Neon Genesis Evangelion

The 1990s mecha anime series, Neon Genesis Evangelion, is viewed by critics and fans as one of the greatest anime series ever to be created, which is a bold statement considering the plethora of competition. With an 100% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a record number of domestic and international sales on merchandising, extended films/manga and other products, and a pop cultural impact so massive that it effectively helped resurge the anime space during a slump period by bringing in a whole new wave of young fans, this psychoanalytical action series produced by Gainax and Tatsunoko Production smoothly cemented itself as a pivotal and pioneering piece of media that is still appreciated on a global front. Even after a disastrous conclusion that needed to be rectified with future films, the pedigree this show received hasn’t shrunk with time.

In a future where Earth has experienced a cataclysmic event that killed most of the population, teenage boy Shinji Ikari (voiced by Casey Mongillo) arrives in the city of Tokyo-3, a high-tech city that doubles as a living facility and testing ground for the special paramilitary force, Nerv, who specialize in fighting off giant amorphous beings known as Angels. They do this through the use of an Evangelion bio-machine (otherwise known as an Eva), and Shinji was unknowingly brought here by his estranged father, Gendo (voiced by Ray Chase), the director of Nerv, in order to pilot one of these machines, as they will only accept a specific young candidate. Although initially hesitant, Shinji enters the Eva (labelled Unit-01) and takes out the attacking Angel, making him Nerv’s newest recruit and placing him in the care of Nerv’s Head of Operations, Misato Katsuragi (voiced by Carrie Keranen). Now with the responsibility of saving the world, Shinji gets to know others who are involved in fighting the Angels, including the two other Evangelion pilots; Rei Ayanami (voiced by Ryan Bartely), a stoic mission-driven girl who seems quite close to Shinji’s father, and Asuka Soryu (voiced by Stephanie McKeon), a German exchange student with exceptional piloting skills, but more brashness and temper than most people can deal with. With more Angels coming every day and with the looming threat of another impact on the horizon, these three kids burdened with a gargantuan responsibility will need to deal with their own tortured souls in order to save humanity.

Evangelion is one of the ”golden children” of anime, but how it’s currently viewed is on more skewed than expected. While most still adore it for its complicated characters, interesting environment, pleasing animation, and dramatic spectacle, the show’s ending is notorious for being one of the worst of any television series, so much so that films had to be created to offer a better, more typical finale. Even excluding that fatal flaw, the show does have glaring faults which keep it from that heralded status, but what it does right explains why it’s so loved.

The series was created by Hideaki Anno, who was still new to leading projects as he’d mainly worked as an animator for films like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise, before evolving into the directing space for projects like the 1988 OVA, Gunbuster and the 1990 animated series, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. Both properties were produced by Gainax, which explains how Anno would become one of their premiere directors and had the confidence to pitch Evangelion to them. With the mecha anime genre having dwindled slightly by this point but still being quite prolific, it would’ve been a risky release, but its rapid success right out the gate proved those fears wrong. What’s fascinating is that despite being applauded for its multilayered characters, elaborate storytelling, religious and spiritual allegories, and deep mentally nuanced writing, the layout and story structure for a good chunk of the show’s 26-episode length is pretty formula-driven, often follow a trend of establishing the characters and their dynamics, addressing a new monster that needs to be defeated, and concluding with the leads getting over their in-the-moment problems, before repeating in the next episode. It will shake things up occasionally with spots of worldbuilding and backstory, but for the most part, the series praised for being revolutionary and different was presented in a very safe format, but that isn’t really a bad thing.

Evangelion starts off strangely approachable despite the biblical references and expansive psychological analysis, as the characters, main driving force and most of the dialogue is very upfront and to-the-point, not getting distracted by secondary objectives and keeping things on an elusive but otherwise still escalating path that combines personal issues of self-worth, depression and past regrets, with a more combat-driven mystery centred around the Angels, the Evas and their connections to Nerv. While this combo of in-depth character study and repeated climatic escapades would become a staple formula of animated shows in the future, its delivery here isn’t too bad and will keep audiences intrigued. This balance, however, is thrown away the closer it gets to its extremely divisive ending, as everything crumbles by the final two episodes and becomes poorly delivered, aggravating, and almost incomprehensible. While the show does occasionally dabble with trippy visuals, odd abstract ideas and overly philosophical dialogue, the last stretch ditches any sense of narrative in exchange for various static images (some animated, some based in reality) and writing that gets so needlessly long winded and overly analytical that it loses all sense of connectivity. Being display in such a bizarre fashion due to budget restraints and because Anno was pouring out his personal interest with mental health after suffering a bout of depression before conceiving the series, a more abnormal delivery could’ve worked if it was supported by structure and purpose, but without any, it just feels like a creative choice only the creator understands.

The characters are in this awkward limbo state where they feel two-dimensional and have really solid elements but aren’t explored enough to feel completely whole. While the show was praised for its complex characters, a lot of the depth seems to come from how they discuss their complexities rather than how they showcase them. It will take time to focus on them, but because the dialogue feels detached and not intimate in a way that could make the legitimately interesting psychological points feel meaningful, their development can feel surface level. Shinji as a lead is a good example, as his personal problems and relationships with other characters could be fascinating, but because all his interactions and resolutions have the same outcome, these scenes start to feel repetitive and in turn, make Shinji a difficult lead to follow. He gets more tolerable with time and Casey Mongillo does get across his scattered mental state quite well, but it’s no surprise that of all the characters, he’s the one most people mock and despise.  Misato is a pretty good character, being a parental figure for Shinji who acts wild and crazy at the home front, but collected and professional in the workspace, she has some strong moments throughout even if it leads to nothing.

Rei and Asuka are frustrating as they have the potential to be great and get really disturbing backstories, but don’t get any insight or development until far too late. Rei at least became a very important character in the anime zeitgeist, as her design was so popular with fans and the industry that she became the show’s ‘’Premium Girl’’, was always placed on every manga chapter, and her look was recycled for a lot of other manga and anime characters in the 1990s, but aside from that, her overly mysterious and cold personality leaves little room for interactions with other characters. Asuka kind of has the opposite problem, in that she’s given more screentime and has a more active, showier personality, but that attitude can be a little much at times (especially because it feels entirely unfounded until her past is explored last minute). It’s disappointing that the two other main pilots aren’t given the same amount of attention as their far less interesting male lead, but the little sprinkles that do exist at least keep them as memorable even if they feel unfinished. Most of the side characters don’t need an extensive past to be interesting, and thanks to the solid voice acting from everybody, it results in an ensemble that are strong enough to support a show of this magnitude.

The visual style was credited for being more aggressive and mature next to other anime and manga at the time, which had more of a softer, more cutesy and cartoonish edge. This lines up with the more dramatic storytelling, and the very smooth, well drawn, highly detailed art work allows for a lot of expressive character animation in the quieter moments, and blisteringly beautiful and dynamic animation during the action. That is probably where the animation is at its most eye-catching, as while the humans themselves are well designed, the Evangelions and the Angels really epitomize the style of this anime and explain how it has remained so popular. The way the EVAs simultaneously look robotic and organic produces these wonderfully horrific creatures that have the familiarly cool properties of gigantic robotic suits, but the odd protrusions, jagged edges and more monstrous aspects give them a distinct identity.

They also contrast nicely with the angels, who (as to be expected with biblical beings outside of any realm of human comprehension) all look different from each other and adopt a look that feels ripped out of a Rorschach test. Their presence feels imposing and primeval, and while the ambiguity surrounding them and how the war started can be frustrating, it is fitting for such an unknowable entity. The musical score composed by Shirō Sagisu is really strong, containing this great uplifting sense of passion and climatic fulfilment, feeling strangely upbeat and commercial for a show that contains a lot of unconventional ingredients. Even the intro sung by Yoko Takahashi has a much peppier and friendly tone than expected for a show with scenes of massive destruction, but at the same time, it all sounds fantastic and is another component that helps this bizarre show form an identity.

To call Neon Genesis Evangelion a perfect anime would be to ignore an ending that is still mocked for how absurdly ineffective it was both from a consumer or commercial standpoint, and poor character and story writing that doesn’t hold up as well when looked at from a modern lens. The strengths of this series are apparent like its gripping premise, memorable characters, pleasing art style, great music, and its overall impact on anime and Japanese pop culture as a whole, but because it has a story that literally forgets about itself near its completion, has characters that should be more interesting than they are, and has a writing style that somehow manages to be too verbose and too basic at the same time, it doesn’t truly feel like the greatest ever made. Containing plenty of soul, but sadly not enough structure to make for a perfect unit.