Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion
So, its another 10/10 review of NGE, shocking I know. I know that EVA can be a contentious series, and I can definitely see how someone could find many flaws in EVA that detract from the experience or prevent it from reaching the heights of its potential. Obviously, I disagree with those assessments, as the score most likely informed you of, but I do acknowledge them as valid. So with that out of the way, let's get to the meat of this review. Oh and Spoilers of course. Story: 10/10 Set in 2015 after a fairly convoluted series of disasters has completely upended the status quoon Earth, the series follows Shinji Ikari and his fellow EVA pilots as they struggle to save humanity from the impending threat of complete and utter destruction by the Angels, giant monsters that attack Tokyo-3 with the objective of yadda yadda you probably know this stuff if not by watching the show then by cultural osmosis by now. All I can really say is that I find the plot of EVA to be very interesting, it went in directions that I did not expect it to, and the world that it created remains one of my all time favorites. I like pretty much every arc in EVA, heck even the much-debated final 2 episodes hold a special place in my heart.
Art: 6/10
EVA did not have the budget to fully realize its potential, that much is clear when your final episode consists of people sitting in chairs and concept art. But when EVA goes all out on its art, it really delivers. Some of the fight scenes remain impressive even today, and I am still awed by the detail that is put into the EVAs and the Angels. It's too bad that they lacked the budget to fully realize their vision, but without that budget restraint we might not have gotten the final two episodes, and while some would reasonably consider that to be an improvement, I would not. But in my opinion what we did get in EVAs film, End of Evangelion more than makes up for the loss of the art quality in my opinion, but on its own, this is definitely the section of EVA I consider the weakest.
Sound: 8/10
I'm not exactly an audiophile, so please take this section as a layman's impression rather than a serious analysis of the soundscape that EVA sports. All I can really say is that the composition is great sometimes, decisive battle in particular sticks out as a good track. The EVAs and Angels sound pretty much perfect in my opinion, and the various sound effects range from pretty mediocre to excellent.
Characters: 10/10
I really like the characters of EVA, if you couldn't tell by the score. Shinji, Asuka, and Rei are some of my favorite characters ever, Shinji in particular. And the supporting cast is very strong on its own. But this is a very subjective matter, and if you have a low tolerance for complaining or mopey characters, then EVA will become old fast. Ultimately how much you will enjoy the characters rests on how well you connect them to the themes of EVA as a whole. If you consider them well executed, as I do, then it's hard to imagine better characters to explore the story of EVA from. If you consider the themes of EVA to be inherently bad, or at least badly executed, well then I can definitely see the characters becoming a low point of the series.
Enjoyment: 10/10
The enjoyment I receive from EVA is closely related to its themes, which I consider to be masterfully executed. EVA is, of course, a deconstruction of the mecha genre, and I highly recommend that you have some experience with the Genre before diving in as in my opinion, without said experience much of the Meat of EVA would be harder to grasp.
Overall: 10/10
I find it hard to put my love of EVA into words, but I've attempted my best with this review anyways. I realize that I haven't gone very in depth in any section of this review, and that is mostly due to my inexperience in writing reviews. But I had a need to put my opinion on EVA out there, if only to attempt to explain why I like it so much to myself. I hope this review helped you in whether or not you want to watch EVA, and thank you for reading it.