Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion
"I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away..." Neon Genesis Evangelion is arguably one of the best animes that came out in the 90's, along with Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal and Trigun. Hideaki Anno, the creator of the Eva series, might not have known this at the time when this show first aired, but he had created one of the most memorable animes in existence, which is also arguable depending on who you ask. As far as story goes, it peeked my interest while watching the first episode. However, when watching the series, I was wondering if I had skipped a season,just due to the fact that all the characters seemed to know eachother already. Later I found that out to be the work of a top secret organization. I had never watched Gundam as a kid, nor did I like Transformers at the time. I was never into mecha shows or movies. I think when I first started watching this, the only thing mecha-related I had in my life was the few hours spent on MechQuest Online, and that was quit a while back. But, Neon Genesis Evangelion was the anime that changed the genre for me, mainly due to it's story, but also due to the action and suspense in it. I can't really say whether it's considered "unique" or not, due to the fact that I haven't seen many animes that air before the 90's, but I found it to be interesting and enjoyable every episode.
Judging from any of the other 90's animes I've seen, the Eva series had some of the best artwork for it's time. It's nothing like today's anime art, but considering this show is almost 20 years old, you gotta give them credit for making it look so extraordinary. I liked the battle scenes, the character art, even the scenery was something to gawk at. It's not often you get to see a freaking city sink into the ground and have it replaced by a battlefield designed for Evas and Aliens.
Sound is always something that I have trouble with when it comes to English Dub, and I preferred to watch this in English instead of having to read subtitles due to the important fact that I may miss something that is vital to the show and then have no idea what happened later. But there weren't too many issues with the dubbed cast, which is surprising, because I've seen a lot of bad voice acting in my days (Doki Doki School Hours? Anyone?), but the cast pretty much nailed it. I can't say that I thought the actors chosen to play some of the characters were perfect, there's always at least 1 character's voice I hate, but overall I didn't really have a problem.
I liked most of the characters. Occasionally there were a few moments where I'd just love to punch someone because of their idiocity, not really gonna give any names *Cough* Shinji *Cough* though. There seemed to be a lot of characters, and most of them had a past that you'd eventually need to learn about, and there are quite a few moments explaining more about the characters' lives and such, so getting to know them wasn't a problem. Liking most of the characters though isn't always easy... there were a few I had problems with, and again, not gonna give any names *Cough* Shinji *Cough*. I did however like Asuka, just because she brings that comedy feel to the show, and she's not as annoying once you start to like her.
I can say I enjoyed this show for the most part. Last 2 episodes seemed to go on forever, leaving an ending that'll make anyone scratch their head and wonder, "Wait, congratulations for what?". But that's why the series gets better and there are alternate endings! (Referring to Death & Rebirth then The End of Evangelion) Overall, it had tons of action, some good comical moments, plotline was good, not every character was hateable *Cough* Shinji *Cough*... for most of you fans of the mecha genre, this is definitely a series to get into.