I bought my first Neon Genesis Evangelion VHS tape when I was 13. It cost $29.95 for the Japanese dub with English subtitles ($24.95 for the English dub) at my local suburban mall. The tape contained just two episodes, which I would proceed to watch and rewatch a dozen times each before I could save up enough allowance for the next tape. Talk about the antithesis of today’s “binge-watching.”
See also: ‘Evangelion’ Is A Great Anime But Not Without Its Influences And Hardly The First Of Its Kind
Twenty years later, Neon Genesis Evangelion became available on legal streaming media for the first time on June 21. (Thank a combination of studio fragmentation and the bursting of the American anime bubble for why that license floated in no man’s land for two decades.) Even after all this time, Evangelion’s impact has endured. Commercial tie-ins from restaurants to bullet trains have dotted Japan ever since it came out. Now, the show that’s made such a splash since 1995 is finally accessible to all (with Netflix accounts, that is).
Even after all this time, here’s why this 24-year-old show is still worth a look.
1) It’s Studio Gainax’s Love Letter To Mecha
Studio Gainax began as a passion project for a group of college science-fiction nerds. Their early works hardly generated any commercial success but today are revered for the way they depict futuristic technology with believable military-protocol accuracy. Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise, in particular, is a cult classic for its cinematic attention to detail.
Despite lacking the huge budget of Honneamise (and for good reason, considering that movie concluded its original release at a major loss), Evangelion crystallizes Gainax’s adoration for the how and why of mecha, not only in battle but the extensive maintenance and repairs that such a superweapon would require. This attention to detail, and its simultaneous love letter to mechanical engineering, it Gainax at its best. It merges the fantastic elements of giant robot battles with the mundane factor of their upkeep. Even though Gainax was running out of money during Evangelion’s production and only three Gainax employees were working on the show full time, the illustrations featuring machinery are rendered in loving, hand-drawn detail.
2) It Has A Well-Aged Cinematic Style
As indicated before, the early ‘90s were not great for Studio Gainax. While upper management dealt with the fallout from several failed business ventures and the studio slumped after their latest TV anime, Uru in Blue, was canceled, there wasn’t much bandwidth left for this new Evangelion project. It can be inferred then that Evangelion’s now-classic moments of stillness were initially placed in the show out of necessity, to save energy on excess animation.
Today, Evangelion’s minimalistic animation makes for moments of reflection. These prolonged moments can evoke anxiety, fear, or even humor (like when Gendo stares down his son from the other side of the elevator door and chooses not to disembark.) There are moments of quiet elation, like when Misato and Shinji gaze at one another, unmoving, after Shinji has made the momentous decision to not leave Tokyo 3. For more than a minute, they stand in place, the continuing train announcements the only indication that the show hasn’t frozen in place. In our modern era, where most action shows are go-go-go, it’s a refreshing alternative—a silent response to the noise that allows us to look inward alongside these characters.
3) There’s An Iconic Soundtrack
It’s interesting that so many of the anime that Shiro Sagisu composed for remain classics today. His compositions feel more like film scores than music designed as a backdrop for TV cartoons. His work on Evangelion, which ranges from the tense, rhythmic sound of a guitar during battle scenes to soft piano-based melodies during quiet, uncomfortable moments, won the 1997 Kobe Animation award for “Best Music Score” and has sold more than 9 million albums to date.
The soundtrack takes time to burrow into your brain until it becomes inseparable from the rest of Evangelion as a work. But the opening theme, “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis,” is instantly catchy. Even in 2011, the song topped the list of most popular karaoke songs in Japan for three years running. There have been covers done all over the world. Considering the show’s religious overtones, this one from the Glory Gospel Singers of New York is a favorite of mine.
Unfortunately, the Netflix release does not include the ending theme—26 different covers of the jazz hit “Fly Me To The Moon.” It’s a loss that does away with one of the most recognizable songs of the shows, but you can still listen to them all on YouTube in one handy compilation.
4) A New Mixed-Bag English Dub
Since I first watched Evangelion so early on, VHS tapes were divided so viewers had to choose sub or dub, and I never got to know the original English voice performances. While I’m disappointed that the original cast was not invited back (which seems to be the polite thing to do, as with the new Fruits Basket redub), I had an open mind about the new actors.
There are some uncomfortable decisions, like the insistence on calling Shinji “the Third Children” plural. Even if it is mirroring the Japanese dub, it sounds unnatural in English. Plus, nobody seems to be able to decide how to pronounce “Nerv.” But in spite of these difficulties, which aren’t the fault of the voice actors, the new cast is a relief by comparison. I’m particularly enamored with Casey Mongillo’s portrait of Shinji. A nonbinary actor, their youthful, gender-neutral voice fits well with this anxious, traumatized teen who is just coming of age.
But at the same time that the dub stars a trans actor, some fans are concerned that it erases the show’s queer narrative, a move the show’s translator said is designed to “[leave] room for interpretation.” It’s no wonder that fans feel so passionate: voice performances are perhaps the most vital connection audiences can have to an animated character. It’s worth watching for yourself to see how this new translation of Evangelion measures up.
5) A Startling Portrait Of Mental Illness
Despite its charged opening song and high-action mecha themes, Evangelion is not a happy show. There’s something seriously messed up about the premise that only 14-year-olds are capable of piloting war machines, putting the future of Earth in their tiny hands. It’s no wonder that the protagonists of Evangelion all are dealing with mental trauma.
It’s a reflection of director Hideaki Anno’s own struggles with depression. In a July 1995 statement of intent,, Anno wrote: “I tried to include everything of myself in Neon Genesis Evangelion—myself, a broken man who could do nothing for four years. A man who ran away for four years, one who was simply not dead.” Polygon’s impressive essay on the topic documents the way the show has become inseparable from its cerebral explorations of the darkest thoughts people can have.
Like most mecha shows, it’s actually a story about people—no matter how far technology advances, we’re still complicated and cowardly humans determined to find unhappiness wherever we can. Combined with the show’s cinematic stillness and contemplative soundtrack, it’s no wonder Evangelion’s emotional impact has had just as many aftershocks in the fandom as the First Impact had within it.
Evangelion is airing on Netflix now.
