NEON GENESIS EVANGELION
Surgeon General's Warning: not to be used as a gateway anime
Review by: M.H. "MY GOD, THE BURNING! THE BURNING!!" Torringjan
Length: 24 episodes and 2 Rorschach tests
Genre: Mind-fuck, action, BFR
Watched: 24 episodes and 2 Rorschach tests, subbed
In some of our other reviews, a distinctly bitter note can be detected in our writing when it comes to discussing Neon Genesis Evangelion. Yet, until now, we haven't written a review for the series (mostly because we were finished paying off our therapy bills and really didn't want to reopen that painful chapter in our lives). However, with the numerous bouts of Eva-bashing, it may be time that we be totally fair and give the series a serious look.
Plot summary: In 2014, 14 years after an incident called Second Impact, which caused the polar ice-caps to melt and drown a fair amount of the planet (including that list of "Stupid People I Want Killed," thank goodness), Shinji Ikari is summoned to Tokyo III by his father and told that he is to become a pilot of a rather largish robot thingy, called an Eva. His sole purpose is to combat rather largish alien-robot thingies, called Angels, which are attacking Tokyo III in an attempt to initiate the Third Impact. The fate of the entire human race is put in the hands of Shinji and the other two Children, Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langly Sohryu. God help us all...
Artwork: The artwork for this series is some of the best that I've seen in any anime series, with some notable exceptions. The landscapes are done very well, the character designs are very distinct and appropriate to their characters, and the mecha design is some of the most imaginitive I've seen. Sometimes the detail put into the Angels' designs are neglected, though, in order to let the imaginations of the artists go wild, it seems (exactly how detailed can a floating cube or a black and white sphere be?). Also, I personally have a problem with the art style that was used in various stages of introspection. At times, it seemed as though they were trying to make the series more artistic by splattering colors across the screen and pasting them together with disjointed lines of monologue. Although I will admit, the lines of monologue make it slightly better than modern "art," these interludes do nothing to help the visual integrity of the show. Also, there were artistic shortcuts, minor at first, then major, such as reusing footage, having still-frames, and using kids' crayon drawings. The most notable of these shortcuts is a 45-second long (and that may be a conservative estimate) elevator scene. Nothing is said, no-one moves. One frame used for the entire scene. Really, folks, just get on with it.
Music: Pretty good selection here. The in-series tracks range from bouncy, happy music to slow, pensive tracks to classical religious music. The only quibble that I have is that they use those darned sweeping orchestral tracks during the robot fight scenes that start to wear thin after about two minutes. Really, would somebody take a lesson from Yoko Kanno, already? I don't care if it's Godzilla versus the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, you do not need obscenely loud orchestra music playing in the background. The opening theme has a notably upbeat and electronic feel to it, which meshes well with the rest of the show, and really is very nice. However, the ending theme could use some work. Although the song is appropriate for the show, there's only so many different renditions of Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me to the Moon" that you can do without having some sound really, really stupid. This show exceeded that limit easily.
Characters: Begin with Shinji Ikari, the star of the show, the son of commander Gendo Ikari and pilot of Eva unit one. He is a young boy trying to come to terms with his place in the world, torn between duty to others and the wish to live for himself. The conflict in his mind becomes more and more tense as the series goes on, as demonstrated in the internal monologues that Hideaki Anno went on to perfect in Kare Kano. Rei Ayanami is the First Child, a reclusive and self-contained waif who pilots Eva unit zero and looks very much like an albino. Not much is known about her other than that she is completely devoted to Commander Ikari, the only man who she'll speak to in a friendly manner. Asuka Langly Sohryu is the hot-headed, boastful Second Child who pilots Eva unit two. She is contemptful of everyone she speaks to except for Kaji, whom she has a school-girl crush on. She hates being shown up by the other Children, who she views as inferior to her. Commander Ikari is the quiet, mysterious father of Shinji, who is in charge of NERV and obviously has an agenda of his own (hence the ominous glasses and that Mister Burns "Excellent" look on his face). Misato is a general at NERV who is given custody of Shinji when he arrives at Tokyo III. She had a relationship with Kaji, and as the series progresses, she becomes more and more suspicious of Commander Ikari and the purpose of NERV itself.
Plot: My father, whom I showed this as his second anime series noted that the idea had been done before in a more compact and robot/religion-free manner by Arthur C. Clarke in "Childhood's End." Having read the book, I must say that I agree with him. The plot, however, isn't quite so much the interest of the story as how it's presented. The combination of sci-fi and religion as presented in this story, as well as the dynamics of the characters all add up to an interesting and involved plot, which at many points is open to interpretation. However, the occasional recap sections do tend to slow the story down a fair amount, which is always an annoyance.
CHICKS!!! Okay... *cracks knuckles* The triumvirate of chickage in this series are some of the most often imitated characters outside of Sailor Moon. The main reason being that these girls, who are supposed to be 14 years old (14 years old, my ass!) are stacked about as well as any Victoria's Secret model and play to just about any personality preference. Asuka is the fiery temptress who, I'm sure, would satisfy any domination fetishist. Odds are, if you try to go out with her, you should just go ahead and buy the skirt, because she's going to whip you into shape in no time flat. She seems to like to show off her breasts, but don't stare or there will be pain. Misato Katsuragi (or, as Craig has referred to her, "the beer-swilling nymphomaniac the angels christened Misato") must have been the very inspiration for the "Girls Gone Wild" series, since she loves to get drunk and probably would have sex with almost anything human and alive. The series seems to play this off to be a character flaw, but it *does* give Craig and myself some hope. Plus, she's been through military training, so you know that she's got an ass you could easily cut diamonds over, as well as a rack that could choke a small sperm whale. Finally, we come to the creamy core of the threesome, Rei Ayanami. She easily has the most fanboys attached to her, due to her aloof, mysterious personality and exotic appearance. I mean, she's almost like a socially acceptable sex doll! She's not much for conversation, but she's *got* to be great in the sack! Besides, she's the character we get to see naked the most in the series, so she's got to enjoy it a bit (although I'd enjoy it infinitely more than she would).
Overall: Okay, long section here... Evangelion is widely hailed as a great anime series, as an innovator in its field. Even the front of the package has plastered all over it the phrase, movie-blurb-style, "Greatest anime ever!" (and if you can't trust the packaging of a product to give an unbiased opinion of the product, then what can you?) This was originally what lured me in to watching the 26 episode series and buying the box set before I had even finished the series. In hindsight, this was a good enough idea, since no self-respecting anime fan can say "I've never seen Neon Genesis Evangelion" and retain their dignity, due to the large number of series that were influenced by Neon Genesis Evangelion's style and story. This is a touchy review. This series is one of the original mind-fuck animes that made mind-fuck a genre in and of itself, and it is perhaps the most difficult of animes to discuss, in that it inspires such strong feelings on one of two sides of the issue. Either you love it with a passion or you feel strongly neutral about it. The people who adore it see it as a masterwork of art with complex characters and an ending that allows an individual interpretation of what really happened. Those who are strongly neutral usually admit the positives from the series lovers, then go on to cite the despicable characters (though still complex) and the lack of a definite ending in the series (which the movie fixes fairly well). In the end, I must admit that I personally fall on the neutral end of the spectrum. The characters were interesting and the story was very well done, but in the end, the shortcuts that they had to take near the end in animation and the stuck-up modern art style that they used to explain the maze-like workings of the characters' personalities weighed just a bit too heavy on the series. Overall, I'd recommend this series only for seasoned anime watchers, and not under ANY circumstance should it be used as an introduction to anime as an entertainment form.
In a nutshell:
+ Complex, evolving characters
+ Deep, open to interpretation
+ Decent artwork
- Too much flying to the moon
- Easy to hate characters
- Many artistic shortcuts
- Modern art presentation
Final grade: 8/10
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