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My Rating: 100%
Episodes: 26 + "The End of Evangelion" (alternate 25th and 26th episodes)
Evangelion is much more than first meets the eye. It may seem at the start to be just another mecha anime, or a simple coming-of-age story. Later, however, the viewer will discover that the character development is deeply psychological; the story itself is deeply metaphysical; and the final question presented to the audience is an important philosophical dilemma.
Shinji Ikari is recruited by his father, commander of Nerv, to serve as an Evangelion pilot in the defense of Tokyo-3 from mysterious beings known only as Angels. Although he is reluctant to do so, he eventually relents, and seeks to gain his father's approval. However, deeper questions begin to arise. What are the Angels? What caused the Second Impact? What is the Instrumentality Project? And most importantly, what exactly are the Evangelions?
For those unfamiliar with the history of Evangelion, it must be noted that there has been a lot of controversy over the ending of the anime. Some prefer to view the end as a failure to a promising series. I personally take the alternate perspective, that rather than it being a failure, it was a fortunate disaster and a stroke of genius on the part of Hideaki Anno. Toward the end of the series, Anno faced numerous budget problems. As a result, the last three episodes, especially the last two, are animated with a very minimalist style. These episodes chronicle the psychic events experienced by the characters, events that are later depicted in actuality in "The End of Evangelion," which Anno produced later after acquiring the necessary financial resources.
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