This review is for both newcomers and veterans of NGE who have yet to read the manga.

Story:
You're walking into a heavy laden narrative filled with an incredibly thick amount of character drama. Even if you're only reading this because big robots and monsters, it's better for each big robot to be piloted by a well-developed character and for a giant monster to pose a threat to them, then to merely watch them fight because reasons. For a story to have a strong ensemble cast is quite impressive, and it flows flawlessly across each of their histories to tell an all inclusive story that demands a righteous ending.

That said, the ending is the biggest fault here. It's not that it's complex (contrary to popular belief), it's that it ends very abruptly. This may seem natural after you've read it, but when it really, really doesn't flow well. Not only that, near the end is when the characters lose their backbone and become placeholders. Most notably, Shinji.

After a certain event (for those who have seen the anime, you may know what I'm talking about), he reacts to it in a way that doesn't seem reasonable. Perhaps I'm coming at it as, "I've seen the anime and they changed this in the manga and I don't like it!" but I can guarantee that this is not one of those moments. In fact, a majority of the changes prior to the introduction of a new character were all better than the anime. I've reviewed the anime as an overall 7/10 solely because of the issues the manga has omitted, which lead me to think this was going to be a 10/10, if not a 9. The problem is that within the previous production, those events were flawless (not splurging about the anime, but rather that the reactions of the characters and events following made sense within the world.) Within the manga, which is virtually the same world, these things are changed based on outrageous decisions that make no sense. It's a shame, really.


Art:
Pretty darn good! There were only a few panels where I started to confuse the motions with the backdrop. The characters look fantastic, and the settings are really detailed. The only reason this isn't a perfect is because the use of blacks I felt was not properly used during the final sequences. Not to spoil, but this climax is a climax of the ages. The art put into it was great, but could use some more work. I suppose it comes down to how detailed a drawing can get when compared to a digital image, but I digress. Still not an excuse, when Miura can do this perfectly with Berserk.


Character:
Perhaps some of the best-written characters you will ever read about in your entire life. The amount of detail put into their history helps expand the world and creates a believable cast with motives that seem real. All of it ties together for the finale as well. It's great. However, like I mentioned prior, there is an event that makes no sense. It is a change from the original work and it's pointless.


Enjoyment:
Hell yeah I enjoyed it. There are things in the manga that helped explain things that hadn't been expanded on in any other NGE work. Coming into this blind for the first time is nice in that regard to some, but i still would suggest coming into this after having experienced the anime and the finale film, End of Evangelion. You will enjoy this much more, and you probably will have enjoyed the anime/movie more because you didn't spoil certain aspects of the narrative by reading the manga. That said, still enjoyed this very much.


Final Thoughts (personal, non-critical opinion)
I'm mostly just disappointed that every iteration of NGE has flaws. The anime has some stuff in the middle that was a real bore to watch, but still sci-fi-esque so I didn't mind. Sci-fi's are supposed to be kinda boring, that's where you get all the smart tech talk. That said, they didn't add much to the narrative. The Rebuilds are the reverse of that, not spending enough time on certain aspects, but still being an enjoyable watch. The only flawless piece i the NGE franchise is EoE and that's a very eccentric film, considering it doesn't follow a standard 3 part act narrative, so in some way I feel as though it doesn't necessarily count.

Maybe after Anno completes the Rebuilds he'll wait 20 years before he's about to die or something and re-animate the original series and put the best parts of the anime and the manga together, and then just re-animate EoE with no real changes other than a face lift. This isn't required, and I don't particularly care for it because I still love the NGE world, but one can dream, right?


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