How do you guys feel about Evangelion?

[caviar]

I've been watching NGE because y'know, everyone and their mother says it's one of the greatest anime. But I'm not sure if I fully get what makes it stand out above the rest. The emotional themes are strong, but there are some characters I just can't get attached to, like Misato. And obviously the treatment of some of the underage characters is a bit... icky, but it is anime, after all. It happens a lot.

I'm not the whole way through, I think the last episode I watched was... either episode 19 or 20. Maybe I've tuned out and missed some things (my attention span when it comes to TV shows isn't always great), so could people explain why they like it and what I may not be understanding about the plot up until this point?

[Sneasel]

I really haven't watched Evangelion in one go for a long time, I should do it again. The last time was certainly 20 years ago. Excluding the remakes, of course.
I think it's also just a kind of nostalgia.
Evangelion was my very first adult anime, I hadn't seen anything like it before. Back in the 90s and early 2000s, the selection of anime that was subtitled was much smaller.
I remember I had to buy the VHS, they weren't available to rent, and there were 3-4 episodes on a VHS for 50$, it was an expensive hobby back then.
I suppose if I saw it for the first time today, its status would be different.

[Alister]

I tried and failed to get into it because I heard the same, friends were aghast I hadn't seen it because it's amazing. I made it through maybe five episodes before wandering off, forgetting I was trying to watch it, and never starting it again. It just never managed to hook me.

I don't like being negative about things other people really enjoy (my opinion is just that, an opinion) but I'd definitely also be interested to hear what any cK NGE stans think.

[juliamps]

I think it survives on nostalgia but it's a good anime to watch for the first time as it goes from gundam go brrrr to eldricht horror in about 10 eps and that's pretty cool.
If you want things to make sense tho maybe you could watch the remake movies, I think there's 4 in total. Story changes a bit but at least things make a bit more sense!

[FlyHard]

i watched it around 5 or 6 years ago and im still confused about the ending lmao

[billytiddles]

Like others I watched it 10+ years ago... However I disliked it. Especially the ending or the mess of ending episodes. Maybe I didn't get it or something but it was just messed up and seemed like lazy writing to close out the story.

Not all animes fit for everyone, don't feel bad if it doesn't hit for you.

[caviar]

I tried and failed to get into it because I heard the same, friends were aghast I hadn't seen it because it's amazing. I made it through maybe five episodes before wandering off, forgetting I was trying to watch it, and never starting it again. It just never managed to hook me.

I don't like being negative about things other people really enjoy (my opinion is just that, an opinion) but I'd definitely also be interested to hear what any cK NGE stans think.

Yeah, I was sorta hoping for someone who loves it to defend it so maybe I can get it better haha.

[Baklava]

I...thought it was kinda forgettable. I couldn't tell you what asuka did if you asked me today.
My friend was REALLY into it. He said all the characters were so deep and that he cried when the boy(Shinji?) had an existential meltdown at the swing-set scene. But i honestly didn't feel any huge metaphors or allegories to life in this anime. I also thought Lilith was kinda absurd looking and.... yeah this anime was an example of something that is just TOO Japanese if you know what i mean

[Mothman]

My husband is a fan, I asked him what he likes about it and his answer was "Mechs Cool"

i've watched it and enjoyed it but i get real creeped out by how the kids are treated. I know it's part of the show on purpose but it skeeves me out lol.

I like the monsters & mechs, visually I think it's amazing and the basic plot is enjoyable :) I think it's really popular because it's old and was one of the outstanding shows in that era :)

[Alister]

I haven't watched enough of it to know how the kids get treated in a creep manner but I am immediately reminded of

57828

I had a time watching Darling in the Franxx (only mech anime I've seen in full) because of this lol

[DarkSkies]

(Takes a great intake of air)

I'm not a super fan of Evangelion but as someone with an older brother deciding what to see, seeing Evangelion years later again and much later making my husband watch it with me and seeing the movies, and looking for long video explanations on Youtube AND still forgetting all what I understood nowadays... Yeah, I kinda get the hype of the people.

Short answer: Mechas (humans) vs monsters known as "Angels", each angel with a different ability.

Long answer: I'm going to try to do this as simple as possible.

Adan (power) arrived first to Earth, and let his children (Angels = monsters) populate. This was fine until Lilith arrived to Earth too, this should have NEVER happened. Adan and Lilith can't coexist, this will bring chaos.

So Adan and angels went into hibernation mode. Lilith (knowledge) populate the planet with her children (humans). This is where the story takes place.

Humans as always like to mess up with powers, entities they shouldn't (they captured Adan and Lilith bodies, experiments, made mechas, mistreated the children I mean the pilots, blah blah blah...).

That's why angels started waking up and said "wtf we arrived first, let's get rid of those humans :mad: ". So war begins, only mechas can fight, only children can control the mechas.

In a simpler way that's the general plot.

Now add the personal, emotional, mental problems of the different characters + the fact that by making a dangerous mix (iirc Adan soul + Lilith soul + human + angel) you could make a god entity that grants you almost WHATEVER wish you want + greed/seek of power + partial/total destruction of the world (known as Impact, through the series we got maybe 4 or 5 very destructive Impacts).

Each Impact can "purify" (leave water/earth/zones innacessible for humans) or reboot the universe.

Anime = Starting point.
1st movie = Seems a remake. But alas this is a reboot (thanks to an Impact)
Next movies = More Impacts / Evolution of characters (yeah sorry they also suffer more, poor Rei :( )

And through the whole anime/movies psychological/metaphorical hints that would probably left you thinking wtf until you find a Youtube video explaining it xd

It's interesting when you want to sit down and analyze. Shinji exasperated me more than once but all the battles and enemies were enough to keep me getting back.


I still remember Asuka fighting with the seagull Evas with no plugged energy and battery almost out and then... Amazing but very crude scene, I think that was from the anime :sorrow:


Amazingly I'm not a fan, I just enjoyed the hard deep explanations lol