And I'm okay with that.
This is what Evangelion has done to me, personally, after years of exposure to an anime I had never seen and yet was spoon fed by numerous people about it. Everything from the fan-base to the hate-base is fascinating to me, and I think it's amazing a 20-year-old anime still sparks up discussion and debate in all corners of the world and World Wide Web.
STORY: In 2000, a catalyst called the Second Impact occurred in Antarctica, and the Earth's ecosystem is altered, such as the risen sea levels and seasons becoming nearly non-existent. Fifteen years later, the threat of a Third Impact looms over the heads of humanity. To prevent (or delay, or alter) their inevitable end, an organization called NERV is formed in Tokyo-3 to partake in the Evangelion project, using chosen fourteen-year-olds to pilot mechas to fight against entities known as the Angels. At the same time, NERV and another, SEELE, have plans for the human race they're keeping a secret, and their pawns are the EVA pilots, who are unaware of the true nature behind the Angel attacks, and their EVAs.
Plus teen angst. Lots of it.
It's rather bare bones, but the story is there. Post-apocalyptic stories are rather hit-or-miss, having to rely on its execution to leave much of an impact. Evangelion's story is really not the best in the world, it's not even the worst, but it comes off as experimental. What started off as a formulaic monster-of-the-week, hero-saves-the-day show steadily delves into psychological territory with its characters before plummeting head-first into a pit of angst and despair, where it then remains even when it tries to crawl out of it enough times to bloody its fingers. And you are the note-taking observer behind the glass watching it all unfold while occasionally looking back through the tapes to see it happen all over again from a different angle.
I'm not going to pretend I understood everything that went on. Clearly, there was something there, but it's hidden under all the copious amount of (faux) symbolism involving religion, the psyche, subliminally-placed mindfuckery, and sexually-suggestive images that clutter the show well into the movies. And for all I know, it was all a red herring, a misunderstanding. But even red herrings can play important roles in a story when used correctly. So should everything be dismissed just because it looks “cool”, or “interesting”, or because “the director wanted to mess with us”?
Depends on what you want the show to be about, I suppose. I'd understand if they wrote NGE by the seat of their pants, but that's very impressive if it's true. And if everything was thrown together for the sake of looking “cool”, or “different”, it was weaved very well into the show to the point I think it'd be an entirely different show if it was all taken out. The story would remain the same, but then we wouldn't be here talking about the show, now would we?
CHARACTERS: This is pretty much the heart of the series, which overtook the plot very quickly. Apparently, according to a 1996 interview, the characters are based off Hideaki Anno's own personality traits, particularly psychologically broken (as someone who writes, I frankly don't blame him for this, although it's interesting more than one would be based after part of himself). This comes off as a character study than character-driven, which isn't entirely a bad thing. But even then, we don't really get down and dirty into their minds until the second half, or even late into the second half, so we only are exposed to the surface until then while watching them do their thing in their own little world. Even so, the characters don't really grow like one would expect characters to do. They come into the anime broken, and they leave even worse, sometimes losing their minds in the process. Every character can be looked at and analyzed, but that'll take all day, it'll make the review way too long for any of you to care, and it'll also go into spoiler territory, so we're not going to do that. (I learned it's best to discuss this one-on-one with others due to different interpretations on what the characters stand for and why they act the way they do. Also, there's more thinking room allowing for cool downs should it ever come to that.)
The three main characters we follow are Shinji Ikari, Asuka Langley Soryu, and Rei Ayanami, the fourteen-year-old EVA pilots, with adults Misato Katsuragi, Ritsuko Akagi, and Gendo Ikari running the operation. There are others, but their roles in the story vary in terms of importance, and we don't get to observe their thought-processes as often as the six I just listed. That doesn't mean they can be written out of the story altogether, but they don't necessarily drive the plot forward unless needed. Still, they all are interlinked with the main characters in some way or another, so surgically removing them would mean changing the characters, whether for the better or the worse. It's hard to say without really delving into it, and even then, there's no right or wrong answer.
Regardless, because the characters don't grow out of their archetypes, your mileage will vary on whether-or-not you liked them, or were at least able to tolerate them. I should also tell you it's okay to get frustrated with them for any and all reasons you may have. And trust me, unless you have the patience of a saint or have watched the series enough times to get “used” to it, something will get under your skin concerning the characters. As it should.
ART/ANIMATION: As a graduate film student, watching Evangelion is like watching a cinematic lesson. The uses of lighting, camera angles, and framing is very fascinating—dare-I-say hypnotic—to me, and in a way, it gives off an experimental feel while still being basic, artsy while being bare bones. It's proof that effective cinematography can be done without fancy camerawork, or big budgets (although those do help) while also being a prime example on what happens when you make poor monetary decisions and managements.
The animation itself is rather limited at times, which is why the cinematography was important. But when it got moving, it looks impressive even to this day. Gainax I feel has a rather distinctive touch when it comes to their animation, and Evangelion I think was what cemented that touch for future projects. There's clearly a passion there, and even with all the goof-ups and slight changes in art style, I can't help but fall head-over-heels for the animation of the EVAs and Angels and how iconic the designs are. Now some people do say the art looks ugly even for 90s standards, but I don't see how that's bad. It helps distinguish itself from other anime of the time, and if it indeed looks as “ugly” as claimed, then perhaps it was intentional as things indeed get ugly throughout the series in thematic terms. It's clearly not a happy, beautiful setting (although it has a charm to it), so why not go all the way?
Episodes 25 and 26, however, are particularly infamous in this category. It comes off as artsy-fartsy, but it also comes off as sloppy and lazy with the reused stock footage/cels spliced in between still images of sometimes-less detailed portraits. Likewise with the entire show, this all depends on who you ask. I personally love how it looks because the combination of all the above come into play here as we delve into the disturbed psyches of the characters, and the theater element used is an interesting touch.
SOUND: “Cruel Angel's Thesis”, composed and created by Neko Oikawa, Hidetoshi Sato, and Toshiyuki Omori, as performed by Yoko Takahashi is one of the most well-known anime opening themes in otaku-dom, and is one of my personal favorites. The opening itself is something I feel is perfect in terms of visuals and matching the lyrics. Kazuya Tsurumaki directed it with main animation done by Tekeshi Honda and Shinya Hasegawa, and they have my respect. Oh, it's spoilerific, but it's beautifully subliminally-placed during the chorus that it's mesmerizing, and multiple viewings have only gotten me to further appreciate it. The ending song, “Fly Me to the Moon”, doesn't sound like it fits at first, but as the series continues and the lyrics sink in, it has more meaning to the characters than first believed. But that's not what people take away from it, no. It's the many versions that were recorded and sung by a few of the Japanese voice actresses (with Megumi Hayashibara having the most) and other singers, although Claire's vocals are first used.
The music as composed by Shirou Sagisu has such a wide range that one would have to be hard-pressed to find a score that was bad or ill-fitting. It can go from jazzy and upbeat, to a battle theme that gets the blood pumping, to eerie atmospheric music that leaves impressions on your mind. “Decisive Battle”, “Rei I-though-III”, “Angel Attack”, and “Do You Love Me” come to my mind on the spot when thinking of the soundtrack, but it's safe to say all of the music used in Evangelion was pretty much done to great effect. And that includes the public domain music such as Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” and the Hallelujah chorus from Händel's “Messiah”.
From what I've read, the Japanese cast is fantastic, so I'll have to take their word for it. I chose to watch the series dubbed because I felt I'd understand it better (I don't know if the mathematical and scientific mumbo-jumbo is bullshit or made sense with what was going on, so you tell me), but also because it came off to me as the iconic ADV Films dub. No, the dub's not the best, but I don't think it's all that bad. The roles of the three children portrayed by Spike Spencer, Amanda Winn-Lee and Tiffany Grant are perhaps their most iconic roles, and I personally wanted to experience that, and I don't regret it. They did take their time to get comfortable and find their groove, and the script/line-reading is a bit cheesy at times, but it's clear there was care put into it. Whether it was a good dub for the time or not, anime fans took what they could get. Apparently it did get a redub, or at least for some of the director's cut episodes, but I don't know much about that, so I can't tell you if it's any better.
ENJOYMENT/OVERALL: I can say that depression leaves an... interesting impact on how one views the world, but more specifically with oneself. I can believe Hideaki Anno's mental state may have influenced the structure of Evangelion, particularly psychologically. Whether this was really intended from the start or not I can't say, especially since everyone goes through life differently, and a mental illness such as depression has a varying effect on everyone who suffered or is currently suffering from it. I don't judge the show based on it, however, even though it's an interesting, albeit sometimes hard watch with that on the mind.
I sometimes wonder what I would think about it today if I had seen it as a teenager. At times, I have enjoyed the series, and other times I didn't. This also tends to vary, as something I may have previously liked is suddenly something I don't like. Thus, this is hard for me to pinpoint an exact score. But if we want to go with the first time I watched it, I was rather mesmerized by it, so... yeah. I enjoyed it. But with each rewatch I've so far done, I found it more fascinating than enjoyable, and I don't think that's a bad thing.
The reason I decided to watch Evangelion is because of how ubiquitous it is to the anime fandom. I unfortunately knew of the plot twists, but there were still a lot I never knew about that I was pleased to see. It took a bit, but I was eventually able to see how influential the series is, and found an appreciation for it.
Which is why I gave the series a 10. It's not perfect, there's flaws up the wazoo and all that symbolic imagery could've been taken out and the plot wouldn't have suffered less from it (maybe), as well as not give off a sense of being pretentious. Yet in doing so, it loses a sense of identity. The characters are not always going to resonate soundly with everyone for any reason, but to change them would've meant changing everything. The ending(s) does come off as a big middle finger to the viewer, but only if they wish to think that way (whether it was the true intentions of the director or not). But it's a 10, a “masterpiece” as it's labeled on the rating system, because of the impact it left on anime, on (Japanese) pop culture, but most importantly, on its viewers who still find things to talk about even though it's beating a dead horse most of the time.
This is the epitome of a classic. Classics don't necessarily mean “perfect”, “the good/blessing of mankind”. A classic leaves behind a legacy to last a lifetime or two. It's fated to be immortalized by those who wish to remember it in whatever form they want. Neon Genesis Evangelion, “Gospel of a New Generation/Genesis”, “New Beginning Gospel”, however you want to interpret its title, has earned its place amongst the classics of animation regardless of how many people have seen it, and have praised or apprehended it.
And you can debate that to hell and back all you want. It's still not going to change anything.
