Synopsis
Fifteen years after the catastrophic Second Impact, humanity is under constant assault from giant angelic beings called Angels, which relentlessly attack Tokyo-3. Conventional military forces are useless against these powerful enemies. The only hope for survival lies with NERV, a secret organization led by the stern Gendou Ikari. NERV employs massive humanoid robots known as Evangelions, equipped with advanced weapons and protective barriers called Absolute Terror Fields, to fight the Angels. Shinji Ikari, a 14-year-old boy, returns to Tokyo-3 after being abandoned by his father for years. He carries deep emotional scars from losing his mother and enduring his father's coldness. Afraid of forming close bonds, Shinji's life changes when he meets Misato Katsuragi, a 29-year-old high-ranking NERV officer who gives him the warmth and care he has been missing. A sudden Angel attack forces Shinji into action, revealing Gendou's true reason for calling him: Shinji is uniquely able to pilot Evangelion Unit-01, a robot that syncs with his biological signals. Despite the severe psychological toll of piloting an Evangelion, Shinji becomes Tokyo-3's protector against the angelic threat, unaware of his father's hidden agenda.
Background
Director Hideaki Anno's depression is what led to the dark themes of Shinseiki Evangelion. Budgetary problems and parental complaints about content led to the original ending being scrapped and replaced with an extremely limited-animation ending breaking from the main plot. A movie, Air/Magokoro wo, Kimi ni, was later made based in part on the original planned ending and in part on Anno's increasing frustration with the otaku fanbase. The series' mix of psychoanalysis, religious symbolism, and genre deconstruction proved extremely influential on mature anime in the late '90s onward. The Japan Media Arts Festival in 2006 ranked it as the most popular anime of all time.
