[mistressoftheforce]

I am a big fan of Neon Genesis, and also a big fan of Japenese style cartoons. I was wondering what some people thought about the stroyline. Eva's and all.
mistressoftheforce

[Sojourn]

I thought Neon Genesis Evangelion was one of the finest anime that I've ever watched! It covered all bases; complex characters the viewer could identify with, gripping plot, kinetic action and probably the best script in any anime that doesn't suffer terribly from translation into English. In one word, it ROCKS!

Oh, plus Rei Ayanami really got me hooked line and sinker... ^_^

IMHO... ^_^

[Sojourn]

Oh, and one more thing; I thought the EVA design was probably the most original I've ever seen in any mecha-type anime. The sleek design and striking colours, not to mention their human-athlete movements sure look better than the typically stockin huge and chunky mecha with guns springing out of every orifice in their bodies...

IMHO... ^_^

[mistressoftheforce]

I agree, Sojourn. The Eva design is original. I was wondering as to if you have any idea if their were any movies made based on Neon Genesis translated into English? I liked most of the characters, but I did enjoy Misato's story of how her father died. I felt that it gave her character alot more depth.

[Black Echo]

Something for the old fans and the new converts...

Neon Genesis Superpage (http://www.lwhy.clara.net/nge/)

[mistressoftheforce]

Thanks Black Echo, I'll check it out.

[Miriamele]

Wow, I think this is the oldest thread I've ever resurrected...but anyway, my SO and I are currently working our way through the 10-DVD set of Neon Genesis Evangelion (I borrowed it from my boss who is an anime fanatic--hey, there are some perks to my job after all!) and I wanted to post my opinion on it.

I have to say that although I haven't watched very much anime, I really like this series. The animation is great, the storyline is interesting, and the interaction between the complex (and likeable) characters is quite enjoyable to observe. Plus, those Evas are so COOL. We're only halfway through the series so far but I can't wait to watch the rest.

I would recommend Neon Genesis Evangelion to anybody. :)

[Bear]

Evangelion was great. I was a fanatic in high school. Had the shirts, a set of Nerv folders, a Nerv coffee mug (still got that one), etc. And to this day, it's still one of the best anime series I've seen, even though it's a little depressing at times. And the mech designs were indeed amazing.

[Miriamele]

I just wanted to recap my opinion on this series now that I've actually watched the whole thing.

While I still believe that the first half of the series is excellent, towards the very end it seems to go downhill.

Namely, there is far too much character introspection and not enough action. For the entire last two episodes, the main character is basically tripping out inside his head. We never even find out what happens to everybody else. It was rather annoying.

So there was Manga movie made to make up for that. The movie started out great!!! Super action sequences, great animation...then about half way in it got very, very weird.

The very ending was not only extremely bizarre but unbelievably depressing. Not only that, but a lot of the questions I had about stuff from earlier in the series weren't even answered.

I took out the last DVD from my player with a profound sense of disappointment in my mouth. It's a shame, because the series in general is fantastic. It was only the last three episodes (there are 25 in total) and the final movie that ruined it for me.

I don't know if I want to watch any more anime now. Does it always have depressing endings?

[Bear]

Anime doesn't always have depressing endings, but it is somewhat of a trend. And I remember feeling the way you did about the ending of Eva the first time I saw it, but when I watched it again (and you really need to watch the subtitled versions of anime if you want the stories to make more sense), there was a lot that was answered that just wasn't stated.


*SPOILERS!*

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In the end of Eva, those last two OAV's, a lot happened, even though not very much was said. But what I got from the entire series was that, in the story, mankind had gone too far. They'd taken 'Adam' and manipulated him for their own devices, they were cloning (rei), etc., and it was time for the race to be wiped out. So he sent down the angels to obliterate the human race, but mankind fought back with technology (the Eva's). They fought each angel off as it came, but in the end, they were overwhelmed and God's will was done. And the ending, with Shinji and Asuka as the only survivors, was like the rebirth of mankind with Shinji and Asuka as the new Adam and Eve.

Now, there was a lot more to the series than that because of all the personal relationships, but that's pretty much the summary of things, as far as I can tell. And if you look at the series like that, it actually isn't so complicated, it just doesn't state very much and lets you decide.

But something I loved about the second half of the series was how all the characters problems came back to haunt them. Until Eva, I'd never seen an anime series with such flawed characters. And I loved it for that. The entire cast was a bunch of head-cases, but for what they were having to deal with, that was very believable. I wouldn't think that fourteen year olds destined to save the world from destruction would be able to keep their heads together for very long. And some scenes in that show gave me shivers. There was always a very grim undertone to things, but when Shinji looked into the crushed pod from the pit of his Eva and saw that Toji was the pilot he'd been fighting (pupils dialate, then Shinji lets loose a blood-curdling scream that the japanese voice actor should have won an award for), then boom, the episode ends, I was taken back.

But this is a pretty depressing series, but if you take into account that the creator was suicidal when he wrote it, it's understandable.