Story: The story is actually really good. There are some pretty awesome ideas in here. And it was actually completely different than what I expected going into the series. One place the show trips in this category would be with pacing. The pacing is definitely rushed because of the length of the show. Each emotional thing that happens is given about 2 or 3 episodes of time with even less time given for it to actually happen and sink in. I think that if this show had had another like... 3 or 4 episodes than the pacing probably would have been a lot better.
Character: I mainly give this category an 8 for two characters in particular. Nao and Yu. They are certainly the best characters and the most likable in my opinion. Maybe Yu is so likable for me because he's one of the few protagonists in my favorite archetype (lovable jerk) who I actually think was done fairly well. And Nao is one of the better Rei Ayanami archetypes I've seen. Though she shows a lot more emotion than most Rei clones. And the romance subplot between the two of them has an incredibly satisfying conclusion.
The Ending: Not gonna give any spoilers, but I just want to say that this show has a PERFECT ENDING! I won't say what happens or any spoilers, but the ending is PERFECT!
I recommend this show personally. It was one of the easiest show for me to marathon. In most shows (even Hunter x Hunter) there's a point where something happens that makes me want to stop watching or take a break, and I have to force myself to keep going (that doesn't mean this moment is bad, it's just something I didn't want to happen or something upsetting) and I never had that moment in this series.
Give it a try, you may enjoy yourself.
