Neon Genesis Evangelion

Wow, where to start with this one? Equal parts brilliant and baffling, inspiring and infuriating, action-packed and navel-gazing, accessible and pretentious, powerfully visionary and hopelessly muddled. You'll either love it or hate it - perhaps both - but you'll never forget it.

Crazy existential apocalypse scifi that takes some anime cliches & shakes them up with religious symbolism & psychological concepts. Despite its often nonsensical & inconsistent ideas it's held together by a driven personal vision. Its clumsiness comes off more like a sincere emotional outreach than vapid pretentiousness. Struggless with its budget but covers for it with creative directing. Kinda fell apart for me by the end but I was encouraged by its utter disregard for audience expectations.

Neither as baffling as its critics would proclaim nor as profound as its most fervent fans. Despite a tendency to drag its feet - I'm not sure why this needed to be nearly 30 episodes - it's a generally gripping action series that toys with some headier philosophical and religious themes but never delves into them too deeply, or in an entirely convincing manner. However, I can forgive Anno et al for their reach exceeding their grasp.

As this is a show that's been talked up by generations of anime fans, there's something I would like to spoil prospective viewers on, in the vaguest, broadest terms I can: This show does not end by resolving all of its plot mysteries and danglers. It becomes more and more focused on intense emotionality as it goes on, to the point of being all about personal emotional catharsis by the end. If that sounds good to you, then go for it!

Spirals inwards, becoming more and more introspective over time until it's too busy having a mental breakdown to progress the narrative in any way. That is its fundamental problem -- and its greatest strength.

One of the rare works of art that is both utterly timeless and so specifically of a certain time (and place). In a year, Evangelion resurrected a dying company from the ashes, enraptured the entirety of Japan and paved the way for the peak of anime artistry in the late 90s. That bubble burst faster than stand-up comedy in the 80s, but there's no greater use for word of mouth than postmodern mecha. There aren't many series that changed the world. This did, perhaps more than any other.

This may appear to be a series about giant robots fighting giant aliens, but really it's about accidentally seeing someone naked.

What always strikes me is how Evangelion just GETS depression in a way few others do. This is of course because Anno is using the series to try and work out his own issues, and he gives the audience a lot to chew on along the way. Compelling fights. Mysteries within mysteries. A group of beautifully flawed characters trying to stay sane while the world unravels. Both extremely personal, and something that speaks to anyone who's ever felt down or alienated. End of Evangelion is the cherry on top.

A weird hybrid of a series suspended somewhere between ambitious sincere personal vision and cringey, adolescent, fanservice crammed mecha anime. The pacing is so slow it's frankly hard to watch. If you want to experience this story go with the feature remakes.

I don't know why so many people take this ridiculous series so seriously.

One of the most polarizing shows to ever exist, even I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's been a long time since I've watched it, but I remember the show had ham-fisted symbolism and visualization with some pretty lame characters. On the other end, I found Shinji to be an interesting lead - someone who is forced to accomplish something immensely important, yet doing so breaks his own mind and his own insecurities make him even less ineffective.

Everyone you love will die.

An emblematic piece of art that is as transcendent as it's gripping. The astuteness of the show is wonderfully complemented with good action, multi-dimensional characters, and a deep commitment to exploring the psyche of the human mind. Though I didn't enjoy the last two episodes as much as I wanted to, it's still an impressive peice of art.

While I absolutely adore the final two episodes, the lead-up to them feels overly elliptical, a whiplash segue from mecha deconstruction to psychoanalytical surrealism that leaves one little room to breathe. The bouts of tit shots and sex humour are lamentable (unless they're ironic?), but thankfully do little to bring down the rest of the series' breathtaking imagery and existential musings. Anno is uncompromising in his auteurism, resulting in a series as timeless as it is confounding.

Really unique anime, both in concept and execution. It starts out as a great mecha anime with a strong emphasis on character, and in the last few episodes goes absolutely bonkers, almost completely abandoning narrative in favor of an abstract deconstruction of its character's psyches. Like I said, it's unique and I love it for that. Still, there are many flaws - among them being the rapid blitz, often at the expense of coherency, through character development in the final episodes.

Most people already identify the late-season twists and characters, but I would just like to highlight the directing and writing. There are some amazingly written and story-boarded episodes that understand the power of less-is-more and aggressive editing to an extent never seen in movies, never-mind cartoons.

Only Ano could manage to subvert all mecha genre trappings, turn what could have been a harem into a psychoanalytical allegory, and make the most polarizing anime around. Even though there are many naysayers, Evangelion is truly a revelatory experience with a diverse cast of characters who function in a apocalyptic plot line that is really only there as decoration. The core of NGE lies in its earnest and ugly depictions of people with a myriad of troubles, and their fight to reach understanding.

S1: 80/100

MWAH MWAH. this is pretty good. the thing is, i still dont rly know what to make of its message tbh. but. it gives me The Hunger for more art like it, encapsulating a feeling indescribable with words and one i deeply crave to see affirmed. and it's soo cool too....

The only anime I've really seen as an adult, and likely the only one I need to watch. Certainly works even in its more light-hearted moments, due to how developed each character is and what they bring to the show, not to mention plenty of terrific animation. Its whole mecha element does get tiresome and feels like the episodes start feeling samey -- until the jaw-dropping last couple of episodes, that are indescribably amazing and memorable.

great series, what a psychological mess it makes you. the last third is straight up a fever dream where reveals and clashes and dreams all come together

I cannot think of another series that is so confused about its own identity and can make that confusing process so evident and fascinating to watch and piece together.

Pure art.

Everyone gets this show but me and I am sad. Some parts were excellent, and some parts were painfully annoying to me. It constantly shifts between intense depression and boobs. There was no real narrative. In a way, I think it was brilliant, but I also didn't make it to the last episode.

I'm in the Neo City ravin I was really in that EVA there. This has my favorite use of title cards ever. My favorite scene is in ep7 when Shinji types in the password "Hope" and it denies him as the lights turn red and that beautiful theme plays. I'm not saying I need to see anime titties, but if your going to show me them don't you dare erase the nipples, Netflix. I might have to buy the box set now

I'm a sucker for all the weird freudian stuff in this

Stopped at E09. Anime mecha robots are not my thing. Especially if actoin scenes are so out of reality.

A-

Made it 7 episodes in before giving up.

A masterful existential series, flaws and all.

Last two episodes make the drag of the first 15 worth your while. Personally, I can't get enough of it when writing on a show resembles a solo improv on a jazz band and I suspect these last two episodes going absoultely bonkers are among the best ones I have seen.

NGE is utterly unique that's for sure, but not always for the right reasons. I was uncertain but intrigued for the first half of the series and the quirky humour and relationships held my interest enough to see where the story would go. Unfortunately while NGE is tonally confused throughout, the series disappears up it's own ass (possibly literally, I can't quite work it out) in the final episodes and lost me completely making me question the point of sitting through the previous 15 hrs.

Watched about ten episodes. Couldn't get into it because of the main character. Looked promising though

Incrível

Most of it seems to make little if any sense, especially in the second half, I have no idea whats meant to be happening in all the subplots. But its all mostly forgiven for how cool EVA and the action and the general look and style.

A mixture of the tropes of the genre and a final attempt at philosophical scifi with some very poetic structure. All in all very elusive, it tries to tackle too many topics at the same time (or beats about the bush of its main topic) and features a lot of loose ends, of extremely unclear topics/characters. It is thus very hard to interpret. Is it a failure or a direct display of the fact that 'it's impossible to understand somebody else'? In the end, I see it as pseudo-profound BS.

Pretty good and comfy.

imma run up to AOT and slap em and ask em where they got their damn raps from. i liked the art a lot. sometimes they did really cool things like the classical sync or the eva eating the angel. way too much pervy stuff. the ending was so sloppy and rushed, the movie better fix that. i loved when asaka got introduced and then it was like beyblade lool but that never really got going

A classic piece of anime that might be just a biiiit overrated now days. Still fairly solid and enjoyable, but the remake movies are much better imo.

Thank god they made an actual ending for this.

x0 Need to rewatch

Fairly top-heavy series. I would say to look at the series as the necessary build-up so that you can move onto the quality End of Evangelion and Rebuild movies (at least the first two).