Story: 4 - Decent at best
The start is your very average super robot show, with the robot fighting against dangerious, Armageddon-bringing monsters called as Angels, but with the element of the robot (the EVA) has a very tight time fuse and somehow can go berserk and be extremely dangerous. Nothing extremely problematic here. Angels appearing and their different appearances and strengths are interesting but still super robot nonetheless.
The later part of the show however quickly turned into a derailing train that is nothing short of being a complete mind rape. This mind rape isn't just for the characters but to even the audiences in the most appalling way at that time, and I seriously wonder if people are saying this show is a masterpiece solely because it gives out free mind rapes that other shows don't with a way-beyond necessarily morbid way, of what we'd refer as "Dark, (seemingly) Deep, Cruel" - Being under a heavy and dark tone, containing content that is seemingly deep (even if it is complete garbage), and cruel to both the characters and the audience.
This show is written on a chapter-on-chapter basis, ie. literally almost just before their air date one by one. While I'll give that the show still maintains a degree of consistency, the story development really isn't good, if at all.
Art: 10 - Outstanding
I'll give it this one, simply because even in current standards, EVA's design is both innovative and quite awesome looking, while the artwork itself in the show isn't bad at all due to the budget it once had. Yes, Rebuild has much better art style, but that is when digital ink and much better 3D, along with an even larger budget is a thing.
Sound: 7 - Good
Nothing too much to say here. The berserk music when EVA is going berserk, and A Cruel Angel's Thesis, as much as I disliked this show, will still linger around in my brain for a long while because of it's wackiness.
Character: 4 - Decent
Shinji is the protagonist, and unlike most kid pilots in other shows (except, Zeorymer?) he is much more whiny and an introvert which is quite new even in its age. And we all know Asuka Soryuu and Rei Ayanami being one of the more known figures in anime history, the former being a tsundere that gave birth to a lot of tsundere-ish characters afterwards, and the latter as the quiet and mysterious girl.
But that is pretty much what they are, really. In the following chapters, there isn't a lot of (at least, not positively) things that happened to anybody in the show, things are kept circling around, and they really never got off from it aside from pretty much literally losing their minds in the whole story development. Shinji is still whiny even after the end and nothing has changed for him nor himself, to the point that I am like "JUST SHUT THE HELL UP AND GO GET A GODDAMNED LIFE SHINJI". It's almost whenever Shinji (and Asuka, for that matter) has a moment to redeem themselves and save their poor souls, something MUST come over and kick over the sandcastle and everything is back to square one with no progress, if not just worse than it was before. Maybe this is what the writer had in mind - just screw everything over because of his depression, but I don't really see how "good" this show is just because it threw everybody in this whirlpool of doom.
Not that characters must have a happy ending with positive development, but there isn't any sort of growth or actual development - the so-called development by some hardcore fans, unless I am particularly numb, isn't very impressive, if at all.
Practically nothing has been achieved in the end of Evangelion to the point that I'd actually consider the original TV series' 25 and 26 a better conclusion than the End of Evangelion. But the original ending also is very off from the flow of the anime itself so I can't say it is a good ending either.
Enjoyment: 7 - Good
The fights in the anime are fair, as well as their fluidity and the approach they used to defeat angels, but really the last few episodes are not very enjoyable to me to say the least. Probably it's because of Anno's own psychological problem it's basically dropping bridges on the characters in the later runs that feels......excessive.
Overall: 5 - Mediocre
It's surely a watchable show for its age, but being a nationwide masterpiece is puzzling to me owning to its to-be-absolutely-frank horrendous storyboard. It isn't nearly as innovative as Gundam or Battleship Yamato, and is excessively dark to a point where it's not depressing, but absurdly confusing to watch.
