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𝓝𝓮𝓸𝓷 𝓖𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓲𝓼 𝓔𝓿𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓸𝓷 (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン), also known as Evangelion or Eva, is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax, animated by Tatsunoko, and directed by Hideaki Anno. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 1995 to March 1996.
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𝓔𝓿𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓸𝓷 is set 15 years after a worldwide cataclysm in the futuristic fortified city of Tokyo-3. The protagonist is Shinji Ikari, a teenage boy recruited by his father Gendo to the mysterious organization Nerv. Shinji must pilot an Evangelion, a giant biomechanical mecha, to fight beings known as Angels.
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The series explores the experiences and emotions of the Evangelion pilots and Nerv members as they battle Angels. They are called upon to understand the ultimate cause of events and the motives behind human action.
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In 2015, 15 years after a global cataclysm called the Second Impact, teenager Shinji Ikari is summoned to the futuristic city of Tokyo-3 by his estranged father Gendo Ikari, who is the director of the special paramilitary force Nerv. Shinji witnesses United Nations forces battling an Angel named Sachiel, one of a race of monstrous beings whose awakening was foretold in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Because of the Angels' near-impenetrable force fields, Nerv's Evangelion bio-machines, which are synchronized to their pilots' nervous systems and possess their own force fields, are the only weapons capable of fighting the Angels. Nerv officer Misato Katsuragi escorts Shinji into the Nerv complex beneath Tokyo-3, where Gendo pressures him into piloting Evangelion Unit-01 against the Angel. Without training, Shinji is quickly overwhelmed, causing the Evangelion to go berserk and savagely kill the Angel on its own.
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Following hospitalization, Shinji moves in with Misato and settles into life in Tokyo-3. In his second battle, Shinji defeats the Angel Shamshel but runs away afterward, distraught. Misato confronts Shinji, and he decides to remain a pilot. Shinji and Nerv's crew must defeat the remaining fourteen Angels to prevent the Third Impact, a global cataclysm that would destroy the world. Evangelion Unit-00 is repaired shortly afterward, and Shinji tries to befriend its pilot Rei Ayanami, a mysterious and socially isolated teenage girl. With Rei's help, Shinji defeats the Angel Ramiel. They are joined by Evangelion Unit-02's pilot, the multitalented but insufferable teenager Asuka Langley Sōryu, who is German-Japanese-American. The three of them manage to defeat several Angels, and as Shinji adjusts to his new role as a pilot, he gradually becomes more confident and self-assured. Asuka moves in with Shinji, and they begin to develop confusing feelings for one another, kissing at her provocation.
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After being absorbed by the Angel Leliel, Shinji breaks free thanks to Eva-01 acting on its own. He is later forced to fight Evangelion Unit-03, who has become infected, and its pilot, his friend and classmate Toji Suzuhara, becomes incapacitated and permanently disabled. Asuka loses her self-confidence following a defeat and spirals into depression, which is worsened by her next fight against the Angel Arael who attacks her mind. It forces her to relive her worst fears and childhood trauma, resulting in a mental breakdown. In the next battle, Rei sacrifices herself to self-destruct Unit-00 and save Shinji. Misato and Shinji visit the hospital, where they find Rei alive, but claiming she is "the third Rei". Misato forces the scientist Ritsuko Akagi to reveal the dark secrets of Nerv, the Evangelion boneyard, and the Dummy Plug system, which operates using clones of Rei, who was created using the DNA of Shinji's mother, Yui Ikari. This succession of events leaves Shinji emotionally scarred and alienated from the rest of the characters. Kaworu Nagisa replaces the catatonic Asuka as Unit-02's pilot and befriends Shinji, gaining his trust. He is revealed to be the final foretold Angel, Tabris, and fights Shinji, realizing that he must die to allow humanity to survive. He asks Shinji to kill him, and he hesitates but eventually kills Kaworu; an event that causes him to be overridden with guilt.
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After the final Angel is defeated, Gendo triggers the "Human Instrumentality Project", a forced evolution of humanity in which the souls of mankind are merged for benevolent purposes. He believes that if unified, humanity could overcome the loneliness and alienation that has eternally plagued them. Shinji's soul grapples with the reason for his existence and reaches an epiphany that he needs others to thrive and to accept himself by seeing a potential Shinji in another reality. This enables him to destroy the wall of negative emotions that torment him and unite with the others, who congratulate him.
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Hideaki Anno attempted to create characters that reflected parts of his own personality. The characters of Evangelion struggle with their interpersonal relationships, their personal problems, and traumatic events in their past. The human qualities of the characters have enabled some viewers of the show to identify with the characters on a personal level, while others interpret them as historical, religious, or philosophical symbols.
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Shinji Ikari is the series protagonist and the designated pilot of Evangelion Unit-01. After witnessing his mother Yui Ikari's death as a child, Shinji is abandoned by his father, Gendo Ikari. He is emotionally hypersensitive and sometimes does as expected out of fear of rejection, but he has often rebelled and refused to pilot the Eva because of the excruciating harm that has been done to him or to his friends. Throughout the series, he says to himself "I mustn't run away" as a means of encouraging himself to face the threats of the day, and this sometimes actually gives him bravery in battle, but he has a lingering habit of withdrawing in response to traumatic events. Anno has described Shinji as a boy who "shrinks from human contact" and has "convinced himself that he is a completely unnecessary person".
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Rei Ayanami, is a clone made from the salvaged remains of Yui and is plagued by a sense of negative self-worth stemming from the realization that she is an expendable asset. She at first despises Shinji for his lack of trust in his father Gendo, with whom Rei is very close. However, after Shinji and Rei successfully defeat the Angel Ramiel, she takes a friendly liking to him. Towards the end of the series, it is revealed that she is one of many clones, whose use is to replace the currently existing Rei if she is killed
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Asuka Langley Soryu is a child prodigy who pilots Evangelion Unit-02 and possesses a fiery temper and an overabundance of pride and self-confidence, which often gets her in trouble and difficulty, especially during battles. As a little girl, Asuka discovered the body of her mother shortly after she committed suicide, leading the child to repress her emotions and vow never to cry. Asuka and Shinji develop intense but ambiguous feelings toward each other and have difficulty reaching out to others. Their relationship was initially modeled on the one between Jean, Nadia's love interest and eventual husband in the earlier Nadia. Similarly to Shinji, Asuka and Rei are presented with their own flaws and difficulty relating to other people.
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Misato Katsuragi is the caretaker and commanding officer for Shinji and Asuka.[19] Her professional demeanor at Nerv contrasts dramatically with her carefree and irresponsible behavior at home. Character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto conceived her as an older "girl next door" and promiscuous loser who failed to take life seriously. Hideaki Anno described Shinji and Misato as "afraid of being hurt" and "unsuitable—lacking the positive attitude—for what people call heroes of an adventure."
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1) It’s Studio Gainax’s Love Letter To Mecha

2) It Has A Well-Aged Cinematic Style

3) There’s An Iconic Soundtrack

4) A New Mixed-Bag English Dub

5) A Startling Portrait Of Mental Illness

6) Evangelion is a show not about giant mechs but it's about human psychology