REVIEW - Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)

(Note: I have seen the sequel movie, The End of Evangelion, however that movie will not affect the ratings of story, characters etc in this review. Also, I still have to watch the Rebuild movies, and I'll do that one day for sure.)

Nothing sparks controversy quite like anime. Whether it's because of the popularity of the show (Sword Art Online, Steins;Gate, Attack on Titan) or some themes/images/symbols contained in the show (Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne, Deadman Wonderland, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni+Umineko no Naku Koro ni) or some questionable design choices (Kill la Kill, Aku no Hana, Panty + Stocking, Elfen Lied) anime is one of the most controversial topics to discuss with anybody, but ladies and gentlemen, nothing comes as quite as controversial as today's anime, one often considered as a classic of the medium, and often considered a mess.

Studio GAINAX's Neon Genesis Evangelion

Evangelion takes place in the year 2015 A.D in a world almost completely destroyed by something called the Second Impact. 15 years prior to the events of the main plot, a meteor struck Earth and destroyed Antarctica, causing the Ice Caps to melt and flood half of the planet. Due to the violent nature of the weather at the time, Cities such as Tokyo were destroyed along with half of the human race. Fast forward to 2015 and we are introduced to Shinji Ikari, a young boy with a troubled past and some daddy issues which really need some sorting out. Shinji has been summoned by his father for the first time in three years to work at the organization his father commands known as NERV, a UN dummy corporations whose purpose isn't fully clear at the start of the plot. Suddenly out of nowhere, a giant Alien like being appear out of nowhere and starts destroying the city around Shinji, who luckily escapes with his NERV escort, Captain Misato Katsuragi. Misato brings Shinji to NERV headquarters where he is introduced to Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, a genius with computers and human engineering who is also in charge of mankind's ultimate weapon, which just so happens to be why Shinji was summoned by his father. The only thing that can destroy the alien creature, which is called an "Angel", is mankind's answer: The Evangelion Series - Giant Mech Robots capable of destroying the Angels once and for all. Against his will, Shinji is thrown into a battle he (or his comrades) doesn't fully understand, and the fate of Mankind lies in his - and the other Evangelion Pilots' - hands. While at the start, Evangelion does seem like a typical Mech anime with aliens destroying buildings and Robots fighting etc, but it is so much more than that. Evangelion is more about the characters trying to come to terms with themselves and the world around them rather than just 'Robot Smash Alien BOOM EXPLOSION'. It actually tries to be deep and symbolic, with a bunch of religious symbols and references thrown in. On the subject though, the ending has gotten a lot of hate because of it being too confusing for some people, which I can totally see, but here's how I see it: Hideaki Anno wanted every person to interpret the ending in their own way. Does Shinji accept himself? Does Gendo appreciate Shinji? This is ALL upto interpretation, which is why the ending of this series is still being discussed to this day, and that's the power this story has and that's why I love it so much.

The other big talking point when it comes to Neon Genesis Evangelion is the characters, specifically one Shinji Ikari, the lead protagonist. I'll talk more about him in a moment, however I want to briefly mention my personal favourite for a moment, Misato Katsuragi. Misato is the Director of Operations at NERV. What I love the most about Misato, in regard to at least the original series, is the fact that she's so good at showing her emotions. She's mostly a happy-go-lucky caretaker of both Shinji and Asuka Langley Soryuu for the majority of the series, but when shit hits the fan Misato often feels it the most. Whenever Shinji's in trouble, Misato does her best to save him, same with the other Eva pilots. She's a caring, loving character with a ice comedic side to balance out all the emotional baggage she has. However, the main talking point in regards to the characters in Evangelion comes in our main protagonist, Shinji. For many people, they see Shinji as nothing but a whiny bitch who always runs away from his problems because every situation he's in that ends badly, regardless of his input, is somehow all his fault, at least in his eyes. Personally, I do see the flaws in Shinji's character, and in fact the cast as a whole isn't really that great. Yeah, I like Misato, Shinji and Kensuke but minus those three the rest of the cast just don't really interest me that much. I Know I'll probably get a lot of hate for saying that (because EVERYBODY fucking loves Asuka) but that's my opinions. I like three characters and that's about it when it comes to the cast in this show.

Right, time to talk about another controversial aspect of this show: the animation. Studio GAINAX had a limited budget to produce this show on, and as such the animation isn't what I would call perfect but still very good, especially for something that's 19 years old. Backgrounds are nicely done, the animation is fluid for the most part (a feat for a hand-drawn anime) and the battle scenes between the Evangelions and the Angels are quite frankly brilliant to look at. In the final two episodes things start to go zany and the animation follows suit, so I guess the animation follows the mood of the show quite well when it needs to.

Soundtrack wise, Evangelion certainly surpasses Cowboy Bebop when it comes to 'favourite Anime OST from the 1990's'. From the immensely powerful battle themes and the liveliness of the track known only as 'Misato' to the catchy as hell and downright amazing opening, Zankouku na Tenshi no Teeze (A Cruel Angel's Thesis), Neon Genesis Evangelion has one of the best soundtracks to any anime ever made, and that's saying something.

Overall, I do think that at the very least, you should watch Neon Genesis Evangelion to see what the hype is surrounding this series. It's regarded as a classic anime and one of the greatest of all time because of how well it deconstructs the Mecha Genre and flips it on it's head. While I enjoy the story and soundtrack and the animation (somewhat), the weak cast bring this show down only slightly. I enjoyed Evangelion a lot but I can easily understand why some people (cough JAKE MOORE cough KIERAN JONES cough) don't.

Story: 10

Characters: 7.5

Animation: 9.5

Sound: 10

Personal Enjoyment: 10

FINAL SCORE FOR NEON GENESIS EVANGELION: 9.4/10

MANGA REVIEW - Aku no Hana (2009-2014)

NSFW Warning: There's a half nude girl and dude SOMEWHERE in this review...

So, this is going to be something new for me. I haven't done anything like this before, so it's going to be hard to rate what I read (although in this case it's not too hard as I know already what I think of this manga as a whole) because while I can rate Story, Characters, Art and Personal Enjoyment, there's no Audio with manga, so I guess rather than calculate on an average of 50 divided by 5, it'll be 40 divided by 4 (Yes, I use averages to calculate my scores :P ). Anyway enough dithering into technical stuff you probably don't care about time to get onto today's manga, and boy, what a manga to start off with. A dark, twisted and evil manga that definitely plays with your emotions. (for those of you who actually keep track of this blog, I reviewed the anime adaptation of this series about a month or two ago)

Aku no Hana by Shūzō Oshimi (2009-14. 57 Chapters, 11 Volumes)

Aku no Hana is the story of four High School students - Takao Kasuga, Sawa Nakamura and Saeki Nanako and Aya Tokiwa although specifically the manga centers on on Takao and his relationship with everybody as he comes of age through very....unique circumstances. The story does start off with a typical High School affair, Takao likes Saeki but never really has the courage to go up and say anything to her y'know the run of the mill stuff you see in Shoujo manga or anime (although the roles have been reversed....so maybe this is a weird Shonen Manga?). What truly kicks off the plot however lies in the titular Aku no Hana book (which is Charles Baudelaire's Les Flueres de mal) which Takao reveres like a prized idol. One day, he accidentally leaves the book in school after lessons end for the day. Naturally, he returns to the school to retrieve to book. He enters the classroom and just as he's about to leave, something falls behind him - A Gym Uniform. Who does the uniform belong to?

None other than Saeki Nanako herself.

Holding it as a trophy, Takao admires it for a moment before hearing a noise indicating that somebody was nearby. He - I guess in a state of confusion and panic - steals the uniform and brings it home with him. The next day, the teacher informs the class that Saeki's uniform has been stolen, which Takao did expect, however he did not expect someone to see him.

And the worst kind of person saw him - Sawa Nakamura.

The story starts then to unfold in ways people wouldn't normally expect from a Shonen manga. Takao has to agree a contract with Nakamura in order for her to keep her mouth shut. Takao must do whatever Nakamura wants, no matter how embarrassing or delirious it is. What comes in the 50 or so chapters that follow this event is just absolutely terrifying. Now, the anime was pretty dark when it came to its tone, but this manga takes it to a whole other level, thanks to the amazing second half of the series. The second half of Aku no Hana is all about exposing the evil within our hearts, showing that in our own ways, we're perverted or deviant from society. It also deals with healing wounds, grief and romance, very strange romance but brilliantly written romance at that. It's something not for the average Shonen manga reader - this is something for people with a sense of maturity. There's stuff like Rape, blackmailing and maiming amongst a fuck tonne of other things. This is something that only people who can truly pay attention to it and pick up on details can enjoy, but nonetheless....Aku no Hana's story is the best in literature that I've read because it deals with things most other people are too scared to touch, it has balls and it's not afraid to take chances, and I applaud it for that.

To talk about the characters in Aku no Hana again would be a bit repetitive, but the manga does have a far more expanded plot than the anime. So let's try to put it like this:

Takao Kasuga is the series lead protagonist. His point of view is the most important and is the one we view the story from, given the lack of a narrator (although he monologues to himself a lot). However, while he drives the plot forward, I wouldn't call him the most important person in the plot, since his motivations are driven by two others of the main four, and since I'm trying to keep this as relativity spoiler-free as possible, I won't talk about Aya Tokiwa since she's introduced in that brilliant second half. However, Takao isn't the most important since there's two people always pulling his strings; Saeki Nanako, his love interest and then there's the disturbing Sawa Nakamura. Sawa is just....wow. She makes a contract with Takao ordering him to do whatever she wants him to do, and Jesus, if there was a reason Aku no Hana is labelled as a horror it's because of the things Sawa makes Takao do. She is fucked up in the head (she's not afraid to admit this herself either) and all she wants to do is see how far she can push a human mind before they crack and become just like her.....and yet, Nakamura ends up being my favourite character in any Manga or Anime ever because of her mental disposition. She's desperately trying to escape reality using whatever means necessary, and because of her, my emotions have never been on such a rollercoaster as they were reading this manga. If I could take one character to the grave with me, it would easily be the deviant, pervert, fucked up and devious Sawa Nakamura because of how immensely pressurized she is throughout the whole series. Saeki meanwhile is Takao's love interest, so naturally Takao would do anything to please her and yet she, even ahead of Nakamura, has the most fucked up moment in the entire series.

The art and story were done by Shūzō Oshimi, and boy, this is some good looking manga. The characters aren't overly moe (which is fitting given the content of the manga) but rather somewhat realistic while maintaining the traditional anime art style. The backgrounds and areas look very well done for something drawn in black and white/grey, and expressions are realistically done (whilst sometimes over dramatic but these suit the situation).

I will just say it now. Perfect. 10/10. Must Read. Must Buy. A genius piece of fiction. A masterpiece. A modern classic. A look into the mind and a deconstruction of human sanity. Literature gold. Japan's finest moment. An amazing piece of fiction.

Simply put, Aku no Hana is the greatest thing I have ever read, seen or experienced. It is an emotional and psychological roller-coaster.

Story: 10

Characters: 10

Art: 10

Personal Enjoyment: If I could put more than 10 I would, but I can't. 10

FINAL SCORE FOR AKU NO HANA: 10/10

You're doing an injustice if you don't read this.