A Short Guide to Neon Genesis Evangelion


Evangelion is as inexhaustible as the atom
- Lenin
(an obligatory pun that should acсompany any serious writing about Evangelion)

At first glance, Neon Genesis Evangelion is a yet another senseless sci-fi show. The second approach reveals that it is not as simple as it appears to be. However, the truth is that a complex, profound and beautiful story is hidden beneath the seemingly superfluous facade. It could not be revealed easily because of the extreme fragmentation and the tricks authors use to deliberately misguide you. In addition, the powerful psychological drama may draw your attention and move you to tears. Unfortunately, all this may make the supernova hidden in your heart to fade dim, which will undoubtedly ignite at the full extent after you comprehend the whole story. The only way to unveil it is to watch NGE more than once (and probably more than twice or even more) connecting scattered facts with the ones you already have in your memory. However, even in this case, it is very hard to see all because of the way Evangelion is constructed and because some details only available through certain third-party sources. Below I will try to reconstruct the entire plot in a concise though complete manner. This is an ultimate spoiler, so please watch NGE at least once before reading this. The Rebuild of Evanglion movies are discussed at the last section.