Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion

*TL;DR available. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (CAUTION: Lots of I and Me statements below. I believe personal opinion is an extremely important topic to touch on during reviews, but nonetheless, you have been warned.) Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the most popular and influential animes out there, and for good reason. The characters were some of the most realistic and meaningful of the time, and the ending was unique, exploring complex themes like trauma, depression, and the nature of human connection with quite an experimental approach at first glance. But once you look, really look, at the production process of the anime, view the entire plot through a magnifying glass,everything starts to sort of crack and crumble.

I'll say what I think everyone else is thinking about this show and its popularity deep down: Neon Genesis Evangelion is welcomed warmly with open arms by the anime community because it is extremely relatable. Not because of the story, not because of the aesthetic, but because of the characters. Especially because of the main character, which seems to be a divisive topic both within and outside of the initial Evangelion community. Everyone, regardless of whether they enjoyed the show or not, seems to walk out with a profound understanding of a specific character because of their similarities to one's own experiences. This anime is very dear to me, and I hold it close to my heart, but if you take away the relatability of the characters while keeping their cores intact, I doubt that Evangelion would be regarded as highly as it is.

First off, the ending, and maybe a little history lesson, if you don't mind. The odd and famously abstract ending of Neon Genesis Evangelion was largely the result of severe budget constraints and mental burnout, not the result of a planned shift from a mecha anime to an avant-garde with deep philosophical meaning. Gainax just ran out of money before completing the final episodes as originally planned, and the team had to scale back and improvise the SHIT out of their show. This resulted in the introspective ending you see today. And introspective it was, because besides the characters, these last few finisher episodes are the anchor in a storm that pulled this show from the deep, murky depths of the 1-4/10 reviews for a lot of people. Along with these financial restraints, the director Hideaki Anno was suffering from severe depression during the production of Evangelion. His mental state influenced the psychological themes of Evangelion, particularly in the second half of the series. The internalized final episodes reflect Anno's own struggles with emotional numbness, but what may first appear as profound comes across to me as nothing but a personal catharsis, a meaningless cry for help and a desperate last resort.

Secondly, the actual episodes, the buildup for the critically acclaimed and iconic ending that everyone has heard of. If the ending was this good, then the episodes that precede it should entertain me to an extent, right? Not exactly. This show was absolutely boring. It took me about a month to pull through it. The only thing that kept me going were the hopes of getting to the ending everyone loved and adored. And Kaworu. I blindly watched the show for Kaworu, which if you finished Evangelion or even just read the manga, you'd know that this was a BAD idea. Then, when I finally got there, staring at a gyrating Rei as "Fly Me to the Moon" played for the last time ever, I thought to myself, "Was all this really worth it?" While thinking about all the painfully long and grueling episodes that try and fail to get a point across, all the nonsensical bits of vague and rather vacuous lore scattered throughout the entire show like breadcrumbs at a duck pond, I got my answer. "No." I click off HiAnime, feeling rather bitter—leaving with a looming sense of disappointment and a scarcely filled, Kaworu-shaped hole in my heart.

Despite my descriptions of this show, it isn't all in despair. Like I said, the saving grace of Neon Genesis Evangelion was the characters. Most die-hard fans that I've met hold this show with such high regard because they resonate with it. And to that I say, media, when consumed, is at best supposed to resonate with the consumer, and there's no point in consuming something that won't resonate. People go through rough patches in life, turning to something that will help them understand themselves or at least lets them know they're not alone. And many find that in Evangelion, in all of its authentic-feeling variety of characters to relate to. Though I also hold this show in pretty high regard, I have to admit that I personally think how much you liked the show directly connects to how much you were struggling during it. Let's just say that I wasn't exactly struggling at the moment.

My whole point is: an anime doesn't have to be god-tier to be treated as such, and reading this review probably felt like watching Evangelion.

(TL;DR: Good ending, good characters, but the buildup is so slow it drags down the entire show. And please, for your own good, don't watch this exclusively for Kaworu.)