Thread: Official Neon Genesis Evangelion Anime

Neon Genesis Evangelion has been around since 1995. An action series with references to the book of Genesis and biblical apocrypha. Hmm.... so that explains why the word "Genesis" is in the title. It's the last thing I had expected to have anime referencing religion.

It's a post-apocalyptic science fiction anime. That is, life after a major disaster that greatly affects civilization. It's a mecha series (mecha deriving from the Japanese word meka - meaning mechanical). So expect lots of robots, cars, guns, computers and other machinery.

The story starts with a group of scientists that headed to Antarctica to examine a large being of light which they call Adam. From their involvement, Adam goes out of control and is reduced to an egg cell. This results in most of Antarctica being destroyed and throwing off the balance of earth. The aftermath results in worldwide warfare and climate change before peace is eventually restored. However, during this warfare, billions of people were wiped out, leaving earth in a state that we have never seen before.

When watching Neon Genesis Evangelion, keep in mind that it was created just after the director suffered a depression. So the director has brought out his emotions in the story and scenes.

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION AT A GLANCE

• Director: Hideaki Anno
• Genre: Action series with references to religion. Drama, mecha military, science fiction.
• Main Character:: Shinji Ikari (The Third Child)

Consists of 26 TV episodes, which were then followed by 3 movies:

• Death and Rebirth
• The End of Evangelion
• The Revival of Evangelion

Nice one! Calling the 2nd movie "The End..." and then following up with "The Revival..." movie. Anyway...

Oh! Now it makes sense. The 3rd movie was a re-edit of the previous 2 and released as a single movie in 1998. Cool... so that means I can watch the whole lot in 1 movie. Nice and simple.

If you don't have time to watch all 26 TV episodes, then watch The Revival of Evangelion movie. It's a condensed version!

The producer Gainax has also confirmed 4 new movies will be released in 2007 and 2008.

The official Neon Genesis Evangelion website and other authority websites are all in Japanese. So a cool site to visit would be Neon Genesis Evangelion: Platinum Edition for all character bio's etc.