel battle, dance like you want to win it, & episode 21 in which Eva Unit 01 grows a human arm are all memorable & well staged sequences, & great showcases of Eva’s animation. Eva does falter a bit near the end of the series, with reused animation becoming more & more frequent, along with other corner cutting techniques, but it’s negligible overall & doesn’t take away from the great animation elsewhere (even in the episodes where reused animation becomes frequent). Music in Evangelion is great, Shirou Sagisu brings some excellent compositions, the scenarios each piece is used in are used to great effect & help sell the weight & tone of a scene. There are som pieces that are overused such as “Angel Attack” but it’s nevertheless an outstanding OST with a lot of great material on it. The sound design in Evangelion is also excellent, from the sounds of an Eva’s footsteps, to A.T Fields, explosions, the sound design is used to great effect & much like the music, helps to sell the scene in particular, & add to Evangelion’s world overall. One of my favorite episodes in Eva is ep 4, an episode in which not a single piece of Sagisu’s compositions are used (outside of an announcer thing playing music faintly in the background in one scene). With the tone, story, & purpose of the episode in question, it was a really great choice & helps sell the weight of the episode. The voice acting is also top notch, everyone brings a great performance with them & offers great range in emoting the characters. Overall: 10/10 It’s easy to see why Neon Genesis Evangelion has gone down in history as one of the all time greats, it’s also easy to see why Evangelion has garnered as much hate towards it as it has over the course of 2 and a half decades. But it’s 100% deserving of its reputation & remains a force to be reckoned with. The characters are well written, the story is good, it animates well, the design work is insane. Hideaki Anno’s directing is really inventive & brings with it some of the most memorable shots I’ve seen out of a TV anime. The storyboarding is excellent & brings with it seamless flow & outstanding structure in the episodes. It’s simply an excellent anime. My final rating is gonna be a 10/10

imnap

_Contains spoilers for "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion"_ ____ #__The Opening Theme Song__ I’m going to start my Neon Genesis Evangelion analysis with the first thing you’re met with, it’s opening theme song, displaying a myriad of images packed full of information and boasting one of the greatest and most iconic songs in all of anime. Openings, at their foundation, are made as promotional material to get our attention as soon as possible and NGE has done this miraculously well. In the mid 90’s and for the past 2 decades mecha shows have displayed inspirational openings, framing the mechas like majestic, bold and badass mechas and their protagonists in a hopeful, inspirational manner. Evangelion shows us that this will be a huge departure from the norm by contrasting with the usual mecha opening, showcasing Unit 01 hunched over, unusually skinny, blood dripping from its hands, glowing menacing eyes, a mechanized mouth with teeth, moving and twitching like it’s in agony. All in all, animalistic yet strangely humanoid to the point that it’s framed as creepy. ~~~img800(https://64.media.tumblr.com/5532b04a121a61483adfa71583269257/tumblr_ol2wjlN9oq1qbrflqo1_540.gifv)~~~ And Shinji is shown to us as melancholic, looking into the camera dead eyed instead of the usual determined eager spiky haired teenager. Without going into too much detail as to bore all of you reading, especially the ones that don't care about anime openings, I'll say that the rest of the opening is littered with foreshadowing, such as the shots of Rei with the moon behind her during the iconic montage, hinting at her connection with Lilith, or picture of Unit 01's exposed face overlays that of Yui's, clearly foreshadowing the fact that her soul is in the Eva Unit, among many other examples. ~~~img800(https://nimg.ws.126.net/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdingyue.ws.126.net%2F2021%2F0405%2Fdf73aff3j00qr2brm001uc000sg00lcg.jpg&thumbnail=750x2147483647&quality=85&type=jpg?imageView&thumbnail=750x0&quality=85&type=jpg&interlace=1)~~~ The opening also goes to many lengths to establish the series' motifs, such as in the first shot, where the reoccurring motif of ripples is first introduced to us. The ripple, presumably from tears, could ho9ld more meanings, ranging from symbolyzing emotional weakness to being a metaphor for the AT-fields that protect the heart from such vulnerability. This plays into another reoccurring theme in Eva, hedgehog’s dilemma, showcasing us how Shinji and other characters from the series, like Gendou, push other people away when they’re at their weakest and afraid of hurting them in turn. The ripple could also signify the Second and Third Impact, since the shot right after this is displaying a red star field similar to the ones produced by the Impacts. Other images relating to the Second Impact and the Third Impact are also sprinkled throughout the opening, such as those of the Tree of Life or more shots or ripples, which all give the impression that this opening, much like the last 2 episodes of the anime, are a representation of Shinji's mind and the events during the Third Impact. ~~~img(https://i.stack.imgur.com/sN6CQ.jpg)~~~ This is also reinforced by the fact that the opening goes through Shinji's development from the beginning of the series to the end. Throughout the opening we see Shinji hide himself behind this "cool" robot fabricating a new self image so he can’t see the part of himself that he hates and to feel wanted by others. This may be a commentary on the otaku culture and how we hide and try to not look at the parts of ourselves that we hate, which Hideaki Anno, Neon Genesis Evangelion’s creator and director is known to criticize and works as a self-reflection, as a majority of NGE does, since he himself has been there. But, by the end we properly see Shinji come out of Eva Unjit 01, now without wings, which alludes to the fact that Shinji accepted himself and doesn’t need to project his self-image on others in the last 2 episodes and is later on enforced when the next shots are showing Shinji’s sides, be it scared or complaining, but finishes off with a shot of him joyously smiling. ~~~img(https://p2.itc.cn/q_70/images03/20210315/a5ff060e52914c369ba7c9eb17e0d876.jpeg)~~~ I could go into much more detail, but I heavily recommend watching the analysis on YouTube done by Mother's Basement instead of me just reiterating everything he says. ____ #__Exploring Hideaki Anno’s Mind__ To properly understand the plot and characters of Neon Genesis Evangelion and what it’s trying to achieve you first need to understand where it came from - that is Hideako Anno’s mind, vision and purpose. Anno fell into a deep depression after many failures to create a successful anime which put his livelihood at risk and destroyed his self-esteem. You can see these problems he had with himself mirrored in the show as well. He then got a presumably last chance to make an anime for Gainax, so he took it and decided to make an anime about not running away and facing yourself. Hideaki himself said that it’s a reflection of the 4 years of depression he had while working on it and its abundantly clear in the show. “They say, "To live is to change." I started this production with the wish that once the production complete, the world, and the heroes would change. That was my "true" desire. I tried to include everything of myself in Neon Genesis Evangelion-myself, a broken man who could do nothing for four years. A man who ran away for four years, one who was simply not dead. Then one thought. "You can't run away," came to me, and I restarted this production. It is a production where my only thought was to burn my feelings into film. I know my behavior was thoughtless, troublesome, and arrogant. But I tried. I don't know what the result will be. That is because within me, the story is not yet finished.” Anno makes Evangelion something special by projecting his own flaws and feelings that he experienced on to the characters, in turn making the anime humane. Hideaki Anno set out to go against the escapism in otaku culture (as mentioned in the opening analysis), deconstructing mecha anime and the medium as a whole with deeply flawed yet relatable characters. He presented a story and characters that wouldn’t allow the viewers to escape into a brighter fantasy but rather a reflection of our own reality’s ugliness. Eva is a story that was written by someone that experienced the same traumas as the characters and that’s evident. The plot could’ve been cleaner and more fleshed out if it didn’t focus on Hideaki Anno’s self-mirroring but then countless series have already done that and continue to, it would’ve lost its intimacy which makes Evangelion what it is. While watching the show you are already in a sense exploring Hideaki Anno’s mind. That is why as a piece of art it’s great and I love it, and it’s what makes it Neon Genesis Evangelion. ~~~img(https://opuszine.us/_assets/entries/hideaki-anno.jpg)~~~ ____ #__Neon Genesis Evangelion’s Philosophy__ Eva’s philosophy begins with its references to theology, in particular eschatology, as its name Neon Genesis Evangelion means “a new beginning” and refers to how it’s a reimagining of the Book of Gospels. The other religious symbolism and references are related to Christian and Jewish mysticism and the Kaballah, for example, most of the Angels being taken directly from texts in Judaism’s extended universe or their names being written in el theosophy, a form of writing that uses the Hebrew word for God “el” as a suffix like Ramiel or Sachiel; Adam and Lilith being an obvious nod to Christianity and Judaism while referencing Adam Kadmon, the first being in Kabbalistic tradition, and is depicted as a beam of light, similar to how Adam is shown in the series. Adam goes on to create the Second Impact which is also a reference to the Kabbalistic tradition, in particular the “Breaking of Vessels” and the whole purpose of Kaballah - the “Restoration of the World” which Evangelion tackles in a quite literal manner by trying to reunite everyone and destroy individuality that comprises life as we know it. All of this together with the Magi system named after the Three Wise Men and many more religious themes all work together to create this hellish and surreal atmosphere and landscape, reminiscent of famous painter and photographer Zdzisław Beksiński’s paintings. These religious references, especially Kaballah, also fuel the meat and bones of Eva’s philosophy that is largely focused on the“Hedgehog’s Dilemma”. It borrows concepts from some of philosophy’s greatest minds like Carl Jung, Jacques Lacan, Arthur Schopenhauer and the notorious Sigmund Freud. ~~~img(https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/09/Photograph-of-Sigmund-Freud-taken-in-the-study-at-Berggasse-19-Vienna-c.1934-e1567781707673.jpeg)~~~ An example being the Eva’s representation of Freud’s idea of returning to the womb, indicated by Asuka and Shinji crawling into a fetus-like position inside the Evas when they’re most vulnerable and Yui Ikari’s soul being in Eva Unit 01. This plays into Hideaki Anno’s idea of rejecting escapism into fiction, because only when they can shed this false sense of security can they accept themselves and the world around them. But like I said before, the main theme behind NGE’s philosophy is the hedgehog’s dilemma, which says that the closer people get to each other the more they hurt the other person. The physical and literal representation of this being the AT-fields that everyone in Evangelion posses. Human relationships are what make us continue living, because we as a species long for others’ warmth but to make such genuine bonds we need to stop hiding behind false projections of ourselves and unveil our true selves to other people and that runs the risk of hurting ourselves and others. Evangelion shows this on numerous occasions throughout the entirety of the show by the characters having a complete lack of understanding of one another despite carrying similar burdens. They project the false self in other’s minds outwards and keep the ugliness of the real self locked deep down, which in turn makes them unable to form real genuine bonds and fuels their lack of sympathy since they can’t see from the other person’s perspective. And when this false self that they project outwards is shattered, they’re left with the ugliness of the real one which causes the numerous mental breakdowns seen in the show. All of this creates a barrier between everyone in NGE, because as Schopenhauer argues – individuality is suffering as shown by Gendo for example, which doesn’t know how to be a father, claims he never deserved to be loved which means he closed himself off from the world so he wouldn’t feel pain. This suffering is caused by our inability to communicate and perceive each other properly because we’re individuals, all viewing the universe from our own lenses so this causes a struggle to connect. In turn, unity would bring us peace because this struggle to connect would be gone. So being alive means being an individual with his own will, which as explained, causes pain. Another Freudian idea that Evangelion delves into is ambivalence, the idea of both hating and loving something at the same time, one prime example being Shinji claiming he hates his dad on more than one occasion while still piloting Unit 01 to make him proud and acknowledge him. But all of this comes back to reunifying everyone with the Freudian idea that individual beings are equipped with the pleasure principle – which basically means to avoid suffering and maximize the pleasure but how can that be achieved when having an individual will causes us and others pain, which all leads Gendo, Shinji and many more back to the Human Instrumentality Project which will merge all consciousnesses into one. This comes up in Sigmund Freud’s “death drive” too – the desire to return to the womb or a place of tranquility. As Gendo tells Shinji in the last 2 episodes “Instrumentality is not a return to nothingness. It is merely a return to the state of beginning. It is no less than a return to the primal womb that we lost so long ago. Souls and mind will become one, attaining eternal peace”. The right answer to all of this is shown by Kaworu, which is accepting the vulnerability and others. Although at first Shinji accepts the Instrumentality project, he ultimately rejects it, accepting his own flaws, wanting to be himself, and most importantly a world in which there will be suffering because he is tired of running away and hiding. Neon Genesis Evangelion’s theological, psychological and philosophical elements all work to make the show’s overall theme of lack, like Shinji and Asuka mourning their mothers and Rei’s constant state of melancholy because she lacks a mother to begin with, which the aforementioned Jacques Lacan says is the missing piece at the heart of our existence and Eva weaves a plot that deeply surrounds this lack in our existence. This all ties in to the title, Neon Genesis Evangelion, when at the end of the movie, Shinji and Asuka are the only ones left – a new Adam and Eve and a new beginning. ____ #__The Characters__ But all of these themes and ideas are expressed through the deeply flawed and fucked up cast of characters, which works because they’re so flawed and struggle with mental issues which gives them and the overall story a sense of humanity and relatability. Starting with the main cast, excluding Shinji, we have: Sohryu Asuka Langley – Although she falls into the oversaturated stereotype of “tsundere”, she has a reason to be. Asuka uses these displays of hostility to shield herself from others but most importantly to shield the vulnerability inside. Her mother developed a psychological illness in which she dissociated Asuka from being her daughter and instead pushing these feelings on to a ragdoll and ultimately she commits suicide while killing the Asuka ragdoll along with herself. During this time, Asuka was desperate for her mother’s attention and approval, but this unfortunate turn of events caused her to always seek out isolation and attention or validation from others at the same time, never depending on anyone. And when later on she doesn’t manage to deliver and be dependent, this causes her to have a mental breakdown. She comes across as narcissistic but this is just a cover for her inner insecurities and vulnerability. She seeks happiness in others’ validation but will never be happy until she can validate herself. Her shitty past also les to her forcing herself to mature, which she views being sexually active. This is the driving force behind some of her interactions with Shinji and her whole relationship with Kaji. But Kaji’s rejection of her advances – meaning he rejected her adulthood - serves as a reminder to Asuka of the cruel reality that she is still nothing more than a dependent child. As the series goes on, the perfect Asuka that she projects outward is completely shattered. In episode 22, after numerous failures she attempts to fight an Angel again only for it to dive deep into her mind, reminding herself of her inner ugliness, causing her self-worth to completely deplete and the aforementioned mental breakdown. She then curls into a fetal position, only to lose her consciousness and remains like that until she learns to love herself in the last 2 episodes and the movie. Asuka serves as an antithesis to Shinji as she wants nothing to do with other people, unlike Shinji, while still being strikingly similar to him, as she also seeks validation from others. ~~~img800(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/38/42/8f/38428ffdeed144bb1471b1a042a33d75.gif)~~~ Ayanami Rei - Despite every character in NGE being highly developed, as the whole point of it is for you to accept yourself, move on and change, I’d argue that Rei has the most character development in the whole series. Much like Asuka, she is at first glance a stereotypical kuudere and embodies the cold doll archetype but with a reason. She’s part of a series of clones made out of Yui’s soul and Lilith, which makes her utterly replaceable and she’s painfully aware of this. The first Ayanami Rei was killed by Ritsuko’s mother and the one we’re most familiar with, the second one sacrificed herself in episode 23 to then be replaced by a third Rei Ayanami. From all of this, it’s understandable why she’s so detached from the world and people around her. Her whole existence being in Gendo’s hands and replaceable – in turn meaningless. Unlike Shinji or Asuka which seek validation in others to shield themselves from their inner ugliness, Rei uses that to prove her existence and individuality. Despite Gendo only showing affection towards Rei because of his residual attachment to his wife, Yui and her importance to the Human Instrumentality Project, that was the closest thing Rei had to a genuine human bond. Although at the start Rei sees Shinji as anyone else, shown by how she slapped Shinji because he disrespected Gendo, as Shinji starts to show real affection towards Rei, he slowly replaces Gendo in her mind. This is later demonstrated by how she disobeys orders to sacrifice herself to save Shinji and then her third self completely rejecting Gendo in favor of Shinji in the movie. This development is also simply accentuated by her treasuring the first sign of concern for her, Gendo’s glasses from the time he saved her out of the dysfunctioning Eva unit but then later on tries to shatter them when the third Rei first sees the glasses in her apartment. Rei’s character is one of existentialism, but ironically she is the most self-aware out of everyone in the main cast which makes her the strongest and the reason she tries to help others come to their self-realization despite how painful it may be. ~~~img800(https://i.imgur.com/nen99bW.gif?noredirect)~~~ Misato Katsuragi – Like most of the other characters in Evangelion, Misato had parental problems, being neglected by her father in favor of his work much like Shinji. And much like Asuka, she used her sexuality and relationship with Kaji to give herself a false sense of happiness and try to hide her inner ugliness but unlike Asuka, which used it as a medium into adulthood to feel validated, Misato uses it as a way to feel wanted and needed even if it’s just physically. This is why she both loves and is afraid of Kaji, as he reminds her of her father. This fear led to her being unable to make any meaningful bonds with anyone as she constantly only hurts herself and others the closer she gets to them. This is also shown in her relationship with Asuka and especially Shinji as she tries to be a motherly figure but ultimately fail when all she’s left with is regret for using such kids and them running away from home. She even tries to amend her relationship with Shinji the only way she knows how – sexually, but as Shinji rejects her advances, it painfully reminds her of her inner flaws and ugliness. ~~~img800(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9a/63/13/9a631397a10486da24c57b674958066a.gif)~~~ Ritsuko Akagi – Similarly to Misato, Ritsuko seeks sexual relationships, in particular with Gendo, to feel needed. She spent her whole life trying to run away from her mother’s shadow, the woman she despises, shown by the stark contrast between her bleached hair and her natural hair color that is the same as her mother’s. This hate comes from presumably her jealousy towards her mother, because she had a crush on Gendo while her mother, after the tragic passing of Yui Ikari, makes advances on him and she catches them in the act. But ultimately Ritsuko follows in her mother’s footsteps, having sexual acts with Gendo much like her mother and destroys the Ayanami Rei clone series after seeing how Gendo chose Rei over her, much like how Ritsuko’s mother kills the first Rei because of the similarities between her and Yui. In the end, even her own mother betrays her and chooses Gendo when the Magi system refuses her in favor of Shinji’s dad in the movie. ~~~img800(https://64.media.tumblr.com/0b61b60c046281c68f89569e86cfd048/951be6c76f598bbf-c4/s500x750/a8c0fdff1152ebb135e4be4e11919d2c7b6235c8.gifv)~~~ Gendo Ikari – Gendo is one of the most misinterpreted characters in Neon Genesis Evangelion, mostly because of how complex he is. He’s a tragic character that failed to see the errors in his ways because he was blinded by the desire to be reunited with his dead wife. While not necessarily being evil, he is in the end a shitty person, but he doesn’t commit these heinous acts just because. It all comes from a place of love. If destroying the world would lead to achieving his goal, then he would do it. But like I mentioned earlier, Gendo’s strikingly similar to Shinji in the sense that he pushed other characters and Shinji away because he was afraid of hurting him, not because he didn’t love him. Because forming a connection might cause more pain, but to his demise he only deepened the scars in Shinji. At the end, he’s a selfish and misguided man that did what he did from a place of love. Like the other characters analyzed here, he isn’t black or white, he’s human. ~~~img800(http://i.imgur.com/ahIymQV.gif)~~~ Kaworu Nagisa – Despite only shortly appearing, Kaworu is probably my favorite Eva character. He is in a sense the closest human to perfection in the series despite him not being entirely human. He shows the viewers and Shinji the right answer to the dilemmas they have been facing. Accepting vulnerability and flaws. He gives up his individual desires in favor of Shinji, is completely open for his love towards Shinji and represents a way out of the cycle of constant suffering that is life. He is the beacon of hope that Shinji is first introduced to and the first person that tells Shinji “I love you”. This later on goes to only hurt Shinji when he is forced to kill Kaworu because he’s the 17th Angel. Kaworu’s role to the series is perfectly summarized in his dialogue with Shinji, quote “You are extremely afraid of any kind of initial contact aren't you? Are you that afraid of other people? I know that by keeping others at a distance you avoid a betrayal of your trust, for while you may not be hurt that way, you mustn't forget that you must endure the loneliness. Man cannot erase this sadness, because all men are fundamentally alone. … Okay. You know pain is something man must endure in his heart, and since the heart feels pain so easily some believe life is pain. You are delicate like glass, especially your heart.” ~~~img(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kbN-dubqANU/maxresdefault.jpg)~~~ Now I won’t go on to analyze Shinji Ikari, our protagonist, because frankly this whole Evangelion analysis has also partially been a Shinji analysis so I see no reason for me to go back to the same ideas I already presented and repeat myself. ____ #__The Ending__ Neon Genesis Evangelion boasts one of the greatest endings in all of anime in my opinion, and here’s why. The ending is what ultimately brings every character arc together and establishes its core message. Despite the TV series’ ending lacking any sense of narrative and plot, it served as kind of mental therapy for the characters. Taking on an introspective view and pushing the character’s problems to the forefront. The events happen during the Third Impact and the completion of the Human Instrumentality Project, but in the characters’ minds which in turn makes the The End of Evangelion movie not a revised or alternative ending, but a complimentary one, building on what the TV series’ ending established. While the TV ending beautifully finished Shinji’s character arc, it still left a lot to be desired with the other loose threads but that’s where the movie comes in. Rei finally makes a decision for herself, rejecting Gendo and letting Shinji instead decide what’s going to happen as she merges with Lilith which leaves Gendo to finally see the errors in his ways as he sees Yui before him. Misato despite in the end still going back to the only thing she thinks others want, sex, as she tries to amend her relationship with Shinji once again using it before her untimely death, she finally accomplishes her role as a motherly figure to Shinji, as she protects him and gives him critical advice. Asuka is content to die and has lost all sense of self-worth but then comes to the realization that her mother has been watching over her all along in Unit 02 and she finally learns to love and accept herself. She realizes she never needed validation from people other than herself from the beginning. But she still loses her fight against the nine Eva Units, still desperate for individuality, she now faces the risk of becoming one with everyone else, the worst fate for her. But this all ties back into Shinji, how everything is in his hands and how he needs to learn to love himself. We then see shots presumably in Shinji’s mind of an exchange between him and Asuka, where Asuka already came to love herself and is trying to call out Shinji, but he can only see sexualized images of her as his understanding of what Asuka is saying is null. Then we get a shot of Shinji and Asuka in the kitchen, reminiscent of the kissing scene, in which Shinji tries to be dependent on Asuka, but she once again calls him out on his bullshit as he only tries to rely on others, without any regard to who he relies on. This is a slap to the face to Asuka as she is an individual. This causes Shinji to break down and strangle Asuka, a symbol of isolation in Evangelion, and starting the Instrumentality project. But this only makes Shinji realize that he needs those connections, despite them causing pain, because that’s what being human is about. He accepts a life of constant suffering because of the real emotions he felt. Thus, ending the Human Instrumentality Project and proving that with the required will to, you can return to being an individual. Now moving on to one of the greatest scenes in the anime, Shinji wakes up next to Asuka, also materialized as she is the personification of the desire for individuality, and tries to strangle her again, picking up from where he left off before the Instrumentality. But as to break this illusion, Asuka gently touches Shinji, reminding him that she feels the pain he’s inflicting on her while indicating she understands Shinji’s. He realizes it’s all over and comes to a stage of self-acceptance similar to Asuka’s. He breaks down into tears from both guilt and relief as Asuka looks at him and says “How disgusting”, relating to her feelings of disgust as she finally escapes the hell of Instrumentality only to find her feelings of complete individuality rejected by the person she is disgusted by, Shinji, as well as her feelings towards the whole state of the world around them. ~~~img800(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/81/b4/9a/81b49a08a5c035c846a665a08f13ad96.gif)~~~ But ultimately, although it’s left to interpretation much like a large portion of the show, this is a happy ending about self acceptance and hope. ____ #__Why I Love Neon Genesis Evangelion__ This last part will focus on my personal feelings and why I have personally fallen in love with the series. First of all, it wasn’t until I wrote this that I realized that when I first watched Evangelion, I was in a similar mental position as a large amount of the characters. I was having problems accepting my flaws, trying to project a fake image of myself towards other people. So the themes of Evangelion resonate with me on a personal level, because I have been there, as I'm sure most of you have been in some point of your life, and I have accepted myself. Another reason why I love Evangelion is similar to why I like Beksiński and his paintings. They give off this dreadful and hellish atmosphere packed with religious imagery that is all strangely meaningless. In fact, I find a lot of similarities between Eva and Beksiński’s paintings. It’s just a vibe that I really like, as a huge seinen, horror and psychological fan. ~~~img800(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EGlYLYzXUAAYr1d.jpg)~~~ All of this doesn’t really tie into the show’s quality and why I love it for that, but it does showcase the other more simple and personal reasons and details that all together helped me love this cinematic masterpiece.

siddhant26

Update (30-8-2021)- to anyone who reads this review- I wrote it immediately when I finished the series; I guess a year ago, and some negative remarks I made about the show didn't age well in my own eyes, and exist due to me being extremely frustrated with the show. And while I still stand with a lot of points I made, I'd like to clear the fact that, if looked at with a fairly "objective lens" Evangelion has really really good character writing, probably the best in the medium. Asuka is a tough character to watch at times, but I take back my comment where I said that she is a shallow character. She is probably the best written tsundere in the entire medium. Same goes for the character writing of shinji and the other important supporting cast members. And anno's exploration of various psychological themes and realistic character study in general is done really well. I just have major major gripes with the way the plot is structured, and how it frustrates you with its stagnancy. Alright with that being said- Y'all can read the review down below Neon Genesis Evangelion is an example of a show causing a rift between its audiences. It's extremely divisive in nature and people still debate whether this anime is deep or 2deep4u shit. However its easy to call someone as not being deep or mature for not liking this anime, I will be honest, when I watched this anime, I was wondering, how the fuck did this anime, get this god-like legendary status, and when I finished I wondered the same. This anime does everything, a fictional story should avoid doing, and it still gets away with it due to its philosophical and thematic (or rather psychological) exploration. So let me just explain why I feel this anime is overrated and is probably the worst thing I've watched so far. 1. Repetitive in nature- The show is too repetitive. Till episode 14 nothing dynamic occurs, it's has a monster of the week pattern to it, which leads to virtually nothing. The story is not building up on anything that's important or matters to the plot and just keeps showing these battles. There is zero character development, no plot progression, and zero subtext or foreshadowing of coming events. All we get is Daddy issues, Some Filler, and an insecure redhead whining about her life. And then we are suddenly introduced to the concept of the spear of Longinus, the Dead Scrolls, and All that, but dare I say, those things are barely explained or mentioned in the anime. And the anime keeps all these concepts, vague and alien, and doesn't even try to explain them. Like there are too many Plot-holes and important questions that are unanswered or are hinted at like a single time. I didn't get what Adam was and what the purpose or motive of angels was behind attacking earth. Like none of this is explained in anime and nor is it foreshadowed. Which makes the story sloppy, full of plot devices, and pretentious. Also, episode 17, was the only episode, which had something to it, but hell they used Shinji's friend as a plot device, so Shinji can deus ex machina his way and save the day, and then the series, made a huge exposition dump, to explain stuff which they couldn't explain, which felt cheap and lazy to me, so yeah I don't dig all this. In a nutshell, the anime doesn't do anything to keep you excited as a viewer, since there is nothing at stake. 2. Characters- Just three words for them, I hate em. Sure Shinji's character is a realistic depiction of a mentally unstable guy who never received any love and at first, I sorta did empathize with his internal monologues, and Shinji's psychological character study was pretty good ngl, but then it started getting repetitive and for the most part, took away half of the episodes. Which sucks. Shinji as a character is not likable or at most doesn't feel like the heroic protagonist, which is totally fine by me. I like characters with good characterization, so It doesn't matter if they are wimps or kind of unlikeable. But if your character's monologues and surface-level personality is the only thing that is shown, while conflict, worldbuilding, foreshadowing and other factors are literally ignored and thrown away, then I feel the series is absolute crap. Also, let's talk about Asuka, shall we? She is a character I absolutely despise and hate with my all might. She doesn't even feel real, she is a stereotypical Tsundere, and that aspect of her personality is so overused that she comes out as being whiny and too dense and I literally don't care about her and her instability, because unlike Shinji she rarely breaks out of her character and is thus uninteresting. Rei, on the other hand, had the most potential, for dynamic development, since her character demanded change, however, we never really say anything of her personality. All she does is ask questions to Shinji and follow Shinji's father. There's nothing more to her, she is one-dimensional, flat, and out-right boring and robotic. It's absolutely fine to make likable or unlikable characters, however, if they are barely developed or their monologues are stretched far too much, then all this meaningless, and as a viewer, I won't be interested into the characters. Also, realism doesn't equal good stories or good characters, all the time. You can make likable or eccentric characters, who have internal conflicts. It's not necessarily about likeability or realism, its more about how the characters are used and developed or characterized in the context of the story. In the case of evangelion, the shows uses a staggeringly high amount of repetitive monologues which makes the viewer feel bored to the point of death. 3.Themes-Philosophy-Symbolism-Message and whatever the hell you call it- A story needs to have an ongoing theme to it, which adds depth to the story. Symbolism enhances your story. The message/takeaway or the philosophy of the story gives value to the viewer. However, TPSM (Themes-Philosophy-Symbolism-Message) can't carry an anime and make it artistic or deep or even likable. The plot and the characters of the show need to well rounded and fleshed out, so TPSM can work its magic on the story. Also, a story being overly complex or dark even doesn't equate to a worthy anime. Ergo Proxy is an example of a Pseudo Psychological Thriller with metaphors, symbolism, and deep and dark themes done right. The show has a great sense of intrigue to it, and just raises a lot of philosophical questions and beautifully answers them, something Evangelion couldn't do. So my point is, If a show has some deep artistry attached to it, that doesn't mean your critical eye should be turned off and all praise should be showered to the show for being dark and complex. It's just bullshit. 4. The Ending- To be honest, by episode 22, I had given up on this series, but for the sake of competition, I decided to watch the ending of the show regardless, and for the first time in my life I couldn't get myself through a 40 minute episode. The ending was the same recycled internal problems and flashbacks shit, where the characters just whined about their problems, and then some philosophical explanation on human instrumentality project crap popped up, which tried to make it look all deep and artsy. Thus the show ended with the characters being peace with who they are aka losers, and the anime in the most cringe filled way possible ended on that note. Which made go wtf, but at the same made me happy that I finally got across this overhyped crap. 5. Art/Music- Art is fine for a 90s anime, the mech designs are quite unique and were revolutionary to the genre so props for that. Even though I nearly hate this series, I will say the cinematography and the color palette used in this anime can be visually appealing at times, and I would like other series taking inspiration from it. So that's one minor redeeming quality for me. The Music and Soundtrack were okay. Just Okay. Final Verdict- The show is something I would still recommend people watch because even though I didn't like this show; It kind of changed the industry and normalized the depiction of deep topics in anime, brought some classic character tropes we love, and is a popular piece of anime history in general. I acknowledge that however the show in itself is pretty crappy and ill-executed IMO. The anime is a character study of people who face depression, and it was pretty good, but they certainly overused it and didn't capitalize on it in the end. so, with all this said, I will give this anime a score of 36/100 UPDATED SCORE 46/100

dsch

ATENÇÃO: ESSA REVIEW CONTEM SPOILERS, MAS ELES ESTARÃO MARCADOS, EVITE CLICAR NAS MARCAÇÕES CASO NÃO TENHA ASSISTIDO O ANIME E O FILME ~!Por que você clicou? Eu acabei de falar para você não clicar!~ ~~~Essa review tratará o conjunto total da obra, incluindo a série principal e o filme "The End of Evangelion"~~~ ~~~__Introdução__~~~ ~~~img500(https://occ-0-1068-92.1.nflxso.net/dnm/api/v6/9pS1daC2n6UGc3dUogvWIPMR_OU/AAAABesbC4cxu1MApDU9qHpJgXYQzH3dSWpFbHHPajqmmDsfSM_ldR3x9TW7-5dSHiD4wjdxrC3_l330x89BdCbnJlCswOeIywpFEZ7SqVPGyp9oJ4fS.jpg?r=785)~~~ Minha história com Evangelion é.. complicada, no mínimo. Meu primeiro contato com a obra foi em 2016, após eu terminar quase todos os _shounens_ com mais de 100 episódios, como Naruto, Dragon Ball, One Piece, etc, eu queria ver algo menor. Então, eu ouvi falar em um anime antigo chamado Neon Genesis Evangelion, que tinha uma reputação de ser um anime de _otakult,_ uma coisa mais madura, reflexiva, logo eu, com meus 15 anos me achando um adulto sem saber trocar uma lâmpada, fui assistir o tal anime, e eu ODIEI. Eu me lembro de ter odiado quase todos os personagens, eu achava o Kaworu OK e a Misato legalzinha, mas eu odiava o Shinji e a Asuka e achava a Rei extremamente sem sal, além de esquecer a existência do Gendo, do Kaji e da Ritsuko. Achei uma experiência tediante, quase um sonífero. Contudo, alguns anos depois, eu vi que a Netflix adicionou o anime no catálogo, no início eu não dei muita bola, mas em abril de 2020, no tédio da quarentena, decidi dar uma segunda chance para o anime. Meus gostos tinham mudado muito desde 2016, eu achei que minha percepção de Eva poderia mudar, mas eu nunca pensei que iria de um anime que eu odiava para o meu top 3 de animes favoritos. Nessa review eu vou tentar ser o mais imparcial possível, mas vai ter algumas partes tendenciosas, principalmente na última sessão. ~~~__Sistema de Avaliação__~~~ ~~~História: 30 Personagens: 30 Animação e direção: 20 Áudio e trilha sonora: 10 Nota pessoal: 10~~~ ~~~__História: 22/30__~~~ O Primeiro Episódio ~~~img500(https://www.comunidadeculturaearte.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Neon-Genesis-Evangelion.jpg)~~~ Neon Genesis Evangelion tem uma premissa bem simples, porém efetiva. Shinji Ikari é um adolescente que, após a morte de sua mãe em um experimento científico, é abandonado pelo pai durante a infância. Porém, tudo muda quando criaturas estranhas chamadas 'Anjos' (que são bem diferentes dos anjos que nós estamos acostumados) começam a atacar Tóquio, Shinji então, é chamado pelo seu pai, Gendo, diretor da NERV, para pilotar robôs gigantes chamados 'Evas' para combater esses monstros gigantes e salvar o mundo. Contudo, Shinji, assim como qualquer criança de 14 anos com mais de três neurônios na cabeça, fica com medo de arriscar sua vida fazendo algo que ele nunca fez antes, mas acaba cedendo após ver que a outra pilota, Rei Ayanami, estava gravemente ferida. Apartir daí, Shinji, Rei e posteriormente Asuka lutariam contra vários anjos em um ritmo episódico de monstro da semana similar ao de _JoJo's Bizarre Adventures: Stardust Crusaders._ O primeiro episódio de Evangelion é sensacional, faz tudo o que eu julgo como necessário em um primeiro episódio: estabelece o tom do anime, apresenta o protagonista, mostra um pouco de como será o anime daqui para frente e, depois de assistir o primeiro episódio, você consegue dar uma sinopse completa do anime. Além disso, dentro desses 24 minutos, você já vê uma prévia de como funcionará a dinâmica do Shinji com a Misato, com a Rei e, mais importante de tudo, com o seu pai. Como se já não fosse o bastante, ele ainda mostra muito bem as dificuldades e os perigos de pilotar o Eva 01, com o Shinji se sentindo muito desconfortável com o LCL e pressionado com tudo o que está acontecendo. A Filosofia de Evangelion ~~~img500(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/58/a2/97/58a29730597f03fdc95652f5890c15e7.jpg)~~~ Eu vou manter isso sem nenhum spoiler, pois eu acho interessante que quem nunca tenha assistido NGE tenha tudo isso em mente antes de conferir essa obra de arte. O maior apelo de Novo Gênesis Evangélico é, sem dúvida, a filosofia densa do anime. Embora as pessoas, na maioria das vezes, deixam isso muito mais complicado do que precisa, a mensagem de Eva é bem simples de entender. No episódio 4, após vários eventos acontecerem, há uma conversa entre Ritsuko e Misato sobre uma analogia famosíssima do filósofo Arthur Schopenhauer: _O Dilema do Ouriço_ (ou _O Dilema do Porco-Espinho,_ dependendo da tradução), que segue basicamente esse raciocínio: ~~~Imagine dois ouriços em uma noite fria de inverno. Eles precisam de calor e, para isso, tentam se aquecer se aproximando, porém, eles acabam sempre se machucando devido a seus espinhos. Dessa forma, eles são como humanos, quanto mais próximos tentamos ficar uns dos outros, mais nós nos machucamos uns aos outros~~~ Você entendeu isso? Se sim, parabéns! Você acaba de entender o "anime extremamente complexo e difícil de entender" que todo mundo tenta te intimidar. Embora Eva tenha outras correntes filosóficas apresentadas em sua narrativa, como a psicanálise freudiana e todas as questões de sexualidade humana, por exemplo, esse é o dilema que dirige a série daqui em diante. Para entender Evangelion, você não precisa analisar cada simbolismo cristão que tem em cada frame de cada episódio, basta você pegar esse dilema e aplicar para os personagens. O canal "Quadro em Branco" tem [um vídeo excelente](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOpzWb_4ukQ&t=378s&ab_channel=QuadroemBranco) falando sobre isso, recomendo muito que vocês assistam caso tenham interesse. Mas falando sobre a filosofia em si, eu acho ela muito interessante e gostei muito da forma como ela foi explorada, mesmo nas partes mais focadas em comédia e ação do anime, esse debate sempre era levantado e nunca era algo fora de contexto, sempre podia ser aplicado a algum personagem ou situação vivenciada no anime. Tudo isso teve uma conclusão apropriada no episódio 24, ~! quando a relação de Kaworu e Shinji é construída durante todo o episódio, só para no final, ele se revelar como o último anjo, Adão, e Shinji se ver forçado a matá-lo, se machucando e servindo como a última gota d'água para a queda do personagem no desespero!~ Defeitos Nem tudo são flores nesse mundo, e Evangelion, mesmo sendo muito bom, ainda sim tem seus defeitos. e é sobre eles que eu vou falar agora. ~~~img500(https://archive-media-0.nyafuu.org/c/image/1500/25/1500252348943.png)~~~ 1- A porção do meio do anime Do episódio 7 até meados do 15, temos uma parte do anime que os fãs apelidaram de "O Arco da Ação," em que, conforme o nome diz, Evangelion tenta focar mais nas lutas. Embora algumas sejam muito bem feitas, minha favorita sendo no episódio 9, quando Shinji e Asuka têm que aprender a trabalhar em equipe para derrotar um anjo, a maioria delas é mediana. Se eu tivesse que dar uma nota para essa porção do anime, eu daria uns 7/10, não é terrível, só não é tão boa quanto o resto. Alguns episódios são simplesmente horríveis, principalmente o episódio 10, "Magma Diver," em que Ano, que é claramente aquele cara de humanas da sua sala que vai vender arte na praia, tenta misturar física no meio do anime, digamos que houveram muitos erros de física básica, e olha que eu nem sou tão bom assim em exatas e consegui perceber. Embora ainda tenha algumas partes focadas em desenvolver a psicologia dos personagens, o que salvou essa parte, a maioria fica muito monótona. 2- Exposição exagerada de psicologia e complicação sem necessidade Não me leve a mal, eu amo Evangelion, mas eu não posso negar que muitas vezes o anime vira uma aula de psicanálise sem nenhum valor de entretenimento, o que incomoda muitas pessoas e acaba afastando-as da obra. Também tem alguns elementos que não são bem explicados no anime, como a Lança de Longinus, os Manuscritos do Mar Morto, Lilith e Adão, dentre outros, que são explicados em jogos e _spin-offs,_ mas eles não servem nenhum propósito narrativo além de ser mais um nome complicado para guardar. O ápice disso foi nos últimos dois episódios, o que me leva para o meu próximo tópico. 3- O Final Como eu disse anteriormente, essa review leva em conta tanto a série principal quanto o filme, mas eu não posso passar vista grossa para os últimos dois episódios. Por motivos que eu vou explicar mais para frente, NGE teve que se virar com um orçamento bem apertado no final, o que deu a série um final inconclusivo e confuso, só ajudando naquela reputação de _anime cult_ que afasta tantos da obra. Mas como depois foi feito um filme com um orçamento gigantesco com uma animação linda de se ver para explicar o que aconteceu no final, o problema foi amenizado, mas não desapareceu. ~~~__Personagens: 30/30__~~~ Chegamos na melhor parte de Evangelion, os personagens extremamente bem construídos e seus relacionamentos humanos. Todos tem suas qualidades e seus defeitos, nenhum é "melhor" ou "pior" que o outro por causa disso. Vou falar apenas sobre os 5 que a fanbase mais costuma discutir, mas todos são extremamente bem escritos, menção honrosa para Gendo, Kaji e Ritsuko que não vão ser mencionados para que isso aqui não fique maior que vídeo no YouTube tentando explicar o final de Evangelion. Shinji Ikari (o protagonista chorão) ~~~img500(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/8d/e8/ee/8de8eee444eec2d19350ffb9cdb44e3c.jpg)~~~ Shinji é o personagem mais interessante do anime. Conforme eu disse anteriormente, eu odiava ele, achava ele quase insuportável, mas depois que eu parei para ver o personagem dele com outros olhos, eu comecei a gostar dele cada vez mais. Eu não gostava dele porque ele mostrava o meu lado que eu odiava quando eu era mais jovem (como se de 15 para 19 anos fosse uma diferença enorme), meu lado medroso. Mas reduzir ele a um adolescente medroso e depressivo que fica postando foto do Bart Simpson sadboy no status do WhatsApp com música do xxxTentacion é desmerecer muito o personagem dele. Tirando esse lado dele, ele é um garoto gentil e doce, sempre tenta ajudar os outros quando pode, sempre está preocupado com como as pessoas que ele considera próximas estão se sentindo, algo que fica muito evidente quando ele decide pilotar o Eva no lugar da Rei. Mas a jornada dele é trágica, brutal e depressiva, com muita dor e sofrimento ~!Quanto mais o anime progride, mais instável ele vai ficando emocionalmente devido à negligência de seu pai, sua guardiã (Misato) e as pessoas a sua volta. Mas no episódio 24, tudo isso tem uma breve pausa, com uma pessoa que finalmente se preocupa com os sentimentos do Shinji, Kaworu Nagisa (vamos falar dele mais para a frente). E então, logo após ouvir da boca dele as palavras que ele nunca ouviu durante toda a sua vida: "eu te amo," ele é forçado a matá-lo da forma mais brutal possível, sendo o gatilho que fez com que ele fosse a loucura, se masturbando para uma menina em coma e causando o terceiro impacto.!~ Tudo isso que aconteceu faz com que o espectador, mesmo não gostando dele, simpatize com ele e sinta a sua dor. A história do Shinji é realmente muito triste, mas ele é muito mais do que um personagem digno de pena, ele é só uma pessoa normal inserida em um mundo cruel, cheio de pessoas egoístas que, caso ele tente se aproximar delas, quem vai se machucar é ele. Outra coisa que eu gostaria de falar é sobre o quão subestimado o Shinji é como piloto. Ele tem índices de sincronização altíssimos, tem muita habilidade com o Eva e é capaz de reagir rapidamente a ataques. Vamos dar mais respeito a ele por isso. Asuka Langley Soryu (a tsundere mãe) ~~~img500(https://i1.sndcdn.com/avatars-000306166239-gfiap0-t500x500.jpg)~~~ Ai ai ai Asuka, como te explicar? Amada por uns, odiada por outros, essa personagem é sem dúvidas emblemática. Sendo introduzida mais tarde que os outros protagonistas, ela rapidamente se tornou a pilota destaque da NERV. Ela tem um passado muito trágico também, ~!sendo trocada por uma boneca pela sua mãe devido a essa ser afetada por algum tipo de doença degenerativa no cérebro. Devido a tudo isso, ela desenvolveu um complexo de inferioridade, sempre precisando se provar para todos ao seu redor.!~ Então, colocando uma máscara de "fodona" por cima de sentimentos frágeis, ela é classificada como uma tsundere que, embora eu não goste de colocá-la nesse rótulo, é uma descrição apropriada de seu personagem. Além disso, ela tem vários dos melhores momentos de Evangelion, sendo responsável pela demonstração MARAVILHOSA do Eva-02 no episódio 7, juntando ao seu carisma dá a muitos uma personagem muito divertida de se ver em ação, mas ainda sim com muita profundidade. Rei Ayanami (a caixa de papelão) ~~~img500(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/53/Rei_Ayanami.jpg)~~~ A Rei existe né? Brincadeiras a parte, Rei é a minha Kudere preferida, tendo apenas a Violet de _Violet Evergarden_ como concorrência. Como personagem, ela é interessante, tendo uma vibe misteriosa que faz você querer saber o que ela é. Além disso, outra coisa que eu queria pontuar é a relação dela com a Asuka. Asuka vê ela como uma "boneca" da NERV, sem emoções, sem identidade e que só sabe obedecer as ordens do Gendo. Esse choque faz com que Rei passe o anime procurando por uma identidade, ~!tendo o clímax no filme "The End of Evangelion," no qual ela, após ver que ela pode ser uma pessoa normal, protagoniza uma das minhas cenas favoritas de Evangelion, dizendo para Gendo a famosa frase "eu não sou a sua boneca," traindo ele e se unindo com o corpo de Lilith.!~ O desenvolvimento dela como personagem é fantástico, ela é a que mais ganha progressão positiva no anime inteiro, o que é lindo de se ver. Mesmo sendo quem tem menos personalidade dos cinco, ela ainda sim ocupa um lugar especial no meu coração Misato Katsuragi (best girl) ~~~img500(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2d/51/55/2d51559679de9ea9980f6775efe4a74e.jpg)~~~ Hora de falar da melhor waifu de Evangelion. Como diria o filósofo contemporâneo Gigguk, você sabe que cresceu quando você deixa de ser um fanboy da Asuka e vira um homem da Misato. Além de ser de longe a personagem mais carismática do anime junto com o Kaji, ela vive uma contradição muito presente no nosso mundo, ela é renomada em seu trabalho por ser organizada, metódica, eficiente e inteligente, mas em casa, ela é caótica, desorganizada e se entrega a vícios carnais, como o sexo e o álcool. A relação dela com o Kaji é tão interessante de se ver, já que Kaji é mais "relaxado" do que ela no trabalho, mas muito mais organizado em sua vida pessoal, contrastando Misato muito bem. Ela também teve seu momento badass no filme, quando ~!ela entra atirando nos soldados para salvar o Shinji com uma pistola. Eu amo essa mulher! !~ Mas o que eu acho mais interessante no personagem dela é o seu relacionamento com o Shinji. Ela nunca teve uma figura masculina na vida dela além de seus namorados e seus amigos, seu pai e ela nunca foram próximos, o que faz com que ela tenha dificuldade de mostrar seus sentimentos para Shinji, já que ela tem que agir como uma mãe para ele. ~!Essa dificuldade gerou a cena tão discutida do "beijo de adulto" no The End, mas eu não acho que ela seja ped0f1l4 ou algo do tipo, ela simplesmente não sabe demonstrar amor de outra forma além de beijo e sexo, então ela só quis falar para o Shinji que ela amava ele, que ele era quase como um filho para ela, mas ela não sabia como dizer isso para ele.!~ Kaworu Nagisa (best boy) ~~~img500(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/pt/0/0a/Kaworu_Nagisa.PNG)~~~ Vamos falar do best boy. Em um episódio ele roubou a cena de todo mundo e se tornou um dos favoritos da fandom, mesmo só aparecendo no episódio 24, o antepenúltimo. Ele passa aquele ar parecido com a Rei, de mistério e intriga, além de ter _gay energy_ para dar e vender. Muita gente considera a história dele como um "furo no roteiro," mas eu acho que foi proposital para ele não perder essa aura que ele passa. Mas a melhor parte do seu personagem foi na sua relação com Shinji, ~!que foi cuidadosamente construída para deixar espaço para interpretação se era um amor platônico ou não, ou quem sabe só um amor pela humanidade em geral.!~ Meu único problema com ele é que eu acho que ele poderia ter sido introduzido antes, lá por volta do episódio 17 apenas como um colega de classe do Shinji. Eu queria muito poder ver interações dele com a Asuka, Misato, mas principalmente com a Rei, já que eles são tão parecidos, mas ainda sim tão diferentes. ~~~__Animação e Direção: 15/20__~~~ ~~~img500(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/5t8ZXBKXinp8XJU_EMA_LZ4OhJ3wZXJFRpha-xiFLYpTb5LkVQvJRCDtmtP0W-eNiY01gbEh7I5qEx5zdvcQ7zmFik2sCth7lIxkGm8OaC4Itp0H8rNsT_hEIr6iHOZs_otDRiwQOvWNhvfrYuBVbR2PT_eg8AfbJVzTbxlhfamTyA)~~~ Evangelion foi abençoado e amaldiçoado nessa categoria. O anime conta com a direção fantástica de Hideaki Ano, que usou estratégias de enquadramento e composição para tornar a visualização de cenas extremamente dinâmicas e esteticamente bonitas, vou deixar alguns frames aqui para mostrar melhor o que eu quero dizer. Repare bem que ele sempre tenta deixar o máximo de personagens em um frame para mostrar a conversa sem ficar alternando entre as caras dos personagens, para você poder ver as reações deles com as falas dos outros. ~~~img500(https://64.media.tumblr.com/24a2832086f20889c4f4894623b8f0cc/tumblr_oxicwiBhUn1wrf5y9o1_400.png)~~~ ~~~img500(https://i.imgur.com/o3esyx1.jpg)~~~ ~~~img500(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/74/c8/45/74c8452d18ab355d73d7b8dc9fb431d8.jpg)~~~ Outra escolha diretorial, que é a marca registrada de Evangelion, é o uso de vários frames passando muito rápido na tela, sempre cheio de simbolismo e identidade ~~~img500(https://assets.fontsinuse.com/static/use-media-items/98/97454/upto-700xauto/5d9de93d/08_95tv_opening_flash_2.gif?resolution=0)~~~ Sua próxima fala vai ser "mas com tantos elogios, por que você não deu nota total nessa categoria?" ~!Sim eu acabei de fazer uma referência a JoJo porque sim!~ A resposta é simples: a animação nos últimos episódios. Por causa de vários imprevistos durante a produção do anime, o orçamento foi acabando e por isso a equipe teve que se virar para manobrar isso, gerando algumas cenas de frames estáticos como: A cena do elevador, Asuka e Rei por quase 1 minuto dentro de um elevador apenas com Asuka piscando de vez em quando ~~~img500(https://coubsecure-s.akamaihd.net/get/b18/p/coub/simple/cw_timeline_pic/54c2200f883/8ee528f37de73b5e2e740/ios_large_1409268611_1382461191_image.jpg)~~~ Shinji segurando você-sabe-quem ao som de música clássica ~~~img500(https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/699/302/93e.png)~~~ ~~~__Áudio e Trilha Sonora: 8/10__~~~ ~~~img500(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2422250350109594083/ABE46AB58F3D87C73550AE535456F6E51384FE5C/)~~~ Queria começar dando os meus "parabains" para a dubladora japonêsa do Shinji. Não me leve a mal, o Fábio Lucindo fez um trabalho ótimo, mas a Megumi Ogata fez um trabalho perfeito como Shinji. Ela passou emoção em todas as falas, quase como em um teatro clássico grego. Os outros dubladores também foram muito bem, tanto na dublagem brasileira quanto na japonesa, mas nenhum chegou no nível da Ogata. Sobre a trilha sonora, ela é ok, mas tem 3 músicas em especiais no anime que elevaram o que seria algo bom, mas esquecível, para algo lendário: a abertura 'A Cruel Angel's Thesis,' o encerramento 'Fly me to the Moon' (não eu não vou falar sobre a atrocidade que foi o encerramento da Netflix) e a OST do filme The End Of Evangelion 'Komm Süsser Tod.' Eu amo tanto essas três peças são lindas, enquanto a abertura tem aquela batida animada do refrão misturada com o ritmo lento e reflexivo do início e uma letra cheia de simbolismo cristão, que captura perfeitamente o que Evangelion é, o encerramento tem esse ar melancólico que também representa muito bem o anime, já Komm Süsser Tod tem um ritmo alegre com uma letra desesperadoramente triste, trazendo um ar de ironia que encaixa perfeitamente com a cena em que ela toca (quem viu o filme sabe) ~~~__Nota Pessoal: 10/10__~~~ ~~~img500(https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/sNqoWz9VATMlfUSr7Cq_ebT_AMQ=/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost/public/IAA4P6GXVNDZJOIEAKRXRLJFGE.PNG)~~~ Evangelion para mim é muito mais que um anime, foi algo que marcou a minha vida. Me deu um tempo para refletir sobre meus relacionamentos em um tempo que eu realmente precisava. Também me fez abrir os olhos para obras mais "reflexivas" como Mushishi e Vagabond, que eu nunca iria passar o olho se não fosse por esse anime. Só tenho elogios para falar nessa parte, vai ficar até chato, então eu vou parar por aqui. ~~~__Conclusão__~~~ ~~~img500(https://25yearslatersite.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/evangelion-review-Dancing-montage-500x236.png)~~~ Neon Genesis Evangelion tem vários defeitos, mas suas qualidades simplesmente compensam tudo, desde os personagens complexos, a filosofia, a direção fantástica de Hideaki Ano. Esse anime foi revolucionário para a época, mostrando que crianças e adultos podem assistir o mesmo anime e aproveitá-lo igualmente no sofá. Enquanto a criança vê as lutas de mecha fantásticas, o alívio cômico e a história fácil de acompanhar, os adultos podem aproveitar as reflexões e a escrita de personagem complexa e maravilhosa. Se não fosse por Eva, eu me arrisco a dizer que clássicos modernos como "Fullmetal Alchemist," "Hunter x Hunter" e "One Piece" seriam muito diferentes e a censura em animes seria muito mais presente. Se você está em dúvidas se deve assistir mesmo depois de eu escrever essa coisa enorme falando bem do anime, apenas veja o primeiro episódio e eu DUVIDO que você não vai querer ver o resto. E caso você veja na Netflix, se você apertar o botão de pular a abertura, a Polícia Federal vai entrar na sua casa e te prender por crime contra a raça humana.

Protogeist

How do you begin an analysis of Evangelion? In his video on the series and how it connects to its highly controversial film, Folding Ideas describes it as “practically myth” which I couldn't agree more with. With the amount of coverage the series has gotten, trying to find a common consensus about what to make of all of this is impossible. Discussions about the metanarrative of Evangelion, its jumbled production, thematic explorations, there should be a rule of the internet constituting that “if it exists, there’s an in-depth discussion about its relevance to the Evangelion text”. And I feel this may be why it is such a renowned series; Evangelion is a perfect starting point for any discussions one might have for any theme or idea. It has a lot going on, a lot of imagery that’ll inevitably lead to 40 different interpretations, yet doesn’t feel chaotic. The simple use of the Christian cross is probably one of the biggest discussions of the series, which is just the tip of the iceberg that is the community surrounding Evangelion. A lot of different people have watched and enjoyed Evangelion and it seems everyone has taken something unique from the series. It makes it a very interesting essay topic as it’ll never become overdone, or at least in concept. And I think what I want to focus on in this analysis is what I feel lies at the center of everything about the series, Hideaki Anno and his transformation throughout the series. This review will contain some major spoilers, be cautioned ~!Having read some autobiographical work about him, it is clear that Anno is a massive fan of early animation and anime if it wasn’t already explicit enough in the work he has made. Having worked on many greatly influential features of the 80’s such as ‘Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind’ and ‘Grave of the Fireflies’, and even stating the many other old classic animations that came to inspire him such as Devilman, Gundam, and Ultraman, it is no surprise that he has taken such a liking to the many tropes of the era. It is emblematic of the intent of the series itself, wanting to attract more people to the medium, its quirks and the culture surrounding it. And this is very much reflected in the content of the series. The early episodes general tone is akin to that of the early animations of the ‘70s and ‘80s that Anno was influenced by. In a way it was a full expression of what anime was and what made it special. A culmination of the work Anno had made. The witty dialogue, the inspired direction, everything about it felt like a true passion project for Anno especially. But on the other hand it is clear that much of it serves a self-escapism and self-pity from Anno. He had become very depressed during the production of Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, and so the establishing portion of the series is made through this lense. It is to an extent reflected in the lead of the series, Shinji. Aside from dealing with anxiety and depression of the pressure from being an evangelion pilot and the human condition, can be seen to be very toxic in his coping mechanism. He seems to be figuring that he can only improve if the world improves before him, that he can only open up if the world does so for him. And this often comes off manipulatively and inconsiderately. He seems to exist in a state where his existence can only prevail off the affirmation and service of the people around him, without putting in the effort needed beforehand. This is manifested in many of Shinji’s relationships, especially early on with Misato. From the moment the two move together, Shinji can’t stop himself from being vocally disapproving of her lifestyle and how she chooses to spend her free time, because of how it breaks the perception that she’s some sort of perfect trad woman. And while we can sympathize all we want with the depressing mindset he goes through in the series, the way he copes with this grows to be incredibly toxic. And even aside from Shinji’s behaviour, we can see Anno’s worldview and state of mind reflected in many other elements of the series, particularly how its female characters are depicted. They are often presented very sexually, and set up as to make the audience feel like their favorite girl can hook up with Shinji who they can already relate to. It is almost a parody of the series you might expect, at least in retrospect for how the rest of the series reframes this introduction. For this portion of the series, this is largely expressed inactively however, not really addressing the worldview expressed, but passively bolstering it. And what makes the series so great in the end is that Anno grows aware of this. Painfully aware. As he becomes more interested in psychology we can see the attractive masks of his characters being peeled off. And while many would argue this begins in the sixteenth episodes, I feel I had the most notable reaction to this two episodes later After a set of circumstances unimportant in this context, the newly brought fourth child is being controlled by the 13th angel and manipulates their Evangelion unit. None of the children want to take down the angel knowing that a child lays inside of it, and when the angel stands in front of Shinji, refusing director Ikari’s commands, the unit’s ‘Dummy Plug System’ is activated, and the evangelion proceeds to slaughter the angel in a senseless rage. The juxtaposition between the action-heavy and dramatic music that we’ve gotten used to, to the horrific actions being illustrated is chilling and an element that is at its peak the episode later. As Shinji finally enters the Evangelion after revolting from the trauma he went through the day before, he loses control of it again. As the Eva’s true nature escalates in power, it slays the 14th angel and eats its remainders like an animal. The scientists stand in morbid fascination and disgust for what they’ve created, as the evangelion rips of its armor. This speaks nothing to the changes in which the series redirects its characters, but is nonetheless a dramatic presentation of the direction that Anno changed the series towards. It’s not simply a self-insert action show that it might’ve been before. As the initial screenplay had to be rewritten and abandoned, we can see this effect as a larger focus is put on the mental state of each of its lead characters. Opening up their mind, exploding them in a sense. Asuka’s performance declines, exposing her obsession with attention and being of use, and its source. We learn that her narcissistic tendencies stem from her lack of support from her mother, being mistaken with a doll. Her insistence that she is the best, prompted by the feeling that you have to be the best in order to be worth anything. We learn about Rei’s true nature as an attempt to revive Ikari’s wife, while her own self-image and philosophy start centering around this conflict of what is and isn’t selfhood. Can Rei really be her own person if there are effectively hundreds of other vessels who could have taken her role, and two that already have? Is the fact that she is herself enough to overlook the fact that her selfhood is forged? Shinji’s behavior is seemingly made aware of, or at least uncovered, from both the staff as well as the characters in the show. Imagery symbolizing his increasing willingness to essentially merge with his female acquaintances, his dependence on the emotional and sexual affirmation growing stronger and noticeable. It all culminates into the two last episodes of the series where we witness the characters confronting their most honest and worst selves. Shinji momentarily accepts human instrumentality and is shown the consequences of this. A loss of individuality and what it means to us. This is presented admittedly very abstractly because of the inadequate production budget the staff had to work with, but it effectively conveys the state of mind Shinji is in and the message it reaches for. Throughout the series, Shinji defines himself with exterior elements like his relationship with his father, work acquaintances, and his role as an evangelion pilot, and it is only when all of these elements are taken away from him that he realizes that he can only live as an individual to achieve satisfaction, that living as a mass of other people and others’ decisions won’t lead to a life worth living. This is not only important for Shinji to learn but for everyone in the series who expects the world to live for them. It is an important message both for the audience that was watching the series, but also for Anno himself. When I watch the original ending of Evangelion I get the feeling that Anno finally found an answer to his own question, that he could satisfy himself. You can almost see Anno himself getting congratulated by all of his characters, who are all in a sense an extension of himself. And of course, everyone had to fucking hate him for it. The series, already controversial as it was as it started changing, was the focus of many death threats that the studio and Anno himself received after the final episodes. Even now 25 years later it is looked down upon as an inferior conclusion to the series in comparison to one we will be discussing, if even to be considered one at all. People wanted doom and gloom, more glamorization of its characters and the lifestyle it promoted and a less metaphorical and symbolic expression of this. It led to Anno Hideaki creating several alternative conclusions to his project, still going on to this day. And it’s not surprising then how frustrated he seems about this. After all of the changes that Anno went through in the production of the series, it was all for nothing. Finally getting his own little meaning to life only to have it stripped away from him in an instant. Anno gave the fans what they wanted but in another sense the complete opposite. End of Evangelion is a pure incarnation and adaptation of Anno Hideaki’s anger towards the fans that led to its creation and himself for giving in to it. It has no interest in conveying whatever it wants to say through nuance particularly, but aggressively presents its disgust with the project and the people watching it. The only sexually-focused scenes in the film end with Shinji ejaculating over Asuka’s comatose body, the only fight scenes ending in either lovecraftian horror and gore-filled slaughter. Even as Shinji goes through the realization he made in the original ending of Evangelion, Anno throws him back into the abyss like he was himself. We might react to this harshly, that it is antithetical to the message of the series and only serves the purpose of shocking the audience that hated the original ending. But I feel the frustration that is so apparent in Anno to be what saves the series from being so. Anno fucking hates everything and needs you to know about it, and I feel this immense satisfacion watching this. The film serves as a cycle of aggression and depression that never let us go. An expression of the cyclical despair he went through, wanting to give us the same nightmare. Many people have tried to form their own little canon where End of Eva was the true ending that was rejected for budgetary reasons, or a physical representation of the thematic development the series goes through in the conclusion, all of which might be true. But I don’t think I can accept it as anything but a sequel to Neon Genesis Evangelion: the phenomenon.!~

CandycaneRay

Why do people call this show 'one of the best of all time', again? So when I originally watched it I was like "wow! this might be a cool mecha show." and for the first half, it was. But... I'm really not a fan of this. Like, at all. First 20 episodes are alright. Like, there's some cool mecha stuff (the Dance Dance Revolution one is among the best in the series) in the earlier episodes, and I was having a great time. However.... don't even get me started on the last two episodes (26 and 27). you're going to tell that _me_ after getting impaled by the Angel, shinji is 'okay'?? no. mm-mmm. that's not how it works. In the alternate episode, it's somehow even worse. it just makes me upset how they knew the first ending was bad (the congratulations scene is kind of sweet. too bad it comes out of nowhere and I'm soured when I look back at it) so they made an alternate one in the form of End of Evangelion. And I really, _really_ don't like this movie. When I first watched it I remember being so disturbed. Now, it only makes me so, so angry. you're here to tell me shinji's father suddenly 'cares for him'??? rei is the bringer of the apocolypse?? There are crosses in the sky and the 3rd impact is made out to be the second coming of jesus??? nuh-uh. you can reference the Bible and Christianity all you want, but then having it ruin your kinda-cool mecha show from 20 episodes ago???? Every single character... I just don't like them. It's hard to root for Shinji when he's a coward (Although a very relatable one, he and I are basically the same person) that whines too much and never wants to do anything. Asuka is a jerk for??? no reason??? She obviously has a connection with her mother (who is implied to have killed herself prior to Asuka joining the Angel-fighting cause) and I wished they spent more time delving into her psyche. Instead, the show focuses too much on Shinji and Asuka's character is left out to dry, making her out to be way more unlikable than she probably is. Rei is emotionless and never does anything until *she* starts being awful to shinji too for never doing anything (which, she is in her right to do. but she never acts either so its hypocritical!) Misato comes close to being cool but then she starts getting mad at him for no reason, too. Gendo is a meme. Ritsuko is actually pretty neat, unfortunately her time to shine comes too little too late.. sees is stupid. (pen-pen is the best, though) I just... I don't get the hype for this one. Maybe I went in expecting something cool. What excited me turned into something disturbing, but then just turned into something that makes me too angry when I look back on it. I'm no 'anime connoisseur', so I'm sure my opinion on this isn't that good anyway. But, I just wanted to share my thoughts.

mimicodots

Neon Genesis Evangelion saved my life. While that doesn’t quite mean what you think it does, I couldn't possibly overstate it’s impact on me. webm(https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/28264be2efb711f9284f16cb84e6d1af.mp4) Eva is a quarter decade old, so I won't waste your time with a typical review, but rather share what I've found in the mirror Anno has held to me. >The most valuable thing about an individual is their perspective, so let's lean into that angle. Do something only I can do. Through all the suffering I see a cast of people suffering from delusions. Delusions about where value in life comes from, and who can provide it. It was inevitable that they would develop toxic coping mechanisms when their worldview is at odds with reality (and in some cases is derived from a hatred of reality itself) It's the very basis of a tragedy. To understand the limitations of things all it takes is desiring them. This comes to a head in episode 25 when escapism and external validation collapse in on themselves. >A thread of my impressions and takeaways from watching the series. It all starts after the break, with a healthy dose of [visual] fanservice! ~~~__Neon Genesis Evangelion • A Personal Impact __ ~~~ img720(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/810931510227763300/810959588588388363/VideoCapture_20201027-165013.jpg) >Ep 2 Shinji is isolated by triangle shaped frames in the hospital. Even though Misato enters the scene and joins him, she never ‘’crosses the line’’. The staging of an understated scene turns a small detail like this into characterization on both sides. >It's the kind of show you could watch muted, though few would ever dare. img720(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/810931510227763300/810959587674685470/VideoCapture_20201027-172558.jpg) >Ep 5 The episode in which the iconic sequence of Shinji groping Rei occurs (though I'm far from the first to point out it's subversive nature) This scene works because it's the logical result of Rei's character first and foremost, as opposed to an attempt at being clever. A lesser show would’ve played it straight [breaking character] or subverted the joke for the sake of itself. Rei doesn't care if she's in a compromising situation because her self worth is fractured. Her priorities lie elsewhere. img720(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/810931510227763300/810963155411927101/VideoCapture_20201027-182432.jpg) >Ep 8 Asuka realizes Shinji is worthy of bragging to and so drags him off to show off her Unit 002. In the first half of Eva Asuka takes every chance she gets to court the third child's attention. Naturally, this enthusiasm won't last for long. webm(https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/adbb4ad85e486cbf293c2db4d89809d6.mp4) >Ep 11 Amazing direction and storyboarding allow different shots to seamlessly blend together by using Hideakian techniques like having characters finish each other's sentences. Playful transitions such as having Asuka wipe the screen. It’s a blast to watch on a moment to moment basis, and perhaps the funniest episode of Eva, bringing a dose of much needed levity. >[Mankind’s greatest enemy is man himself] - Gendo >[Yeah, but without the lights it seems like there are no humans here] - Asuka [Lights turn on] >[There, I feel much more comfortable this way] - Asuka >>This quote reveals a lot about Asuka in a subtle way. There's a pervasive desire lurking under the surface, between the lines. img720(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/810931510227763300/811818479429746688/VideoCapture_20210215-194138.jpg) > Ep 15 There's an implication that living with unresolved feelings towards your parents inevitably seeps into all of your other relationships in some fashion. An attempt to chase a foundation of love that was missing. >Parental complexes lie at the bedrock of most of the cast's issues. img720(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/810931510227763300/810966781934043136/VideoCapture_20201030-152427.jpg) >Ep 16 When I was a teenager I thought I needed a girlfriend. Someone, anyone to love me. Being too scared to even approach my crush I fell deeper into depression. But even if I found someone they wouldn't make me happy. Years later when I found someone I used them for validation of my existence. I was incapable of truly empathizing with them. But how could I? The relationship was about me. In retrospect it seems anyone that accepted me would've done. This led to me questioning my sexuality which I'll go into more at ep 24. >[You are blind and deaf to what you wish to avoid. No one can justify their existence by linking their happiest moments into a rosary] - Shinji Shinji hates loneliness and the world, and so his coping mechanisms become more desperate. Being worthless isn't a fact, it's a matter of opinion. The one thing he believes in wholeheartedly. >Ep 20 [Shinji has an ego death] Drifting in the LCL, Shinji realizes he has to find a reason to want to fight the angels besides them being his enemy. He is given validation for piloting the Eva, yet he feels like a worthless human being. img720(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/810931510227763300/810972654856437831/VideoCapture_20201227-103159.jpg) >Ep 23 Asuka’s life is shown time and time again to be expendable, and her pain is palpable. A feeling Rei is familiar with. Eva is underpinned with a cast of characters using others as a replacement for someone. Or rather something they crave more than anything else. >Ep 24 Possible hot take but, I've never perceived Shinji actually being bi. The biggest reason being as a ‘Shinji’ myself, I've had a Kaoru in my life. Experiencing unconditional love for the first time was intoxicating. I was desperate so it blinded my judgement. I wanted them because they wanted and took an interest in me. >The moment they stopped showering me in attention the attraction faded. img720(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/810931510227763300/810977352199831572/VideoCapture_20210215-122746.jpg) >Ep 25 Misato berates Ritsuko for the shallow nature of their relationship, something she also holds responsibility for. In high school I felt alone. I hated that I didn't have people I actually knew that would reach out to me, but I didn't do the same for them either. I am equally to blame. In the midst of despair, I gave in to to self loathing and helplessness created my own hell. >[Despair is inevitable, but giving into it is a betrayal] - BREADSWORD img720(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/810931510227763300/810979688822210570/VideoCapture_20210215-130343.jpg) >Ep 26 If what I think of myself becomes me, and living for something outside myself means I will never be happy, the only way to change reality is to accept myself. In the end you will either find something to connect with, or something will bond itself to you. Like a symbiote it'll amplify your worst characteristics. >I hated being alive and as a matter of course, my life imploded. For as long as I felt that way, it was inevitable. It's my obligation to smash this ceiling above my head. The one I created. I've always known how. God's in his heaven. The gospel of the new century is finding salvation in yourself. img720(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/810931510227763300/810980243589562408/VideoCapture_20210215-143155.jpg)

Yahshuhaz

>On ne comprends jamais les gens complétement. D’ailleurs,peut-on se connaitre soit même ? - Ryouji Kaji La psychologie des personnages de Evangelion est le point fort de l'anime même si l'histoire n'a rien a lui envier. Cependant je parlerais que des aspects psychologique et peu de l'histoire : youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho07Ag6lV9g&t=17s) ~~~___Shinji Ikari___~~~ Ce garçons a subit de très lourd traumatisme tout au long de l’œuvre. l'abandon de son père le Commandant Gendou est le premier facteur qui a renfermer le jeune garçons sur lui même et on le constate lors des premiers épisodes ou Shinji se balade dans la ville, sans ost, avec des expressions de visages déjà si vide Il veut a tout prit être compris de son père, être aimé et on le voit quand son père lui adressa un simple compliments, poussa le garçons a aller plus loin. Shinji va devoir travailler sa phobie sociale et le contact humain. Cependant, un nouveau point de rupture psychologique provient quand le 4ème enfant, Touji Suzuhara, perd le contrôle de son Eva et perd contre Shinji avec cette scène ou Shinji pousse un hurlement effroyable.. La scène en dessous résume clairement a quelle point le personnage subit une fracture dans son âme youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgiESzLrCHc) Déjà que il est dépressif sur les bords, solitaire il vient de prendre la vie ( dans le manga surtout dans l'anime il survit) de son ami le poussa dans un rejet total de conduire l'Eva mais malheureusement c'est la seul chose qui lui permet d'avoir une identité.. En comptant la mort de Kaworu, Shinji a atteint un stable ou il est brisé : Avec déjà les nombreux phase d'introspection il devient totalement vide et cela durant The end of Evangelion. Kaiji a été avec Misato les seul a l'aider mais cela reste pas assez. ___~~~Asuka,Rei,Misato le coté psychologique féminin ~~~___ Chacune des 3 on beaucoup de regret a travers le temps. La solitude, la dépersonnalisation, l'amour ils doivent toute les 3 affronter leur démon. Asuka a été détruit après que elle n'arrive plus a rentrer dans son eva. Elle est bloqué avec le passé de sa mère qui s'est tuée devant elle et la laissant seul, sans objectif. Rei elle pour faire court est a la quête de trouver une véritable identité car pour moi c'est celle ou la psychologie est le moins touchée Quand a Misato on parle de son problème de dépendance affective que elle doit gérer. C'est assez court sur les trois asuka est la seul qu'on puissent en parler plus en profondeur sauf que le personnage de Shinji est plus intéressant pour une review ___~~~Que penser de la fin de Evangelion~~~___ Je pense que la première fin et la deuxième pourrait se compléter. Pourquoi ? Car ont un d'un coté l’accomplissement psychologique de Shinji contre sa personne. Alors que l'autre film va plus nous parler de la finition de l'histoire et c'est ce qui est le plus juste. D'un coté Shinji,dans Shin Seiki Evangelion,accepte la complémentarité de l'homme dans the end of Evangelion, non. C'est donc une fin alternatif pour conclure. Mais la première fin est simplement mal mis en place elle aurait du continuer sur la lancée du film et choisir une des ''deux routes'' La fin du film permet de comprendre la mentalité du père de Shinji et montré que son père n'est d'autre que Shinji plus grands et que il risque de se diriger dans son chemin il explique beaucoup de chose plus intéressant que dans la fin du premier Evangelion.. Enfin bref, Evangelion est vraiment un anime psychologique et philosophique a voir avec du recul pour les personnes les plus fragiles. Beaucoup de question existentiel, d'introspection, de haine envers sa personne comme la peur du rejet, de décevoir ou autre. Cela dit l'anime possède vraiment quelle que chose de poignant et d’intéressant que seul les personnes qui vivent permettent de comprendre l'acheminement que l'auteur a prit. On rentre dans un monde nouveau pour moi. Les film reboot seront clairement visionner pour ma part.

hoodedenigma

The hedgehog’s dilemma is an analogy for how human intimacy causes pain, how people, despite seeking the warmth of connections, choose to shut themselves off in fear of getting themselves hurt. Neon Genesis Evangelion, the critically acclaimed 1995 series which was born out of Hideaki Anno’s clinical depression, delves into this aspect of human nature. At first glance, its just another typical mecha anime just like the trend of the 90s animes packed with cool looking robot designs, and a heavy dose of action and gore. Except- Evangelion is nothing like that. It serves as a deconstruction of the mecha genre by painting the painful truth of reality along with presenting us with a remarkable sci-fi plot about a post apocalyptic universe. The plot revolves around a 14 year old boy Shinji Ikari who is forced to pilot giant machines called ‘evangelions’ for the aggressive fight against alien like creatures called angels who attack the Earth. The show gives more importance to the conflicts every character has to face. What makes Evangelion special is its wonderful set of characters who seem to appear incredibly ‘human’ which is quite rare for its genre. Over the course of the 26 episode series, we’re repeatedly faced with questions that dive deep into the philosophical aspects of human nature. We’re presented with characters who desperately try to escape the harsh reality they’re in, which ultimately culminates into the manifestation of that desire. The series is heavily influenced by Freudian psychoanalysis, and other psychological theories which try to unravel the mysteries of the mind. My personal analysis of the series leads me to believe that the show has also touched on topics like misogyny and sexism subtly while portraying the agony of women at instances. The show also portrays the vicious effects of trauma, isolation and lack of affection. The show has also been known for the extensive religious symbolism and portrayal of a mysterious secret society, something that feels quite like the illuminati. The series is excellent at being raw and realistic despite being a story about robots and monsters. The show is crafted so carefully that incredible detail and attention is imparted to every single scene almost distinguishing it from every other show that came before it. It's not surprising that there is a cinematographic technique named the Evangelion shot in film making. The famous escalator scene has also managed to tell its audience how unique Evangelion is. In a nutshell, Neon Genesis Evangelion is a series about self acceptance layered within a deeply complex sci-fi post-apocalyptic mecha plot and it is something that you should definitely watch in your lifetime for the sake of the moral it imparts even if it isn’t quite everybody’s cup of tea.

kailjoi

_[contains heavy spoilers]_ — Sitting down to watch _Neon Genesis Evangelion_ for the first time, with little to no prior knowledge could only really be described as ‘ballsy,’ but it had to be done—I had to know what it was that caused this anime to be regarded as one of the ‘greatest of all time.’ All I knew about _Evangelion_ going in was not much: it was categorized as a mecha, it was one of the first really successful anime ever, and it was good... apparently. What pushed me to finally cracking down on _Eva_ had to be my roommate going on and on about her own watch of it whilst I sat cluelessly listening, and as one does with learning about their best friend’s new interest, I set out to match her for the sole purpose of discussion—so there I was, episode one loaded up on a lone browser tab, a bottle of water to get me through the night, and a blanket to combat the cool 1 a.m. fan oscillating back and forth in our dorm room. Writing this would be much different had I not been coached by my roommate’s researched knowledge on the series that she shared with me throughout the few days it took me to finish the series—explaining to me the nuances of the director’s cut [an edited version of a few of the later episodes with additional scenes], dynamics of the ending, some of the reactions in the 1990s when it aired, and the fanbase now. My initial impression was influenced heavily by the style and the animation and—wait, wait, wait, did Gainax and Tatsunoko Production… _is that frame-by-frame animation for a mecha??_ I knew it was an old anime, but _wow_—my roommate looks over my shoulder. That’s why they ran out of funding for the end of the series, no wonder. But I digress, so far I’m impressed by the animation but have no idea what’s going on besides that. Good start. What the fuck are ‘Angels’ and why are they attacking the earth? We don’t know? It never explains it, okay that’s fine, not the first time I’ve seen an anime where the main plot point is left in the dark. This kid Shinji is having a rough day. _Little did I know that it wasn’t the last rough day he’d have at age 14._ Wait, no, everyone’s having a rough day. Everyone living in Tokyo-3 is having a rough week, a rough few months, if you will. As the show continued and I was introduced to additional characters, the Evas, and Shinji’s terrible dad, I began to be pulled into the plot a little more. The character relationships had me intrigued—this boy was _traumatized,_ and I’ll be damned if I don’t appreciate a little fictional trauma. Not only did the plot become much more serious than I thought it would, but these characters were also _well-written._ I don’t have a lot of experience with mecha anime, but to me, this was seeming to be more than just big robots punching each other and more of a thought-provoking story—big shocker [sarcasm]. Halfway through, this was no longer a mecha, but me, being the expert plot-predictor I am, had already called out _“Eva Unit-01 is Shinji’s mom, bet”_ at least 4 episodes ago. A lucky break, really, but at this point, I was enjoying myself quite a lot. Not only was the plot interesting—_how does NERV expect to keep fighting these Angels?—how many Angels are there?—what’s up with Gendou?_—but I realized how easily and thoroughly this anime could be analyzed. It already has been analyzed. It’s still being analyzed. Almost every frame of the anime has been written about. All this symbolism was almost literary, and I found myself invested in Shinji’s mental state, how the story seemed to be from his point of view, and yet it wasn’t restricted to that, and how his relationship with the other characters changed the story. It was enthralling, and I quickly approached the end, through the director’s cuts all while learning more and more about the world at the same time that Shinji did. My roommate had warned me that the last two episodes were "weird." Alright. Episode twenty-four, a tragic loss as Kaoru is killed by Shinji, and as I’m left wondering if their relationship was more homosexual than the story was implying, then _boom:_ episode twenty-five and twenty-six, we are now in Shinji’s mind and—that’s a heavy markdown, John forgot to do his part of the group project and he was in charge of the conclusion, ah shit. I was then informed that the animation budget was gone at that point, it was meant to be the part showing the Human Instrumentality Project, and that the actual ending was a bit different and a lot smoother. Apparently, the fanbase at the time had been so upset with the ending of the anime that we got a few movies out of it, which at the time of writing, I haven’t watched yet. Overall, and based entirely upon enjoyment, I loved it. I was surprised I had enjoyed a ‘mecha’ at all, having never been interested in the genre. The plot was interesting, the gags were funny, the mellow bits were cute and the intense bits were exciting. From an analytical point of view, there were flaws, yes, the ending was shoddy, the execution and pacing of several parts were subpar; however, the characters alone, the rewatch value for analysis, and the stunning animation were some of the anime’s huge strengths. As an anime alone, _Neon Genesis Evangelion_ is above average, nothing god-tier exceptional, but considering the huge influence it was and still is on the anime community, it’s easily considered a classic. Would I recommend _Evangelion?_ Yes, definitely, but know what you’re watching first. If not for my roommate’s background knowledge, I would have been lost and would have disliked it a lot more, but the history of the show is what makes _Eva_ so special. A definite must-watch, but do some reading about it as you go along. There are countless threads and theories and watch-order lists. _Eva_ is a community, and trust me, you want to be a part of it. ~~~img220(https://giffiles.alphacoders.com/111/111890.gif)~~~

imrannasir16

Neon Genesis Evangelion needs no introduction. A classic and almost certainly a must-watch for any anime viewer, the influence this show had on the anime industry and the way it redefined storytelling in its genre and the medium is simply profound. Its popularity as a classic and anime staple has garnered all kinds of praise and even criticism (especially in recent years). Many fans would tell you that Evangelion is a masterpiece, a brilliant work of art, but others may tell you its messy, pretentious, or just a complete waste of time. I’ve never seen an anime more polarising than this (but that might change as I’m still new to anime). From my experience watching Evangelion, I’d say there is some truth to both sides. Personally, I wanted to fall in love with this show but sadly, I couldn’t. Despite its moments of sheer brilliance, its flaws are also too significant for me to ignore. Evangelion is unique, if anything. You’d be justified for thinking this was simply a typical robots vs aliens/monsters story at first, but quickly you realise that greater focus is on the characters, the humans, rather than the Evangelions themselves and the conflict between the humans and the Angels. And above all, I believe that the characters are the strongest part of Evangelion. __Part 1: The Characters__ __“I mustn’t run away.”__ Our protagonist, Shinji Ikari, isn’t your typical anime hero protagonist. He’s timid, insecure, and is reluctant to open up to other people as he is afraid of getting hurt. The brilliance in his character development is in how he learns to muster his courage and face his fears and perform his duty as a pilot time and time again, even if it only brings him more pain and suffering. His qualities and his growth make him a relatable and human character. __“You won’t die because I will protect you.”__ Rei Ayanami is a bit of an enigma. She appears to be cold, distant and emotionless. She exerts no will of her own, and readily obeys whatever orders are given to her, as if she’s merely a tool to be used. Well, that is how she views herself. She holds almost absolutely no regard for hew own life and sees herself as expendable, as seen by the times she was prepared to sacrifice herself for her comrades and for the sake of the mission. But eventually, she learns how to connect with others and begins to experience and process her emotions, as well as seeing her own worth as actual human being. __“I’ll live for myself and think for myself!”__ Asuka Langley Soryu can be a bit frustrating for viewers to watch at times. She is obnoxious, arrogant and attention-seeking but at the same time, headstrong and intelligent. A child prodigy, she excelled in her academics and has been training since young to pilot the Evangelions. Doing so, and succeeding at it, is her main purpose in life. Her high self-esteem and confidence is a virtue and a curse at times. She believes herself to be superior to Shinji and Rei, and her ego is easily bruised when either of them do anything better than her. __Despite__ these glaring differences in personalities between our main trio, they do have one thing in common: they all yearn for some form of intimacy and meaningful connection with others to repair and fill the void in their broken and lonely hearts. The side characters and pretty interesting and have a considerable level of depth to them too, which I really appreciate. My favourite among them has to be Misato Katsuragi. It was intersting seeing her balance both her roles as a superior and guardian to Shinji and Asuka. Seeing these complex and well-developed characters interact (especially the main trio) given their very contrasting personalities was a joy to watch. I only wish that Shinji and Rei’s relationship was further explored and developed as the events in episode 6 would have served as the great foundation to build upon. __Part 2: Story__ Evangelion’s story is ambitious to say the least. A mecha show that attempts to juggle complex philosophical themes and uncomfortable subject matters: identity, individuality, freedom, responsibility, depression and trauma, to name a few. Episode 16, “The Sickness Unto Death”, references the book of the same name by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. While episode 4, “The Hedgehog’s Dilemma”, references Arthur Schopenhauer’s analogy of the challenges of human intimacy. It perfectly illustrates both Shinji’s desire to bond with others and his hesitance to do so, as the closer any two people are, the more mutual pain can be inflicted. It does not shy away from using religious symbolism and references either. The progenitors are named Adam and Lilith. The Lance of Longinus and Dead Sea Scrolls reference their historical counterparts. NERV’s slogan comes from one of poet Robert Browning’s literary works, and it goes, “God’s in his heaven, all’s right with the world.” Evangelion largely succeeds in incorporating these themes and ideas into its story. The show isn’t trying to be smart or intellectual just for the sake of it. Its themes, ideas and references are actually relevant to the story its trying to tell, making it that much more compelling. Evangelion also has an meaningful message it wants to deliver to the audience, one of accepting yourself regardless of your flaws, with the hope of loving yourself too. But unfortunately, Evangelion’s potential to be a true masterpiece is not realised due to the flaws in its plot. Everything I’ve said up to this point actually seems pretty postitive, but from here on out this is where I go in hard on the flaws of Evangelion. The first third of the show did well to draw me in, with its post-apocalyptic setting, melancholic and bleak atmosphere, and both the external and internal conflict. But after a while things got really repetitive. For a long stretch of episodes, the same structure applies: All is well in the beginning, then an angel shows up, the pilots think they got the upper hand but something goes wrong, they need to come up with a plan, they successfully execute the plan and finally destroy the angel. After a while, the story feels lacklustre and at times boring. And in the middle of it all you get Gendo Ikari using words and terminology that make absolutely no sense to the audience. This show will raise a lot of questions (to try and keep you interested). But what makes me frustrated is that the show never gets around to answering most of these questions (at least, not in a satisfying way) and explaining these words and terms that are critical to understanding the lore of Evangelion. If I had a dollar for every time I had to go evangelion.fandom.com just to understand what something means, and by extension what is going on in the bigger picture, I’d probably have at least 20 bucks. In that regard, the show handles the mystery aspect of the story quite poorly. The pacing of the show at times is simply atrocious. Besides the middle of the story being largely uninteresting, when the story does pick up, it does so too quickly and suddenly in my opinion. Certain pivotal and key moments are not as impactful as they should have been as they never received enough build up, thus feeling underwhelming. There were moments of brilliance which genuinely blew me away towards the end, especially episodes 18-20, which is where the show peaks in terms of quality in my opinion. The episodes that come after were pretty good, but they never hit a peak or climax befitting of an ending. Speaking of the ending, it is certainly an unorthodox method of storytelling. Instead of the last 2 episodes wrapping up any loose ends or the story having any form of resolution, the characters have their own inner introspective monologues and reflections (I’m guessing). On paper, it sounds like an interesting idea, but the execution was poor. It felt so dragged out that I remember thinking that I just wanted this show to end. And when the end did come, it was so abrupt. _“Wait. That’s how it ends?”_ Poor execution and pacing ultimately comes down to one thing, poor writing. Evangelion could have been a masterfully told story if only its writing was better. The story does have its moments. But it’s a shame, because Evangelion has the potential to be so much greater given its ideas and themes. The seeds were there, but they just weren’t nurtured properly. __Part 3: Animation and Sound__ Studio GAINAX’s animation holds up decently well to this day, though one should still not have such high expectations for such an old anime. Certain visual elements definitely look poor by today’s standards, but I have no complaints. I personally quite liked the cinematography and composition of Evangelion, especially the way lighting is used to render scenes and set the tone and atmosphere of the show. The sound design and effects of Evangelion are pretty good, but the same cannot be said for the generic OST. Tracks are also used way too often for them to have any impact or meaning. The opening and ending are far better. __Conclusion:__ Every anime viewer should pick up Neon Genesis Evangelion at some point, but there’s no need to rush. I personally believe the show is not the masterpiece fans claim it to be, nor is it downright terrible. There’s things I really like about this show, but its problems stop me from truly loving it, as much as I wanted to. In the end, its moments of sheer brilliance were few and far between. Maybe with a rewatch I will appreciate the show more, and perhaps even grow to love it as much as some of you do, but I definitely won’t do one anytime soon. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Watch it for yourself and see how you feel about it. You might just love it. ____

Dominvs

__Story__ Neon Genesis Evangelion, one of the popular animes in the Mecha genre. Though, the anime doesn't really focus on the mecha as much as the psychological aspects of the show which shapes the story and allows the narrative to progress forward. The progression of the story might seem slow to some due to its repetitous tone but that's exactly what makes it unique. Evangelion as the name suggests makes use of biblical themes which I believe are used as a metaphor to some of the scenarios in the storyline but are also depicted as ironic in terms of the outcome. The show utilizes the emotions of its characters as a plot device while furthering the events of the story based on what's going on in their world. Although it might be a little confusing in the end, it does give off a fitting and unique conclusion to the character's arcs. Overall I would say the story is well-built and despite the time of its release, is still definitely a unique classical masterpiece to this day. __Characters__ ~~~ img220(https://c4.wallpaperflare.com/wallpaper/437/965/174/neon-genesis-evangelion-classic-anime-anime-characters-wallpaper-preview.jpg)~~~ What truly makes Evangelion very compelling are the characters. Throughout the show, you will find yourself being frustrated with the characters and might even drop it because of their actions. The show gives more detail to the psychology of each character showing their complexity and emphasizing that although these may be the heroes we follow, their mindset isn't entirely black and white. Each of the characters has a grey area that can go a little twisted at times in a moral perspective. Although you might not root for the characters and at times their actions might even disgust you as a viewer, the anime does a real job of portraying the growth and demise of each of the characters in a way that you may empathize with them or just naturally hate them. A lot of the characters may seem mysterious even by the end of the show but if you pay attention the details are there. Anyways I spent time watching a number of analysis videos after watching the show so who am I to talk about details lmao. Some of the characters I would like to talk about further would be Asuka and Shinji. Spoilers for those who have not seen Evangelion. ~!__Asuka__ img220(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/38/39/48/383948c12eeac2f64e9987c0e47a5029.png) First I want to talk more about one of my personal favorite characters of all in Anime History which is Asuka Langley Soryu. Arguably the most popular character on Evangelion and the character that popularized the tsundere trope. This girl might outright appear as some abusive German chick to a lot of viewers but that's not all there is to her character. What makes her different from most tsundere we see nowadays is that she is actually a tsundere for a reason. Her tragic past shaped her into becoming what she is now. Being seen as a doll by her mother who's gone mentally ill and becoming an outcast from the people around her. All she wanted was to be loved and she shows that's what she wants by trying to save the world in order to get recognition for her deeds but even that doesn't fill the empty hole in her heart. She wants to be seen and truly appreciated by someone but her ego and her aggressive nature which developed as a result of her past disrupts her chances with our main character Shinji. Although that is the case, her being aggressive is her actually trying to avoid being too attached as she believes that attachments to people will hurt her more like how her attachment to her mom gave her so much pain. She is probably one of the most relatable characters of the show and that's one of the reasons I love her. She is a very misunderstood character but nevertheless tries to open up and be closer with some of our characters through suggestive means. __Shinji__ img220(https://shannaroshoujo.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/shinji.jpg?w=350&h=361) Throughout the series, viewers might see him as annoying and a coward but we must understand his psyche and the absolute heck that he's been put through out of nowhere. Shinji Ikari our main character is very similar to Asuka, he is also someone who is afraid of attachments because of how his dad treated him but has a very different way of avoiding attachments. Unlike Asuka who acts aggressively in order to protect herself and the other people around her from these attachments, Shinji simply neglects to talk to people in a shy and calm manner. He's basically a shut-in but for a good reason. After losing his mother years ago, his dad has basically become stone cold and doesn't even talk to him like a son. He sees him as more of a tool rather than his biological offspring. Hey! This calls for a "Father of the Year Award". Jokes aside, this ruins his own self-image and prevents him from ever trying to praise himself for any achievements. Poor Shinji, if only his old man treated him better. Asuka and Shinji's dynamic definitely could've saved each other, to me Asuka was definitely the moral compass that Shinji needed vice versa. !~ There are only so many characters in the show whose psychology contradicts the way you feel about them. Although Shinji's dad wasn't the best of fathers even his personality can be pretty understandable. This show just has too many well-written characters to mention and don't even get me started with Misato, Rei, and Kaji. A lot of the Evangelion characters can be deplorable and might make the show hard to watch but that just shows how well written the characters are. Overall seeing the characters interact and develop in this show is the major reason this show is a masterpiece. For those of y'all who want to watch analysis videos on some of the characters I personally prefer these: youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etig8-Pbz-s&ab_channel=SeaTacticsSeaTactics) youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25DFIacPg08) youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH1mzZaYr-o&ab_channel=miksanzmiksanz) __Entertainment__ ~~~img220(https://media1.tenor.com/images/6863669abb7bb57c71886bc8cbfb274f/tenor.gif?itemid=4884859) ~~~ The tone of this anime might not be for the faint of heart and not just because it's dark and depressing but because it might feel soulless and tedious for a lot of viewers. Although there are a number of battles throughout the show, the moments and emphasis are more focused than the Mecha & Action. So for all you mecha fans seeking huge and massive entertaining fights from Robots and Monsters, this might not be your type of show. A lot of times there are still shots that might take too long which actually focuses more on the moment of the scene and gives you time to absorb what's happening. The audio might feel monotonous to some and you can hardly hear any audio at times but it's actually what helps set the psychological tone of the series. Nevertheless, the show does have its light-hearted moments and fun times for the characters. For its time, it's definitely a shocker, one which allows even you as an audience to question your own sanity. For many people out there, this might not be your type of anime and that's ok. Not everybody has to like something just because it's popular and adhered to be good but for me this show is a unique masterclass and proves to show that entertainment doesn't always have to follow the same formula.

TheyCallMeNano

~~~---Revision (Changed for less hostile wording, still a negative review)---~~~ When I first started watching EVA I didn't have a ton of experience with anime and still have a relatively small amount of watch time. But I still feel that when watching this anime the entertainment value of it dropped tremendously. I must admit, even going in I didn't care for the mecha genre or narrative style. Now that my introduction is out of the way, if my opinion upsets you at least you'll be able to note me on my bias. As for the anime itself, I took a very long pause after the first couple of episodes. I find the early pacing very slow and I feel suffocated by the drab-like environment and characters. When I picked up the anime again sometime in the next year I watched it with a friend that swore by the anime. Claiming it was their favorite of all time and saying that they extremely enjoyed every second of it. However, after a second viewing of the anime, their perspective switched entirely. The characters don't have a personality. Shinji - This character literally feels like a skeleton with just a leather bag of a body. Emotion is just null and void. I do understand that that is supposed to reflect his character. However, he is not interesting in the slightest. I don't care how he is able to do anything and when the anime hypes up his ability or power. They might as well rename him to Superman and then I'd at least slightly care about his character. Asuka - This red pimple is probably the biggest stain on the series. She is so loud and obnoxious to the point where when she speaks I wanted to cover my ears. I couldn't stand to listen to her whine and complain over things that didn't matter. When the anime would introduce a supposed problem she would just complain and the problem would magically go away. Rei - She might be my favorite character. Her character brings the most to the table and leaves a lot of questions. I would love her so much more if I cared about what those questions were. When watching the anime she is partially the center of all these questions but not only do they never get answered but most of them are boring. The Magi - There's not much to say about this, and that's the problem. There are so many moving elements in this anime that could make it an easy 90 or 100 but it falls short because of this. The Magi falls into this category and it's a massive shortcoming of the anime. The episodes where this mysterious system is mentioned are easily where I was most intrigued. Only for it to fall short nearly immediately and the episode just pads the runtime. I have been told several times by plenty of people that these plot points are explained either in the movies or if you read the manga. My only problem with this statement is that I shouldn't have to read or watch several hours of more content just to find out what a very simple plot point is. That's the whole point of watching the anime, to discover what these items are and why they're important. Probably the best example of this is the Spear of Longinus, which is easily the most interesting plot point. But as I mentioned above falls short because it requires me to have read or watched more of the EVA universe. I was genuinely eager to learn about this but the anime ripped it away from me only to have another anthological fight scene. Now for the final episodes, this is where I lose all understanding of how you could praise this anime so highly. I've heard time and time again that these episodes make the entire anime worth it. I don't understand how they could, considering I never found the characters interesting in the first place. When they're suddenly undergoing the mental and emotional battle I showed no interest at all and considered breaking my rule of skipping an episode. Not only was it completely random, but it was pointless. NERV isn't gone, the angels still exist, why are we going the therapy? None of it added up for me and it left a very bitter taste in my mouth. Which draws me to the end. After watching the anime's very bitter ending I wasn't satisfied. This anime had single-handedly made me upset and bitter. I did some research and found out that the entire anime is in its own canon. After learning about this I was genuinely ecstatic because I thought that I'd finally get the satisfaction I was craving. Leading to the present day, I have picked up EVA in its manga form and I'm currently reading through it. Still very early on and I can without a doubt confirm that I already enjoy the premise much more. Shinji is set up better and NERV feels real instead of a hollow organization. So, to close off, if you really want to get into EVA I'd read the manga first.

Shin Seiki Evangelion

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