History Anime / NeonGenesisEvangelion

** In particular, the legendary LyricalDissonance of "Komm, Susser Tod" is completely lost on ''The End of Evangelion'''s original audience, as the song wasn't even subtitled for the film's Japanese release.

Fifteen years prior to the beginning of the series, a disaster called Second Impact annihilated Antarctica, shifted the planet's axis, and halved the world's human population. In the present day, fourteen-year-old Shinji Ikari is summoned to the fortress city of Tokyo-3 by his estranged father, Gendo, for reasons he does not know. He discovers through the course of the first episode that he is needed to pilot a HumongousMecha called an Evangelion, to battle physics-defying beings called "Angels" that threaten to destroy what remains of humanity (though exactly how they plan to do so is not explained for some time). This relatively standard HumongousMecha premise was eventually transformed into a dramatic character study rife with psychological analysis, religious references, genre {{deconstruction}}, social commentary, and the exploration of themes such as societal alienation, depression, and the pain humans face both alone and together. At the time, this was unprecedented; in the post-''Evangelion'' era, [[FollowTheLeader this style has been aped by numerous other anime producers who caught on to the trend]], with varying degrees of success.

Fifteen years prior to the beginning of the series, a disaster called Second Impact annihilated Antarctica, shifted the planet's axis, and halved the world's human population. In the present day, fourteen-year-old Shinji Ikari is summoned to the fortress city of Tokyo-3 by his estranged father, Gendo, for reasons he does not know. He discovers through the course of the first episode that he is needed to pilot a HumongousMecha called an Evangelion, to battle physics-defying beings called "Angels" that threaten to destroy what remains of humanity (though exactly how they plan to do so is not explained for some time).

* The manga version, written and drawn by character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, which tells the same story as the anime but with a number of changes that have made it something of a love-it-or-hate-it work. It's also a '''glaring''' modern example of ScheduleSlip (see below for details).
* A live-action adaptation was stuck in DevelopmentHell for a long time, but is currently in pre-production and looks to be [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/anncast/2010-02-04 ridiculously awesome.]] (55:30 or so in) It should be noted that [[LordOfTheRings Weta]] [[Film/{{Avatar}} Workshop]] [[{{Narnia}} will]] [[DistrictNine be]] [[KingKong producing]] this alongside [[{{Appleseed}} Joseph Chu]]. Oh yeah, and they're hiring Asian actors.

* ''Manga/NeonGenesisEvangelionAngelicDays'', a HighSchoolAU manga which is built off the "alternate universe" sequence at the end of the anime but goes on to retell the original story but with much less {{wangst}}. Based on the VisualNovel ''Girlfriend of Steel 2'', which despite the name had nothing to do with the first.

* ''[=Neon Genesis Evangelion ANIMA=]'', a LightNovel series set in 2018 in an alternate continuity where the Third Impact never happened. It's been described as if Anno made Evangelion like a {{Gundam}} show. Contains, among other things, Evas duking it out in space and three Reis (again). And FanService. Available [[http://www.mresources.info/Eva_stuff/ here]] and [[http://www.evangelion-not-end.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=891&Itemid=315 here]] (untranslated, unfortunately, despite the efforts of the [[http://wiki.evageeks.org/Evangelion_Anima Translation project]]).

''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' (in Japanese, "Shin Seiki Evangelion", which translates as "New Century Evangelion") is a popular, critically acclaimed, and extremely controversial 26-episode science fiction/action/drama {{anime}} series from StudioGainax, which aired on Japanese television in 1995-96. It was followed in 1997 by ''Death and Rebirth'', a ClipShow revision of the series which condensed 26 episodes into a little more than an hour and a half while expanding a few scenes, as well as featuring the first half of the next and final part of the series, ''The End of Evangelion'' (a full-length movie), which brought the series to a much more definitive conclusion than the television series but also pushed the controversy to new heights.

Fifteen years prior to the beginning of the series, a disaster called Second Impact annihilated Antarctica, shifted the planet's axis, and halved the world's human population. In the present day, fourteen-year-old Shinji Ikari is summoned to the fortress city of Tokyo-3 by his estranged father, Gendo, for reasons he does not know. He discovers through the course of the first episode that he is needed to pilot a HumongousMecha called an Evangelion, to battle physics-defying beings called "Angels" that threaten to destroy what remains of humanity (though exactly how they plan to do so is not explained for some time).

What drove ''Evangelion'' to popular prominence is the way it took this relatively standard HumongousMecha premise and transformed it into a dramatic character study rife with psychological analysis, religious references, genre {{deconstruction}}, social commentary, and the exploration of themes such as societal alienation, depression, and the pain humans face both alone and together. At the time, this was unprecedented; in the post-''Evangelion'' era, [[FollowTheLeader this style has been aped by numerous other anime producers who caught on to the popular trend]], with varying degrees of success.

In retrospect, ''Evangelion'' was (and still is) an extremely polarizing work. While numerous viewers have praised its use of the aforementioned themes, others found them to be overwrought and overdone. Everyone on the scale agrees that the show is incredibly confusing and raises many questions -- the main argument is as to whether these were worthy questions to consider. Production values (at least, before {{Gainax}} ran out of money) were extremely high, and the sheer attention to detail allows ''Evangelion's'' animation to hold up even today.

* SolemnClosingTheme: Several different versions of "Fly Me to the Moon".

* FuroScene: Numerous instances, but most memorably Asuka's in episode 22...which, typically for the series, is not as titillating as it sounds and is in fact extremely disturbing, [[spoiler:what with serving as one of the first signposts to her impending mental breakdown and all.]]

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:Just about everybody]] in ''End of Evangelion''. [[spoiler:Asuka]] deserves a special mention, though. Oh, the ''pain''.
* DudeShesLikeInAComa: First subverted when Shinji tries to kiss Asuka in her sleep, but ultimately decides against it. Then, in ''End of Evangelion,'' Shinji [[spoiler:''[[ADateWithRosiePalms wanks]]'' over a comatose Asuka]].

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PKSlMpkw28 This scene]].

* AdaptationDistillation: The manga, to a degree. [[YourMileageMayVary Some fans]] consider some changes in the {{manga}} adaptation an improvement upon the original {{anime}}. More attention is devoted to character relationships, several filler plots (including some of the less consequential Angels) are cut altogether, and a very controversial scene ([[spoiler:[[ADateWithRosiePalms you know the one]]]]) is changed to be more acceptable and arguably more appropriate.
* AdaptationExpansion: The manga details more of the odd relationship between Shinji and Rei, as well as giving Kaji a tragic backstory and making Kaworu much more prominent. Asuka's screentime, however, suffers, and several Angels are cut from the story.

* AdaptationExpansion: The manga details more of the odd relationship between Shinji and Rei, as well as giving Kaji a tragic backstory and making Kaworu much more prominent. Asuka's screentime, however, suffers a bit of a cutdown, although her introduction establishes her as more of a BadAss: [[spoiler:she takes out Gaghiel by herself, and later [[IKnowKarate KO's a group of thugs in an arcade singlehandedly]]]].

* AdaptationExpansion: The manga details more of the odd relationship between Shinji and Rei, as well as giving Kaji a tragic backstory and making Kaworu much more prominent. Asuka's screentime, however, suffers a bit of a cutdown, although her introduction establishes her as more of a BadAss: [[spoiler:she takes out Gaghiel by herself, and later [[IKnowKungFu KO's a group of thugs in an arcade singlehandedly]]]].

* AnimeFirst: An odd example. The {{manga}} ran for almost a year before the series begun, but it was made specifically for promoting the anime.

* AnimeFirst: A DoubleSubversion. The {{manga}} ran for almost a year before the series begun, but it was made specifically for promoting the anime.

* AllThereInTheManual: There are a few guidebooks that attempt to elucidate the series. Given that it's intentionally left up to the reader, they are less than helpful. There's also a PS2 game (''Neon Genesis Evangelion 2'') that contains a large amount of backstory for the series, which is based on interviews with HideakiAnno. The canonicity of the in-game info, never having been confirmed, is technically up for debate.

* AllThereInTheManual: There are a few guidebooks that attempt to elucidate the series. Given that it's intentionally left up to the reader, they are less than helpful.

* ''Neon Genesis Evangelion: Girlfriend of Steel'', also known as ''Iron Maiden'', a series of {{Visual Novel}}s and {{Manga}}s, usually featuring [[AscendedExtra Mana Kirishima]].
* ''Manga/NeonGenesisEvangelionAngelicDays'', a HighSchoolAU which is built off the "alternate universe" sequence at the end of the anime but goes on to retell the original story but with much less {{wangst}}.
* ''Manga/ShinjiIkariRaisingProject'', another HighSchoolAU based on the video game of the same name. Six words: LighterAndFluffier and UnwantedHarem.
* ''Manga/NeonGenesisEvangelionCampusApocalypse'' (aka ''Gakuen Datenroku''), another HighSchoolAU manga which involves {{Empathic Weapon}}s as the Evas instead of the actual mechas, aspects of Norse mythology, and [[PuppeteerParasite body-swapping Angels]].

* ''PetitEva: [[http://www.evangelion.co.jp/petit_eva/ Evangelion@School]]'', a SuperDeformed comedic {{parody}} which has most of the principal cast (including Unit 01 and three Reis at once) in silly hijinks around the high school.

* ''Manga/NeonGenesisEvangelionCampusApocalypse'', another HighSchoolAU manga which involves {{Empathic Weapon}}s as the Evas instead of the actual mechas, aspects of Norse mythology, and [[PuppeteerParasite body-swapping Angels]]. The English translation has been released as ''NGE: Campus Apocalypse''.

* ''Manga/NeonGenesisEvangelionGakuenDatenroku'', another HighSchoolAU manga which involves {{Empathic Weapon}}s as the Evas instead of the actual mechas, aspects of Norse mythology, and [[PuppeteerParasite body-swapping Angels]]. The English translation has been released as ''NGE: Campus Apocalypse''.

* ''Manga/IkariShinjiRaisingProject'', another HighSchoolAU based on the video game of the same name. Six words: LighterAndFluffier and UnwantedHarem.

* ''RebuildOfEvangelion'', a retelling[[hottip:*:that's what Anno says, anyway; [[WMG/NeonGenesisEvangelion some fans]] suspect it might actually be a sequel]] consisting of four new animated movies which is currently in production. The first was released in Japanese cinemas [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=9464 in September 2007]]. As of the second film, they have become a full-blown AlternateContinuity. Although it is by no means LighterAndSofter, the characters' angst and personality issues aren't quite as extensive, and some arrows point to a somewhat good ending instead of ''EOE''[='=]s KillEmAll.

* ''NeonGenesisEvangelionAngelicDays'', a HighSchoolAU which is built off the "alternate universe" sequence at the end of the anime but goes on to retell the original story but with much less {{wangst}}.
* ''IkariShinjiRaisingProject'', another HighSchoolAU based on the video game of the same name. Six words: LighterAndFluffier and UnwantedHarem.
* ''NeonGenesisEvangelionGakuenDatenroku'', another HighSchoolAU manga which involves {{Empathic Weapon}}s as the Evas instead of the actual mechas, aspects of Norse mythology, and [[PuppeteerParasite body-swapping Angels]]. The English translation has been released as ''NGE: Campus Apocalypse''.