Holland can sometimes be a very strange country. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but there are certain things that I wish could be a little bit different. Anime for instance is not as widely available here, as it is in other countries. Popular Anime movies don’t get a theatrical release here, and in the shops you are pretty hardpressed to find any decent Anime dvds. As such when growing up, I missed out on a lot of good shows, but luckily things are definitely better these days. With great sites such as Crunchyroll, and dvd boxsets I can purchase through online webshops, I can finally catch up on series I missed out on in my younger days. One of those shows is Neon Genesis Evangelion, a name that should be familiair to anyone that is even remotely interested in Anime.
Neon Genesis Evangelion (or EVA) starts in the year 2015, 15 years after a disastrous global cataclysm called The Second Impact. A young boy called Shinji Ikari, has been summoned to the city of Tokyo 3, by his father Gendo Ikari. Shinji has not had any real contact with his father for years. Gendo is in charge of the mysterious organisation called NERV, which is pretty much entrusted with the protection of the human race. When Shinji arrives at Tokyo 3, an attack occurs by a terrifying creature that is part of a race called Angels. Much to his surprise, Shinji is being pressured by his estranged father to become the pilot of a giant robot called an Evangelion. These robotic units are designed to fight the mysterious Angels. With no training Shinji is let loose onto the battlefield, and this is the start of a nightmare, where the fate of the human race will ultimately be decided….
So how do you review a series such as this? There really is only one answer to that question: you don’t. If I were to do a proper review for this show, I might have to write a hundred of these posts, and than I still would probably have barely scratched the surface. So I am not even going to pretend that this is a normal review. What I will try to do is explain that this show is unlike any other Anime that came before it. When this show starts, you might think that this will be just another “giant robot vs aliens from outer space” series. However, there are already subtle indicators in that first episode that tell you, that nothing could be further from the truth. There are so many layers to this show, that even when you might watch it 10 times, you would still discover new things. The heart of this show is characters, and the bonds that exist between them. Every main character has his or her own flaws, and as such they become truly human. The designs of the Mecha and the aliens are also definitely not standard. After a few episodes, you are immersed into a storyline that is so deep, and has so many aspects to it, that my mind even now is still trying to figure some things out.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is pretty much a show that every person that watches Anime should have seen at least once. I can not give a guarantee that this series will be to everyone’s taste. There are some themes in the show that might be upsetting for people, and honestly the ending of the show I still have trouble with. Before I started writing this post I looked up some information on it, and found that the ending at the time caused quite a bit of controversy. Did it ruin it for me? Not in the least, because a show that causes my braincells to overload, but which I definitely want to see a second time, must be doing something right. And it truly did. I really loved this series, and I can now understand why it was so very popular at the time. This is a true classic, in every sense of the word, and I highly recommend it to everyone that has yet to experience this series. Because it really is pretty much that: an experience.
I give Neon Genesis Evangelion a 10 out of 10 score.
Evangelion is definitely an experience. I really love the series as it is one of the reason I became an adult anime fan rather than leaving anime back as a teen and my Sailor Moon Days. That said, I fully understand why some people find the end of the series a bit hard to take. I love it and think it does exactly what it needs to and didn’t feel cheated or anything like that and it’s why I didn’t really get into the reboot of the series because I just felt htat changes they made weren’t necessary and their continuation of the story beyond the events in the series just kind of undermined the emotional impact of the original end.
Okay, I won’t go on and on here. Eventually I plan to review this series properly but I’m still kind of putting that off because as you mentioned, reviewing it is going to be hard.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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Haha, well I always enjoy reading comments like this, so you may go on and on here 😀 I completely agree with you. Except for one reboot (Battlestar Galactica) I really don’t see the point in making a reboot of something that already is a classic. This series was great, and nothing about it should be changed, not even the ending. I think the end made it even more unique than it already was, but I did have difficulty with it, because there were are a couple of things that I had difficulty with in understanding. But that is why I am definitely going to rewatch it again, probably at the start of next year. Not only because of some things that are still not clear, but also because I absolutely loved it, and want to experience it for a second time. Thanks for your comment 😀
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The series as a whole is very hard to pin down. I think what got people most upset about the ending is that the studio used a large majority of their budget in the earlier episodes, which lead to what we were given at the end. The producers and the studio were not good with their money management with this series. This also shows in earlier episodes when you see just a still frame with nothing but music, although I think this added to the atmosphere of the show rather nicely. I personally loved the ending but it did leave a lot of questions, thankfully there were two movies produced after the end that you can watch that will kind of solidify the ending of the series. If you’re left with questions, I suggest you watch the two movies. It provides some sort of closure. One is more of a review of the show to catch you up on what has happened so far in the series and the second one answers some questions about the story. I suggest the 2nd movie, the 1st movie was kind of boring with no new information provided to keep the viewer interested. This makes me want to review the entire series as a whole now too!
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Thank you for the tips and your comment, I might check those out soon 😀 I liked the end as well, I had difficulty with the ending, because I did understand everything that was being said. But I am really going to watch it for a second time, because I truly think this series was absolutely fantastic, and one of the greatest Anime series that I have ever seen to date. You were right about the money issue by the way. It says that on a couple of different sources on the internet, that was one of the reasons they made the end as it was. It made the series even more mysterious though, so I thought it fit the tone of the series perfectly 😀
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I’m glad to hear that you loved EVA, and can understand your difficulty in reviewing. I had to watch a couple times before I could even form a proper opinion on it. All I knew after the first viewing was that I had seen something incredible, and that I wanted desperately to understand it.
After about five viewings now (and some individual episodes more than that) I feel like I’ve come close to understanding. I can honestly say that EVA changed my life. With so many themes and philosophical ideas about the nature of human existence it can be a profound message to those patient enough to explore it. Similar to what Karandi said, in an age when Gundam Wing and Tenchi Muyo enthralled me, EVA showed me what anime was really capable of.
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Yes, that is exactly what I meant to say as well, even if you watch it 10 times you will probably see new things at the 10th viewing. It really is a fantastic show indeed, and I am most certainly going to rewatch it again. Not only simply because I want to understand it better, but also because it really deserves a second (and probably more) viewing. I am truly glad I bought this boxset at a con, it was a bit pricy, but I am really glad it was worth it 😀
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I loved this series! 😃
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I did too 😀 And even after all these years, it is still fantastic to see and not dated at all 😀
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Yeah, it’s so cool when that happens. You can watch it again & again. 😃
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Anime is everywhere online so I sometimes forget how niche it is in some parts of Europe. In the UK for example just selling one thousand DVDs is considered a hit for anime distributors!
Eva was a game changer back in the day, as it is deeper than your average mech. It certainly isn’t to everyone’s taste though, due to the non-ending and crybaby protagonist.
If you liked this show you might enjoy RahXephon too. It’s pretty much a clone of Evangelion, but has a better finale and lead.
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These days luckily I have no problem acquiring anime anymore. Either I watch it on Netflix or Crunchyroll or I can buy it on cons or through internet.
But yes this certainly wasn’t a anime series that was for everyone but I really enjoyed it. The ending was a bit strange that’s true, but it did fit the overall anime.
I have the dvd boxed set of Rahexphon but it’s one of those that I haven’t gotten around to watching yet. Glad to know it’s good though 😉
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I’m a bit the same, yeah. I feel like most anime fans should at least consider giving this a shot for a few episodes at least, even if they’re not sure whether they’d enjoy it… it’s just such a huge moment in the medium’s history.
That ending though 😀 (I think I like it *because* it’s so polarising)
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Absolutely, I don’t know if there is an anime essential list somewhere out there lol, but this one should definitely be on that list😊
Haha, yeah the ending was…well strange is a good word I guess, but polarising sounds better😊 I think the ending will always have people who loved it, and those who hated it…very little in between there 😊
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Has to be part of what makes it endure, huh?
I remember, first time seeing that ending, thinking it was nice to see a moment of hope in the show, but upon re-watch it always strikes me as more of a morose thing.
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