Neon Genesis Evangelion
This is the ultimate anime that any potential anime watcher should try getting at. By the name of Neon Genesis, one might get the inkling that this has something to do with the Bible, and well, that's not too far off from the truth. Ikari Shinji is a 14-year old who was born on the fated day of the second impact. His mother is dead and his father semi-abandoned him. Just at the beginning of the series, Shinji's father, Ikari Gendo, Nerv Commander has recalled him to his Nerv Base. As Katsuragi Misato, Nerv's Operation Director pulls up to give him a ride, a monster is attacking the city.
My Bias Opinions:This anime is another favorite! I saw this series back in 2000 and even though it may be too deep for kids to understand the ending, I thought it was extremely good. There was humor, with quite a bit of bitter laughter, pain with multitudes of disappointment and depression bouts. Shinji chooses to always run away from pressure and never argue his point. That is why, it is humorous to put him next to Rei and Asuka. The kids have major problems. Shinji for barely ever smiles and is almost always depressed and speculative. Rei can be creepy when she is solely observing and doesn't really participate in conversations. Asuka might seem arrogant and full of it, but in reality, she's pretty insecure. To summarize, each of Neon Genesis Evagelion's characters are interesting and well-worth watching. This show was exciting with all its action packed battles, but never forget the sad past of each of the three pilots. I must admit that the ending was too confusing for my simple mind to understand but I get the mainpoint that one must always be an individual and to not be afraid of the unknown. So what happens?
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As soon as Shinji gets into the base underground, Gendo commands him to get into an Eva suit to fight that creature. Shinji is schocked that he is being used like this. He gets in and is shot up to the ground level to meet the attack. After some hits and gruesome crashes, Shinji's Eva's battery line is cut and the Eva is dwindling in power. The Angel keeps on attacking the immobile Eva. Everyone at the base is silent as they know for sure that the battle is lost and Shinji won't make it. Then the Eva's eye suddenly awaken with a sorta evil glow and over throws it's attacker. It pulls out of it's broken shoulder, a regenerated arm and heads to the Angel for a full blown onslaught. People back at the base are incredulous as the Eva ripps the Angel's force field and pounds it nonstop until the Angel self-destructs. Then out of all the smoke, the Eva walks out forbodingly.
See, this happens all in the first episode, and to tell you the truth, I didn't care what the storyline will lead up, I was hooked. That Eva is awesome. In the following episodes, we meet Souyu Langley Asuka and Ayanami Rei, the other two Eva pilots. Angels keep on showing up, each time with a different look and a different way to destroy it. The three children are analyzed through the anime to see what they are afraid of and how they try to cope with their world.
Behind this seemingly simple story though is the story of what actually happened in the second impact. How did Shinji's mother die. Why do the three 14-yr-olds have to pilot EVAs and why do the creatures called Angels attack Earth. The year 2015 is a very depressing world. Human Kind has withdrawn into technology and the secret group called Seele is manipulating these events to create man itself and the ultimate society by refering to the dead sea scrolls. The world is dreary and when the city is attacked, all the buildings go into hiding underground. There are just too many stuff that doesn't really fit until maybe the end, which in itself doesn't really make it complete. Nearly everyone in the higher positions in Nerv and Seele want a Third Impact to occur, which means everything will be mixed into one thing, everyone will be the same.
Spoilers: Okay, this anime only ran 26 episodes, but too many things happen for me to try to sum up the good parts. Secrets such as Shinji's mother's soul being locked into Eva 01, Asuka's mother souls in Eva 02 and Akagi Ritsuko's, Nerv's Head Technician, mother in the Eva 00. Rei is a clone that Gendo made from his beloved wife. The Eva's were made from an extracted sample of a creature with a Christian bible name, who we think is Adam, but is Lilith. which is chained somewhere on the base. By the last volume, Rei died and another clone replaces her while Asuka is in deep depression. The last Angel, the Seventeenth one is in human form, that Shinji actually befriended. As this Nagisa Kaoru trys to kill Shinji, he suddenly gives up his mission of destroying mankind and bringing about the Third Impact, but for some reason, Kaoru would rather Shinji lived and so the Eva kills Kaoru.
The two movies that came out, Death and Rebirth, might give people more of the same feel of the ongoing series than the last two episodes, which might have been a bit too abstract and philosophical. I saw it once, but can't remember enough about the plot to summarize it... just that Rei gets instigated to start the third impact and Shinji somehow manages to stop it so that although nearly everyone in Nerv is dead, he and Asuka remain on the broken planet, to like start it up again? I really am not sure... (UsagiSakura 10/10/03)