Evangelion

The story takes place during the year AD 2015, a time when the world is recovering from the melting of the Antarctic Polar Ice Cap -- the planetwide catastrophe known as the Second Impact.

Entities called Angels suddenly strike Tokyo-3, a specially planned city under construction in the Hakone area. The Angel's identity and objectives are unknown. What is known is that they challenge the human race with an array of configurations and unusual powers.

Mankind's only means of fighting back against these mysterious foes is the Multi-Purpose Humanoid Fighting Machine called Evangelion. Shinji Ikari, the series' main character, is one of three young people chosen by NERV, a special agency directly attached to the United Nations, to be operators of the Evangelion.

I personally think the mecha designs here are the best that I've ever seen, maybe with the exception of Wing from Gundam Wing. Or maybe that's just because I like the character designs of Gundam Wing a little better. Who wouldn't like seeing 5 bishounens? ^^ OK, back to Evangelion. As for the story itself, I'd like to quote Animerica Magazine: "In the early episodes, Evangelion's greatest claims to originality were in its stunning visuals, attractive character designs and exciting battles. But in the series' second half, the focus changed course from the merely psychological toward the frankly psychiatric." What more can I say? By the last episodes, we see Misato shooting Kaji, Commander Ikari shooting Ritsuko, Shinji wanting to die (of course, when did he not want to die?), and Asuka going crazy. Oops. I just told you all the spoilers. Eeks! But seriously, the last 2 episodes, as well as the endings to the movies, were really, really weird. Or maybe I just don't have the capacity to enjoy a few hours of purely philosophical impressionistic mumbo-jumbo.

Click here to learn more about the characters.