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Neon Genesis Evangelion (pronounced Eh - van - geh - lee - on) is a 26-episode anime series created by Gainax, followed by a pair of movies:
Death and Rebirth, and
End of Evangelion (although Death and Rebirth
is essentially a highly condensed re-edit of the series plus the first half of End of Evangelion). The two movies were
subsequently rereleased as a single movie called Revival
of Evangelion. It also spawned a manga, though its first volume was actually
released prior to the airing of Evangelion's first episode. The manga is also currently still in production. Production of a live
action version has also been announced. This is to be made by ADV Films (the
company holding the world wide rights outside of Asia to the series), Gainax and Weta Workshop Ltd.
A large deal of the merchadise for the series - which still comes out regularly despite being almost a decade old - has an
amusingly detached or hilarious non-relation to the dark nature of the series. It has also spawned various computer games,
including Girlfriend Of Steel. While shoehorned into the
original plot, the sequel to the game, Girlfriend Of Steel
2, takes place in a complete alternate universe depicted in
the final episode of the show. This later inspired a manga, which uses most of the Evangelion characters in a 'normal' schoolyard
drama series.
The original Japanese title for the series is
"新世紀エヴァンゲリオン" (Shinseiki Evangelion); literally
"Gospel of the New Century". Evangelion, incidentally, is Greek for "good news", and is typically translated "gospel" in the Holy Bible.
When first aired in Japan at a time slot intended for teenagers, it was not especially
popular. However, when aired again in a time slot more suitable for adults, its popularity exploded and rekindled many adults'
interest in anime. Evangelion was, and continues to be, a strong influence on anime generally. Despite being generally highly
regarded, the series does have numerous detractors, who find it self-important and see the many religious and psychological
references as superficial rather than meaningful.
Warning: Plot details
follow.
Although it starts as a regular mecha anime,
the focus tends to shift from action to flashbacks and analyses of the main characters.
The director, Hideaki Anno, probably according to his own experience,
displays in this show a variety of mood disorders and problems with
emotional health,
especially depression, trauma and separation anxiety
disorder.
Background
Evangelion takes place in the near future (2015 AD), fourteen years after the catastrophic Second Impact, and describes an expedition to Antarctica where scientists discover a large being of light, deemed by them as the
first Angel, Adam. After they made contact with the
angel, it self-destructed. This conflict caused a massive flood, which consumed a large portion of the Earth's population. The true nature of the second impact was concealed from the general public, who was led to
believe that the devastation was the result of an asteroid impact.
In this conflict, mankind is represented by the mysterious organizations called NERV, GEHIRN (which
started out as the investigation team for the Second Impact but became NERV later on), SEELE, and Marduk. NERV is in theory under the control of SEELE, but NERV has its own agenda,
driven by its commander Gendou Ikari (father of Shinji Ikari: main character, and pilot of Evangelion Unit 01).
NERV carries out two tasks: to defend the Earth from Angel attack with a small number of Evangelions and the Human Instrumentality Project.
The Evangelions have the outward appearance of massive biomechanical
robots and can be piloted only by 14 year old children. Pilots are selected by the Marduk Agency which is later discovered to be
composed of about 108 ghost companies; pilots must have lost a mother
or a very close loved one, which is then used as the soul of the Eva (the Eva also behaves like the soul inside it, often lashing
out at old enemies). Only the designated pilot of an Eva can pilot it, due to the bond of the pilot's soul and the soul of the
Eva; otherwise, any other person who tries to synchronize (simply put, to technically work as one mind) with the Eva will be
refused. It is later revealed that the Evangelions are not really "robots" but rather living organisms.
The secret second task, the Human Instrumentality Project, intends to start an artificial evolution of mankind. Considering
the religious implications of the term "evangelion", this event was said to bring about the salvation of mankind in the context
of a newly created Earth.
Translation Notes
The original Japanese term for the Angels is "Shito" which translates to "Prophet", or "Messenger". The English translation,
"Angel", has the same original meaning.
The term "Gehirn" is German for "brain". "Seele" is the German term for "soul". "Nerv" is the German term for "nerve".
Sub-topics
External links
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