No, I'm not taking a jab at the Rebuild series, I am asking you a genuine question: Do you want to see Shinji Ikari literally covered in feces?
If your answer is yes, then I have just the show for you: Petit Eva: Evangelion@School
My relationship with this ONA starts a few years ago in Akihabara. I was burning time at a second-hand store, looking for nothing in particular. Rummaging through a clearance bin, I stumbled across a chibi Asuka figure in a box labeled "Evangelion@School" and priced at ¥400. I looked up the figure and found it going for a lot more on auction sites so, of course, I bought it.
Now, listen. I'm not a big fan of cutesy things, but a deal is a deal, and like my father and his father before him, I'm a sucker for a good deal. Years later, on this very day, I watched Petit Eva and have come to regret my purchase.
Shinji is just a normal boy. He is not the "hedgehog" that we've come to know and love (or love to hate).
Asuka is feisty and Rei is quiet - that's about it.
Evangelion Unit 01 is a Bansho, booger-flinging schoolboy for no particular reason.
Kaworu shows up as a friendly, bed-sheet ghost.
This is all understandable, given how this is (assumedly) a gag anime for children, but Evangelion isn't exactly a child friendly franchise so I don't feel comfortable with this spin-off conceptually.
Also, Gendo is portrayed as a voyeuristic hebephile with romantic and sexual feelings for Rei, in a world in which he is her principal and his wife is still alive. Do with that info what you will.
As for the technical aspects of the spin-off: the cgi, animation, and music are all sub-par, and there is no voice acting. The jokes are, for the most part, not funny; a single frame in the final episode made me chuckle, but it wasn't worth the slog.
I give Petit Eva 1s all around.
If you want to see Shinji become Shit-ji, watch episode 1.
If you want a serviceable End of Evangelion joke, watch episode 24.
If you value your time in the slightest, watch no more.
