Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion

"If you need to explain what something symbolizes, it doesn't."--Roger Ebert I know that quote probably gets thrown around a lot by NGE's critics, but I have never seen a series that is the literal embodiment of that phrase until this time. I had heard from a few reviews about how pretentious and nonsensical NGE truly is before I decided to judge for myself and watch it, but nothing could prepare me for how much of a mess it was. Is it the worst anime ever made? Not by a long shot! There are times where I was genuinely sympathizing with the characters and kind of understoodwhatever metaphor the writers were going for in a particular scene, but later that symbolism would be cancelled out by something nonsensical or it would suddenly start repeating time after time in a moment that made me realize the writers/animators were just trying to pad for time to fight the show's infamous limited budget while pretending they were saying something deep. And in regards to my sympathy with the characters, any development they may have appeared to go through in a few episodes is quickly cancelled out by the next one for the sake of drama, and they--particularly Shinji--are back to wallowing in their self-pity and screaming about how much they hate themselves and are too self-centered to see how those they are relying on to survive truly care about them.

Certain themes are repeated so often that they completely lose their meaning and key plot points aren't revealed until the series is only a few episodes from ending, leading to a confusing climax where many characters either become a murderer for seemingly no reason or are revealed to be an indirect murderer, making me suddenly go from disliking to outright hating pretty much every main member of the cast. And it's never resolved. The single message in the final episode that is mostly a whole lot of lazy and static but trussed-up storyboard sketches for "animation" in an attempt to look artsy is, "You need to accept yourself for who you are."

Yes, I got that very early on in the series. SO WHY DIDN'T SHINJI SEE THAT WHEN HE FINALLY HAD PEOPLE WHO CARED ABOUT HIM???

So many character arcs are suddenly dropped in favor of the MC stand-in for depressed teens who probably have a much better life than they allow themselves to see, and it all ends completely loose. Was it due to budget restrictions? Corporate sabotage? I'm sure you can find the answer somewhere online, but until I see the movie I can safely say that this is the most unsatisfying ending I have ever seen.

And what the heck was NERV doing using children with severe mental disorders to fight the angels, who for some reason never attack in sync to easily wipe out humanity--not even as a pair? And speaking of the angels, the amount of pointless religious symbolism is so ridiculous that it can only be described as hysterical. It has been confirmed by the series' writer himself that he only put it in there to look cool, as Western religion is looked at as exotic in the East, much the same as Eastern religion is over here.

Aside from Code Geass, I have never seen a series full of more pointless philosophical gibberish, which is only there to appear intelligent despite it only saying, "Man tries to make itself a God but is only racing toward destruction by doing it," about three or four times. The only reason I can confidently say that NGE is better than that absurdly overrated disaster is because at least a few of its themes have some genuine value and several characters are sympathetic for a while before being swallowed up in its own pretentious nihilism. Much the same as Code Geass, though, it tries way too hard to appear intelligent despite having no idea how to do it in the first place, and far too many characters become atrocious abominations of human beings all for the sake of drama or an out-of-character plot twist.

I can appreciate NGE like an old 1900's-1950's Pulp novel. A lot of good ideas are presented but are not properly utilized because the author was too inexperienced or relied way too much on previously established tropes to sell an easily digestible product. And much like Pulp novels, it influenced its particular genre to expand to new horizons of creativity and thought that had not been previously considered.

Is any of NGE good? Maybe if you're somehow invested enough in the reams of lore made up after the series' initial airdate. Otherwise, I can just be satisfied I finally saw a cornerstone in Japanese media that is supposedly a Rite of Passage for anime fans.

But after watching "The End of Evangelion," I won't ever be bothered to see another second of NGE content. Smoking-hot British waifu notwithstanding.