Genre: Religiophilosophical sci-fi drama with minor elements of mecha, action, comedy, & romance
| Music: | 12 | Plot: | 12 | Characters: | 12 |
| Animation: | 12 | Filler: | N/A | Entertainment Quality: | 12 |
| Overall Score: | 12 |
On September 13th, 2000, a cataclysmic event occurred known as the Second Impact. In this mysterious event, the polar caps evaporated, catastrophic storms raged, and approximately half of the worldwide population perished. But even worse, in the wake of the Second Impact a mysterious race of beings known as Angels have risen for an unknown, yet violent purpose.
Cut to the year 2015. Underneath the fortress city of New Tokyo-3, and built in secret via U.N. funds, the NERV Organization devotes its entire time and energy into understanding and eliminating the threat of the Angels. The flagship weaponry of NERV are the Evangelions, massive robotic replications of an entity known as ADAM, and only capable of being piloted by children born on the eve of the Second Impact. These three children -- the insecure Ikari Shinji, the stoic Ayanami Rei, and the volatile Souryu Asuka Langley -- are the only people standing between mankind and Angelic annihilation. Angels appear, they're deployed in the Evas to destroy them. Simple as that.
However, before too long the seams of this simple story begin to crack. With each passing day and each defeated Angel, new mysteries and conspiracies come to light. It seems that NERV may only be a cover-up for another organization with darker intentions of creating a Third Impact. But how can this be so if the mission of NERV is to destroy the harmful Angels? Somehow the name "Lilith" ties in. And what of the Evangelions? It would seem that there is much more to these weapons than simply soulless machinery. And at the very center of everything, what about the people involved in this "holy war?" The very people whom mankind's fate depends upon seem to be tortured by their own personal demons, and hopelessly spiraling towards self-destruction.
When all is said and done, there can be no happy ending to this story...right?
"When Man's worst enemy is His own tortured soul, self-destruction is His only salvation..."
There are many anime fans who consider Shin Seiki Evangelion to be one of, if not the greatest anime of all time. I'm not ashamed to say I'm one of those people. In every possible way, Evangelion is simply an unbelievably fantastic series.
On the surface, Evangelion seems like a typical mech anime: In the future, giant robots controlled by a secret organization and piloted by teenagers are deployed to save humanity from the threat of an unknown invader. However, this is only the very barest of descriptions. In actuality, Eva is a series of unimaginable depth. The plot is an intricate weaving of stories and the themes are unbelievably thoughtful.
Evangelion is a series that is epic, existential, and pessimistic. It often focuses on the dark side of its characters and infallibly reminds us many, many times that both their futures and their cause are inevitably doomed. However, Eva is by no means a tragedy. While reminding us that the characters are doomed, it also shows us that there is hope for them at the same time. Also, as with any good anime, there's always room for humour and fun. The antics of the Katsuragi apartment are priceless and the interactions of the children are hilarious in the series's early half. The series also gives us plenty of action through the EVAs' conflicts with the Angels. Though Evangelion is far from a fighting anime, these combat sequences are very well done and even outdo most anime that focus strictly on fighting.
The cast of Evangelion is -- bluntly stated -- the best I've ever had the privelage of watching. Never before (and maybe never again) has there ever been such depth in a show's characters. They're so well developed it's almost like watching the daily lives of real people rather than fictional, animated characters. Everyone has their own positive and negative qualities and these qualities are very realistically expressed. Shinji's insecurity, Asuka's need to be recognized, Rei's search for an identity; these are just a bare minimum of examples. Even minor characters like Ibuki Maya and Horaki Hikari are given significant development, as every character in Eva -- majour or minour -- is ultimately important in some way or another.
Evangelion's themes are also extremely important to the overall story. From episode one to episode twenty-six, the complicated concepts tackled by Eva are hard at work. "Who am I?" "Why am I here?" "Am I needed?" "Am I loved?" "Is anything truly as it seems?" "Why must we feel pain?" These are just a few of the questions that Anno set out to answer through Eva from the very beginning. However, Evangelion does much more than just provide one definite answer for each question. Rather, it probes these questions endlessly and provides many alternate answers for them. This is especially apparent in the highly controversial conclusion to the series, which is truly an experience one never forgets.
Looking beyond Evangelion's complicated and convoluted story, the artwork and animation are simply breathtaking. The character designs by Sadamoto Yoshiyuki are seamlessly beautiful while the mech designs of Yamashita Ikuto and Anno Hideaki are undoubtedly the most unique and frightening in all of Japanese animation. The animation, while not the best in anime, is certainly a step up from a typical TV series. Practically OVA quality, Eva's animation is dark and macabre when it's called for and lighthearted & happy on other occasions.
The musical score by composer Sagisu Shirou is absolutely perfect. Even the most insignificant of background music is full of emotion and is used in all the right ways in the series. The opening theme, "Zankoku na Tenshi no Thesis," has been regarded by many otaku as one of the greatest theme songs in existence. And then, of course, there's Eva's infamous use of the Frank Sinatra classic "Fly Me to the Moon," which practically has as many versions as there are episodes of the show itself (though none of these versions actually feature poor Mr. Sinatra in them)!
Evangelion is an extremely controversial series. While there are people like me, who simply love it to death, there are anime fans who find it "too depressing" or "too confusing" and religious groups who bear a strong enmity towards it for its use of religious symbolism. It was also nearly pulled from Japanese airwaves for the "shower of blood" sequence in episode sixteen and an instance in episode twenty for a very provocative scene between Misato and Kaji! Then there's the series's creator, Anno, who was extremely troubled at the time of Eva's development; he invested his life savings into the project and even attempted suicide once or twice during its creation (word has it he's much better now, thankfully). Then of course, there's the infamous two-episode conclusion to Eva that is absolutely nothing like anything you'd ever see in any other anime out there.
Whether you love it or you hate it, the fact remains that Shin Seiki Evangelion is a series that will go down in the history books for both its philosophical depth as well as its infamous controversy. Undoubtedly an anime classic, it's a truly epic series that cannot be overlooked or taken lightly.
