Shinseiki Evangelion

I'd like to start off by stating that I'm well aware of how beloved and critically acclaimed this anime is. And, after watching it, I 100% understand why. That being said, it is crystal clear to me that it's very much a hit or miss kind of show in which those who view it favorably really, really love it and those on the other side find it lackluster and overrated. I fall into the latter camp.

Granted, as a person I'm probably very far off from the target audience of this show. This should, and does, appeal greatly to those fascinated by philosophy, fascinated by Christianity ... and those who are insecure, struggling with self-doubt or generally don't feel very sure of themselves or good about themselves. None of those categories are applicable to me so the show simply didn't resonate with me the way it does with so many others.

I found several of the characters really unlikable and obnoxious. Shinji is frustrating levels of whiny and annoying, Asuka is just a constant bitch and Rei has, more or less, zero personality. In each of these individual cases there are plot-related reasons for why these characters are the way they are, and that's fine and well, but that doesn't make me enjoy them as characters.

As mentioned, all the philosophical and Christianity stuff is not my cup of tea so those sections, which are frequent and heavy-handed and not the least bit subtle, were uninteresting to me and didn't keep my attention. If you take those away, which you cannot because the show is heavily based around them, you're not left with a whole heck of a lot- just a mediocre mech show.

There's also smaller things such as the graphics not aging well and the voice acting leaving something to be desired but ultimately, even if both of those aspects were perfectly on point, it wouldn't change my overall opinion of the show as the core concept simply didn't resonate with me.

If you enjoyed Serial Experiments Lain, Ergo Proxy and that kind of anime this will be right up your alley. I see many similarities between those and this. I didn't care for either of those shows nor this one so for me, while I can respect and appreciate things that are not for me, this is, nevertheless, not for me.

OBJECTIVE RATING- 8-8.5
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING- 6

Okay let's get the big dog out of the way, let's talk about the plot. Now the way it starts off is rather decent, it's laid out simply as "Angels are attacking and we built these robots to stop them." but within the last episodes becomes a complete and total mind fuck. If I were to commend the story for one thing, it's the pacing. It starts off easy to follow, but as it progresses the tension builds more and more until it's just as hard for you to bear as it is for the characters, and instead of that tension being released in a ... climactic explosion where it's all let out in the open, Evangelion opts to instead let all that tension crumble into a dark, brain melting chaos. I can't help but commend the execution of this as one of the first anime to attempt this, and the deconstruction of tired mecha anime tropes, instilling new tropes that other dark psychological anime will follow in the future. However I don't think that can redeem the extremely unclear plot of the show, earning it a 4/10. I would recommend watching an explanation video upon completion of this and the movie "End of Evangelion"

Next is the art, recieving a 6/10. The art style itself is very similar to other anime of that era, so Evangelion's art direction is distinguished mostly by the neon high tech looking aesthetic found in works like Akira. I personally am a fan of this art direction, but I can hardly say it's unique. The visuals do complement the story in the sense that you will be shown random sequences of images along with random pieces of information. The fight scenes had a lot of energy, I liked the sheer brutality and high stakes of the show, it actually felt like plot armor wouldn't save them, there was weight behind the fight, and there was weight behind the punches, the fights felt very kinetic, you could feel the force and the tension of the battle. Also I'd like to say that the fights never defy the logic of the show, there are very few bullshit asspulls saving them in the fights.

Cruel Angels Thesis baby 8/10 ost

Characters. Know there's much to say so I'll be talking about each member of the main trio individually.

Shinji. People ask a lot for realistic protagonists, and Shinji is one. he gets a lot of shit from people because he's frequently not okay with the situation and questions his every action. And yes it can be frustrating, but Shinji is a mentally traumatized 14 year old boy, and despite that, in most situations he is the most mentally stable one in the group. And even though he doesn't like it, he stills ends up saving the day. He's a reluctant protagonist, but Evangelion is a deep show that wants you to read into it's intentions, so I can't just dismiss Shinji's character as a whiny crybaby bitch.

Asuka. Asuka is a stereotypical tsundere, however in the context of the time this character was written it was probably not considered a cliche character trope. In fact Asuka was sort of a revolutionary character for her time, and is a big reason why the tsundere trope is so popular in the first place. She starts off as very overconfident and arrogant, but like most characters in this show this is not surface deep. Asuka suffers from deep rooted insecurity and as a result seeks the attention and approval of others around her.

Rei. Oh dear....... She has no clear emotions or convictions in any situation, and I get that's the point, but she's easily the the most shallow character, most of the events in her backstory are not a product of her actual self, and Rei never really has that same deep and complex personality that Shinji and Asuka have. She feels more like a plot device than an actual character

Now the rest of the cast are certainly commendable for a supporting group, I liked that when everything goes to shit, nobody just sits around and watches, everybody's always doing something, everyone has a role and a purpose, and everybody tries to make the Eva project work. There is no "Waiting for Goku" there is just "Do shit without Goku" or "Help Goku", nobody ever truly gives up. And it is amazing that as the show progresses we see each characters mental state crumble, and we get a very real and haunting feeling as we peer into the true inner psyches of these characters. I mean it really feels like you're reading their soul, each characters eventual breakdown is horrifyingly fascinating. 7/10

I don't really know what to say about how I actually felt, the show made me very claustrophobic in a sense, that the world was closing in and ending around me, by the time I was done I wouldn't be surprised if I went outside and everything was destroyed, it was an immersive experience, but also, it didn't make sense. The story I mean, it does no good to be immersed in an story you don't understand, though strangely I felt it was relatable, like these same thoughts and same psychedelic experiences were things I had experienced myself, and all this time Evangelion was barely scraping some deep human origin I can't understand but I can feel inside me, drifting away as I desperately reach for it. This show can only keep me wondering..... I don't know whether I like that or not, so I'm giving it a 6/10.

Also there is an unbearable sexual tension, if only I could fuck the characters like this show fucked my mind. 7/10

6/10 - A highly regarded classic that just did not resonate with me.

I watched NGE about 2 years prior to writing this review and quite frankly should probably watch it again before I write this, but a recent review list led me to want to share my opinion on this show.

Evangelion prides itself on its characters and how they interact with one another, but those strengths simple fell flat for me. I don't mind awkwardness in anime--it is to be expected--but a lot of the show and reactions within it felt disjointed and repeating. We are supposed to see the struggles our main character goes ... through and how it translates to the actions he takes and words he says, but this attempt at psychological analysis comes across as trying a little too hard to make a good character.

The story is fine, but not great, as it gives you a scenario and kinda just repeats it over and over again until the show eventually ends.

Animation is clearly a product of its time, but doesn't detract from the actual show. People who discredit Evangelion for animation are putting their criticisms in the wrong place, imo.

The one big thumbs up I will give the show is that its intro is a certified banger.

Unfortunately, if you don't like NGE, you will be told that you are lazy or "just don't understand" the deepness of the plot and characters.

I can't say that I would recommend watching this unless you want in on a big piece of anime history.

Evangelion is by far one of the best anime I have seen so far. I was first introduced to this series when I saw the second rebuild movie on Toonami in 2013. I have finally gotten around to seeing the full series this year (2016). What this means is that this show has been hyped for me for at least three years. And the hype has still never died down as I continue to learn more about the world of Evangelion. One of my friends watch this anime around the same time and our almost daily discussions about this is about the only thing that ... gets me through a boring school day.

The first thing anyone should now about this show is that it is going to make you work for understanding. If you are not willing to use your brain as you watch this, then just forget about it. It takes a certain type of person to fully enjoy and understand what Evangelion is all about. It takes another type of person would call this pretentious, artsy garbage.

Every character is extremely flawed in one shape or another. which is how the psychological aspect of the show. This is not Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, or FMAB where all the characters are relatively mentally stable and they only need to improve in strength. In Evangelion each character's mental state and decisions in turn effect another character strongly. Out of the all negative reviews of this anime I have read the common thread is that the reviewer did not understand why a character did what he/she did. They forget that this is not a happy show. It focuses heavily on the flaws of humanity. These characters will have regrets and will make mistakes along the way. They are only human after all.

Now the music in this show is absolutely fantastic. Older pop music for the intro, a beautiful classical score through the show, a several beautiful latin jazz arrangements of "Fly Me to the Moon" for the ending, and funk for the preview music. The art, however, due to plenty of budget cuts, is not the best. Evangelion has a look of religious imagery and symbolism. I am not religious at all, but I do appreciate what symbolism is put in. For me, at least, it increases the sense of desperation humans have in Evangelion's world.

I would not hesitate to say this is easily one of the best anime out there. But you will not agree with me if you do not use your mind. Despite what anyone else says this show does make sense and has meaning. All you need to do is work for it.

Here it is. Arguably the most overrated anime classics of all time, and the most over-interpreted.

I'll quickly sum up what's wrong with the show:

1. The show has religious symbolism, despite the fact it has NOTHING to do with God or religion. The symbolism only exists in this series to create a fake impression that this show is somehow "deep and meta". Meanwhile, the assistant director Kazuya Tsurumaki said that "they originally used Christian symbolism and themes only to give the project a unique edge against other giant robot shows, that there is no Christian meaning to the series and that it was not meant to ... be controversial". But of course, half-wits will over-analyze the show and create their own headcanon to stroke their own ego.
The antagonists, so-called "Angels" or "Apostles" in literal translation, have no relation to Christianity at all. The show doesn't explain exactly what they are, but future installments to the series explain they are created by aliens who were looking to colonize planets in the universe.
Other forms of religious symbolism (explosions taking form of a cross, Longinus spear, the robots being called Eva, etc.) are also meaningless, since the aliens have nothing to do with Earth's religions. The comparisons of religious themes in NGE to actual religion just don't have a reason to exist, apart from making the show "stand out" without any deeper meaning.

2. The Angels attack a specific place on Earth to reunite with one of the Angels that arrived on Earth a long time ago. And what did the people who knew about Angels' objective do? They build a city on top of the place where Angels would attack. Even if the organisation needed manpower, they could have simply housed all the workers underground, behind 20 layers of protective steel. But screw logic, this is anime right?

3. The pilots of Evas are somehow 14yo kids. Why? It's never explained in NGE, nor in any other media that came afterwards. Sure, it might be just a coincidence for the case of Shinji and Asuka (their mothers' souls are inside the Evas), but it's not explained for Eva03 pilot. Nor is it explained for any of the other "potential" pilots going to school in Tokyo-3.

4. What would you do if the enemy could attack at any moment? Would you let your pilots roam around free in the city? Or would you keep your pilots in the base, so they can board the Evas within minutes? That's right, the anime keeps those irreplacable pilots without protection in the city. Forget about logic, this is NGE!

5. Flashbacks to characters' past are LITERALLY flashing lights designed to irritate your brain, or even cause epilepsy. In later episodes, they're doing this A LOT. White background for 1 frame, then some weird illegible message you won't have time to read unless you go frame-by-frame. And repeat for multiple seconds. And of course, those cryptic messages are never explained. I even spent time searching for an answer on the internet, and got no hits. Truly meaningless and disturbing scenes...

6. Cheap animation. Lots of scenes are re-used throughout the show. Many times, still images are shown over a long conversation between characters, especially in the later episodes. Half-wits will defend this, saying "it's actually profound" but no, it's actually just cheap.

7. Contradictions. On one hand, the aliens' understanding of the universe is so great, that they have predicted the future for the next millions of years, which is confirmed by the scrolls of knowledge contained in the Angels' spaceships. On the other hand, if the aliens had such fantastic future-reading abilities, why did they accidentally send 2 Angels to Earth? This is never explained, and only serves as "convenient writing" for the show.
Also, the prophecy of Second Impact only came true BECAUSE humans read the scrolls which said it will come true. Which leads to another causality paradox. Oh well... As proven before, overanalyzing this dumb show was never the intention of the writers.
Since the aliens wanted to proliferate their life throughout universe, why would they explode when a son of Adam came into contact with Lilith? Why would they want to obliterate their own kind? It makes no sense, and is a proof of nonsensical writing.

8. It just isn't that interesting half of the time.

9. The show's message is very weak. Shinji must simply stop running away from reality and his responsibilities. He must stop running away from his past and from his family ties. That's it.
The members of SEELE want immortality for themselves and only themselves, to rule over humanity for all of eternity. Cool, but there's no message here.

the main story is very good. i will admit it takes a while to get going but every anime needs to take time to introduce the ideas, however this series takes about 5 episodes just introducing the ideas, a little long by my standards.

after the introductions the story plays out rather well, lots of action and fighting with giant robots yay. and as the episodes progress you will find your self at the edge of your seat. events occur that make you want to applause others make you want to kill who ever it is that speak. it can grab the mind and soul of ... any true anime fan.

however the ending is a little sucky and slightly confusing. after seeing many anime you have a certain expectation for how it should end however this series leaves you with a fair few questions. over all the very last two episodes are rather confusing, they have some relation to whats happened in the story but the ideas used arnt exactly wrapping up material.

in short a good anime but bad begging and end only 7/10 kudos

The original Neon Genesis Evangelion anime (on its own) is a hard show to rate. The production value is high, it has an interesting world-building, and tries its best to make a plot that debates bold concepts on human nature and society. Main cast of characters are distinguishable and easily charming to most of the audience (and the fanart community is a proof of that).

However, the anime falls flat on character development throughout the show. There are no character arcs. It is mostly action and exposition with the character holding on to the same emotions and same problems. The lack of character developments mean you ... don't really feel the struggle in any action scene. This makes the episodes with no story exposition, very forgettable and uninteresting.

I think the show would have been much better if the episodes and characters were explored more and had better showcase of inner struggle from episode to the next, rather than holding all of that back for the direct movie sequel (End of Evangelion).

Watching Neon Genesis Evangelion ( henceforth called Eva ) reminded me of another popular anime I completed recently – Attack on Titan – in that both have intriguing premises and in-depth plots which are unfortunately brought down by the juvenile nature of its main cast and the disappointingly rushed ending.

The plot of Eva can be summed up as – humanity fighting for its routine survival both physically and psychologically. This is a gross simplification and its only stated as a one-liner statement to understand what the series is about. Eva has much more to tell and it actually does so very convincingly using various religio-metaphysical ... symbolisms, philosophical themes and the inner thoughts of its characters. If one is able to connect the dots offered by the plot, you get a very ingenious series quite ahead of its times. The plot keeps one engaged and while I found the first half of the series to be a bit dull, the second half picks up and delivers greatly.

The plot however suffers from two flaws – excessive and obnoxious fanservice, either overt or covert, in almost every episode which actually makes me wonder whether the makers of the series were high all the time. It only reduces the quality and gravity of the series in my eyes. Secondly, the ending which was rushed due to budgetary constraints and resulted in simply dumping of info which had little coherency with the episodes just before it.

The characters are a mixed bag but one thing which stands out is that they all have substantial backstories and mostly realistic motivations which could have been one of the best points of the series, had not the makers ruined their execution and presentation. The kids are reduced to annoying tropes either meant for fanservice or not-so-comedic comedy relief. The adults are more bearable and interesting but they also suffer from said issues sometimes. Only when the series progresses and we get a glimpse of their inner psychologies do we get to like the characters more – I wish that they had done it earlier.

The sound, osts and the ops and eds are top-notch and add much flavour and depth to the series. The art and animation may seem ‘old’ from the current perspective but it has its own charm and the action scenes are very well done for its time.

So the main question remains – is Eva worth watching ? If you detest fanservice and gore of any kind and can’t bear 14 y/o, then please refrain from this. For others, it is worth watching even if you are not into psychological anime a lot because of the unique, mentally stimulating experience it offers.

The Evangelion TV series is a product of its time in my opinion as a first-time viewer who finally watched this classic in 2022. While NGE's influence on the anime scene is undeniable it has many annoyances that might repel new viewers. I've been wanting to get into this franchise as it is a huge title that always comes up in anime-related conversations, but I was half-forcing myself to sit through all 26 episodes. It wasn't all bad, but I doubt I will revisit the TV series again, and I sincerely hope that the modern remake movies improve on the original.

My two biggest problems with ... NGE are the spineless main character, Shinji, and the utterly self-centered tsundere, Asuka. Let's talk about Shinj first. He is a wimpy crybaby who simultaneously lets everyone walk all over him and somehow still manages to be incredibly selfish. I generally don't mind effeminate boys in anime, but he managed to tick me off. I understand that Shinji's low self-confidence is supposed to be his biggest character flaw to overcome, but he has zero charisma or any likable traits to make us root for him. At one point Shinji even refuses to fight against an enemy that is literally threatening to destroy everyone he knows. He is questioning the morality of killing an opponent even when he's the only one standing between that enemy and his friends. His moral grandstanding in moments like that makes him extremely unlikable in my view. His logic is literally "Yeah, all of humanity will perish because of me. But at least I didn't murder anyone!" Nothing ticks me off more than a character claiming moral high ground when their actions directly lead to more suffering.

As for Asuka, she is one of the most frustratingly mean-spirited tsunderes I have ever seen. She gives Senjougahara Hitagi from the Monogatari series a run for her money (which is not a good thing, because in Senjougahara's case, her over-the-top vitriol is played as a joke while in Asuka's case I assume we're supposed to relate to her on some level). I tend to hate tsundere characters in general, but they're especially annoying when they are mean to other characters for no apparent reason. Asuka is constantly badmouthing characters, nagging, and complaining about minor inconveniences. When you add her enormous ego and conceited nature on top of that already toxic personality, you've got yourself a supremely unlikable character.

Fortunately the rest of the cast is more interesting. I especially enjoyed Rei, the mysterious quiet girl who very clearly inspired other characters like Yuki Nagato from the Haruhi Suzumiya series. Rei is the only major character who's got more to her than mommy or daddy issues. They actually gave her a unique backstory which really makes her stand out. She's also incredibly cool, doing her job without complaints and not hesitating to put others before herself. Personally, I would have preferred if she were the main character. Other than Rei, I also enjoyed Gendo, Shinji's mysterious and distant father who never reveals all of his cards. Together Rei and Gendo provide lots of intrigue to the series, which is one of biggest reasons why I was able to keep watching despite my frustrations with Shinji and Asuka. The rest of the cast are decent, but didn't really leave a big impression on me.

Next, let's talk about the animation and visuals. I liked the design of the Angels and the Evas. The battle scenes were good and overall the show has good visual appeal. However there are some big flaws on this department as well. In the latter part of the series, the episodes become less action-oriented and more surreal and introspective. I was okay with this change in tone, because I tend to like more thought-provoking stories rather than mindless fight-scenes. However, this is where I started noticing some obvious shortcuts with the animation. There are a few scenes where it's literally just a still frame for what feels like at least thirty seconds. I genuinely thought that my TV had frozen at one point. There are many scenes of characters talking in the dark, so all you see is their silhouettes. And in the surreal mindscape scenes they use a lot of looped animation, which gets annoying and just feels like filler after a while. You can convey recurring thought-patterns without lazily re-using the same animation over and over again.

I also had a problem with the use of music. The show's original music is good and used appropriately. However, there are two specific scenes where they use classical songs that are completely unfitting to what is happening on screen. The first is when an Angel is using a psychological torture attack on a character and they play Handel's Messiah (the happy "Hallelujah" song that you hear in movies all the time). Playing a chipper and well-known church song over a character being in mental anguish just completely failed to capture the intended shock and terror of that moment. There's another scene where they play Ode to Joy over an epic battle sequence. I honestly have no idea what the director was thinking putting two happy-sounding classical songs over scenes that are supposed to feel high-stakes and intense. No music at all would have been a better solution than such unfitting music.

As for the infamous ending, I wasn't really invested enough to feel one way or another about it. But I can say that at the very least it felt like I had witnessed something unique that other animes couldn't easily replicate. I will go ahead and watch The End of Evangelion next, followed by the remake movies. Based on what I saw in the original series, I can say that this franchise has a lot of potential, so I'm hoping to get a little more into the subsequent entries. Hopefully they'll be able to make Shinji and Asuka more likable while capitalizing on Rei's already intriguing persona.

Music 10/10
Ambience 10/10
Characters 7-8/10
Story kuch bhi bakchodi
Animation 10/10
Nudity 10/10

I dont mind the lack of viewer knowing what the story is about but damn it at least wrap it up tightly instead of some weird coming of age angle. Ikari Shinji was a relief from the usual trope of flamboyant characters in Shounen anime, although he could be a bit annoying and the story focused on him a bit unnecessarily which instead it could have focused on other characters, although the hinting of lives of Misato, Ritsuko, Ikari, etc. was a nice touch and a relief from the the over exposition in anime. This was an ... experimental anime, and a very well made one for that, but the coming of age of Shinji about being worthless to worth something seemed to come out of nowhere, although I read the creator was going through bouts of depression himself, so it can be respected (a bit).

It's not deep, you're just pretentious.

This show is like the emperors new clothes of anime. Everyone rushes to defend the completely nonsensical ending as being some sort of master work of sophistry and artistic expression. Did you ever stop to consider that actually, it's just really stupid? Maybe there was no deeper message trying to be expressed, and the story is just bad.

Okay it would be really cynical of me to just say that it's impossible to derive deeper meaning from a creative work than what's on the surface. Believe me, I get that. Part of story telling is the lessons that can be learned ... from it and how it can parallel things in our own lives. But when you go all in on just the themes and forget to tell a story, now I'm just in a classroom and you're boring me.

An excellent story will entertain while it gets it's central themes across. A strong central theme does not in and of itself make a good story. The final act of Evangelion is literally the cast turning to the camera and telling us the story didn't matter and it's all about the themes and symbolism and imagery and other pretentious crap. If I have to look a bunch of stuff up or watch a 4 hour video essay dissertation on why a show was actually good, maybe it really wasn't that good.

I know that they tried to address issues of what really happened at the end of Evangelion in the movie... End of Evangelion... but I was so mad at how this series ended and how much people spew about how good it is anyway that I refused to watch it. You had your chance Evangelion, I no longer care, this franchise can burn in hell.

6/10

i gave this show a 10 at 17 episodes in on myanimelist. everything from ep 24 was enough to drop it down by 4 points.

i came for fantasy not life lessons. idc if shinji thinks hes worth less than a chewed piece of gum. can you just tell me what the angels are?

shinji wouldnt wash his a$$ unless someone told him to. if nobody told him what to do he would sit there like a kettle. i felt bad for him at the start but cmon...come ONNNN. get a hobby? take up knitting? do something with the brain god gave you ffs!!!

asuka will crack ... like a clay pot if anybody else was told they deserve to be alive. she made me even like shinji for a bit bc i disliked her that much. peoples lives are at stake are you are crying bc shinji got a gold star and a pat on the back. get it TOGETHER!

rei is a literal science experiment and yet the only human id accept into my life. her wallowing makes sense. she is very valid.

misato is also valid.

ritsuko has generational demons atp. her mother has possessd her bc..? of all men?

everybody has daddy issues but the actual daddy with issues (ikari) was never given even a semblance of explanation. why is this man a literal menace to society?

lastly, what the FCK are angels?

Definitely it's one of the Animes you gotta watch before you die.
The drama and suspense are great as the story progresses.
The beginning of the plot takes place in the future after a major impact nearly wiped out humanity. After the impact the united nations funded a private company named "NERV" to create enormous machines they call EVAs.
15 years after the Impact a new wave of extraterrestrial invaders called Angels started attacking Earth Again.
At the time, our main character "Shinji" was the only one compatible to pilot the EVAs, suddenly the safety and future of humanity was in the hands of Shinji. All ... that responsibility at the age of 14.
That responsibility in time takes a toll on Shinji psychologically. Some of his friends lost they're lives fighting the angels. Adding to that, there are a whole lot of political and religious division within NERV and the government.
Plot is definitely well written, the characters all add purpose to the series.
The Artwork is great, it is top of the line when it comes to Anime in general.
This is a series that is influential for good reasons. It set the bar very high when it comes to the Mecha genre. If you haven't seen this, you are missing out on something great. Just go for it and don't hesitate.

At the beginning I would like to say, that I get why some people are not able to connect with this anime, understand it or even enjoy it. It's really difficult to get point of this piece and to find enjoyment and peace. On top of that if you don't like psychological anime and you came for this just because it's mecha anime, you will be really shocked.

My review doesn't contain story spoilers, however I might touch some basic logic of the anime and what to expect. Those aren't really spoilers, however you don't have to read the rest, if you want to find out ... everything about this anime on your own.

Story 9/10 - I mean, it's not really about "robots fighting creatures" but more about psychological part of the anime. More than proper story with some events and background and satisfied explanation at the end, you can expect psychological flow of character developments and thoughts. That's the main point of the entire story.

Characters 10/10 - Can't complain here. Characters are really sophisticated and from the beginning you can see some tension in some relationships and different reasons for different behaviors. As much as this is very light at the beginning, it's very crucial at the end, where everything claps into each other.

Music/sound effects 8/10 - I could imagine something better but for example opening is absolute fire.

Animation/art 8/10 - It's typical oldschool anime and can't much complain about it. However I didn't really like flashy parts where are saturated things that are flashing into your eyes for several seconds or in some scenes when the background is shaking a little bit. But it's 1995, I would still say they did a great job.

Conclusion: It's very difficult to get the right vibe with this anime and some people just can't connect with it, that's it. Anime is diving deep into different themes on the background like depressions, anxiety, love, suicide, loneliness or even point of living. It's not sad anime, it's not happy anime. It is what it is, something in the middle with a lot of suspense and psychological traits. If you will be able to connect with it and enjoy it, it can even serve as your tool for some self-development in character and mindset and that's why do I think this anime is great.

It's polished piece of art, it's not meant to be understood by everyone, on the other side it's meant to be helpful to anybody who is able to connect with the story and thinking of characters. I was personally very amazed and I felt a bit sorry that I didn't try this anime earlier. However I can also personally say, that it changed a bit my point of view to some things in life and it really connected with me on this difficult level, which is a bit insane. But after all, why not, somebody gets inspired by people, somebody by books, somebody by anime.

Hi! I usually don't write reviews because i just don't like the idea of it but I had to for this one

just a warning that this is going to contain a lot of spoilers so be sure you watch it before you read

so Evangelion was amazing for me

I just finished it like 40 minutes ago and I feel so empty and I don't know what to do with my life right now

the ending was beautiful it was amazing and even though it was really hard for me to accept it this ending and everything that's went on

I loved it ... so much

the whole show for me was kind of a roller coaster because sometimes I just didn't know what to think about what I saw

but at the end of the day I'm super grateful for this masterpiece

I did not watch The End of Evangelion yet but I will when I will be ready because right now I'm not really mentally stable to watch it

but for now I love evangelion so much it became one of my favorite things in the world

I cannot describe in words how much it's gave to me and how much I really learned from it as a person and it really changed the view of life for me

I loved all the characters and their past and I feel like it's not just another anime it's something that is really really meaningful because there is a meaning behind it

Evangelion was something that kept me standing for a long time

I started at May 18th and finished in june 6 which is also shinjis birthday

Evangelion is something really special to me right now and it's not like any other anime I've watched

it's one of the few animes that made me realize our evil world and change the view for me

I'm so grateful for everything this show has done for me even if it's not physical , mentally it affect me a lot

I can't describe in words how I feel right now about the ending and everything that went on this show

I know I'm not done yet with Evangelion because I have to watch the movies

but I just couldn't not write now a review about this

Evangelion is more than just a show for me and I think it's really meaningful for every person who ever watched it

it gave me so much different emotions and I kind of don't know how to describe it but it was really meaningful to me

I cannot believe I finished Evangelion and I loved it. I loved every second of it and I hope that people who are watching it will have the same experience that I had

Evangelion is amazing!!! It's so much more than just a show for me and it gave me stuff for life

I 100% recommend evangelion. It was Way Beyond an anime for me

Watch this anime if you wish to have a new perspective/point of view in life.
I personally enjoyed it and found myself in the protagonist personality Shinji Ikari.
A 10/10 lore anime, amazing characters, aesthetic art, glorious sound effects, warm comedy and a little love triangle. Also the soundtracks/ost are heavenly
The end will make you sad a bit but just rewatch it several times to remove the sadness :(
If you finish Neon Genesis Evangelion and still don’t understand it, there are several explanations on Youtube to make it clear.
an action mecha anime packed with deep psychology in it.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is an amazing anime in my personal opinion and became one of my favourites especially after rewatching it this year.

The story of the show is pretty great and had some intresting moments although at times it can get quite confusing to follow. The art of the show is nothing special, its good except for some fight scenes which looks really cool.

The characters are really well written. They all have their moments which really adds to the story and overall become important in the shows plot.

This anime is really interesting even years after its release.

I understand this this series is very influential and important in anime history. Kudos.

I went into the series without knowing much at all about it, apart from its importance and the mecha stuff/deconstruction. For the first half of the series, I was pretty well entertained. The characters were okay, but mostly irritating or boring. But it was okay. And then it started to get weirdly psychological, abandoning it's initial plot drive, and by the last two episodes ended up as a huge dumpster fire. I'd say I've never been as disappointed in the way a series ended as I did here (well, maybe Shingeki).

Briefly, ... the interesting characters...
Shinji, the spineless central character who is at times very pitiable.
Rei, who... well, who knows? It's just WEIRD, and involves too many spoilers.
Asuka... irritating, conceited, unbearable. Pitiable because of her traumatic childhood backstory. A very confused person who loves an older man AND Shinji, but doesn't know how to handle any of those emotions at all.
Gendo, the terrible father, very good at being despicable.
Misato, my favorite character... good at her job, but a drinker and hell-raiser. Reconnects with Ryoji, probably my second favorite character.

So it seems that the reason the anime changed direction was that the writer, Anno, got all metaphysical after read a book on mental illness. And that's fine... people learn, grow, gain new interests, explore new creative avenues. Unfortunately for viewers, it culminated in a final two episodes of bizarre animations, weird art, a general sense of LSD-induced flashbacks and various other... weirdness. It was terrible.

Clearly, this is as much of a love/hate anime as you're likely to ever see. Ultimately, I'm not a fan. It started off really well and then became an unenjoyable mess. And these endless post-series movies? Stop. The forgiving part of me thinks that they were just trying to resolve the problems of the series in a final form, but it's just very difficult to fix something that's so ingrained into the very fabric of anime culture. But the cynical part of me thinks that it's just an endless cash-grab, pulling in more money over and over again with unsatisfying movies and bizarre Schick razor commercials (really... go find that and watch happy (!)Gendo smile (!), and see for yourself the terrible face of pure evil and sell-out commercialism).

I don't understand how anyone could actually enjoy the series... different strokes for different folks, and more power to you.

At the end after finishing the anime I just can amaze about all of the thing, the story is great, art was wonderful, sound was amazing even more with the background music and sound that give more vibe, the character was amazing the mental that was the point of "Human Instrumentality" was really got me to the overthinking about them, and it's was really enjoy to watch it, those roller coaster of stories really make me more impress about the anime.

*spoiler warning*

and at the end I still quite confused, "what is seele" "what was those eva corpse and the grave that still a question" "where ... is the real adam after being give to gendo" "what was actually happen when the first angel was come" "who the hell is lilith" "what was ADAM look like", and so on. until i was speechless about the last episode, I just want to thank to me cause I finally finish this. thanks

Titile: Neon Genesis Evangelion

Evangelion is truly a memorable story that will stick with you. There are some bad moments but they are so small when looking at the anime as a whole. To me, this anime is 100% worth a try, the story is very interesting with some very interesting character development throughout. The characters specifically help me rank this anime so high, with a vast range of different characters, some types that you won't find anywhere else. This anime is older and is one of the many influences for animes in the future. The sound is phenomenal throughout, I strongly recommend wearing headphones with ... this one if possible. The art is old, but isn't horrible to look at.
This anime is so popular and talked about so much because it is a story worth remembering.