(CCR Original Content) Neon Genesis Evangelion Review [No Spoilers with Spoiler Section Below Picture]
(7/10)
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a Japanese apocalyptic/psychological drama/mecha anime series produced by Gainax and Tatsunoko Production with producers Noriko Kobayashi and Yutaka Sugiyama. It was directed by Hideaki Anno, with music by Shiro Sagisu and originally broadcast in 1995-1996. The series was licensed by Netflix.
In 2015, Shinji Ikari is summoned by his estranged father Gendo Ikari, director of special paramilitary force Nerv, to the futuristic city of Tokyo-3. It has been 15 years since a global cataclysm known as the Second Impact wiped out half of the human race. Nerv agent Misato Katsuragi escorts Shinji into the Nerv complex beneath the city, where along the way he witnesses United Nations forces battling an Angel. Angels are giant monstrous beings with near-impenetrable force-fields and his father pressures him into piloting the Evangelion Unit-01 to fight against the Angel. Evangelions are Nerv's giant bio-machines possessing their own force-fields and are the only weapons keeping the Angels from annihilating humanity.
This show will always have a special place in my heart. It was one of the original popular animes I remember first seeing when I was younger and probably the first involving giant robots or mecha. I was excited to hear that it was being added to the Netflix library because I would get to re-watch it and see how it held up, as well as better understand the story because I really didn't remember much other than giant robots fighting. I was surprised to see how much of the story was actually about the main character Shinji and his mental state of being and how fighting in the Evangelions was affecting him, also how he dealt with his feelings about things like his father, girls, friendships and other aspects of his life. I was a little taken aback by how complicated the whole plot was with the Angels and how they tried to explain it. It still doesn't make sense to me all the way. But the animation still looked awesome, and in a lot of ways the story of the characters held up nicely. I think I understand people's complaints about the translation being off or not correct but it didn't really bother me. I'm not big on subs or dubs in either way. I think I prefer dubs to subs because it allows me to enjoy the animation more without having to look down but I can get into subs just as easily. As much as people hold this anime up as a masterpiece or must see, I don't hold it on that same level. It is an anime you should see if you've never seen it though. But I believe I enjoyed the movies more than the actual anime series. And I definitely know why fans were upset about the finale or last 2 episodes. I give this anime a 7/10.
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Spoiler Review Section:
Re-watching this anime kind of threw me for a loop. I guess I had never really seen the actual anime series and just seen parts or some of the movies. I liked how the series expanded the story of the movies and how it showed more character development and interaction between the characters than I remember. It was also kind of weird and awkward how I don't remember so much of it having to do with Shinji being at the age where he's going through puberty and interest in girls and there being a lot of context that went over my head when I was younger. That being said a lot of that held up quite well for this anime being dated. The thing I didn't like was it didn't really answer the questions I had about the Angels, where they were coming from, what were they, and what was there purpose for attacking. I remember them saying something about them having human DNA or something but that's all I remember. The giant mecha fights were just as good as I remember but with one difference, I didn't remember that they had to have a cord to be plugged in for power. That did give it a different dynamic from most other robot anime I've seen where they can operate forever or don't run out of gas/fuel. I also didn't remember Rei's character being so dull, to me she didn't really have much personality or character development. And totally didn't remember about the boys that he made friends with every came out again let alone one was chosen to pilot an Evangelion. All in all it has it's pros and cons but is definitely a must see for fans of anime and mecha, especially if they've never seen it before. So once again I give it a 7/10.