Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)
Directed by Hideaki Anno, Masayuki & Kazuya Tsurumaki, Art Direction by Hiroshi Kato
"You must seize the future. It is what you live for!"
Perhaps rightfully called “the Watchmen of Anime”, with one rather notable caveat.
First of all, watch the episodes one at a time. Do not binge them. Watch one and sit on it for a while.
The lead writer of the show was dealing with alcoholism recovery while writing the story. The principle characters reflect different aspects of his personality and his recovery process.
It’s… a giant robots piloted by angst-riddled teenagers show that’s not about giant robots piloted by angst-riddled teenagers. So, watch it like your reading a book for a college course. Especially if you’re a psych major.
Now, the (no spoilers, I promise) caveat I mentioned.
The conclusion of the show sucked. It just like… deflates into drivel. It sucked so much they made a movie that fixed the ending. So, watch the show, and then Google around and make sure you watch the corrected version of the ending which was called a movie or something.
I am gonna say this again. It’s like Mad Men. Do not sit in bed all night and binge the show. It was released in 1995, and aired on late-night programming in Japan with new episodes once a week or every other week. It was written to be consumed in that manner. Don’t binge the show, you’ll miss the emotional impact of parts of it.
