Neon Genesis Evangelion, is probably one of the most popular and well-known anime series here. NGE is about 26 episodes long and is a brilliant, yet flawed series.

NGE is about a boy named Shinji, who is brought to NERV, an organization that fights killer angels that attack Tokyo-3. Shinji, along with other children, mainly Asuka and Rei, must hope in EVA units, which are like big giant mechs, and fight the many angels that god sends down to take revenge on humankind for the sin of Shinji’s father (I can already hear the Christian people sending in their complaints to Gainax now)If an angel touches Adam, the first human, then the third impact will occur, destroying the world. Why does NERV have Adam? Who or what exactly is Rei? What is Shinji’s father’s real intention?

NGE has got to have one of the most complicated storylines ever and the details are very subtle; you will have to figure out many of the things for yourself… I, honestly, had to find help from an Internet guide, for some of the minor details that I couldn’t quite grasp. With an excellent story what could go wrong?

Well, the characters, for one thing. They are all very different, and each of them has a very distinct personality, but hardly any of the characters are likable at all. Shinji is a wimpy, whiny, little baby. Asuka is a nasty beast. Rei, well, she just doesn’t have a personality, and I honestly have no idea why everyone likes her so much, at all! The only character that I really did like was Misato. She is tough, human, and does her job, yet she hides a troubled past that still is painful for her today. The supporting characters aren’t any better. Gendo, Shinji’s father, is a jerk. Ritsuko is just annoying. Kaoru is a little bit too clingy. Even Shinji’s friends are quite annoying. However, the character development is excellent, and there are even two episodes, which analyze the main characters, what they think and their pasts, but that brings us to yet another problem.

Unfortunately, these episodes are the last episodes of the series. Now, I liked these episodes and I truly think they were a good addition to the series, but why not put them in the middle of a series, and substitute these for the recap episodes? Honestly, putting in these episodes at the end, conveniently let’s the writer slip by the fact, that he does not have an ending for this series. It’s such a shame, but at least they have movies, that tell the end of the series, but I’ve heard that they only form more questions and aren’t that great anyway…

The art is pretty good. It’s not as bright or as crisp as it should be, but it’s still pretty good. The characters are designed nicely and the animation runs smoothly, with some excellent (not to mention, pretty violent) angel battles that are very cool.

Another thing I liked was the angel designs, as well as the mech designs. Each one was very distinct. The angels also have very different attacks and it’s fun to see how NERV can come up with a creative way to defeat each one of them.

The sound is excellent. The opening theme is very catchy. Also, the music played during some of the angel fights is rather interesting. I loved it when they played Christian, choir music during angel attacks. It adds so much. The Japanese voices are excellent and fit each character (as usual), however, the English voices are pretty bad and are just, well, bad (as usual).

So, is Evangelion worth your time? I say, definitely. It is a truly intelligent and one of those series that requires a brain to watch. I would say buy it, because you need to watch it again to understand little details and plus it’s got some good action scenes too. The only complaint I have is that if you only have a VCR, then this series might bleed you dry. It’s about $30 dollars for a tape with only 2 episodes!!! So, that’s $30 x 13 tapes, you do the math. The DVDs aren’t as bad, but are still quite expensive. They are $25 bucks each. The first two DVDs have 4 episodes and the last 6 DVDs have only 3 episodes. So that’s 8 DVDs x $25, which I would say is expensive but worth it. Again, if you have a DVD player then buy it, as there is also the Japanese and English voice tracks, and I have even seen the DVDs offered for as low as $20 dollars at some stores. The tapes are just a rip-off, so don’t buy them, rent them if you can. Anyway, NGE is a very good series that is hindered by awful characters and its lack of an ending.