neon genesis evangelion review

hi everyone, here’s my old review on Evangelion manga, which was originally written in russian and translated by me, hope you’ll like it ;)

to be honest, I'm really impressed. the manga makes much more sense than the anime, which was hastily and barely completed and which, even together with the full-length film, shows little of the essence and idea that this work conveys to us. and this idea is very simple.

first of all, we dive into the characters’ personalities much deeper, getting to know them better and understand the motives of the antagonists - for example, Rei Ayanami and Gendo Ikari are revealed much more, and do not appear to us as such empty shells as in the anime. much less vulgarity and fan service - yes, yes, i already hear you womping about no hospital scene, go cry - and much more essence, immersion in the story itself

for me, this story is an interweaving of biblical motifs with human beliefs, with the tendency of people to destroy everything that surrounds them. but besides this, there is one main driving force in Evangelion - love.

everyone experience it - even the most seemingly soulless characters are filled with love. each of them is experiencing their own personal tragedy, and each one is faced with a silent question:

“Do I deserve love?” - one of the questions that the characters ask. and many of them really aren’t sure, do they deserve it after all what they've done:

people are impure, wicked creatures, consisting of dirt and sins. but since we are all like this, do we need to punish ourselves with limiting our love? deprive ourselves of it, thereby hurting another? or vice versa - being afraid to hurt others, and for that reason isolating ourselves? 

people are imperfect creatures that cannot live alone. but we have to go on living, even if we are imperfect. and given that we were born that way, i think there is significance in seeking each other… and even hurting each other.

Shinji Ikari

our main character and famous sufferer Shinji faces both loss and love in all its forms. by reading manga, we can witness personal growth - and, of course, admire coolly drawn meha robots and nightmarish creatures called angels. in addition, we are faced with the personal dramas of other characters, mental pain, which will be cured only when the world is rebooted - the moment when everything stops, when pain and quarrels stop along with destruction, but at the same time there will be neither happiness nor joy.  can people exist like this, being a meaningless huge mass without any feelings, literally without anything? of course not.

where there is love, there will always be pain, as well as vice versa. and where both are present, there will be people

as long as the earth, the moon and the sun exist... everything will be fine

Yui Ikari

everyone who read NGE will draw their own morality for themselves, and everyone will recognize themselves and their personal tragedy in one of the characters. and if not, are any of us unfamiliar with love? of course not, because people exist and remain people, separated and individual, as long as they love each other

Evangelion made a huge impression on me, I give it 10/10 and highly recommend you to read it!