Perhaps some of that has to do with how I came to this show. Most people who like the show will tell you that Eva was a brilliant deconstruction of mecha anime, but I didn't know or care about that when I came to the show. I watched Evangelion in perhaps the worst way possible, without knowing it until later. In short, this was the first mecha anime that I ever watched.
In a way, I feel this was beneficial - it lets me examine Eva as a work in and of itself, without considering what it did or didn't do to the genre. Instead of pointing out the elements it changed or deconstructed, I can simply look at it as another story.
That story is OK. The plot and characters are genuinely intriguing, and the hidden depths to the story are enjoyable to look into, but its execution is simply clumsy. Changes are almost always instantaneous and enormous. Characters derail more than they develop, a fact which makes it hard to connect with them in a way that would have made the anime great. Certain characters have motivations so complex that they become incomprehensible and we in the audience cease to care.
This is a show that could have been great, but its many problems keep it from being the masterpiece that so many claim it to be. Perhaps watching it again now that I have more experience with the genre would yield a different opinion, but as the show stands it is a cast of intriguing personalities handled too ineptly to have the impact that it should.
