# Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)

> Fifteen years after Angels nearly annihilated humanity, teenage pilots are forced into bio-mechanical Evangelions by a secretive agency, and the war becomes a battle with their own minds.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/839

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 26
- Episode runtime: 25 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, science fiction, drama
- Network: TV Tokyo
- Cast: Megumi Ogata, Kotono Mitsuishi, Megumi Hayashibara, Yuko Miyamura, Yuriko Yamaguchi, Fumihiko Tachiki, Motomu Kiyokawa, Miki Nagasawa
- TMDB rating: 8.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112159/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: labyrinthine
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: melancholic, anxious, introspective, unsettling, surreal

## What critics say

Widely acclaimed as a landmark of anime whose mecha battles give way to a psychologically dense, deeply personal study of depression and identity, though its unfinished final episodes divided audiences.

## Synopsis

Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-1996) is a Japanese animated science fiction series created for TV Tokyo, produced by Gainax and set in a post-apocalyptic near future. Fifteen years after giant Angels nearly wiped out humanity, the last survivors live in an underground city run by the secretive Nerv agency. Teenage pilot Shinji Ikari (voiced by Megumi Ogata) is summoned by his distant father Gendo Ikari (voiced by Fumihiko Tachiki) to pilot a bio-mechanical Evangelion robot, and he is joined by the guarded Rei Ayanami (voiced by Megumi Hayashibara), the fiery Asuka Langley Soryu (voiced by Yuko Miyamura) and the commander Misato Katsuragi (voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi). Each episode pairs a monster battle with a tense, dialogue-heavy study of adolescent loneliness and guilt. Across one 26-episode season the series mixes mecha spectacle with religious symbolism, cyberpunk atmosphere and psychological dread. Its tone is melancholic, anxious and deeply introspective. Fans of Mobile Suit Gundam, Serial Experiments Lain and Lost will find resonance in its blend of cosmic stakes and inner unrest.

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