Neon Genesis Evangelion
Category:MangaCategory:AnimeCategory:Neon Genesis Evangelion
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. 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.
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
\n* Evangelion Media\n* Evangelion General Characters\n* Evangelion List of Ancillary Characters\n* Evangelion List of Eva-Units\n* Evangelion List of Angels\n* Evangelion Glossary\n* Evangelion Official Expanded Universe\n* List of Neon Genesis Evangelion topics
External links
\n* Gainax's Official website\n* The Evangelion Otaku Page\n* Neon Genesis Evangelion Primer (spoiler free)\n* Ikari Gendo's Ultimate EVA FAQs - Some more background information\n* Eva Monkey, The Ultimate Evangelion Resource Site - Evangelion related news, Evangelion Forums, Archive of essays, interviews, and other articles, as well as various resources such as scripts, omake, and commentary.\n* Evangelion newsgroups from Google (Japanese and English languages)
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