Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the more popular anime series of the past few years. Although the series only lasted a year in Japan, Evangelion merchandise and imagery are easily found both in comic shops and on the Internet. Evangelion also spawned one of the more interesting animated characters in recent years, a sad and depressed blue-haired girl named Rei Ayanami
I like Rei Ayanami. I honestly do. I attended a high school for the gifted, and later taught a few gifted teens. I recognize all too well the unsmiling, emotionally repressed face of a lonely gifted child. Gainax Studios, in creating Rei Ayanami, accurately portrays a real-life character type that I am perhaps too familiar with. She is a sad girl, diligent in her responsibilities and disassociated from her peers, and I cannot watch Neon Genesis Evangelion without caring about her.
Yet I don’t care much for Neon Genesis Evangelion as a whole. Why? In short, Evangelion is a hodgepodge of disparate elements that never really come together. If Evangelion simply tried to do too much, the flaw might be excusable. But Evangelion only seems to aim at the lowest common anime denominator by tossing in every recent fanboy fetish of the past ten years.
Too much of Gainax’s Evangelion is contrived. There are "Guyver"-style biomecha known as "Angels." There are healthy doses of cheesecake posing (mostly provided by a twenty-something character named Misato) to satisfy what some call "fan service." There’s good-natured "comic relief" involving Kensuke and Toji, two typical Tokyo teens. There is even the ridiculously cute animal sidekick Pen Pen the Penguin. Gainax also loads the series with plenty of teen angst – lead character Shinji Ikari is perhaps the most psychologically depressed and confused hero in all of anime, continuously trying to reassess his relationship with his father and his peers. None of the above elements are synthesized, making for a difficult viewing experience. One minute we are watching Shinji suffer in silence, and the next we are treated to Misato prancing about in a halter and cut-off shorts. We are shown both pseudo-intellectual ramblings about the nature of "Angels" and crude low comedy and asked to treat both on a continuum. None of this makes any sense, and all of it is incredibly disjointed.
Yoshiyuki Sadamoto avoided these extremes in the Evangelion manga adaptation. Sadamoto wisely decided to focus on character development. Sadamoto’s manga is far from a scene-by-scene adaptation of the anime series. Some scenes are lengthened; others are cut; others are introduced. All the pilots of the Evangelion mecha are teenagers, and Sadamoto’s manga often shows how the intense pressure placed upon these teens is ultimately psychologically damaging.
However, in the anime, character development is given short shrift - save for Shinji, who eventually learns to harness his incredible potential. Toji, in particular, is incomprehensible. Initially, he is something of a well-motivated bully, picking on Shinji and jealous of his special status. He soon changes into a buffoon and one of Shinji’s best friends. Toji is not the only unsatisfying character. We learn about Misato’s past, and we learn more about the other members of Shinji’s team, but they never become alive for us. The anime is too concerned with a fast-paced, flashy action style to allow us to learn anything about the lead characters, or why we should care about the mystery of the "Angels" visiting earth. We are expected to shut up, sit back, and watch the high-tech graphics.
Nevertheless, the Evangelion anime boasts a strong fan base, and is highly recommended by many. While the series is muddled, it’s easy to see its appeal. From arm’s length, Evangelion is a well-animated, strikingly designed series. To more discerning eyes, it’s one of the best examples of McAnime. There isn’t a single element that doesn’t seem strategically placed to maximize the series’ commercial impact. There’s nothing wrong with being commercial – Gainax has bills to pay just like the rest of us - but a computer could have concocted most of Evangelion.
Earlier anime series done by different hands, such as the original Space Cruiser Yamato ,and even Macross, deftly mixed mainstream science-fiction elements with human interest. If Evangelion used the relationship between Rei and Shinji as a fulcrum for the other characters, and minimized the multitude of subplots, the series would have a focus that it sorely lacks. It’s difficult for me to recommend the entire Evangelion TV series – the first four episodes follow a relatively self-contained story arc and would be your best bet.
 |
Other Anime Reviews Affair on Nolandia Review Curse of the Blood Rubies Review Serial Experiments Lain Review * Project A-ko Review* Slayers:The Motion Picture Review* |
Get your ownFree Home Page