Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion

NGE is an anime, and a famous one. It is among the ranks of Dragon Ball and Yu-Gi-Oh in that even many people who have never seen an anime in their life are at least somewhat familiar with it, and this is because it was highly influential at its time of release, making it one of, if not the most highest grossing anime of all time. Now, here is where I'd give a brief overview of the story, but NGE's is detailed enough that I could write an entire book about it, so this will have many details kept out, both for the sake of lengthand to remove spoilers.

NGE is about Shinji Ikari, an emotional and indecisive 14 year old who is ordered by his father, Gendo Ikari, the commander of NERV (an organisation that is Japan's fighting force against the Angels) to fight a group of aliens who take many different forms called 'Angels' which are immune to conventional weaponry, and so are fought via the Evangelions (Evas for short) which are large robots. Shinji's poor decision making and overall weak nature does make him seem like an undesirable pilot, but he ultimately is the best of the three (the other 2 being Asuka Soryu, an egotistical German girl who prides herself on her fighting ability, and Rei Ayanami, a clone who generally only speaks when spoken to). Later in the show, it is revealed that Gendo is part of SEELE, a group of elites who are conspiring to put humanity under 'Instrumentality', meaning that all people are one and the same.

NGE's animation when looked at is nothing spectacular. However, when considering the year of production, and the extremely low budget and number of animators, it is rather impressive (especially when you put side by side the original which was funded on almost nothing in comparison to the Rebuilds, made 20 years later with several millions). In Episodes 25 and 26, the team famously was running on empty, and it really shows, but beyond this, the animation is certainly commendable.

Normally I don't have much to say about the soundtracks of an anime, but NGE's really stands out. Shiro Sagisu, a name which may be familiar to some, was largely responsible, and not only are the works produced for this spectacular, the usage of other pieces fits in very well too, with a large amount of classical compositions throughout such as Bach's famous Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major and Jesus bleibet meine Freude, as well as some more modern pieces, such as Bart Howard's Fly Me to the Moon featuring as the ED. Overall, NGE's OST is a great culmination of old and new, original and classical, and it truly does make a scene so much more impressive when it all falls together.

The characters and story of NGE, are, in the eyes of most, what grants it its legendary status, and I do agree. Whilst the (cynically described) premise of "teenage boy fights aliens with robots surrounded by attractive women whom he ignores all the advances of" certainly isn't an original one, I believe that NGE does capitalise on the tools it was given, and creates a very strong storyline with equally strong characters. Each of the characters does seem to depict how the human condition ultimately produces many different types of people who try and cope with the problems their attitudes create but nobody is truly happy. Even Gendo (one can develop their own ideas for the implications of all, and one that I, as well as many others believe to be true is that Gendo is a depiction of what Shinji will be like in the future if he remains the way he is and does not open up to people) , who is at the top, and appears to be calm and controlling and unemotional with his battle plans, does still fall short in many cases, and finds himself easily pushed around by SEELE and Rei. To get to the point, the characters are all well written, as is the story, even if the premise isn't the most original.

This has panned out a lot longer than I initially intended so I'll make the conclusion a quick one. NGE is a great anime, in almost every aspect. It stands strong in all the areas it should, and doesn't fall short in others. While some may criticise the cryptic nature of some of it, especially with its ending (Episode 26's), I still find it to be a great piece in fiction, and the fact that people are still watching it and writing reviews 20 years after its release goes to show just how influential it was. The End of Evangelion certainly gives a conclusive ending and answers any questions you may have had, but its ending was rather similar to Dr. Strangelove or Hotline Miami 2 in that you couldn't possibly have any questions due to the nature of the ending. The Rebuilds aren't bad, but it's an insight to what NGE would be like if it never took any risks and chose to be a generic shonen. Except Rebuild 3.3, which was very bad. Not sure what Anno was thinking pandering to homosexuals (aka people who like Kaoru) by making Shinji learn the piano with Kaoru for 30 minutes.

NGE is a well-made anime, and one that you should see, even if just because any anime communities will give you a bit of a weird look if you tell them you haven't.