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veryone has something that haunts them from the past
which in turn adds the necessary depth and complexity
to their personalities. What this did also is show how
fragile people actually are mentally. The way it’s done
is in the most psychological manner possible to
boot too.
The general characterization is well done. The
relationships are built around quite well. Each character
gradually opens up to one another as the series progresses
and show improvements mentally and socially
in a very natural manner and thus, it never
felt overbearing. Shinji became more open to
relationships with people, Asuka became a little
less stuck up and Rei actually cracked a smile.
This remained so for a bit until later in the
series where it became far more dark and
psychological with them doing the reverse and
becoming more unstable than they initially
were, eliminating their progress. This causes
the development to feel shaky. However, this
purposely happens to constantly remind you
that they aren’t ideal and that people are fragile
beings mentally. The ending of the series would
further eclipse this. To put this all into perspective,
the characters are some of the most well made
in anime to date - an integral part and the core of
Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Art: The art and animation first and foremost is some of the best for its time.
Right behind Ghost in the Shell for 1995 in fact. The general artwork is quite fresh
and unique compared to most anime at that time. The character designs were well
made, the body shapes especially were slim and well defined especially the Evas
which was and still is so unique to most mecha designs in anime. The Angels’ designs
were all interesting and varied from one another. The backgrounds and scenery were
atmospheric, giving off a very dark and surreal feeling, matching the tone of the series
perfectly. The visuals and choreography were just brilliant. The Eva battles displayed this
quite well. With strategy and cooperation among the pilots needed, it topped off the great
story and characters with some well-made action scenes. The problem with the animation
though is the budget cuts. There would be long drawn out scenes in the most random of
moments, messing with the overall pacing of the series a bit. This would all fall apart
by the end of the series where the budget was at an all-time low, which resulted in
episodes 25 & 26 using very minimal animation and visuals. Overall, the Art is
fantastic even by today’s standards.
Sound: By far, the most memorable part of Neon Genesis Evangelion is
the opening theme song “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis” which was sung by Yoko
Takahashi. This song is in fact one of my favorite anime theme songs. It’s
not number one for me, but it’s up there as one of my favorites and one
of the best anime themes around. Speaking more on the song itself, it
was very reflective of Neon Genesis Evangelion in general if you read
the lyrics carefully. This further cemented it as one of the best anime
theme songs for its relevancy to the overall series. The ending theme
“Fly Me to the Moon” was quite catchy too. The overall soundtrack of
the anime was pretty good and all the tracks were solid.
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Anime Reign | Issue 2 | 2013