On October 4, 1995, an anime that changed the Mecha genre premiered on television in the country of Japan, and it also started one of the biggest franchises that was either hated or enjoyed by many anime fans. This anime was known as Neon Genesis Evangelion.
The series, also known simply as Evangelion, was created and directed by Hideaki Anno. Anno was known for co-directing the anime television series, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, and he also animated the famous Giant Warrior sequence in Hayao Miyazaki's 1984 film, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Evangelion, to this day, is considered as Anno's best known work, and even though he is currently directing the final film for his Rebuild of Evangelion series, it's humble beginnings were a tough task for him since he suffered from an emotional break down half-way through production.
To start off, Evangelion is based around Shinji, a 14-year-old boy who is chosen to pilot a giant cyborg known as an Eva to fight against giant monsters, called Angels, that attack Toyko-3 in a post-apocalyptic Japan. Along with Shinji, there are two other pilots, Rei and Asuka, who protects Toyko-3 under the orders of NERV Commander Gendo Ikari, Shinji's father, and Misato, who is the operations commander and shares her apartment with Shinji and Asuka. Many of Evangelion's main characters have their own dark personal histories, and the audience eventually learns more about each character throughout the 26 episodes. For example, Shinji, the main character, suffers through his own problems based around the choices he has to make during the series, and that he also goes through daddy issues since he hasn't seen his father throughout most of his life until the first episode of the series. Also, there is several personal issues based around both Asuka and Misato separately, and they are strongly based around certain important plot elements and character development.
However, many fans seem to have a problem on how the television series ended. During the end of production, the budget for the show ran low, and the idea for originally ending the series was scrapped to create two intervention-style episodes based around Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and Misato. This final result ending was either accepted or rejected by fans. Those that rejected the chosen ending eventually sent letters to Anno on how disappointed they were, and a few of them actually threaten to end his life. What happened next led to the creation of two final Evangelion films, Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion. Death and Rebirth was considered as a "recap episode" that also contain a 27 minute sneak-peak for the following film. However, The End of Evangelion is considered as a proper end to the series for those who were disappointed of the aired ending.
In the case for Evangelion, I highly recommend it since it is considered a classic anime that has built a popular franchise. However, DVD sets of the episodes are currently out-of-print, and are pricey to get on online sites, such as Amazon. I will eventually review both Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion when the time comes, and I hope to get to the current Rebuild movie series in the near future as well.
Written by Nolan Schmidt
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