Neon Genesis Evangelion Review: Half Crappy Psychobabble, Half the Best Anime Ever Made

In the history of anime no series has sparked more debate then Evangelion. No, it has nothing to do with the biblical metaphors and psychological drama of the show but rather the argument rests on whether it is deserving of all the hype is has received. Some anime fans swear by it and call it a masterpiece, the pinnacle of the medium. Others point out its flaws and loathe the fact it has gotten such praise. The truth is a bit in between. When trying to explain my feelings about Evangelion it’s admittedly tough, but here goes. If anyone has heard the song “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin (and if you haven’t go do that right now) and pondered why it’s so beloved you begin to see some similarities between the two seemingly unconnected works. “Stairway” clocks in at over 8 minutes, but it takes over five of those minutes to actually get to the emotional climax of the song. It’s basically five minutes of enjoyable throwaway music with three minutes of the best song ever made at the end. Evangelion has a similar conundrum. It’s beginning and conclusion are nothing special, in fact the original ending is so atrocious and convoluted they made a new one, but the middle section of the show is probably the best 13 episodes of anime you’ll ever find. If the above paragraph is a bit confusing I apologize, this is what watching Eva does to you.

Evangelion is a show about a teenage boy named Shinji who is thrust into the position of savior. He has a natural gift at piloting giant mecha, known as Evangelions, and with the help of fellow Evangelion pilots Asuka and Rei he must try to stop giant “Angels” from wiping out humanity. Reading a simple summary of the plot really doesn’t do it justice though. On the surface Evangelion is just another giant robot anime but when you delve a bit deeper you find some surprisingly amazing pieces uncharacteristic of this type of show. The director, Hideaki Anno, chose to sprinkle in bits of biblical imagery throughout the show and puts major emphasis on the personal psychology of each character. This is both a blessing and a curse. The characters in Evangelion have great depth and feel fully fleshed out, but at times you can sense the creative team got too impressed with their own ideas and what was once clever metaphor becomes grating and repetitive as the series progresses.

It takes a few episodes to get off the ground but when Evangelion gets going every episode is a treat. While the action isn’t constant, thanks to the low animation budget, the characters mesh so well that you can sit back and enjoy watching them work things out. The myriad of personalities in the show are dull when alone but they have such a great chemistry when together that you actually begin to feel for them. What Anno failed to understand when writing this show was that the viewer does not care about sitting inside one character’s head for thirty minutes. To know what someone is like you don’t listen into their thoughts, you watch their actions and how they interact with everything around them. When interaction is emphasized Evangelion is a masterwork deserving of every bit of praise it gets, when isolation is emphasized the show becomes redundant and mediocre.

In many ways Evangelion is a show that succeeds in spite of itself. It has many debilitating qualities, a terrible ending, too many meaningless biblical images, a protagonist who is easy to hate, that would kill a lesser show. But Eva perseveres in spite of all this because when it puts all those things aside and actually chooses to be an action show it’s as good as any anime around. It’s distressing because after trudging through a handful of boring episodes you finally get to the catalyst of what makes this show work, Asuka, and then the writing swings totally away from her as the series comes to a close. Evangelion works best when the characters are bouncing off one another and Asuka makes that happen. When she’s in the thick of things Shinji is forced to actually interact and make decisions and kept from the annoying, and depressing, self-hatred that drags this series down at times. It’s clear that the show takes a dramatic shift in tone when Asuka enters and when her role is diminished the show crawls to a grueling close. Asuka herself is not that amazing but the fact she keeps the others from going off on mental tangents makes her the straw that stirs the drink during the best stretch of episodes in the series. Anno clearly favored the psychological drama that Shinji brings over the action and energy that Asuka provided, and while I can understand that he had a story he wanted to tell sometimes you just have to suck it up and go with what works. Instead he decided to put the audience through episodes of worthless crap so he could feel like an artist. That’s basically Evangelion’s problem in a nutshell: it’s a great action anime show based around Asuka and Shinji’s opposite personalities but it wants so desperately to be an art piece that it shoots itself in the foot.

The animation and soundtrack get the job done but aren’t particularly spectacular. Evangelion was in production during a time when the animation budget was tight at Gainax, because of this as the series progresses you see more recycled footage. It’s done in very clever ways though, characters just happen to talk with coffee cups covering their mouths or the camera shifts to a view of the scenery during a long conversation, these solutions keep your attention away from the fact the show is reusing frames and the mediocre animation doesn’t even cross your mind until the second or third viewing of any given episode. One odd quirk about the soundtrack is that the end theme, “Fly Me to the Moon”, is performed differently in each episode. For a show with budget constraints it’s absolutely beyond me why they felt the need to waste resources by recording the end theme 26 times.

In the end Evangelion’s flaws are substantial but its successes are even greater. While the show really only has twelve enjoyable episodes those episodes are so excellent that they make it easy to overlook the inadequacies found in the rest of the series. Evangelion is a great series and a benchmark show in anime history, while this review may seem critical it’s only because Eva had so much potential and just fell short. Some proclaim the series as fantastic because of the religious or psychological themes, those people are wrong. Eva fails to deliver anything intellectually stimulating but excels when it just lets loose and allows the audience to have a bit of fun. Definitely recommended viewing for any anime fan, but prepare to be frustrated if you aren’t into senseless psychobabble.

Final Score: 9.7
Storyline: Good
Animation: Good
Soundtrack: Good
Dub: Excellent

Rurouni Kenshin Review: Wandering Samurais & My Wandering Attention

Rurouni Kenshin, along with Dragonball Z, helped anime make huge strides in North America during the late 1990s. While panned by anime critics, with whom I agree, you’ve got to give Kenshin at least some credit for allowing the medium to get more airtime so we could enjoy better shows. With all that being said, Kenshin is not a terrible show by any means but it is a great example of why 90+ episode shounen shows will always struggle to stay fresh and exciting through such a long run. Yes, I realize I said in the introduction post I wouldn’t review any shounen programs but since I’ve already seen this one front to back (inspired by the OVA Samurai X) I might as well prove my word means nothing as quickly as I possibly can.

Rurouni Kenshin follows the journey of wandering samurai Kenshin Himura as he seeks to atone for the murders he committed during the war that started the Meiji era. Once known as Battosai the manslayer Kenshin has traded in his weapons of war for a reverse-blade sword symbolizing his devotion to nonviolence. His skills are still quite formidable though and, as is the case with any good shounen program, he will put his talents to use in a series of progressively tougher fights to save his loved ones.

One of the cool things about Rurouni Kenshin is unlike other shounen shows which take killing extremely lightly, and in fact use it as a key feature to draw audiences, this series takes Kenshin’s new pacifist views very seriously. Kenshin will go through the entire series continually avoiding hundreds of perfectly good opportunities to off his foes. While this is neat at the beginning as the 90 episodes drag on you begin to question how much further the writing team can really get Kenshin without having him kill anyone. Divided into three major story arcs, The Tokyo Arc (episodes 1-27), The Kyoto Arc( episodes 28-62), and “filler” episodes (63-95), the series is just too long for its own good.

That’s really this show’s biggest flaw. It takes too long to get off the ground and really start a cohesive plot, 27 episodes in fact, and while the Kyoto Arc is great at the beginning by the time the creative team milks it for everything it’s worth on the way to the conclusion you care more about it ending soon then you do if it ends well for Kenshin and friends. After the Kyoto Arc everything goes way downhill and those episodes are the major reason for the series’ cancellation. When I first began even considering watching anime I automatically assumed shows with longer run times would be superior, why wouldn’t I want as many opportunities as possible to go on adventures with my favorite characters? After finishing Kenshin, my first shounen show, front to back I realized just how wrong I was. While the 26 episode cap most series stay under may seem restrictive at first after a bit of experience with anime you begin to realize quitting while you’re ahead is not always such a bad thing. Kenshin is a show that does nothing particularly poorly, and it has some really interesting points, but it kills all the momentum it scrapes together by stretching everything out so much.

The characters in Rurouni Kenshin aren’t particularly original but they do a good enough job of keeping you interested. Kenshin is obviously the main draw here but his supporting cast has their owns set of goals and quirks that keeps the show interesting. While it would be easy for a show about a samurai atoning for his wartime sins to become dark and brooding the tone of this series is surprisingly light-hearted throughout. While Kenshin’s inner demons are always just under the surface he hides them very well and younger viewers would probably never even get the turmoil that’s going on. This, along with Kenshin’s devotion to pacifism, makes the show a great anime for kids.

Kenshin’s animation and music are both just passable. Ironically the filler episodes, by far the worst plot-wise, sport the best production values of the entire series. The dub isn’t particularly noteworthy either, but considering that when it was released anime voice acting standards were nonexistent it’s above average for its era. Much like the other elements of this series, the animation, music, and dub exist in that awkward spot between memorable and horrible.

To wrap things up, Rurouni Kenshin isn’t a total waste of your time but there are many better options for anime fans to enjoy. The show is solid but unspectacular in all of its elements and the ridiculous amount of episodes makes the whole series seem loose and unwieldy. It’s a shame too because the premise is solid, as the far superior (and shorter) prequel Samurai X proves, but the poor execution dooms the series to mediocrity.

Final Score: 6.0
Story: Passable
Animation: Passable
Soundtrack: Passable
Dub: Passable

Also Try: Samurai X, Samurai Champloo

Nausicaa Valley of the Wind Review: Miyazaki's First Masterpiece

When it comes to anime directors it doesn’t get any bigger then Studio Ghibli’s resident genius Hayao Miyazaki. Fans of animation worldwide have become accustomed to the extraordinary when it comes to his work and today we’ll look at the film that brought him to the forefront of the industry. Nausicaa Valley of the Wind is considered the first of Studio Ghibli’s films, even though it actually predates the formation of the company, and boy do they hit the ground running. Despite being released over 20 years ago Nausicaa still stands tall among anime feature films with its vibrant and imaginative animation, charming story, and a heroine who you can’t help but root for. Considered one of the finest animated films ever created, Animage magazine ranked it number one on its list for ten consecutive years, it’s easy to see why Nausicaa has stood the test of time. While the film has some minor flaws its strengths definitely outweigh its weaknesses, this is a film every anime fan should see.

Nausicaa is set in the future, though it does not specify exactly when, after humanity has basically destroyed the environment. A ravenous toxic jungle is consuming the world and threatening the very existence of mankind. Giant insects, such as the giant rolly-polly Ohmu, encroach on the tiny human settlements and with each passing day they destroy more kingdoms. Princess Nausicaa of The Valley of the Wind has a unique ability to communicate with animals, her skills will prove pivotal in saving the remnants of civilization from the hordes of insects and giving humanity a second chance.

The setting of Nausicaa is perhaps the film’s greatest strength. The detailed environments, from the poisonous jungles to the few remaining villages, bring the world to life. While not as sharp and clean as modern day Ghibli works the animation quality is incredible for its time and still looks quite good. The film does an excellent job of using color to set the mood. In light-hearted scenes you’ll find that everything is bright while nearly every scene that features conflict makes extensive use of blacks and grays. It’s not something that you notice initially but it’s subtle and effective.

The storyline of Nausicaa is the film’s weakest point. While it keeps you occupied and entertained throughout there are some considerable flaws, especially towards the end, that keep it from being perfect. The origin of the toxic jungle and the explanation of how the world became barren is interesting, and the way revelations are slowly uncovered as the film unfolds allows the viewer to think as little or as much about it as they would like. This is important because Nausicaa has a heavy environmentalist tilt if you really delve under the surface. I’ve watched numerous animated films in the past that have tried to push awareness and have suffered for it, becoming heavy-handed and losing entertainment value. Nausicaa avoids this pitfall by giving you all the information about how the new eco-system works in great detail without ever trying to tell you what to think about it. Viewers will come to the conclusion it was foolish for mankind to cause the toxic jungle to form and while it could be very easy for the film to paint humanity as the villains it doesn’t because it doesn’t have to. This is a good example for other animated films with a public service undertone to follow, it keeps things fast and fun while delivering its point rather then letting the message grind things to a halt. The film’s story is very well done for about 80% of the way, but the ending is basically the definition of dues ex machina. Nonetheless it gives you exactly what you want to see and for that reason it’s easy to forgive it for not being overly clever.

Nausicaa’s sountrack is a bit uneven. The main theme is catchy and uplifting and most the background music sets the tone well while never grinding on your nerves. But things go a bit awry when the action begins. Every action scene in the movie has been given 80s-tastic synthesized tunes that clash with the rest of the score. While it doesn’t really detract from your enjoyment and the songs aren’t truly terrible it makes you question why they chose to make the music so dramatically different during these key scenes. Disney has done a spectacular job dubbing the film, the voice work is strong across the board and features respected names such as Patrick Stewart and Mark Hamill. They really went the extra mile to make sure this classic got the attention it deserved, a tip of the hat to them.

In the end while Nausicaa is far from perfect its many strong points and charm make it easy to brush off the minor imperfections. While it’s a bit rough around the edges, most likely because it was Miyazaki’s first major original work, Nausicaa has a certain magic to it that’s indescribable. While other Ghibli movies have better animation and a more cohesive storyline Nausicaa may be the most endearing of the lot. Highly recommended viewing for any anime fan, and a great film for children as well.
Final Score: 9.3
Story: Good
Animation: Excellent
Soundtrack: Good
Dub: Excellent

Also Try: Laputa Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away

Cowboy Bebop Review: The Real Folk Blues

It only seemed fitting to kick off the reviews with a series that’s considered a landmark achievement in anime. Cowboy Bebop excels in all aspects with fast-paced and engaging storytelling, memorable characters, and a soundtrack unlike any other. The show has become a staple of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming block and continues to draw more American viewers into anime with its unique style each passing year. After watching just a few episodes of this series you’ll understand why.

Cowboy Bebop is set in the year 2071 and centers on the ragtag crew of the spaceship Bebop. A catastrophic event has made Earth’s surface uninhabitable and mankind has spread across the solar system to avoid extinction. With such a wide area to cover police forces can’t handle everything so the government has begun handing out bounties for the capture of fugitives. The cast of Bebop is one such team of bounty hunters crossing the solar system in search of new bounty heads hoping to scratch together enough of a reward to survive until tomorrow.

Many anime, especially sci-fi anime, fall into the trap of fleshing out the world a bit too much to the point where it becomes redundant. Bebop smoothly avoids that trap by simply dropping the viewer into the world and acting as if it had always been there. Details about what exactly happened to Earth and how people live in this new frontier are gradually revealed as the series progresses rather then shoving it down the viewer’s throat from the get-go. It’s handled very much the same way as you’d explain the world to a child. You don’t tell the kid everything about the world from the minute they can understand what you’re saying, you just let them live their life and after awhile they pretty much understand how and why most things work without needing a lecture. As the series progresses the pasts of the all the protagonists are revealed and we slowly see how the crime syndicates are making bounty hunters a necessity. The brilliant thing is none of this is heavy-handed, the show never has to explicitly tell you it’s explaining these things. The episodes end and you just realize you know it all, the tiny details strewn amongst all the little stories come together to create a cohesive and believable universe. The final episode ties up the package neatly and gives the viewer a feeling of fulfillment and closure, something that many anime fail to accomplish.

The characters of Bebop include some of the most beloved in anime history. Each one of them has a unique outlook on life and their situation and while the show never gets philosophical about any of their motivations it’s easy to see through their actions exactly what keeps them going. Each one of them brings a lot to the table and the show never loses speed, as some anime suffer from, because one character is less interesting then another but they both need screen time. The animation really brings the cast to life. From Spike’s deceptively awkward gait to Ed’s eccentric antics the animators really outdid themselves. The dub of Bebop is one of the best of any anime around, the dialogue is crisp and believable and awkwardly emphasized sentences are nowhere to be found. Anime dubbing has made significant strides over the years and it’s important to note that Bebop’s was one of the first to cause critics to question whether the Japanese cast always had to be superior.


The music and atmosphere of Bebop are arguable why the show is so beloved in the first place. Set to jazz, folk, blues, and in one instance metal, music Bebop’s soundtrack is unlike any other anime. The music fits the scenes perfectly as well, while an intense dogfight and a trumpet solo wouldn’t seem like a natural fit when you see it in action you become a believer instantly. The noir setting adds so much to the story and blends perfectly with Yoko Kanno’s soundtrack. The crew’s daily struggles are constant but never too overbearing to the viewer. The cast of Bebop handles it in an off-hand way like a college student realizing they’re on a shoestring budget but not letting it get them down. The bills provide a motivation for the characters and a necessary sense of urgency to the hunt without crushing you with a bleak feeling. From the brilliant opening theme to the bittersweet closing credits Bebop touts by far the most unique atmosphere of any serious anime.

In closing, Cowboy Bebop accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do. It meshes the seemingly opposite themes of science-fiction and noir and brings it all together with an amazing but equally curious soundtrack. Bebop is considered one of the finest anime series ever produced with good reason, it excels at everything and never lets up at any point. The show can be enjoyed both as individual episodes and as a whole. Bebop stands as one of the best examples of how anime can produce an experience equal to anything Hollywood can provide and in some cases do things that a live-action show could never accomplish. Highly recommended to everyone regardless of whether you are a huge anime fan or someone who simply enjoys good television.
Final Score: 10.0
Story: Excellent
Animation: Excellent
Soundtrack: Excellent
Dub: Excellent

Also Try: Trigun, Outlaw Star

Introduction & Review Policy

Anime Sophist was created primarily because I’ve been searching the internet for thorough yet approachable anime reviews to no avail. While there are many review sites that do an excellent job of outlining the pros and cons of a series they are generally bogged down with terminology only a devoted anime-head would be able to understand. The reviews also usually center around individual DVD releases (3-5 episodes) rather than a series as a whole. To make matters worse the review scales used are never really explained and the scores appear arbitrary at times. With all that in mind the Anime Sophist will feature reviews of anime series across many genres that will hopefully be informative yet simplistic enough for someone who isn’t an expert in the field to draw a conclusion about whether a particular series is right for them. The reviews will also be spoiler free, while I might note if a show has a great ending I'm not going to tell you exactly why lest I ruin the entire series for you all at once.

The review scale will range from 5.0 to 10.0 with scores in increments of .1 to provide what will hopefully be a clear distinction between which titles are simply good and which titles are truly great. The reason this scale was chosen because other scales, such as the whole point scale or the 0.5 scale, can sometimes be misleading. For example, a title with an 8.8 and a title with a 9.2 would receive the same score on either of those scales when one is significantly better then the other. The reason the scale starts at 5.0 is because any show below that score would be considered so bad that even hardcore anime fans wouldn’t give it the time of day. The basic understanding of what each number means is as follows, any .1s above that are to illustrate how close it comes to the next level.

5.0- Barely passable, only for fans of the genre or hardcore anime addicts in general. It may have a few good points but they are obscured by some significant failings. Example: None yet

6.0-Fans of the genre will probably enjoy a show with this score, it’s very doubtful anyone else would. This show does a few things well but also does several things poorly. Nothing about it is great. Example: Rurouni Kenshin

7.0-A show fans of the genre will enjoy, but it’s questionable anyone else would really like it. 7.0s typically have many good elements but no great elements. Example: Vision of Escaflowne

8.0-A show with a moderate amount of flaws, but nothing that seriously hinders enjoyment. Example: Ah! My Goddess

9.0-An excellent show with many strong points. Minor flaws have kept it from what would be considered perfection but nonetheless it’s a great work and most viewers will really take to it. Example: Samurai Champloo

10.0- A show that accomplishes perfectly what it has set out to do. Anything with a review of 10 means there is almost no chance a viewer won’t thoroughly enjoy it. More than likely this is a landmark accomplishment in the history of anime. 10s will be difficult to come by. Example: Cowboy Bebop

The majority of reviews should fall somewhere between 7.0 and 8.0 but since I’ll be working through the cream of the crop first things are going to be pretty skewed initially.

At the end of each review after the score is given a few other categories will be noted. These won’t be given a score but rather a simple word to reflect quality. Something like “Excellent”, “Good“, “Passable”, or “Poor”. The categories that will be noted in this way are as follows: Storyline, Animation, Soundtrack, and Dub. A series or two that are similar to the one reviewed will also be recommended under “Also try:”

Shows that have not yet come to the United States will not be reviewed, I will wait until these shows are released in their entirety because it would be pointless to review half a series or the first few episodes. The vast majority of what I watch will be dubbed because I’m such an animation nut that if I am distracted from the picture in the slightest bit it kills the experience for me. For that reason do not expect a paragraph in every review detailing the quality of the subs, only the dub quality will be mentioned. I understand that the dub/sub debate rages on across the anime community but here is not the place to clash over it. Regardless of which side of the fence you’re on these reviews should give you a good idea of whether a show is worth your time. Since I’m not fluent in Japanese, and thus am unqualified to rate the accuracy of subtitle translations, it would be ignorant of me to even try. I stick with what I know for the purpose of delivering the best review possible.

Suggestions are welcome. While I have a back catalog of shows to review initially, and a good idea of what to view after that, I’m not averse to straying from the plan a bit and checking out shows that other people want to hear about. It’s important to mention this right now so it doesn’t come up down the road, shounen series will be rarely if ever reviewed so please do not leave me any “Please review Naruto” comments. This is mainly due to length, I can go through 3-4 (sometimes even more) 20-30 episode series in the same time it would take me to watch a show like Inuyasha in its entirety. With this blog in its infancy it’s important to build up an archive as quickly as possible and shounen shows hinder that. I won’t rule out some shounen series being reviewed in the future, Bleach is a strong possibility when it finishes up.

Here’s is a quick list of a few anime terms I’ll use that those outside the hardcore community might not immediately understand. Don’t expect much anime slang outside of what’s listed below.

Otaku- A devoted fan, generally to the point of being borderline obsessive. The term can have both a positive and negative connotation. I will only use it in the positive. I’m an anime nerd, you’re an anime nerd, why hate?

OVA- Stands for Original Video Animation. Not all anime are released for television, the ones that come straight to DVD are OVAs.

Shounen- A show aimed at boys, generally runs much longer then other shows.

Dub- For the purpose of this blog, the re-recording of character voices in English.

Fan Service-Unnecessary body shots done strictly to please fans of a particular character, generally a female character.

Mecha- A giant robot.


So yeah, now that we have all the housecleaning out of the way let's get to some reviews.