Update (30-8-2021)- to anyone who reads this review- I wrote it immediately when I finished the series; I guess a year ago, and some negative remarks I made about the show didn't age well in my own eyes, and exist due to me being extremely frustrated with the show. And while I still stand with a lot of points I made, I'd like to clear the fact that, if looked at with a fairly "objective lens" Evangelion has really really good character writing, probably the best in the medium. Asuka is a tough character to watch at times, but I take back my comment where I said that she is a shallow character. She is probably the best written tsundere in the entire medium. Same goes for the character writing of shinji and the other important supporting cast members. And anno's exploration of various psychological themes and realistic character study in general is done really well. I just have major major gripes with the way the plot is structured, and how it frustrates you with its stagnancy.
Alright with that being said- Y'all can read the review down below

Neon Genesis Evangelion is an example of a show causing a rift between its audiences. It's extremely divisive in nature and people still debate whether this anime is deep or 2deep4u shit. However its easy to call someone as not being deep or mature for not liking this anime, I will be honest, when I watched this anime, I was wondering, how the fuck did this anime, get this god-like legendary status, and when I finished I wondered the same. This anime does everything, a fictional story should avoid doing, and it still gets away with it due to its philosophical and thematic (or rather psychological) exploration. So let me just explain why I feel this anime is overrated and is probably the worst thing I've watched so far.

1. Repetitive in nature- The show is too repetitive. Till episode 14 nothing dynamic occurs, it's has a monster of the week pattern to it, which leads to virtually nothing. The story is not building up on anything that's important or matters to the plot and just keeps showing these battles. There is zero character development, no plot progression, and zero subtext or foreshadowing of coming events. All we get is Daddy issues, Some Filler, and an insecure redhead whining about her life. And then we are suddenly introduced to the concept of the spear of Longinus, the Dead Scrolls, and All that, but dare I say, those things are barely explained or mentioned in the anime. And the anime keeps all these concepts, vague and alien, and doesn't even try to explain them. Like there are too many Plot-holes and important questions that are unanswered or are hinted at like a single time. I didn't get what Adam was and what the purpose or motive of angels was behind attacking earth. Like none of this is explained in anime and nor is it foreshadowed. Which makes the story sloppy, full of plot devices, and pretentious. Also, episode 17, was the only episode, which had something to it, but hell they used Shinji's friend as a plot device, so Shinji can deus ex machina his way and save the day, and then the series, made a huge exposition dump, to explain stuff which they couldn't explain, which felt cheap and lazy to me, so yeah I don't dig all this. In a nutshell, the anime doesn't do anything to keep you excited as a viewer, since there is nothing at stake.

1. Characters- Just three words for them, I hate em. Sure Shinji's character is a realistic depiction of a mentally unstable guy who never received any love and at first, I sorta did empathize with his internal monologues, and Shinji's psychological character study was pretty good ngl, but then it started getting repetitive and for the most part, took away half of the episodes. Which sucks. Shinji as a character is not likable or at most doesn't feel like the heroic protagonist, which is totally fine by me. I like characters with good characterization, so It doesn't matter if they are wimps or kind of unlikeable. But if your character's monologues and surface-level personality is the only thing that is shown, while conflict, worldbuilding, foreshadowing and other factors are literally ignored and thrown away, then I feel the series is absolute crap. Also, let's talk about Asuka, shall we? She is a character I absolutely despise and hate with my all might. She doesn't even feel real, she is a stereotypical Tsundere, and that aspect of her personality is so overused that she comes out as being whiny and too dense and I literally don't care about her and her instability, because unlike Shinji she rarely breaks out of her character and is thus uninteresting. Rei, on the other hand, had the most potential, for dynamic development, since her character demanded change, however, we never really say anything of her personality. All she does is ask questions to Shinji and follow Shinji's father. There's nothing more to her, she is one-dimensional, flat, and out-right boring and robotic. It's absolutely fine to make likable or unlikable characters, however, if they are barely developed or their monologues are stretched far too much, then all this meaningless, and as a viewer, I won't be interested into the characters. Also, realism doesn't equal good stories or good characters, all the time. You can make likable or eccentric characters, who have internal conflicts. It's not necessarily about likeability or realism, its more about how the characters are used and developed or characterized in the context of the story. In the case of evangelion, the shows uses a staggeringly high amount of repetitive monologues which makes the viewer feel bored to the point of death.

3.Themes-Philosophy-Symbolism-Message and whatever the hell you call it- A story needs to have an ongoing theme to it, which adds depth to the story. Symbolism enhances your story. The message/takeaway or the philosophy of the story gives value to the viewer. However, TPSM (Themes-Philosophy-Symbolism-Message) can't carry an anime and make it artistic or deep or even likable. The plot and the characters of the show need to well rounded and fleshed out, so TPSM can work its magic on the story. Also, a story being overly complex or dark even doesn't equate to a worthy anime. Ergo Proxy is an example of a Pseudo Psychological Thriller with metaphors, symbolism, and deep and dark themes done right. The show has a great sense of intrigue to it, and just raises a lot of philosophical questions and beautifully answers them, something Evangelion couldn't do.
So my point is, If a show has some deep artistry attached to it, that doesn't mean your critical eye should be turned off and all praise should be showered to the show for being dark and complex. It's just bullshit.

1. The Ending- To be honest, by episode 22, I had given up on this series, but for the sake of competition, I decided to watch the ending of the show regardless, and for the first time in my life I couldn't get myself through a 40 minute episode. The ending was the same recycled internal problems and flashbacks shit, where the characters just whined about their problems, and then some philosophical explanation on human instrumentality project crap popped up, which tried to make it look all deep and artsy. Thus the show ended with the characters being peace with who they are aka losers, and the anime in the most cringe filled way possible ended on that note. Which made go wtf, but at the same made me happy that I finally got across this overhyped crap.

1. Art/Music- Art is fine for a 90s anime, the mech designs are quite unique and were revolutionary to the genre so props for that. Even though I nearly hate this series, I will say the cinematography and the color palette used in this anime can be visually appealing at times, and I would like other series taking inspiration from it. So that's one minor redeeming quality for me. The Music and Soundtrack were okay. Just Okay.

Final Verdict- The show is something I would still recommend people watch because even though I didn't like this show; It kind of changed the industry and normalized the depiction of deep topics in anime, brought some classic character tropes we love, and is a popular piece of anime history in general. I acknowledge that however the show in itself is pretty crappy and ill-executed IMO. The anime is a character study of people who face depression, and it was pretty good, but they certainly overused it and didn't capitalize on it in the end. so, with all this said, I will give this anime a score of
36/100
UPDATED SCORE
46/100