Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion

Number of Episodes: 26 (about 20 minutes an episode) Plot: A+ The year is 2015 and humanity is at war with an alien species known as the Angels. Shinji Ikari is brought to Tokyo-3 by his father Gendo Ikari who is the leader of NERV which is the organization tasked with defeating the Angels. He is tasked with learning how to pilot a giant bio-mechanism known as an Eva (Evangelion) unit to combat the Angel threat. The show follows the pilots of the Evangelions, their leaders, how they confront the Angels, and the emotional consequences that come from it all. Mix in a leader with dishonestor unknown intentions and we've got a lot of intrigue that will keep the viewers guessing until the very end. And even after the end. And even after the reboot movies. And even after a second viewing. And even after watching hours of videos on YouTube explaining the lore behind it. Think of Neon Genesis Evangelion as two small buns desperately trying to hold the most delicious scoop of pulled pork together but failing miserably as it spills all over the plate. It's still delicious, but there is so much packed into just 26 episodes it's impossible to understand. And yet, we all try and fail. It's an emotional gut-punch brilliantly put together with so much lore that it practically begs you to do additional research so you can immerse yourself into the world of EVA which I have shamelessly done.

Visuals: A+ *Even though Evangelion at times has way more fanservice than needed, at times doesn't fully flesh out character faces with detail, and at times, holds images still due to the fact that the production and the planning were so out of whack that they were literally running out of ink by the series end, this is still one of the most visually striking shows that you'll ever watch. The Evangelion units aren't just your average mecha suits. They are synthetics that have a menacing aura of their own. And they look absolutely terrifying. Especially when they go Berserk. But most importantly, Hideaki Anno and company do something that I wish most animators would do when they animate their shows: he animates it as if he were making a live-action film. There are so many gorgeous shots in this show you could picture a cinematographer holding a camera and taking a shot of the scenes were taking place. Due to funding and by design, NGE takes its time trudging through scenes giving the viewer time to stare at beautiful stills, which coincidentally helped to give the show the iconic look that so many other shows try to emulate. But it's not just the fact that Evangelion takes the time to pause on these stills, it's hoe they are framed too. The body language of the characters, the placement of objects between characters to make them feel more distant than they are from each other, and the timing of these pauses which makes these already emotional moments linger and build up. Anno animates what a lot of nuanced directors shoot in their live-action films and because of his perspective, Neon Genesis Evangelion has such an iconic look and feel.

Voice Acting: B- *So here's the thing, the Netflix dub I think does the side characters better than the original dub does, but the main character voices are better with the original dub. So it's frustrating that Netflix didn't bother trying to get them to recast it for their version. I also listened to the original Japanese version and I find the voices to be good, but once again, the voice acting of the main trio in my eyes is superior in the original dub. So when my friends inevitably ask me which version to watch, I'll tell them to watch whichever they want to. But I will always hold a special place for the original dub despite the first few episodes being especially bad with Spike Spencer and Allison Keith slowly starting to make the characters their own. As for Rei, Amanda Winn Rei has a hauntingly cool and mellow voice. The voice is basically the female equivalent of L from Death Note which therefore puts it up there amongst my favorite voices ever! The voices start out of rough, but if you can trudge through it, then you will be well-rewarded by series end. Just don't say that I didn't warn you with how bad the voice acting is in the first three episodes. From episodes 4 and on, the majority of the bad voice acting is behind you. And upon my first viewing, I really didn't like Tiffany Grant's voice and Asuka's character. But it grew on me and her performance in the last two episodes (and in the movie especially more on that later) is especially impressive.

Film Score/Soundtrack: A+ Each of the three volumes of the soundtrack are amazing. If it wasn't for Cowboy Bebop being the pinnacle of anime soundtracks, this would be the anime soundtrack that I take on a desert island with me. Evangelion is a perfect mix of atmospheric, epic, and tragic music. There are so many incredible pieces in the score and Anno sure picks some fantastic composers to use in the soundtrack as well. I fall in love with the score every time I listen to it.

***My favorite track: (I have to cheat for this section. I will do 1 favorite during the time the show was upbeat and the other is when the show gets "trippy")

Upbeat: Misato
(Everytime this played, I couldn't help but roll my eyes, smile and then prepare for whatever shenanigans was about to play on the screen. I actually got sad when this familiar song that makes me think of playful bantering at the dinner table didn't play during most of the final episodes and was really happy when it did in Episode 26 no matter how odd that whole sequence was.

Atmospheric: Borderline Case
(every time Shinji, Rei, Asuka, or Misato went on their mental journeys and this percussion tribal-esque song would play, my mind would enter the perfect state of zen and join in with them. Obviously not really, but this is an awesome song that one can easily find themselves lost to the music to.)

Characters: A+ *Neon Genesis Evangelion is an existentialist series that delves into the psyches of the main characters who are living in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic world experiencing different sorts of trauma and stress while still trying to recover from emotional wounds that have yet to heal despite the passage of time. To call this show a mere character study would be an understatement. This show is about dissecting the inner turmoil within each of our protagonists, finding out what their insecurities are and why they are in pain and then continuing to put these people in a dangerous and trauma-inducing environment as these feelings of self-hatred, mistrust, lack of self-worth, and loneliness start to fester up within them.

1) Misato Katsuragi: I loved Misato on my first viewing, and upon my second, I realized she was not just my favorite Evangelion character, but one of my favorite characters in all of fiction period. Despite a less than stellar introduction (with her being shown to be a slobby purple-haired babe with more fanservice frames than necessary) Misato is a fully fleshed-out character that is so easy to root for. Gendo might be the cold-blooded mastermind of NERV, but it's Misato who gets the results done. Hell, half the time when Angels attack, Misato is the one in charge and she has to come up with impossible strategies and get everyone to execute them despite the odds being against them. She's hardly ever the smartest person in the room, but she always finds a way to win through sheer determination and because people respond to her because she always has the best interests of those around her in mind, and in most cases, she tends to have the moral high ground. Since we as viewers are left in the dark for most of the series of the true intentions of SEELE and NERV, knowing that their actions are pissing Misato off is enough to know that they are up to no good. Things start tumbling down (tumbling down tumbling) as NERVS secrets start to get unveiled and Misato experiences a huge personal loss and her world seems to be falling apart as well as her surrogate family that she tried to establish with Shinji and Asuka. It's depressing to watch something Misato worked so hard to keep fall apart in such a short frame of time and even worse to see how she tries to fix her relationship with Shinji. But even so, despite her actions crossing a line she has no business crossing, Misato cared for Shinji and Asuka until the very end and was willing to die for them both doing whatever she could to ensure their safety. Misato is a flawed but honest to God, good person. And I love her because of it.

2) Shinji Ikari: Detractors of the show are too harsh on Shinji. It doesn't help that Shinji pouts like a baby and runs away multiple times, but he goes through so much trauma and is asked to do messed up things by his emotionally abusive father. It's a shame that Shinji was so desperate for a decent father figure in his life because his self-confidence becomes so shot that Shinji doesn't give himself enough credit for the impressive feats that he pulls off in this series. I honestly think that if Kaji stayed in the show longer, he would have been a good influence for Shinji and would have helped him to cope with the horrors that they face in episodes 16 and on. Because prior to them, Shinji was just a socially-awkward boy that was experiencing sexual desires for the first time and was starting to get some confidence even without his father's approval. He was just starting to enjoy teasing Asuka before the shadow captured him leading to the change in tone of the series that would only continue to fester. Upon my rewatch, I realized how much more confident Shinji was and how well he develops as a character. He gets too much shit due to how whiney he is in the first few episodes. But Spike Spencer really comes into his own as Shinji and he is a fantastic protagonist that I find myself relating to with his timid nature and his apologizing even when he's done nothing wrong. Asuka would probably yell and berate me for this sort of behavior haha

3) Rei Ayanami: As stated earlier, the best voice award goes to Rei for having such a unique monotone voice. It is both unsettling, and soothing. And since she doesn't talk much and is ok with awkwardly long periods of silence passing by (see "the elevator" scene), when she does decide to speak outside of acknowledging a command, a person nearby tends to listen. Unfortunately, Rei due to not quite being "normal" doesn't quite know how to perform traditional human interactions. The more time she spends with Shinji though, the more human her character seems to become. And up until the twist (I totally predicted it!), I was shipping Rei and Shinji together. But yeah, the show doesn't let things stay happy and hopeful for long. It's a lonely world, and Rei is a character that might be the loneliest of them all since she doesn't know how to be anything but alone. Her experiencing tears for the first time and not knowing the cause of it is really fascinating and it really makes you wonder if a soul is required to make someone human. Rei might never get to experience true emotional connections with others, but it was good to see her bond for Shinji grow throughout the show despite Shinji's confidence being shaken after the big reveal. She isn't a puppet and her breaking free is one of the most satisfying moments in the End of Evangelion movie.

4) Gendo Ikari: The mysterious leader of NERV. He has a lot of responsibilities on his plate yet has his own end game. He is an extremely manipulative person that will do whatever it takes to ensure that his ends meet. Even in the backstory episode, his story remains a mystery to the viewer other than the fact that he once was capable of loving. He talks of achieving the Human Instrumentality Project but for what purpose? And why does he feel the need to be so cold and cruel to his own son? Thankfully, these questions are answered in End of Evangelion. However, even without them, Gendo is an intimidating presence that makes it easy to empathize with Shinji for his fear and hatred of his father. Yet at the same time, we see Gendo perform some pretty incredible acts such as when he freed Rei from the entry plug and burns his hands in the process. (When Shinji does the same later on and we see Rei smile ughhhhh my heart! One of my favorite moments in the show) or when Gendo helped to manually launch the EVA units all because he had faith that Shinji and the other children would arrive in time. In crunch time, Gendo can be an absolute beast that you don't want to mess with. I wish we got to see him fight against SEELE.

5) Asuka Langley Soryu: It's funny. I hated Asuka upon my first viewing of the show. I was new to anime and had no idea what the concept of a tsundere was. And much like Shinji, I had no idea that Asuka liked him. Even when it got super obvious. I think I have more in common with Shinji than I originally thought lol! But anyway, upon my rewatching of the series I came to realize, Evangelion was a lot funnier than I remembered it being. And Asuka is a big part of that reason. Episodes 8-13 change the tone of the series when Asuka was introduced since the episodes become a monster of the week sort of event which keeps the plot trodding forward slowly but allows us time to develop the characters as they deal with these frightening scenarios. The way that Rei and Asuka are polar opposites of each other in personality makes for a lot of comedy that I missed out on the first time due to me being so annoyed with Asuka and her antics. But Asuka ends up having one of the strongest character arcs in the show and one of the most epic redemption moments in the history of cinema in the End of Evangelion movie which makes my respect for her jump up astronomically.

6) Ryoji Kaji: At first, he seems a little rapey with Misato, and I didn't like that he teased her with his flirtations with Ritsuko and #secretbestgirl Maya Ibuki, but the more we get to know he is a good influence on Shinji and doesn't take advantage of Asuka despite her literally being all over him, you start to appreciate him both at his profession, but even moreso as one of the only positive male influences in the lives of our the Evangelion surrogate family.

Cringeworthy Anime Moments: I am devoting this section to a phenomenon that has always bugged me in anime but I never knew what to call it: fanservice.

*Fanservice is defined as material in a work of fiction or in a fictional series which is intentionally added to please the audience. But to put the material that I am talking about into perspective, Neon Genesis Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno at one point promised the viewers that he would provide "every episode...something for the fans to drool over”. The fan service in Eva is well-documented and I'm sure has inspired many types of less reputable "cartoons" online.

And as a person who desperately wants to find a friend to watch the same tv shows and movies as I do, it's not easy to introduce them to something when the drawings can be so pornographic that being caught at the wrong time will make your cheeks get as red as Shinji's. What makes it worse is that Asuka, Rei, and Shinji are all referred to as "the children" and are treated as such by NERV personnel and Misato. So having these super-tight plug-suits that really exaggerate the curves in Asuka and Rei's figures certainly doesn't help the case of showing a newcomer this show. But the good news is, for the most part, the fanservice in this show is both pretty self-aware and it makes sense because it comes from Shinji's perspective. He's a growing boy hitting puberty who is unsure with how he feels about the changes going on in his life physically, emotionally, and environmentally. So in his scenes with Asuka, the drawings of her breasts tend to look significantly bigger than they would when she's alone with Kaji which really emphasizes that she's still just a kid. That doesn't make the thought of a 14-year-old being drawn to look sexy any less weird, especially when she baits Shinji by touching herself in one scene purposefully drawing his attention to her breasts to elicit a reaction. (I think Rei being drawn naked is different because for the most part outside of a shadowy silhouette of her getting undressed, which again was from Shinji's perspective, she was drawn tastefully) However, this does have an incredible payoff since it leads to two of the funniest moments in the entire show. And by the end of these light-hearted Asuka-centric episodes, the fanservice pretty much dies down in Evangelion but it doesn't stop Misato from promising the fans fanservice after most episodes as usual which is a fun meta tradition to start.

Opening Titles: A+ The moment that Neon Genesis’ opening theme song’s (for lack of better term) “dance beat” started playing when the DVD went to the main menu, I knew that this was going to be a bop that I would want to relive again and again with each episode.

Closing Titles: You'd think I'd grow old of hearing different variations of "Fly Me to the Moon" at the end of every episode, but you'd be wrong. Why Netflix wouldn't push harder for the rights to have this play at the end of their show I will never know.

Final Verdict: 9/10 Neon Genesis Evangelion is the Blade Runner of anime. Both are considered by most to be technical masterpieces despite having so many imperfections. Both are highly influential in their respective mediums. And both have gone through retooling whether it was from a Director's Cut and then ultimately a final cut for Blade Runner or by adding an ending movie and a rebuiild series of films for Neon Genesis Evangelion. But the similarities don't stop there for me. When people think Blade Runner, they think of it's gorgeous lighting, Vangelis' iconic film score, and Rutger Hauer's legendary "Tears in Rain" speech. As for Evangelion, when I think of it, I don't think of robots fighting monsters, I think about the gorgeous artwork and stills with the suffocating and lonely atmosphere. I think of the emotionally vexing film score and I think of the inner turmoil the pilots all feel as they go on their surreal journeys of self-discovery. And what makes it even more magical is that these things that I love about Blade Runner and Evangelion carry on to every other show that I see.

Whenever I see a movie with cyberpunk aesthetics, I'll think of Blade Runner. Whenever I hear a mellow sax playing a moody blues song, as a captivating atmospheric song plays, I'll think of Blade Runner.

Whenever I am watching a show and there is a long silence followed by the sounds of cicadas chirping or the sound of a train alarm blaring telling passengers to back away, I think of Evangelion. Evangelion is far from the only anime that I've watched to feature that same alarm noise or that same sound of cicadas, so why do those noises strictly remind me of Eva? Much like Blade Runner, the atmosphere in Evangelion is so powerful and distinct from anything else that I've seen that it's forever engraved in my mind as something that originated from the Evangelion universe whether or not that is true or not. It's small things like this that makes me realize how much I love this show.

But as I said, Evangelion is far from perfect. The beginning episodes really do have bad voice acting. There is a lot of over-the-top fanservice and there is so much pseudo-science jargon thrown out in this show you sometimes can only laugh at how ridiculous it all is. It takes to episode 15 for the show to truly evolve from being a highly stylized mecha to what makes Neon Genesis Evangelion what it is. That is where the show takes a deep psychological turn making the viewer become more invested in the characters as their psyche turns for the worst giving the show the ultimate feeling of loneliness. Evangelion is an incredible experience that I hope people don't get turned away from Netflix's mishandling of the series and with the initially bad voice acting.