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by Gwynn Grandy
It took four tries before I finally got to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion all the way through. But boy was
it worth the hassle.
In a post-apocalyptic world, Mecha (giant anime robots) called EVAs are piloted by teenagers who
must fight the invasion of alien life forms mysteriously nicknamed "Angels."
This is the best Mecha series, period. The robots designs are cool, the fight scenes beautifully done, and
it has the background story lacking in many of the more straightforward Mecha series. Too often I have seen
series where it seems the only reason there is an enemy is as an excuse to use cool robots. The reasons why the
EVAs are used instead of, say, nuclear bombs, actually makes sense, and so does the reason why the robots
are piloted by fourteen year olds, although to a lesser extent.
Shinji is the center of this story, along with the other pilots, Rei and Asuka. Rei is the distant, mysterious
type. Asuka is the opposite--outgoing and a bit self centered. Asuka sometimes gets extremely annoying, but the
same traits that can be so irritating also provide lighthearted entertainment in a series that is often darkly moody.
And as a forewarning, Shinji can be the epitome of angst--meaning whiney.
Sufficient action to keep any die hard action fan interested is interspersed with the intriguing
psychological mystery of the characters. The interaction between makes you feel as if these are real people with
a whole psychological profile and not just one or two distinguishing traits. Im still not sure if Shinjis father is
clueless about people because hes focused exclusively on work, a master manipulator working for a higher
cause, or simply a complete bastard.
The art isnt necessarily spectacular, but the series is great at creating mood with the right blend of art
and dialogue. My one artistic complaint is whoever picked bright purple as the right color for Shinjis EVA.
My other complaint is the dubbing, espescially for Misato in the first couple episodes. Do yourself a
favor and turn it off. Im told it improves, but as far as Im concerned its not worth the pain. Of course, Im
prejudiced toward subtitles anyway.
Like many Evangelion fans, I wasnt thrilled with the ending. It was thought provoking and fit with the
series, but a bit slow and generally visually uninteresting. I didnt hate it, but I felt that in view of the rest of the
series the producers could have done so much more. I desperately want to watch "End of Evangelion," the
movie which supposedly replaces the last two episodes of NGE due to fan outrage at the original ending.
Despite the ending, overall this series was so awesome that as soon as I finished it I had to resist the
urge to go back and rewatch the series, just to pick up on any of the subtle clues and symbolism I may have
missed the first four or so times around.
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