Hey I just started watching this and it's pretty good. Just wondering how many eps are there now? The only reason I am just now starting is because it's on my list of anime to see and I now have space on my Hard drive.

I think there are 26 episodes plus several endings (3, as far as I know).
I haven't seen them yet, though (still downloading), I've only read the mangas up to volume 7.

3 endings? i only heard of 1 alternate ending........ end of evangelion. i don't consider death and rebirth an alternate ending.... so what is this third ending you want talking about?

yea its my favorite anime ...there are 26 episodes...

25 was the first ending to come out in japan, but people didn't know what to make of the ending . To remedy this gainax came out with the movie -end of evangelion. finally they released 26 to really have everything end on the up and up.

buuuuut this is stuff that i've mostly heard of from other evangelion fanatics ...i'm pretty sure thats how it turned out.


hope i was a bit of help..

Gomu: I considered episode 26, "End of Evangelion - Air" and "... - Heart" as single ones. Sorry, I should have been more clear on that.

I dunno I am still watching it but I seem to have downloaded 28 eps plus the death and rebirth thing. Ep 28 isn't subbed so I can't tell about it yet. I also found 27 eps in french so I really don't know now.

27 and 28 are probably the two parts of the End of Eva movie. I actually the entire End of Eva was one ending, the second part happened after the first. But I must admit I didn't understand it. Hell, I didn't even know if the world had been destroyed or not. That's what I didn't like about Evangelion: The endings. All of them. Okay, the first part of End of Evangelion looked cool, but still. I liked the largest part of the series, but they left so many thing unanswerd, at least as far as I'm concerned (and I don't remember any of my questions anymore), though I could just be stupid . Then I thought "Well, the movie probably explains it"and, well..... I'll quote VickBond here"End of Evangelion: When Crack isn't enough. FLCL: When End of Evangelion isn't enough"

26 television episodes, two films (Death+Rebirth, End of Evangelion)... although the series is fairly conclusive there's a lot of ppl who just aren't satisfied with how Evangelion 'ends'...

IMO it's still the most important anime out of the 90's... there's so much innovative and interesting anime now that wouldn't have been possible without EVA's commercial success.

wrong, end of eva is an alternate ending.... which means you replace episode 25 and 26 with the movie. But of course, i liked the end of eva ending much better than the series ending..... with all the clapping

Man that last ep of evangelion sucked. It made zero sense. The rest of the series was great but man they really messed up that last ep and the alternate endings stunk too. I'm gonna try Trigun now. Anyone know how many eps there are, I counted 26 but there might be more.

there are 26 episodes of Trigun and most of them are really good, the start has alot of slapstick and stupid comedy then it gets deeper and into a great tragedy. As for evangelion, im on episode 17 and i have a question, what do the madgi (spelling?) actually control? and do thier names have any philisophical meaning?

The Magi basically are a AI that governs them and tells them what to do. At least that's what I understood as.

Yeah, the Magi are a three parallel supercomputers that run the big picture at Nerv.... as to whether their names have philosophical meaning, yeah--the show goes on to describe what the names mean... But the one that keeps saving Nerv is Caspar, which was the Assyrian magi in the Coptic gospels... who was a Zoroastrian that also worshipped Marduk (the single horned Sumerian God--who Eva Unit 01 is basically based on)... According to the the Coptics Balthazar was Egyptian and Melchior was Persian... the two magi were from different Has-Been empires that had an agenda to find a messiah that would destroy the Roman occupation on their lands... except for Caspar, who just wanted to release Marduk and thus destroy the world.

Also Casper, Balthazar, Melchior were the names of the 3 wise men from the bible... not to bad of choices considering all of the relegious stuff tossed into evangelion

also remember that the human race is the last angel... we couldn't stop ourselves from preventing the third impact.

Hmmm Neon Genisis is my life I. i just saw death and rebirth today and i thought it was cool cept it cut off at the very end with no more stuff.ehhh

As mentioend before, End of Evangelion is the reamake of the 25th and 26th television episodes for Neon Genesisi Evnagleion. Because of this the End of Evangelion is distinctly divided into halves. They're usually numerated 25' and 26'. The prime differentiating them from the original TV conclusions.

Death and Rebirth was relesased prior to the completion of End of Envangelion. The first half is just a recap of the television series (as I've read) and that the second half just being 25' from the End of Evangelion. That's why it seemed abruptly cut off, DIIDX.

So frankly speaking, with End of Evangelion, Death & Rebirth is redundant for all except avid (rabid) fans.






[edit: diction]

I'd just like to say that NGE is good but i've ben watching RahXephon i think its better!
(although i wasnt really a fan of NGE... damn shinji-kun)
so YEAH if u like NGE u'll prolly like RX... they run along the same weirdness except i believe RX is cooler

-Xepheus
(Megumi-chan rules )

I also enjoyed RahXephon. It's animation is definately better, but I didn't its storytelling was a taut. How the series was drawn to a close wasn't perfectly executed.

My impression throughout RahXephon as that it's a copycat of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The two animes parallel one another to such a degree that it's hard to deny the similarities. Giving the title it's due, RahXephon does contain a great measure of uniqueness in plot. But my strong guess is that it was strongly influenced by Evangelion.

Well... RahXephon _IS_ 5 years newer than NGE lol... that's about as fair as comparing NGE's animation to Nadia.

But I agree, RX is a more 'solid' series. But I still prefer NGE for its depth and ingenuity. Though Gainax apparently had a huge hand in RX too, they really weren't in the credits till the last few eps. (they're in the OPENING credits for the RX movie).

There was some REAL controversy (as in press releases) in that Yutaka Izubuchi, the RX creator and a BONES co-founder was a former writer and series developer for Gainax... and sure enough he worked on NGE. But it blew over when Hideaki Anno basically gave RX his blessing LOL.

But for anyone who thinks BONES ripped off NGE, go see Wolf's Rain. This studio knows how to write a good original story and do it with very pretty pictures.

Am I the only person who really really liked the television ending for Evangelion?

I mean the deep psychological analyzation was a mindscrew, but I think I preferred it to the gory end that was End of Evangelion. Both endings made me think, and I'm not saying I didn't enjoy End of Eva, but I honestly think I like episodes 25 and 26 better....

The fate of death is also the joy of rebirth

Yeah I DID prefer the TV endings over the movies. While the movies were definitely a little more coherent. The violence was just nonsensical and stupid anyway... and served NONE of the fans. Instead of being incoherent and abstruse, we get incoherent and meaningless.

But the movies had their really poignant moments too... like shinji's little private session with a comatose Asuka... he went thru 20 mins of solipsistic montage drivel in the TV show to drive home what that one scene told us about shinji.

Oh yes, that was a part of the movie that at first I was like "whoa what" and I had to skip back and watch it again to make sure I actually understood what was going on.

Yo!
Hard to beleive I dare show my face in this section of the forum, isn't it?

Well, I'm not here to rip it off anymore...
Funnily enough, I found some time, and decided to re-watch part of the series again...

I must say, I enjoyed the Jap MUCH more than the english... honestly, Shinji is RETARDED in the DUB, so that really turned me off that quick smart.

The idea of the movies finally sunk in (yeah, I'm slow... ) and now I'm sorta in da mood to chat about it... (maybe... )

ja

You mean you were basing your oponion of Eva off of the dubs?!
Well no wonder you didnt like it. I cant even make it through an episode of the dub without turning it off. From what i heard the VAing is horrible and without emotion.
well before you decided if a series is good or bad you must first have seen it in its orignal language cause most english dubs just mess them up.
DBZ did get better by the time it was neering its end but then FUNimation went and messed up GT by skipping the firt 16 EPS

I don't think skipping the first 16 episodes was such a bad idea really. They did have some humor in them, but on whole I didn't like the first 16 episodes. The story didn't really pick up till they got to the part with Dr. Myuu. However I found Pan so irritating at first that I was happy !!Spoilers!!
when she was turned into a doll by Doll Tucky. That part was pretty hysterical when he was trying to play with her and dress her in dresses and shit.

End Spoilers

i preferred the tv ending of eva as well ...alot of ppl dont like how it ends so abruptly and didn't bring the plot to a close --hence the movie TRYING to fill that void. But i think the series was really about shinji all along ...how he deals with things ...his feelings about himself relative to a world that had gone mad. While some may think its, in Mvorman's words, "solipsistic montage drivel" i think it communicates things on a much deeper level. Fear, love, lust, hate, jealousy--every shade of human emotion, weaknesses and strength is touched upon. This little boy represents alot more than just one soul going through a bout of insecurity.

anyway ..gotta go ...

I DO prefer the TV endings... but you have to admit, it WAS solipsistic and was mostly done in montage and yep... much of it was drivel. But it explored themes that no anime till then hadn't and few to this day have.

Jesus, you can watch up to 24 DUBBED, but if you're gonna see the TV endings, stay away from DUBS, regardless how good they may be.

hah, yea i agree it was mostly solipsistic and mostly done in montage ...but i wouldnt go so far as to say it was drivel ....i guess we just disagree ...

and yes ..the dubs are complete and utter shite!

I'm surprized that no one brought up that you could take both ending and put them together. I mean that how I took it after watching the series a few times through. I'm also amazed no brought up anything about the wierd religous content in NGE.

If anyone confused about NGE just ask me i know the series like the back of my hand. Note:(it's my favorite anime)

I mentioned the relegious stuff a long time ago...
And as far as i know the endings wernt supposed to go togother End of Evangelion was ment to replace the last 2 eps of the series...
Was anybody else confused when credits played halfway throuh End of Eva?
Cause i didnt know they were replaceing eps and i thought it was just plain weird that credits were playing with half the movie left.

the reason i said i viewed the movie and the eps as a comibined ending because it's my belief that the movie had been worked on right near the begining because of shots in the openig song that only come from the first half of the movie.

Not only that but that the last 2 eps dont make any sense how they even got to where they where with out at least the first half of the movie. Not only that there are also sences in the last two eps that come stright from the first half of the movie.

So i think that the first half of the movie alnog with the last two eps where the oringal intension for the ending of evangelion.

People actually like Eva?!
Oh.my.god

Ahh well...
It's by GAINAX, so, what am I saying... OFCOURSE IT SUCKS!!!

EVANGELION is one of the greatest anime ever made ( to MY opinion) ...

and it is so damn special BECAUSE Anno Hideaki was the one who made it ...

Evangelion was diffused in france in 97 , and it influenced lots of people (this is what we call Eva 1st line) . It was like a revolution ! After this , manga began to spread more and more in France.
And now , French are, after Japan; of course, the first manga/anime consumers...
but , now, Eva is re-discovered by young french fans ( namely , the 2nd eva line)...

AND THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND A THING ABOUT IT !

>.<

grr, this is seriously getting on my nerve... french brat who are claiming :
"YAY , ME , I understand eva !! yay !! it's a mecha with a fucked up ending (lucky us , they made movies !!! YAY !!!), and with a strange rambling about religion and psychological analyzation ! yay ! "

GRRROOOOAAAAAR

oh , for crying out loud, they're hopeless !! >.<

didn't they got Anno san's message ?

Didn't they understood that the message to Shinji at the end of eva, was in truth directed to the Otaku ??? Shall I remember them that , in Japan, Otaku are outcasted, because they can not fit in the society ????

*see 'Otaku no video' !!!!!*

Evangelion is a reflection over otaku's behaviour, and this reflection is brilliantly led by Anno san !

AND NO , THE MOVIES AREN'T THAT GREAT !!!
>.<
Of, course, yeah , they're good ... BUT THEY'RE NOT IN THE NGE SPIRIT !!!!


they were only made to earn more money, because there was an *Eva madness* in Japan !!!

Why do they think Anno san didn't took part to the movies ????

*huff huff huff*

Me , proudly belonging to the Eva 1st line, will certainly never understand, nor accept the *2nd line* behaviour ...

But, well, we're human; not perfect, so , forgive me ? lol

I'm a great Eva fan (1st liiiine !!!! lol)


Kirisame :ph34r:

I am also quite the eva fan...and it was the third anime that I actually watched. Being a Christian myself it was rather intriguing to see all the imagery involved in it. Some of it being stuff I'd never heard of....such as lilith....but I also saw a site that says Anno used them basically just because Christianity is viewed as being 'mystic' over there that he just took stuff for that purpose...I know some people try to read much into it.....but it remains one of the best psychological animes out there....and i prefer the original 2 eps....even though I'm glad that a movie came out that showed Third Impact after the obvious buildup to it and lack thereof in the tv show. Gainax never ceased to amaze me with quality stuff like kare kano, flcl, and mahoromatic.

I think I may just have to give EVA another try I just always heard that it was a really weird series, so I never got into it.

Yeah, give it a shot, Jazz! Eva is one of my favorite anime series ever. It's one of those series that once you get hooked on it, you're hooked for life. You can watch it over and over and over again, and it will never get old. I am currently watching it for the third time. Each time I see it, I notice something new, have some new revelation.

I also think it's kinda ridiculous to peg a single, solid meaning to Evangelion. The show is really what you make of it. I'm not saying it's completely open ended... it's just that there are so many things dealt with, so many facets to the story, that it's underestimating the series to think that it has only one meaning.

Oh, and both endings are brilliant.

I would like to expound on both the glowing and negative reviews on this series,since I hunted and watched all eps with great dissappointment.
NGEva stills is in my list of "Worst Animes" ever.What started out
as your run-of-the-mill mech series(even with the silly mech-Angel names) turn into a fractured,misguided,and yes, silly EXPOSITION on Christianity,human psychology and ,or spiritually in general.It seems that the writer(for 23 or so episodes) suddenly just ran dry of ideas and randomly gave it an ending to whatever game to mind.In the end ,the series becomes FULL OF ITSELF(or the writer),heavy-handed and finally laughably BAD.A real LET_DOWN for such a promising build-up.
Granted,Japan is mainly a Budhist,Shinto,etc.(non-Christian)country,where Christianity is more a curiosity that can serve as ideas for storytelling-so we can forgive(and suspend laughter) for the liberties in fanciful inventions and inaccuracies(see "Silent Moebius" -another godawful Anime).
Granted,also,Animes are not suppose to be "deep" in content.
What makes NGEva bad is that purports to be unapologetically profound.It even delves in the concept of SELF and other spiritual questions(its like the writer read a western book on POP psychology and BubbleGum-Philosophy,without doing any other deeper research).NGEva just screams-"I'm a deep,revolutionary Anime" look at me ,watch me, revere me (heck the French love it ,so I read here) .
Perhaps there is something lost in tranlation or one needs to view it from the Japanese sensibility or cultural perspective to understand or appreciate
NGEva,but for most,I think, will find it very dissappointing.






P.S.

This is dedicated to all NGeva fanatics who rant and rave
rabidly about it without explaining -why.





for a truly great Anime ,I recommend "Ghost in the Shell"(all incarnations of it).The best I've seen so far.

First off, to say anime isn't supposed to be deep is somewhat ridiculous. Anime is an art form, just like books, movies, etc. It can be as deep as it wants to be.

Now, I don't deny that Evangelion does try a bit too hard at times. And I also don't deny that it's a very flawed series. However, most people don't understand that the Christian names and imagery are mainly there to look striking and exotic. As vox mentioned, Christianity isn't all that popular in Japan, so from the Japanese perspective, it seems unique and eye-catching.

And I know that I'm just going to prove your opinion of Eva fans if I don't answer your question - why do I like Eva?

Well, let's see. I like stuff that makes me think, stuff that screws with my mind. I also like epic storylines of all sorts, something that Eva definitely provides. It's also an extremely detailed and intricate anime, and thus is rewatchable, another important factor in enjoying something. Although the TV ending is questionable, the movie ending is one of the wierdest pieces of film ever made. Love it or hate it, there's no denying that it's very powerful.

Now, I could give more detailed reasons if you want them, but that's a start. Now explain to me why you like Ghost In The Shell. Or any anime for that matter.

Heck, forget these reasons. I put some solid reasons down for liking Evangelion, but when it all comes down to it, if you enjoy something, you enjoy it, and you don't NEED a reason. Oh well.

What really is Eva about. It seems a lot of people either love it or hate it.

Would someone offer a good sumery of ther series?

Well, the basic plot is rather cliche, although it's really well done, at least in my opinion. Basically, it takes place in a future where half the human race has been wiped out due to a catastrophe that melted Antarctica, and, to make matters worse, the survivors are being attacked by a strange race of invaders called Angels.

You know where things go from here. People build mechs, depressed high school students pilot said mechs to save the human race. However, this is where the cliche part ends. The story is riddled with mysteries and political intrigue from the start. Although humanity is united to fight off the Angels, it seems like none of those who are fighting are perfect. Everyone is being controlled by someone else, and you don't know who's side your on. There isn't a single true hero in the entire show.

And things start getting really intense around the second half. I wont give it away, although an unmarked spoiler will probably ruin it for you eventually.

Check it out. Whether you love it or hate it, it's kind of something you gotta watch if you're into anime.

Case in point,a NGEva fan-who "rants and rave"yet says nothing.
Some of us do not merely,passively want our mind "screwed" with but want to actually appreciate something (Anime) on quantifiable merits and do not confuse nonsensical metaphors,high-falutin,bubble-gum philosophy as "intricate" and"detailed" and it being human nature,actually have reasons for enjoying and
not enjoying something.If being "weird" is the hallmark of a good Anime-well,you
just opened and welcomed a whole army of "Kaka" Anime into the category.

What is NGEva about?To me ,it is a critique on Religion or why
Man pursues Religion or any kind Spiritual longing,but mostly and most inaccurately ,of Christianity in general-which is obvious due to labels it carefreely and carelessly uses(from Lilith,Adam,to the "so called "Angel's names).

Life is pain and full of suffering,so the series reiterates through each character.All of them are flawed,damaged,emotionally scarred in some ways.The series even pretentiously delves on the value of human life,concept of SELF(it states something as "obvious"as you more than what you and others perceive yourself to be) and human conciousness.That Man is a coward
because he needs or invents Religion to comfort himself ,even escaped from such Pain.
Here what the series' very simplistic interpretation of Christianity's concept of "Heaven" as the Paradise we Christians long for as release from our wordly cares and suffering and how to achieve It.Kill everybody off on the face of the planet(via joining of whatever Angels are left)bring the man-made Armageddon and Apocalypse early as a way(in the series) of uniting every
human souls into a single perfect,happy soul,as it was in the very beginning-before it was fractured into billions of human souls ,thus bringing forth human suffering.In effect,bring everybody to Heaven early by killing them all.

I say its a simplistic interpretation because the teachings of Christianity are based on enduring,understanding,even transcending the pains we cause each other(Man is hell to Man)not to escape or runaway from them,which is also true of most other religious and spiritual beliefs.As for the concept of Heaven(Nirvana or whatever)in Christianity it is something worked for and earned in a lifetime.

Why do I like "Ghost in the Shell", the series? It is said that we connect with a movie,Anime,or any story form,if it creates a believable even complete world or universe in itself(think "Last Exile" or better yet "Star Wars" or Frank Herbert's "Dune" series.)Even better if it is one possibly future world for us, as in "Ghost in the Shell" ,where lines between technology and humanity are blurred. Mostly I like GITS because each episode tells a good yarn.Each episode is intelligently told and tightly conceived ,stands as a whole on its own,while following a main story arc (which is the depiction dystoptian tech-future)to form an even larger whole story and despite the technology involved they are still very human stories(same ol' human issues as greed,lust,corruption,love,desire etc. A single episode of GITS is greater than the entire eps of NGEva-period.

I'm not gonna try to change your opinion about Evangelion. The issue here is clearly a simple matter of different tastes. However, I would like to respond to a few of your points.

Your interpretation of Eva is a popular one. However, might I point out that it is in no way a religious show. The Christian symbolism that gets so many westerners hackles up was added in the beginning for the simple purpose of attracting attention. Christianity is not well known in Japan, and so using the names and images from it adds an exotic quality Gainax wanted to be associated with their series.

That being said, there is some stuff drawn from other religions that is used both accurately and effectively within the plot of the show. Take for example the Cabalist Tree of Life shown in the intro sequence. That's the key to deciphering the ending right there.

I am not a passive anime watcher, as you suggest. In fact, quite the contrary, I like anime that makes me think. In fact, I think my time is wasted if a show doesn't either make me think or spark my emotions.

No one would make the mistake of considering a NGEva
"religious".I think that is impossible,religion oriented perhaps. There's not a hint of Christian "symbolism"(a word ppl use carelessly)but the obvious Christian references(via the names),that,as you suggested used as a mere gimmick to catch attention or maybe make it -"exotic"?To the Japanese audiences?I would'nt understimate the Japan's viewing public on their understanding of Western religions.It's just plain godawful,badly written ending period.
Sure,maybe religious and spiritual beliefs may have some parallels or influenced each other-Tree of Life,an
obvious Christain concept along with the Tree of Good and Evil,as other religions do,for example, the Lotus Tree of Buddha, but this is another topic and not relevant here.
What makes anything good or bad goes beyond mere"taste".The world would be in a sorry ass place if we couldn't distinguish between the two.I would like to return to my question to NGEva fanatics.If you think it is a good Anime,if it made you "think",be specific.Think of what?or who?or whatever,anything but be clear and intelligible and civil ( as Blood Troll has)about it.To me ,its a grossly inaccurate,misguided,grandiose,pontificating,fractured,careless,simplistic interpretation of Spirituality(Christianity in particular).


(Man is a "thinking" animal therefore by necessicity a "spiritual" animal)