Neon Genesis Evangelion?

Question

Okay, I have watched this entire series at least 20 times through...and I still don't understand what's going on...can someone tell me what this is about?

Answer 1

I also loved the show so I will tell you what it's all about.

In 2000, a group of scientists conducted an expedition in Antarctica where a large being of light, deemed by them as the first Angel, Adam, was discovered. On September 13 an attempt was made to capture it which ended in apparent failure when it proceeded to self-destruct, creating what would be called the Second Impact. The true nature of the Second Impact was concealed from the general public, who was led to believe that the devastation was caused by a small meteorite, traveling close to the speed of light, impacting in Antarctica.

In the conflict with Angels, mankind is represented by the mysterious organizations NERV, GEHIRN (which started out as the investigation team for the Second Impact but became NERV later on), SEELE, and the Marduk Institute. NERV is, in theory, under the control of SEELE, but NERV has its own agenda, driven by its commander Gendo Ikari. NERV carries out two tasks: to defend the Earth from Angel attack with a small number of Evangelions (Evas), and the Human Instrumentality Project, which, according to Gendo, is the path to unite all human minds into one entity.

The Evas have the outward appearance of massive humanoid robots and can apparently be piloted only by children conceived after the Second Impact (14 year olds). Pilots are selected by the Marduk Institute, which is later discovered to be composed of about 108 ghost companies (108 is the number of sins in Japanese Buddhism, and the number of beads on a typical Buddhist rosary/mala), but Gendo Ikari and Ritsuko Akagi are actually in charge of selecting pilots. It is frequently speculated that qualifying pilots must have lost a mother, whose soul is used as the soul of the Eva (This has been debated due to the probability that Rei is a clone of Yui and therefore doesn't have a technical 'mother' but some fans believe that Yui's soul was split between Unit 00 and Unit 01 [further evidenced by the fact that both are deemed Prototype Eva while Unit 02, which if this assumption were correct would have a non-split soul, was the first "official" Eva Unit]. This theory coincides with Rei and Shinji's ability to synchronize with each other's Evas. Others believe Naoko Akagi's soul was used for Unit 00, coinciding with Unit 00's trying to kill Naoko's tormentors). The Evas also appear to behave under the influence of the soul inside it. One example is when Unit 01 goes "berserk", acts without control of its pilot or NERV and refuses to shut down (or in one instance, to start without Shinji). Unit 00 goes berserk and lashes out at the tormentors of Ritsuko Akagi's mother, apparently attempting to kill Rei. Though Unit 02 does not ever go truly berserk, Asuka says in The End of Evangelion that she feels the presence of her mother protecting her in the Eva and Hyuga Makota announces that Unit 02 is berserk. The term "berserk" really only befits the actions of Unit 00; Unit 01's actions were focused, restrained, and beneficial to NERV's missions.

Each Eva has its own designated pilot, due to the bond between 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 is more likely to be refused. That is not to say that it is impossible to synchronize in such a situation, as is shown in an experiment in Episode 14, in which Rei and Shinji synchronize with each others' Evas. It is later apparent that the Evas are not really "robots" but rather living, biomechanical organisms, in contrary to the popular belief of the general public. While Ritsuko does mention at the beginning of the series that the Evas do have some biological components to them, the extent to which the Evas are biological is not immediately apparent; it is finally revealed, towards the end of the series, that Evas are essentially Angels (units 00, 02, 03, and 04 made from Adam, the first Angel, and 01 made from Lilith) onto which mechanical components are incorporated during its creation — part of the reason being to restrain and control them.

The secret second task, The Human Complementation Project, also known as Instrumentality, 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 and uniting humanity into one enity. SEELE is the main driving force behind this project, for reasons unknown, but they mention that humanity must evolve or it will die, thus the need for a forced evolution. This artificial evolution strives to merge all human souls into one by disposing the individuals of their AT-Fields that separate egos from each other. This causes their bodies to revert to LCL. When everyone comes to this state, they will no longer feel the pain or loneliness that would typically precipitate from interaction between humans; it is comparable, but not equal, to death.

The plot of The End of Evangelion and the plot of the series seem to diverge at the end of series episode 24. In the series, episodes 25 and 26 consist of abstract introspection by the characters, especially Shinji. The ending is left open to interpretation: clearly, Shinji eventually overcomes his issues with others and comes to accept being with them, but whether Instrumentality follows through or if it occurs at all are left unanswered, directly. The specifics of Instrumentality are not explored in the series, either. In End of Evangelion, Shinji is directly involved in the initiation of Instrumentality, but ultimately rejects it at the last moment. There is some debate as to whether The End of Evangelion is a complement to, or a replacement of the TV episodes 25 and 26. The highly stylized nature of these episodes leaves them very open to interpretation. Some fans believe that the final scene of episode 26 where all of the characters are shown telling Shinji, "Congratulations" is a sign that Shinji accepts the Instrumentality Project and therefore is at odds with End of Evangelion. Others believe that the characters are congratulating Shinji for finding his own identity, as his realization that he is an individual identity is the deciding factor in whether or not Instrumentality will occur (therefore, the characters are congratulating Shinji because his decision to remain an individual means that they can all remain individuals) - this interpretation is reconcilable with End of Evangelion. The line is sometimes considered to be a reference to the end of Space Runaway Ideon, in which case it ironically implies a Pyrrhic victory and death. Yet another group of fans sees the final two episodes as being a part of the introspective detours from the second half of End of Evangelion.

Answer 2

It would take too long to give an entire synopsis of the series. It's that complicated. I would suggest googleing it and check out various websites, or go to the Anime Turnpike at

http://www.anipike.com

Answer 3

Damn, and you expect me to compete w/ Chubby Girl?! LOL

Give her the points already :D