Neon Genesis Evangelion (anime)

Neon Genesis Evangelion (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン), commonly referred to as Evangelion, is a Japanese anime series, created by Gainax, that began in October 1995. The anime was written and directed by Hideaki Anno, and co-produced by TV Tokyo and Nihon Ad Systems (NAS). It gained international renown and won several animation awards, and was the start of the Neon Genesis Evangelion series.

The name Shin Seiki Evangerion translates directly as "New Century Evangelion" or "New Era Evangelion". The term "Evangelion" is in relation to the ancient Greek term for "good messenger" or "good news". The name was chosen in part for its religious symbolism, as well as for the fact that Hideaki Anno said he liked the word "Evangelion" because it "sound[ed] complicated".

The Evangelion series revolves around the organization NERV, using large mechas called Evangelions to combat monstrous beings called Angels. They are piloted by several of the main characters, including Shinji Ikari, Asuka Sohryu, and Rei Ayanami. While the initial episodes focus largely on religious symbols and specific references to the Bible, the later episodes tend to go deeper into the psyches of the characters, where it is learned that many of them have deep-seated emotional and mental issues. Through the exploration of these issues, the show begins to question reality and the existences therein. Much of the series's content was based on Hideaki Anno's own clinical depression.

Setting
The story of Neon Genesis Evangelion primarily begins in 2000 with the "Second Impact", a global cataclysm which almost completely destroyed Antarctica and led to the deaths of half the human population of Earth. The Impact is believed by the public at large and even most of NERV to have been the impact of a meteorite landing in Antarctica, causing devastating tsunamis and a change in the Earth's axial tilt (leading to global climate change) and subsequent geopolitical unrest, nuclear war (such as the nuking of Tokyo), and general economic distress. Later, Second Impact is revealed to be the result of contact with and experimentation on the first of what are collectively dubbed the Angels: Adam. The experiments were sponsored by the mysterious organization SEELE, and carried out by the research organization Gehirn.

In the year 2010, Gehirn had accomplished a number of its scientific and engineering goals and corporately changed into the paramilitary organization NERV which is headquartered in Tokyo-3, a militarized civilian city located on one of the last dry sections of Japan; NERV's central mission is to locate the remaining Angels predicted by SEELE, and to destroy them. However, NERV has its own secret agenda, as directed by its Machiavellian commander Gendo Ikari: the Human Instrumentality Project, which, according to Gendo in episode 25, is the task of uniting all human minds into one global spiritual entity. Associated with NERV is the Marduk Institute, which has the task of selecting the pilots for the Evas, the most capable being children conceived after the Second Impact (14 year-olds). The institute consists of Commander Ikari, and NERV's chief scientist Ritsuko Akagi; supporting the two are 108 companies which are all revealed to be ghost companies.

Story
As the first episode opens in the year 2015, Tokyo-3 is being attacked by the third Angel. Conventional weapons prove ineffective, largely due to its projected force field called an AT Field. NERV takes command of the battles, and is able to intercept and defeat the Angels using the Evangelions, biomechanical mecha previously developed in secret by Gehirn inside the underground GeoFront; the Geofront is located underneath Tokyo-3.

Not knowing why his father summoned him, Shinji Ikari, a 14-year-old boy arrives in Tokyo-3 just as the Third Angel attacks the city. Shinji reluctantly agrees to join NERV to pilot Evangelion Unit-01, and begins living with Captain Misato Katsuragi. He and Rei Ayanami battle the successive advances of the Angels together and are later joined by Asuka Langley Soryu, the pilot of Unit-02.

Each Eva has its own designated pilot (Unit-00–Rei, Unit-01–Shinji, Unit-02–Asuka, and subsequently Unit-03–Toji Suzuhara), and operates by synchronizing the pilot's soul and the human soul inside the Eva via the enigmatic liquid substance known as LCL. (In the context of Evangelion, a "soul" refers to an individual's conscious existence, mental structure, and identity, rather than a more conventional "supernatural" entity.) Surrounded by LCL, the pilot's nervous system, mind, and body join with the Eva's controls, allowing the Eva to be controlled by the pilot's thoughts and actions. The higher a pilot's synchronization ratio, the better the pilot can control the Eva and fight more adeptly.

While Ritsuko mentions at the series' beginning that the Evas do have some biological components to them, the extent of this is not immediately apparent. Unit-01 is connected to Yui Ikari, Gendo's wife, and Shinji's mother, since it absorbed her body and soul in a failed experiment, as shown in episodes 16 and 20. Rei herself is suspected to be a partial clone of Yui, and is known to harbor the soul of Lilith, the second Angel.

It is finally revealed, towards the end of the series, that the Evas are not really "robots" but are actually cloned Angels (Units 00, 02, 03, and 04 are made from Adam, and 01 is made from Lilith) onto which mechanical components are incorporated as a means of restraint and control. This control is not perfect, as various units are shown over the course of the series driving into "berserker" mode, in which they can act of their own will, independent of any artificial power input.

Along with the battles against the Angels, the central characters struggle to overcome their personal issues and personality conflicts, which factor heavily into the events of the series and its eventual conclusion. Throughout the series, many of the main characters constantly have to cope with several social and emotional problems: characters are unwillingly forced to confront socially complex and challenging situations; unresolved sexual tensions grow between numerous characters; injuries, deaths, and defeats cause blows to their psyches; and previously steady relationships begin to falter.

Over the final months of 2015, the characters begin to learn of the true plan of NERV and SEELE, the Human Instrumentality Project. Its purpose is to force the completion of human evolution, and thereby save it from destroying itself. To do so, they plan to break down the AT fields that separate individual humans, and in doing so, reducing all humans to LCL, which is revealed to be the "primordial soup", the fundamental composite of human beings. All LCL would then be united into a supreme being, the next stage of humanity, ending all conflict, loneliness and pain brought about by individual existence. At the end of the series, SEELE and NERV come into direct conflict over the implementation of Instrumentality.

In the last two episodes (the second set in 2016), Gendo and Rei initiate the Human Instrumentality Project, forcing several characters (especially Shinji ) to face their doubts and fears and examine their self-worth, with sequences that "suggest animated schizophrenia". This ending was made up of flashbacks, sketchy artwork, and flashing text "over a montage of bleak visuals, that include black and white photos of desolate urban motifs such as a riderless bicycle or vacant park benches interspersed with graphic stills of the devastated NERV headquarters in which Shinji's colleagues are seen as bloodstained bodies", and a brief interlude depicting an "alternate" Evangelion universe with the same characters but apparently in the high school comedy genre, eventually seems to depict Shinji concluding that life could be worth living and that he did not need to pilot an Eva to justify his existence; he is then surrounded by most of the cast, clapping and congratulating him. The introduction implies that this same process took place for everyone.

Honnêamise sequel
In March 1992, Gainax had begun planning and production of an anime movie called Aoki Uru, which was to be a sequel to Oritsu Uchugun set 50 years later (so as to be easier to pitch to investors ) which, like Oritsu, would follow a group of fighter pilots. Production would eventually cease in July 1993: a full-length anime movie was just beyond Gainax's financial ability – many of its core businesses were shutting down or producing minimal amounts of money: "'General Products had closed shop. We'd pulled out of Wonder Festival [a 'flea market for garage kits'] and garage kit making altogether. We weren't taking on any subcontracting work for anime production. We did continue to make PC games – Akai had seen to that – but there wasn't a lot of work tossed our way. With mere pennies coming in, we were having a hard enough time just paying everyone's salaries. Finally the order came down for us to halt production on Aoki Uru. We were simply incapable of taking the project any further.'"

Anno's personal biography describes this period:

"'In 1991, Anno spent many unproductive days as a result of his inability to mentally distance himself from the Nadia series even after the broadcast had ended. He would work out numerous plans and projects, both on his own initiative and in collaboration with others, but they all fell through, and in the end, Anno's idle days were dotted with projects that he imploded by design. In the midst of all this, one project, a feature film entitled Blue Uru, finally took shape and animation production began, only to be shut down due to circumstances beyond his control.'"

Evangelion pre-release
With the failure of the project, Anno, who had been slated from the beginning to direct Aoki Uru, was freed up. Legendarily, he would soon agree to a collaboration between King Records and Gainax while drinking with Toshimichi Ōtsuki, a representative at King; with King Records guaranteeing a time slot for "something, anything", Anno set about actually making the anime. Unsurprisingly, elements of Aoki Uru were incorporated into the nascent Evangelion:

"'One of the key themes in Aoki Uru had been 'not running away.' In the story, the main character is faced with the daunting task of saving the heroine … He ran away from something in the past, so he decides that this time he will stand his ground. The same theme was carried over into Evangelion, but I think it was something more than just transposing one show's theme onto another …'"

The original early plotline for Evangelion remained relatively stable through development, although later episodes appear to have changed dramatically from the fluid and uncertain early conceptions; for example, originally there were 28 Angels and not 17, and the climax would deal with the defeat of the final 12 Angels and not with the operation of the Human Instrumentality Project. As well, Kaworu Nagisa's initial design was a schoolboy who could switch to an "Angel form", accompanied by a pet cat.

Production was by no means placid. Sadamoto's authorship of the manga (Neon Genesis Evangelion) caused problems as multiple publishers felt "that he was too passé to be bankable"; the stylized mecha design that Evangelion would later be praised for was initially deprecated by some of the possible sponsors of a mecha anime (toy companies) as being too difficult to manufacture (possibly on purpose), and that models of the Evangelions "would never sell." Eventually, Sega agreed to license all toy and video game sales.

Airing
After several episodes were produced, Evangelion began to be shown: the first episode aired 4 October 1995, long after originally planned. Initially ignored (although received positively by those Gainax fans invited to early screenings), viewership grew slowly and largely by word of mouth.

Episode 16 marked a distinct shift that would characterize the second half of Evangelion as being more psychological than action or adventure. This change in emphasis was partly due to the development of the story, but also partly because by this point, production had begun running out of funding and failing to meet the schedule; this collapse has been identified by at least one Gainax employee as the impetus for Evangelion ' s turn into metafiction: "I didn't mind it. The schedule was an utter disaster and the number of cels plummeted, so there were some places where unfortunately the quality suffered. However, the tension of the staff as we all became more desperate and frenzied certainly showed up in the film … About the time that the production system was completely falling apart, there were some opinions to the effect that, 'If we can't do satisfactory work, then what's the point of continuing?' However, I didn't feel that way. My opinion was, 'Why don't we show them the entire process including our breakdown.'"

(In general, the animation and dub, as well as the character design, have often been praised.   )

But nevertheless, by Episode 18, it had become enough of a sensation that Unit-01's violent rampage "is criticized as being unsuitable on an anime show that is viewed by children", and Episode 20 would be similarly criticized for the offscreen depiction of Misato and Ryoji having sex. With this popularity came the first merchandise, "Genesis 0:1" (containing the first two episodes). Beginning a trend, it sold out. As the series concluded on 27 March 1996 with "Take care of yourself.", the story apparently remained unresolved: Third Impact and the Human Instrumentality Project are implied to have begun or even finished, but the episodes focus largely on the psychology of the characters, leaving deeply unclear what actually happens.

The radically different and experimental style of the final two episodes confused or alienated many fans and spawned debate and analysis, both scholarly and informal, and accusations of meaninglessness; even mainstream publications like the Mainichi Times would remark that "When Episode 25 first aired the following week, nearly all viewers felt betrayed...when commentator Eiji Ōtsuka sent a letter to the Yomiuri Shimbun, complaining about the end of the Evangelion series, the debate went nationwide." (It is worth noting that the ending received such coverage in part because Evangelion had attracted viewers not typically interested in such fare; the TV series was extremely popular. ) After the end of the series, Anno 'broke down' and delayed the upcoming films.

The series enjoyed incredible popularity among its fan base. In 1995, the series won first place in the reader-polled "Best Loved Series" category of the Anime Grand Prix, a reader-polled award series published in Animage magazine. The series was once again awarded this prize in 1996, receiving 2,853 votes, compared to the second-place show (which was unmentioned) with only 903 votes. The End of Evangelion would win first place in 1997, allowing Neon Genesis Evangelion to be the first anime franchise to win three consecutive first-place awards. This feat would not be duplicated again for several years, until Code Geass won the 2006, 2007, and 2008 awards. "Zankoku na Tenshi no These" won the Song category in 1995 & 1996; "The Beginning and the End, or "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"" won the 1996 Episode category; and Rei Ayanami won in the Female Character category in 1995 and 1996 (followed by Shinji Ikari winning in the Male Character category in 1996 and 1997), contributing to Megumi Hayashibara's 1995-1997 wins in the Seiyuu category (and until 2001 for other series). In 1998, EX.org's readers voted it the #1 US release and in 1999, the #2 show of all time.

In response to the backlash by fans against the nature of the series finale, Anno made several controversial comments in the months following the series conclusion, and preceding the release of The End of Evangelion. Anno commented in various interviews after the conclusion of the series that "anime fans need to have more self-respect" and to "come back to reality"; in a Newtype interview on 10 May, after the announcement on 26 April of a new movie and re-edited versions of the TV series, he also stated that "computer networking is graffiti on toilet walls." These statements were even more controversial.

Re-releases
Following the series's end, Hideaki Anno was dissatisfied as a result of time constraints, budget problems, and network censorship issues. When the series was finally released as a VHS set, the series was remastered and additional footage was provided in Episodes 21 through 24, and Episodes 25 and 26 were completely remade into Death and Rebirth. However, the original remastering was put somewhat aside to favor the movie, again in part due to budget constraints. Following this, Anno decided that Rebirth II should include some of the previous animations, and ended up being renamed The End of Evangelion. In 1998, the Evangelion films were released in their original intended form, without the extra scenes in the recap movie (Death(true)²) and with the full new ending.

In 2000, the "Second Impact Box" was released in 3 parts, containing Episode 26 uncut, as well as the remastered episodes and the 2 movies (also including Rebirth).

In 2003, the nine-volume "Renewal of Evangelion" DVDs were released, with the series' sound and picture remastered for HD and 5.1 technology. The first eight volumes covered the original 26 episodes (with two versions of episodes 21-24: the uncut version and a reconstruction of the edited version). The ninth volume, containing two discs, named Evangelion: The Movie, contained Death(true)² and End of Evangelion. The Renewal release formed the basis for the western "Platinum Edition", which features slightly different English subtitles than the original VHS and DVD releases. The original dub of Episodes 25 and 26 were replaced with only the "Director's Cut" dubs of these episodes.

Inspiration
Evangelion is filled with allusions to biological, military, religious, and psychological concepts, as well as numerous references or homages to older anime series (for example, the basic plot is seen in earlier anime like ), a tendency which inspired the nickname for the series, the "remixed anime". Hideaki Anno's use of Freudian psychoanalytical theory, as well as his allusions to religion and biology are often idiosyncratically used and redefined to carry his message. This tendency of Anno's has been criticized as "total plagiarism" and "just more mindgames from the animation crew". However, Anno has defended himself by denying the possibility of really original work without borrowing in anime.

Anno's original goal, which was arguably achieved, was to reinvigorate the anime genre and create a "new" anime. He has imbued many symbols and interesting perspectives into the series and individual episodes. A number of these symbols were noted on the English DVD commentary for Death and Rebirth and End of Evangelion.

Many of the characters share their names with Japanese warships from World War II (such as the ', ', and ; though the ship names and character names are written with different kanji, they share the same pronunciations). Other characters' names refer to other works of fiction, such as the two characters named after the protagonists of Ryu Murakami's Ai to Genso no Fascism ("Fascism in Love and Fantasy"; the two main characters are named Aida Kensuke and Suzuhara Toji; Anno later directed a Murakami adaptation, Love & Pop).

Psychoanalysis
Evangelion is often considered a deeply personal expression of Hideaki Anno's personal struggles. From the start, Evangelion invokes many psychological themes. Oftentimes, titles of episodes, titles of music used in the series, and other repeated phrases are based on psychological concepts such as those of and. Some such phrases include "Thanatos", "oral stage", "separation anxiety", and "mother is the first other" (based on Freud's idea of the ).

The episodes also seem laden with some deeper psychological concepts. Some have speculated on the significance of the descent into the GeoFront in Tokyo-3 as being related to a "dive into the unconscious". Additionally, the Evas' connection with their pilots could be deciphered as a psychological connection and conflict. As the series progresses, the is mentioned, referring to humans' inability to get close to each other without causing pain to one another; this term is used to related directly to Shinji Ikari, but applies to other characters in the series as well.

Beyond Freud and Lacan, elements of are laden throughout the series. This theory is directly referenced in Episode 15, when the concepts of homeostasis and transistasis are mentioned. Furthermore, Episode 19 is titled "Introjection", a Gestalt term for a mechanism in the human brain designed to process experiences.

The characters in the series seem to extend deep psychological traumas, oftentimes in relationship with their parents. Shinji, a classic case of introversion and social anxiety, seems to get his psychological traits from the loss of his mother at such an early age, coupled with the perception of his father abandoning him. Asuka, a victim of her mother's insanity, found her mother after she committed suicide, which led to her hardened exterior personality and satisfaction from piloting the Evas. Like Shinji, Misato experienced neglect from her father; in Episode 25, Misato mentions that Ryoji Kaji reminds her of her father, which has led to an ambivalent feeling toward him. A display of further conflict is seen from Ritsuko, who, after seeing her mother having an affair with Gendo, is simultaneously attracted and spiteful toward him.

To further the psychological prevalence in the final two episodes, they are stripped of their colorful visuals and shot with muted tones as Shinji is heard asking himself deep, brooding psychological questions. In these two episodes, Shinji and Asuka both display the fact that they experienced similar pasts; Shinji, however, claims he has no life without the Evas, though this is later disproved in the final scene of Episode 26.

Religion


The themes in Evangelion are often drawn from religious symbols, such as from Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism, and Kabbalism. Hidaeki Anno has said that, in this work of science fiction, one of the main goals of Gainax was to examine the nature of philosophy and religion, and to bring forth questions about god.

Kazuya Tsurumaki, a recurring assistant director, has stated that they chose to use religious symbolism simply to set themselves apart from other shows featuring giant mechas, and that it didn't have any prominent meaning beyond this. Gainax's PR department head, Hiroki Sato and former president Toshio Okada have made similar statements.

There are several individual religious references seen throughout the series.
 * The Christian cross is shown often, many times as the result of large explosions (particularly those of the Angels).
 * The Angels themselves are a reference to the of God, particularly from the Old Testament.
 * The names of the Magi supercomputers, as well as "Magi" itself, are references to the.
 * The Tree of Life of Kabbalism is mentioned.
 * The Marduk Institute is the name of the chief deity from Babylonian mythos.

Human Instrumentality Project
The Human Instrumentality Project shows a strong influence from 's novel Childhood's End, an influence Anno acknowledged. Similarities between the works, such as the larger themes and the declining birth rate after the Second Impact, were gleaned from this work.

Anime
From the period from 1984 to the release of Evangelion, most highly acclaimed anime had a style somehow distanced from the usual styles of anime. For example, Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro (1988), and Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) were both low-key works, while Akira (1988) was influenced by American comic books. Acclaimed director Mamoru Oshii had said that, in the words of Hiroki Azuma, nobody wanted to watch "simple anime-like works" anymore. Evangelion, however, shows the reversal of this trend. It fully embraced the style of mecha anime, and in particular shows a large influence from Yoshiyuki Tomino's Space Runaway Ideon, which Anno recommends; particularly, there are scenes in The End of Evangelion which are clear homages to the last movie for the Ideon series.

As much as Evangelion has been impacted by other works like Devilman, the series itself has become a staple in Japanese fiction. The nature of the show made it a landmark work in the more psychological and sophisticated vein of anime that would be picked up by later works such as Revolutionary Girl Utena (1997) that, like Evangelion, center on an ambiguous world-changing event to come. Serial Experiments Lain is a later anime which dealt with many of the same themes as Evangelion, and so is often thought to be influenced by Neon Genesis Evangelion, although the writer did not see any of Evangelion until he had finished the fourth episode of Lain, and attributes the utility pole visual motif to independent invention and the screen captions to his borrowing from Jean-Luc Godard and Anno from Kon Ichikawa. The show His and Her Circumstances (1999), which was also directed by Hideaki Anno, shares techniques (the experimental 'ripping-apart' of the animation and use of real photographs) and portrayed psychological conflicts in much the same way (although the various cinematic devices can be traced back to works other than Eva, for instance, the works of Osamu Tezuka. ).

Evangelion dramatically changed the design of giant robots in animated works. Previously, mecha or giant robot shows took their "mechanical suit" designs from Mobile Suit Gundam, Mazinger, and other similar shows from the 70s and 80s. Evangelion changed this with its fast and sleek Evas, making a noticeable contrast to the comparatively bulky and cumbersome looking Patlabors and Mobile Suits of the past. Indeed, the style set and created by Evangelion has become more common since its release, yet series like The King of Braves GaoGaiGar have continued to use the classic "mecha" style. RahXephon, a show with designs inspired by 1970s mecha shows, was compared to Evangelion by many English language reviewers. Evangelion is generally viewed to be a part of the soft science fiction genre, by avoiding the technical hard S.F. approach of Gundam and other popular mecha anime in favor of psychological struggle and metaphysical symbolism. Some anime have been made in direct opposition to NGE; Tomino Yoshiyuki publicly stated that with Brain Powerd he intended to "outdo Evangelion". Shows or works involving similar mixtures of religion and mecha are often compared to NGE, such as Xenogears or Gasaraki.

Music
The UK band Fightstar's debut album, Grand Unification, is purported to have been heavily influenced by Neon Genesis Evangelion. The track "Lost Like Tears in Rain" even contains the lyric "It's Neon Genesis". The artwork for the record portrays vast ruined cityscapes that are reminiscent of similar scenes in Evangelion. Fightstar's second album features a track called "Unfamiliar Ceilings", a reference to the Evangelion chapter "Unfamiliar Ceiling"; there is also a song named "H.I.P. (Enough)" in which H.I.P. stands for "Human Instrumentality Project". Also, the words "Human Instrumentality Project" can be seen in the album insert booklet. Fightstar's EP Deathcar also features two Evangelion-related songs. One is titled "NERV/SEELE" and the other is titled "Shinji Ikari". The back of the EP artwork also shows an image of the Spear of Longinus visibly separating the two songs from the other tracks. Their third album, Be Human, also takes its name from an episode of Evangelion (episode 22).