I said in my column that Eva has Anime fans polarised in their opinion.

It's quite a deceptive show - the first dozen episodes are light hearted and deal with the Mecha side of things. They also highlight the settling in the three major protagonists Shinji, Rei and Asuka and how they have to learn to work with each other despite all suffering from the same inabiity - to relate and intergrate with other people.

It's only in the latter half of the 26 episodes that things get darker when Shinji's delusional side takes over and his hallucinations become darker and more grander. We need to explore why Shinji has such a fractured relationship with his father and why General Ikari seems to prefer Rei of whom his hte gaurdian. Ikari also appears to have a hidden agenda. In the early episodes you get the impression that he was working against NERV despite being the Commander and chief researcher and developer.

And there are the religious aspects that need explaining - such as why the attacking aliens are called "Angels" and Shinji's theory that they are sent by an angry God. EVAs are so named from the international name for Eve (Eva) - the first lady on Earth who was created from the rib of Adam - as the first EVA was built from the first Angle to attack Tokyo which was called Adam.

EVA is actually a lot deeper than your usual Mecha show and this was lost on a lot of people. It's worth sticking to make your own mind up with although the Japanese language version should be viewed instead of the poor English dub then it should make more sense.

It's starts to get a bit trippy from episode 12 onwards as the true fears and doubts of the "Children" come to the forefront. Shinji flips out big time in episode 16 and there is some nudity in episode 18 or 19 (forget which) where Shinji has another wig out.

Also, in the episode when the Angels manage to invade the Magi control system, the three supercomputers are called Caspar, Balthazar and Melchior - the names of the Three Wise Men. The word "Magi" is also another group name for the trio.

Plus we need to know why Misato has a penguin in her flat.

*EDIT* - Episode 21 reveals the birth of NERV and along the way explains a whole heap of stuff and answers a ton of questions raised in the preceding episodes.

-- Edited by Man In Black at 15:11, 2007-06-29

You should be warned that the final 2 episodes are very controversial and don't really settle the story at all, hence Hideaki Anno being forced to make two films to finish properly - Death & Rebirth and End Of Evangelion. He even received a death threat from one irate fan for the last two episodes.

It's open to interpretation as to whether it was budget cuts that forced Anno to make the final TV episodes he did (he didn't actually know how the show was going to end when it started) or whether it was his bouts of depression that clouded his judgement.

Getting better and better every episode and that is not just because there is much more fan serivce in the episodes now that Asuka is in the series.

I don't see anything of Shinji going into madness or anything but it is clear he has trouble relating to other people, in a way he reminds me of Keitar in Love Hina the way he reacts around the women and some of the troubles in gets into with them, just not quite to the same level as Keitar.

Yes maybe I'll give that a look, but loads of other stuff to see first.

I like to finish the series I am watching on the Anime Network first, I also still have Akira and Ninja Scroll to watch too.

Tonights was episode 11, so it will start next week then.

I think now this series has gone on too long and I am starting to lose interest. I think maybe Bleach, FMA, Ghost in the Shell have all had their effect in making me more familiar with Anime and that I prefer their style of story telling and artwork to the older EVA.

I am really just watching it because I am still recording sunday nights to see guyver and I just keep watching to see what happens but based on what has already been said I think I will feel unjustified in sticking with it by the end.

21

I think I am now on episode 26. I see what you mean about these episodes. Anime can be a bit confusing at times but this is just surreal!

its out already and its titled Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone;
soon to follow a part 2.0
i ve seen the whole series and the alternate ending ovas before,so i really wonder whats this all going to be about,but im kinda afraid its gonna be rather gimmick.
well,we`ll see...