Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion

Neon Genesis Evangelion is a polarizing anime for many people, myself included. The show includes both some of the best material the mecha genre has to offer as well as some of the most frustrating. The franchise has taken on a life of its own and it is one of the most popular anime has ever seen. I think to properly assess the show, one has to take into consideration whether it lives up to the hype and popularity. First, the good. Evangelion is not a dull or lifeless cliché as many shows in the mecha genre can be. Taking heavy inspiration from Yoshiyuki Tomino, directorHideaki Anno treats much of the show as a deconstruction of the mecha genre. For example the main character, Shinji Ikari, is not a gung ho mecha pilot, but similar to Tomino's Amuro Ray is considerably burdened by the role others expect of him and often pushes back against it. While this is just one example, the show includes many other deconstructions as well. At times the animation itself is often shaky, but the design work of the show is quite strong. The Evangelions (the main mecha of the show) and the Angels that they fight in particular have some very interesting and unique designs to them. You can tell a lot of thought went into making the Angels special. While it has no actual meaning to the plot, the intermingling of Christian symbolism into the show gives the show an interesting mystique. While the music is not on the level of one done by say Yoko Kanno, it is still a very strong soundtrack. And there are several parts of the show where both the plot and the overall direction are incredibly strong and provide us some really high quality work.

Now, for the bad.
-The characters in this show are, with rare exception either really unlikable, or hard to have much sympathy for. Misato Katsuragi, the immediate supervisor of the show's 3 main pilots is very likable. But other than her, you have to delve into the show's more minor characters to find a likable one. The main character in Shinji is often portrayed as too weak willed and a pushover. Asuka, one of his fellow Evangelion pilots is arrogant, selfish and greedy to the point of absurdity; even when her tragic past was revealed I still disliked the character immensely. The third Evangelion pilot, Rei Ayanami is one of the most popular anime characters of all time. But the character does nothing to deserve such praise. The character has no personality to speak of. Her popularity rose out of the mystique of the character and the fact that her lifeless doll-like nature made her very attractive to repressed male viewers. Other characters like Shinji's father Gendou or scientist Ritsuko also are very unlikable characters.

-The show's pacing for the first half of the series is quite slow. While I wouldn't go as far as calling them filler episodes (as the episodes do at least contain some character development), the show would have been better served if they consolidated several episodes in the first half of the series so as to permit more space in the second half.

-Once we hit episode 21, the show's quality takes a sudden nosedive, caused in part due to the poor pacing in the first half. We receive an episode that fills in a lot of the show's backstory, but is narratively quite jarring considering the mysterious nature of the show to this point and the slowness in which information had been handed out to this point. A couple of episodes later a tragic event occurs impacting multiple characters for which the show has been building up to the entire series. However a subsequent scene in the same episode immediately wipes out all of the impact of said tragic event. There is also a new character introduced whose relationship with Shinji is shown to be as possibly as important as any relationship he's ever had, but there is only half an episode to develop said relationship making everything come off as extremely rushed. There are multiple instances in the last 6 episodes where we are treated to a scene where the animation completely pauses for a minute or more. Hardcore fans of the show will point to such decision being genius, but I see these for what they truly are; the show’s producers cheapening out and depriving us of a minute or more of real material due to either their laziness or improperly handling their budget and deadlines.

-No discussion of Evangelion would be complete without mentioning the show's ending, where approximately 90% of the storyline is suddenly rendered meaningless. Numerous things that we have been building up to throughout the entire show are suddenly swept away as if they never made any difference. You are left with an ending that resolves one major storyline but makes you feel like you have completely wasted your time watching the previous 24 episodes for the others. And even said resolution I find quite contradictory to much of the series to that point. Defenders will claim that the show had outside pressures that led to the ending being done in this fashion, such as budget and censorship pressures. But I would argue that it was the director's responsibility to properly manage the show throughout the entire series and he clearly failed on multiple fronts by putting himself in such a position for the ending of the show. On the brightside, one can watch the movie End of Evangelion and get proper resolution to things that the TV ending swept aside as if they were meaningless. But that's another review.

Finally, I'll say that the show has a hype and fandom that it simply does not deserve. This is a show that is proclaimed the best mecha anime of all time, the most original anime of all time, but it deserves neither of those titles. Part of me thinks it is unfair to hold this show to a higher standard when assessing it on its merits. But the fact remains that when the show's fans and the general media proclaim that the show reached a height that never had been and has never since been reached, and that every mecha anime show after it is a low quality rip-off, you need to assess whether the show truly qualifies for such matters. And the simple fact is it doesn't. The show is surpassed overall by other shows which have tighter plots, more likable characters and an overall higher production quality. And the show is nowhere as original as its fans or the general public would led you be believe. One with knowledge of older Sunrise mecha anime, particularly ones directed by Tomino and Anno's previous works will find huge amounts of inspiration for this series.

Overall is this show worth seeing? Definitely. I feel that much of this review has been a bit harsh on the show, but it genuinely is a good one and if you are a fan of the mecha genre, it is a must see. But no, it is not the greatest or most original mecha anime of all time as many have proclaimed it to be.