Neon Genesis Evangelion - The FUCK?

[Franklin Payne]

I am certainly not an expert when it comes to anime. I have seen Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Lupin III (some episodes) and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is often praised as one of the best anime series ever.
http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=2088
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2006-10-13/japan%27s-favorite-tv-anime

Am I the only one to say WTF?

Neon Genesis Evangelion is horrible! Probably the most incoherent, confusing, pseudo-intellectual storyline I have ever seen! Now normally when I don't understand a movie, book, etc. I go online and read a synopsis written by people who liked it. That's because I think, maybe I missed something or maybe I am just too dumb to grasp the greatness of this work. Well ... apparently I understood all of this shit as it was meant (at least the part that was meant to be understood). I even got the references to christianity and judaism as I am quite interested in religions from a scientific comparative point of view.

I hated every single character - with the possible exception of Asuka.
I hate giant robots (this didn't help)
I hate children as main characters (didn't help either)

I find it totally mindboggling that this series is held in such high regard. It is utter crap! And probably the worst thing about it are the fans who seem to think it is sooooo deeply philosophical in its core. No, it isn't! It is gibberish on a pretty high level of insanity.
[/review]

[lethargic]

I don't entirely agree with you. Evangelion had a it's moments of awesomeness, but I don't rly think that it's as great as people keep telling me it is. I found too many of the characters to be annoying and too little real content besides fanservice.

All in all, I mostly enjoyed it but I don't think I'd ever rly watch it again.

[Kai]

If you're looking for an action show with a traditional story arc, Eva sucks.

If you're looking for a dive into mental disorders, spirituality, and human psyche, it's great.

[Vizier]

It's overrated, but it's still a pretty damn good series.

Cowboy Bebop will always be the best though :p

Most of the Eva fights are pretty cool, and the movie gives a much better ending than the series itself.

[lethargic]

If you're looking for a dive into mental disorders, spirituality, and human psyche, it's great.

i mustn't run away i mustn't run away i mustn't run away i mustn't run away i mustn't run away...

[Snoopy]

I agree with the OP. It sucked dick. The characters were all fucking arrogant little annoying dicks. Basically the kind of people that got beatean the fuck out of every day at school. Nice call on the pseudo-intellectual part too. Baiscally the story reeked of "I'm so smarter than everyone else I don't know how to express myself no one understands me"

Fuck that shit.

[Mantikore]

its the only anime series ever i was interested in. The ending was great and a total mindfuck. :thumbsup:

[Miaow]

I hate giant robots (this didn't help)
I hate children as main characters (didn't help either)

What the fuck are you doing watching anime for then?

[(´･ω･`)]

I'd attempt to sway your opinion OP, but you seem to be a complete homosexual so I wont bother.

[KillSwitch_J]

Evangelion had a it's moments of awesomeness, but I don't rly think that it's as great as people keep telling me it is.

^This. Although I would watch it again if it were on.

[Apodyopsis]

from what i saw of the series, I too think it's over-rated. I stopped watching near the beginning though.

[Franklin Payne]

What the fuck are you doing watching anime for then?
I watched Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo & Lupin III without problems. I watch Outlaw Star right now and I like it.
If you're looking for an action show with a traditional story arc, Eva sucks.

If you're looking for a dive into mental disorders, spirituality, and human psyche, it's great.
No, it's not. NGE deals with these topics on a very trivial level. Just throwing in some terms like the 'Lance of Longinus' doesn't make a story deep. Actually if you are really interested in spirituality and the like, it will make the series even worse for you, because it butchers some very serious topics.

But I suppose such things are a matter of preference anyway.

[lvl99]

I just recently saw the series. It's amazing especially the fucked up daddy complex that shinji had. The character development was done so well, that it didn't seem forced. In some way you could related to each of the the characters. The ending of the series was a total mindfuck. Overall, awesome series.

[constantinople]

I watched Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo & Lupin III without problems. I watch Outlaw Star right now and I like it.

No, it's not. NGE deals with these topics on a very trivial level. Just throwing in some terms like the 'Lance of Longinus' doesn't make a story deep. Actually if you are really interested in spirituality and the like, it will make the series even worse for you, because it butchers some very serious topics.

But I suppose such things are a matter of preference anyway.

It wasn't even supposed to be a commentary on RELIGION you fuckwit, it was a commentary on SPIRITUALITY and the nature of the soul. So they can talk about the Lance of Longinus, and Adam, as much as they want, because, in the end, it wasn't even about fucking religion.

Religion had very little to do with it, as spirituality and religion are two entirely different things. And if you cannot make such a distinction, then I don't know how you can claim to be so devoted to such "very serious topics."

You obviously watched this with all the wrong intentions, and then, after reading a synopsis, you still don't get it. Apparently what you dub "pseudo-intellectualism" is too much intellectualism for you then.

[Franklin Payne]

It wasn't even supposed to be a commentary on RELIGION you fuckwit, it was a commentary on SPIRITUALITY and the nature of the soul. So they can talk about the Lance of Longinus, and Adam, as much as they want, because, in the end, it wasn't even about fucking religion.
I never said that it was a commentary on religion. But it used a plethora of religious symbols. And the creators even stated publicly that they added the judeo-christian terminology basically in an attempt of attention-whoring.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion_(anime)#Religion
That in itself would be fine with me though I dislike pointlessly false use of established terms. What annoys me is that the series takes itself far too seriously. As if it was about to solve the problems of mankind or something.

Religion had very little to do with it, as spirituality and religion are two entirely different things.
Agreed. Still the level on which the series dealt with spirituality was ridiculous. I mean what have you learnt by watching NGE? Did it provoke a new interesting thought? You are probably right about NGE being a "commentary on spirituality". And it sucks at what it does.
And if you cannot make such a distinction, then I don't know how you can claim to be so devoted to such "very serious topics."
lol

You obviously watched this with all the wrong intentions, and then, after reading a synopsis, you still don't get it. Apparently what you dub "pseudo-intellectualism" is too much intellectualism for you then.
Intentions? I watched it with the intention of finding entertainment. What I found was a story written by clinically depressed emo who went on and on about the tragedy of existence and his own fucked up life. If wanted to know more about the human nature and spirituality I wouldn't exactly ask Hideaki Anno.

[Revvy]

Was ok to watch, but didn't think it was as great as others made it out to be. Maybe if I watched it before seeing a few other series: namingly the epicness which is GitS, I'd have enjoyed it more.