Geekatana Anime Review: Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)

Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the most celebrated and well known anime since it first aired back in 1995 and has been sort of an otaku culture phenomenon since. very rare will you see a Top 10 anime of all time and not see this series on the list. It is also easily one of the most marketed anime brand in the current market with merchandise ranging from action figures, underwear and even toilets.

But is Neon Genesis Evangelion worth all the otaku hype it had garnered over the years. With the series hitting Netflicks I decided to look back on it again and look at the series and do a quick review as well. I'll be tackling the 1995 anime so the OVA, the movies won't be touched on this one except for maybe minor references.

Neon Genesis Evangelion or EVA as most otaku call it is a story of teenager Shinji who is forced to piloting a huge humanoid robot to fight invading aliens dubbed as Angels and protect humanity from existence. Joining him is Rei a stoic pilot with a mysterious past and Asuka a proud girl from Germany. It ran for 24 episodes.

Story wise the story starts off as this giant robot versus giant invading monsters that is your typical well made sci fi mecha flick but becomes its new things as viewers are introduced with the series unique aspect like how it incorporates religious and political aspects into the plot that with Adam, Angels, Lilith and the end of humanity. A lot of times these sort of subject can be overwhelming specially when you're not familiar with it on the base form.

The series feels as episodic at the beginning but has enough character development and plot twist to keep you wanting to know what will happen next. Also I think Episode 14 is just a summary of the past episode so you may want to skip that part if you plan to delve into the series for the first time.

On a narrative point the series get serious and dark halfway through as this series doesn't shy away from killing off a lot of people for the sake of impact and plot. The final episodes are even too controversial and has met with fans backlash that the creators and studio have to remake two different endings for this series.

Character wise the story centers around its main protagonist Shinji as he tries to make sense of his new life, the burden he has to carry on his shoulder while trying to make sense of his own demons and issues. Most of the character has their own emotional and psychological issues that you think that's a norm for Evangelion pilots.

The character design and the animation are top notch and still holds up to this day. Even the plug suits they wear while piloting these giant mecha things and the EVA design and color itself are so iconic that toys and figures are still recognizable and is a sort of item for collectors to this day.

The visuals of Evangelion is quite impressive. The way the pavement breaks with each step of the EVA or how buildings and windows shatter from the shock wave when EVA and the Angels collide all is done in impressive detail you feel you're watching an animated full length feature movie than a tv series. You immediately see this at the very first episode too. Also the dubbing in the japanese dub is awesome specially the screaming like someone actually poke his eye out. Also it does gets super creepy and bloody you'd think you're watching a horror series...and probably not for little kids.

The way Evangelion achieves this is through cost allocation. Some scenes just show still photos or are just silhouettes overladen with dialogue and some scenes are recycled at some point. This way they can concentrate the budget on the action scenes and its a tried and tested somewhat effected way of doing it.

The music of Evangelion is near perfection and it adds to the feeling of dread and excitement on certain scenes specially when the enemies are attacking and the EVA goes into action. In fact the series series OP is so good that it has been used and remade countless times in youtube videos.

Overall Neon Genesis Evangelion is an anime way ahead of its time in terms of visual and its unique concept and character design has cemented it in the hearts of many anime and otaku fans. It juggles mature and quirky moments in such a way that it will leave a long lasting impression to all those that has seen it. Whether you're new to anime or not Evangelion is definitely a must watch.