Touched by an Angel

// Synopsis: In the year 2015, powerful giants known as the Angels walk the Earth once again. The last hope for humanity, the organization NERV, uses young pilots to man their prototype Eva mechs to try and prevent the events of the cataclysmic Second Impact from repeating.

// Review: I watch a lot of anime, and for me having never watched Evangelion would be like saying you’re a fan of Luke Perry but never watching 90210. This is like the Godfather of all anime. The one that shaped and re-defined the genre much like the way Die Hard did for action movies and Paris Hilton did for socialite hookers. It’s easily the most controversial and obsessed over series to date.

/ On the surface it sounds like every other anime title out there: big robots, timid anti-hero, the end of the world, and 14 year old chicks with impossibly perfect bodies. But it’s execution makes it a stand out and is probably the reason why there has been an even bigger explosion of mech anime in the last decade.

/ When ultra-powerful Angels appear for the first time in 15 years, the last line of defense is Tokyo-3 and the experimental Eva units which are piloted by selectively chosen teenagers. For some mysterious reason the Angels focus their attacks on that particular city, which is actually a battle fortress built to complement the Evas. Backing the NERV organization is the shadowy cabal SEELE whose plans to save humanity by advancing it to its next evolutionary stage may end up destroying it.

/ While it has many of the common anime elements (ecchi, emasculated males, and corny super drama), it doesn’t go over board on any of these. It’s unconventional, the art style is fantastic, the characters are fascinating, there’s a great balance of action and story, and it’s not predictable.

/ Many of its fans have a love/hate relationship with this series because of how it ends. The final 2 episodes take place completely in the minds of the characters where they question the nature of existence and reality, and does not conclude the storyline. It teeters between philosophical and non-sensical emo introspective self-loathing. You could say that the ending was part love letter to writer/director Hideaki Anno’s 4 year clinical depression, and part “f*** you” to anime fans (he was disillusioned with the otaku fanboy culture and said that anime fans need to get back in touch with reality).

/ Anno went back and made two new 25th and 26th episodes that gave it a real conclusion in The End of Evangelion. While there is closure, much of the ending is open to interpretation and still remains controversial. Rabid fans/critics are so upset with how Anno handled the ending that he received many death threats. Since much of the content in the series isn’t explained, or requires drawing from the PS2 game, manga, and intense scrutiny, check out the dizzying amount of all things Evangelion on Wikipedia, which is immensely helpful in understanding everything.

// Wrap up: As long as you watch The End of Evangelion right after the series, you’ll see what all of the hype is about. I loved it.

Entertainment rating: 5