Neon Genesis Evangelion

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Japanese: 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン Shin Seiki Evangerion) is an anime television series, begun in 1995, directed and written by Hideaki Anno, and produced by Gainax. It takes place in 2015 AD, fifteen years after the catastrophic Second Impact, reportedly caused by a meteor strike, which wiped out half of Earth's population and tilted its axis. Just as humanity finished its recovery from this disaster, Tokyo-3 began suffering attacks by strange monsters referred to as Angels. Conventional weapons are useless against the Angels, and the only known defense against them are the biomechanical mechas created by the paramilitary organization NERV, the Evangelions (Evas).

Influence

Evangelion had, and continues to have, a strong influence on anime in general. The psychological nature of the show influenced later works such as Revolutionary Girl Utena (1997) and Serial Experiments Lain (1997), both of which, like Eva, center around an ambiguous world-changing event to come. More superficially, it started a wave of using Christian symbolism in other anime and related fields. While many find that the video game Xenogears (1998) shows obvious and major signs of being heavily influenced by Evangelion, its creators (Xenogears co-creator/co-writer Soraya Saga in particular) have denied this vehemently. Some feel that RahXephon is another work that bears influence from this series, though it has often been a favorable comparison.

Related Topics:
Revolutionary Girl Utena - 1997 - Serial Experiments Lain - Xenogears - 1998 - Soraya Saga - RahXephon

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Evangelion has also been explicitly referenced and parodied. In the Digimon Tamers series, a lot of Evangelion elements were used in the backstories for the three main children, their friends, and D-Reaper. The same can be said for both WarGrowlmon and Gallantmon Crimson Mode, as they were modeled after EVA-01. Gainax's own His and Her Circumstances had a few Eva parodies, as did Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi.

Related Topics:
Digimon Tamers - D-Reaper - WarGrowlmon - Gallantmon Crimson Mode - His and Her Circumstances - Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi

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Even Anno himself decided to poke fun at his work. In the Eva soundtrack Addition, a twenty minute audio drama was included that reunited the entire voice acting cast, titled "After the End". The drama is set after episode 26 and has the characters discussing a sequel to the show, clearly breaking the fourth wall. Anno is believed to be featured as a guest voice in the piece, taking on the roles of the "Space God" and "Black Space God".

Related Topics:
Soundtrack - Audio drama - Fourth wall

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In the online community, Eva is a common source of parody. English image board 4chan has a meme ("zOMG! Teh Rei!") based on the character Rei Ayanami. Numerous webcomics, such as Okashina Okashi and Tsunami Channel, have featured Evangelion tributes.

Related Topics:
4chan - Webcomics - Okashina Okashi - Tsunami Channel

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