The Gist:

After the planet was left half-devastated by the arrival of the alien Angels, the secret organization Nerv has developed giant robot weapons to protect the earth from the next Angel assault. Their pilots are young, frail, emotionally unstable, and the only hope for the world. But larger, even more sinister forces than the Angels are at work, and which threaten the human race in ways no one could ever have dreamed.

The History:

Animation director Hideaki Anno originally created Evangelion as a collaboration between his animation studio Gainax and King Records. The show faced a difficult production, besieged by everything from censorship to budget problems and angry fan backlash. (Anno was also wrestling with his own personal demons at the time.) But its theological overtones and controversial subject matter left their mark with viewers. Evangelion became a runaway success as a franchise, and its impact on anime generally is hard to overstate.

Manga vs. Anime:

A number of different manga have been commissioned. Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's original series, which adapts the show more or less directly, has been plagued by a slow release schedule. Other manga series, such as Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days, are spinoffs and don't deal with the original plotline.

How to Watch:

• Complete Collection: ADV Films / DVD (Click to compare prices)

Genres:

Science fiction, action, mecha, drama

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Studios:

Gainax
ADV Films

Rating:

T for teens

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Air Dates:

Started: October 4, 1995 (Japan)
Ended: January 10, 1996 (Japan)

Related Titles:

• Evangelion: Death and Rebirth (first of two movies that revisits the conclusion of the series)
• The End of Evangelion (second of two movies that revisits the conclusion of the series)
• Rebuild of Evangelion (reboot of entire series)

The Review:

In the year 2000, half the human race was wiped out when the catalysmic "Second Impact" devastated Antarctica and unleashed world chaos. This was humanity's first contact with the alien "Angels". Now, fifteen years later, the Angels have returned—but humanity is prepared to fight back thanks to the Evas—giant war machines constructed from technology that allows man and machine to interface with each other on a primal level.

When the Angel attacks recommence, meek fourteen-year-old Shinji Ikari wants nothing more than to run and hide. But his icy and remote father, Commander Gendo Ikari, manager of the project that oversees the Evas, drafts him into piloting one of the robots. Soon he crosses paths with two other Eva pilots—the almost personality-less Rei Ayanami, and the vivacious Asuka Langley Soryu, both of whom have profound influences on him.

As the war escalates and becomes all the more savage—and the stresses of battle begin taking their tolls on everyone psychologically—the real significance of the Angels and the Evas are revealed. Shocking truths about many of the characters come to light, and everyone from Shinji on up must confront themselves in ways they never imagined they could.

Evangelion earned instant fame—and infamy—for its apocalyptic storyline, confrontational handling of its own characters, and for the way it weaves in and juggles concepts and themes from many different sources, everything from Kabbalic mysticism to abnormal psychology. The latter was derived most directly from director Hideaki Anno's own experiences with depression, and one oft-repeated observation about the show is that there isn't a sane or healthy person in it.

What makes the show challenging and bold also makes it tough viewing. You can only take so much of Shinji's passivity and self-hatred before it becomes grating. And the messy climax—forced on the production team by a lack of money—explains almost nothing. Not one but two feature-length films were later created to give the series a more definitive conclusion.

Yet despite these flaws, the series remains fascinating and horrifying in about equal measure, and it has changed the anime landscape as permanently as the Angels themselves left their mark on the earth.

The series has since been reworked into a new four-movie production entitled Rebuild of Evangelion, with a rewritten storyline and state-of-the-art animation and effects.