For more cool Anime & Manga wallpapers don't forget to check out our full collection of desktop wallpapers here.

We usually update with a new batch of anime backgrounds every month so do bookmark us for your future anime wallpaper needs.

Anime Retrospective: Neon Genesis Evangelion:

Not doing a retrospective of this classic would be a bad mistake! Even if these days it seems pointless due to the show’s most recent “reboot” in the form of the films. Neon Genesis Evangelion is as influential as it is popular and some would even go and call it over rated; others would call it a masterwork….there’s no middle ground here, folks. Hate it or love it.

The Second Impact:

Neon Genesis Evangelion (otherwise known as Evangelion) came during a time when many saw anime as an obscure form of entertainment clawing its way out of clichés and bad dubbing. It was the year 1995 when a giant purple monstrosity took the anime viewing world by storm. A year when the SNES wasn’t retro, and the internet was not the never ending fountain of fan dubbing it is now a days.

Evangelion was regarded as ground breaking and imaginative due to its presentation of philosophy and how it managed to give us scenes of bloody carnage that could be analyzed as food for thought as they were presented in the same frame of interpersonal conflict and emotional issues that the main cast was.

The concept of the anime can be discussed long enough to dedicate several websites to it, but keeping it simple was an idea born from its creator, Hideaki Anno’s, struggle to deal with depression that turned into solid gold at the hands of Gainax (a studio many anime fans probably wouldn’t know much about if it wasn’t for Evangelion.)

Evangelion was different and wild, mixing in Judeo-Christian imagery along with action and a cast plagued by a series of mental diseases and issues. It was simply unexpected to see something like this at the time; it catered to teenagers that liked action, young adults who loved either drama or deep thoughtful analysis, but most of all it had the key elements to become memorable.

Welcome To The World Of Tomorrow! (As Seen From The 90′s)

The back setting for the story takes us to a post apocalyptic earth in the future and the ‘far away’ year 2000 (that’s right kids, there was once a time when you could call that the future, now get off my lawn) where the appearance of beings identified as “Angels” triggered a cataclysmic event known as the “Second Impact” which caused the northern polar ice cap to be obliterated. That led to major flooding as well as changing the global climate and nearly causing the extinction of the human race.

The world has changed and so has Japan (being a part of the world and all) which is now a land that is almost completely underwater and home to the location where the bulk of the show takes place; Tokyo 3, a fortress city built as a defense against the Angels and NERVs headquarters, but what good is a defense without the ability to strike back? That is where the EVAS jump in the mechas of the show that were created to stop the Angels that (as per an ancient prophesy) will come individually with the objective of starting off the third impact and finally whipping out humanity…or so it seems.

More Than Meets The Eye

Evangelion is a hate it or love it show for various reasons. Chiefly amongst them is the fact that the dysfunctional cast seems to be strongly developed and filled with colorful characters and yet we get stuck with a whiny uncomfortable and somewhat weak lead, Shinji Ikari, who in retrospect serves as a nice contrast to the strong willed Azuka Langley Soryu (we are well aware of the name change, but this wasn’t the case in the show) and the deadpan Rei Ayanami.

The one problem with Shinji is that when compared to many a male lead or even the rest of the cast he seems to get in the way too much. Perhaps it’s as simple as saying that he was designed to be hated (a point he is sure you get by the end of the show) but in spite of this, the rest of the characters, EVAS, and Angels included are nothing less than excellent.

Evangelion can get confusing sometimes, as the episodes went from being a simple mecha show to move deeper into the philosophical issues that linger in the back of the main character’s mind. This is not necessarily bad, seeing how there was never a straight mecha show to begin with; the EVAS are an element of the plot that fall into the “gets increasingly confusing” bunch, but they are detailed and they were exceptionally great for their time. Bio-mechanical mechas that…well, let’s not spoil it too much for those three people that haven’t seen it yet, shall we?

Evangelion is a good show. Some may say the anime is over rated but in reality it is just because it hit the mainstream culture really hard and jumped into the spotlight and allowed us clear view of its flaws. Yes, flaws. The show was flawed because of many budget cuts and production hiccups and these flaws become increasingly painfully clear as the show reaches its ending. This may seem a bit nit-picky nowadays because of how there’s a “true” ending, about three different editions of the show and even a reboot, but back when Evangelion was brand-spanking new there were no such thing, and so this was really infuriating to some viewers.

Evangelion is an anime that may have gone a bit over its head. The many editions and the reboot show how it’s creator could never convey the story he saw in his head properly. But nothing that has been said so far points out to it being “bad”…it’s just that once you take off your nostalgia glasses you can really appreciate its flaws. The anime may seem overly elaborate and sometimes drawn out, but the story hits some key notes and many of its characters have gone to become anime legends. Simply put, Neon Genesis Evangelion is an anime that you will either hate or love with a passion.

Click here to discuss this article on our forums!