Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion

I went in to Evangelion with the assumption it was an overrated anime exclusively loved by pretentious hipsters with a deep hatred for 21st century anime. But by the end of it I can honestly say it is in my top 5 shows of all time. This anime definitely isn't for everyone, but i'll try to explain why I loved it so much. PLOT (8/10) The basic plot follows a "monster of the week" style, in which a new giant more powerful angel levels the city on a weekly basis and is then destroyed by a screaming 14 year old in a giant robot. (Notthe most appealing premise I know, considering this is considered an "intellectual" anime by many). There are also plenty of ridiculous moments, such as sniping a giant cube with all the country's electric and synchronized dancing (yes really)

However the show has some very good action scenes as you would expect from the genre. There is also a good element of mystery in the series as the characters begin to question what the eva's and angels actually are. The show has many shining moments and continually improves as the show goes on, with my personal favorites being episodes 13, 16,18, 19, 23 and 24. The film "End of Evangelion" is also necessary to watch after the show is over in order to get full closure on the plot (it's awesome to).

CHARACTERS (10/10)
A lot of people will hate the characters of evangelion because of how flawed the pilot's personalities are (i.e. they're whining little shits) However it was just how flawed each character was that really made me love the show. Each character is a psychological mess, clearly suffering from a complete cocktail of mental disorders including: Post Traumatic Stress, Parental Issues and a self esteem level in the third floor basement. Watching each of the characters scrape together their shattered psyche and stay sane just long enough to delay the apocalypse another week was incredibly interesting, particularly towards the end of the show where they truly begin to totally break down.

ANIMATION (6/10)
This is arguably the weakest point of the show, the series came out in 1995 so naturally the art style is very dated and unappealing to those not used to older anime. The quality of the animation varies a lot, with the fight scenes being amazingly fluid, especially for the time. But as the budget runs out we're left with long still shots descending into basically audio only.

SOUNDTRACK (7/10)
The opening song is very good and suits the anime well with its fast moving visuals. The ending however is a still shot and an "engrish" song that doesn't suit my personal tastes. The rest of the OST is fairly decent (even if a certain song was a james bond rip off)

ENJOYMENT (10/10)
Not much more to say here as I hope I've explained why I personally like it so much, I hope you do to.