REVIEW: Evangelion (Anime)

The anime reviews I have been writing recently have been for shows that are fresh in my mind, usually because I've watched them at least within the last few months. However, I wanted to review what is possibly still my all-time favourite anime, especially because it's in a unique sort of flux at the moment with a series of new films either replacing, complimenting or following up the original... depending on how you look at it. Originally created back in the late '90s as Neon Genesis Evangelion, it was the product of Hideaki Anno who had previously collaborated with the great Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli on another of my favourite fims, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. After further collaborations with Miyazaki, Hideaki Anno fell into a four-year bout of depression, as he felt that the creative control over his projects was slipping away from him and that the "otaku" lifestyle (basically being an extreme geek in Japan) was destructive and isolationist; it was Anno's belief that human beings find it difficult to connect with and really know each other due to being separate isolated individuals. Like my all-time favourite movie, Apocalypse Now, it was this unique boiling pot of circumstance and ideas that lead to the creation of an anime television series like no other.

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Neon Genesis Evangelion:
The initial basic plot of the series is similar to a lot of "classic mecha" anime, with giant robots and teenage protagonist pilots, but right from the start there are hints of something darker lurking beneath. In the near future the Earth is recovering from a cataclysmic event dubbed "second impact", which melted much of the polar icecaps and destroyed a pretty sizable chunk of all life in the world. We join our young protagonist Shinji Ikari as he arrives at Tokyo 3 at the behest of his estranged father, who rejected him very early on in his life and has been working top secretly on some sort of government project. As he arrives at the city borders, a colossal creature called an "Angel" appears and begins to attack the place. With the army frantically trying to fight it off, Shinji is rushed to meet his father Gendo and told that the reason he's been brought there is to pilot a large mecha (giant robot) called an "Evangelion Unit", and that this is the only way to combat the Angels. Thus begins the first part of the television series when there are lots of exciting and well animated, for the time, battles between the Eva Units and the Angels. As well as fantastic action-packed fight scenes, and compelling drama, there are also lots of very humourous encounters between Shinji and other members of the cast such as his new roomate (and commanding officer!) Misato and fellow Eva pilots; the enigmatic Ayanami Rei and feisty German redhead Asuka.

But, somewhere around the half-way point of the series, it all starts to take a dramatic change of direction away from all-out action and more towards a psychological and theological character piece. These elements are there from the very start of course, but Neon Genesis Evangelion lures you in with it's more approachable aspects before pulling the rug from underneath you, at which point you're already hooked and invested heavily in the characters. Speaking of which, I've already mentioned that Shinji is separated from his father, his mother is also dead and he finds it hard to bond with anyone else, being a bit of a sociopath and suffering from chronic depression. Ayanami Rei is an emotionless doll, a shell of a human being, who doesn't understand people's emotions or motivations, Asuka has "daddy issues" and a lack of self-confidence so extreme that she overcompensates with an extrovert persona and by lashing out at everyone... you get the picture. Pretty much everyone involved in saving Tokyo 3 from the Angel attacks is psychologically disturbed or imperfect in some major way and this has a massive impact on the plot of the series. With Shinji being our protagonist we are shown things from his point of view and eventually the show descends into long monologues from him, inside his head, as he falls deeper into psychosis and through the actions piloting the Evangelion Unit, into deep catatonic despair. This is *not* a happy story or a simple Gundam-like show.

The end result is something that, in terms of plot characters and themes, is so utterly unique in anime and still stands up to this day because of how different it is from the usual tropes and conventions of this medium. As the plot progresses there is a central theme of 'the instrumentality of man', which was seemingly a bit of a hot topic at the time as it is also dealt with in Serial Experiments Lain (another of my all-time favourites and something I'll have to write a review of at some point), but this is not really resolved until the follow-up films discussed below. Despite being shot on grainy and cheap 16mm film, the animation still holds up well against modern productions, and considering its age the first half of the series, and some parts during the second, still look great. This is a combination of Gainax, the production studio headed up by Hideaki Anno, really knowing what they were doing and also because they blew a *massive* amount of their budget early on to make the show looks special; which unfortunately resulted in them completely running out of funding before the show was even through! The last two episodes are discussed below, but suffice to say the animation becomes more basic and rudimentary as the series nears its infamous climax. The music for Neon Genesis Evangelion is fantastic, and I still find myself humming some of the battle music, or the series opening theme, to this day! Once you have watched this television show, you'll never be able to hear 'Fly Me to the Moon' in the same way ever again, I guarantee it.

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"Death" + "Rebirth" AKA:
 'The End of Evangelion':
If Neon Genesis Evangelion had just carried on being the awesome 'mecha' action show that it started out like, I've no doubt that it would have become one of the most well-loved and famous anime series of all time. But the direction Hideaki Anno took it in, and the effects of Gainax's financial situation, meant that by the end it was one of the most loved and *infamous* anime series ever made. The final two episodes of the television series are always spoken about with such controversy for good reason, as even today they stand apart from the rest of the series and it's as if the final thread, the last remnant, of a traditional linear story is pulled apart and destroyed. As the story hurtles towards its dramatic climax, the studio ran out of money, and so the apocalyptic events that finish Evangelion were shown through still images, supposedly the thoughts and fears of Shinji Ikari as "third impact" happens around him. After these two final episodes had aired on Japanese TV the fans of the show exploded in a mixture of astonishment and anger, the result of which was that Hideaki Anno received death threats and hate mail that sent him into a suicidal depression. But the cult following of Evangelion only grew because of these mysterious and enigmatic final moments, and amidst the angry voices Anno also received lots of support and eager questions from supporters about what happened in the story, to the characters, and what exactly was the "third impact" that ended the show. Gainax announced they would make two films to end the story of Neon Genesis Evangelion, and it seemed like the demands of fans and haters alike had been answered.

I'm not going to talk at all about the first movie Death & Rebirth because it's largely superfluous, being that it's really just a long "recap movie" to get people up to speed enough for the next film; but it's worth watching to help you remember important story beats as well as showing some of the original series animation but at a superior quality shot on 35mm film stock. The follow-up End of Evangelion movie is the *true* end to the television series and is even split into two, like a pair of episodes complete with title cards and points for an advert break. It's also 100% new never-before-seen footage shot on 35mm with the large budget of a motion picture. In terms of the story, Neon Genesis Evangelion made heavy use of symbology and ideas from ancient kabbalistic texts, the Book of Revelation, and most importantly the apocryphal Dead Sea Scrolls, and thus the show has always been filled with judeo-christian iconography. End of Evangelion however takes this to the 'nth degree and really ramps up this aspect of the plot, revealing what "third impact" is, the motivations behind some of the shady organisations in the series, and also resolving some of the mysteries and enigmas that were left hanging by the infamous final two episodes. It does all this with aplomb, sporting sumptuous animation and some of the most exhilarating action sequences in the whole of Evangelion, or perhaps ever committed to film! It also follows the television series structure in that while the first half is all action, the second half is all metaphysical abstract imagery and more importantly, the way that Hideaki Anno chose to end his masterpiece divided people more than ever!!

The important thing to remember from the start of this section is that following the end of the television series, Hideaki Anno was depressed, suicidal, and receiving constant death threats from "fans". It was in this frame of mind that he wrote and directed the End of Evangelion, and this shows in the final film. Anno read all of the brash requests made by angry fans and gave people exactly what they wanted, but in the most painful, gory and shocking ways imaginable. I'm unfortunately entering a bit of spoiler territory here, but be forewarned that every character you will have come to know and love in the television series will have the worst things ever happen to them, perhaps not always physically but certainly mentally or psychologically. The imagery here at the end of the story is the stuff of nightmares, and as the narrative begins to break down so does the film, with Hideaki Anno even splicing in some screenshots of the death threats and abusive letters that he received... presented in the End of Evangelion film itself. It's just the most beautifully done "up yours" ever, and as an end to Evangelion itself, it all works beautifully! There is resolution and conclusion here that was missing before, and combined with the last two episodes of the television series watched in tandem, it all provides enough information to answer most of the lasting questions; although a quick mooch about on the internet and a read through of some interpretation articles wouldn't hurt either. Special mention must go to the use of classical music in the film, which works superbly, and even some great licensed music as the whole thing comes crashing down. Watched as a whole, Neon Genesis Evangelion and the End of Evangelion, is an absolute masterpiece and something that will probably never be reproduced or emulated because of the circumstances that it was created in. Of course though, Hideaki Anno recovered from his depression, Evangelion continued to grow in popularity and infamy, and the unexpected happened; we got more.

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Rebuild of Evangelion:
The original Neon Genesis Evangelion television series was released on DVD a few times, with remastered 'platinum' and 'restored' versions sporting high quality transfers and cleaned up animation, but eventually the move had to be made to high definition formats like Blu-Ray. The problem was that Gainax had by this time closed down, the original animation cells mostly destroyed, lost or sold, and the original film prints of the series were on grainy 16mm film not ideal for high definition transfer. Even the two follow-up movies had seemingly been lost to time, as since the initial launch on DVD the End of Evangelion has never been remastered or reissued. Something had to be done and Hideaki Anno announced a complete fresh remake of the Evangelion story as four consecutive films, which were dubbed the Rebuild of Evangelion movies. At this time of writing I have only seen two of the movies, the third one is still not released in the UK and the fourth is not even complete, so no doubt I will be revisiting this topic at some point with some final thoughts on the success of these rebuild movies. However, of the two that are already released there are some interesting things to talk about, especially in terms of their context, which I'll discuss later. First up, it's worth mentioning that Evangelion 1.11 (originally Evangelion 1.0 in cinemas but given the 1.11 moniker to signify the home entertainment released that includes a bit of extra material) is almost a straight up retelling of the first five episodes of the television series. Some animation sequences are even lifted wholesale from the original show, but obviously reanimated in crisp high-definition, and barring some additional scenes here-and-there that flesh out the story in interesting ways, you could almost be excused for thinking it was just another stab at Death & Rebirth. But it isn't.

Evangelion 1.11 looks absolutely fantastic and seeing some of the key action sequences of the original story but done properly is fantastic. It obviously suffers from a lack of characterisation when compared to the original series though, due to the shortened time constraints, and this is similar to the Berserk movies (see my earlier review). Also similar to the Berserk movies, Evangelion 1.11 works better as a companion piece to the original series rather than a replacement, and it helps immensely if you already know the characters well and the general gist of the plot. However, it is also in this first movie that there is some deviation from the original storyline of Evangelion, and Hideaki Anno stated that with these Rebuild movies he wanted to retell the story in a different, more concise manner, and more accessible to a large audience. This is a strange proposition as with the rushed characterisation of the first film it almost feels less accessible to newcomers, and not only that but people began to get a sense that perhaps Rebuild was much more than a literal remake. There are clues scattered throughout the movie that what we're getting may in fact be a continuation of the Evangelion story, a sort of pseudo-sequel to the End of Evangelion, which I can't really explain without *massive* amounts of spoilers. One thing though, for instance, is that in the original series the ocean is blue like normal, only turning a blood red colour after the events in End of Evangelion... in the new Rebuild movies the ocean is already blood red, and completely devoid of life to boot. There are many more indicators that these movies could be continuing the story rather than remaking it.

In terms of the original story the next film, Evangelion 2.22, really went completely off course and basically establishes a completely new storyline, or an alternate timeline if you like, where events play out completely differently than before. This means that even for old veterans, Evangelion 2.22 is fresh new material, and keeps the established audience on its toes, and at the edge of their seats! Because of the new plot, characters are given a lot more space to breathe, and some delightful scenes really build up the new take on people's psychology, which is nowhere near the levels of mental illness as before, providing much more stable and relatable protagonists. This could be what Hideaki Anno meant when he said "more accessible", and the fact that our director is no longer a suicidal mess really shows; although it's all significantly less interesting, deep and complex than what came before. Evangelion 2.22 surprises right up to the very end though as the plot accelerates through the cataclysmic events, such as another devastating "third impact", which ended the original storyline; this effectively means that with the next two films we are in completely unknown territory and utterly in the dark. While the jury is still out as to whether these films will end up being a sequel to the Evangelion story, or if in fact they are a reboot with lots of teasing false information (or even if the next two will actually be any good!), for now we have two very accomplished and entertaining anime movies. I highly recommend them for any fans of Evangelion and I'm eagerly looking forward to Evangelion 3.33 and Evangelion 4.44 in the future. Just make sure you watch all the original television series and movies first.

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Evangelion Store:

So there we have it, my opinion of the mighty Evangelion story so far, and my high hopes for the future are that it will continue to deliver the good stuff. As an aside, when I visited Harajuku in Tokyo this year (2014), I found the Evangelion Store, which sold all sorts of awesome products from the original and rebuild stories. I'll leave you with this picture of me, chuffed to bits after buying merchandise from my favourite anime of all time; Neon Genesis Evangelion, End of Evangelion and the Rebuild of Evangelion. See you all in the future with my thoughts after it's all over and finished. Thank you Hideaki Anno.