Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion
The english dub of NGE is superior to all subs forever. Haters will try to convince you otherwise, but tell them Spike Spencer has a message for them and punch them in sack, and then proceed to watch the dub. The basic plot of NGE is something like this, setting aside SEELE, AT Fields, Instrumentality, and all that fun stuff. Shinji Ikari, the 14 year old son of NERV commander Gendo Ikari, is called to NERV (an organization whose task is defending the goddamn world, for starters) by his dad in order to pilot a big ass Gundam (called an EVA) and fight against a Cthulhu-esquemonster (otherwise known as an Angel) that's wrecking the shit out of Tokyo-3, after trying out some weak ass shit (like n2 mines, which are non-nuclear but equivalent to a nuclear bomb in strength) with little avail. As the first episodes establishes, the Angels are some bad motherfuckers, and the only things that can go toe to toe with them are the EVAs, who can only be piloted by the specific 14 year olds that are able to sync with them. From there you're introduced to the NERV staff, the other Eva pilots, and their classmates as the big damn heroes fight off the Angels, one by one...sort of. That's when shit gets real.
If the ending leaves you mindscrewed, there's a pretty popular Eva fanfic called The Bible that presents some of God's theories as to what went down in those last few episodes. It's an alright read, if a bit bombastic.
The artwork as a whole is pretty impressive, especially for both its time and the budget Gainax was on. Let's just not talk about those last two episodes though. As for the character designs, your millage may vary, but I thought Sadamoto did a pretty bitchin job on them (I have forgiven him for the manga).
Sound is pretty good, if a bit inappropriate at times. I heard Anno originally approached Yoko Kanno to do the soundtrack until Beethoven told her to fuck off and then proceeded to record the first OST. I wouldn't be surprised.
As for the characters, whoa. For starters, one area NGE does not break any new ground in is civil rights, as I couldn't find a single black guy in the show. Shinji is the biggest woman ever, and you'll probably want to get her into an armbar after the second episode; it only gets worse from there. Asuka, pre-character development, is your typical tsundere redhead, Rei is the emotionless girl who's gotta have blue hair, Misato is your best friend's hot older sister with boobs and a drinking problem, Gendo is a cold, manipulative bastard, Toji is Anno's night alone with Fist of the North Star, Kaji is an inferior Japanese knock off of James Bond, Ritsuko is Gendo's dummy plug if you catch my drift, Kaworu is Shinji's gay lover, SEELE are some secret spooky douchebags behind monoliths, and so on and so forth. The character development is actually well done though, and the series does a pretty good job of deconstructing a few standard anime character tropes (as well as the mecha genre in general, although this is another your millage may vary thing). It's not as revolutionary as NGE fanboys make it out to be, but it accomplishes what it sets out to do. Even if that is a few comas and a lot of homoerotic subtext.
Overall, if you want to watch a guy mercilessly beat the shit out of his own characters physically and psychologically, complete with synchronized dancing, losers getting stomped by a group of 14 year old girls with big fucking mechas, cheesy religious symbolism, and the most infamous trainwreck ending in anime (although the entire second season of Code Geass gives it a run for its money), then this is the anime for you. Alternatively, you could watch Mars of Destruction, which is basically the same story except shorter and a lot more hilarious. The choice is yours.