Shinseiki Evangelion

Row Row Fight the Power! The trick is to pretend you're watching this in 1995. This was so close to being a masterpiece but those last 2 episodes left a bad taste in my mouth. Even though I gave it an 8/10, this is one of my favorites. Story- 7/10 Very good anime that has its moments. Really liked the idea of EVAs fighting Angels, very unique. This is one of the anime that got me addicted, always telling myself "1 more episode." Halfway through the story starts getting complicated and dark. The action was pleasing to the eyes. Art- 8/10 It was made in 1995 what do you expect? Really liked the detail on the EVAs and Tokyo-3. Sound- 10/10 The soundtrack perfectly matches the scenes playing. The iconic OP is so catchy and is one of my favorites, but if you look up the lyrics for it, it's all about Shinji. Not only does this anime make me look forward for the next episode, but the next ending song as well. First time I heard it , I quickly recognized that this is one of the songs my grandma listens to. Character- 8/10 Don't get me wrong but if you were a 14 year old and is piloting a giant Mecha, most of you would probably be freaking out. What really troubles me is that Shinji stays a wuss. At moments I was hoping, Oh man this is the time he'll become a badass but sadly no. I thought he would grow a backbone once in a while like Simon from Gurren Lagann. All the characters looked normal but they all have psychological problems. The character that really stood out was Asuka. She brings life to the episodes she's in also I love it when she bullies stupid Shinji Enjoyment- 10/10 Overall I enjoyed it, it was a fun ride while it lasted. A memorable series made a couple months before I was even born. The dub was decent there was times when some of the voice actors sounded like a cartoon. I probably would watch this a second time in the future. This is one of the anime people should watch before they die.

Evangelion. One of the craziest things I have ever watched. It’s really hard doing a review about this show. But I’ll try my best to do it without any spoiler. First off, I want to tell you—the reader, that I have only watched the series last two weeks. So I’m not particular with the movies and the upcoming ones. So my knowledge about the whole thing is limited. So please enlighten me if I make (will make, surely) a mistake, ok? Will be happy if you teach this uninformed dummy here. So I will start my honest review about the show. Story: 8 Everybody loves Shinji-Kun’s dad—Ikari Gendou. The end. Jk. Only half, though. Kidding aside, the story’s about Ikari Shinji, a 14-year-old kid who’s got serious introvert problems. He is forced to pilot a giant, human-like robot named, Eva(s), to combat Angels. Angels have started to descend from the unknown, not the Angels with flashy, feathery wings which were depicted from the Bible. But Angels who are Alien-like life forms, in colossal, if not, massive sizes. Yes, Aliens named as Angels. As to why they’re named Angels, I don’t have a clue. Shinji doesn’t have a clue what these things are, neither was he briefed about it. Long story short, his * insert insult here * Father, Ikari Gendou, called him to go to the facility and pilot the thing himself, because the city is under attack by an Angel. Shinji, furious to hear the reason why he was called, didn’t want to pilot the Eva. That’s basically the gist of it. I don’t want to end up summarizing the first 5 episodes. Ok, a feedback on Evangelion’s story. First things first, I enjoyed most of the episodes; It’ll make you excited, laugh, scratch your head a little, cry a bit. Not until the later episodes, which will crack you up like a pistachio nut. Why? I’ve been asking that myself, even after finishing the show, I still do. Yes, it’s that mind-boggling. Some say, “Evangelion’s ending is the crappiest thing that ever happened in the history of Anime”. Surely, it was a shocker, and I didn’t expect that to happen, nor did anyone. I was bitch-slapped-surprised of what happened. Anyhow, Evangelion’s story is different from Anime(s) these days—wait, let me rephrase that, Evangelion’s a “LOT” different from Anime(s) these days. There are many reasons why it differs from the shows these days. The show didn’t rely on bouncing bewbs to attract viewers, just skin-tight-tights. Just kidding. It’s because of the unique (?) plot, unexpected ending, and mind-boggling theories about the perspective of life that’ll change your view about it instantaneously. Art: 8 Considering that the show came out when I was just a 4-year-old toddler, its ‘effing marvelous! Many shows didn’t have Evangelion’s art at that time. It’s impressive that they manage to make their art that good those days. But it can still rival some shows’ art these days. It might be the best drawn classic Anime show I have ever watched. Characters: 9 Let’s see, characters in Evangelion come’s in all shapes, colors, sizes, and personality! We have an, introvert (Ikari Shinji), an emotionless white-as-snow-kid (Ayanami Rei), an attention-whore (Asuka Langley), an itchy-whore (Misato), mom and daughter who’s obsessed with one guy with a family, and the most insensitive parent you’ll ever see, a womanizer, a war-geek, a class-representative-who-we-all-know-would-be-in-love-with-an-idiot-character, an idiot character, bunch of crazy-weird-ass Angels, and finally, a Penguin named, Pen-Pen. Did you imagine all of those elements being blend together!? No, right? I mean, it’s like a freak-show of personalities! Anyhow, I liked every single character Evangelion had. They have their unique traits which separates them with the others, and compliments with the others. It’s a perfect blend. Music: 9 Although, there are only two music for the whole 26 episodes, I loved it. Cruel Angel Thesis has been a national anthem for me (stupid trivia: Katsura Hinagiku from Hayate no Gotoku! has a version of it, check it out if you like). Fly me to the moon is a classic adored by many, so it adds up to the greatness of the music (for me). Enjoyment: 8 Did I enjoy Evangelion? Yes and maybe. Yes, because it was entertaining, brain-clenching, and maybe because I haven’t watched any shows for about a month or two. Nevertheless, it really entertained me, not that much, though. It’s not on my “must-watch” list, but definitely a good watch. Overall: 9 A score of 8 is pretty feasible for Evangelion. Far from being perfect, and way far to be ugly, too. Thoughts like “Why am I even watching this?” and “What the crap is happening?” crossed my mind, not once, but a lot of times. Evangelion’s great, great at making the viewer feel what the characters are feeling. It’ll make you laugh, cry, and hate (this particular emotion ran through me throughout the series). I was up to the point of cursing someone in the show for being an insensitive bastard, I wanted to go inside the show and shoot that motherf***** right in the face. I was swayed emotionally by the show, it was a good thing, I think? I’ve felt how Ikari’s feeling at times, sure, it won’t doesn’t sound surreal—but I kind of understand him. Evangelion is way, waaaaaaaaaaay far off from all the “generic” shows out there. To tell you the truth, I was a lot disappointed about how the show ended. If you ask me, honestly, I think they made the ending like that just to make lots of alternate endings on it. I mean, with that kind of “world-self theory (a self-term I stupidly invented)”, they can make hundreds, if not, thousands of alternate stories about it. Not that I hate what they’ve done. It’s just that… It’s frustrating. I mean, all that 20+ epic episodes just for that ending? I can’t imagine the look on the faces of those who watched the series on free TV. It must have been really pissed them off. But hey, don’t let a nobody like me decide for you if it’s good or not. Try it out yourself.

This review is about Shinji more than anything else. Shinji is a character that has often been imitated in later series, but rarely with any success. Shinji is often said to exhibit a kind of "real teenage weirdness." His sexual desires, his frustrations, and his futile rebelliousness are all a huge part of what separates Shinji from shitty clones like Shuu from Guilty Crown. Just being a coward who occasionally rises to the occasion isn't enough to make a character interesting. Shinji is much more than that. This is what elevates Shinji, and the series as a whole, to the level of a masterpiece. What matters is that we can identify with him, even if we are not exactly like him. He seems human, and this is important, especially if you are trying to tell a story that is as much about human psychology as anything else. His angst and mood swings seem organic, rather than merely convenient. This is essential if we are to "believe" the character has a life of its/his/her own. I cannot over-state the importance of this element. Series that do not succeed in this regard are doomed to mediocrity. When we start to see the strings behind the puppets, when the characters change artificially, that breaks immersion. We cease to believe in the character, and this makes us cease to believe in the WORLD of the character. I believe that, were it not for the success of Shinji as a protagonist, the show would be remembered primarily for Gainax's technical achievements. None of the other elements work without a character like Shinji in the middle of everything. In conclusion, I believe that the world of Evangelion traps and haunts us only because Shinji is a highly-effective conduit between us and that world.

I'm not an anime fan. I tried this because of the reviews it gathered and after watching this I checked out other anime-titles. I couldn't have been more disappointed. No other anime even tried to approach the quality of this series. The series start off simple enough. A boy is 'chosen' to fight big monsters in a robot. However, the monsters seem to be less important than the troubles the people face fighting them. Although Shinji is no coward by any standard, he's a very troubled person. He hates himself and his father. He needs people around him but they are a constant source of pain. He's a loner, but he doesn't like it much. Not a single major character is one-dimensional. Rei is a bit of an enigma, but you could imagine how this very intelligent girl would develop into someone resembling Ritsuko. Asuka is the brass, loud and overconfident girl who's smarter than she appears. Misato seems to be an emotional shut-in but she tries to enjoy life to the fullest. Ritsuko seems perfect at first, an intelligent career woman who's reliable and self-sufficient. And definitely last is Gendo, the commander : cold and focused, dealing with the threat as well as the constant verbal attacks of the Seele-members. Any major character could be analyzed as they grow throughout the series. The first 15 episodes could be considered semi-light fare. Enjoyable and although there are several hints dropped along the way, nothing really gets out of hand too far. The series grow however, and after the 15th episode, the masks are taken off one by one, and it's not a pretty sight. By the end of it all, the series have asked immortal questions like what are we, why are we here and is life worth all the pain that goes with it. For once these questions don't sound trite as the characters have a very good reason for asking. Disturbing through the fate and behaviour of it's protagonists, stripping away all illusions about what men are and the horrors we are capable of, the series still manage to retain sympathy for it's characters and a spark of hope for mankind. The series are not perfect. There's some fan-service,corny moments and situations that don't seem logical, especially in the first part of the series. But the many layers and genuine characters more than make up for it. In this case, the endresult outweigh the sum of it's part tremendously. There are 101 reasons why the series have become how they are now. Production problems (time and money), Hidalgo's personal situation, the fans, the critics and so on. You can find socio-economic, theological and psychological analysis of this work. All very well written, interesting and equally valid. Whatever interests you, this series can make you think and hopefully feel. I've only given 3 movies a 10. This is one of them. The rating is for the series+the movie. Powerful and unique.

One of the most talked about, loved or hated, admired or despised animes released in the 1990's which we still continuously analysis and study to this day. There are many layers of utter sh*t that hide this anime’s true nature but if you are willing to accompany me, I am sure we can discover all the tactics and mechanisms the writers used to manipulate and brainwash us into considering this pure sh*t a classic. Without further delay, let's review Neon Genesis Evangelion or as I prefer to call it "The Life of Hideaki Anno: F*ck the world, F*ck myself and F*ck you, you optimistic fools". This story revolves around Shinji Ikari / Hideaki Anno as we journey with him as he evolves FROM A miserable, angry emo creep who wants to see all life forms obliterated TO A miserable, angry emo creep who wants to see all life forms obliterated. Oh.My.God. The fate of humanity's survival is in DANGER!!! What should we do? Should we a) place it in the hands of a team of well trained and experienced teenagers or b) place ALL of our faith in a spineless pessimist with no form of training what so ever? Well, the choice is OBVIOUS!?! The only correct answer is B because.....LOGIC On a more serious note, I consider the weak and cowardly character to be far more superior to the overly perfect at everything character. I found myself looking forward to Shinji's character when I first began TLOHA. That is until I came to realize that the world "EVOLVUTION" to Shinj actually means "REGRESSION". Shinji's primary function is to piss the audience off in any way this little sh*t can think of. People tend to hail Shinji as an excellently written character but he just comes off as an exact reflection of the writer himself, someone who's ideals or opinions remain the exact same throughout the show is not REALISM it's the exact opposite. Now you'd think that with such an unrelatable protagonist carrying the story, the supporting characters would be much more likeable and varied right? NOPE. The writers magically defy common sense and make ALL the supporting characters INHUMAN. Hell, the f*ckin angels are more relatable. We've got Asuka who's here to raise the awareness for male victims of domestic abuse, Rei who makes sandpaper look like Jesus Christ and a bunch of scientists who have as much importance as Pen Pen......Great Job, you guys *reluctantly claps* All that stuff you heard about robots fighting aliens is nothing but a poorly done facade. In reality, Anno uses this story as a coping mechanism for his ongoing depression. Oh you heard correctly, the creator is in PERFECT CONDITION SO HE WILL DEFINITELY NOT INSERT HIMSELF INTO HIS OWN WRITING. The show's sense of morality is instantly handicapped because of Anno's state of mind at the time. He fails to understand that even the DARKEST stories have a flicker of light in them as do the LIGHTEST stories have a flicker of dark in them. They both go hand in hand and by choosing to ignore one of them it will create a sense of unrealism. Even the darkest animes, Berserk, still manage to include a sense of optimism, while The Life of Hadeaki Anno prefers to rely solely on acts of self hatred which are then used to manipulate the viewer.By doing this, the trust between the writer and the viewer is completely destroyed. Anno dangles thoughts of hope right under the viewer's nose before quickly snatching it back. It is used to get the audience hooked on a sense of hopelessness and despair. Anno also likes to make his story near impossible to understand because that will instantly mean it is a masterpiece. This works if it suits the anime it is used in, not because the writer simply wants it to be this way. You will find yourself watching episode after episode in the hopes of uncovering all the answers. When you reach this point in the anime, two things will occur. You will uncover SOME of the answers towards the very end of the show. They will however, end up as a TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT. Characters motivations will turn out EXACTLY as they are presented, Angels are just evil etc. The MAJORITY of the answers are instead left up to OUR interpretation. This is were the hundreds of essays trying to understand Evangelion come from. I a quite fond of this method, so I had such high hopes for it. Sigh. The reason this method of writing can't function well in Evangelion is due to Haneaki Anno and no one else. A writer who is heavily biased or opinionated will make the fatal error of inserting their own views into their writing. PRO TIP: Unfortunately, all essays on Evangelion are very limited as the writer restricts hope and faith in favour of hatred and depression. This forces all conclusions to be BIASED instead of being IMPARTIAL. When you take away Eva's overuse of pessimism and complexity, it really is just an average show about teens in robots fighting aliens. Anno still needs one more tactic to grasp our attention. That tactic being: CONTROVERSY. The show is always demonstrating it's MEANINGFULNESS at every chance they can get but this is completely ruined when it swaps this in favour of controversy. While we could have had some form of self growth for Shinji, we are thankfully treated to jaw dropping moments like masturbating over comatose teenagers and awe inspiring pedophilic moments with Misato. Why are these here? To keep people TALKING ABOUT the show no matter how f*cked up it is, they don't care whether you love or hate it. CONCLUSION: At the end of the day, NGE is an anime that showcases what an anime will do to become FAMOUS. It ironically betrays what it represents in order to stand out from the crowd. Despite constant arguments, Neon Genesis Evangelion is an anime that never set out to be one of the best animes of all time. Nor did it set out to be one of the worst animes of all time. Neon Genesis Evangelion set out for the sole purpose of being the MOST TALKED ABOUT ANIME OF ALL TIME. And guess what? It worked because we're still talking about it nineteen f*ckin' years later. * Although I am quite pompous, this is ultimately MY OPINION. Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions whether they are positive or negative*

Neon Genesis Evangelion, i could basically summarise my review in one word, that word being 'mindfuck' but to many, its not AN anime, its THE anime, to others its a total mess lacking closure and explanations that leads into a clusterfuck of plot holes, but to me, Evangelion is a fantastic deconstruction of the mecha genre, and to do the saga of Evangelion justice, i'm going to review End of Evangelion as well as the series in ONE review, you ready? *takes a deep breath* Lets do this! The setting: In an alternate post-apocalyptic universe the world is under constant threat from 'Angels', mysterious beings that come basically out of nowhere with the intention of, as far as we know for most of the series, destroying the entirety of the human race. Much like most good vs evil anime, Earth has created a top secret military station known as NERV to construct giant robots known as Evangelions to combat the oncoming threats to prevent a cataclysmic event known as the Third Impact. Also, an organisation known as SEELE (who exist unbeknownst to pretty much everyone in the series) were created to complete the Human Instrumentality Project to bring about the beginning of a new era in Human evolution. Confused yet? This is just the beginning... The characters: Lets start off with our main protagonist , Shinji Ikari. After having lost his mother before he could even remember and being heavily neglected by his father, Gendo Ikari, Shinji inevitably developed multiple psychological defects which take their toll as the show progressees, these issues include a guilt complex; where whenever something he is even remotely involved in goes wrong, he often blames himself for all of it regardless of his actual impact on the situation, and a case known as the Hedgehog's dilemma, where he is unable to become close to people in the fear that he might hurt those he is becoming close to, yet this is all explained alot better in episode 4. These psychological issues often get the best of Shinji which results in him running away from his fears rather than embracing them. Next we have the fiery-tempered American, Asuka Langley Soryu who is the complete opposite to Shinji whilst suffering from pretty much the same anxieties. She tends to be outspoken and outgoing to cover up the fact that she too lacks confidence but unlike Shinji, she refuses to admit she is weak minded as that would result in her confidence dropping towards the amount Shinji holds throughout the entire show, she needs to be complimented by pretty much everyone in order to stay mentally stable. As the pilot of Eva unit-02 she tends to be completely kick-ass at everything Shinji basically sucks at and this results in amazing battle scenes with Angels with less of the whining Shinji tends to do in the same situation. She too has had abandonment issues, having a messed up childhood which is explained as the series runs its course is the main reason she is the way she is. Last but not least we have Rei Ayanami, who sadly i cannot go into too much detail about as she possesses about 40% of the show's main plot points/twists and thus, going into detail about her would result in spoilers, all we know is she has some kind of personal connection to Shinji's father which is shown in the first episode. Its probably best that i dont describe ALL of the mentally unstable batch of characters this show has to offer, so i'll let you uncover the truth about them all one by one when you watch the show, and if you're a self respecting anime fan you probably should watch the show. Art: The show was animated by Gainax in 1995 and was subject to very low budget as proven by the show's creator, Hideaki Anno, because of this low budget, the show began to slowly decline in animation quality until the last two episodes (dont worry, i'll talk about them in due time) throwing nudity and fanservice into the mix to cover up all the plot holes and animation mistakes that were becoming more and more obvious as the show progressed. A common way for animators to save money is to make all animation static and only animate the mouth, less movement results in lower costs, however Evangelion went even further by having characters mouths covered, off screen or facing away from the camera to further save money by not even animating mouth movement. This is not to say that animation quality sucks all the way through, Gainax seem to have taken good care of the battle scenes which has resulted in well-choreographed fights that match or even exceed some mecha battle animation that has came out in the last 4 years or so, during these scenes, everything seems to move so fluidly and when the Evas run you can almost feel the weight of them yourself. Sound: Coming from a guy who has only seen the english dub of this show i must say its actually pretty good, although i understand that people may dislike it as for the most part of the first 5 episodes dialogue is kind of half-heartedly expressed and makes the impact of the scene more wishy-washy. Despite the first 5 episodes, the voice actors to eventually settle into their roles and end up doing a pretty damn decent job at it, a big shout out to Spike Spencer for capturing the realism of Shinji's situation to a T. The soundtrack is nothing noteworthy, most of the music is played as background music during battles and for that reason, they work, other than that the OP, titled 'Thesis of a Cruel Angel', is something that gets a lot of love from alot of people as being possibly one of the greatest anime openings in existence, but despite Yoko Takahashi's beautiful voice accompanied by a fantasitc saxophone composition and brilliant animation to go with it (especially in the full version, you can chack it out yourself on YouTube) i wouldnt consider it the 'best', Soul Eater's 'Resonance' and 'Paper Moon', Higurashi's simply titled 'Main Theme' and Black Lagoon's 'Red Fraction' are, in my opinion , more notable. The Ending: Much like what i said in my Vampire Knight review, my belief is that the Ending is what decides my opinion on the show as a whole, and in the case of Evangelion, the ending is what stopped it from being undoubtedly my favourite anime of all time. Its no secret that as the series came to a close, production funds were so dry that the last two episodes were created by throwing a packet of Crayola at sheets of paper and releasing it on Japanese TV, and because of this, the show ended on a less than satisfactory note that upset and enraged a vast majority of fans. While i personally liked the ending as its the happiest ending you'll probably get from Evangelion (unless you read the manga, volume 14, chapter 96 i believe) its not hard to see why people hated it, the final episodes brought down the overall tone that episodes 1-24 had built up for it, yes i am talking about the infamous 'Congratulations' ending. After 2 years of an already depressed Hideaki Anno receiving both congratulatory letters and death threats, anno took more notice of the death threats and decided to remake episodes 25 and 26 into what would be the most controversial 87 minutes in anime history. End of Evangelion: As a direct response to the unhappy fans who were given an unsatisfactory ending to an otherwise masterfully executed show, Anno and his team buckled up to recreate the ending, in 1997, End of Evangelion was released, and with it, came two of the most controversial scenes in anime. End of Evangelion is less of a film and more of two episodes combined, they're even divided up as such in the film itself, episodes 25 being called 'Air'/'Love is Destructive' and episode 26 named 'Yours sincerely'/'ONE MORE FINAL: I need you' and it pretty much picks up right where we left off assuming you bi-passed the last two episodes of the series. We go into this movie with alot of questions, many of them being related to the plot holes present in the latter half of the series, but the most important question being, does …

When you step into someone's mind and notice you are also becoming one with that people what will you do? Neon Genesis Evangelion. It's name everyone should know. This series is really popular in all over world. It's praised by many people and also same time hated by many people it's maintaining these things equally. Creator Hideki Anno didn't actually wanted people to enjoy this series at first place and how could really anyone enjoy it if creator is having psychological issues himself when he was making this series. That's why there are many versions so everyone could be happy and get story they want. I wont mention any spoiler stuff because there is all ready many good reviews of this series and they explain all really well. The thing is that what Evangelion do unique way is storytelling actually putting people to think everything about themselves, The World, Life, Society, Mankind and even Gods. It solves many riddles but still left too many questions to unanswered. Story - 9 Evangelion story is really complex and deep but it's made some sense to me. I wasn't really expecting so complex story even I knew this was psychological show. Stil it's breathtaking and does job well until 2nd part starts where series take turns and true nature becomes showing to people. It's unique story cause many anime's don't tell this kind of story like way Evangelion presents it. Art - 10 Even this anime is made 1995 it's look really beautiful and they must been watching Dragon Ball Z because animation looks like that. It's bit oldish but nothing is too bright or too dark. EVA's look really detailed and their moving is just amazing to watch. Camera view is also pretty unique in this anime. It's not typical chancing next scene but it actually spinning through out series. Big fancy font's they go nicely with psychology stuff included in episode title texts. And symbolism even this wasn't never to mean anything it gave series many meanings still. Oh and those final episode that crowned everything. Pretty interesting way to animate scenes. Music - 10 Evangelion has so great music collections found. that I was just feeling those tunes in anime. Without music battle scenes would look boring but with music they really came to live. There were some music that had weird place in scenes but still many great choices and interacting with symbolism. Main theme is like mix of maracas, trumpets and jazz. it starts with slow and quickly changes form to quck in middle way. Shiro Sagisu is really great music composer I really like his music it fit into series really well. Ending theme had nicely dynamic theme and moon reflection I think it's unique concept showing ending and always different tempo in each episode. Effects - 10 Even this is 1995 anime it's not definitely showing in effects. bombs, flashes sounds like they should be. Also environment like rain, and when cascades makes sounds it's almost like in Higurashi. Which means they really delivered with effects. Just amazing stuff. Voice Acting - 10 I liked all voices too be honest I first hated Shinji's voice it was too deep and it just gave me headache to listen it. But later his voice turned well and I began to like it. Overall all characters especially Rei's voice actor did awesome work. They really felt characters and learned them. And also learn how to use own voice to deliver nice viewing and hearing experiences to audience. The Characters - 10 These is one of the best shows that character development is taking seriously and I mean really seriously. Every characters story is really deep and depressing stuff to see but it really shows how much they progress through out series. And almost every important character get's own past story to maximum own character development. But there is one character that get's most of it and it's none other than Shinji. Shinji's role in Evangelion is so huge and everything that happens with his character shows in his character personally perfectly. He progress nicely through out series and viewer get's to see how Shinji will do in his journey to clear his mind of things that he is thinking particularly. And that's why Shinji is really different from Shonen characters like Naruto or Ichigo. That's why he is unique character and overall critical point understanding whole plot in the series. But I would say all characters are just as important like Shinji. Everyone share same feelings and emotions. Enjoyment - 9 I really did enjoy Evangelion. This wasn't first anime I watched and noticed you really need to think a lot but it was first anime that mentioned psychology really well in form and all important stuff that is needed to survive in world. Personally I would wanted to know what really happened into plot but it's nice they make movies to get everyone clear picture what happened in it. Overall - 9 Evangelion is anime that is setting your mind in thinking mode and let's you form own image of the plot and characters how they relate to each others and it's let you feel these in your mind too. Maybe weird way to say but it's just goes deeply into person's mind and wants them to solve riddles that it will presents in anime. Evangelion is series that everyone can sure relate to because it gives so realistic viewpoint of world and stuff. Of course many people may hate ending and I don't like it myself either because all that confusing stuff .But that's why they gave us choices movies and alternative way escaping that freaking mind game. I highly recommend watching this series even if you're not psychological anime fan or dislike that genre. And all Sci-Fi people should watch this too. Evangelion is and will always remembered in anime community it's not going to change and it's always going to be one of the anime series that lend people to psychological series and those aspects overall.

A compilation review of the HTWA! Hope you find it handy! "To me this was a great anime due to its plotline, its silly remeberable characters like pen pen, its great action scenes and its romance was pretty good" - Redhydoken7 "perfect example of how an ending can completely ruin a series in an instant. Watch RahXephon if you want a similar series but dont want to punch a hole through the wall at the end and regret all the time you just wasted." - shinigamidono "i love NGE. i don't like mecha too much but i hear positive things about it. so i just have to check it out. It has nice plot, awesome mecha action, and a catchy opening theme. I'm not sure if this is an appropriate beginner anime as the plotline can be a bit overwhelming." - icemachine "shinji = emo + gay = many moments of anger." - tigerz "I don't get why Shinji as a character gets that much hate, sure he's a whiny bitch but there's a reason for it, mostly due to the absence of her mother and his dad being a dick also, well... he is a teenager. If there's someone to project hate to it should be Gendo. Episode 25-26 doesn't exist, watch End of Evangelion instead." - saintcross "ya i have heard that before.. but i am going to have to say no thanks. may have been good advice before i watched 25-26... but it's ruined.. done.. dont want any NGE anymore ;) + shinji is an emo sob that pisses me off to no end. if you tell me he gets stabbed to death in End of Evangelion, i might watch it :P" - shinigamidono "Neon Genesis Evangelion is awesome! i loved it and it was the first anime i ever watched. So i think a beginner could watch it. I reckon anime in general is meant for older kids, since some of the the theme's and issues they deal with are pretty full on. Plus most anime have a bit of ecchi or what ever you call it. So then that leaves older children and adults left to watch NGE and they should be able to understand most of it (except epi 25/26). If you watch "the end of evangelion" it explains visually what going on in epi 25/26. But i love the series ending, (after understanding what happens ) better. I love the way that the last two epi's go through there minds and what there thinking. "+ shinji is an emo sob that pisses me off to no end. if you tell me he gets stabbed to death in End of Evangelion, i might watch it :P" lol yerre i agree shinji is a bit annoying but his got a lot of issues. yet his the only character that deals with his issues. For me NGE was good because it starts off introducing the characters and building them up to a stage where they get along and do there job and seem happy in there world. Like i expected at that stage they would end the show like they save the world and everyone would be happy and shinji and his dad would be cool and so on. But no. Then the 13th angel (Touji) comes around and like messes everything up. From there everything went downhill for the character's and i loved that. That every one had scars from the past and issues to deal with. NGE is so good because its like three shows in one. its a mecha. there's a element of slice of life. and the psychological in there as well. The art work is done well. It's very watchable to this day. There are parts (backgrounds) were the age of this anime does become apparent. the theme song is awesome. If you didn't like one part of this show there's still plenty to watch it for, and that's why i reckon so many people like it." - ucandoit "Easily one of my top favorite if not the best anime's Ive watched. I've seen the movie ending and I am eagerly awaiting the Rebuilds. I do agree that ep 25-26 were indeed pretty crappy 'cause there just wasn't any way one could follow along. And while, I see the point some people will make here in saying that the ending ruined it, you should in that case watch the movie ending and re-judge it. That being said, I do not think it would be a great introduction to anime due to it being a little overwhelming for some people." - Nihilus_ "Am I one of the only people to actually like ep 25-6? I know it doesn't round things out plotwise, but I'd say it's a crucial part of the series, since it explores the reasoning behind Instrumentality, and the arguments against it. Yes, End of Evangelion is a "neater" finish, but it would be incomplete without the insights from ep 25-6." - CriticalEye "One of the first anime I started with so it's not too bad for beginners. I would say everyone needs to watch the NGE movies, not so much for death & rebirth since it's mostly a recap movie but definitely the End of Evangelion. Yeah, the last couple episodes were not true endings to the anime but at least the End of Evangelion gives somewhat a more "proper" ending. I'm looking forward to the new rebuild movies. At first, I thought they were going to be recap of the original series with HD and better animation but I think they're adding some new stuff so it could be interesting to see where it goes. A pretty okay series overall IMO, it's been such a long time since I've seen it but I still remember I was old enough to know what was going on and say WTF at some moments." - shoxk "Great show spoiled by Shinji's emoness and a bullshit ending. Even so, I loved it and it somehow remains as one of my favorite shows. I'm either really that dense, or it really is that good despite its annoyances. As a side note, the new Rebuild of Evangelion movies are a lot better and solve a lot of the issues with the series. Everyone should be pleased to know that Shinji is nowhere nearly as irritating as he is in the series." - Bonta_kun "Lot of MECHs. Extraordinary story. Interesting characters. Awesome battles. And it's really scary, that EVA :)" - Scirm "I like the Rebuild series - the graphics is pretty awesome, and the Angels are better drawn than in the first series I don't compare the plot, as Hideaki-sensei clearly stated that the Rebuild is for those who haven't watched the original or haven't understood it, so I just enjoy the music and the graphics" - Origa-san "Personally, I really liked the congratulations scene. It reminded me that the main story wasn't about robots fighting angel to save the world, it was more about the various characters having to fight their own problems." - EternalKnight We hope you have found this review useful! ^^

回 Super Brief Anime Review: Is a brief review of Evangelion even possible >< In my view Evangelion presents a story who's spiritual ideals rest in Eastern Philosophy, where as the psychology of the mind rest in the west, primary Freudian psychology – it is the dramatic representation of Freud's theories that lend to much of this anime's strangeness. One of the most controversial animes of all time the disparity of opinion ranks two places higher than that of Bondage Game o.O (A disturbing Hentai don't google it). Becoming highly metaphysical by the end of the series ones views on the anime are going to be colored first by whether they can understand underlining messages {No simple task as Hideaki Anno himself admitted some of it is just meaningless imagery!} and secondly if this message agrees with ones core views. Thus if one can't understand the message or doesn't agree with it all that's left is Freud's outdated theories, purposely used for their absurdity to contrast better with Eastern thought, and that will leave a bad taste in your mouth. Love it or hate it these are going to be, for most, ones only choices – obviously I think there's something true in the message. But if there's ever an anime that simply must be seen to call yourself an anime fan, this is it. - Enjoy the ride XD

Oh boy where to begin with this one? I could sit down and spend a couple hours dissecting this one, instead I think I'll skim through some points and opinions about the show that seem pretty prevalent throughout the community that have seen it. CHARACTERS: I feel like the characters are just like the Anime itself: You either love them or hate them (love/hate the show respectively.) There's not a whole lot of character development throughout the Anime, and by the end of the show the characters seem to maintain the same personality/traits even when they've been put through the trials and hardships they've endured. Maybe not Asuka.. Not sure since the ending was so lackluster.. SHINJI IKARI: Well what to say about this, er.. Protagonist? In the beginning of the Anime he starts out as a whiny little b*tch, and by the end he seems to be exactly that, no progression into an awesome hero who saved the day by fighting giant monsters in a huge mecha suit saving the world. If you're a sucker for protagonists who are heros/heroines (like myself) you might not like the main character in the show that much, his ineptitude is a big part of who he is. I really enjoy Anime's where the main character has a lot of background and a strongly written personality, and you feel as if they were put into danger they could metal their way out. Not Shinji. Most of his lines are going to be, 1. "FATHER WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME" 2. "I DON'T WANT TO PILOT THE EVA ANYMORE" 3. "I CAN'T DO IT" 4. "WHY DOES MY SKIRT KEEP BLOWING UP IN MY FACE" 5. "MY VOICE IS CONSTANTLY STUCK IN A HIGH PITCH PRE-PUBESCENT SCREAM, AND IF YOU'VE WATCHED THE ANIME RECENTLY YOU'RE READING THIS IN HIS VOICE, WAAAA!" Haha okay, okay, i'll be fair.. His character wasn't awful, and considering he's an emotionally wrought teenager who was abandoned by his father and grew up in a sort of post-apocalyptic world where monsters attack every Tuesday, you would expect someone to be like this, and I found myself at least somewhat caring for him, I think... :\ ASUKA: She's the female character in the Anime that's, "over the top", "Facetious", "Pretentious".. That's the first thing that comes to everyone's mind with this character I think.. Half the time she's screaming at the top of her lungs, and more so at Shinji than not. If Shinji's personality is boring and lackluster, the writers made up for it with Asuka's personality, albeit maybe a little over the edge. She's the type of girl you would date but would never want to be in a relationship with (don't stick your d*ck in crazy folks). Most of her scenes she's fun and out going, maybe a little annoying. "SHINJI!!" Alright I could dissect each character and list the pros/cons, but the two characters I reviewed seem to have a lot of screen time, and a strange personality to write about. I enjoyed Misato's character and by the time I was 10 episodes in or so, I found myself just waiting to see Rei again, which is strange since the mashed potatoes I made last week had more personality than she did. Oh, and when Shinji rescued her from her Eva and made her smile, they say my heart grew 10x the normal size that day. I crie everytiem. I'm just kidding. No I'm not. ;( THEME: The theme is pretty consistent up until the end. You really get a feel for what the Anime is going to be about right at the start. Aweome robots fighting huge monsters? Oh yeah, it's that kind of anime. Monster of the week up until the last like, 5 or 10 episodes? I found myself REALLY enjoying the fights, and caring about the characters and city they were protecting. Although the end turned into almost a psychological thriller or something, I don't know how to describe it.. PACING: Pretty good. Albeit they do throw you in the deep end at the start. And the last 5 to 10 episodes began to drift away. "SHINJI! TIME TO PILOT THIS LIVING MECHA YOU'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE AND FIGHT A MONSTER HELL-BENT ON DESTROYING OUR EXISTENCE AND THE HUMAN RACE" Father of the year award right here folks. Maybe that's why Shinji is so messed up.. Dammit Dad.. Okay, back to the pacing. Even though it's a bit fast at the beginning, I'm not so sure if it's even a bad thing or not. It really sets you up for what the Anime's about, and at first I was thrown off, but began to like it. Monster of the week through most of the episodes and it doesn't feel rushed or too slow for the most part (besides the ending) STORY: What can you say? Awesome half living robots piloted by the hero's of the Anime (if you can call them that) who fight the monsters (Angels) who are trying to destroy the human race. I really liked the Evangelions, especially Shinji's Eva and found myself waiting to see it fight again. It was cool how the Eva's were born from the first Angel and the whole "second impact" story was interesting. The whole NERVE part of the story got away from me a little bit and I thought the relationship between Shinji and his dad was kind of, er.. off? The ending was DEPLORABLE. I won't spoil it, probably because I didn't even understand it, or knew what was going on, cliffhanger of the year folks. Ending SUCKS. SUMMARY: I liked the characters for the most part. The story was Awesome, and I really loved the fights between the Eva's and the Angel's. Good pacing and decent theme. Giant fighting robots saving the planet? Oh yeah. The ending was awful, although I'm about to watch End of Evangelion, hopefully that will put my mind at ease. I think I'll re-watch the Anime and fast forward to the fighting parts and the scenes with Rei in them, haha just kidding. Kind of. I think this Anime will stick with you, and it's at least worth watching once.

A work that chalenges the conventions of Anime at the same time it changes anime itself, that is what NGE is about, is it good or is it bad? depends of what anime means to you, i would indicate this to someone that isn't yet familiar with the Anime tropes and usual storytelling because once you get accostumed to it, it can become a problem with the enjoyement of this anime, i mean, you have to be at least a little open minded to experience the show as it's meant to be or otherwise you will finish this feeling frustrated and confused, this work plays with your expectances and well, some people don't like to feel betrayed when everything turns into a weird messed trip to characters motivations while leaving the macro events by side, are you the one that think an anime have to follow a cake recipe like list of aspects to be considered good or are you someone who thinks a good anime don't have to necessarily fit your expectations ?, depending on wich side you are your opinion about this show can be different as water and oil. Story: 7/10 The actual story is maybe the weakest part of the show, it don't mean it's bad but it's full of holles and things that don't make sense at all, the setting is great, the mistery is wellcome but its sudenly thrown away in the last two episodes, who are the angels? what is the intrumentality project? what is the true objective of SEELE, NERV and Gendou Ikari?, when the 25th episode come it doesn't mind anymore. The symbolism is cool but it feel like they are there just to be cool, it don't have a meaning at all, i have nothing to complain about it and at least it contribute with the aesthetic of the show. In other words: the story is not the main focus here. Art: 8/10 Here i have to take apart the design from the animation, the general design is great, the evas are awesome, the non standarzided shapes of angels agrees with the scary and unknown nature of these creatures and everything feels modern and technologic even today, but then we have the animation. It's a shame that it are not as good as the general design, sometimes it's acceptable but it's hard to not notice the budjet control in conversation scenes, the reason of that is well known but a medium viewer don't mind if the procduction team have money to do a descent job or not. Sound:8/10 The soundtrack of this show is good, it don't excels from other aspects of the show but suits fine in the mood, something that i desagree with the most of who watched this series is that the classical music fits well in the scenes where it is present, that scenes are meant to be a little deeper than the standard action scenes and the music plays a big role here. Characters: 9/10 Here is where the true greatness of this show lies, the characters are very unique and different from the regular kinds we see in the majority of anime, they are very different from each other too and at least the main ones have a plausible background but here is where the main problem lies too, they are so different from the regular anime characters that some people don't like it, Shinji is a coward, Asuka is a bitch, Rei is exprectionless, Misato is a messed up pedo woman and Gendo is an asshole, but let's be honest, people in real life don't act in the maniqueist way that is despicted in most of anime, the good guys are sympathetic and fight in name of justice and friendship while the bad guys only cares about power and don't feel empaty for anyone, NGE completely refuses that logic. Enjoyment: 9/10 This is a very subjective topic, some of you may enjoy it, some of you may claim it as the greatest piece of art in the history of mankind and some of you may say that it's a complete garbage, this depends on what do you expect from an anime and what kind of people you are, if you have ever experienced mental instability then you may identify yourself with this series, if you are the one who is mentaly stable and have a normal background then you may don't even care with the dillemas on screen, so you have to watch it to known in wich side you are. Overall: 10/10 It's not a perfect piece of work, some issues can incomodate some people and the metaphysical/symbolic aspect of the show may be debateble, but there's no doubts that it pushed the anime as a storytellig media to a higher level and to some of you who have a more open mind it can be a great an unusual experience.

This anime is considered one of the most classic anime of all time. And unlike most of today's ''classic'' this anime has all the right materials to actually considered as one. But there is a huge gap between ''classic'' and ''masterpiece''. And while Neon Genesis Evangelion (for short NGE) IS classic at least for me was (NOT) a masterpiece. But let's take things from the beginning. NGE has a rather simple storyline with a post-apocalyptic setting where mankind is fighting against giant aliens that are threatening them with extinction. This is all right and well but there was a big problem. The first 14 episodes where boring and not boring because nothing happens but because we are seeing the same thing over and over again. The main characters are fighting the angels, defeat them and the we have a little bit of their daily lives along with a little bit of slapstick comedy. I know that this episodes were necessary for the other half of this anime as it was building the character development but still I believe it could handle it better. But the second half... well this is were things start to get really dark. The plot suddenly becomes so depressing and interesting that I forgot all the previous boring episodes. And the conclusion which comes with the three last episodes will leave you speechless. The art was good especially for the time that it was made but still I believe it was overrated a bit because of the repetitive scenes that we are seeing in a lot of episodes. Still, I have to give extra credit for the stunning job that the animators made for the last two episodes. For the sound I have to say that the results were amazing. The opening of NGE is considered one of the most classic songs of all time and I will have to agree with that. But for me the most amazing was the ending which was ''Fly me to the moon'' with different instrumental and singing versions in every episode. The voice actors should be given as an example of perfect acting. Megumi Ogata was perfect as Shinji, Megumi Hayashibara stunning as the quiet Ayanami Rei, Akira IShida AMAZING as the enigmatic Kaoru and generally all of the voice actors give an excellent performance to all of their characters. Now let's talk about the characters. This anime is completely built on character development. Really all of it's characters are so humans. All of them have their inner demons and all of them are hiding something. This is the real virtue of this anime. It's excellent characters each of them unique in their own way make this anime worth watching. Only bad thing was that I had to wait a number of episodes until I finally sawthis amazing development. Lastly, I have to say that Evangelion was not flawless. It had a lot of things that kept it from being a masterpiece. But it's certainly different from almost any other anime that you have ever seen. And I believe this makes it worth watching it. Sorry for my bad English I know I've made a lot of mistakes. Hope I helped you. Feedback and opinions will be gladly accepted ;)

I was a little late getting on the EVA train. About sixteen years late. See, what happened was, I was sitting in my Japanese class and we're totally geeking out about mech anime while we wait for sensei to arrive. I end up admitting that I hadn't ever seen EVA before, and so this guy sitting next to me basically explains how my life has been incomplete due to the gap left by a lack of Evangelion. I initially wrote this off as a simple overstatement, but I decided to sit down and watch. He couldn't have been more correct. Now, before watching, I had had some previous exposure to this series. I knew how it ended, or, perhaps, how it didn't end. I mean, how could anyone have gone this long without knowing about that whole "Congratulations" scene. But I digress. Story: 10 In constructing Evangelion, Hideaki Anno created a bizarre and multilayered universe, which, on the surface, doesn't look too terribly different from our own. Really all that's different is the whole angel thing (and that's if you aren't including the setting in all of this). When you first get into it, you make all kinds of fundamental assumptions about the EvaVerse, the most important one being the origin of species. I'm not going to spoil it, but let me just say that no matter how you think that humanity came about, it ain't got nothing on EVA's background. On top of the worldbuilding aspect, there's plenty of fun to be had following the twists and turns of Shinji's adventures in the Evangelion, although that last bit may have painted a picture of a typical shounen action series, which EVA decidedly is not. No, Evangelion starts off somewhat cheerful (well, as cheerful as an anime set in post-apocalyptic Japan can get) and grows progressively darker from there. I don't remember at which exact moment I realized "holy f*ck this got really dark," but it was probably somewhere between episodes 16 and 18. Overall, the story is so complex, it's impossible to understand it after just one run-through, to the extent that there is an entire wiki dedicated to in-depth analysis of this series. Art: 8 While I would not go as far as to call the art of the series beautiful, I definitely liked it. I really like the designs for the "monsters," a term I'm using somewhat generally to refer to both the angels and the EVAs. First of all, the angels do not look like your typical Judeo-Christian conception of what an angel looks like. They aren't pretty, they don't have halos, (except some of them do and they all do in the Rebuild movies) they don't play harps, and they certainly aren't messengers of any god that I'd like to meet. They look like how many angels in the Bible are described. For instance, the sixteenth angel, Armisael resembles the angels, called Thrones, described in the book of Ezekiel as "Wheels within wheels." The EVAs, on the other hand, are much more humanoid in appearance, except for certain aspects of their design, meant to invoke demonic imagery. In their preliminary design stages, they even had horns, playing them counter to the "heavenly" aspect of the Angels. Hell, EVA Unit 01 is referred to as the Beast while in Berserker mode, so it's not even that much of a stretch. As far as character design goes, I definitely liked the way they look. I feel like the best-designed character would be Gendou, both in appearance and as far as his costume design goes. Every bit of him just exudes an air of malicious secrecy, telling us that he knows something that we don't, and probably never will. Sound: 7 The sound design and music was actually incredibly good. However the sound quality is quite lacking. Now, I gave it some leeway due to it being more than a decade and a half old, however I'm taking a somewhat holistic approach to this, embracing both the English dub and the original Japanese. The Japanese is nearly perfect. There are a few hiccups with the voice acting, but that's to be expected, all things considered. It's the English voice cast that brings the sound quality down for me. They just didn't seem to match in a few ways, the most glaring one being that the sound quality of the voice acting was leaps and bounds better than the background music and sound effects. However, there is one thing that saves it, and that is the performance of the voice cast. Spike Spencer as Shinji, Tristan MacAvery as Gendou, Allison Keith as Misato, and Tiffany Grant as Asuka stand out to me in particular, among a cast of scenery chewers and character actors. Character: 9 I don't like Shinji. But then again, we're not really *supposed* to like Shinji. He is pretty much universally referred to as the whiniest protagonist in all of anime. He is entirely passive, doing only what other people tell him to do, especially when it's something that he doesn't want to, like piloting the EVA. But, as a character, I really like Shinji. He has realistic wants and fears. He has a motivation. Asuka is not a well-adjusted individual, but in the world of EVA pilots, being screwed up in the head is pretty much a requirement for the position. She's clearly got daddy (mommy?) issues and is, once again, an interesting character with a deep background and realistic desires. I think that it's unfortunate what's happened to Rei. When this was made, the idea of a short, blue-haired, emotionless girl character was rare, if not original. She's well-constructed, overall, however I just can't look past the way that her character has been copied to death, and occasionally even being done better than the original. It's nothing personal, Ayanami. I've just seen it all before. I'd probably have a different perspective if it were 1996 and I still hadn't watched, like, any other anime, but it's not. It's 2014 and the waters have already been poisoned. I really like Gendou. I don't think that can be overstated at all. He's like what you get if Machiavelli decided to have a kid and also human instrumentality second impact giant fighting robots desu. He's sort of set up to be a bit of a minor villain, and, well, once the threat of the angels is dealt with (as if there was any doubt that it wouldn't be) he gladly steps toward that role, even if it is eventually filled by the other shadowy government organization. He also has some really interesting relationships with other characters. His nurturing relationship with Rei is possibly the polar opposite of the way he treats Shinji. There's just so much going on inside that calculating head of his. Ritsuko is kinda screwed up, but then, if you had to deal with the stuff she's had to go through, so would you. I like her relationship with her late mother, the way that, even though she sees herself as the opposite of her mother, she has stepped in to essentially fill that role. Even her relationship with Gendou is exactly the same as the one her mother had with him. Misato hides her pain behind a thick barrier of booze and duty. Fifteen years after her father's death in the Second Impact, she is still reeling from the loss. She refuses to reach out to anyone, as she fears that she might get hurt. She took a chance in taking Shinji in, and that led to some great times for the both of them (and also Asuka once she joins the party). Enjoyment: 10 I liked it a lot. Especially when it got dark. It was fun. As this is a qualitative measurement, there's not much else to say. Overall: 10 This anime is not for everyone. But if you like giant mech battles, Christian imagery, and Immanuel Kant, then this is the anime for you. Also, if you enjoy being congratulated. That's definitely an added bonus.

*This will be a spoiler free review* When I first started watching NGE, I didn't know what to expect. It starts off like your typical mecha anime, but it soon deviates into a completely different beast, and that's why I love it so much. Every major character in the show has plot relevance. The thing I liked the most is how the major characters either had some sort of mental issue or an intention that conflicted with other intentions, so it was a crazy anime all around. It starts off very simple, but like I just said, it soon deviates into a crazy, psychological mess due to all the mixed intentions and mental issues. The whole "not your typical mecha anime" thing is very true too. The EVA's, the giant robots Shinji, Rei and Asuka pilot are one of the most interesting aspects of the show. The EVA's have an amazing backstory too. Watch it for yourself and see how it all plays out. The music is something I have a soft spot for too. From my favorite track "The Beast II" to "Ode to Joy", the music just makes those "what the hell, that's insane!" moments even better! The music complements the series in such a great way, it's incredible. The animation is dated, yes, but keep in mind that it came out in 1995, so that's excusable. It's not horrible, but it does show. Hey, the Rebuild movies have much better animation so that's one of the many pluses the Rebuild bring to the table. (Rebuilds are a good watch after NGE) The plot is VERY confusing though. There is so much going on and so much terms are thrown at you that it becomes so much to contain that it's impossible to grasp all in one go. It is very well done though. Even one of the characters has a very interesting backstory. Like the EVA point I brought up, watch it and see. So, if you're a fan of great action and very plot heavy animes, then NGE is for you. Overall, I love this series. Everything was so well done, it's no wonder it's classic among anime. Just prepared to be very confused. I highly enjoyed this show, and it is my favorite anime of all time. Also, watch "The End of Evangelion" after the series, or right after episode 24 then finish the TV series. You'll thank me later.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is hard to put my finger on. It seems like any other mecha anime from the beginning, but gradually morphs into an exploration of character psychology after navigating several surprises and plot twists by the time it's all over. The show follows Shinji Ikari, a 14 year old boy mysteriously called in by his father to pilot an Evangelion unit. These giant robots are the world's only defense against Angels, gigantic creatures who destroyed half of the Earth's population 15 years ago. Story - 9/10 To break this down, the first two-thirds of Neon Genesis Evangelion is amazing. I found it to be as enticing as any anime has ever been. The plot unfolds in brilliant fashion and has the capability to keep viewers on the edge of their seat, impatiently waiting to see what happens next. The problem with the storytelling is that this method is how the show begins, continues, and even ends. What makes Evangelion fascinating is it's willingness to continuously dive deeper and deeper into itself, which naturally drives whoever watches to think and wonder constantly. The issue here is that by the time you're done watching, not many questions are answered, and if there's one thing difficult to pull off when any story ends, it's lack of resolution. It's like going on a scuba dive to see the wonders of the ocean, except you never come up for air. Regardless of this, the bulk of what you do get in Neon Genesis Evangelion is still undeniably interesting, and despite this being far from the most timeless anime around (in terms of quality, not impact, calm down people), it's still one of the most interesting universes I've seen thus far. Animation - 8/10 There are often questionable moments where I wonder if the show fell into budget problems and got lazy on the animation. This shows during some unusually long holds on scenes (the elevator with Rei and Asuka and the end of episode 24 come to mind) that last well over a minute, as well as some cheap attempt at abstract animation that some will have you believe is artistic in the final episodes of the show. These same episodes also reuse lots of stuff from earlier in the show which again, seems to have no reason behind it beyond the lack of money. These animation issues are few and far between however, and when Evangelion is going, it's going. While the character designs seem pretty basic, their suits, the mechas, angels, and pretty much anything you don't see in the real world in this show has a great design to it that stands out for all the right reasons. The action scenes were perfect for their time and although they aren't the greatest in this day and age, they still stand up very well. Is the animation dated? Yes. Is it bad? Not by any means. Sound - 9/10 There's some very good voice acting here that really increases in both emotion and believability as the episode count goes up. This isn't to say it starts off bad but the quality of the acting in the latter half of Evangelion is noticeably great, while in the beginning there are a few deliveries here and there that seem unnatural. Misato and Asuka have particularly high quality performances behind them. Rei and Gendo on the other hand seem to come from the same school of cold and emotionless. Although this is part of each character's personality, it is on such a level where there isn't much to say about either one. I know everyone hates to hear Shinji scream, but it would be a lie to think that his wailing howl doesn't capture moments of horror perfectly. Many of the supporting roles and minor characters do sound pretty bad. Not a huge problem, but it sticks out like a sore thumb. The soundtrack is stacked with memorable tunes that are even complimented with some fantastic use of classical music. While the OST does re-use a handful of tracks often, it does so in a manner that does nothing more than condition the viewer to know when things have just gone to hell or taken a lighthearted turn. Characters - 8/10 I think anyone reviewing this anime has to talk about Shinji Ikari, so I'm going to start with that. I don't hate Shinji. In fact, there really isn't much reason to hate Shinji. When this anime begins, everything we see Shinji go through as a 14 year old boy with a dead mother and one of the biggest pricks in the universe as his unloving father, combined with the traumatic experiences he has piloting his Eva, completely justifies how he acts. The problem people seem to have with Shinji is that he's a weak-willed, cowardly, whiny male lead. The flaw here isn't Shinji's character, it's the writing of Shinji's character. Nothing Shinji actually does bothers me, but the lack of development he has is a huge flaw for his character. So big that it makes me question why and how he ever came to be the lead of Evangelion to begin with. Shinji has a huge conflict within himself from the first of this 26 episode journey to the very last. That is far, far too long of a time span to keep a character the same, especially when that character happens to whine, cry, and scream on a regular basis. Now, I didn't want Shinji to make a cliche transformation into a badass or even a consistently serious or confident guy, but I did want him to get over his weaknesses. When the time finally comes for Shinji to be at one with himself (this is literally in the last minute or two of the show and spends the last 38 minutes building up), I didn't even find it to be believable. It felt contradictory that he even had to try to change anything considering, despite all the hardship he goes through every other episode, he still gets the job done and is often the most capable pilot, despite being portrayed as the one who is least sure of himself. It felt like he should have made this transformation halfway into the show, not at the end. No character seems to be as flawed in development as Shinji but nobody else really develops much either. The one pilot who does is Asuka, and her character was the one I found to be the most enjoyable and interesting of the main cast. Sadly, as soon as things get really spicy for her, it seems that she gets thrown to the side in a horrible manner. It's a shame too because I rarely find such a catty and obnoxious character like Asuka to have the potential to peel layers back with her past and persona, but that opportunity was completely missed. The other of the main three children, Rei Ayanami, seemed to have a constant mystery around her but ends up saying so little that I found myself indifferent to her. When the truth behind Rei is finally revealed it was interesting, but how Rei ever actually feels about anything is never really touched on, which is another shame. She could have been a truly great character but like Asuka, she's sort of tossed to the side in favor of being a plot device for Shinji to come to terms with himself. The real stand-out of the cast is Misato Kusanagi. Misato isn't even one of the "mains" of the show, but instead a strong supporting character. It is Misato that's unwrapping all of the mystery at Nerv, Misato is the one helping the Eva pilots do their job correctly, Misato is barking the commands and Misato is the only one that really cares about them. I found myself loving Misato more and more as Evangelion progressed despite the fact that she doesn't seem like even a mildly interesting character when the show begins. The supporting cast isn't too deep, but works well and I've heard people say they're more interesting than the kids. This is understandable since all of the plot twists and mystery of the show is driven by the adults and the pilots are the pawns in the bigger picture. Overall the characters, while not developing much, are likable, entertaining, and everyone seems to be able to pick one they really enjoy. Overall - 9/10 Neon Genesis Evangelion was nothing if not ambitious, and it provides a balance of action and humor along with psychological and philosophical themes being explored that m…

ok, this is my first review and i'm writing it not to forget, why i like NGE so much, cause it really is a masterpiece. and i highly recommend you to watch firstly anime and than read the "review" (cause it's not rally...), and it might contain spoilers!!!(anyway i'm writing this, because in my opinion lot of people misunderstood this EVA, cause i think there is nothing vague in those series and doesn't really gives you the chance to interpret it) so this is what i think the main idea of NGE is. in the first series we hear the phrase "hedgehog's dilemma" . quote: "even though, a hedgehog may wish to become close to another hedgehog, the closer they get, more they injure each other with their spines." and after that we hear many times, that man cannot survive alone, shinji sad in last episode, that being alone is like being nothing. but it is really hard to live with others as well, it can bring so much pain, when the one you love doesn't really loves you and bails you or whatever... and than (i must say here, that shinji rally is the younger self of his father) you grow up and learn "haw to interact with others, without pain", but in reality you become alone and close your heart to anyone, you start to stand on your own legs, like asuka realized, that "only one who can take care of you and understand you, is you yourself". and so you escape reality, but "sometimes escaping from reality can be painful too". it hurts when sometimes you see reality, it's like seeing yourself empty and incomplete when your alone, and time by time you loose the courage to face anyone, but at the same time you know "you must not run away",' cause this might be the salvation. as for the angels, who are they and why they are called angels. angels were the form of life like us,lonely like us, who hated being alone and wanted to interact with us, so that we could be together, although i'm not really sure what they in reality symbolize, but it must be something like our everyday problems that wont us alone, and rather than face it we run from them, because it's too much of a headache to face it, but with every faced problems, and mistakes that we make,we study something new. "nothings gonna change, until you have the courage to face it." nobody and nothing is ever really perfect, that is what we should be able to see it and accept it. but mankinds will to be perfect was so great (in NGE) that they created the living god (when all the souls melted together) , so that they would be no longer alone, they thought that it could bring them happiness, but they were wrong. NOTHING can be perfect in THIS world, like perfect map can't be perfect because it's so complete and hard to use (if you're an IB student probably you know what i mean). AND SO author, (i believe) tells us, that yes, we can't choose our parents, or the situation and the era we are born in, but we can change our present an, yes we make mistakes, but who doesn't, that's nothing to be upset of, just stand again and face whatever you have to face. "miracles aren't something that just happen, they're something that people make happen." "if you want the real happiness you've got to find that by yourself, not waiting someone to give it to you." " remember, that anywhere can be paradise as long as you have the will to live." and for the final "to all children CONGRATULATIONS!" As Jostein Gaarder sad, life is a lottery where every ticket's owner is a winner and you, who are reading this book is one of those winners, lucky one! this is my understanding of NGE and this is the reason why i love it so much... hope you'll enjoy this masterpiece too..

Overrated Garbage. Maybe this was as innovative and entertaining in the world of 1995, but this just does not age well in my opinion. The characters are really not that likable and all have their issues. This show is literally just each and one of them crying about their issues with psychedelic imagery like a teenager on the verge of cutting their wrists. I guess it's supposed to appeal to teenagers because this is supposedly normal, but this is just not entertaining. The "thought-provoking" aspects of this show completely felt like a nothingburger and only made me question, "People actually like this shit?". The fights. The fights have aged like milk. They're short, and really not that interesting. If you wanted to watch some mecha fights, this is not the show to go to. Maybe you can kind of piece together what the angels mean, and the whole plot... but honestly this overthinking is just going make you believe that this show is really cooking up something special for you to have to question just about everything. It's not. The ending is absolutely abysmal and will confuse most watchers both in art direction and plot. The show attempts to be abstract and expects the audience to interpret it like it is some profound piece of work. This show is just "modern art" in the form of an anime. It expects a few splatters a paint on a blank canvas ought to sell well to someone stupid enough to pay ridiculous mind to.

SE VOCÊ FALA PORTUGUÊS, ME MANDE UMA MP QUE EU TE ENVIO A TRADUÇÃO DISSO. Even someone asked me to review this anime, I'm here to talk about it. Story 8/10 Even a strange BUT GOOD storytelling, "Evangelion" is better than most anime that I have already seen. Just for plot, enjoyment, sake etc. There are few flaws, excepcionally that there is no time to do everything that should be need. Art 8/10 In 1995 it could be better, but it is really good at all. It can pass the messages that Hideaki had been planed very well. Sound 10/10 It's a masterpiece. Both character speak and music (based on Japanese version). Everything fits the events. Character 9/10 They are very developed and make sense, but sometimes I feel that some feelings and actions are forced or too soon to occur. However, it seems that it's because the short time of show. Enjoyment 9/10 First of all, the first cour is not very interesting if you don't pay much attention. It's like a below average mecha anime. But it isn't. Since you can pass the beggining, you would enjoy this! However it fails in last 2 episodes. I understood a little what is occuring when I was seeing, but it could be boring or annoying for many people, but don't give up. There are a sequel on the movie "Death & Rebirth" and "The End of Evangelion". Also the "alternative setting" with the "Evangelion 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0". The fourth Rebuild would come at Winter 2015, and it's called by 3.0+1.0. Overall 9/10 When someone talk about psychedelic, the first thing that comes to my mind is "Evangelion". In a time when most studios bother to animate "shounens" of beating, nosense mecha, comedies and worst novels "Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-Chan" and "Twilight Saga," Anno Hideaki came to revolutionize the anime industry and entertainment in general, becoming a worldwide reference and transforming the world of anime into something more serious. I cannot overlook the classics movies from Ghibli that came out before "Evangelion" (1995) and a few other good anime, but they are exceptions and did not directly impact because it attacked the industry's clichés in general. That's why I believe that this franchise is one of the main criticisms in the world's media format. Not only the visual entertainment industry, but also the whole global governments "circensis", feeding old traditions and conventions, such as religious affiliations (haha ... The angels are not the "bad guys" for nothing. I could talk a lot about them), prejudice, outdated stories in the history books and deconstructing the world itself created by Hideaki, demonstrating that nothing is what it seems. Who is the villain and who is the hero? Duty is the only thing that matters? What we really are? Evangelion also shows us that we ourselves create our world, however, the more fled the Collective Reality, worse we stayed. The environment will "give failure." There is a discussion of the balance throughout the series. While we are a destabilizing factor to the environment because we are living beings, we depend on a level of homeostasis with the environment and with our fellow men. But just balance with the environment generates passivity, inactivity, or can even call DEATH. Well, this is just a summary of what I see in "Evangelion": a deconstruction of our reality and a critique of the entire current thinking model. I just think a shame that most people have not noticed his message. But in a way, Hideaki probably not intended the general public, only those who were able to understand. I understand his position because, really, not all able to "save", as far as we can corcern. I can even get this hint and say that Monogatari Series would be inspired in this regard: the message is not for everyone. The world is not for everyone. No one can be saved except through yourself.

Well, here we are. The anime industry's magnum opus, or one of them, at the very least. From what I understand, no one who watches this show is on the fence about it: you'll either love it, or you'll hate it. Before I sing my thousand praises for this lovely thing, there are a few things you need to be informed about before embarking on your mech future journey thing. Without spoiling anything, you should know before going into this series that the original two episodes that aired as "the ending" are not an ending. They have absolutely nothing to do with the ending, and quite frankly it's a little generous to say they're closely related to the show itself. Make note: you can skip the psychological trip that is the original episodes 25 and 26, and move right on to the movie that was created to replace them ( I have yet to watch it). Secondly, as production continued, the animation studio behind Neon Genesis eventually became a little short on cash. What resulted from this was: 1) The crap final two episodes, and 2) extremely and unnecessarily long still shots wherein the characters do absolutely nothing, accompanied by random background noise. Most of the flaws I was able to find in the show itself stemmed from this dip in production value, but personally I didn't find them to be so jarring I could no longer enjoy the series. Everyone who likes this show has their reasons, and I'm sure we can all agree that, symbolism etc. aside, Neon Genesis Evangelion is just a fun time to watch. It's a breath of fresh air when juxtaposed to the sub-par contemporary anime you've watched consecutively for months on end. The characters feel real: they rarely ever exemplify one specific character trait without stepping out of what is expected of said trait. Futhermore, they're all the most damaged fictional beings I've seen in a long while, and only seem more irreparable the closer you become with them. These fictional characters all interact in the most mesmerizing ways, and all I wanted to do was jump into their universe and join them. The action is always fast, the art style is beautiful, and the voice acting for the English dub is fabulous. As the complex and intricate plot begins to unfold, you're often left with a thousand more questions than answers. That in itself can be frustrating for some, but it gave me incentive to watch ten episodes in a row and still want more. Something has to be said for the maturity of this show as well, and by that I'm not referring to the violence or sexual themes. Evangelion heavily subscribes to the, "show don't tell" rule, which, to be quite honest, bumped it up to my top five after the first episode alone. It lets you think about its content without spelling it out for you, and it makes masterful use of the animated medium to place certain things in plain sight without grabbing you by the ears and forcing you to look in that direction. To give a simplified example, there is once instance where a character has sustained an injury, and the audience is expected to figure out what that is without being told it's there, if that makes sense. Another thing I have to give the director props for is knowing when to use music and when not to, along with the unique soundtrack. This is just further proof that Neon Genesis expects you to be able to figure things out for yourself, as it rarely ever plays an obviously emotional song to tell you what you should be feeling at any given moment. What I found most riveting was the show's use of symbolism. Yes, there is the obvious aesthetic borrowing from various religious systems, but there is also a multitude of metaphors subtle enough that you wouldn't notice them unless you paused during or after the episode and gave the whole thing some consideration. Cracked glasses, for example, representing a character losing sight of what is important, or a distorted viewpoint, or maybe even something entirely different! There is endless material for discussions comparing the relationship between creator and created being, parent and child. This may be my bias as a literature major shining through, but I feel like a work of art has done its purpose if it has either provoked thought or invoked emotion in its audience. That being said, the ending of this show did not ruin my regard for the anime in its entirety. I'm sure I'll have the same opinion once I finish the film (or is it two films?) that were created to rectify the studio's original mistakes. Chances are that if you're reading this you've already watched it, but if you haven't, I'd highly, highly recommend this one.

WALL OF TEXT INCOMING hope you will stick until the end ^^ Hi there its Heralder here to bring you review of Neon Genesis Evangelion,widely consider as classic or the most overated "sh!t" ever so in this review ill try to explain to you why NGE is classic for me. !!!!!contains ending spoilers for the sake of argument!!!! Story:10 Story of NGE follows the life and strugless of teen named Shinji Akari who after leading a meaningless life is called by his father to drive a giant robot called EVA in order to fight otherworld creatures known as "Angels".In his quest hes helped by 2 other teens Asuka and Rei and taken care by Misato.NGE fallows struggless of shinji after being put in right of terror,his wish to run and coming of an age for these teens. ENDING DISSCUSION:"spoilers" Last 2 episodes of NGE are the sole reason for classic vs "sh!t" argument.last two episodes are happening inside the characters heads avoiding outside world and leaving watcher wanting for more of a closure.There are a lots of theory about ending:First being that gainax was left out of money and they had to improvise;Second theory is closely connected to writer and producer Hideaki Anno and him having a nervous breakdown during second half of the show directly influencing ending.Several articles are written about the ending and should be read with watching the movie "The End of Evangelion" for best ending experience. Art:8 Art even thou its quite old is still watchable and with numerous HD/Blu ray releases shouldn't be a problem for anyone a lot of symbolism is presented in the art presentation and as such is one of the best aging animes ever. Sound:10 Using vast amount of orchestrated pieces to enchant viewers and highlight the battles as well peaceful moments music score is nothing short of amazing also the OP is widely consider a classic Characters:10 Now this is the part of NGE that i liked the most the characters of NGE set a trademark for archtypes of mecha genres and other genres as well.In this review ill tackle 3 main characters:Shinji,Asuka,REi Shinji Akari:introverted teens put in dangerous situation by his father whom he really hates(but still wants his approval)he is faced with running away and getting hurt also being put in situation of:Safe the world and suffer or escape and let the world die.Kind hard for a teen isn't it? Asuka Langley Sohryu is german/japanese 14 year old girls who is pilot of new age EVA unit 02.Her bubbly and competitive spirit make her the pseudo tsundere character of this show but still managing to show her weak side later in the show.She doesn't have a dilemma like Shinji while riding EVA she sees it as way to get acknowledged and praised(which is her downfall later in the series) She has hint of romance with Shinji. Ayanami Rei is the definer of character subtype of silent emotion less character.Known as first child she pilots the EVA unit00 and cant be further explained without spoiling a big chunk of plot.Also her existence is one of the most intriguing points to research after finishing this show. Enjoyment:10 Well NGE is one of my favorite animes of all time and it has influenced me quite a bit in few choices like college and sparkling my interest in psychology and symbolism and i loved it to death. Overall:10 Well if you made it here through that wall of text i applaud you and thank you as well.Not much that i can say except give you biggest recommendation i can in watching this show and the movie end of evangelion. This was Heralder and i hope I didn't write too much in this review