2015 A.D.
Neon Genesis Evangelion (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン, Shinseiki Evangerion, lit. 'New Century Gospel') is a science fiction robot anime directed by Hideaki Anno and co-produced by Tatsunoko Production and Gainax, which was broadcast in 1995.
In November 2014, the rights to the series were unified with khara, inc.. Abbreviations include Evangelion , NGE , Eva and EVA .
Set in the world of 2015 after the catastrophic disaster Second Impact in 2000, the work depicts a 14-year-old boy and girl who become pilots of the multi-purpose humanoid decisive weapon Artificial Human Evangelion and their battle against the mysterious enemy Angels that attacks the New Tokyo-3 City.
A total of 26 episodes were broadcast on TV Tokyo network from 4 October 1995 to 27 March 1996.
At the time, there was no late-night animation broadcast program, so various traumatic, erotic and grotesque scenes were normally broadcast from 6pm.
Incidentally, this work was preceded by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles's time slot (see this broadcast where the TMNT cast say their farewells), immediately preceded by Wedding Peach, and followed by VS Knight Ramune & 40 Fire.
After the conclusion of the TV anime, a film version was produced in 1997 to complement the depiction of the final two episodes (episodes 25 and 26).
A digitally remastered HD version aired on NHK BS Premium in September 2016.
Note this will refer to its movement in Japan.
Known as an anime that matched the unsettled social climate of the late 1990s, including the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the Aum Shinrikyo Incident, Japan's Great Depression, and The Prophecies of Nostradamus by Ben Goto, it created a social phenomenon.
Unique direction (such as the bold mincho font and classical music), characterization that tickles the otaku's fancy (for example, the creation of the genre name "Ayanami-kei", meaning Ayanami type, refering to a type of female character like Rei), moe style service direction (such as Misato's "Tune in next time for lots more fan service!" at the end of the episode preview) had a great impact on subsequent works. The above elements did not suddenly appear in this work, but all had some kind of original source for parodys, which, together with the mysterious setting, became the subject of mania.
In particular, the direction, development, and ending of episode 24 The Final Messenger (The Beginning and the End) and the final episode The Beast that Shouted 'I' at the Heart of the World (Take care of yourself), following episode 25 A World That's Ending (Do you love me?), caused a tremendous reaction and controversy, with various publishing companies publishing books on solving the mystery.
After the anime version by Hideaki Anno was completed, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto continued to serialize the manga version (see Sadamoto Eva), and various mixed media and tie-ins continued without interruption, including figures, games, novels, food, drink, sundries, clothing, etc. The theme song A Cruel Angel's Thesis became a standard karaoke song, and its popularity took root. In addition, the Rebuild of Evangelion series produced in the 2000s and later attracted a new fan base, including the generation born after the release of the previous works.
Most of the related illustrations currently posted on pixiv are based on this New Movie Version.
The huge success of the pachinko machines released in 2004 also sparked a resurgence and expansion of popularity. Sales of pachinko machine series, including pachislot, amounted to 600 billion yen over the past 10 years.
One of Eva's iconic staging elements, the extremely bold mincho font, is a tribute to Kon Ichikawa's film title credits. Also, the use of classical music in the direction of the series is based on Ultraseven, a work that greatly influenced Hideaki Anno.
Later, the word sekai-kei was coined from the characteristics of this anime, and it is said to be the origin of the term.
For better or worse, its influence on later otaku culture was enormous, and there are countless followers, parodies, and homages that can be recognized at first glance as "this is Eva".
Shinji's Character Desgin
Hideaki Anno originally planned to make the protagonist a girl, but Yoshiyuki Sadamoto said to him, "It's a robot story, so let's make the lead character a boy.". The reason for change was stated in an interview where Sadamoto said "I mean a robot should be piloted by a trained person, and if that person just happens to be a girl then that is fine, but I couldn't see why a young girl would pilot a robot...".
This may had also come from the previous Gainax protagonists also being girls (with the original outline Anno had for the character being a similar to Noriko Takaya). Apparently though Shinji's design is made as a male version of Nadia la Arwall.
TV's Production Mess
At the time of production, Anno was in an unstable state of mind, repeatedly trying to jump off the roof of Gainax and lamenting that "even if I take the medicine the doctor gave me, I won't feel good," and towards the end of the production, he was half seriously worried that he might have to cancel the show by "just play a big close-up of the female genitalia and cancel it" (caution needed). He finally reached his limit in the 24th episode, a long with the many rewrites done by him the final two episodes ended up like that.
Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion
Eva characters made guest appearances in the 31st episode of Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion The Animation. Not only did Kodama Horaki and Nozomi Horaki, who were characters from Eva but never made an appearance, make an official appearance. Shinji Ikari appeared as the pilot of the Shinkalion 500 TYPE EVA. Shinji also appeared piloting of the Shinkalion E5 Hayabusa, which the pilot of that is Hayato Hayasugi.
On another note, Hatsune Miku also appears as a character in Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion The Animation.
Refer to the article of List of Eva Characters for details.
Refer to the article of List of Eva Terminology for details.
Related Works
Influenced Works
- UFO: The Mysterious Saucers: A sci-fi special effects drama produced by ITC in the U.K. in 1969. Evangelion was influenced by the opening and the SHADO Interceptor.
- Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon: Not only were the character names and voice actors influenced by the film, but Anno also worked on several cuts of the unmarked episode 46.
- Mobile Suit Victory Gundam: Description needed.
Successor Works
- Fafner in the Azure series: If the Pretty Cure series is the granddaughter of the Sailor Moon series, this is the direct successor to Evangelion, with the main characters usually dying and leaving the show.
- Bokurano: Ours: A masterpiece that depicts the struggles of a boy and girl who are made into pilots of the Zearth, which they will surely die if they pilot.
- Kamen Rider Ryuki: It shares with Evangelion the fact that the development of the final two episodes caused controversy and influenced the special effects of later years.
- Ultraman Nexus: The content in this one is of the most serious in the Heisei Ultra series. Many aspects of the story are influenced by Masked Rider Ryuki and Kamen Rider 555.
- The Last Man: A transforming hero violence manga by Tatsuya Egawa is one of the sekai-keis in that the boy Makoto demonstrates the power to change the world.
- Bayonetta: Angels appear as enemies, just like in Neon Genesis Evangelion.
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica: One of the attainments of sekai-kei.
- SSSS.Gridman & SSSS.Dynazenon: A robot anime with miniature special effects-style battle scenes, the main character has an ego, and the main character is fighting an unknown life form. It is also a Tsuburaya Productions work.
Japanese
新世紀エヴァンゲリオンとは (シンセイキエヴァンゲリオンとは) [単語記事] - ニコニコ大百科 (NicoNico Encyclopedia)
