If you want to watch an anime that was so popular that it influenced future generations of anime and helped creating the foundation of the mecha genres then this is an anime that you must watch. It is considered to be one of the most revolutionary animes of all times since its launch during the mid 1990s. This anime does not just show fancy and flashy mecha fights but it is much deeper than that. Neon Genesis Evangelion is an anime where deep symbolism, philosophy, psychology and religion are used to bring meaning in the story. To put it simply, Neon Genesis Evangelion is a very deep anime with a very layered story. A story so layered that even if you watched it over 3 times you will still be like “What?” or “Huh?” or “What the heck happened?!”. It is a story where you will itch your head just to find the right meaning but then will throw you off completely due to another meaning that contradicts it. Which will then lead to google it in the end.
Story:
The story is everything in this anime and the method of its storytelling is unorthodox compared to many other animes before it that it became a foundation to future animes that follows Neon Genesis Evangelion. The story does not feed you with information and will not explicitly show them to you. It will only give you tiny bits at a time and will only tell you half of anything. They would even put some scenes without any context (However, that might probably because of budget cuts) or making the scenes very ambiguous (Based on the interpretation of the viewers). Most animes will not do this due to its difficulty with a high probability of it turning out to be horrible but Neon Genesis Evangelion did it so well that we just don’t know what is going on in the story but at the same time you know what is going on due to its chronological plot structure.
Art and Sound:
The art might not be something that many of you could appreciate due to it being an anime from the early 1990s so the aesthetic will not be as good as our current modern animes. However, it would be worthwhile to watch as you will eventually ignore the old art style. There will also be some scenes where nothing is happening, or there would be a lack of lines or color. But that would be mostly because the anime was didn't have enough budget to do it. However, they make up for it by making the fight scenes really detailed. The animation style is also very unique and represents a lot of psychological scenes like a single scene in an elevator where no one talks and the tense ambient atmosphere, will make you think that you are actually there and could feel the tension with the characters. The sounds are very well placed and are often classical music such as Beethoven or Bach. The music gives an even stronger attachment to the scene combined with all the emotions. Voice acting is also well done in both the English and Japanese dub. There would be some problems with the English dub during the early phase of the series but they would eventually get better as the story progress. Probably due to the voice actors getting used to their roles. Both dubs were able to capture the characters mood and mannerisms to a very surprising extent. The screams for Shinji were also very well done in both dubs.
Characters:
This is the strongest part in NGE, the characters are the most important device in the story. It does not follow the typical plot oriented stories but to a more character oriented story. They are as realistic as you can get to a human in an anime or something that you might have gotten from the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” due to their very human distresses and personalities. The series was able to show the struggles and insanity of the main character to a wonderful effect. The main character is not like many mecha characters or even many anime characters in general. He is not a character who is confident, brave or has a special ability. He is far too human with very human characteristics. The fear of being rejected, the desire to be useful and the want to run away from all problems. When a problem occurs, it is often instinctive to run away from them or try to avoid them due to the fear of failure and being hurt in the process. As well as the fear of being close to anyone and creating mental fronts to protect oneself from any emotional harm (Hedgehog Dillema). To isolate oneself. The story is not where you put an impossible human in an impossible situation but real human placed in an impossible and deadly situation.
The timid Shinji to egotistical Asuka, to enigmatic Rei Ayanami, and the ambitious Gendo Ikari. Evangelion goes into the minds and motivations of these characters, showcasing exactly what makes them who they are from their passions to their deepest insecurities or fears. These characters were so well done, powerful and twisted in their own way that they became some of the most popular anime characters in existence. Everyone is so twisted that the show somehow resembles that of human psyche and our desire to escape conflicts. These characters have also influenced many other future anime characters especially the character of a quiet emotionless doll named Rei Ayanami which now became a expy trope for many other characters from many new animes after NGE. Like hundreds of characters. You could even expect a Rei Ayanami type character on any large harem animes these days.
Important note: Episode 25 and 26 of the series would appear to be very confusing, strange and a big what did I just watched to many but I recommend you to continue watching it. This is because you would need that for the movie “End of Evangelion” in a particular scene. End of Evangelion is the movie that was created to make up for the last two episode of the Evangelion series due to not having the necessary budget to finish the series. You should watch this because it shows the true conclusion of the Neon Genesis series. After watching all that, you may then proceed to watch the Rebuild movies and I got to tell you that those movies have amazing pacing and eye bulging animation. Not to mention, some Dandere moments from Rei Ayanami if you are a fan of her.
I would greatly recommend this anime and I am sure you will be enjoy it and get very confused by it. I rate this a 10/10 for its deep very human characters, action scenes, and Studio Gainax’s improvisation of the anime due to their low budget.
