All that matters now is Gainax got a sh*t load of money from it, and because of it we now have FLCL, Gurren Lagann, and everything else great they have given.
In all seriousness though, I have been wanting to see it for quite some time now. I've seen the first two rebuild movies, and have been debating just outright purchasing a set or renting each individually from Netflix or something.
Expect a bit of a different experience from Rebuild. The luxury of having 26 episodes to develop means that the pace is a bit slower, but as a result is that there's more focus on how the events affect the characters and more subplots. Where Rebuild speeds through events at an almost dizzying pace, the series is more leisurely. It might be described as having a lull in the middle, but once things kick into high gear in the last third or so, they don't slow down again.
Author of The Second Coming (NGE) and The Coin (Haruhi).
I expected that. Apparently 1 is pretty much just a compressed version of the first few episodes, and 2 actually changes quite a bit. I expect the next will follow suit, so I expect fairly different experiences, complete with mindfuck ending for each.
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young boy become a legend: a review of neon genesis evangelion
Neon Genesis Evangelion is not the best anime ever made. Most of the prominent Christian imagery is purely decorative. The show's tone takes a serious turn for the weird roughly halfway through, and the show almost falls apart after around episode 23. The budget tanks around episode 19. The show ends with an ending that is experimental and hardly satisfying, followed by a movie finale that is arguably one of the most disturbing works of popular anime ever created. The worst part, though, is that practically everything great that Evangelion did, Revolutionary Girl Utena and FLCL did better. The show is regarded as a classic, but honestly? You may very well hate it.
Now that you know what Evangelion isn't, I might as well tell you what it is: a by parts sympathetic and uncompromising portrait of a kid with depression fighting against impossible odds; a vicious critique of self-absorption as well as of the very audience who are likely watching the show; a study in miscommunication and how much it can sometimes hurt to connect with people; a giant robot show made by people who love and understand giant robot shows; a giant robot show made by people who believe that they can make giant robot shows better, even if it costs them their sanity.
Here's the thing. There are many shows that are better than Evangelion. But when Evangelion is at its best—the choreographed dance routine, the battle with Zeruel, the famous scene that coined the term "mind rape" on this wiki—it not only equal to just about any great anime you could name but even exceeds them. There are images and ideas and scenes in Evangelion that have seared themselves into my skull, and even if the show is strange and imperfect and victim to decades of analyzing non-existent hidden messages at the expense of what is actually there, that doesn't change the fact that when Asuka took on the entire JSDF and the MP-EV As in End of Evangelion, with only five minutes of battery, I was right there with her.
So, in short: watch Evangelion. There is no guarantee that you will like it. But take it on its own terms as the intensely personal, crazy-ambitious, occasionally incomprehensible odyssey of a young boy about to become a legend, whether he likes it or not—and you just might love it.
Or not. But I don't think the folks over at GAINAX in 1995 would have it any other way.