Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion

Evangelion- You Can (Not) Rewrite Is there really a reason for me to review Eva? The show ran its original run almost 25 years ago, it’s relevancy should have overstayed its welcome. But the internet continues to commend its accomplishments, develop its world, wage war with its waifus. and masturbate to put it bluntly. I guess you could say Eva made some sort of impact on people. So naturally, there’s no shortage of analysis, wish fulfillment semi-conspiracy theories, and bluntly; porn. Many people have reviewed Eva. Far fewer have done it competently. This brought my desires to a figurative ledge. For a long time, this fearof failing to accurately dissect Eva led me to hesitate to expand my thoughts and share them on paper. But much like a certain young legend, we must choose to push past the discomfort and rise to the occasion.

I fucking love Eva. It’s a masterpiece; lightning struck the machine at the stroke of midnight and magic spontaneously occurred. You can (not) contest its everlasting impact (yes, I will continue to do this). The show has saved lives and moved hearts, while crafting a world filled with characters that inspires fascination and adoration. And don’t get me started on the MOARchandising. Eva sells like free crack to the homeless. That’s many many billions to those keeping score at home. It’s not just the stellar designs and aesthetics, unbelievably out of this world OST, or the mixed elements incorporated from past robot shows into a super anime that create the sales. It’s the fact that every single one of us can possibly identify with at least one character. There’s a widespread interview with Anno in which he suggests his surprise that anybody could possibly find commonality with the “horrible” people he invented. This man is contentious, and I couldn’t disagree more. He engineered characters that mirror reality, and perhaps he simply projects his pessimistic worldview onto them. Actually, he’s admitted on multiple occasions that each character represents a piece of his (sub)conscious. So basically, he’s exhibiting Shinji’s classic behavior of self-deprecation.

It’s not classified information that former to the creation of Eva, Anno had recently emerged from a deep and drastic depression. Anno however, bounced back on the rope like a heavyweight champ, primed and loaded to succeed his epic magnum opus; the shining Gunbuster. It wasn’t easy; script rewrites and rapidly approaching deadlines resulted in an incomplete final two episodes among other various issues. But all of this was just the spark that lit the fire of creation. Art is not planned; that’s called propaganda. Fruition is born from struggle, and Eva is a testament to that; I wouldn’t dare alter a piece of that strife.

Today, Eva is once again finding itself at the forefront of discussion. With the recent announcement of 3.0+1.0 (more like trash+garbage), as well as Netflix making Eva available to a brand-new mass audience, many are finding themselves in a re-watch. Or maybe you’re a normie noob newly captivated in the clutches of excellence. More power to you. I happen to have some advice though; screw Netflix. It’s almost as if at every turn they have purposely done a disservice to the production of Eva. The Japanese staff came up with secondary episode titles that would appeal to a western audience, while also functioning as fantastic track titles. But the baby geniuses at Netflix decided to go with horseshit inferior Japanese translations. God damn it, it’s called Dance Like You Want to Win. There’s a Rei I, II, and III. Asuka doesn’t arrive, she STRIKES. And that ear drum, painfully penetrating, harpy shrieking dub. None of these voice actors have any talent, energy, charisma or an iota of a clue about the characters they are supposed to be breathing life into. Misato is borderline bearable, but everyone else destroys my ears and tears apart my soul. Shinji’s wildly unskilled voice actor is a worthless hack, hired entirely due to disgusting identity politics; give me back Spike onegai. Say what you want about the original dub, but you cannot argue against the love put into it. Don’t give me that copyright bullshit about Fly Me to The Moon either. Netflix could buy the rights to every bowl movement you make for the rest of your life as well as the air you breathe, and their wallet would still destruct the Richter scale. I’m unsure about how to feel about the new subtitles, my ears can pick up Japanese adequately and I found about just as many irritations as I usually do; though many others have ruffled feathers over Kaworu. Your best bet; straighten up and fly right the fuck away from Netflix.

Hipsters who pretend that Eva is simple otaku-pandering trash (partially granted, but mostly Rebuild) and nothing special are arrogant snobs. They are so high on their own farts that they overlook such a crucial fact. Just because something is simple, that doesn’t make it easy. The message that human contact is unavoidably painful but necessary to combat the terrors of isolation is well-known and simple; that doesn’t make it an easy endeavor in daily life. You’re so intelligent because you arbitrarily act like a contrarian to façade your lack of a viewpoint! But hey, when Tatami Galaxy employs the exact same techniques to tell an extremely similar message it’s all good, because I jack off to Masaaki Yuasa’s nose hairs nightly. Hey, it’s okay if Eva ain’t your thing, if it doesn’t hit the spot no sweat. We cool. But, pretending you somehow have a superior viewpoint combined with the impudence to judge it as awful, when its impact on anime as we know it is so appallingly self-evident; you have been exposed as a buffoon. I struggle to delineate whose brains have deuterated worse; the aforementioned walking jokes or Rebuild apologists. I’ll say this once and move on before I have an aneurism. The hack of a director who shat out Fooly Cooly needs to onboard the next flight OUT of Eva.

Eva is often termed as a deconstruction of the Mecha genre, and that’s true to the extent that it did indeed tear down the contemporary notions that held robot shows up. But Eva didn’t only change the Mecha genre forever, it morphed the clichés of all anime and configured the traditions we know today. It needs to be stated that it does owe much to every show that came before it. Nadia, Gunbuster, Gundam, Macross, Akira, Wings of Honneamise, Ideon, among many others. These are the predecessors that birthed the grandchild that is Eva; their vast influence cannot be understated. From here, Eva originated many children itself. Gurren Lagann, Nadesco, RahXephon, Code Geass, Gundam, Aquarion, Diebuster, and every Anime which has attempted to rip off Human Instrumentality as an ending. That’s a lot by the way. Are you getting the picture? It doesn’t matter what your opinion happens to be, Eva defeats your argument and stands supreme as the legend of Japanese animation that it is.

Maybe I’ll talk about the show now. Most garbage reviews start off as “here’s the plot and I liked it hehe”. I’ll assume and respect your intelligence by never doing that; I don’t need to write a Wikipedia summary article. Instead I’ll try to introduce some ideas of my own.

This show is unironically truly the definition of deep. Eva has what I like to dub the three penultimate layers; the plot, the characters, and the lore. The lore is mostly ambiguous, cryptic, and explained completely by a video game. However, this never hinders the enjoyment of the show and can mostly be pieced together by a hard look into the lines anyway; though you could take this as a legitimate criticism if you want to get picky. The lore involves Lilith’s black egg, Adams white egg, the lance of Longinus and dead sea scrolls, and their many interactions. The plot is obviously the actual events and their progression. As you move forward throughout the episodes, the plot speeds up and becomes harder to follow; but this only adds to the entertainment. Repetition is intentional because Eva demands consecutive watches to comprehend it entirely. I’ve seen Eva approximately ten times and I catch new foreshadowing and details every time. It’s worth noting that the further down into Tokyo 3 you go, the more mysteries multiply and pieces of the puzzle come together. Again, literally deep. Hopefully, I don’t need to explain the element of characters. Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and Misato; you know, those people.

Eva aesthetically is one hell of a drug. Just looking at the mech designs gets me a stiffy. The fights are memorable because of their fabulous direction and cinematography; who can forget Asuka cramming two battleships into an angels’ mouth, or Unit 1’s moments of berserk and battery. I actually cream my pants to Dance Like You Want to Win and must pause to clean myself up. Religion as a theme follows accordingly to the Rule of Cool; it’s purpose to add visual flare. Cross explosions are substantially well used; another feature Rebuild proved it fundamentally misunderstood. Eva takes its lack of budget, laughs, then proceeds to give it an aggressive suplex. Gainax creatively employed scenes that stood still, I.E Kaworus death and Asuka throwing a fit in an elevator (every elevator in the entire show really). These scenes simultaneously cut corners while improving the show, and that just stands as a demonstration of the team’s extraordinary talent.

Oh, thou lord in heaven, hallowed be thy name, my man Shiro Sagisu. Has anyone else ever arranged such a beautiful, diverse, and downright marvelous OST in Anime? He who disagrees, stand up so we may stone you. Cruel Angels Thesis is the best anime opening theme ever; no hyperbole or room for debate. You do (not) decide. When you first hear ZANKOKU, your endorphins even understand what time it is. This jam has a million versions; jazz, choir, orchestras, bike horns, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and calculators. Though Fly Me to the Moon has double the variations even and sets the atmosphere of every ending. For the tracks I’ll lay down some standouts. Decisive Battle and A Step Forward into Terror create the tension and hype for each battle; while The Beast I and II let you know shit’s getting scary. Good, or Don’t Be as well as Both of You Dance Like You Want to Win are beyond lovely and concoct poignant instantizes of grandeur. Someone shoot me if I ever forget to mention Thanatos. I don’t want to attempt description, listen yourself. And finally, the ever lovely Komm Susser Todd; yes, it all does keep tumbling down. This soundtrack is godlike. You can’t see right now, but I’m currently pouring one out for my homie. This ones for you Shiro.

1800 words in and maybe I can now talk about the episodes. The show really does change its colors as it progresses, and I like to break down the first 24 episodes into three arcs. Episodes 1-6, Angel Attack through Rei II can be called the Methodical first arc. Everything moves at a much slower pace; it’s very character oriented and the cast is incomplete. Angel Attack is a solid pilot that retains your attention by remaining interesting, though it is a bit contemporary. However, The Beast is another story entirely; a directional masterpiece that slices the plot up to present the action during the beginning and the end of the episode. This is where Eva proves its competence. Three and Four provide the highest hurdle; I wouldn’t blame an initial viewer for being turned off to the pace. However, The Hedgehogs Dilemma is strong dramatically and emotionally which sets the basis for Misato and Shinji. Rei I and II turn up the heat; Ramriel the malevolent geometry provides us with an incredible sniper showdown that is impossible to forget. The Works of Man is sadly, ultimately forgettable because it doesn’t have an Angel, but serves its purpose as a decent transition into a new type of show.

Episode Eight kicks off what I term, “Angel of the Week”. This is the part of Eva that is most marketable and palatable to mass audiences, and for good reason. The show turns into a remarkably enjoyable thrill ride that presents a new scenario and Angel in each episode for Rei, Shinji and Asuka to defeat. This cycle runs up to episode 17, the 4th Child. So yeah, Asuka Strikes. She crashes into episode 8 like a kamikaze on meth. Her bombastic flair and tsundere attitude have captivated the hearts (and crushed the balls) of uncountable otaku worldwide. I believe this episode to be a significant factor in the upcoming Eva phenomenon. Dance Like You Want to Win is infinitely more badass, the grandest 61 seconds of your life. Backflips ladies and gentlemen. Oh, I almost forgot Magmadiver. The Day Tokyo 3 Stood Still carries on character development by placing the trio of pilots into an uncomfortable scenario. Speaking of new ideas, whoever thought of catching an Angel from SPACE can have my internal organs when I die. Lilliputian Hitcher is superb; the Magi have been referenced and built up to this point, and it's worth noting this is the only Angel to be defeated not by an Eva. 14 dares to be a clip show, but a relatively inoffensive one that gives us a second half of good shit. Who was Unit 0 trying to hit? Every re-watch I come up with a different way to answer that question. 15 is a break and a breath of fresh air; unless you're Shinji. Splitting of the Breast is the final transition episode, plunging Eva forward into the accelerated conclusion people hate and love until the end of time.

Eva's final arc while starting slow, menacing and uneasy with Toji becoming the 4th Child, hastens quickly like a runaway train up until the breaking point; and it becomes difficult to make out the passing surroundings from the inside. Everything becomes blurred, your first watch will be disorienting and leave you confused. But, it's an exhilarating feeling. The mystery and ambiguity keeps you intrigued and hungry for more. It starts with the torture of Shinji; so many people give this poor kid shit for being a pussy, but he can be admirable as hell. Shinji continues to get rise back up throughout the series despite constantly being smacked down by everybody around him. In my favorite episode, Introjection, Shinji proves his inner strength. Due to Kaji's inspirational watermelon watering (is this scene a hallucination lol wtf), Shinji sprints through Armageddon to arrive at Nerv HQ, orders his autistic dad to give him the damn robot, and kicks Zeruel’s ass by ejecting him through the launch shaft in one of the most appallingly preteen displays of manliness I have ever witnessed. But then once again, events spiral down with the rampage of Unit 1. I cannot stress enough how terrifying these scenes can be (mostly due to their scarcity, fuck you Rebuild for making this a power-up).

Every episode after this point is a display of masterful storytelling. Episode 20 Oral Stage, which I call Return to the Womb, complements 21 as two episodes of stellar background setting that works so well because Eva refused to put the cart before the horse. Eva started with the characters, made them human and nuanced, then dumped their background information. So many shows get this wrong for no good reason. Then Asuka and Rei each get their own respective episodes, and man do I love Don't Be. Asuka's destruction, mind rape and introspective is so entertaining and shines literal light on her character. CHANTSU. How about Knockin' on Heavin's door? Kaworu single handily deconstructed the yaoi genre and enticed uncountable orgasms from fujoshits worldwide. Personally, I enjoy the under(over)tones; it makes sense that a literal Angel wouldn't let gender be a barrier to the emotion of love, and at this point Shinji would act like a puppy for just about anyone. If anyone wants to fight me with knives over the long pause scene, I'll dm you my address.

Ah, how many words later and we've arrived at the final two episodes. You should watch these on your first go around, but no one will hire a hit-man if you skip these later. I don't need to write a thesis on Gainax's infamous budget blowing, boku no google. First, understand the fact these episodes take place during instrumentality when everyone is LCL; Second, don't argue. 25 is more tolerable than 26 but extremely repetitive. Here's what you do with 26. Take the chunk out at the end with Shinji in the chair and the famous ending scene (Where Good or Don't Be plays) and insert that sweet shit into End of Eva right before Shinji rejects instrumentality. Bam, you've solved the production problem.

Screw separating this shit, I'm talking about End of Eva here and mods, you can (not) stop me (please don't). For anyone unaware, End of Eva takes place during episodes 25 and 26. It simply includes the two penultimate layers that were missing from the original cut, the plot and the lore. Asuka's comeback scene against the mass production Eva's is by far the number one animated scene in the series; each machine and their interactions with the environment conveys a sense of weight and realism that exhilarates the audience. Watching the infiltration of NERV HQ and the brutal extermination of its employees is jaw-dropping as well. However, EoE is ultimately about Armageddon and Shinji's finger on the nuclear button. Misato thrusts Shinji into the robot after some inappropriate workplace interaction (Misato, why don't you have a seat over here), where thereafter he's forced to witness not only the death of Asuka, but a giant space Rei head. And he thought he was having a bad day before this. Gendo begins his master plan to reunite with his waifu, only to be betrayed because he was a shit father. With the unification of Adam and Lilith, Third Impact and Human Instrumentality as well as one of the most glorious scenes in animated history, Komm Susser Todd, begins.

“Don't kill me”
“No”

After Shinji must choke a bitch, our wonderful ode to death plays and our protagonist is granted a choice by his immortal alien robot mother. Everyone can become orange soda, our consciousness and the images of selves that others perceive can all come together as one; or humanity can continue to struggle to understand one another. Here’s where you cut out the filthy sewage dredge of a live action arthouse scene that some intern worked on for 30 minutes and insert Congratulations. Ultimately, there’s a Shinji in every single one of us that must choose between Instrumentality and harsh reality every day. It really is true that the greatest gifts in life are at the end of the road filled with struggle. Shinji overcomes the failings of his father and his own oppressive fears of inadequacies to pick the path paved with hardships; he understands the worthiness of that choice. As do we all, even if we refuse to admit it sometimes. Adam and Lilith/Yui say peace homie, and then Third Impact comes tumbling down.

There’re a million reasons why Shinji would want to choke Asuka on the beach, and there’s five million people for every reason to tell you why you’re retarded. Look here kids, a lot of ideological hacks will tell you all art is subjective with no measurable standards; we call these people lobotomites. If that was true, I could shit on the floor and say it was a better painting than the Mona Lisa and I couldn’t be wrong. But the interpretations of good art are often exceedingly subjective. The series ends with a bang by knocking you off your feet and then asking you to question what just happened. Do yourself a service and answer this question yourself.

God, I could write another 3000 words on just these characters, but my cat keeps jumping on my keyboard and my PawSense subscription is running out. Shinji is the cumulative results of characters like Noriko and Nadia, and the predecessor to Simon types. Yeah, he's weak and whiny, gives up and runs away, and has zero clue about human interaction. Yet your criticism is unjust. People forget so often that he's 14; when you were 14 you couldn't even get in the locker room let alone the robot. His ultimate decision to accept the world where the only way to reject loneliness and find happiness is through the inevitable pain of interacting with others is something extremely admirable and not spontaneous, but rather something developed throughout the show. Of course, this is Anno's message to otaku and NEETs to accept reality and reject their isolation. He's not just preaching, he's empathizing and reaching out a helping hand. The ultimate irony is that people would continue to use Anime and Eva to escape, and Anno would inevitably sell out by whoring out Eva with the Rebuilds. Misato is the strength in the face of adversity, the facade people in pain put up to protect their vulnerability. Asuka can never grow up until she admits she's a child, can never connect until she admits she's alone, and never feel love until she learns to give it herself. Rei is a character but not really a human, more an element of the plot. Ritsuko and her mother are an extreme example of the fatal desire to unite with someone despite the obvious impossibilities. I know it's a cliché, but Gendo is a fantastic character who uses the ends to justify the means. His inability to understand and his fear of being understood by anyone but Yui makes him out to be somewhat tragic. He is manipulative and cruel, but he also can make difficult and necessary decisions. As stated he does receive retribution, and I always interpreted his rejection by Yui as fatal; meaning he doesn't get to become LCL as we never see him pop. As for Kaji, he's a goddamn hero, and I salute him. The cast is truly as sophisticated as it is solid and stands supreme at the top of anime as a medium.

The AT field as stated in the show, is the physical manifestation of the difficulties of humans to bond with one another. These fields are overwhelmingly real. Daily interactions make people cry and break down, launch into laughter filled with joy, and cut the line between life and death. The extreme pain that comes with connecting incites people to pull up their fields and retreat into themselves. Starting young I was surely stuck in the mindset of an Otaku. Who needs real life friends, girls, or social groups? All I ever received was the pain of rejection or the friction of conflict. Anime and video games were all I needed. And for a while I wasn’t wrong, but something would always be missing. Eventually the sheer weight of my loneliness would compel me to try to take a tiny step outside of the circle I enclosed myself into. From there it would become easier and easier to take more steps. Much like Shinji I would get somewhere and receive some sort of positive interaction, only to have a ton of bricks cast down upon me compelling me to retreat inside again. But I’d make another attempt. Even though the pain would never fade, each time it would become easier to bear and the rewarding lights of life would shine ever so brighter. Though we are all different, we all bear resemblance to a character in Eva. Misato, Asuka, Gendo, Ritsuko, Kaji, (Rei? Lol), or most likely Shinji. We all will arrive at the same decision.

And to those of you out there, who have already rejected the seduction of instrumentality;
ありがとう!
Congratulations!