Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion
Evangelion is definitely one of the most notorious anime to have ever exist, and I would dare say it's a love it or hate it experience. Even then, whatever opinions you might have on it, after watching all 26 episodes of the original TV show it is quite impossible to say that Evangelion isn't memorable, whatever connotations that might come with it. Personally, Eva is a rollercoaster of emotions that I personally really enjoyed, and I believe that upon rewatch, might become one of my all time favorites. However, I can't say that Eva is for everyone, rather it requires an acquired taste in orderfor people to like this series.
Evangelion starts out strongly with its first few episodes, promising an interesting deconstruction of the mecha genre, but then somewhere around the 5 episode mark (I can't really remember) it becomes a generic monster of the week show, with cool robot taking down big bad monsters. The action isn't particularly stunning either to make these few episodes still enjoyable, and while it's not bad per se, I just feel cheated after what everyone on the Internet promised me. And so I dropped it.
A few months later, I decided to give it another try, and boy was it worth it. The latter half of Evangelion is nuts; episode 12 kicks this off by giving you a tiny glimpse into the psyche of these broken individuals, and then as the episodes pass by the show just becomes everything the internet has hyped it up to be. The plot no longer becomes stale and formulaic, but instead thrilling and filled with many conspiracies, backstabbing and scheming; the characters' psychology and issues become more apparent, and they become so much more compelling to watch; and the animation becomes more experimental, with famous scenes such as the elevator scene hammering home what kind of series Evangelion is. And the ending, while being unsatisfying from a plot perspective (that however is fixed by EoE), was absolutely brilliant imo considering the tone of the previous few episodes.
The characters are well written. Shinji is a protagonist that many either despise or love, and personally he fits the series so well I can't think of anyone who would have done a better job of being the protagonist. He's whiny and incompetent, insufferable at times, but all these stems from his broken ego that is perfectly understandable and relatable, even. He reminds me a lot with Punpun from Oyasumi Punpun, both being the icons of depression that they are, and you could tell Anno did put quite a lot of himself into Shinji. However, the supporting cast is also great. Asuka does come off as being unnecessarily egoistical and mean at first, but once her backstory is revealed you perfectly understand why she's the way she is. Rei also does come off as being very strange and antisocial at first, but once you get the full picture it is very understandable. Misato for me at least is definitely the most likable out of the main characters, being very energetic and fun to be with, but also with her fair share of insecurities and issues that everyone in Eva has.
Animation wise, it is pretty good for the 90s, but it's not great or anything. The designs however are iconic, with the Angels' in particular giving off a very eerie vibe. The music is amazing, fitting the various emotions in the series and enhancing them. The Opening in particular, is probably the best I've seen.
Overall, Eva is a story about broken people, and how they deal with their various issues and insecurities, disguised as a mecha anime with great waifus. There's no other anime I've encountered that is similar to Eva; it's just too experimental and unique to be replicated. I implore you to give it a try, and to stick with it even if it doesn't live off to its reputation in its early episodes.