Neon Genesis Evangelion Episode 1 Reaction

Ok, about your request of an anime about romance I think japanese in general are raelly bad at writing romance. Maybe the only one decent is Haruki Murakami. So if you are looking for something more light I would recomend "Ouran Host Club" which is not exactly romance and thats why is funny at it worst and thouching at it best.

Late to the party, any chance of Google Drive for this episode?

I dont really care for Evangelion but! If the girls enjoy this maybe we could push for Revolutionary Girl Utena next??

what you have to understand about NGE is that basically, towards the end of the series, the director/creator a) ran out of money in the budget and b) fell into an absolutely insane depressive episode. so the last 2ish episodes aren't what he originally envisioned, bc he lacked both the budget and the mental well being to execute it at the time. The movie End of Evangelion was made a bit later, and is basically what he had originally planned to do in the last few episodes

Oh wow I'm so scared

Tremendisimo, a pesar de que me hubiera gustado ver otros animes antes que evangelion, definitivamente es una experiencia que muchos tenemos que pasar en algun momento

at least 1 movie is required after this series. But the other new 4 movies are great to watch too.

lmao

as much as i like you not knowing anything ab evangelion i just gotta say don't watch this like it's cowboy bebop, the vibe is similiar, maybe? i don't think so but story wise it's not even close

The original series is 26 episodes + the end of evangelion movie. The other 4 movies are remakes that started releasing 10 years after the original series ended, and the movies also deviate from the original series story. Although I think the original series is much better than the remake movies, the animation and music in the remake movies are 10/10, so if you want to watch them I would definitely not mind watching those reactions.

One of the best anime first episodes ever imo

Your lie in April is not really a romance although technically there is romance in it.

could someone please tell me what the weekly schedule is now that eva has been added? 🙏

I just really hope nobody spoils anything for them in this series. I'm supremely interested to hear them try to untangle Eva

Since we are going on this journey i really hope we also get a gurren lagann reaction down the line.

Now who the hell set them up and said this was like cowboy bebop 😭

I'm scared

there are 1 movie after. called end of evangelion. the rest are spin off, worth watching but not direct canon.

My recommendation after JJK: Steins;Gate. Let's just do it. My recommendation after Evangelion: Takopi, because it deserves it after Pluto.

"A child going through elementary school trying to make friends. I would kill for that." Takopi was literally there 🤣

I'm sad that Evangelion won the last poll. I was hoping for Takopi, which in my opinion deserved to be watched after Pluto because its fans made the Pluto reactions possible in the first place. Dororo or Orb would have been great choices too! Dororo is another adaptation of a Tezuka manga, just like Pluto is based on Astro Boy. Orb would be perfect for Vinland Saga fans waiting for Season 3, since it also has an intereting historical setting :D I would put Evangelion in the category of anime from roughly 1990-2014 that have great story elements and really interesting settings, but also flaws that age poorly the older you get. Examples would be Elfen Lied, Death Note, Code Geass, Steins;Gate, Deadman Wonderland, Mirai Nikki, Sword Art Online and No Game No Life. So expect some strange scenes with female characters, and have fun! I hope that, for the next short anime poll after Evangelion, we get the same options again as in the last one. They were great! Just add Dororo 🥹

Ohhhh boy

im gonna keep promoting 86 so maybe one day it wins, or you girls choose it :D and ofc, Fruits Basket. Realistically, fruba will never win a poll, because its not as popular as some of the big shows it’s competed with here and its a shoujo (female demographic), so please pretty please, choose to watch it regardless (": its a romance and drama and youll absolutely adore its characters

My biggest hope for this series is that you will react to the Rebuild films and not completely ignore them the same way you did the Violet Evergarden films.

Can't wait for End of Evangelion, 10/10 and sometimes misunderstood

Also I'm sure people posted it here but just another in case it wasn't seen; the movies are part of the show, just think of them as 3-4 episodes more each. You don't HAVE to watch anything except End of Evangelion but you should, it's how the series was continued and ends.

I don't need to condescend to you girls like most of the comments here probably will, but the most important thing to remember with this series is that Shinji is a teenager, like Denji. You understood it in Chainsaw Man completely, so I'm excited to see that discussion here. Can't wait!

Holy shit, it begins

Let’s give the girls what they want for the next show after this being 86. Just heard their thoughts on what they wanted next

ive never seen this show so maybe i should finally take the plunge with you guys

Love Milena for voting 86)

The start is very slow but let’s see if they like it. It can be very confusing at times but here we are

The girls deserve to watch Gundam.

So you only really need to watch the End of Evangelion movie after the show as it caps off the story. There are 4 movies that are essentially remakes of the original story that veer off into their own thing. Not necessary to watch them but we’ll leave it up to you if you do

There’s only 1 movie that you need to watch and that’s End of Evangelion

Oof, I want to watch this cause its LM but I don’t know if I wanna go through this again. Haha

Girls, about watching a romance anime... I don't know how to explain this without offending anyone or making enemies but I found the romance in Your Lie in April lackluster and pretty bad overall. Is that bad I wouldn't even count in as a romance tbh. For romance, imo you have 2 great options in the long anime poll: - Kaguya-sama: Love is War (on the light-side even though it has its deep and serious moments) - Fruits Basket (on the heavy-side even though it has its happy and comedic moments) I would 100% recommend any of these 2 and I would love for you to watch both because they represent 2 complete different styles and demographics.

Love that you guys immediately noticed the similarities with Attack on Titan, Eva's influence can be found all over not just AoT but modern anime in general. As for the young boy saviour archetype, it is quite common for the type of shows (CSM, JJK) that you guys watch (even though Eva is a rare show that deconstructs it), since battle shounen anime tend to win polls with male dominant audiences a bit like superhero films do. There is this whole other world of anime underneath that though with female/queer protagonists, which hopefully you guys will someday experience thats even more your taste and character driven imo, for example shoujo anime like Fruits Basket! As for the movies, End of Evangelion (1997) is the compulsory one. The 4 Rebuilds were released in 2007, 2009, 2013, and 2021 and started as a retelling of the story which then diverges and becomes its own thing with the 4th and last one (2021) showcasing Anno's evolution as a human being throughout the decades and serving as a wrap up for both the original 95-97 story and the Rebuild story, and as Anno's final tribute and farewell to the franchise and its fans. Worth getting through the other 3 movies for the last one alone imo since its the best, but you guys should see how you feel after the show and End of Evangelion (1997) and make a decision then.

They're gonna fucking HATE Gendo lmao

Also between Gendo and Gin.. the girls will have a trip day deciding who will be father of year by the end of this anime lol

The reason why it might feel nostalgic it’s because EVA inspired a shitload of media in general. Also yeah.. I can see why you would think this would remind you of AoT lol and like people in the comments said, you only need to watch one movie. The rest are remaining of the anime. And.. lastly.. your questions might be reveal in time ;)

the fact that Lola was voting for your lie in april makes me EVEN sadder that we didn’t get it. Girls, I promise you, as someone who’s been watching your reactions for many many years now, I can confidently say that your lie in april would be one of your biggest comfort shows and perhaps alltime favorites. I personally, made it a tradition to rewatch your lie in april EVERY single april because it’s just THAT GOOD and have been doing so for I think 8 years. Girls trust me, YOU WILL LOVE IT

Your Lie In April was my favourite anime before I watched Frieren. I still and always will hope that some day you will watch it.

Gendo Ikari is THE emotionally unavailable anime father

This will be an interesting watch lol

Why do children in anime always have bad parents lol especially fathers. Well not always but most of the time. You know you watched enough anime’s when you know there’s a 90% chance the parents are either assholes or are dead.

Oh god.. we are here.. I can’t actually believe we are here. Never in a million years would have thought you girls would react to this classic anime.

Good god, you people actually got them to watch this 💀

Glad Milena was rooting for 86! Hopefully it will have another chance after this. Still looking forward to these reactions. It might be rough watching only once a week with all the wild terminology this throws at you but it should still be a fun emotional time

gel like gelman not hair gel. "What are they?" Better start taking notes if you want to answer that question.

I'm sure you already gathered that from a bunch of comments, but when it comes to the movies, counting them in chronological order of release : -The first two are literally recaps of the anime. iirc they released right before the third one as a promo thing. Feel free to ignore them. -The third one is the one you will NEED to watch after the show. All I'll say is : Think of it as the proper ending of this whole thing -The next 3 movies, the most recent ones, to keep it as simple as possible, these are remakes of the show as a whole. You can ignore them, or watch them whenever you want, or whatever lmao

Fun fact Shinji also has the same voice actor as Yuta from JJK0

Shinji VA is Yuta from JJK btw

Had to restrain the urge to scream in excitement when I got this notification. One of the most important works in the history of anime, and one of the most important pieces of art to me personally.

Evangelion also fundamentally changed the mecha genre. The earliest form of mecha anime emerged during the 1960s through the “giant robot” genre, where enormous robots fought monsters, aliens, or evil organizations in simple battles between good and evil. These robots were treated less like realistic machines and more like superheroes with impossible powers and signature attacks. Shortly afterward, Mazinger Z popularized the concept of piloting a giant robot directly from within the machine itself, helping define the genre for decades. From this developed the “super robot” style, which emphasized powerful, unique robots, hot-blooded heroes, dramatic battles, and spectacle over realism or scientific plausibility. During the late 1970s and 1980s, Mobile Suit Gundam helped transform the genre by establishing what became known as the “real robot” style. Instead of functioning like superheroes, giant robots were reimagined as military weapons comparable to tanks or fighter jets. Pilots became soldiers rather than chosen saviors, wars became politically complex and morally ambiguous, and robots required maintenance, fuel, ammunition, repairs, and mass production. Real robot anime already explored darker themes such as politics, war, trauma, alienation, and the emotional consequences of conflict. However, Evangelion pushed the genre much further inward by transforming psychological suffering itself into one of the narrative’s central subjects. Evangelion combined elements from giant robot, super robot, and real robot traditions while simultaneously dismantling many of their assumptions. The EVAs resemble super robots because they are unique, immensely powerful, and almost godlike beings with mysterious origins. However, the series presents them in a disturbing biological way rather than as heroic machines. The EVAs bleed, scream, regenerate flesh, lose control, and behave more like restrained living organisms than mechanical weapons. At the same time, Evangelion borrows heavily from the realism of the real robot genre through NERV’s military infrastructure, launch systems, technicians, scientific jargon, logistics, and operational procedures. What made Evangelion feel radically different was not simply that it was dark, since mecha anime had already explored war and death for decades, but the degree to which it focused on psychological collapse and emotional vulnerability. Shinji Ikari does not behave like a traditional mecha protagonist. Rather than being courageous or emotionally resilient, he is passive, insecure, socially withdrawn, and psychologically overwhelmed by fear, guilt, and self-hatred. Piloting the EVA is presented less as heroic duty and more as emotional trauma. Nearly all of the major characters are similarly damaged. Shinji, Rei, Misato, and Ritsuko are shaped by loneliness, abandonment, repression, identity crises, emotional dependency, and fear of intimacy. Instead of treating trauma mainly as a consequence of war, Evangelion places psychological suffering at the center of the story itself. The series also became famous for its experimental presentation. Hideaki Anno used long silences, static shots, fragmented editing, repeated frames, abstract imagery, and symbolic compositions that gradually shifted attention away from external conflict and toward the characters’ inner emotional states

Neon Genesis Evangelion became one of the most influential anime ever created because it combined psychological depth, philosophical ambiguity, experimental storytelling, and genre deconstruction in a way that radically changed both anime and audience expectations. At a time when most mainstream anime still prioritized action, adventure, or straightforward storytelling, Evangelion centered emotional vulnerability, depression, loneliness, and existential fear. The series treated its characters less like archetypal heroes and more like psychologically damaged people struggling to connect with others and with themselves. Its protagonist, Shinji Ikari, became especially significant because he directly challenged traditional heroic ideals. Rather than being confident, determined, or inspirational, Shinji is passive, insecure, emotionally fragile, and often paralyzed by anxiety and self-hatred. For many viewers, especially younger audiences dealing with alienation or depression like myself at that age, this portrayal felt unusually honest and relatable. The series also became famous for its highly experimental presentation. Hideaki Anno used long silences, still frames, fragmented editing, internal monologues, abstract visuals, religious imagery, and psychological symbolism in ways that were uncommon in mainstream television anime at the time. By the final episodes, the narrative shifts almost entirely into the characters’ inner consciousness, prioritizing emotional and philosophical exploration over traditional plot resolution. This ambiguity encouraged intense audience interpretation and analysis. Fans debated the meaning of the series’ symbolism, psychology, philosophy, and ending for decades, helping create a much larger culture of online anime discussion, theory analysis, and critical interpretation. Evangelion also reflected broader anxieties present in Japan during the 1990s following economic collapse, social uncertainty, and growing feelings of alienation among younger generations. Many critics interpreted the series as both a product of otaku culture and a critique of escapism, emotional withdrawal, and social isolation. Its influence on anime was enormous. Evangelion helped normalize psychologically fragile protagonists, darker emotional themes, symbolic ambiguity, and more introspective storytelling across the medium. Many later anime explored similar themes of trauma, identity, existential anxiety, and emotional collapse, either directly inspired by Evangelion or reacting to the creative shift it helped produce. The series also had a massive impact on anime aesthetics, character archetypes, merchandising, fan culture, and auteur-driven storytelling. Characters like Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley helped popularize character archetypes that became extremely influential throughout later anime culture. More broadly, Evangelion demonstrated that anime could function simultaneously as commercial entertainment, psychological drama, philosophical fiction, and experimental art. It expanded the perception of what television anime could achieve both artistically and emotionally. More than thirty years later, Evangelion remains one of the most analyzed, debated, referenced, and influential anime ever made. Its impact extends far beyond the mecha genre, helping redefine anime as a medium capable of deep psychological and philosophical storytelling.

Before starting the reaction, I have some comments and trivia about Episode 1 of Evangelion. Hideaki Anno, the author, struggled with severe depression before and during the production of Evangelion, something he later discussed in interviews. Many aspects of Shinji’s personality and the atmosphere of the series were influenced by Anno’s mental state at the time. Because of this, Evangelion has often been analyzed by psychologists, philosophers, and academics as a kind of psychological self-analysis expressed through fiction, with studies discussing the series in relation to psychoanalysis, depression, existentialism, trauma, and psychotherapy. Another detail that already appears in Episode 1 is NERV’s famous motto: “God’s in His heaven, all’s right with the world.” The phrase originally comes from Robert Browning’s poem Pippa Passes. The episode also briefly mentions the Marduk Institute, the organization responsible for selecting EVA pilots. The LCL is another interesting concept. Inside the Entry Plug, pilots breathe an orange oxygenated liquid called LCL, which resembles real-world liquid breathing research involving perfluorocarbons, chemicals capable of dissolving large amounts of oxygen. Scientists experimented with these liquids for deep diving and medical ventilation research. Unlike real perfluorocarbons, however, LCL also functions as a neural interface connecting the pilot’s nervous system directly to the EVA. Many of the Angels in Evangelion derive their names from figures found in Jewish and Christian angelology. Sachiel, the Angel appearing in Episode 1, draws from occult and esoteric traditions connected to Kabbalah, apocryphal angelology, and Christian mysticism. The name appears in medieval and Renaissance texts such as Sefer Raziel HaMalakh and the 16th century grimoire The Heptameron, where Sachiel is traditionally associated with prosperity and the order of cherubim. The opening sequence also briefly displays the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, or Tree of Sephirot, which in Jewish mysticism represents the ten emanations through which divine reality manifests. The creators later explained that much of the Christian and Jewish symbolism was chosen primarily because it looked exotic and intriguing to Japanese audiences rather than as part of a rigorous theological framework.

You think you've met the worse anime father, this is the prototype 😂

Holy. Was just considering letting the sub run out for a little while for the first time in years due to the lineup, then this shows up. Back on the hook

86 is my favorite anime of all time so hopefully that wins eventually (it also could be considered a romance)

Misato #1

There’s 24 episodes and one original ending movie from 1997 called End of Evangelion (there another movie but it’s literally just a recap of the 24 eps in movie format) And then they made 4 Rebuild movies that came out between 2007 and 2021 that are kind like remake/retelling of the original story but the creator decided to change and evolve the plot of the series in them I would consider the Rebuild movies an entirely different show than Eva

i haven't watched Eva yet, this might be perfect time to do it. Would anyone possibly know what version they were sent and are watching? so i can watch alongside them.

this will be interesting

Ah I’m glad to see someone got the links sent over to you! Having all those different outros is such an iconic piece of Eva imo, as well as the original subtitling. Definitely the way to go. To whoever sent the links, are they with the directors cut versions in the final run of episodes? And just a heads up, the ‘G’ in Evangelion is a hard g, not like ‘J’

Can you please watch Gurren Lagan after this, you guys will love it

They've heard of Code Geass, but they still haven't tried it yet🥹🥹🥹

This will be interesting...I had to force myself to finish nge.

I’m looking forward to this ✌️

For the series its the episodes plus a short movie less than an hour. There is a reboot/reimagening of the series that is 4 movies instead of a show, but not required viewing for the original experience

alright, f*** it. I was contemplating the last week to subscribe because you ladies are in my favorite arc rn of JJK (Hidden Inventory). This notification, that just came like 6 minutes 7:18am Manila time, pulled the subscription trigger🤣😭

Glad to live in this timeline

It will be very interesting to see your reactions, girls. This work is the biggest turning point in the history of anime and responsible for the revolution in the industry as we know it today. Many later works used it as inspiration. Basically, you can divide the world of anime into before and after Evangelion. It was released in 1995, I was born 10 years later in 2005 in another part of the world, and yet it managed to be present in my childhood along with Naruto and Dragon Ball. The cultural impact was truly resounding in Japan, with record numbers in VHS tape sales and merchandise sales. A Japanese friend once told me that "It's basically our Star Wars." It's truly a very important part of Japanese pop culture history. It will be great to know your thoughts throughout the story.

I have never watched evangelion so I’m excited to watch it along with the two of you. I apologize if I binge it and watch ahead tho 😅

i am holding back screams of joy

This will be fun

Excited for this wild ride!

GET IN THE ROBOT SHINJI!!

*The Cruel Angel’s Thesis intensifies*

Finished evangelion like 2 days ago, so this is perfect timing

Y’all are QUICK!