Neon Genesis Evangelion Genre: Action/Drama Asuka-chan(2)'s Overall Score:  9.0

Reviewer: Asuka-chan(2)
Type of Review: General

What does one look for in entertainment? Although it varies from person to person, many look for something that provokes their thoughts. Evangelion, above all others I've seen, will make you think. It's storylines twist and weave. Character development is nearly unmatched in any anime I have seen thus far.

Evangelion, I know, is highly controversial. It plays with the boundaries of religion, faith, and simply the human existance. It begins as a series that is, like any other anime, not entirely original, but intriguing and enjoyable. Shinji seems unreasonably annoying and selfish. Asuka is simply cold and unruly (hilarious nonetheless). Misato is crazy (in a fun way). Everyone and everything carries on somewhat expectedly and normally. As you progress through the series, it becomes deeper and deeper. Your laughter fades into tears and confusion as you try to piece it together. The first time you watch it, you will probably be horrendously lost- but still hooked. You will likely find yourself identifying with, loving, and hating the characters. It teeters towards complete insanity, but there is still that lingering veil of truth, something there that will cause you to spend hours trying to string it together... That is what an anime series that you will love and hate will do. You love it because you have to- it is pure genius. The satisfaction that you receive from seeing the webs between each circumstance is incomparable. To many, this may sound, well, bad, but trust me- it's not. Friends that I have shown this, friends that do not like anime or anything involved with such, have loved this series to death. And so do I. It is a must buy. Any serious otaku should be able to say that they have seen Evangelion.
On a slightly less sober tone, the animation is wonderful. They slightly overplay the stills (i.e. the elevator and the scene in Central Dogma, which I have timed to have lasted around 3 and a half minutes) and clearly the budget ran out when they resorted to those crayon drawings at the end- conservative and creative as they were.

One big thing I noticed with Eva was the lack of romance. It is one of few animes where I didn't fall in love with the central male character. It's one of the few animes where no girl fell in love with the central male character. Clearly these people are wa~y too insane to have relationships... but it was odd. There were relationships, vaguely, but they weren't played out as such, as they would be in most animes.

Overall... I loved it. I laughed, I cried, and I sat, wide-eyed and opened-mouthed, staring at the TV screen and drooling onto the floor. I have watched and rewatched it countless times, and, amazingly, it continues to go beyond amusing me. I still think about it. It was the first anime that I actually bought (pretty scary, considering it's just about all downhill from there in my opinion) and not just borrowed from a friend. I've seen a lot of anime since, but it remains my favorite.