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By "understand" I don't mean a complete understanding of all that is Evangelion; more like appreciating the movie on its own terms.

You see, I've heard many people claim that the new Evangelion movies are hard to understand for those who haven't seen the original. Thing is, those people have all seen the original, and may carry over too many of their preconceptions of what the viewer should know from the original series and movie, into their viewing of these new films.

What about you? Do you feel that the new movies stand on their own? For example, are the character interactions insufficient in the movies and may need to be supplemented with the TV show? Or do character motivation and development seem natural enough just by going on what's in the movies? And, excluding that which obviously is meant to be a mystery as yet, was too much of the plot muddy, or was it well enough explained?

(As for me, having seen the original, I felt that the creators of the new movies got across what they wanted to newcomers perfectly fine.)

As someone who has just been immersed into the world of Evangelion through the movies, rather than the original series, I believe I have developed an adequate understanding of how the series works. Although, because of my newly found love for Evangelion, I find it hard to wait for the other two movies to be released and I plan on jumping into the original series in the very near future.

The Rebuild of Evangelion is a sequel to the End of Evangelion which is a sequel to Neon Genesis Evangelion, so you best be watching these in the right order to understand everything and experience everything as it was made to be.

NO. I would recommend you watch both anyway for different reasons.

Me and my friend were lucky enough to see 1.0 and 2.0 back-to-back at the cinema, I having seen the originals and being a huge fan and him being completely new to Evangelion, but I think it is safe to say we both enjoyed the films as much as each other. He did wonder however about Kaworu's "This time..." line and I had to explain a few things to him for it to make sense. Personally I think watching the originals first does help a lot, mainly in understanding the plot in Rebuild. There are also of course many hints and references to Neon Genesis and The End that will just go over the head of someone coming in at Rebuild.

But with that said, one of the stated reasons for doing Rebuild was "for it to be more accessible to non-fans than the original TV series and films were" and while it may be a little difficult to grasp for those who haven't seen the originals at the moment, I think once the remaining two films in the tetralogy are out it will all come together.

It's become clear through interviews with the director Anno that these new films really are supposed to break away from the original; that's what Mari is for. Anno wanted to ensure that a completely foreign element is included. With that kind of mindset, and a description of his bottom-to-top way of making the films (like the series, they have the setting worked out, but "details" like who does what and even who lives or dies, can be changed according to need), I really don't think that they are a sequel. In fact, I might imagine that even the writers themselves didn't know what Kaworu meant with "This time..." when they wrote it! :-)

The Rebuild is a retelling, not a sequel.

It might help to watch the original series, to understand some of the terminology and technology, but it's not absolutely necessary.

There are hints Rebuild may be a sequel, or it could be the usual "lolimagery because it's cool"

There's a topic on the sequel theory here. People have offered some interesting thoughts, but personally I think it's too early to say anything for sure. Anno and his crew are probably making up a lot as they go, as Sceleris said, that's his 'bottom-to-top' way of filmmaking.

I think the question would be more suitable after 3.0 and Final are out.

Right now we are only halfway through the series so we can't really tell if we need the original to understand the plot.

I've seen the original and the movies so far, but due to the lack of variety I chose the second option.

You can't appreciate the rebuild movies without first knowing its origins. After knowing the origins and understanding that, I think you can appreciate the franchsie as a whole. Besides, the rebuild moves leaves qutie abit of pivotal info out.

It's not necessary...but I highly recommend it...I think anyone who watched the original before watching Rebuild can appreciate the aesthetics better and it brings more attention to the differences between the two...also...the characters are done better in the original IMO...and one more thing the original series will help you see more of the subtleties of Rebuild; even though Rebuild is much more direct with information...

I have no idea, because I can't look it objectively - I'd have to imagine forgetting all the manga (because I suppose I could imagine forgetting anime series somehow if I tried, though it would be difficult) and I just can't do it. So I'm carrying all my Eva manga preconceptions (and anime series and EoE), so I'd say it'd be weird without that? But the best solution would be to show the movies to someone who's never heard of Eva and ask them.

I think I'll do it someday, just show the Rebuild to a friend and ask them if it's perfectly understandable and whether it's great on its own.

No, you probably don't need the original. After all, Anno intended it this way, since 4 movies = about 20 eps, while the original is about 30.

You're bound to miss things of course, but that's another problem.