The idea, naturally, is that humans work the same way: intimacy is often quite painful. Because again: everyone will die. And that, to Shinji, is the most unbearable thought of all. Currently, we are facing our own seemingly intractable — but ultimately solvable — problems, much as Shinji faces the Angels. There are concentration camps in America, and there is a government agency tasked with conducting raids of unsuspecting immigrant families and capturing the ones without what the government deems correct paperwork.
The president has personally approved this. Things are bad, and they are getting almost unstoppably worse. Morally and physically, the world is on the brink of disaster. Stress leads him to flee, to look away from the fights to come; but he returns in the end because of his moral obligation to the rest of society. Watching it now is unsettling because of how timely it feels.
It feels like an emotional guide for what to do next. And it is unbearable. It is an unbearably intimate thing to see or to hear about. Another example. The other day I saw a video in one of my various feeds, of white cops beating a restrained and hooded man.
It began to autoplay, and what I saw was abjectly horrifying. Three recently released videos highlight abuses inside Ohio's Cuyahoga County Jail, where nine inmates have died since the beginning of The strange thing, however, was that watching the video felt in a way like bearing witness. Right from the show's first big action scene, the showdown between EVA Unit 01 and the Angel Sachiel in the second episode, you're clued into the warped brutality of Hideaki Anno's vision.
As this vision grows more and more dramatic over the course of the series, the fight scenes appropriately follow suit. Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's design work on Evangelion is fantastic, and show's artwork looks better than ever in the HD transfer. As for the actual animation, though, it's important to remember that Gainax was really short on money when making the series.
While the fights are beautifully animated, everything else is a lot more limited in movement. Some scenes can barely even be called animated at all, holding still images for long periods of time. Sometimes Anno actually twisted this limitation for dramatic effect a motionless elevator ride becomes unbearably tense , but other times it's kind of annoying.
This isn't even getting into the animation of the last two episodes, which had zero budget whatsoever. You might end up hating protagonist Shinji Ikari. Many viewers do. He's whiny and uncomfortable. You might also find yourself relating to Shinji. Regardless of how you feel about him, Evangelion makes sure you that you understand Shinji.
It delves deep into his depression, his familial trauma, his poor relationships with women, his whole psychology. The whole cast of Evangelion is like that. Asuka and Rei might appear to be anime girl stereotypes, but the show reveals reasons why Asuka is so tsundere and Rei so coldly inexpressive. The adult characters have their own traumas to deal with, even a character like Misato who initially appears to be comic relief.
Even Gendo, the world's worst father, has reasons he does the awful things he does. The alien enemies are "Angels. The Kabbalist Tree of Life appears in the opening credits. Surely all this religious symbolism must mean something , right?
According to Hideaki Anno, it actually doesn't mean anything at all. He just decided to use imagery from Abrahamic religions because it looked cool and "exotic" to Japanese audiences.
Some of the symbolism moreso the Kabbalah parts than the Christian ones have been analyzed for more meaning, but in general it's wise not to get too hung up on what's generally a thematic red herring. It makes sense why so much discussion of Evangelion focuses on the darkness and pain, but those aspects wouldn't be nearly as effective if the show hadn't established itself as fun early on.
Before the second half of the series takes its turn into deconstruction, the first half is one of the most enjoyable "monster of the week" series ever made. While dropping enough hints of a greater mystery to keep viewers on their feet, the early part of Evangelion is extremely effective at just being an enjoyable mecha anime.
The Angels are all creatively weird, the characters are established well through the episodic storylines and at times the show is even downright funny.
Evangelion was meant for week-to-week viewing in Japan. American fans in the past would typically experience it in a similar gradual trickle. The VHS releases had two episodes per overpriced tape, and the DVDs typically had three-to-five episodes per slightly less overpriced disc. Taking one's time with Evangelion , soaking every detail in and developing all sorts of wild theories along the way, was part of the experience.
Soon, it will all be available to binge on Netflix. You can still pace it out, but so many viewers will just rush through the show and not really get the full experience. Anyone trying to understand the history of anime should watch it.
Not only did the series revitalize the mecha genre, but it provided a major boost to the entire industry during a time of creative stagnation.
Evangelion inspired plenty of rip-offs, of course, but also inspired greater waves of original auteur-driven anime. It unintentionally boosted the otaku culture Anno was criticizing, while also reaching out beyond the typical anime audience into mainstream Japanese popular consciousness. This is a show so widely beloved that Robin Williams was a fan an Evangelion toy is notably included in One Dollar Photo!
The flipside of Evangelion being so influential is that it's no longer quite so distinctive and surprising to new viewers. So many different anime creators have taken lessons from Evangelion 's successes and failures. Mecha anime since Evangelion have mostly either been directly inspired by EVA Rahxephon , pictured above, is one notable series or rebelling against it Gurren Lagann , from former EVA animators.
Parents' Ultimate Guide to Support our work! Corona Column 3 Use these free activities to help kids explore our planet, learn about global challenges, think of solutions, and take action. Parent reviews for Neon Genesis Evangelion. Common Sense says Classic anime series is violent, introspective. Based on our expert review. Based on 8 reviews. Based on 32 reviews.
Add your rating. Parents say 8 Kids say Adult Written by John Corrigan May 16, Great show! I think that this is appropriate for a 9 year old but i would wait until your child is 11 before letting him the the movie End of evangelion. Essentially the difference between the TV series and the movie is that :The TV series ends on a happy note in a world full of freedom while the movie ends with death and destruction. This title contains: Positive Messages.
This review Helped me decide 2. Had useful details 2. Read my mind 1. Report this review. Adult Written by Kotaro Minato July 31, One of the greatest phycological animes of all time!
Neon Genesis Evangellion is great. The characters are realistic, and sure, some people may call Shinji a crybaby, but he's a very realistic character. The series is very complicated, and has a lot of religious symbolism. The symbolism is very similar to a space odyssey. You have to watch it.
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