While I’m not the biggest connoisseur of anime, I watch a little here and there. Which reminds me… I gotta get that one post on Digimon Tamers finished. Before I get back to that as well as other things, I thought I would talk about something that most fans would consider to be a gem in anime. Neon Genesis Evangelion was released in 1995. It ran for 26 episodes, had two movies (technically one since the other was a glorified clip show), had an accompanying manga series, and even got revamped in the late 2000’s. Imagine someone mixes in big monster action, psychologically scarred people, and religious iconography. You’d either get this or something Zack Snyder produced… I’m joking about that last one. Even Snyder wouldn’t be this overt!
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| Where's Film Brain when you need him? |
My first exposure to Evangelion was actually through Bennett the Sage’s thrashing of the series and its finale, End of Evangelion. That may be why I never got into it since the stuff looked bonkers at that time. It wasn’t until Netflix released all of the original show re-dubbed that I got remotely interested in it. I also ended up checking out the first manga on Comixology, and that got me even more interested. I ended up going through all 26 episodes, Death and Rebirth, and End of Evangelion over the last few weeks.
All right, I’ll try not to scare you off with this story. Basically, the show takes place in the far future of 2014 (ha ha) where a cataclysmic event killed off most of the world’s population. We follow Shinji Ikari who is more or less recruited by his distant a-hole father, Gendo, to pilot an Evangelion. An Evangelion, or EVA, is an enormous bio-mechanical mecha designed to fight beings called “Angels”. The Angels have been attacking Tokyo-3, a futuristic city that houses NERV, an organization created to fight them.
Throughout the series, we introduced to more pilots like Rei
Aiyanama and Asuka Langley Shorouyu. While it has its big monster battles, the
show mostly delves into the psyche of Shinji, Rey, Asuka, Mitsasu (the kids’ guardian),
and the rest of NERV. As we move throughout the series, we find out what causes
the Angels to attack the world. We also learn of the Second Impact, the
incident that killed most of Earth’s population. We then learn about SEELE,
another shady organization that NERV is under, and how it plays into
everything. Throw in anime clichés, a penguin, typical anime lewdness, and more
Christian iconography you can shake a stick at.
5 PROS
1. The good messiness of our characters
While having unlikable characters can be a turn off for
some, I kinda like it here. Yes, there are some characters who you’re just
gonna hate and there’s no explanation that’ll help. Yes, I’m looking at you,
Gendo! My favorite characters from the series were Misato Katsuragi, Rei
Ayanami, Ryoji Kaji, Kaworo Nagisa, and Pen Pen. Yeah, the penguin made it on
the list. While Shinji’s not included with that group, I didn’t hate him… much.
I think I really got to understand why he was the way he was towards the end,
and while I can’t like him, I can’t hate him either.
2. The Angel Battles
The battles between the EVAs and the Angels were pretty
awesome. By the way, these aren’t your traditional angels with harps and
flaming swords. They also aren’t your many-winged creatures with many eyes
either, but they aren’t nice-looking. Each Angel had their own look and power
set. You didn’t know what to expect with each one. The battles were animated
well and pretty brutal. I will say it could go a little too far with the
brutality. Just look at End of Evangelion for that gore.
3. The animation
The animation for the show was pretty good. The character designs and the overall futuristic look for the show was cool. The EVAs and Angels looked cool and intimidating. As I said above, each Angel had a different look to it. Most of them looked like your standard kaiju while others were pretty unique. One was a freakin’ humongous gem. The battles also flowed pretty well. You might have had a couple of dips in animation especially with the original end, but things worked for me.
4. The overall story
Throughout the season, we learn why the Angels are attacking
Tokyo-3 and the reasons are so out there. It starts to delve into prophecies,
cloning, and all sorts of stuff. While that can be weird, it kinda piqued my
interest. Hideaki Anno tried to craft this backstory for his series, and I
liked it. Most of it does go unexplained towards the end. It also got weird at
the end with the “Third Impact,” but it mostly worked. Add in all the character
work, and it just becomes better for me.
5. That initial ending
Okay, I’m going to rock some minds here, but I kinda like
that initial ending we got. Yeah, it left out a crapton of plot, and the last
couple of minutes were pretty silly. Apparently, the studio making the anime
ran out of money, so Episodes 25 and 26 were pretty cheap on the animation and
plot. Without spoiling too much, the creator basically took all our leads and
stuck them in a room together so they can sort their crap out. Here, Shinji is
able to work through a lot of the stuff he’s gone through.
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| Yeah... this part was a bit stupid though. |
Yes, it was cheap, and it ended a bit abrupt. Still, I liked
it, folks. While it didn’t do everything it set out to do, it did at least try
to find an ending with these characters. Most fans weren’t too happy with this
though, so Anno eventually got enough money to get a do over and put out the
“true” last two episodes. While EOE does go over some of what the original last
episodes touched, it’s done in a way that makes the original ending fit in.
Even though EOE is fine, I do like the original ending a little better.
4 CONS
1. The End of Evangelion is … weird
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| Fun... I guess! |
The End of Evangelion does it’s best to explain everything about the show, but it is offputtingly weird. Heck, one of the first scenes involves Shinji doing something pretty jacked up. I mean… did we really need to see that? Also, most of these characters meet a pretty grim fate. Heck, the whole world kinda does. It’s called the “End” for a reason. The ending itself is a bit of a weird, existential… thing. I can’t really describe it. Also, man, this thing gets gory and not in a cool way! I’ve heard that Hideo Anno was going through his own mental issues at this time, and it definitely shows. I’m not saying that EOE is bad because there are good things there, but I don’t know if I’ll revisit it anytime soon.
2. The Unlikability of some characters
As I said above, you’d run into some unlikable characters. Heck, just about everyone here has an unlikable moment or few, and that can be a turnoff. Shinji’s the biggest example. Shinji’s on the list, but he has his moments of likability. I’ll save my hate for his crappy father, Gendo. That man gets no love from me. Even when we see why he’s so horrible, it’s too late for me! Then, there’s Asuka or Ass-uka… yeah, I said it. Talk about one overbearing, loud, obnoxious, egotistical redhead. Now, her backstory is actually pretty tragic, so I can sympathize. Still, the girl’s annoying.
3. The back half of the series
Things are going mostly swell for most of the series. You
had your mix of drama and action. The last bit is where things tend to get
pretty depressive, and it can be a bit much. You also don’t get a lot
explanation on a few plot points. Even with EOE, some things are left unsaid.
If you’re a person who wants a lot of detail on the lore and all that, you may
be a bit disappointed. I will say that it seems like that wasn’t the creator’s
intention, but still.
4. The “Fanservice”
Now, this is something you can say about some anime in
general. There is one reason I don’t watch a lot of it, and this is one of
them. I’m not a prude, but there’s a time and place for lewdness, and a show
that mainly revolves around teens isn’t one of them for me. I also find it weird we never saw Misato in
that way even though we get hints. It’s not always like this, but when it does
show up, it does get a bit uncomfortable. You can find a few examples, but the
biggest example is at the beginning of EOE. Heck, that whole movie may need a
few censor bars or something.
…………………………………………..
While I could find more to like or dislike about the show, I
think I’ll stop there. In the end, Evangelion was definitely an experience. It
had its good and its fair share of bad/”what the bloody hell was that.” Would I
recommend it? Well, I guess. If you’re looking for giant robot show that does
deep dives into its characters, you might like it. As for its multiple endings,
eh. Just know that it’s rated MA for a reason especially with End of Evangelion.
For now, I must sleep and see what else I’ve been procrastinating with here.
Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.
Also, get the boy some therapy or at least some good tea!
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