Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion
THE anime that defines the word itself. Children piloting giant robots in defense against unstoppable mysterious threat. Who would have thought such premise will develop into anything greater than a series of pop stamps but it has. The story of Neon Genesis Evangelion is rich, complex and challenging, yet, I must admit, at times it looks like a poorly improvised surreal painting. The reason for this can be found in a history of Evangelion’s creation: the production team were patiently and meticulously working on Eva, all according to script, and then suddenly they realized they hitting deadlines. They made only a handful of episodes so theremaining were needed to be rushed. This created a perceivable rift between first half and second half of the series: the first half is consistent careful show and the latter is lumps of extemporaneous ideas mashed together with original design. This discrepancy is certainly a downside but there is a bright side about: the second half is where Evangelion is truly original.
The first half lays groundwork for the straight-out-of-factory story about how it is good be good (my guess of initial script contents): rely on others, never give up, appreciate what you got, etc. Generic.
The latter half, on the contrary, steps away from banalities, dives into physcology, and actually ask questions of viewers without providing answers, a rare approach in pop culture and a common one in classics. Yet it *is* a helter-skelter. Already complex plot of Evangelion turns into psychological mess by the end of the series which renders it rather incomprehensible (infamous last two episodes). This mess is what caused an uproar and divided viewers opinions. I personally find the latter half amazing but I totally understand people who will label it garbage, there *is* a basis for this. So be forewarned: if you are after plain entertaining anime, Evangelion may not be a good choice (or at least the end of it).
Yet let’s strip Eva of controversial parts and look at it again: Evangelion is still brilliant. What makes it brilliant are characters. What makes characters shine is realism. Each primary character of Eva is provided with extensive background and believable features. And though Asuka and Rei nowadays would fall under certain archetypes (tsundere and kuudere respectively) Evangelion refined these archetypes so masterfully that those girls now can be considered perfect models of their domain. And Shinji… Shinji is still unique. For me, Shinji is probably one and only anime character who actually feels real. The one and only character whom I wouldn't be embarrassed to put straight into, say, Leo Tolstoi's book. The reason for such plausibility is that Shinji virtually has believable negative traits that causes believable problems for him and and for others.
The other thing to mention about this trio is their memorable everlasting visual design. Well, maybe not Shinji, as he’s a boy, but the girls’ images are unforgettable. The choice of colors, apparel matches perfectly to the temper. The piloting suits deserves whole separate review. They are so catchy that they are still imitated in other anime works. Other than that drawing style has no highlights: it’s an honest art of old with realistic diverse faces and bleak colors. But let’s return to the characters, as there are a bit more to say.
Shinji, Rei, Asuka are gems on their own but Evangelion is not limited on them. Eva includes a large cast of adult characters that have an significant screen time. That mere fact is already boosts realism and calls for applause but Evangelion manages to create and impeccably present meaningful stories behind each of the prominent adult. It is a breath of fresh air in the suffocating mass of children based animes that unfortunately dominate the mainstream.
Time to comment the focal point of Neon Genesis Evangelion: mecha. You will see giant robots fighting other giant robots. Well, not robots per se but robot-like organic creatures (‘Angels’) but it is semantics. The battles looks fresh even in 2019. The writers’ fantasy was enough to create a set of Angels where most of them are fundamentally different from the others. So each mecha fight is something new and unique. But unfortunately Eva ignores completely scientific aspect of mecha so don’t expect any plausible explanation on magic transpiring on screen. Thus mecha side of Evangelion is slightly above average so, as it unfortunately takes most of the screen time, seldom you may be get bored.
The sound of Evangelion follows the same realistic approach of the art: there are no background music, only acrid sound effects. The seiyūs are remarkable. The OP and ED are horrible, and, for some reason, they are present in every episode, even where they break the atmosphere, like the last two.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is genre defining classic anyone who considers himself an anime-guru must watch. It is a landmark in character design and its serious and artistic approach to the story raised anime as whole to the brand new level.Yet, undeniably, stitched together latter half of the series is too incoherent to be called perfect and the cautious first half is too simple to cause an awe.
8/10