Neon Genesis Evangelion has across multiple generations spawned varied responses. Some respond with utter glee others still pride themselves on the sole fact that they understand it and others yet equate it to the Mariana trench that is 2deep4you. While clearly its faults cannot be downplayed enough there is no doubt that Evangelion has made a spot for itself in the history of anime and maybe even entertainment in general. After all its been almost 20 years since it aired and we are still talking about it. How many series that air today will be mentioned twenty years down the line? In fact how many will even be remembered after a month? Still Evangelion lives on in history for what though still remains. http://i.ur.com/Fu88CKo.jpg Artwork and Animation 3/10 While NGEs animation was top of the line when it released nowdays it just looks like absolute trash. While NGE in itself shouldnt be blamed for the technology of its time I must take into account what a person watching it now must go through and the artwork stands as the biggest hurdle between you and NGE. First of all the problems start with the fact that while NGE aired 1995 TVs used to be round screen and CRTs were the shit a HD720 flat screen monitor was almost science fiction at that point. From that perspective it is no surprise that NGE was never made in 720p or a higher quality and as such a release of that quality cannot exist. So the best you can possibly get off the web is a 700 x 480. Not even 480p. Oh and this pseudo 480p release? Yeah even that is upscaled. No wonder your viewing experience will be terrible. http://i.ur.com/s6nw5aR.jpg pic related. See how bad it scales? While the choppy animation in itself isnt all that terrible more like you can get used to it the artwork is bad. Yeah twenty years of technological enhancement really spoils people. Any more on the art section is pointless. It is horrible even the anilist icon for it is an exaggeration get used to it if you feel like watching NGE. Still Im going to rely on the pictures from the TV series mostly the OP since it has much much better artwork just maybe you will get acclimated to it by the time we are done here. Maybe. Sound and music 9/10 Lets start with the Voice acting. Almost all the releases that you can find on the web today are dual audio. Now even though Im no fan of dubs the english dub is decent enough to be watched. Still my preference goes to the Japanese dubs.While the voice acting for the Japanese side is fairly good it isnt all that clear in terms of quality not by modern standards anyways though that can be chalked down to poor equipment more than anything. The environmental noises are great 2D4Us release somehow has 5.1 so there is something of value there. Now lets talk music. You know how all the old timers keep talking about how the music was better in their time? Yeah well get in your seats for the greatest OP you ever listened to. Cruel Angels Thesis by Yoko Takahashi is by far one of the greatest openings of all time and its music video is extraordinary if a bit mature to say the least. 3nQNSLB3Lpk But we arent done yet the ED Claires Fly Me To The Moon is iconic in its own way but its a sad thing that its actually just a copy paste. Not that you would realize if you were born in the 2000s or dont listen to Frank Sinatra. Story 29/30 Whoa whoa whoa back up back up. Did I honestly seriously crazily just say that a story was 20/20? Why that is the same thing as saying its perfect and perfection doesnt exist Admittedly 20/20 is a bit...too much but I must say Im impressed by the story. More impressed than I have been of anything. Some people like to point out repeatedly that NGE is 2Deep4you and that that is a fault. To which I reply how is deep anything but a compliment? How is saying that a story is meaningful and complex possibly a fault? Do you not like an engaging story that keeps you at your wits end? Do you not like a story that all but blows your mind with its sheer size and complexity? If you said I dont to even one of the above then you are a hundred years too early to ever watch and enjoy Evangelion. I suggest you flock to SAO or ToLove Ru for mindless grazing on the plains of fap material. See ya when you get bored of watching the same shit over and over. http://i.ur.com/OFyapjc.jpg Premise The premise of NGE relies on a dystopian world set in 2015 almost there when out of absolutely nowhere for the second time an angel attacks. This isnt your average gods messenger though it is a big fucking robot/alien thingy which blows everything to bits because why the fuck not explosions are cool. The United Nations responds like it always does with a LOT of firepower. Sadly their firepower falls flat on their faces because well its a fucking angel. It doesnt give a fuck about your democracy. At this point a secret branch called NERV comes in hoping to destroy the angel using their own brand of killer robot but science hasnt progressed far enough for the killed robots to be properly utilized. Half the time that shit doesnt even launch and its a big thing if it can walk. Can humanity really save itself from getting rekt at the hands of the thirteen angels that will bring doom upon earth? http://i.ur.com/BOaFwAD.jpg Execution Say what you will about Evangelion but the hard fact is that its execution couldnt be better. If you are even slightly impressed by the story before ep13 get prepared to get blown off the ridge. Because when I say NGE is extreme I mean it. You will never see the turn on the road and half the clues will slip right by you. But when they come together you will go holy jesus fucking christ on a moped That was awesome Where did they pull that out of? I never noticed And that my friends is what a story is. Something that keeps surprising you something that engages your mind fucks with it even and most of all something that makes you say What happens next?. Evangelion puts a big red tick in front of all of those. Its almost akin to playing a card game just that Evangelions entire hand is filled with trumps and every card it plays hits you and as you get just that much closer to knowing whats in store for you the next turn you get hit by yet another trump. If even after finishing it you feel like you dont understand something then /a/ occasionally has ask any eva question threads. Just post do lurk before though and some kind anon will probably answer you within five minutes. But the biggest problem with Evangelion is that it only has 26 episodes and you will want more. In that case I would suggest you to follow it up with the Eva movies which are quite brilliant Actually they are better than the TV series especially The end of evangelion and even have better artwork and animation. After that? After that you wait until 2015 for Evangelion : Final. Characters 24/30 The crew of Evangelion was as real as real goes but not a single person was likable. Ill explain that statement. First the reality part. From the start I could see where Eva was going with the characters the dense guy the girl that fawns over him for no reason the traumad girl and the overconfident tsundere with the god complex. It couldnt have been more clear. And I couldnt have been more wrong. When the characters suddenly started changing NGE dragged me out of my comfort zone. This isnt how it was supposed to be Well nofuckingpe. Combined with the steep change in the direction of the story I was suddenly in a unknown land. This wasnt the series I have been watching for the past 14 episodes I had that one figured out till the end Yeah sure the characters seem cliche at first glance but it suddenly changed as all the pieces fall into place and peoples ulterior motives come to light. http://i.ur.com/2Jqy2NC.jpg On the other hand there was no one on the character board that I did like as is what happens when you completely bare your characters to their innermost most fucked up thoughts. And then there is Shinji. I didnt like the other characters because as I pointed out they bared themselves and changed too much. Shinji on the other hand is a dipshit crybaby. Honestly. I hate that guy. All he does episode in and episode out is whine about his crappy dad and his crappy life and his crappy insert moronic teenager bullshit here. Enjoyment 16/20 NGEs sole source of enjoyment is its extremely great storyline. Sadly even that is hampered by a technological gap in the art department which all but wrecks the series if you cant handle low resolution. If you can though you just hit the metaphorical goldmine of anime. While other factors may hamper your ability to handle Evangelion if you actually sit through it you wont be disappointed. Final Verdict 81/100 http://i.ur.com/kZbyzOi.jpg