*I might bring up some talking points about end of evangelion & might end up spoiling things on accident
Neon Genesis Evangelion is quite the something in this community. For 2 and a half decades it has inspired many, & created a bunch of hate surrounding the series. I don’t really know what else to say in this introduction that hasn’t already been said about the series prior, so lets go I guess.
Story: 9/10
The story of Neon Genesis Evangelion is really good albeit has minor flaws. The story is that 15 years after the second impact, organization SEELE is trying to pass the human instrumentality project, assisting in this operation is organization Nerv. In that same 15 years later, beings known as the “Angels” begin to attack again, & Nerv has to stop them.
The only minor flaws I can really think of is the purpose of fighting the angels & what exactly they have to do with achieving the human instrumentality project that SEELE wants isn’t the most clear thing in the world, & it really isn’t explored all that much, we’re just told that the angels are preventing SEELE from achieving their goals, they’ll destroy the world if they aren’t stop, so we must stop them. While saving the world is a pretty big deal, the intricacies aren’t explored in depth & they give us just what we need to know. This flaw is easily forgiven with how great the angel battles are. From the staging, the directing, & visual flow of the battles, this minor grievance is made up for.
One of the other things that makes Evangelion’s story really good is the great visual directing, & storyboarding on the part of Hideaki Anno & his team. Shots flow into one another pretty seamlessly for the most part. The dynamic camera angels & far out shots of the city & other environments really sell the scope of this world. Compliment that with how well the storyboarding flows & you’ve got yourself some of the most memorable episodes of TV anime I’ve ever seen.
Characters: 10/10
Evangelion has some really good characters. The main cast has a lot of things going on for them & offer a ton of great character moments. Shinji for example suffers from abandonment & trust issues, his father abandoned him when he was a kid & Shinji was an orphan until he turned 14 & his father called him to Nerv because he needed him to pilot the Evangelion unit. The thought of hurting others pains him more than the thought of being hurt himself. Shinji is a well built character with flaws, but his flaws aren’t overexaggerated to a point where they become unbelievable. He also isn’t a pussy because he has to pilot a giant mech that connects to his nerves, so whatever pain the Eva feels, Shinji also feels. In contrast to Shinji, we have Asuka Langley Souryuu, brash, outspoken, obsessed with being the best, Asuka is also a great character. Much like Shinji, Asuka also suffers from abandonment issues, as her mother mistook a doll as her own child, neglected Asuka, & committed suicide, leaving Asuka not only a sight, but a traumatizing image that haunts her for the rest of her life. Asuka’s combative & brash personality might come off as annoying to some, but for me, I find the show punishes her enough by putting her into embarrassing situations or having Shinji or Rei do a better job than her on missions, so the show does punish her in some way, & once you learn the backstory, she becomes much more sympathetic.
The rest of the characters in Evangelion are all characterized well, & receive some good development & backstory. The side characters come off as underdeveloped, but that’s ok. As the side characters still have their own character traits & enough of a personality to belong in the show. The show also doesn’t give them excessive screen time that detracts from the main story at hand or the development of the main cast, so the side characters are a welcomed edition & help bring some life to the world of Evangelion.
Art & Sound: 10/10
Art is one of Evangelion’s strongest points. The colors are bright & vivid, backgrounds are detailed and have a lot going on in them, but aren’t so cluttered as to become to much of a busy mess. The design work is great, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto’s character designs are excellent & do a good job at selling who the characters are before you even watch the series & learn of their personality. The color choices also help them to stand out from the background & the main 3 of Asuka, Rei, & Shinji look great together in any scenario. Ikuto Yamashita’s mechanical design work is iconic, anything less than that is a disservice, you all recognize the Evangelion units even without watching the series, & his work elsewhere in the series is no less great. Animation is also excellent, it flows well, blends well, moves well, has weight, & is largely consistent. Sequences such as ep 2’s angel battle, dance like you want to win it, & episode 21 in which Eva Unit 01 grows a human arm are all memorable & well staged sequences, & great showcases of Eva’s animation. Eva does falter a bit near the end of the series, with reused animation becoming more & more frequent, along with other corner cutting techniques, but it’s negligible overall & doesn’t take away from the great animation elsewhere (even in the episodes where reused animation becomes frequent).
Music in Evangelion is great, Shirou Sagisu brings some excellent compositions, the scenarios each piece is used in are used to great effect & help sell the weight & tone of a scene. There are som pieces that are overused such as “Angel Attack” but it’s nevertheless an outstanding OST with a lot of great material on it. The sound design in Evangelion is also excellent, from the sounds of an Eva’s footsteps, to A.T Fields, explosions, the sound design is used to great effect & much like the music, helps to sell the scene in particular, & add to Evangelion’s world overall. One of my favorite episodes in Eva is ep 4, an episode in which not a single piece of Sagisu’s compositions are used (outside of an announcer thing playing music faintly in the background in one scene). With the tone, story, & purpose of the episode in question, it was a really great choice & helps sell the weight of the episode. The voice acting is also top notch, everyone brings a great performance with them & offers great range in emoting the characters.
Overall: 10/10
It’s easy to see why Neon Genesis Evangelion has gone down in history as one of the all time greats, it’s also easy to see why Evangelion has garnered as much hate towards it as it has over the course of 2 and a half decades. But it’s 100% deserving of its reputation & remains a force to be reckoned with. The characters are well written, the story is good, it animates well, the design work is insane. Hideaki Anno’s directing is really inventive & brings with it some of the most memorable shots I’ve seen out of a TV anime. The storyboarding is excellent & brings with it seamless flow & outstanding structure in the episodes. It’s simply an excellent anime. My final rating is gonna be a 10/10
52 out of 59 users liked this review
