Neon Genesis Evangelion- it's deeper than the ocean and we will never understand it's depth.

I just finished re watching the Masterpiece Neon Genesis Evangelion, including End of Evangelion and the first two Rebuild movies. I realized something while watching it, that G-Gundam is no longer my favorite anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion is. It had been waiting for me like the childhood friend in an anime that involves harem or one  both leads have missing chromosomes. So it's time for a blog on it why not ?

    Neon Genesis Evangelion is considered a masterpiece by many, and easily one of the most influential anime series ever made. It contained many religion themes, references to shit you and I will never grasp, characters loaded with mental issues, shortcomings and personalities that made your average Otaku seem sane. Created by Hideaki Anno and his studio Gainax on the verge of bankruptcy, it saved them and helped reinvent the giant robot genre.

   Evangelion takes place after the second impact, an event that wiped out roughly a third of humanity. First impact was the beginnings of humanity and our lives. What the series is essentially about is preventing third impact from happening, at least until all the pieces are in place. The third impact will be brought about by the merging of Angels-giant life forms that have similar genetic make up to humans, but are much larger and deadly, to Adam the original Angel.The only thing that can stop them are Evangelions; Clones of angels essentially trapped in restraints and rubber, piloted  by mentally unbalanced children. Yes, this shit is deep!

Our hero's Harem!

    Created to fight the Angels is an organization called Nerv, they control the Evangelions, build them, and employ the pilots. Nerv is housed in under Tokyo-3, and in the lower levels of Nerv is Lilith, who most of the employees of Nerv believe to be Adam. The angels know this, and only the teenage pilots of the Evangelions can stop this from happening. Oh Japan, you so crazy.
So let's get onto the cast!

Shinji Ikari- our lead! His mother was absorbed in Evangelion Unit 01 when he was young, and his father abandoned him, only calling him back when he needed him to pilot the Eva. He's kind of a depressed wuss in most continuities, though in rebuild he's a bit more action oriented and committed.
Asuka Langley Sohryu (Shikigami in Rebuild)- In the manga and tv series, she a bitch who's only joy in life is piloting an Evangelion, to the point where her self worth is dependent upon it.  In the Rebuild movies she's more of a Tsundere, she openly likes Shinji, and does nice things for him, but she teases him often.Pilots Unit 02, her mother committed suicide when she was a child. She is also the test pilot for Evangelion unit 03.
Rei Ayanami- A clone of Shinji's mother Yui, mixed with bits of the angel Lilith. Soft Spoken and anti-social, early on she only speak to Gendo, Shinji's dad. As the series progresses she loves Shinji as a friend, and maybe more.Pilots Unit 00 and later 09.
Mari Makinami Illustrious- A glasses girl with an LCL fetish. She pilots Unit 08, and really doesn't do much.
Kaworu Nagisa- The most likeable and human character, despite being an Angel. He loves Shinji in all continuities, and Shinji reciprocates in the TV series and Rebuild, but hates him in the manga. He dies so humanity may live, and is TOO FABULOUS FOR THIS WORLD! One of the pilots of Unit 13 with Shinji, and pilots Unit 06.
Gendo Ikari- The pimp Daddy. Shinji's emotional abusive father who wants to end the world. He merges with Adam in most continuities.
Misato Katsuragi- in charge of battle operations for the Evangelions, she lives with Shinji and Asuka. Kind of a drunk, she was the only survivor at ground zero of the second impact, which happened on her father's expedition.

I would wear these all day everyday. Send them over Japan!

So no it's onto the variations!  First up is the original, the TV Series!
 The story begins with Shinji arriving in Tokyo-3 to work for his father an an Evangelion pilot! He doesn't want to do it, but he does anyway! He's soon joined by Rei and Asuka as pilots, and we learn how fucked up the characters are, that the Evangelions are berserk monsters with leashes, and that Kaiji like melons. Shinji defeats the Angels, but by the end the Rei he knew is dead, all his friends have moved away, and Asuka is in a coma. The budget was basically gone by the end, but the last two episodes were clip shows, about what goes on inside Shinji's head as the world ends. Third Impact happens, and the fate of the world rests on Shinji. This is continued in Death &Rebirth- part clip show and part sequel. It involves Nerv being invaded by humanity (the last angel) and Gendo trying to control 3rd Impact, but Rei turns on him and controls it. Asuka snaps out of her coma (due to realizing her mothers soul was inside)to face the mass produced Evangelion series- Units 5-13.

   The story is continued in End of Evangelion. Asuka defeats all the Eva series, only to have them reawaken and eat her Evangelion. Shinji freaks out at this sight, and the world ends. The earth is changes to a series of crosses in LCL. Everyone dies, and Shinji goes through internal dilemmas, eventually rejecting the Human Instrumentality Project ( all people are connected as one soul) and prefers to live in a world with pain, because it's real. Shinji wakes up on the beach holding Asuka's hand and chokes her. She strokes his face and says "disgusting." He stops choking her, and we get a nice shot of half of giant Rei's face. In an earlier draft, Shinji wakes up holding Rei's severed arm. Ouch, huh ?

Every meal for every day!

Rebuild of Evangelion- Sequels or remakes depending on your view. The First film Evangelion 1.0 You are (not) Alone is an adaption of the first few episodes of the show with shiny new animation! Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance is where shit happens. It diverges with Mari defeating an Angel in America, with Unit 05 .Asuka is less of a bitch, and defeating an Angel while sky diving. Instead of Touji piloting unit 03, Asuka does it. And  during the climax and Angel eats Unit 00 and Rei, and Shinji reactivates a power dead Unit 01 to save her, and triggers 3rd impact. Kaworu appears and stops it the best he can.

Next in the series is Evangelion 3.33 You can (Not) Redo. I hated this movie. The first half is Shinji being treated like shit, and no one explaining anything. It's a horrible movie, and I don't know how it's possible it exists.  Here's how it should have gone down:

   Instead we get a mess where everyone hates Shinji, The Bridge Bunnies and Female pilots form an Estrogen brigade called WILL-E that hate Nerv, Shinji goes back to Nerv and has an even gayer romance with Kaworu than anything out of Brokeback Mountain(topping it off with a dual entry plug Evangelion made for ending the world). I hate this movie, and my hopes for 4.0 are dashed. Fucking Anno.

One of these things is not like the other.

Manga- It's basically like the TV series with a few minor changes.  Kaworu shows up earlier and pilots Unit 02, and Shinji hates him, instead of loving him. Kaiji gets a backstory, involving betraying his friends to save himself. They often merge events just to save time, such as Asuka and Shinji's kiss happening at HQ during a black out, rather than at home. The ending is expanded a bit, with the new world having Shinji meeting Asuka on a train, and going to scope out high schools. His parents are alive, and his life is pretty normal.

Videogames
  Iron Maiden/ Girlfriend of Steel- It's an odd game that you basically just watch scenes and wander without having a clear sense of direction. A new girl at school comes and claims to be in love with Shinji, so of course she's a spy. Some of the scenes are worth playing for though, such as Unit 00 fishing, and Asuka's explanation of why the new girl is a spy. It's short and easily forgettable, but it has an English translation. So if you have two hours to wast go for it.

Evangelion 64- based on the TV series, its a button masher with awkward controls. It sure does look pretty and has voice acting. It's okay to mess with I guess. There's more games, but this is all I've played, since I don't know Nihongo yet.

  What sets Evangelion apart from every other robot anime prior is that the whiny pilot has legitimate reasons to not want to pilot his robot. He hates his father who sees him only as a tool, and only does it in some sort of false hope to gain praise from him. Everyone in the series is realistic- they want to be loved, and needed. They project their hopes and dreams onto others, and use one another whenever they need to. I believe it's an extremely relate-able series to anyone who's every reflected upon their actions  and why they do what they do. I love it, and I wonder if I'll ever find a series as thought provoking and deep as this one. So here's some scores why not ?

TV series- 10/10
Death & Rebirth 8/10
End of Evangelion 10/10
Rebuild 1.11-8/10
Rebuild 2.22-15/10
Rebuild 3.33- 3/10

Manga-8/10

Girlfriend of Steel- 4/10
Evangelion 64-5/10


I'll leave you with some homolust.

OOOOOhhhh Baby! Til next time!

I found this last night and it sums up Evangelion and Human interaction as a whole:

Sometimes people don't suck, so being social should totally be worth it! Fuck that!