Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion

Evangelion is by far one of the best anime I have seen so far. I was first introduced to this series when I saw the second rebuild movie on Toonami in 2013. I have finally gotten around to seeing the full series this year (2016). What this means is that this show has been hyped for me for at least three years. And the hype has still never died down as I continue to learn more about the world of Evangelion. One of my friends watch this anime around the same time and our almost daily discussions about this is about the only thing thatgets me through a boring school day.

The first thing anyone should now about this show is that it is going to make you work for understanding. If you are not willing to use your brain as you watch this, then just forget about it. It takes a certain type of person to fully enjoy and understand what Evangelion is all about. It takes another type of person would call this pretentious, artsy garbage.

Every character is extremely flawed in one shape or another. which is how the psychological aspect of the show. This is not Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, or FMAB where all the characters are relatively mentally stable and they only need to improve in strength. In Evangelion each character's mental state and decisions in turn effect another character strongly. Out of the all negative reviews of this anime I have read the common thread is that the reviewer did not understand why a character did what he/she did. They forget that this is not a happy show. It focuses heavily on the flaws of humanity. These characters will have regrets and will make mistakes along the way. They are only human after all.

Now the music in this show is absolutely fantastic. Older pop music for the intro, a beautiful classical score through the show, a several beautiful latin jazz arrangements of "Fly Me to the Moon" for the ending, and funk for the preview music. The art, however, due to plenty of budget cuts, is not the best. Evangelion has a look of religious imagery and symbolism. I am not religious at all, but I do appreciate what symbolism is put in. For me, at least, it increases the sense of desperation humans have in Evangelion's world.

I would not hesitate to say this is easily one of the best anime out there. But you will not agree with me if you do not use your mind. Despite what anyone else says this show does make sense and has meaning. All you need to do is work for it.