Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-1996) [Anime Review]

Neon Genesis Evangelion; or, The Cop-Out Gospel of Hideaki Anno’s Depression

     Humans cannot create anything out of nothingness. Humans cannot accomplish anything without holding onto something. After all, humans are not gods.

Continuing my journey through the 90s anime shows, it was inevitable for me to encounter the so-much-appraised Neon Genesis Evangelion (literally: The Gospel of the New Century), the 26-episode anime series created by Hideaki Anno in 1995. Feeling encouraged by exhilarating opinions from MAL, such as “hugely experimental and wonderfully unique, Evangelion is a roaring success” or “one of the most influential anime created in the 1990's, if not of all time,” I decided to give this a chance. The result was a one disappointing viewing experience for me.

Release Info

Created by: Hideaki Anno Voice actors: Megumi Ogata, Megumi Hayashibara, Yuko Miyamura, Kotono Mitsushi

Language: Japanese Original Title: 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン No. of eps: 26

Synopsis

Meet Shinji Ikari, a teenager who is unexpectedly summoned to the city of Tokyo-3. This is the year 2015, approximately 15 years after the so-called “Second Impact” which caused a global cataclysm. Shinji is ordered by his estranged father, Gendo Ikari, the head of the NERV organisation, to drive a giant bio-machine known as Evangelion. Shinji has, and is destined, to pilot EVA in order to protect the planet from mysterious Angels, a race of monstrous beings who want to destroy mankind. Shinji is aided in his quest by other NERV associates, Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi, as well as the pilots of two other EVAs, Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley Souryuu.

 

Crank Up That Fatalism!

Neon Genesis Evangelion was supposedly made during the time in which Hideaki Anno was suffering from depression. Two of his previous anime productions did not become big hits and, while being drunk, he agreed on a deal to work on a television series. After two years of development, the project materialised to be NGE, the ultimate reflection of Anno’s struggle with depression, as he himself admitted.

 

Where should I begin with this show? Well, it starts off in medias res, which is a good thing because you keep thinking about what is going on in the world of NGE: What are the Angels? What are the EVAs? What is the mystery of NERV? Why are only specific children allowed to pilot EVAs? What happened to Shinji’s mother? What is the Human Instrumentality Project? The main problem of the show is that the questions start to amass and barely a few answers are given. From a show with some engaging plot and good-looking mecha fights, it eventually turns into downright incomprehensible towards the end.

 

Do not get me started on Shinji, the main protagonist. Joseph Campbell is turning in his grave because Shinji is the angelically cruel antithesis of the story’s hero. Shinji (Cop-Out) Ikari is a boy fine with “living alone” because “he’s alone anyway”. Enjoy watching him experience the existential crises (processed by listening to music and subway excursions) just as humanity is under attack and people suffer in agony. You would think that he is just a shy, but extremely gifted, pilot who eventually saves the day, but (surprise, surprise!), the EVA machine does most of the job for him in the entire series (which is, in a way, explained in the end).

 

Well, not only Shinji, but every character in this show is a textbook sociopath. Marvel at the sight of some hot waifus descending into the abyss of madness by reminiscing about their daddy/mommy issues or evaluating the meaning of life. Even Freud or Jung could not have helped them out. The most prominent female heroines of this anime are Asuka (Annoying and Overconfident) Langley Souruu and Rei (Submissive Girl/Otaku’s Dream Come True) Ayanami. None of them won my sympathy. Oh, and did I mention that all of the waifus “offer” themselves to Shinji in his psychedelic dreams? This might give you an idea about the original target audience this show aimed at in 1995.

 

What is more, NGE is filled with lots of religious references which made it gain some recognition in the academia. I personally did not mind the symbolical aspects, but the creative team’s statement that they were throwing this stuff at random without giving much thought to it may put off some of the viewers: “There is no actual Christian meaning to the show, we just thought the visual symbols of Christianity look cool” (Kazuya Tsurumaki, Assistant Director of Neon Genesis Evangelion).

 

What is going on with the end of this show, anyway? I do not want to get into any spoilers but, apart from overblown existentialist issues that would make Jean Paul Sartre proud, I did not get the whole thing with ascending into another level of existence. After watching episodes 24 to 26, I felt as if Anno showed me the middle finger. Still again, when I thought that The End of Evangelion (1997) might give me more answers, after checking that one out, I felt as if Anno dropped his pants and mooned me…

 

I get the fact that the production team fell into financial trouble, which is visible in the animation quality since episode 22, but this is not the reason behind the faults of NGE. The primary fault is the writing. Turning a creative process into a healing experience is great, but sometimes the writer does not necessarily have to share it with the world. Eventually, I had to read through a super long article from IGN in order to understand what the heck was going on. I was effectively discouraged from watching Rebuild of Evangelion.

 

That being said, I cannot say that NGE is entirely bad. It starts off great in terms of world-building and fails miserably on that matter later on. However, what the show gets absolutely right are the mecha fights, which were the only factor that kept me engaged. In fact, the only episode I truly enjoyed from the beginning to the end was no. 13 Angel Infiltration/ Lilliputian Hitcher, because it featured none of the EVAs’ pilots. In addition, the anime’s intro combined with the epic theme song, sung by Yoko Takahashi, are the only entirely positive things about this show to me. (Well, also memes, creepy stuff, and more memes).

 

Recommendations

I am not the only one out there with an unpopular opinion about Neon Genesis Evangelion, yet I understand that beauty is the eye of the beholder. If you liked the show, then great, you have full right to do so. I found it to be completely not my cup of tea. To sum up, is it the worst anime I have ever seen? Not a chance. With its many faults, Neon Genesis Evangelion just is painfully average to me.

Overall score: 5/10 (PS I did not watch the controversial Netflix version)