Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion

This has spoilers. I tried to avoid them but ultimately you can't discuss the pitfalls of this show without referencing the plot. TL;DR at bottom. Neon Genesis Evangelion is an anime praised by critics and fans alike, and is considered a pivotal anime from the 90s. Since the community expects all anime watchers to have watched Evangelion, I decided to give it a shot. It pains me to say that while I went in with high expectations, Evangelion disappointed most of them. I will start with the good aspects of the series. The art was good for its time, something noted by pretty much every review. I dolike the music: both the OP and the ED (it's a classic). The soundtrack overall is pretty good, and fits for the most part. Especially great is the coordinated attack of Asuka and Shinji on one of the angels. It fit the music quite well.

I did love the overall concept. A lot. I liked the way the world was set up, with a false city undergound as a haven. The way they had the whole Angel Eva combat and a protagonist who isn't always successful was good.

And then you have the characters.
First I'll talk about the few characters I actually did like.
Misato is a motherly figure for Shinji, or should I say MC, because I won't grace him a name. Misato is one of the sole redeeming characters that can be found in this show, her character displays reasonable, human emotions. She has the only reasonable actions. She cares for MC and the rest of the Eva pilots.
Kaji is another good character. The relationship between Kaji and Misato works well both thematically and as a plot device. The beginning of the story (and the past) leads to a strained relationship between the two. As the eva pilots grow closer, so do Kaji and Misato. Finally, as their relationship crumbles due to the Eva, Kaji and Misato's crumbles with Kaji's departure (i.e. death).

And now the bad.
MC (fine, Shinji) is a flat kid whose entire character is hinged on an uncertainty of whether or not he should pilot an Eva. That;s literally it. Oh and his indecisiveness. That's what kills people.
You have Asuka, a character who can only interact by lashing out. She's often credited with establishing the tsundere trope but good god her character is so unbearable. She's made as a foil to Shinji, and it works for the most part. I guess she does fulfil her primary purpose so I can't complain there.
And then Rei. I had so many hopes for Rei starting from her intro. I do like a good kuudere, and Rei was shaping up to be one, but in the face of Shinji's internal monologues she was forgotten.

I get that Anno's depression heavily influenced the series and led to some of its darker undertones, but the way every single character in the flashbacks has some sort of complex or mental disorder or psychological problem is a bit much.

Here are pretty much my thoughts of the series from start to finish:
In the beginning, I rather liked the introduction of Shinji as the pilot. I did find the strained father-son relationship and self hate a bit annoying but I got over it, because you saw the change in his situation. For the first time he was needed The fight was good, it showed Shinji was still a kid and not entirely in control.
In the beginning you're also introduced to Rei as a puppet. You see her as emotionless and following orders from Gendo regardless of how it harms her.
The basic premise of around the first 20 episodes are just Angel fights, slowly killing them. Throughout the story you have 3 main fighters each with 'different' (quotes because I'll explain how they really aren't) personalities: Rei is an emotionless person, often called a puppet; MC is a guy with an inferiority complex; and Asuka is a proud, rambunctious girl. You have their interactions and how they grow somewhat closer, united by a common goal.

And then randomly you have these complete swaps of mood. You have an attempt at comedy. Misato has a pet penguin which mirrors the action of some of the cast for comedic relief. Why? people love a good penguin I guess. There's no explanation for the penguin. Pen Pen is also one of 2 pets total in the entire series.

You also have an attempt at ecchi when Shinji goes to give Rei her ID. Why? Why does Shinji fall on Rei other than fanservice? Is it needed? Not at all. The only message that scene provides is how much Rei admires Gendo (seen from the glasses) but the exact same message is provided a minute later in a conversation on an escalator as the two of them depart together.

The lighthearted introduction to Asuka was probably the one lighthearted scene/part I thought fit in, as it was a new Eva pilot: a new, happy beginning.

And then throughout it you have friendships being made and broken, lives lost. I thought these developments were great. They would add to his character and cause him to rebel.
.
.
.
What happens? Nothing (I guess he does technically). His character just sort of resets to a loop of "Oh no, I'm useless. Everyone hates me."

What about the other characters? Well, Rei becomes less of a puppet. I guess that's cool. What happens of it? Nothing in the TV series. Plot device in EoE. What about Asuka? Everyone's favorite girl becomes a mess towards the end and breaks down completely in a cycle of self hate. I've seen theories that say she loved Shinji but couldn't display it well (hedgehog's dilemma, something Anno really wants to be known). Let's talk about Misato for a brief second as well. Misato gets around half of the screen time of one of the final episodes and her insecurities are revealed. An entire episode is devoted to exploring Misato and Asuka's mental conditions. What comes of it?
Nothing. Nothing at all.

The next episodes are just introspection on the part of Shinji, him trying to discern an answer for what's properly revealed the be the Instrumentality Project in EoE.

And now here's why the characters are all the same. As I guess is typical of dementia, each character sort of devolves and goes through chaos as the story unfolds and the psychological aspect begins. But then all of the characters are the same. All of them suffer from an inability to communicate. Even Misato, who is IMO the best character in the show, is shown to have been a recluse at one point in her life.

Since they all suffer from this one drawback their mental breakdowns seem like repititions with different characters.

And now, the crosses. Ep 1 I saw a lot of crosses and was like "cool this show does have religious symbolism" so I looked it up. the use of crosses are used loosely and the creators themselves said the only reason crosses were used were because they were foreign and seemed cool to a mostly non-christian audience.

The show also attempts to slowly tell us about the truth of Evas and Adam and Lilith but it sort of fails as the information is only really revealed in 3 episodes: 1 way early on where you see under the arrmor of Evas, another where you're told the Eva armor is a restrainer, and finally when souls are explained way late in ep 20.

Honestly I don't have too many gripes with the ending if you consider it with the movie in mind. But as a standalone ending it's pretty weak. You completely forget the existence of Asuka and Rei as separate main characters and you're only given Shinji's decision. Only his problems. His one-sided view of the world.

My final gripe is with some of the art. Sure, it's supposed to be a psychological but um I was almost at a headache at points. The strobing light and flashing colors strained my eyes while watching.

TL;DR Overall Evangelion has a great concept and story. I loved the worldbuilding and the overall vibes of it. But the way it attempts to jump moods between serious and comedic fails, the way it attempts to reveal information slowly is too unclear. The ending of the TV series can't stand alone without the movie.