Japanese
animation TV series, or,
OVA anime. It has been descripted neutrally well enough above, so I'll just drop some
personal opinions
(ah! personal opinions, those calling for minus button, the flavor of everything) in a form of a "short" story.
Episodes 1 and 2: dem giant robottos
One day I decided to find out what anime was about. I had heard lots of good things about it, and especially of this thing, Neon Genesis Evangelion. I grabbed two episodes, went to summer vacation and watched them. Although they were, well, a bit action-laden, with all dem giant robottos (note the spelling) fighting and all, it was attractive. I think I watched the first two, episodes like 10 times and the third several also. In fact, I liked it so much I spent that summer downloading the next ones 33.6kbps modem line with $1/h cost.
Episodes 3-7: geekboy and life
But still. The series developed and -I know how this sounds- gained some depth. Episodes after the first two made me feel a bit at unrest, most likely because they made me identify with Shinji.
Episodes 8-14: sure, her breasts are nice, but she's scary
Then came the Asuka, and Kaji. The series got a bit soapy in parts, lowering my interest slightly, but I was hooked already, unable to let go of. And, the plot started to advance from the "boy kills monsters with giant robot, umm, synthetic life form I mean".
Episodes 15-20: this is what I kill for
These episodes I loved, for some reason. Episodes until these I had downloaded and watched several times before downloading next ones, but at this point I regained access to fast netlinks and CD-R. Originally I was planning to watch them at one per week rate, and at first I could slow them down, but with my weak mind, I couldn't resist it. I had to get the next doze. I can't really analyze what it was about it that made me want more and more, not until I can rewatch it, but I think it's the same thing that hooked me on WoT and B5.
Episodes 21-24: this HURTS! MAKE IT STOP!
Someone said, "in the end people's relationships start breaking down in a way that's really quite painful to watch, and the story starts to fragment under pressure. I won't blame you if you stop watching after episode 20, only you can't". Indeed, this is the case. I know it sounds weird, but I actually reacted quite emotionally to those episodes. I guess I just grew too attached to the imaginary characters of Rei (to see her best instance killed and her essence having been a robot) and Asuka (to see her give up, makes me want to give up too) to fill up the holes of my own life. Still, after episode 24 I felt a bit incoherent and depressed.
Episodes 25-26: this is way too wierd (sic). or is it?
Yeah, they did warn me, eps 25-26 are not what you'd expect. The Instrumentality, which I expected to be genetic engineering or such, turned out to be pretty damn f*cked up mind game. At this point the uncomfortable feeling caused by all this babble about souls (AT field requires a soul...), nonmaterial thinking process ("It merely replicates Rei's thinking process. It is not a real person, it has no soul, just a smart machine.") and possibly even God ("If there is a God, we may all be dolls to him"), became too high. "Hole in our minds"? The last eps felt repetitive, basically just pointing out that Shinji, Misato, Rei and Gendo all have the same problem, and to Shinji whining. But I still enjoyed it. The end felt a bit silly, but it did neutralize the depression caused by the last real episodes. I think it might've had something to do with my own similarities with those four.
Episodes 25' and 26' (End of Evangelion): so you thought Hideaki got more coherent? think again
This movie certainly felt more in contact with reality at first. The plot felt really odd, but then again, when didn't it. It certainly had the apocalyptic feel to it that I'm expecting for the ending of all really good fiction, although it felt a bit too much like a character overkill. But by the end it got just as odd as 25 and 26 did... it contained the same repetition (I guess Mr. Anno really believes in repetition as a study method), just in different form, but that might have just been because I missed some hidden meanings. The end felt damn abrupt too, but that might've been for the same reason. Again, I know how this sounds, but movie shouldn't end in death, really. Although, in a way, it sealed the story that felt really, really incomplete at first.
Death [and Rebirth]: why did you bother?
I hate to say negative things about things I like, but I really fail to see its significance. It was a nice rehash, but I could just as well watch the whole series. Something as laden with hidden things as this is a bit pointless to watch in 20-seconds clips. Its few scenes not included in the series were interesting or at least amusing, though, like the clip describing Asuka.
Summary
I like it. I can't compare it to other anime yet, but as someone watching this as his first anime, I'd say it goes into my top 5 of fiction seen/read so far.