SHIN SEIKI EVANGELION

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MOVIE ActionShin Seiki Evangelion Movie: Air / Magokoro wo, Kimi ni
MANGA ActionShin Seiki Evangelion
MOVIE DramaShin Seiki Evangelion Movie: Shi to Shinsei
ONA ComedyPetit Eva: Evangelion@School
MUSICPeaceful Times (F02) Petit Film
NOVEL ActionEvangelion: ANIMA
MANGA ComedyShin Seiki Evangelion: Pikopiko Chuugakusei Densetsu
SPECIALEvangelion x KATE CM
ONAEvangelion × Attack ZERO
ANIME ActionShinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion
MOVIE ActionShinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion: Mirai kara Kita Shinsoku no ALFA-X
ANIME ActionShinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion Z
MANGA ComedyMogami Sakura no Detama Hokan Keikaku - Kiseki no Kachi wa

REVIEWS

• 

  aabir

  81/100
  NGE is one of most pivotal of anime shows, shaping the industry, and has definitely become the poster child of mecha.

  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.

  

  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.

  

  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.

  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.

  

  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?

  

  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.

  

  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

  
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• 

  Goukeban

  50/100
  Another drop of insight into the neverending debate, and so help me the Gods!

  [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!

  Continue on AniList
• 

  WanderingSage

  43/100
  A frustrating mecha story that left me cold.

  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.

  Continue on AniList

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