Neon Evangelion makes no sense. What the HELL was that ending?!? |
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- Опубликовано: 7 июл 2022
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Tim: *What the hell!?*
Viewers who recommended the show: *Haha, we got him in the first half*
My friend wants to know if you picked up on the moms' souls being absorbed (or partially absorbed in Asuka's mom's case which is what drove her insane) into the evas, which is why those pilots work best in those specific Evas. Also, potentially one of the Rei Clones is in the unit zero which is why it's so resistant to Rei #2. We nominate Mask of Mirrors. You seem like a theme guy and I've never seen worldbuilding and theme married so perfectly
I think I picked up that Shinjis mum was, but not the others!
~ Tim
Some have speculated that Eva Zero has Ritsuko's mother's soul in it, which is why when it goes berserk it attacks Rei and Gendo.
@@uanime1 It's pretty clearly stated that Ritsuko's mother became part of the magi system, can she be in both?
@@lizardlegend42
"It's pretty clearly stated that Ritsuko's mother became part of the magi system, can she be in both?"
Well Kaworu is supposed to have Adam's soul while Adam's body is in Gendo's hand.
Also Ritsuko's mother finished the Magi before killing herself so she can't be physically part of them.
@@lizardlegend42 i did some reading cuz i too was under this impression for years but apparently the Magi System is based on her personality and has her thought patterns interwoven into it and in fact not her soul
Revolutionary Girl Utena. Come for the fun and complex characters, creative fight scenes, and send-ups of Magical Girl tropes; stay for the plot twists, philosophy, mindf*cks, and flawless soundtrack.
YES it’s so incredible i’ve watched it fully 5 times and still have barly any idea what happened
Yesss! The other psychological juggernaut of 90s anime.
not for nothing Utena's Kunihiko Ikuhara and Evangelion's Hideaki Anno are good friends and worked together in the past (I think on Sailor Moon)
To answer a couple of the questions you (and maybe others) have:
1) both Gendo and SEELE want Human Instrumentality, but SEELE are using Gendo to get it, and intend to become/create (I don't think it's entirely clear) a god using the Evas and/or Angels. It's only weird little side comments between Gendo/Fuyutski and Kaji/Misato that allude to this IIRC.
2) Adam is in the briefcase that Kaji transports back from Antarctica - it's possible the Angel attacks the boats to try and get Adam off the humans (they were certainly expecting a battle). When Adam was awakened in Antartica several years prior it caused second impact which we see in Misato's flashbacks about her father's death. There's a bit of ambiguity about what is Adam and what is Lilith as some characters think they know, but refer to one as the other which can be confusing for the audience - Kaworu's comments in terminal dogma help a lot here.
They can't use the Angels, if an Angel makes contact with Adam they'll destroy all life on earth and create a world of Angels... that's why humanity has to destroy them.
Lilith and Adam are gods, they are the source of all life. Gendo only wants his wife back, he doesn't care about anything else.
Rei and Kaworu are Lilith and Adam in human bodies... which have develop a human soul too (through connections with other people, etc... that's the main point of the series... interaction with others creates your own soul... that's why there can be 3 different Reis, each of them developed their own individual souls by interacting with people in different ways... even though they are all Lilith)
"What the HELL was that ending?!?"
They literally ran out of budget.
If you want to go the route of the "classics" like evangelion I would suggest either either berserk or cowboy bebop both are incredible series that I think you would enjoy
Another series you may be interested in is called Gurren lag people call it a thematic antithesis to evangelion so it could be interesting
I don't know why people like Cowboy Bebop so much... it's cool and all but that's it... I watched it in 2000 and I wouldn't watch it again. I mean... it's not like Akira or Evangelion.
@@victorfergn I mean, I'm not gonna spoil the series in a comment section about suggesting anime to argue why people enjoy it the best I can give is this video about one person explaing there thoughts ruclips.net/video/R_kga0BFi_M/видео.html
That being said it vaild if you just didn't find that same enjoyment others did to I watched akira a year ago and besides the animation and music I was personally rather indifferent to it
Gurren Lagann isn't so much a thematic antithesis as it is a sister series to Eva. They both ultimately come from the same Gainax soul
I think you understood Eva really well, actually! From what I understand, it is and always was a story about people, and the plot with the Eva's and seele was all a vehicle to explore the characters, which is why it was so readily discarded without really giving answers. Admittedly, for people very invested in that plot, that's a pretty big surprise. Anno actually never intended to make end of Eva, but he got so much hate mail over the ending that he ended up making it anyway. If you haven't seen Fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood, highly recommend that as your next watch. One of the greatest of all time imo
The 2003 FMA was better IMHO.
Gurren Lagann would be a great follow up to Evangelion, as it was made by the same studio, is also a giant mech show starring a young boy, and was partially made as an answer to evangelion and a lot of the questions it poses. It has a very different tone, especially at the start, but beneath the surface, there is actually a lot of thematic and philosophical depth. (and, unlike eva, it actually has a proper ending)
Row row, recommend Gurren Lagann
Agreed, I would absolutely a set of videos like these for Gurren Lagann, it's one of my favorite stories ever, and it has hands down my favorite ending of any story I've seen. It's also the gold standard for mecha animation IMO. I cannot praise it enough.
I was very much thinking the same thing. My only hesitation with suggesting it was how very much more ANIME it is, ya know? The whole Yoko Littner of it all.
I totally agree. Gurren Lagann is a completely different tone from Evangelion while addressing a lot of the same issues/character conflicts.
it was such a bittersweet ending tho
For clarity the placement of EoE in the Evangelion timeline is (I believe) ambiguous. Mostly I see people saying either: the original ending happens concurrently with the EoE ending, with the original ending happing internally for Shinji and the EoE ending happens externally OR I've also heard EoE is an alternative ending for the series and fans can decide which is canon for themselves
They are happening concurrently - if you look carefully in episodes 25-26 there are shots from the movie. The show just focuses on the characters' experiences with Instrumentality.
I think you mean the TV Ending is more ambiguous. EoE takes place pretty directly after episode 24 (within 24-48 hours after Kaworu is killed, as he is still grieving him at the lake in the beginning of the film). The TV Ending begins right in the onset of Instrumentality without context or an inciting incident, but we don't know how long after episode 24 it actually occurs without the context of EoE.
@@AstralBelt Even less, Shinji spends all night at the beach after killing Kaworu and talking to Misato there... that's the opening scene of the movie.
YESSSSS, I KNEW FROM THE THUMBNAIL HE FINALLY MADE IT THIS IS THE BEST EVER😂😂😂
Edit: Just finished the video. Yeah, I'd say that's pretty much the main line Evangelion series experience in a nutshell. Eva explores alot of ideas in it's stories and it's a series that means alot to me, the lesson of growing up and accepting the hardships of simply being alive is one that I constantly have to re-learn. However, seeing Shinji repeatedly trip over yet somehow manage to accept it and find connection is heart warming. In my eyes he is the most realistic and raw teenage character in any fiction I've seen.
I recommend checking out either Gurren Laggan or Grave of the fireflies. One is essentially the thematic antithesis to Evangelion so it'll be more light-hearted and fun whilst the latter is just more depression but in Ghibli form.
Grave of the Fireflies absolutely destroyed my heart. It’s been two years since I watched it and it still haunts me in a way that is very hard to describe. Beautiful movie, but it can also be so upsetting.
@@bebel9 I literally wrote my will after watching this movie, because I became awfully more aware of the fleeting nature of life in a brutal sense
I suggest Princess Tutu. It’s a fun anime that combines fairy tales and ballet and storytelling. I know the name sounds really silly, and it does seem weird at the start, but it fits with the larger themes and the series is just really good.
YES!!! Princess Tutu is a *FASCINATING* anime from the perspective of storytelling and what it means to our existence and our view of ourselves. It's the anime for writers and classics fans, although you wouldn't immediately guess it from the premise.
Seconded, thirded, and fourthed!
Definitely seconded! I think he would really like the direction it goes. I kind of want to rewatch it now just thinking about it..
Absolutely. I hardly ever rewatch anything, but I've rewatched this.
The first time is exciting because you don't know what's going to happen.
The second time is exciting because you do know what's going to happen.
Sounds like you had the typical EoE experience!
I would love to hear your take on Cowboy Bebop, there's a lot of themes regarding the past and moving forwards from it, emotional connections and such like that. I think it'd be right up your alley
Oh Ive been waiting for this for so long. If you want something a lot more concrete and coherent, but still very well written, you may want to check out Monster. It’s a hard left turn into realism and might be a nice palette cleanser
I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone refer to “Monster” as a “nice palette cleanser,” lol.
“So great, and also so confusing” is a great way to describe NGE, and one of the reasons why I think it has endured so long. It’s not a perfect series, especially with the ending, but it does manage to be engaging not just because of its themes, but because of its characters. I truly enjoyed getting your reactions as you went through the series, especially since you were always very thoughtful with your comments and speculations! Thank you so much for doing these!
Also, thank you so much for the comment about people complaining about Shinji being a whiny brat! I’ve been saying that for years, so this felt incredibly validating.
As far as what you should watch next, I think you’ll enjoy Monster! The ending is much more satisfying than NGE, and story wise, it’s very different from what people usually expect from an anime. The protagonist is a doctor in his 30s, there are some questions regarding whether humanity is inherently good or inherently evil, there’s not a lot of action, but the mystery is so intriguing, and the characters are great. You could also read the original manga if you would prefer.
I also think you would really, really enjoy Fruits Basket! If you give that one a try, you should watch the 2019 version of it. Fruits Basket is a shoujo, which is a type of manga/anime usually targeted towards girls and women. Oddly enough, I don’t often see shoujo recommended to non-Anime fans, but I think you’d enjoy this one. Though the story presents itself as a high school comedy romance, it uses a supernatural element to explore trauma.
Other animes I think you might enjoy include Erased, Terror in Resonance, and Durarara!! I’m also going to recommend the manga Nightmare Inspector since I think the magic and setting of that one would really interest you, especially with how it transitions from an episodic series to something with an overarching plot.
And for non-manga/anime… I think I would really love to hear your thoughts on The Magnus Archive podcast. It’s a horror series with an overarching plot of conspiracy and cosmic horror, and it explores themes of… Well, fear.
All in all, I really enjoyed these reviews. Seriously, I love how you really engage with the themes of these stories and dig deep into the what the story is trying to say through the story and the plot, but you do so without losing sight of the fact that this is a story. You managed to get across a nice balance between exploring the storytelling aspects of the narrative (plot, worldbuilding, character) and examining the themes of the work, and that’s not an approach I often see in reviews. So thank you again for posting this!
I second your suggestion for Tim to check Monster, a series that should provide him with a lot on interesting inputs.
NG:E is definitely of acquired taste. While I absolutely love the series and film, I completely understand why it is not to other peoples' tastes. It is - in my humble opinion - one of the most realistic depictions of mental illness ever put to screen, and it is also one of the best subversions of the anime genre. You get so much more from the rewatch when you understand Asuka, Misato, and Gendo's characters.
It has heavy roots in the mental state of the director Hideaki Anno projected onto the main and secondary characters, and relies on a vast amount of knowledge on the topic of psychology and philosophy and old testament religion to understand all the individual references. "End of Evangelion" is the perfect ending for that because it's a commentary both on the viewer and the director, and in spectacular visual fashion. The Misato kiss is both supposed to be encouraging to Shinji to give him the self confidence, reassuring the "maternal" nature Misato sees herself as being, reinforcing the Oedipal complex, as well as the realization that in some ways she has become her father, the person she despised, and would pass the cross to Shinji to bear by living.
I think people shouldn't watch it in one go, it's a series that requires a lot of time to get. He didn't understand most of it because of that... besides taking the religious themes very seriously doesn't help at all. There are many clues in the episodes that you won't get if you watch it only once.
@@mstewie08 Not that much, most of the theory shown in the anime is bs... if you really know about physics, theology and psychology you'll know they use the names just because they sound cool. You have to pay attention to what the anime says, trying to understand it through real psychology, theology, biology and physics is a waste of time. Trust me, I have a degree on physics and its physics references are all bullshit.
@@victorfergn saying that trying to understand the show through real psychology is a waste of time tells me this went right over your head. The show is literally about psychology. Its giant robot story is the shit worth ignoring. That's literally the vessel Anno chose, because he was a fan of Kaiju films growing up with an estranged father. The religious references are for style, but the psychology of the characters (not the narrative) is very much based in reality. I'd encourage you to upon your next viewing, do an analysis on the characters, with the conscious thought that the main children are representing your peers, the adult/supporting characters represent their equivalent generations in society, and everyone else representing society itself. Seele represents the corporate overlords, etc. From that point you need to psychoanalyze the characters, their relationships with each other and society, consider their mental abilities and disabilities. The story isn't about any robots at all, it's about children learning to deal with trauma and mental disability and accept themselves, each other, society as a whole, and happiness.
First of all, if you want to see the industry's polar opposite reaction to Evangelion, I highly recommend the anime Gurren Lagann (I prefer subs but it's up to you, I just feel the English dub totally fails to convey what's cool about one of the main characters). It is an anime about togetherness, where Eva is about loneliness. It's an anime where the giant robots symbolise growth, both physical and spiritual, instead of isolation and stunted childhood. It's an anime where loss and hardship add up to more positives and morals than you might expect.
Also after a lot of fucking Wiki-ing last year I thinki have a pretty good grasp of what the fuck is going on, in a plot level, of Eva. An ancient race, like in 2001, seeded space with little evolution spheres. One to each planet or whatever. These spheres contain one of two progenitors of life, Adam and Lilith. Adam and Lilith are not supposed to coexist. One creates giant super powerful single goal creatures like Angels. And one creates multitudes of creatures, like man and animals. Individualistic but working together.
Earth accidentally got both. Now humanity needs to fight it out for dominance of this evolutionary territory. Each Angel evolves from the previous one to be even better at the goal of reaching the Geofront, getting the pilots out of the way and touching the seed of life, to make its species the dominant one on earth. Humans must defend it.
I THINK.
i loved the wiki-ing part of this :D each time i thought i understood something like 10 new questions arose... and none of it can explain the gut cramps i get with every watch especially of eoe ^^
what i can add to the premise is that contact between the seed of life (adam/angels) and seed of knowledge (lilith/humans) could lead to the development of something close to the powerlevel of the first ancestral race, which they wanted to prevent. for that reason the seeds were sent out together with a spear of longinus to kill later arrivals, but in earths case the spear(s?) was flung into orbit by the impact (and recovered sometime later by the evas) and so coexistence/contact happened.
also the evas are (probably) exactly what was to be prevented - bodies from the seed of adam and souls of lilith combined, only constrained by their armor. with the exception of unit 01 which somehow stems from liliths body AND soul (with yui ikari being human and therefor descendant of lilith), but having adam-like physical properties anyhow... and then rei (meaning the first one) was conceived in gendos attempt to retrieve yuis soul from unit 01 into a body made from liliths dna and then unit 00 was made by contact experiments between rei and adam and it goes on and on and becomes more convoluted the deeper you go and nothing has anything to do with what hideaki ano actually wanted to tell the viewer with all of this...
I THINK
Safe to say you got the exact a reaction everyone was expecting you to have. Don't worry, countless others also had the same reaction including myself.
Now while everybody else is suggesting animes that are similar or just animes they like. Let me suggest an anime that's is the antithesis to Evangelion.
Gurren Lagann.
It's simple. It's to the point. And an excellent contrast and comparison.
I really think the nest way to engage with Gurren Lagan the way Tim likes to engage with fiction he should do Getter Robo first (the main story that happens in the manga)
@@rabidrivasi don't think we should shoot him huge expansive series like Gundam, Getter Robo, Fate, Ghost in the shell, Full metal Alchemist etc. the shorter and simpler the better.
So the real question is... what should he watch after Gurren Lagan?
@@TheLPRnetwork You only need to read the main manga of getter robo. Everything else are must extra, so I wouldn't consider it an expansive series
@@rabidrivas can you edit your first reply to imply you ONLY meant the managa. Not the whole series... >_>
@@TheLPRnetwork Totally, good idea
Have you already seen Gurren Lagaan? If Neon Genesis is a postmodern deconstruction of Giant robot tropes, Gurren Lagaan is a completely different rollercoaster ride written and produced by the same crew of animators that does a trope reconstruction. 10/10 would recommend.
If you don't think NGE is the best anime ever, Gurren Lagann is next acceptable answer. 😉
The four Evangelion Rebuild movies would be a good next watch.
Edit: FLCL is a great show that I highly recommend.
"Princess Tutu" is what you should watch next. I think you would love it. My friend wrote her master's thesis on how it handles storytelling and literature/media.
Ah yes I was waiting till Tim gets to the end. I hope from here he delves into End of Evangelion/rebuild and like the rest of us fall into further madness because of this insane franchise
There is no bottom to this series and I've been chasing its high for 15 years.
I would recommend cowboy bebop as your next show. It’s on the shorter side. Similar levels to depth but much much more digestible. Also the music is some of the best.
And samurai champloo, it really are sister shows, and while samurai champloo has as dark and tragic things, its a differnt theme its dealing with. By the same director.
I would just say, watch both as it are very similar yet different shows,.
I second this comment!
Oh, I'll have to throw my favourite show into the ring. Kino's Journey is a collection of short stories about a girl and her talking motorcycle traveling through "countries" that are often only as large as a city and have wiedly different levels of technologies, laws and cultures. It focuses on how these things shape our behaviour and how our behaviour shapes them. It's weird, wonderfull, eery and just the right amount of melancholic.
If you want a next thing, there's always the rebuild movies where Anno goes back and retells the entire story from scratch
Watch next? Made in Abyss, Death Note, 86, magica madoka, Kaguya-sama love is war. You could also watch the Evangelion rebuild movies.
Oh I loved Madoka so much! I was not prepared for it :D plus the soundtrack is just beautiful.
Gurren Lagan is the best follow up to evangelion
Also, btw hello future me. I know it sounds increadibely stupid. But...
the anime ending exists in that state, for a multitude of reasons. Including, but not limited to.
The creator, literally giving up, getting too tired.
The entire actual animators, and the people that worked on it, didn't show up. A certified classic Gianax moment.
Them, committing tax evasion, TWICE.
Investing in tomato farms in Peru.
The creator reportedly also getting way, way too confident in himself, after dealing with his own depression, but the reception to the ending made him depressed again :(
Also, are you going to watch the rebuilds.
Next you can either watch:
•FLCL (I can’t explain it but it’s a good palette cleanser after Evangelion. And it’s short. The whole first series is only 7 episodes. They recently made a season 2 but I didn’t watch/can’t comment on it)
• The Big O (cleaner than it sounds from the name. Batman drives a mech while having amnesia and possibly being a tomato. Season 2 is where it gets good. It’s a mind screw all the way but it’s actually kind of maybe good?)
• Fullmetal Alchemist (edit: wait is that an Edward Elric figurine behind you? I’d forgotten whether you had already talked about FMA before but good to see you already know it. Leaving it on the list as being good enough to rewatch)
Oh man. You’ve got some of the best takes on story creation of any creator i’ve seen on this platform, and this is my favorite show of all time. I’m just starting the video now, i’ll see what i think about what you have to say. I’ll probably edit this to be MUCH longer lol
Edit 1: Ok, just finished. It seems a lot of the critiques come from not fully comprehending what happens. This is normal and the most common response i’ve seen from people after they finish. But despite what some fans claim, Anno always wanted the show to be more abstract and NOT give clear answers to the questions we have. He believed that the story would be more profound if viewers had to find their own answers for why we struggle, how we connect to others, how we understand ourselves and the world around us. This is largely why the show means so much to me, as I found it when i was deeply depressed. Though it didn’t help at first, I think that EoE’s instrumentality sequence helped me understand what it meant to be human.
I often say Eva is a show that needs to be watched twice in order to know what’s going on, and even then you still may not be fully confident in what you think is going on. Some people say that shows like that aren’t good shows, and that the viewer should be able to understand what happens, which is fair and I agree with to an extent (I never claimed it was a perfect show).
I’m going to rewatch again and answer the story questions Tim had.
EDIT 2:
1. Why does Kaworu look human?
During the Second Impact Adam was split between body and soul. The body reverted to an embryonic state, and the soul was put inside a human vessel by SEELE. This is why SEELE sends Kaworu to NERV HQ, so he could combine with Lillith and start the Third Impact. (The Third Impact would be set off when Adam and Lillith are together)
2. Why did instrumentality take place after Kaworu dies?
Anno only had 26 episodes to tell the story of Eva, and time was running short, both literally and figuratively. By the end of Eva's production, episodes were barely getting out on time. Episode 24 wasn't even screened by the broadcasting company because there was so little time after it was turned in they wouldn't be able to make any changes. Anno always wanted the ending of Eva to be abstract, but as a consequence of that it can take longer to get through everything he wanted to. Taking the time to show how instrumentality began would have left him without enough time to bring a thematic conclusion. This was HATED by fans, and is why we got EoE, which shows how instrumentality happens. Episodes 25 and 26 are an alternate version of the Instrumentality sequence of EoE.
3. "There's no consequences for finding out what the Evas are... I'm not sure how Adam and Lillith really fit into all of this"
The Katsuragi expedition discovered the egg of Adam in Antarctica. While studying it, they trigger the Second Impact during a contact experiment. The research done into Adam allowed them to create a replica, which were the Evas. The discovery of the Black Moon (or, the egg of Lillith) and Lillith gave them something different to build an Eva that wasn't based on Adam. So, the Evas are replicas of Adam/Lillith, and are a kind of middle stage between a human and an angel.
While studying the remains of the Shamshel and Ramiel, NERV finds out that the Angels have a DNA sequencing nearly identical to a human's. We also know that the 3I would be set off if an Angel came in contact with Lillith, so we know they're Adam based. They seek out Lillith to unite and become a God-like creature (Hence Fuyutsuki's "Eva Unit 1 now containing both the Tree of Life and the Fruit of Knowledge has essentially become a God" comment)
4. How is Rei connected to the Dummy Plug?
Rei is a being similar to Kaworu, in that she is a soul placed into a human body vessel. Rei's soul is a replication of Lillith's, but altered to be like Yui. This is not perfect, though, as Rei is confused as to who she is, whether she's human, and her link to others. Similarly, the dummy plug system is never perfected to be able to replicate a pilot because it is a copy of Rei's soul (So, a copy of a copy). Rei is only connected to Unit 1 and the dummy plug system, not every Eva as Tim implies. Unit 1 is Lillith based and contains the soul of Yui. So, both Rei and Unit 1 are forms of Yui.
5. Are Evas free? Do they have their own will?
No Evas are not free, and they do have their own wills and motivations. There are restrains placed on every Eva to limit their power. The most direct evidence of Evas having their own will is when Unit 1 rejects the Dummy Plug for no reason when it should theoretically work, but more powerful evidence is that the Evas contain the souls of the pilots' mothers. (Unit 1 has Yui, and activates independently multiple times in the show to protect him. Unit 2 contains the motherly soul of Asuka, which was absorbed after a contact test and why Asuka's mom goes insane and hangs herself after, bc her soul was split. Unit 0 is based on Adam, and Rei is in part alive due to the prior research done on Adam. this one is flimsy, but overall the evidence is there)
6. Is SEELE disbanded?
No, they do not disband until they dissolve in EoE. SEELE sends Kaworu to start 3I, and have to use the mass production Evas to start the 3I when that fails.
7. When did Gendoh get his body? (I'm not sure if Tim means Gendoh or Adam here)
Gendoh is born as normal, and did not "come out of nowhere." He was not created. He receives Adam's embryo at the end of Asuka Strikes!, but we do not see how he combines himself with Adam. (His fusion with Adam does not start the 3I because it requires the souls, not the body. This is why Kaworu would've been able to start 3I, even though he was in a body of Lillith's design)
8. Why could Shinji control Instrumentality?
Shinji, as the pilot of Unit 1, is basically a god after obtaining Fruit of Life and Tree of Knowledge. If he rejected Rei/Kaworu's proposition to become one, body and soul, this would not be the case. During instrumentality, because Shinji is in Unit 1, which is his mother and wants to do whatever Shinji wishes, and is uniting with Rei, who is also his mother and will do whatever Shinji wants, complies when Shinji realizes that instrumentality is not perfect and wants to stop it. So, Shinji controls Instrumentality basically because his mommy does what he says.
9. "Something can make sense and make sense thematically, but. I don't know if it makes for a good story, i dont know if they were short on time, or money, etc, They clearly wanted to offer EoE as something different.."
Not really. They were short on time and only had the 26 episodes they were given. Anno wanted an abstract ending and was satisfied with Evangelion after the 26 episode run. But fans were NOT happy and literally sent death threats to Anno for him to make another ending. EoE is kind of a middle finger to fans in that whereas the show is a happy ending, the movie is far more bleak and not the resolution viewers expected.
10. On Misato's "proposition for sex" with Shinji:
As others have said, I don't think this was a genuine proposition for sex. Misato knows she is going to die soon, what is about to happen, and also the mental state of Shinji. He's ready to die, and feels he has nobody and nothing in his life. I think that her kiss was an attempt to stop Shinji from starting the 3I, as if he remembered his bond with Misato, he might not choose to unite everyone, body and soul.
11. What are the Dead Sea Scrolls, what do they say?
We never see the Dead Sea Scrolls (and we don't really need to. Remember, Anno only had 26 episodes to tell the whole story he wanted, and thorough exposition on the Scrolls wouldve been unecessary to tell the story and reduced the time we have with the characrers), but we know the answer to both of these. Long ago it was foretold that 13 angels would attack humanity, and that the end result would be Instrumentality. this leads into Tim's next question...
12. What are SEELE? What do they desire?
Yeah, no real answer as to WHO the members of SEELE necessarily are, but we can infer that they are an Illuminati-like shadow organization that has been working to ensure the Dead Sea Scrolls' prediction are brought to fruition. Gendoh is the leader of a large military/government agency and has a lot of power, we can assume this is the same of the other members.
13. How does Gendoh get Adam into his hand?
We don't know for sure. Refer to #7.
14. Why is Rei part of the dummy plug program?
We actually do know, Tim. Refer to #4.
I think I covered everything that Tim was confused on. If anyone actually read this, thanks. If I was unclear or if you have more questions just ask :)
You can watch evangelion in chronological order and it still feels like you fell asleep and woke up five episodes later
I feel like Eva is one of those shows/stories that makes more sense every time you watch/read it.
When I first watched the series, I had a similar reaction in that it felt like my brain had been thrown through a blender and I couldn't make heads or tails of what I had just seen. I liked it, but I was immensely frustrated by it.
But as time went on, it was like a worm inside my head then I watched it again and I started picking up the threads earlier and the hints and philosophical diatribes the characters have earlier. And the more I watched and thought about it, the better it got and the more obsessed I became with it.
I can absolutely say I know the answers to the questions @twothefuture was left with, but in a way, it's teasing them out of the text itself that is the most fun part of Eva as a series and a cultural artifact/event. It was a series that made you work to connect the dots with the promise that the dots are all there to connect.
As for recommendation, highly recommend Gargantia on the Verdurous planet. Has a lot of nuanced ideas of peace and violence, transhumanism, free will, recovering from emotional trauma, a lot of the stuff I've noticed you like to talk about. It's also criminally under watched.
my buddy lent me the Evangelion DVDs back in high school and I remember finishing the series and then just laid on my bed starting up at the ceiling for like 3 hours thinking: what the fuck did I just watch.
As to what to watch next: Samurai Champloo.
I think you don't see the sex proposition from Misato the intended way. She doesn't want him. At this point, he can save the world but he is scared and insecure. What she did was to motivate him, to make him feel "grown up and strong"
I think in that moment, wher she is shot and dying, she goes to last resort what always helped her and o she teases him.And its getting him motivated and his mind off i guess. Sh use what she knows helps her to a degree when she is literally dying and desperate, give her some flag.
It was absolutely a totally messed up and inappropriate thing to do and say to him but she was desperate to get him back into the fight. So in an effort to get him to "man up" she treated him in the only way she had ever been able to connect to a man- that is to say in a sexual way.
exactly
Because motivating a 14 year old through sex is somehow ok... Not. Jesus Christ
It's been really fun watching your blind reactions to this classic. If you ever decide to dive down the rabbit hole, Eva has enough analysis and theorizing to (not) answer all your questions. The theme of distance and connection is key, and you nailed that, Tim.
If you want recommendations, I'd say watch Fate/Zero or Garden of Sinners, both of which are very well made, imaginative, brutal. Both also expect you to keep up and put together a lot of pieces yourself, especially Garden of Sinners.
As others here have said, Hunter X Hunter is also excellent. The author is a master of balancing power systems and creating interesting challenges for the characters.
I know I'm 2 weeks late, so I'm not sure if this'll be seen even, but I think you'd really enjoy Odd Taxi. It was a great example of story telling where everything is important but you don't know how until you get to the end. The animal characters aren't for everyone, but you get used to it pretty quickly, and it's well worth watching.
If you want more Evangelion in specific then there are the rebuild films. I do recommend them
"When did gendo getting Adam's body happen" it happened on screen when Kaji reached Nerv HQ. You saw it happen.
If you're looking for another anime, I'd recommend Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. If you're looking for a more general recommendation then Westworld, season 1 specifically.
My anime suggestions would be:
- Cowboy Bebop (and its movie)
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (the original has a better beginning though)
- Jin-Rou: The Wolf Brigade
- Samurai Champloo
- Made in Abyss
- Redline
- Angel Beats
Other long series suggestions:
- Gintama
- Hunter x Hunter (2011)
- Attack on Titan
the things that I recommend are:
1. Serial Experiments Lain: it is about the virtual world and the consequences of mingling with it too much. it is done very well, with meaningful visuals and symbolism.
2. Psycho-Pass: it is about a world where you get graded by your sanity and psyche, by an all-knowing supercomputer. and the score you get determines your fate in the world.
3. Paranoia Agent: Paranoia Agent is about a social phenomenon in Musashino, Tokyo caused by a juvenile serial assailant named Lil' Slugger. The plot relays between a large cast of people affected in some way by the phenomenon; usually Lil' Slugger's victims or the detectives assigned to apprehend him.(it's a psychological drama)
4. anything else by satoshi kon
The Evangelion Retake doujins tell an interesting Shinji-Asuka story. Though they're pornographic because the writer needs them to sell.
Cowboy Bebop is one of those “you’re not complete as a participant in human culture until you’ve experienced this” anime. And I think it’s one of the most *human* pieces of art something like anime could ever be. Also, it’s one of those few where the English dub is absolutely vital to the best experience
I love how Bebop combines cinema and anime and does it pretty well
Yesss
Yesss YEEEESSSSS
I don't know, I don't think it's that great... it's good and cool but not on this level. I don't know why people think it's wow.
@@victorfergn it’s probably that it doesn’t subjectively appeal to you all that much- to add on for context, it’s not even in my personal top 5 favorites, but I think it’s much better in terms of quality and vision than most of my favs
Rebuild of Evangelion (aka Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition) is something like a revised draft of the story. The four movies are quite worth watching.
As for another anime to watch, right now I'm very much happy with Made in Abyss. I've also been thinking about Your Lie in April lately, which probably means that I'll be re-watching it soon.
I'm months late back to the party, but
Watch Monster, if you haven't.
It's a slow-paced story about a brain surgeon in post-reunification Germany who loses his standing due to an operation he carries out, and follows his journey through Germany after he is accused of murder. It's a grounded story which touches on social issues that were present in Germany and the Czech Republic at the time, and is notable for having a very accurate representation of Germany in particular - especially for a show made outside of Germany.
Seeing how people react to the finale of Evangelion is always a good barometer of someone’s taste.
Now you need to watch neon genesis Evangelion rebirth films
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is a great choice for a deep dive.
Congratulations!
I assure you rewatching the series after finishing it is a very, very different experience. You can use the transitive property to assign what an Eva is. Copied 1st Angel with a human soul inside, thus they are humans, because all humans are also considered the 18th angel. Thus Eva = Adam = Angel = Human.
Of note, humanity was the only Angel to come from Lilith, all others came from Adam. Unit-01 is also unique, as it is the only Eva copied from Lilith.
Gendo just grafted the embryonic Adam onto his hand. They make giant flesh monsters, so this was probably a piece of case for NERV to do.
For the "empty" dummy plugs, I assume they put a Rei husk inside so the Eva will connect with it. Shinji's dummy plug experience is the personality implantation system doing it's thing. Shinji is the soul, but Rei's digitized personality is in control.
I subscribe that the two endings inform each other, but are two separate tellings of the exact same events. Hence, I also subscribe that the End of Evangelion is a happy ending, and love to use the traditional Greek and Roman definition of a story with a happy ending as a comedy so I am say EoE is the most messed up comedy ever made.
I've also never seen a show where it feels so real that the characters are naming things and not the show or its creators naming things (even though we know that is not true, but suspension of disbelief, people!) So much attention is paid to the relationship the characters have with their tech, it all feels like the characters have history with its purpose and development. And since they are all scientists, they had to resort to the mythic (i.e. biblical) to help describe and explain the unreal, unmeasurable, and frankly unscientific phenomenon they were witnessing. The Angels are still monsters and aliens and other beings, but scientists used biblical mythology to partially help explain the other-worldly. To give context where scientific observation failed. To name them the closest facsimile they could find, which was in the Bible. Still boogles my mind how fantastic they do it.
Watch Trigun. A western with a sci-fi and psychological spin.
I would strongly recommend both Cowboy Beebop and also trigun.
They are both classics, and neither are extremely long either. Beebop is a narrative masterpiece, and trigun is amazing too despite having odd pacing.
I was in my late teens when I first saw NGE. I was equally confused when I saw the last two episodes, and equally thankful that End of Eva existed. I wasn't really into storytelling and themes and all that back then. I was super confused about what was happening. I was crying at the credits, but I was still too immature to understand why. It was only after I graduated college and had some years of self-reflection that I was finally able to understand why NGE's ending resonating with me as much as it did. In turns of pure narrative, NGE has its share of plot holes, but if viewed from a thematic perspective, it's a masterpiece. It beautifully conveys the feelings of struggling through depression and self-loathing to a painfully accurate degree. Anno was an amazing director and I hope the EVA money he got helped pay for his psychiatric therapy.
As for what's next, I think it's worth watching the four EVA remake movies. However, it's understandable if you've had enough of EVA for the time being. In that case, I suggest you take a crack at Made in Abyss. One of the best adventure stories in the past decade about some kids exploring a large hole with a side of eldritch horror. The art, animation, worldbuilding, and music all mesh beautifully. Be warned though, I'm not kidding about the eldritch horror part. The show is not as lighthearted as it initially appears.
you should check out revolutionary girl utena, it's sort of in the same vein as nge as it's a 90s anime about mental illness and abuse but it tackles it very differently. the creators of utena and evangelion (ikuhara and anno) are also both friends and the character of kaworu was somewhat based on ikuhara
Please, **PLEASE** watch "Death Parade". It has similar themes of human connection and suffering and existentialism to Eva, all told from the perspective of an afterlife psych pomp learning to understand humans (think Chiron the Ferryman from Greek mythology learning how to love). Plus the music and the animation is absolutely gorgeous. Please give it watch, it's just twelve episodes and you could binge it in an afternoon, two at most.
Trying to get this near the top !
The best way I can advise viewing is to take it as a documentation of Anno's ongoing complications with depression and how no matter how much progress he made to improve that, he would always fumble and backslide.
The 4 Rebuild films (1.11, 2.22, 3.33, and 1.0+3.0 respectively) are worth watching as a progression of both the lore, and how Anno has been gradually working through his mental health the past 25 years.
If you do not want to invest your time into the other films (and honestly, no one will blame you), you could check out the Mother's Basement video about the final film and the entire series to get better closure.
You should try the Evangelion Rebuild movies, they are an interesting companion piece to the original series.
Viewer who watched the NGE sub on crappy VHS in 1998 here. I just started watching this one and I'm glad you hated the end, too. XD Also glad you came to Shinji's defense about him being 'whiny' -- poor kid. Okay, finished, and I loved your thoughts about it, as well as this series of videos. Thank you!
You also haven’t seen the whole story since every movie after builds into the cyclical nature of Evangelion timeline so please watch it fully. Also, rei is shinjis mom clone and also her soul is in Eva 01 and also they are stuck at 14 but technically not 14
I never read the misato kiss thing as creepy. To me I always saw it as her only way she knew how to say goodbye to shinji knowing she wouldn't make it back, but not wanting to scare him
Honestly, kissing Shinji is somehow the least fucked up thing Misato does XD
All the ending needed for me to love it was to make it clear that the final two episodes were in the The Human Instrumentality Project.
Others have recommended my first two choices already (Serial Experiments Lain and Shinsekai Yori), but I'd also like to recommend Dennou Coil.
It's a post-cyberpunk series about a group of kids in a city with omnipresent augmented reality, how they interact with the system and its glitchiness, and how it shapes the way they relate to people. However it's _also_ an exploration of childhood grief and loss, the importance of human connection and support, and how technology can both facilitate and inhibit that.
It looks and feels like a kids series, but it's absolutely a full-fledged cyberpunk work. I've seen it described as 'As if Studio Ghibli did Ghost in the Shell'.
Much of the original work for the series ending had to be scrapped because it was scheduled to air shortly after the sarin attack in the Tokyo subway and some of the imagery involved was too reminiscent of both the attack and the Aum Shinrikyo cult that perpetrated it, and so they had very little time to pull something else together.
If you want another trippy series which asks for your whole brain, I recommend Sonny Boy. It's an original anime that came out recently. A highschool building and a classroom of kids fall out of reality and go "adrift" into a new infinity universe. They become immortal and some develop super powers. The show is about existential questions and what to do when you have all of eternity and all possiblites available.
I've spent so long with Eva thinking about it and rewatching it and talking with other people about it that I totally forget it's all a kind of collective madness until I see someone react to it totally fresh. Thanks Tim, this has genuinely been hysterically funny to watch, I'm so delighted you managed to have the quintessential Evangelion experience. I'm also really glad you "get" Shinji as a character, people really do miss the point on him so hard lmao. Despite your confusion your musings are still so much more articulate than I ever managed first time around!!!! Please watch Rebuild I need to hear your thoughts.
I love this series a lot!! I did not love it the first time I saw it, but it stuck in my brain and the more I engaged with it the more I came to love it. Incidentally, I kind of hate EoE because the thematic conclusions it draws are basically the exact opposite of the thematic conclusions that make me love the ending of the show so much. It's a deeply unsatisfying film to me even on subsequent watches. I don't really agree with people who try to explain EoE and the final episodes as happening as part of a single canon, that just doesn't arc correctly in terms of character. I get why it works on a plot level, but plot is kind of besides the point in this series anyhow.
In fact, if you read the manga and watch the Rebuild films, I think the whole point is that there isn't one single canon. There isn't a "true" ending, and I think it frustrates people because we are used to having One Canon in our media (and then creators falling over backwards to explain inconsistencies or errors). Evangelion works more like an oral tradition, where the story and events change in the (re)telling depending on what the teller wants to explore or emphasise.
Also, I think your read that this series is about the nature of suffering is a really great observation. I think people who grew up around Abrahamic traditions get really distracted by all the Biblical terminology used in the series, but understanding it as a meditation on suffering nudges us more towards Buddhist traditions (which makes sense!! Japanese people have much more familiarity with Buddhism than Christianity!!) But even that is ultimately of less importance than the basic questions of like. "Why should I live when I could simply die". "How do depression". "Why should I be a human tho". And honestly Evangelion's answers to those questions are beautiful, and they stay with me.
I feel like it’s one of those stories that you you’re supposed be as confused as the protagonist is.
I think we’re intended to understand the world through Shinji’s perspective. That’s why we. Aren’t told so many things.
I spent so many hours on those wiki pages to get the full lore
saw the thumbnail and unironically screamed 'OH GOODY!'
Think it's the first time I've ever said that...
Two of my absolute favourite anime that you might enjoy:
The film "A Silent Voice" is an extremely heavy, emotional movie about a deaf girl who is heavily bullied for her disability during primary school. The film actually follows the bully as the protagonist of the film and deals heavily with his intense feelings of guilt when the main story picks up later on in highschool. Ultimately the movie explores the deep emotional scars that the incident left on everyone involved and does a phenomenal job unpacking some very heavy emotional trauma effecting a lot of different people. I may be somewhat biased in it's favor since the film quite literally changed my life, but it's reputation as one of the best animated films ever made is well deserved. Heavy trigger warnings though for bullying & suicide.
An then my personal favourite Anime series - Re:Zero. Properly describing Re:Zero without spoiling it is somewhat difficult - but the basic idea is a boy living in Japan wakes up to find himself dropped into the middle of a Fantasy World (an anime Sub-Genre called Isekai). The series itself however is incredibly multi-layered. On the surface it appears to be a classic fantasy adventure story with a decidedly brutal, psychological horror style twist to it. This is the reputation it has among the general public - but the series is extremely well regarded due to it's deeper layers focusing on some exceptional character exploration focusing on Anxiety, Depression, and a more general focus on toxic and maladaptive coping strategies people have to critically low self-esteem and the many ways this can manifest. It's just in general a ludicrously dense and detailed story. TBH the biggest weakness of the series is that it sometimes struggles to fit all of it's subtext into an easily digestible form for a first time viewer - but thankfully just the surface level Horror/Mystery/Thriller story is strong enough that it's widely considered one of the best anime ever made purely on that.
You should watch Series Experiments Lain. There’s a good overlap of people who like evangelion and Lain, myself included and I feel like it’d be something you enjoy!
The series FLCL was a wild ride! I loved the music too!
But stay away from any of the recent attempts to continue the series and stick to the original!
I originally suggested Trigun, as a fun character study set in a space western setting that builds its characters on misdirection. I also think you might enjoy a show called Planetes. It's a hard core sci fi series about space exploration and its consequences told from the perspective of essentially space garbage collectors.
Examples of amazing storytelling in Anime that should be seen:
Steins Gate (great scifi story that can really show you the power of anime in storytelling),
Erased (whodunnit thriller with time travel),
Berserk (incomplete, but an a thrilling fantasy story that explores the depths of the human condition),
Yu Yu Hakusho (ultimate shonen comig of age story and absolute classic),
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (children are separated from their parents during an earthquake, you will cry)
and finally Fruits Basket 2021 (in depth exploration about coming of age, emotional trauma, and overcoming the self, this show is a therapy session).
I could go on, but these seem like they're great starting points, especially if you are focused on story telling.
I think we need to make him watch Fate but not answer when he asks the inevitable question: "where do I start?"
Hey, Tim! Where it comes to Misato propositioning Shinji, I don't read it that way. I think she knows that they are on a very limited timetable to get Shinji through the elevator and to the Eva, and I think she's doing whatever she can to get him weak in the knees and then knock his ass in to the elevator so he (can be/has to be) in the right place to help.
If you want some suggestions similar to Eva, I'd recommend either Serial Experiments Lain or Paranoia Agent. Based on your thoughts on Eva I have a feeling Satoshi Kon's work on Paranoia Agent might really resonate with your sensibilities on theme and narrative. Love these videos and I'm excited to see more!
I second the recommendation for Paranoia Agent, and the rest of Satoshi Kon's work.
I would also suggest Sonny Boy if you haven’t seen it.
Strongly second the Serial Experiments Lain recommendation. It does have a lot of random references (and there are sites with lists of those references if curious)
Paranoia Agent is great, and also deals with themes of humanity's attempts to escape pain in ways that ultimately harm us and can even kill us. It can be trippy and opaque at times, but the ending pulls it together and I ended up at least thinking that it made some sense, in a mad kind of way. (There is a lot about delusion in there, after all, hence the name). It does follow the more anime way of storytelling where it establishes themes and environment first and doesn't explain itself until near the end--it helps to know that going in.
Oh yes lain that is dealing with social internet culture of all things. An psychological problems, and like online bullying even.
Recntly the pretty big chiaki came out with a digimon tamer reading with modern now thre conspiracy theories,
he wrotte that too and is really big in anime, its just sad, that he wasnt oly intersted in conspiracied, but fell down that hole. (thank god he is still very private about that, but that he is is bad enough)
Not to discourage warchin his works as he is very talented, its just sad.
Suggestions:
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Hard magic system, incredible plot and characters
Code Geass - A lot of social commentary alongside a different take on giant robots
Gurren Lagan - The antithesis to Evangelion, as many people have said.
I love Evangelion. It deals with trauma in a realistic way. We are all broken people, insecure, suffering from not understanding others and not being understood. This causes us pain. I believe Ano did not explain the whole lore because that is life - you don't get all the answers and you can never fully understand how rhe world.works, you have to accept it and make the best out of it. As a fan I really liked your reviews, it felt like watching it again for the first time - Shinji Ikari is a perfectly writtwn character, realistic in every way possible. Given his background, he acts and reacts as a product of his enviroment. It is only in the end that he finally understands that suffering is a part of the human condition, and if we give up on it, we give up on all the good things too, ans stops instrumentality. Thanks for your reviews, it was really great having the feeling of watching it again. Stay nerdy!
I would recommend reading the manga and watching the Rebuild series, honestly. Having multiple perspectives might not work for most series, but it sure as hell does for this one.
What questiins would those things answer?
well, now you should watch rebuild of Eva to get a satisfying ending
I would highly recommend you watch Fooly Cooly or FLCL for short. It's made by some of the same people as NGE and similar to it is very confusing, which allows for very different readings of it and I'd love to hear your interpretation.
Also it's just six episodes long and all of them are available on RUclips.
its definitely worth it to watch the rebuild films.
I'm going to be that fan that nominates his favorite but I think it's worth it: Trigun. Not just in celebration of Trigun STAMPEDE being announced, but also for your thoughts on its theme of pacifism, questioning how far non-violence be taken in the face of deadly risk, and moving forward to the future despite the sins one has committed. Maybe a bit of a spoiler there for that one, but I still think it's worth the watch, especially for a sci-fi western.
If you haven't seen Heartstopper I'd highly recommend it. It's not in your usual wheelhouse but it's still worth a watch.
I didn't remember a reference to The Dead Sea Scrolls. Could it just be what's in the real life Dead Sea Scrolls?
Gasaraki - how to do ancient conspiracies with also mechs in a sane fashion
So you are correct about the last two epsiodes happening because of production issues. The episodes were worked on weekly, so getting behind schedule could really kill a production. To my understanding, they had an episode nearly made, about a terrorist gas attack in the subway, and then the Tokyo Subway Serin Gas Attacks happened. They had to scrap the episode, and completely redo it, and this put them dangerously behind schedule for the rest of the series.
I'd highly reccomend watching Eva again at some point, there are so many small details that just pop when you already know stuff. A lot of the questions you asked do have some answers, they just need to be puzzled out from the world. They are never just told to us.
I almost wanna call it Soulslike in it's storytelling, and yes there are amazing theory videos
I'd also highly reccomend going onto FLCL and Gurren Lagann. They were both made by the same studio, following Eva. FLCL is a 6 episode series, where the studio did to blow off the steam they built up working on Eva, and throw around whatever ideas/crazy art-styles they wanted to.
Gurren Lagan came out over a decade afterwards, and is way more over the top, in a good way. Less conspiracy, more mystery. However it's just as on point with my favorite part of Evangelion, they way it just immerses you in the world, and lets you struggle with what's weird about it, but it dose ultimately give us a lot more dirrect answers than Eva does. Gurren very thematically similar to Eva as well, it's a response to Eva. But the protagonist Simon, unlike Shinji, also has a proper support network.
I would recommend to watch Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann after Neon Genesis Evangelion. It's something like the antithesis to NGE.
If you’re anything like me, you’re gonna find yourself liking the ending of the TV show more and more as time goes on. My initial reaction was “what the hell????” and now I’m convinced it’s one of the greatest pieces of art ever created
I was eagerly waiting for this video. 😂
If you liked the human connection elements of Eva, you definitely should check out Haibane Renmei. It explores many of the same themes in a shorter series (only 13 episodes or so), without all the mind games. Very much a slice of life series without any big action, but very touching
Finally, someone isn't drinking the cool aid. THANK YOU.
I am pretty sure you would also like Berserk because it plays in similar themes with Eva
You might like Violet Evergarden, it's about the exploration of love & the trauma's of war
If you want more "along the lines of Evangelion" then the co-director Tatsumaki, has some acclaimed directorial credits, such as FLCL (Fooly Cooly), and Ryuu no Haisha (Dragon Dentist).
Also, not quite Eva-like, but still very cool: Diebuster, (Diebuster is a sequel to Eva's-director's directorial debut, Gunbuster.)
I think you would absolutely love Vivy: Flourite Eye's Song. If there was ever an anime that was right up your alley then that is it.
Man I really didn’t expect you to have a completely different conclusion than me on the two endings. I’d suggest watching Folding Ideas’ vid on End of Evangelion as a counterpoint
It's definitely worth watching the 4 Rebuild of Evangelion movies. Watching them is really the only way to end the series on a high note.
What frustrates me the most is that both Gendo and Seele ostensibly are trying to effect instrumentality. But then why are they in conflict? Why does Seele attack NERV? Are they worried he's going to do exactly what they wanted to happen?
I would really REALLY love to see you watch the Evangelion rebuilds.
some less 'classic' ones that probably won't get recommended as often but are all great.
Odd Taxi - Tarantino-esque thriller/mystery centered around a taxi driver in a world of anthropomorphized animals.
March Comes in Like A Lion - An exploration of depression, found family, and finding one's purpose in life. Focuses on a high schooler who for unexplained reasons lives alone, making money as a professional shogi player, and the family of three sisters (with the oldest taking care of the younger two) that he often finds himself interacting with (because they Shanghai him into coming to their house and having a proper meal).
Mushishi - Atmospheric, episodic fantasy story about a wandering 'Mushi Master' set around the Edo or Meji period. Mushi being something like animalistic spirits that are often benign but can be harmful to humans under certain circumstances. Our hero will always try for an option that allows for Mushi and humans to coexist, but is not above prioritizing human life if he has to, even at the cost of a Mushi that could be considered sapient.
Yu Yu Hakusho is my recommendation, mostly because I'm obsessed with it. Delinquent kid dies in episode 1, wasn't supposed to die that day, ends up getting involved with the spirt world and fighting demons that want to take over the Earth. Fun Shonen anime, great characters, very entertaining.