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| Platform: |
Series |
| Genre: |
Science Fiction |
| Publisher: |
AD VISION |
| Released: |
1995 |
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One third of the human race was whipped off the face of the earth by a massive explosion referred to as "The Second Impact." The general public was made to believe that the Second Impact was caused by a meteor, but what really happened was that a creature of incredible power appeared and caused the damage.
They referred to these creatures, these entities, as Angels. Evangelion units were created after the second impact as a counter measure to prevent any further angels from causing a "third impact." The Eva units are a combination of machinery and living tissue based off of "Angel" genetics. The result is a very agile, powerful mecha. And now it is up to the Eva pilots to stop the Angels and save the world.
The series is focused around N.E.R.V. (An organization formed by the UN, tasked with defending Earth against Angels) and their three Eva units piloted by Shinji, Rei and Asuka. NERV is the primary organization that first started Evangelion production and are the most knowledgeable in all regards to Angels. However, there is a hidden agency pulling NERV's strings and controlling events from the shadows.
The character development of Eva is all but lacking except for Asuka, Ritsuko, and then Misato and Kaji's relationship. However, that is not the strong point of the series. There are alot of interesting technical aspects of the series, such as AT Fields, Synch Ratios, Angel Detection, Eva power source limitations and so on.
The series starts slow and stays slow until about a fifth through the series, at which point Asuka is brought in and seriously gives life and humor to the drull ongoings of Rei and the ever complaining Shinji. For a while, things look promising: great action; a nice balance of humor; character development;
You would think that the ending would include a great and climatic final Angel battle and an in-depth look into the series that would explain all those unanswered questions and give you revelations about the beginning of the series that you overlooked before. Unfortunately, none of these things happen and we are given an ending that is about as conclusive (and as well drawn) as Poochie's exiting from The Simpson's "Itchy & Scratchy Show." Luckily for Poochie, his exit is as fast and abrupt as a band-aid being ripped off.. Unfortunately for us, the Eva ending lasts two episodes and appears to have been drawn by monkies.
What happened in those last two episodes? I won't even bother summarizing it. Lets just say that it was so disappointing that the team behind the Eva series felt it necessary to revise and re-edit not just the ending, but all of episodes 21 through 26. And although "End of Evangelion" (Re-written episodes 25-26, alternate ending) did have that climatic final Angel battle, it didn't provide anything else from the original ending except for higher quality animation.
I will say that Eva does have a large fan base, thanks to the memorable characters, fan service, marketing and open ended possibilities for hypotheses and discussions of the "true deep meaning" and the christian and religious connections of the series and instrumentality.
As for me, I was not impressed with the overall series and I think its the most over-hyped anime to ever exist aside from Akira. Neon Genesis Evangelion could have been much better. There is alot of anime out there and you shouldn't worry about having Eva at the top of your priority list.
© 2000 AD VISION
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| All the main characters.
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| Asuka.
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| Eva unit 01 vs. an angel.
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| Shinji and Misato.
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| Its poochie all over again.
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| Animation: |
8 |
| Sound: |
8 |
| Voice Actors: |
9 |
| Characters: |
7 |
| Plot: |
4 |
| Overall: |
6 |
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