Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion

Chances are that if you aren't a literal newbie to anime and at least have some knowledge of the medium then you have at least heard of the name "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and rumors about its "infamous" reputation. An anime that is recognized by most people as a classic with a fanbase that has only grown over the span of time, and you have probably also have heard of how much of a mind rape it can be, well this review is my attempt to get at least some of you to give Evangelion a try because in fairness, as one of the people whohesitated to start Eva myself because of its rumored super complex plot, I was actually nothing short of blown away by how good it turned out to be and this is my attempt to explain to you why I found it so great.

By far Evangelion's strongest aspect is its characters, but not in the way you would expect, unlike other shows, most characters in Eva are pretty much broken individuals whose condition only get worse as the story goes and this is where the show's psychological aspect comes into play as it lays bare the mental issues of its characters in an almost disturbing way. The main character is far different from your typical action anime, a depressed 14 year old with social anxiety who prefers isolation. Also, Anyone who thinks that Shinji Ikari is a "Bad Character" is factually incorrect and cannot appreciate a well written character, and pretty much every character in Eva is mentally unstable and is going through their own inner struggles.
Now the plot, the most divisive factor about the show and this is where my own personal bias might take over this review because frankly, I cannot add an "In my opinion" after every sentence just to keep the haters from launching pitchforks at me, if you've already seen the show then feel free to disagree with all I say, Now, lets continue,

Eva's plot is one of the best I have ever seen, like seriously watching the small plot threads in the beginning and realizing they were teasers to major revelations later on was a great feeling and while the plot does require some effort from the viewer in order to properly follow its still worth it and its delivered with strikingly great cinematography and also has some truly great writing all packed with some really well animated mech battles and a simply wonderful OST
and while in all fairness Eva is a pretty disturbing and messed up show at times, but chances are you wouldn't even realize it because the show doesn't really play all of its cards until almost the 2nd half where the show really starts playing all its cards and the almost "Monster of The Week" pattern of the 1st half dies out completely. I'd even say that the last two episodes of the original series are amazing and you should NOT skip them, seriously just DON'T, they are soo important for Shinji's character arc and also tell us a lot more about other characters as well and while it does leave a lot of questions(and I mean a LOT of questions) its still a great ending(Part of it at least) plus the iconic "Congratulations!" makes the last two episodes worth watching all on its own. Some might argue that the symbolism is outright pretentious which it kind of is, heck even Anno himself admitted that they added the religious symbolism because it "looked cool" but heck it doesn't detract from the overall plot and it does help the overall aesthetic of the show so its all good.

Then comes the masterpiece that is End of Evangelion and HOLY SHIT, this movie is downright perfect in almost every freaking way, it actually "explains" what was going on during the last two episodes and is a retelling of the events that happened during them and holy hell does it do a good job in doing so, its absolutely rich with detail that you're guaranteed to miss on your first watch and have to see frame by frame to see the various little details ,the ending of the movie is also done so well in what honestly seems like a mind rape but is actually a testament to the growth of our protagonist and expands on some other characters as well, saying anymore would be a spoiler so I would refrain from doing so but seriously, EoE(and NGE in general) is a masterpiece that is worth watching for every person willing to truly invest oneself into a show and use their own mind to figure stuff out, its definitely not for everyone, heck its the kind of series you either love or you absolutely hate, but that's no reason to skip out on Eva because if you happen to love it then you're in for good.

Plus it has the best opening out of any anime ever(Sorry Berserk 1997) and the ending song is a cover of my all time favorite song so there's that too.