Gundam meets the X-files

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Eva) is one of the more well known anime series. It has reached a very wide audience around the world...heck, in Australia, Eva was the first anime series to be broadcast on television. This review is therefore going to likely be for a series that many of you have already seen, at least in part. However, this will sort of combine my reaction to the overall product without (hopefully) spoiling any of the plot for new viewers.

And the plot of Eva definitely isn't one that you want to have spoiled for you. The series takes place in the year 2015, 15 years after a catastrophic disaster melted Antarctica, raised the sea levels considerably, and killed half the human population. Now, a species of enormous God Zilla-sized monsters known as Angles are attacking the remnants of humanity, and the only weapon that can stem the tide of this onslaught are equally huge robots known as Evangelions. There is a slight catch, however. An Evangelion must be piloted by a 14 year old child, and not just any child will do. These children have to go through an exacting screening process to be chosen as pilots. Furthermore, the Evangelions themselves are far from perfected. They are wont to run amok at times, and this has severe physiological affects on the pilots. As the subtitle to this review suggests, Eva features a lot of characters who are part of conspiracies and who aren't entirely what they seem. The story unfolds in such a way as to leave the viewer constantly guessing, and many details are in fact never revealed. This forces the reader to pay close attention to every event, no matter how seemingly irrelevant, to try and find an explanation to  the major questions raised by the story.

The characters of Eva are a rather defective lot. Shinji, the protagonist, is an introverted and deeply troubled lad. What makes it even better is that all of the characters around him, such as the other two Eva pilots Rei and Asuka, as well as his guardian Misato, are each dealing with demons of their own. One of the criticisms I've seen of this series is that the characters don't develop very much during the course of the series. Personally, I think that there is indeed a lot of internal change and development that is going on, but these changes are much more subtle. Honestly, I think that while the characters don't necessarily undergo complete personality transformations, there is still a lot of character development that goes on. A lot of this is very subtle, however. It has taken me about three viewings of this series before the motivations of the characters finally began to sink in. I would definitely advise new viewers to stick with it and pay attention.

The technical aspects of Eva are a mixed bag. The animation is decent, although the budget for this series wasn't all that extravagant. A consequence of that fact is that, especially later in the series, a lot of animation is reused and a number of still-frame shots are used (one seen towards the end of the series that takes place in an elevator is a particularly notorious example). The action sequences, however, are obviously where a lot of money was spent, as they are animated quite fluidly. The Evangelions and their associated support equipment, the environments, and other hardware are all rendered quite accurately. One episode that takes place at sea features a number of very accurately drawn warships, for example (being in the Navy and all, I thought that this was an especially cool episode!). The soundtrack for this series is very nice. The opening song  "Cruel Angle's Thesis" still reigns as my favorite anime theme. The other bits of the soundtrack are all fully orchestrated. Some genuine classical music is even utilized later in the show, to great affect.  This is definitely a CD that you might consider picking up.

One final thing that I think I should mention is that Eva often plays a little fast and loose with Christian symbolism. The enemies are named Angles, for example, and when they self-destruct they create cross-shaped patters of light. However, this series isn't supposed to be a sacrilegious commentary on Christianity. The Japanese perspective on religion is radically different, and I honestly don't feel that the religious symbols in Eva are supposed to have any greater meaning than to recall associations to super-natural forces. Also, there are many violent and/or disturbing scenes in this series. Those with weak stomachs should exercise caution. One final note is that many found the ending of this series to be anti-climatic. Personally, I like the way the series ended, which was more or less with pure character development. Those who are looking for an action-packed conclusion will have to look to the two movies for satisfaction.

These slight caveats aside, I can honestly recommend Neon Genesis Evangelion as a must-see series. This series has become one of those basic shows that every anime fan should see. Just do yourself a favor and avoid spoiling yourself on the plotline!

By Andy Rucker