My experience watching Evangelion

[Mr. Ion]

Since about the beginning of summer I've been trying to branch out with what I watch, seek out new entertainment, and a lot of that has been anime. I knew Neon Genesis Evangelion was a well-regarded show so I decided to watch it.

As of now I've watched through 19 episodes on Netflix. The show is interesting, to say the least. The first half had some disturbing or dark parts but usually in short bursts. I got through the first half relatively quickly. The show still had a certain feeling of melancholy, and it did raise some interesting philosophical questions, but it was relatively contained. The characters were all pretty interesting, and even Shinji kind of lightened up and even spoke to his father. I did not expect what came after episode 13, though. the show took a tone that was a lot darker, more disturbing, more psychological. Its philosophical questioning began to feel like more of an interrogation, and while that isn't necessarily bad, it was a lot more intense. It was somewhat harrowing to see these young people put through such mental anguish over and over, and with others questioning the morality of the Evas and whether humans were inherently good or evil all made for a surreal viewing experience. It's been about an hour since I finished episode 19 and I'm left with an odd feeling, a kind of anxiety, or maybe it's just apprehensiveness on what's to come in the series (I have certainly heard a lot). I think it's a good show so far but it's a lot darker than anything I think I've ever watched, it's weird. I just find it interesting to think of how Anno was able to write something like this (I read somewhere that he had deep depression in the latter half of the series and that there were a lot of production issues). I think when crafting my own stories I'd like to make something interesting and philosophical, but maybe not to this extreme? I don't know, I'm the kind of guy to over-worry about things like this (or basically anything in general haha). 

I think I'll go drown my sorrows and confusion in some old-fashioned SRB2.

[GentlemanX]

Eva is my favorite anything. Yeah, there's a huge tonal shift after episode 13 and it can catch people really off guard if they're not prepared for it. Episodes 20-26 will be more of what you've seen thus far, though I consider episode 19 (my favorite episode btw) to be the action climax of the show with the episodes after it, while still being excellent and integral, even more introspective than what came before. Of course, the film The End of Evangelion which you should definitely watch after the series is the true climax. I love Eva from start to finish, but the second half is where the real meat of the show is for me and are the episodes I've most loved revisiting over the years. Even the last two episodes, which are infamous not just in the Evangelion fandom but the anime community at large, are some of my favorites and have allowed me years of self reflection based on what they have to say.

Anno's experience with depression actually began following his work on an earlier series Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (also excellent and highly recommended), with his work on Evangelion sort of being Anno putting his emotions up on the screen. A lot of the minimalist and experimental imagery toward the end of the show, contrary to popular belief, were more based on artistic intention than budgetary restraints, though it's clear that the last two episodes were originally meant to be what we see in The End of Evangelion rather than what we got in the show and they did get complaints with Japanese standards over content, in particular regarding the last scene in episode 20.

After you finish the show, there are two movies which are also both on Netflix, Death(true)^2 and The End of Evangelion. Death is essentially an overview of the show that's arranged to be more character focused on than providing something new and I generally skip it. It has some artistic merit and if you've loved the series I'd say it's worth a watch, but otherwise you might find yourself asking what the point was. The End of Evangelion, as mentioned earlier, is absolutely essential viewing; though fair warning that it does get substantially darker right from the word go than anything you see in the series.

Lastly, I also highly recommend the four newer films in the series: Evangelion 1.11, Evangelion 2.22, Evangelion 3.33, and Evangelion 3.0+1.01 - all of which are streaming on Amazon Prime. The films start as a retelling of the show with minor changes, but each subsequent film strays further and further from the original storyline until you have a vastly different ending in the final film. The new films are absolutely meant to be seen after the original series and movies and are more of a companion piece to them than a replacement. Note: not sure what language you're watching the show on Netflix. If you're watching the original Japanese version, the cast will be the same in the new movies as they are in the show and EoE. If you're watching one of the various foreign language dubs though, the cast will likely be different. For the English dub for example, the Amazon dubs of the new movies utilized mostly the same cast as the older English dubs rather than the cast used in the Netflix version. So be forewarned about that.

Overall though, it's nice to hear someone else just getting into Evangelion for the first time and I'm glad you're finding the show's themes and subjects interesting! Please share your thoughts on the rest if you feel so inclined, I'd love to hear them!

[Mr. Ion]

As of 5 hours ago I have finished Evangelion, and what a ride it was.
Going to preface this with the fact that I'll probably hold off on watching End of Evangelion for a while, just so I have some space from the series (and also so I can binge watch 6 seasons of Community). I might check out the new films at some point too, @GentlemanX's post made it sound interesting enough (also I've been watching the Japanese dub with English subs)
  On the show itself, I found it to be a very good, if not odd, exploration of one's humanity. I found it interesting how much it emphasized the idea of parents, especially mothers, and how much they influence you, given that a lot of characters (Ritsuko, Shinji, Misato, Asuka) have strained, if not nonexistent, relationships with their parents, and carry a lot of motivation from that. I kind of felt bad for Asuka and how her story ended, and it was really tragic the way it fell apart. I honestly kind of liked the finale, it was just so interesting in how it thought about its ideals, and how it mixed up the show's style, and the part in between that showed Shinji's possible other life, and the general themes that tied back to that Hedgehog's Dilemma they spoke about all the way back in the 1st episode (ironic, given that this is a Sonic the Hedgehog forum). I think the characters were well-written nd the show could be genuinely emotional (and a bit disturbing at times). The lore was a bit convoluted and it kind of stemmed from all of Gendo's pain and views on the universe, but at the same time I kind of disagree with the show's assessment that humans cannot live with the darkness and the loneliness in their heart, and that is why they relentlessly chase the warmth of others. I would argue that acknowledging and accepting this loneliness is a part of being human, because humans can never really be complete, and it's like the show said, you kind of have to define yourself. I also found the Fifth Children interesting, I wish we got to see more of him.
  All in all, a very odd show, a very philosophical one, but one that was very thought-provoking. It was like a class on humanity, Humanity 101 but with giant killer robots. I think it's something to revisit in the future, but I'm happy (I think?) to have watched it.
(also the theme song, Cruel Angel's Thesis is an ABSOLUTE BANGER and it's honestly half the reason I watched the show).

With all that said
GET IN THE ROBOT SHINJI