Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion

Neon Genesis Evangelion is a work that was truly ahead of its time. It's shocking how quality a show made in the mid '90s can be. I believe that the viewer must do a level of work to get the full experience from NGE. You must be open-minded, inquisitive, and willing to deconstruct your own subjectivities and beliefs. If you are the type to jump to conclusions quickly about characters and write them off, this may not be the show for you. The way characters deviate between good to bad, and vice-versa is constant. Simply put, it's truly a roller-coaster of emotions. The story ishard to follow, anyone who says otherwise is lying to themselves. Watching the sub, it's fast, the lines are long, and there is a level of comprehension that is necessary, perhaps the dub is better in this aspect, I couldn't tell you. The show mostly consists of battle sequences, some slice-of-life activity, lots of dialogues, and a decent amount of introspection. Introspection is a term that you should be familiar with while watching Evangelion. In the world of psychology, our dear friend Google defines it as "the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes." There are often periods where our characters will just be talking about themselves, their thoughts, feelings, emotions, hopes dreams, fears, and things like that. Each character is deeply flawed I should note, nobody is perfect around here (sorry Misato). If you haven't figured it out already, this show focuses very heavily on the human psyche or psychology. Specifically, the works of famed psychologist Sigmund Freud, who if you don't know, founded the branch of psychology known as psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis claims that the human mind and all the functions it undertakes are driven by the id or the unconscious desires that we repress. Additionally, psychoanalytic theory dictates that childhood development heavily influences personality in your life. These are all themes that you will be able to attribute to various events and scenes throughout the series, which makes the show intriguing and captivating in my eyes. Additional focus is placed on the Electra complex and Oedipus complex, which is Freud's theory of mommy and daddy issues simply put. Moving on from the psychology lecture, (if anyone is left) Evangelion was directed by Hideaki Anno, who was depressed while directing the series, and it shows pretty clearly. The themes of religious symbolism, which I can't delve too deep into without spoiling and you can just read the MAL front-page description for an idea of what I am talking about, psychology, and the overall meaning of existence and humanity's purpose. I haven't yet seen the sequel, End of Evangelion which wraps up the rushed ending that makes little to no sense. If you are looking for a pseudo-shonen mecha series that has explosions every 5 seconds, Evangelion isn't what you are looking for. If you are looking for a slice-of-life anime, this definitely isn't what you are looking for. The anime is a clusterfuck, to say the least, and it does a lot more things shitty that I could go on about, in addition to its absolutely random sequences that make no sense. As I said, there is a level of work the viewer has to do to get the most effect out of the show in my opinion, it's not really something you can just sit down, understand everything, and enjoy every episode without any further questions if you aren't really in the mood for what Evangelion has to offer, you aren't gonna enjoy it most likely. Ultimately, NGE is about the human psyche and conscience at its core, how we perceive ourselves and others, our reasoning for our actions, and our meaning for our existence, and approaches it in a way that we may never see again, and if that intrigues you, it is a classic, a must-watch without a doubt. 9/10 thanks for reading -nashy