Let’s be real—there are anime you watch for the humor, the action, or the insane plot turns. And then there’s Neon Genesis Evangelion, which crushes you like a freight train full of existential terror and brutal catharsis. If you’ve ever gazed out a rainy window, wondering why everything weighs so heavily upon you, you’re not alone. That’s where one fan found themselves before walking into Evangelion—and it’s a journey many share.
Evangelion has never been a show to split the anime audience. Some laud it as a masterpiece of psychological narrative, and others can’t look beyond its plot gaps, bizarre pacing, or cringeworthy characters. But hate it or love it, you can’t help but recognize that Evangelion is in a league of its own. It’s not simply a mecha series—it’s a brutal, unforgiving plunge into depression, self-esteem, and the complex mess of being human.
On paper, you’d think you’d get giant robots, epic battles, and perhaps a little teenage angst. Instead, you have the intensely personal tale of Shinji, a nervous, isolated child about as far from your typical anime hero as you can imagine. Hideaki Anno drew from his own experience dealing with depression and infused every aspect, from the uncomfortable camera work to the creepy, drawn-out silence between cuts. The series doesn’t begin with victory—it begins with ruined cities, humming cicadas, and a claustrophobic feeling of loneliness.
Where Evangelion is unique is the way it employs its medium. Rather than blinding you with continuous action, Anno highlights the characters’ inner worlds. The camera lingers in vacant rooms and stilted silences. It can be uncomfortable, even infuriating—but that’s what it’s trying to do. The show doesn’t simply want you to look at Shinji’s story. It wants you to live it. Every last ounce of his fear, his desire, his self-doubt—it’s all intended to sink in until you can’t help but feel it.
And Shinji himself isn’t your usual hero. He doesn’t go from zero to hero in twelve episodes. Throughout most of the series, he’s stuck—paralyzed by anxiety, hungry for validation, stuck in circles. It’s only really at the end, after all the broken hearts and failures, that he begins to learn to accept himself. It’s not nice and tidy. It’s slow, messy, and agonizingly real—just as mental health issues tend to happen.
What is so potent about Evangelion is just how intimate it feels. Anno did not write depression as a device—He experienced it. That is why the narrative resonates differently. You sense the void, the desire to be understood, and the suffocating pressure of expectations. The series does not provide neat answers. It makes you sit through the agony, observe the world from Shinji’s perspective, and perhaps find a little hope amidst all the weight.
The latter half is where the philosophy truly comes to the forefront. Reality disintegrates, and Shinji must face the reality: no one will ever fully get him, and all he can ever truly count on is his compassion. It’s an odd, surreal trip, but it ends with one of the strongest messages in anime—that acceptance is the strongest act of survival. When Shinji finally does smile, actually smile, it’s a small but epiphanic triumph.
That being said, Evangelion isn’t perfect. It has unanswered questions, an uneven pace, and frustrating characters. But it’s those faults that make it what it is. The characters in this novel are dirty, broken, and sometimes unlikable—but they’re also achingly human. Asuka wears her abandonment issues with a veneer of arrogance, Gendo hides his insecurity under detachment, and Rei hides behind her distance, which stems from tragedy.
Evangelion doesn’t provide you with entertainment—it provides you with a mirror. To anyone who’s ever felt lost, unworthy, or stuck, it reminds you that it’s fine to be imperfect. That it’s fine to struggle. It takes strength to be searching for meaning, even if you don’t have any answers. For some fans, Evangelion has provided more healing and insight than therapy or medication ever could.
So if you’re in the mood for an anime that probes deeper than gaudy fight scenes and ginormous bad guys—an anime that isn’t afraid to look into the eye of the toughest questions of what it means to be—a Neon Genesis Evangelion awaits. It’s not a joy to watch. But it could quite possibly alter how you perceive yourself, and perhaps even the world around you.