Neon Genesis Evangelion



The year is 2015, and over half of the Earth's population is dead, victims of the first attack by a mysterious race of beings known as the Angels. To save what remains of Mankind, the human race must now place its trust in the mysterious NERV agency and its awesome avatars, the giant bio-mechanical Evangelions. Humanoid in form, these monstrous creations are the only force on Earth that can break through the Angels' Absolute Terror Fields long enough to literally tackle the massive invaders in bloody hand to hand combat! However, even with these technological miracles, the odds are still stacked against Humanity, for only a handful of teenagers are capable of piloting an Evangelion... each of whom was born exactly nine months after the Angels' first attack! Was accelerated evolution responsible for the providential birth of these unexpected saviors... or are there much darker forces at work in the depths of NERV? Biblical prophecy, savage human drama and blistering hi-tech battle action collide in a spectacular orgy of violence and destruction in the multiple award winning Neon Genesis Evangelion!

NGE on the surface may apear to be a conventional anime about a boy and a robot, but with a closer look, it is much more (maybe I'm letting my bais show).As the series progreses, it becomes aparent that everything isn't as it seems. Our group has almost as much fun trying to figure out just what exactly is going on, and formulating theories, as they do watching. Like the X-Files I suppose. We also enjoy lively games of "Spot the Cross," as there are a huge number of religious references scatered throughout the series. On to the review!
Note: Rather than review the entire 26 episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion in one block, we decided to split it into two easier to review sections. This review is for the first 12 episodes.
Jonathan- OK, we've got the first 12 epsisodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion by the famous studio Gainax, released doemstically by AD Vision. If you haven't heard of this one, your head must have been in the sand for the last year or so, as it's one of the most hyped-up series to come down the pike in quite a while. What did you guys think?

Yari- I liked it, and I think Eva's good, but it's another Mecha, a genre with far too many entries already...

Matt- It's good, except the pilots tend to get on my nerves, which takes points away...

Jonathan- Monologue time! Eva is one of the better series I've seen, if not the best. The animation, especially the fights are done top notch. Throughout the series, many interesting camera angles are used, for some fascinating shots in unusual places. The cinematography is A+. Character design, development, and voice acting are all excellent. I can't think of any other series, with maybe one or two exceptions, that I'd rather watch than Eva.

Yari- What did you think of the music?

Jonathan- The Background musics are all very well done. All classical sorts of pieces, but with interesting twists. Very fitting.

Yari- The music is good, very good.

Matt- I agree there.

Jonathan- The opening theme is catchy and I like it.

Matt- I don't.

Jonathan- You are in the minority.

Yari- I like it, played over and over again, it gets on your nerves.

Jonathan- The various renditions of "Fly Me To The Moon" we could do without.

(general agreement)

Jonathan- Fianl rundown of the first 12 eps.?

Yari- Certainly the best Mecha I've seen. Interesting characters , though some are anoying. 4.5.

Matt- Overall, I'd give it a 4. It is better than most of the junk out there right now.

Jonathan- Overall, I give it a 5. Anime doesn't get much better than this. From the unconventional mecha design and paint schemes , to having the mechs plugged into giant sockets, it's clever. A great dramatic series which takes the ocasional silly episode to lighten things up...The episode with hopscotch on battleships...

(General agreement)

Jonathan- I've heard the ending is a let down, I hope not. I recomend this for almost anyone, although it should be noted that this series is very intense, and has some serious physical violence. It's not for children.

Matt- Don't be stupid, children should see violence, it builds character!
Final Rundown:
Jonathan-*****---5
Yari-****.5---4.5
Matt-****---4
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