"This will change your life" they said
"This is so deep" they said
And, they were wrong, so, so very wrong.
This will contain a couple spoilers, be warned
I watched this anime about a year and a half ago, so why am I making a review now? No real reason, I just feel I need to finally get my criticisms out there.
To start, shinji, oh shinji, what even are you? Oh I know what he is, he is one of those most insufferable brats to ever disgrace my screen. He is so pathetic, so whiny, so much of a god damn crybaby you just want to punch him rather than feel sorry for him "well that's how it's supposed to be, he's supposed to be unlikeable, that's what makes him good!" Yeah no, no it does not. I've seen this done better in PunPun Onodera from Oyasumi PunPun, while there you follow PunPun's struggles, you can indeed relate to them and how he feels, at least in some ways (hard to explain without spoiling it). PunPun can be pathetic, and cry, but after many chapters, you can relate and even empathize with him. With shinji, I just stopped caring, it was just the same shit over and over "my dad hates me, I don't want to fight, why does asucka hate me", alright enough about shinji, let's move onto another character, like the beloved "mommy" shitsato.
I despise this woman, what a vile slut of a woman. Yeah sorry I don't find her hitting on a 14 year old funny and hilarious, it's just sick and twisted. All this bitch does is get drunk and sleep around and there for fan service, I don't dislike her as much as shinji, but that's merely by comparison. Now, why don't we get to my least favorite character in this entire thing.
Asucka Langley soryu, oh where do I even start with you? Yes, I know the reason why she acts so god awful, and you know what? I really do not care anymore, there is no excuse to take out her own frustrations on others, like rei. All she does is scream at people and yet we're supposed to feel sorry for her because of her sob story backstory, well boohoo I don't care.
I will admit, rei I didn't hate, but just found her really bland and boring, no personality to speak of, I actually did like the classmate characters, and shitsato's fuck buddy, but it's a shame they're forgotten about just like that to focus more on shinji and asucka, hoorah. Gendo I didn't care one way or another, he was fine. Let's move onto the real meat of this, the story.
Mother of god, how can a show go from being so formulaic and boring as hell, to a confusing mess so fast? Half of these episodes are "angel attacks, we need to stop it!" and then the other half is "I'm sad, feel sorry for me", what great storytelling. I'd much rather explore a post-apocalyptic earth, but oh well then; And yes, I know there's a "super duper deep meaning" to the second half, but it's too boring and nonsensical for me to care about. And of course I can't mention the story without mentioning, the ending. Yeah ok, I know the studio was low on money, but dear god what even was that? shinji cries and has a breakdown then suddenly everyone claps for him? Such genius! Wow! Anno really does ruin everything he touches, the same thing happened to Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou, made by Gainax as well, and 1/4 of the series becomes nonsense and has godawful animation, thanks anno, thanks a lot! But back to the main story, I cannot find a reason to care about the "lore" when the characters that inhabit it for the most part are too insufferable for me to get past and want to learn more about.
The animation was fine, but dear god the amount of fan service in this show is abysmal, like really anno, you really wanted to have asucka and rei naked, that will surely get the viewers in, remember these characters are 14. None of the fight scenes are memorable, the soundtrack is one of the only redeeming factors, as it does fit what's on screen, but that's the only other positive I can give this.
If you want to watch this for yourself, go ahead, maybe you'll have my thoughts (I doubt it) maybe you won't, but I cannot recommend it whatsoever. I intend to stay far, far away from anything having to do with this train wreck of a franchise. And yes I did watch the movie, it sucked as well
