Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion

Evangelion. One of the craziest things I have ever watched. It’s really hard doing a review about this show. But I’ll try my best to do it without any spoiler. First off, I want to tell you—the reader, that I have only watched the series last two weeks. So I’m not particular with the movies and the upcoming ones. So my knowledge about the whole thing is limited. So please enlighten me if I make (will make, surely) a mistake, ok? Will be happy if you teach this uninformed dummy here. So I will start my honest review about the show. Story: 8 Everybody loves Shinji-Kun’s dad—Ikari Gendou.The end. Jk. Only half, though. Kidding aside, the story’s about Ikari Shinji, a 14-year-old kid who’s got serious introvert problems. He is forced to pilot a giant, human-like robot named, Eva(s), to combat Angels. Angels have started to descend from the unknown, not the Angels with flashy, feathery wings which were depicted from the Bible. But Angels who are Alien-like life forms, in colossal, if not, massive sizes. Yes, Aliens named as Angels. As to why they’re named Angels, I don’t have a clue. Shinji doesn’t have a clue what these things are, neither was he briefed about it. Long story short, his * insert insult here * Father, Ikari Gendou, called him to go to the facility and pilot the thing himself, because the city is under attack by an Angel. Shinji, furious to hear the reason why he was called, didn’t want to pilot the Eva. That’s basically the gist of it. I don’t want to end up summarizing the first 5 episodes. Ok, a feedback on Evangelion’s story. First things first, I enjoyed most of the episodes; It’ll make you excited, laugh, scratch your head a little, cry a bit. Not until the later episodes, which will crack you up like a pistachio nut. Why? I’ve been asking that myself, even after finishing the show, I still do. Yes, it’s that mind-boggling. Some say, “Evangelion’s ending is the crappiest thing that ever happened in the history of Anime”. Surely, it was a shocker, and I didn’t expect that to happen, nor did anyone. I was bitch-slapped-surprised of what happened. Anyhow, Evangelion’s story is different from Anime(s) these days—wait, let me rephrase that, Evangelion’s a “LOT” different from Anime(s) these days. There are many reasons why it differs from the shows these days. The show didn’t rely on bouncing bewbs to attract viewers, just skin-tight-tights. Just kidding. It’s because of the unique (?) plot, unexpected ending, and mind-boggling theories about the perspective of life that’ll change your view about it instantaneously.

Art: 8
Considering that the show came out when I was just a 4-year-old toddler, its ‘effing marvelous! Many shows didn’t have Evangelion’s art at that time. It’s impressive that they manage to make their art that good those days. But it can still rival some shows’ art these days. It might be the best drawn classic Anime show I have ever watched.

Characters: 9
Let’s see, characters in Evangelion come’s in all shapes, colors, sizes, and personality! We have an, introvert (Ikari Shinji), an emotionless white-as-snow-kid (Ayanami Rei), an attention-whore (Asuka Langley), an itchy-whore (Misato), mom and daughter who’s obsessed with one guy with a family, and the most insensitive parent you’ll ever see, a womanizer, a war-geek, a class-representative-who-we-all-know-would-be-in-love-with-an-idiot-character, an idiot character, bunch of crazy-weird-ass Angels, and finally, a Penguin named, Pen-Pen. Did you imagine all of those elements being blend together!? No, right? I mean, it’s like a freak-show of personalities! Anyhow, I liked every single character Evangelion had. They have their unique traits which separates them with the others, and compliments with the others. It’s a perfect blend.

Music: 9
Although, there are only two music for the whole 26 episodes, I loved it. Cruel Angel Thesis has been a national anthem for me (stupid trivia: Katsura Hinagiku from Hayate no Gotoku! has a version of it, check it out if you like). Fly me to the moon is a classic adored by many, so it adds up to the greatness of the music (for me).

Enjoyment: 8
Did I enjoy Evangelion? Yes and maybe. Yes, because it was entertaining, brain-clenching, and maybe because I haven’t watched any shows for about a month or two. Nevertheless, it really entertained me, not that much, though. It’s not on my “must-watch” list, but definitely a good watch.

Overall: 9
A score of 8 is pretty feasible for Evangelion. Far from being perfect, and way far to be ugly, too. Thoughts like “Why am I even watching this?” and “What the crap is happening?” crossed my mind, not once, but a lot of times. Evangelion’s great, great at making the viewer feel what the characters are feeling. It’ll make you laugh, cry, and hate (this particular emotion ran through me throughout the series). I was up to the point of cursing someone in the show for being an insensitive bastard, I wanted to go inside the show and shoot that motherf***** right in the face. I was swayed emotionally by the show, it was a good thing, I think? I’ve felt how Ikari’s feeling at times, sure, it won’t doesn’t sound surreal—but I kind of understand him. Evangelion is way, waaaaaaaaaaay far off from all the “generic” shows out there. To tell you the truth, I was a lot disappointed about how the show ended. If you ask me, honestly, I think they made the ending like that just to make lots of alternate endings on it. I mean, with that kind of “world-self theory (a self-term I stupidly invented)”, they can make hundreds, if not, thousands of alternate stories about it. Not that I hate what they’ve done. It’s just that… It’s frustrating. I mean, all that 20+ epic episodes just for that ending? I can’t imagine the look on the faces of those who watched the series on free TV. It must have been really pissed them off. But hey, don’t let a nobody like me decide for you if it’s good or not. Try it out yourself.