Amazon.com video review:
In "The Birth of NERV," the filmmakers offer the viewer glimpses of the main characters' childhoods in scenes that hint at the sources of their problems and sorrows. And the penultimate episodes are dominated by sorrows at NERV, the organization that handles the Earth's defenses against the invading Angels. Asuka has grown so hostile, she can no longer bond with her Eva. After being badly injured in battle with the 15th Angel, she's removed from the program she lived for. As Commander Ikari insists on keeping Shinji's Eva in "cryostasis," Rei is left to face the serpentine 16th Angel alone: rather than be overcome by it, she destroys her Eva, the Angel, much of the surrounding landscape--and herself. Shinji is shattered by her disappearance. After decoding a message from the murdered Kaji, Misato forces Ritsuko to reveal to her and to Shinji the hideous truth about the creation of the Evas. But Misato, Shinji, and Ritsuko are only pawns in the larger game being played by the ruling cadre of the sinister SEELE organization. The 16th Angel has been vanquished and, according to the predictions they have derived from the Dead Sea Scrolls, only one remains to appear. These fragmented episodes showcase the singular mixture of Christian symbolism, sci-fi action, and Eastern mysticism that has made Evangelion one of the most widely--and hotly--discussed series in the history of anime. Not rated; suitable for ages 14 and up: robot versus robot violence, minor nudity, and grotesque imagery. --Charles Solomon
Amazon.com video review:
The final episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion have been the subject of widespread and often heated debate since the series debuted in Japan in 1995. Shinji is no surer of himself at the end of the 26th episode than he was at the beginning of the 1st; his victories as an Eva pilot have only intensified his doubts and fears. As he broods on his lonely fate, he meets the mysterious Fifth Child, Kaoru Nagisa, the only character who treats him with genuine kindness. The battle with the 17th and final Angel assures the continued existence of humanity but devastates Shinji. As he attempts to grasp what has occurred, his identity shatters. Everyone he has known appears to question and torment him in long sequences of animated schizophrenia. The collapse of Shinji's ego recalls the chilling conclusion of Yukio Mishima's "Sea of Fertility" tetralogy, when the main character realizes he can no longer be certain of his own existence. Buddhist theology, Western existentialism, and apocalyptic Christianity fuse into a bleak vision of a universe in which there are no answers, in this life or any other. Anno created the series after four years of deep depression, and his logical yet frustrating conclusion to Shinji's odyssey gives Evangelion a fascination that has made it a landmark in the history of Japanese animation. Not rated; suitable for ages 14 and up: brief nudity, violence, sexual humor, and complex adult themes. --Charles Solomon
Amazon.com video review:
Brash new Eva pilot Asuka seems to take a sadistic pleasure in
deriding shy, melancholy Shinji. When the two of them are required to
fight as a unit to destroy an invading Angel, she moves in with Shinji
and Misato, complaining all the way. After practicing to music, they
win the battle with a mecha version of a rhythmic gymnastics
routine. Asuka volunteers to take her Eva into an active volcano to
capture an Angel in its chrysalis stage; she's nearly killed when it
escapes and has to be rescued by Shinji. After the volcano adventure,
the pilots and Misato take a well-earned rest at a hot springs, where
Shinji discovers the principal of thermal expansion can have
embarrassing personal applications. Asuka also insults Rei, but all
three pilots have to work together to defeat a huge, spidery Angel
that secretes a corrosive acid in episode 11, "In the Still Darkness."
A mysterious power failure that occurs during the Angel attack points
to the actions of Shinji's father, Commander Ikari, who ruthlessly
pursues his private agenda. All three episodes display the strong
storytelling that has made Evangelion one of the most popular
anime series. Not rated; suitable for ages 14 and up for robot versus robot violence, brief nudity, and minor profanity. --Charles Solomon
Amazon.com Essentials:
One of the most popular anime series of all time, Neon Genesis Evangelion offers interesting characters, sophisticated direction, and solid storytelling. A giant meteor struck Antarctica in 2000, devastating much of the Earth. Since then, humans and the mysterious aliens known as Angels have been locked in a deadly struggle. In 2015, scientists at the NERV Center in the fortress-city of Tokyo 3 are developing ways to combat the Angels, notably the Human Enhancement Project and the giant battle robots called Evangelions. Fourteen-year-old Shinji Ikari, whose aloof father heads these research projects, is drafted to pilot Evangelion Unit 01. Shinji is a reluctant hero, as many mecha pilots are, but his reluctance is not just an arbitrary whim; it's rooted in his estrangement from his father. Shy and socially maladroit, Shinji displays a likable warmth the grimly taciturn teenagers in ordinary mecha shows lack. Rounding out the cast are Rei Ayanami, the silent, albino pilot of Unit 00; irrepressible Misato Katsuragi, who serves as a substitute mother to Shinji; technical expert Ritsuko Akagi; and Shinji's classmates Toji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida. Evangelion offers a dark vision of the future, but director Hideaki Anno presents it very skillfully. Episodes include: 1. "Angel Attack," 2. "Unfamiliar Ceiling," 3. "The Phone That Never Rings," 4. "Rain, Escape & Afterwards." Not rated; suitable for ages 14 and up: robot vs. robot violence, brief nudity, and minor profanity. --Charles Solomon
Amazon.com video review:
As this popular sci-fi drama continues to unfold, 14-year-old Shinji
Ikari, the pilot of warrior-robot Evangelion 01, begins to emerge from
his shell. He's traumatized in a skirmish with an octahedral flying
fortress, but Misato sends him right back into battle. Rei plays
defensive blocker in her Evangelion as Misato diverts all the electric
power in Japan to the untested cannon Shinji uses to destroy the
fortress. (They'd never manage it in California.) Shinji begins to
recognize his feelings for the taciturn Rei and the garrulous
Misato. He also learns his textbooks lie: the devastation of the Earth
was caused not by a meteor strike, but by the explosion of an Angel
that human explorers discovered in Antarctica. Complications ensue with the arrival of the third pilot, Asuka Sohryu, a temperamental redhead who quarrels with everyone in sight. She and Shinji are forced to work as a team, piloting Evangelion 03 in an unexpected sea battle with a sharklike Angel. But Shinji and his friends face even graver danger from the plots of his scientist-father and the dashing agent Ryoji Kaji. Director Hideaki Anno continues to develop his main characters while keeping the plots and subplots moving smoothly ahead. Contains these episodes: 5. "Rei, Beyond Her Heart," 6. "Showdown in Tokyo 3," 7. "The Human Creation," 8. "Asuka Strikes." Not rated; suitable for ages 14 and up: robot versus robot violence, brief nudity, and minor profanity. --Charles Solomon
Amazon.com video review:
The new Eva Unit 03, piloted by Shinji's friend Toji, mutates during its initial test and becomes an Angel. When Shinji realizes another human being is inside the menace, he refuses to attack it. Using an override circuit, Shinji's father takes control of his Eva and rips the 03 apart. Horrified and disgusted at this brutality, Shinji quits as an Eva pilot--until a new and more powerful Angel strikes at NERV headquarters. Seeing his friends Asuka and Rei overcome, Shinji returns to defeat the deadly new foe. But his Eva goes berserk, attacking and devouring the Angel. As it grows in power, the Eva partially absorbs its pilot. Drifting through semiconsciousness, Shinji confronts memories that recur in variations, like an aria by Philip Glass. Characters in other, popular mecha series never confront these moral dilemmas. The youthful pilots in Gundam Wing adhere to a warrior code that extols heroism; they have few qualms about slaughtering their foes. Shinji knows that warfare is not a noble calling, and that causing the death of a human being is a horrifying prospect. His ambivalence about his role as a pilot forces him to analyze his troubled relationship with his remote and brutal father and how that relationship has warped his self-perception. Episodes: 18. "The Judgment of Life," 19. "A Man's Fight," 20. "Form of the Mind, Form of the Man." Not rated; suitable for ages 14 and up for robot versus robot violence, nudity, minor profanity, and sexual situations. --Charles Solomon
Amazon.com video review:
Director Hideaki Anno explores the pasts of his characters in these
episodes, revealing the events that molded their personalities. In a
flashback, Misato, who has just been promoted to major, recalls how
her father rescued her from the destruction caused by the Second
Impact. Her resentment of his single-minded devotion to his work at
the expense of his family mirrors Shinji's troubled relationship with
his father, Commander Ikari. Misato's experiences, which left her
physically and psychologically scarred, caused her to dedicate her
life to fighting the Angels. Shinji, the reluctant warrior, is
dumbfounded when his aloof father praises his performance in battle
but realizes he became an Eva pilot to hear those words. Ritsuko
reveals her difficult relationship with her mother, who helped to
create the powerful trio of computers known as the Magi. A colony of
microscopic Angels invade the Magi, threatening NERV and Tokyo 3, but
are defeated at the last possible moment. After two hard-hitting
episodes, Anno changes pace in "Seele." Commander Ikari recaps the
Angel attacks and assures his superiors that everything is unfolding
according to a plan revealed in the Dead Sea Scrolls--setting the
stage for the next adventures. Not rated; suitable for ages 14 and up for robot versus robot violence, brief nudity, and minor profanity. --Charles Solomon
Amazon.com Essentials:
One of the most popular anime series of all time, Neon Genesis Evangelion offers interesting characters, sophisticated direction, and solid storytelling. A giant meteor struck Antarctica in 2000, devastating much of the Earth. Since then, humans and the mysterious aliens known as Angels have been locked in a deadly struggle. In 2015, scientists at the NERV Center in the fortress-city of Tokyo 3 are developing ways to combat the Angels, notably the Human Enhancement Project and the giant battle robots called Evangelions. Fourteen-year-old Shinji Ikari, whose aloof father heads these research projects, is drafted to pilot Evangelion Unit 01. Shinji is a reluctant hero, as many mecha pilots are, but his reluctance is not just an arbitrary whim; it's rooted in his estrangement from his father. Shy and socially maladroit, Shinji displays a likable warmth the grimly taciturn teenagers in ordinary mecha shows lack. Rounding out the cast are Rei Ayanami, the silent, albino pilot of Unit 00; irrepressible Misato Katsuragi, who serves as a substitute mother to Shinji; technical expert Ritsuko Akagi; and Shinji's classmates Toji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida. Evangelion offers a dark vision of the future, but director Hideaki Anno (Nadia) presents it very skillfully. Episodes include: 1. "Angel Attack," 2. "Unfamiliar Ceiling." Not rated; suitable for ages 14 and up: robot versus robot violence, brief nudity, and minor profanity. --Charles Solomon
Amazon.com video review:
The dashing Ryoji Kaji reveals he is playing a double game, working
for both NERV and the Japanese government. Through him, Misato learns
that Commander Ikari has somehow preserved Adam, the first Angel, who
was the prototype for the Evas. He also tells her that the Marduk
Institute, which is supposed to oversee NERV, is just a shell: Ikari
is secretly pulling all the strings. In "Sickness Until Death," Asuka
goads Shinji into attacking a weird Angel that resembles a black film
only microns thick--yet it engulfs him and Eva 01. As the power supply
for his life-support system nears depletion, Shinji experiences what
may be hallucinations--or a fragmentary dialogue with the Angel. As
the rescue mission Ritsuko has organized is about to begin, the Angel
suddenly ruptures, expelling Eva 01. While Shinji recuperates, Eva 04
and the US NERV First Unit disappear from their Nevada testing ground
in a mysterious explosion. Shinji's seemingly ordinary classmate, Toji
Suzuhara, is revealed to be the "4th Child," the pilot of the newest
Eva. The combination of revelations, mysteries, and action make for
exciting viewing, and director Hideaki Anno skillfully builds suspense
over the extended screen time. Not rated; suitable for ages 14 and up for robot versus robot violence, brief nudity, and minor profanity. --Charles Solomon
