Neon Genesis Evangelion is probably familiar to most of you. It's a well-known series from Gainax written by Anno Hideaki. It's also an anime I never got all the way through before this point. I tried several years before I wrote my first review when I was watching a bunch of anime because they had Hayashibara Megumi. I got through Nuku Nuku, Blue Seed, Saber Marionette, the Slayers, Love Hina, Bakuretsu Hunters and some others. Evangelion was the only series I couldn't get through. The characters annoyed me more than any cast I'd ever seen and the story was pants. In the end I got
...
to that episode where Shinji and Asuka have to time their attacks using DDR, and no I don't know which episode that is numerically, and the sheer stupidity of that plot point resulted in my looking up the plot summaries for the remaining episodes to see if it was ever going to improve and promptly dropping it.
My ignoring the franchise ended last year when I was asked to review the film, End of Evangelion, which was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. In fact, I would rather watch one of Michael Bay's films than re-watch that. Now, I've been asked to go back and watch the series in its entirety and give it a chance. Honestly, I'm not looking forward to it. That being said, some of the series and films I've re-watched from that time period have turned out to be much better or worse than I remember. So, Evangelion could end up being better than my memory indicates. I certainly hope so because otherwise this is going to be painful. Let's take a look and see.
Story:
In the far off year of 2015, fifteen years after the second impact cataclysm, mankind finds itself under siege by beings called “Angels.” Our protagonist, Shinji, is assigned to pilot a giant robot called an Eva and fight against the angels. Otherwise, a third impact could come and destroy everything. Unbeknownst to him, the organisation he's working for is keeping secrets that could be more destructive than the angels.
Now, you might think setting the initial event that kicks off your story a scant five years in the future, the series started running in 1995, is absolutely moronic and just serves to make it horribly dated very quickly, but it has to be set in 2000. You see, Anno was making a satirical statement about the fact that government agencies used to lie. I know, shocking.
Some might also call the writing weak for minor details like the angels having no real motivation, the NERV organisation being more transparently evil than a Captain Planet villain, the narrative grinding to a halt halfway through and never reaching any kind of real resolution or the ending in general. The people who say this just don't get the deeper meaning behind all of these factors. The angels have to be depicted as having no motivation because giving them motivations would make NERV's transparent evil too obvious. NERV has to be transparently evil because government agencies used to lie. The story has to grind to a halt to illustrate that life doesn't always have neat resolutions. You might argue that a narrative needs a sensical resolution but that's just nitpicking.
Characters:
In a world where most media tries to have characters who are endearing, complex, realistic or some combination thereof, Evangelion makes the bold decision of having characters who are none of those things. These are characters who are all of a quarter-dimensional. Sure, in a series like Highschool of the Dead or Crime Edge having characters that basic would hurt the narrative, but Evangelion pulls it off ingeniously. You see, Anno adds depth by giving virtually every character severe parent issues. You might think that sounds absolutely horrendous and annoying, but it's not. It's ingenious.
Art:
I will grant that the art is not great, even by the standards of its time. That being said, there are some very clever artistic choices. Like making most of the angels look like rejected super sentai villains. There's also the daring decision to show fourteen year old girls naked. It might sound pervy, but it is very essential to the underlying themes.
Sound:
Hayashibara Megumi and Ogata Megumi are two of the greatest actresses ever to grace the industry. Hayashibara Megumi might even be the best voice actress in any language ever. In addition to these powerhouses, Evangelion has Miyamura Yuko, Mitsuishi Kotono, Ishida Akira and several other talented people. With such a talented cast, Evangelion made the intrepid decision to have none of them act. It might sound like inexcusably bad direction, but it's very important to the themes that each actor only gets allocated one or two emotions. The music is pretty good.
Ho-Yay:
The ho-yay factor is a 2/10. There's a little bit between Shinji and Kaworu.
Final Thoughts:
For the one person out there who didn't pick up on the sarcasm in the preceding paragraphs, I'll say it clearly. This is one of the worst anime I've ever seen. The writing is horrid, using several elements that could be good if very well written but with all of them being handled completely incompetently. The characters are less than one-dimensional, thoroughly unlikable, and downright obnoxious. They neither act nor talk like anything remotely resembling a real person. I apologise to everyone, myself included, who has an actual depressive disorder since so many people offensively excuse the terribly written Shinji as just “being depressed.” The art would be middling, even with the ridiculous looking enemies, except for the gratuitous teenage nudity because the artists are pervy assholes. They got a stellar cast, which went entirely to waste. About the only positive element is that the music is actually pretty good.
Now, I know someone is going to tell me I didn't get the “deeper meaning” behind the pretentious twaddle, so I looked up what Anno had to say about it. Which is that there is no deeper meaning in Evangelion. So, why exactly do people think there's a deeper meaning here? Allow me to explain.
Finding meaning in something like Evangelion is a type of Apophenia, or seeing patterns and connections where none exist. The fact is, a lot of people see things like random religious symbols or the moments inside what passes for a “mind” in Whiny, Blank Slate or Anger Issues, as proof that there's a hidden meaning. So, they look for what it could be and they find something that satisfies them. If you're looking for a deep meaning, you will find it, regardless of whether or not there actually is one. It doesn't matter if a series is meaningless, simple and straight-forward, random or downright stupid.
As an exercise, Let's revisit Kill La Kill, assuming that it has a deeper meaning instead of just being a dumb action series. The series is actually a cautionary tale about the misuse of, and over-reliance on technology. It makes the brilliant move of using clothing, one of the most basic elements of our modern society, for this endeavour. It presents a nuanced approach, having clothing used both for good and ill. I could point to scenes like Mako and her family being corrupted by opulence only to discard their clothing and emerge as a noble poor family again. Sure, you could probably poke holes in this idea if you've seen the actual show, but the point is that it's ridiculously easy to construct your own meaning, especially if you're convinced that there is one.
The final rating, 1/10. To paraphrase a writer with actual talent, if the word “hate” was engraved on every atom of my body, it would not be a billionth of the hate I have for this series. It's downright atrocious and it was painful to sit through to the extent that you could force people to watch it as a method of torture. Next week, All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku. I need to read some Alan Moore to try and fix the damage the idiocy inherent to this pile of rancid fecal matter did to my brain cells.
Alternative Titles
Synonyms: NGE, Evangelion (1995)
Japanese: 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン
More titlesInformation
Type:
TV
Episodes:
26
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Oct 4, 1995 to Mar 27, 1996
Premiered:
Fall 1995
Broadcast:
Wednesdays at 18:30 (JST)
Licensors:
GKIDS
Source:
Original
Duration:
24 min. per ep.
Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Statistics
Ranked:
#2192
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#45
Members:
1,830,499
Favorites:
106,809
Available AtResourcesStreaming Platforms | Reviews
Filtered Results: 98 / 730
Sort
Your Feelings Categories Jun 18, 2014
Neon Genesis Evangelion is probably familiar to most of you. It's a well-known series from Gainax written by Anno Hideaki. It's also an anime I never got all the way through before this point. I tried several years before I wrote my first review when I was watching a bunch of anime because they had Hayashibara Megumi. I got through Nuku Nuku, Blue Seed, Saber Marionette, the Slayers, Love Hina, Bakuretsu Hunters and some others. Evangelion was the only series I couldn't get through. The characters annoyed me more than any cast I'd ever seen and the story was pants. In the end I got
...
May 9, 2010
Hugely experimental and thankfully unique, Evangelion is a roaring failure.
Yeah, there might be spoilers but I'll try to stay away from them. After watching several series, I finally ran across something that I actively disliked. Maybe if you are a (shudder) person who enjoys a nice bit of Camus to go along with your nightshade cocktail, you will really dig this series. Otherwise this one is going to be painful. STORY: Evan starts off moderately interesting. For some convoluted reason a teenager is the only one who can pilot a super-mega-awesome-gigantor-robot for some convoluted reason. We've seen it before -- it allows the ... Apr 22, 2015
I realize that I'm likely painting a target on my face with this one, but here goes. Please read to the end, as my recommendation may surprise.
The biggest sin of NGE, in my opinion, is wasted potential. Be warned, I'll be touching on spoilers here, though I'll try to avoid any actual plot developments. Story: 5 The story of NGE actually starts off rather strong. Eldritch abominations are attacking the world (primarily Japan), and only might mechs known as Eva-Units can defeat them. The only catch, only certain children can pilot these mechs, and doing so requires mental synchronization with the machines (in other words, if the ... Jan 22, 2015
Overhype, thy name is Evangelion.
Since I started watching anime, it seemed that all anybody could do was talk about how amazing this show is. In a sense, they're right. When one watches this show, they must see it through a lens of how revolutionary Evangelion was at the time, and how largely it influenced anime. However, this review isn't about that. This review is about how enjoyable this anime is to watch. Evangelion is well-written, full of symbols, and smartly deconstructs the mecha genre; however, it is pretentious, at its best underwhelming, and at its worst a complete waste of time to watch. Let me preface ... May 31, 2015
Neon Genesis Evangelion is the worst anime I've ever watched, and let me tell you why. First of all, the character development. Shinji remains stagnant throughout the entirety of the show as a scared little boy, with no balls. He never comes to realize the responsibility he has, and instead simply acts immature for the sake of seeming realistic. Asuka is an arrogant bully suffering under a depression after having a messed up childhood; and Rei is more of a robot than a character. Other side characters like Gendo and Misato do receive some nice backstories however, that doesn't help the weak main cast.
The story ... Mar 8, 2013
Wow, I don't even know where to start with this review. I suppose I should begin by saying what an incredible sense of disappointment and disgust it filled me with. So much that I quite literally dropped the show halfway into the final episode.
Neon Genesis Evangelion starts out okay, with a very whiny main character who doesn't seem to ever pay attention (IE, DODGE SHINJI DODGE and then he just stands there and get's shot for the 6th time) but these flaws are easily overlooked due to the interesting world in which this anime takes place. For about the first half of the show the world ... Feb 27, 2008
This review is for both the series and two movies.
This overall is the worst anime series I've seen, and I've seen a lot of them. There are many things wrong with the series and movies. First is the story. It begins in the year 2000 when a disaster nearly destroys Antarctica and kills billions of people. It's first thought to be a natural disaster, but was actually a experiment sponsored by a organization called SEELE and carried out by GEHIRN. Fast forward to the year 2010 GEHIRN has changed into NERV a military organization. NERV's primary mission is to locate creatures ... Apr 22, 2009
* Might have a few spoilers (even though I'm trying my best to keep them out). Also, english is not my first language, and I apologize for any mistakes. *
This anime starts pretty well. For a few episodes, you might think it will be an epic story about a teenager caught in the unlikely position where he is the only one who can pilot a certain gear (and all the drama that arises from that situation). Well, if you thought that, you were wrong. A few episodes down the road, you'll notice nothing is moving forward - you don't have a clue about what is going on. ... Jan 13, 2024
I finally finished Neon Genesis Evangelion after starting it 15 years ago & this anime is genuinely the biggest most overrated overhyped pile of pretentious psychobabble hipster horse $#@% Ive ever seen in my life. Im in complete & utter awe of how immensley overrated this literal garbage is. WTFH?!
I don't even know where to begin. This to me is objectively the most overrated and overhyped anime in the entire industry. Terrible and I mean AWFUL dub, terrible annoying characters, thin non existant plot, no closure, baseless monster of the week crap for the first half of the series. People said it gets better after ... Mar 14, 2013
I cannot even fathom why people think this anime is even remotely watchable.
Oh wait, yes I can. Throw in some symbolism and some vague concepts that take a few seconds to comprehend, and ta-da, according to almost everyone, you have a frigging masterpiece! Are you kidding me? This is literally what I see when I read positive reviews on this anime: "this is the best anime EVA (hur see what I did der), omg if u dont like it 5deep6u, yoiu just no understand the symbolism and the magic dat is the evangelion omg" I understood the symbolism. I understood the ending. I am very sure that I am ... Dec 17, 2015
One of the most talked about, loved or hated, admired or despised animes released in the 1990's which we still continuously analysis and study to this day. There are many layers of utter sh*t that hide this anime’s true nature but if you are willing to accompany me, I am sure we can discover all the tactics and mechanisms the writers used to manipulate and brainwash us into considering this pure sh*t a classic. Without further delay, let's review Neon Genesis Evangelion or as I prefer to call it "The Life of Hideaki Anno: F*ck the world, F*ck myself and F*ck you, you optimistic
...
Feb 15, 2024
Note: This review is for both series and movie of Shinseiki Evangelion.
Shinseiki Evangelion is a failure on every aspect when it comes to anime. From a bare minimum effort of making the characters any close to being likeable, controversial themes used for controversie's sake and the most agravant aspects: The ultimate wussylord Shinji Ikari. Obvisously the worst protagonist of all time; Incoherent plot that makes no sense. An alegory of faux symbolism and pretentionism like no other before; Horrible conclusion of both last two episodes and sequel movie. Shinseiki Evangelion is everything wrong with anime. It influenced many bad anime such as Infinite Stratos and Gakusen Toshi Asterisk. It ... Aug 25, 2010
The Secret Ingredient.
- Anno, What are you preparing?. - A special meal. - You puzzle me. What ingredients has it?. - Suspense, a magisterial animation, a spectacular sound, amazing fights and fanservice. All this seasoned with a magic and fascinating atmosphere that many wanted. And the secret ingredient. ... Aug 17, 2018
Note: I have tried to be cautious when approaching revelations in the work, but I have not been able to completely avoid some to ensure proper understanding. Although the revelations here are minimal and shouldn't impact people who haven't watched it too much, it's important to mention their presence to avoid any unwanted surprises.
Sound The opening, ending and combat songs are good, but lose prominence due to the lower quality of the rest of the sound work. The soundtrack throughout the episodes oscillates between sounds that are unoriginal and inappropriately applied to the situations, with moments of silence or the exaggerated sound of cicadas. Cicadas are ... Dec 6, 2016
The phrase "Don't be such a Shinji Ikari" is now in my repertoire of critical things to say about under preforming and or unlikable characters. Look I get this is considered by many as a cornerstone in Anime history and highly loved. But it just was just not my cup of LCL. The story was woefully under developed and hard to follow. Episodes are disjointed and never clarified. Look I like shows that manage to be open ended and left to interpretation as the next guy, but my God, this show is all over the place. You could make assumptions about what happens to specific
...
Dec 22, 2015
There will be some spoilers in this review but the show is nearly 21 years old and you've already seen it most likely so who gives a shit.
Neon Genesis Evangelion does a great job at raising questions about its story; what are the angels? Where are they coming from? Why are they coming? Why do they want to destroy humanity? Is anything that was shown to the audience true? How does Gendo Ikari plan on combining all of human consciousness into one soup of nothingness? How were Evas designed from humans? What was Kaji's purpose? What actually caused the Second Impact? Why is Asuka literally the ... Sep 1, 2019
I'm sorry, I just don't get it. This series has been hyped up so much, and is praised as one of the greatest anime ever made. So when I went to watch it, I was very excited.
Very rarely have I ever been so disappointed in a series. It was so damn BORING. I mean, I guess the fights were ok, but seriously, I was trying to find things to like about the series, and coming up with nothing. Even the characters were all unlikeable (with the exception of one or two). Rei was ok, but Shinji was annoying, and I utterly despised Asuka. I literally ... Jun 11, 2016
The all-famous Neon Genesis Evangelion... I spent years avoiding this anime due to it's 'controversial' nature. Finally, a few days ago, a friend of mine convinced me to watch it and I did, if only to see what the fuss was all about. Well, I found out all right.
*This review also takes The End of Evangelion into consideration. There are very few spoilers, none of which really impact the viewing experience. Story (2/10): Honestly, I prefer anime that start off alright and end well, as compared to those that have strong starts and weak endings. NGE, on the other hand, started off pretty bad, was bearable near ... Feb 16, 2021
A decade ago, Jacob Chapman made the case that the fatal flaw of Neon Genesis Evangelion was its existentialist thesis, one that assumed the sustainability of "creating one's own personal universe" within its premise. To me, this critique got to the heart of the show better than any other that I had heard, and I retain that it is true. Now, however, I see so much more to dislike that the existential angle seems like just the outer shell of what is a truly rotten core.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a classic example of a common fallacy, the projection of "humanism" at the expense of having ... |