Shin seiki evangerion 
Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995 - 1996 / Japan / Hideaki Anno, and others) 



"Neon Genesis Evangelion". The title alone is already legendary. It stand for one of the most successful and stimulating anime series ever produced, and has arguably helped to stimulate more interest for Japanese animation throughout the world, than any other movie or series from this genre which came to us during the 90s. My own encounter and experience with it has also become an unexpectedly large part of my (movie-watching) life. 

I first came upon the series through a dear friend in shool some seven years ago, who was then already an avid fan of anime and the Japanese culture (and has remained so until today ). At that time I was a budding cineaste and barely knew anything about films from Japan (I had probably already heard of Kurosawa, and seen one or two of his films in edited and badly dubbed German VHS versions), especially not animation. As I was somewhat curious about it (I don't remember the exact circumstances anymore), I asked her if I could borrow some anime from her, The package she gave me consisted of some interesting short films and (short) series of which I don't remember the titles right now, but definitely the most interesting thing she gave me, was a compilation of episodes from a series that involved children piloting giant robots. At first the premise didn't seem very interesting to me (I was a bit too old to appreciate Giant Robots, and a bit too young to re-appreciate them ), and the copies I was able to view, had already been taped from another source, were almost in black and white, with a lot of dropouts, hissing noises, and the worst image and sound problems you could imagine on a standard VHS. And the worst thing (which I only realized months later): the series was incomplete (ending at around episode 20, if my recollection is correct). One positive aspect though was that the episodes weren't cut - as was often the case with Japanese animation during the 80s and 90s that got distributed in Europe and the US - and were presented in their original language with very good fansubs that had begun circulating more regularly at that time. I'm not sure if this helped in my development of watching films and series in their original language, but it surely didn't harm it. As I slowly progressed through the series and several months passed by, I got more and more engrossed in the characters and the world they inhabited. The series seemed to get better and better with every new episode, buliding layer upon layer of a seemingly preconceived plan that was going to be revealed at the end of it. When I had come at the end of the episodes that were available to me, I had become not only an admirer of "Neon genesis Evangelion" and its creator Hideaki Anno, but also a converted believer into the blessings that had arrived in our Western world through the import of anime. 

I copuldn't continue my experience with this particular series until a few years later, when I started living in Berlin, and was able to obtain the complete episodes as some sort of gift from my cousin. Imagine my astonishment when I was able to see the colors of the animation for the first time. As I started watching the series anew during the upcoming months (which were also some of the happiest in my life), I discovered that I had grown even more fond of the story and the way it was told, and even the giant robot fights didn't bother me as much as they used to. As my cinematic development had progressed through the years, so had my understanding and appreciation of the mulltifaceted ideas Hideaki Anno had tried to implement into the complex structure of the series. Unfortunately another misfortunate event occured as my Laptop got stolen and with it the remaining episodes I had copied to my hard disk. As this was only the beginning of what would become one of the worst years in my young life, I had other things to take care of, and forgot to seek out the four or five episodes and the subsequently produced feature "End of Evangelion" (1997) which had been produced to finish the series and which were missing in my own experience of the show. Fortunately I stumbled, again by chance, upon the whole series during recovery from a bad illness about two weeks ago, and I have started to watch the series again. So far, I have managed to see the first four episodes, and if fate isn't going to intervene once more, I will be able to finish this series during the upcoming months. It's been a long time coming, and I doubt I'll let anything come between me and my enjoyment of "Neon Genesis Evangelion". Anyways, I'll keep you posted on any further developments. 

As I see it at the moment, I have again come to appreciate this incredible creation even more, and I have also noticed how carefully Anno and his fellow screenwriters have interwoven the many threads of the story and its implementations from the very beginning of the first episode. It isn't too bad that I am already familiar with most of the upcoming events and developments, as it gives me the opportunity to reflect on the deeper meaning of what I have seen in a way that isn't possible for anyone new to this show. I'm sure many of us have already seen it (I know that especially Trevor is a fan ), but for the ones who are still new to it, my advice is to observe very carefully what is going on from the start. What stood out even more than the last times, was the extremely skillfull pacing and the attention given to every detail of every moment that is shown in the film. Almost nothing occurs without purpose, and will have emotional and intellectual reverberations for attentive viewers in every episode to come. The payoff that gets bigger and bigger in the course of your involvment with "Neon Genesis Evangelion" is due in large parts to the fact that this is one of the best character-driven shows or movies you are ever going to see. I'm not exaggerating when I state this, and I believe that any sceptics of anime (or animated films in general) that are still out there, will lose their doubts after engaging with this highly personal and philosophic but also extremely entertaining work of art. And if nothing else, who could resist giant robots fighting against monsters from space to decide the fate of the human race, if not a cinephil snob. I for once, couldn't wait to set my eyes on the huge Evas batteling the angels, and when the fighting started I could feel the goosebumps on my back.