Neon Genesis Evangelion left a great impact upon the anime culture and to this day possesses the archetypal tropes that not only are seen in modern-day mecha anime, but also within other genres. The original anime sparked so many discussions and theories among the characters, and the depth it actually gives, while in essence, it really just comes off as pretentious.

The 1995 anime felt boring. Not the film, though, because the film wraps up the story nicely and grotesquely. The TV series had a disjointed narrative that, while good in confusing the audience on the big picture, does not give enough for the events transpiring to actually make sense at all, turning the story around into what would have been a grim and dark deconstruction of the mecha genre, to an unnecessarily disturbing clusterfuck of a plot. So there lies the question: What if Evangelion was better paced?

Yoshiyuki Sadamoto is one of the regular Gainax character designers, having helped create some of the most impactful characters for the bigshot shows the studio had to offer, particularly the cult classic OVA FLCL, and of course, Neon Genesis Evangelion. Little do people know, that while the show is thriving in Shinji x Kaworu shipping posts all over the Internet, there is actually an Evangelion manga—all drawn and plotted by him, that ran from 1994 to 2013(!). This leads us to make a proper segue into the actual review.

Let us start with the art, since we're talking about Sadamoto. Knowing that the manga is made by the actual character designer for the show puts the mind at ease, for you don't have to worry about consistency dropping, and this holds true. For about 19 years the style of Shinji and the cast remained all the same, and everyone looks like their anime counterparts: how their facial expressions look, and how the scenery and the battle scenes are drawn are like a prelude to the Rebuild films.

There is also a remarkable and significant point to take note of: the presentation. Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto are two different people, with their two different concepts, working under the same ground. Since the show has gone and made great use of producing a cathartic effect—through disturbing and awkward imagery, it is pretty hard to follow that same format into a manga, since the series had utilized the visual medium so well. It is surprising to see that, while toned down with lesser nudity and graphic scenes, the manga retains the same core themes as the show's, albeit having a lesser degree of bringing out the most disgusting of feelings, had far more emotional inclination for the characters themselves.

The point I'm getting to is while the Evangelion series are something of merit, it has always been hard to approach it because of its obscurity—and when you do actually get close, it looks more like just an observation of an art piece, which is one thing for a TV show, but it must require more than just investment—it requires immersion. Sadamoto's art direction fills that void within the manga and gives you a sense of sympathy for the characters and their inevitable problems.

I stated before in my End of Evangelion review that I hated the characters. They had nothing to go for, Shinji is stupid, and only Asuka had the honor of being likable. The manga seemed like the character analysis side the anime never had, and while the anime DID have those analyses, being a psychological anime above others, it never felt like it was too in depth because it was grossing over Freudian and 2deepforme perspectives too much. Sure, having a Freudian analogy to everything is great, it's awesome. But it's practically useless and contains the same pretentiousness as it does with its religious symbolism. For the manga, though, it seemed more philosophical than psychological, and that may be good because we were given more time to enter the minds of the characters and sympathize with their questions about life, their motives and their principles.

The scope for the drastic changes about the characters are too wide, and so I will focus on the three main characters.

Shinji, for one, comes off as a mixture of Rebuild Shinji and TV Shinji, and is the perfect and ideal representation for a self-doubting person who must learn to amp up his confidence level not only for the sake of others but for himself as well. This is a Shinji that is more realistic than any of the two iterations—self-questioning and not entirely apathetic for most of the time, and I found myself enjoying his philosophical questions and how, for once, I felt a connection with the character.

I didn't dislike Asuka's characterizations for the most part, but it's weaker than the original Asuka. She starts off strong (her introduction is different from the anime), but she remains stagnant as the later chapters give more focus to Rei, Shinji, and the plot. Of course, like usual, she becomes the badass MVP of the game in the End of Evangelion arc, but to be honest, there was nothing new to note about her. If anything, she's less harsh...but I am unsure whether that is a bad or good thing.

Rei became one of my favorite characters in this story, and at this point I started to think that the Rebuilds might have gotten inspiration from the manga to utilize this form of character development. I don't know why, but I like female characters that were originally heartless in a sense (see: Saber, Arcueid from the Type-Moon franchise) and learn to become more and more human. One particular event in Rei's character arc hurt me far worse than the anime did. The manga has given Rei justice in becoming an important character and not a mere plot device.

The other side characters not mentioned develop better than the show, most notably Kaworu and Gendo, who became characters that you needed to care about and not the ones you just gloss over to get to the progression of the plot.

Now, while the plot is fundamentally the same as the TV show, its modifications to the minor details made the manga a notch higher in telling the story than the source material. Instead of moving ahead and confuse viewers, the manga takes its time for the readers to catch up while maintaining its sense of obscurity. Take note that the said minor details have a greater effect if you have watched the series AND the film first, and it is highly recommended to do so to get enjoyment. The manga stands alone from the anime, but to understand how complex Evangelion is you need to see it from its original form.

Also, this may be pretty subjective but listening to the song "Komm, Susser Tod" while reading the End of Evangelion arc is pretty awesome.

Regarding the ending, it isn't as controversial as the endings Evangelion has produced in the past, but even a whiny character like Shinji deserves a happy ending.

The Evangelion manga makes up for a lot of the plot holes the original Neon Genesis Evangelion anime had, and it clears up some of the confusion and may have answered of the questions about the franchise's lore. Regardless, there is one important part of the story that will make you question what you know about Evangelion once again...but that will be for a different day. It's compact, it is complete, it is wholesome, and it is Evangelion.

"You and I may closely resemble each other, but we are not the same."
—Rei Ayanami