I am watching some of Evangelion for the first time in eighteen years. I think the problem is that by the time I was sufficiently depressed to enjoy Evangelion, I wasn't young enough to enjoy Evangelion.
I refuse to think about the plot, characters, or themes, because those are epiphenomena and have been talked to death. I don't mean that I find the show superficial. But the plot, characters, and themes form its superficial bits.
To sum up my seat-of-the-pants re-impressions so far: Evangelion does not stand out for its animation; its shot composition is not unique, though strong; but its shot timing ('editing', montage) is exceptional.
Other notes:
- The show's script is very blunt.
- I laugh whenever 007 takes the Lektor.
- Both the amount and the quality of the for-sickos background technology stand beyond criticism.
- Remember when they dumped the show on Netflix and it got a day's social media attention for the translation of one line and then sank without trace?
- Hand-drawn Evas look less like tokusatsu than 3DCG models, but far more successfully feel like the intended effect of tokusatsu's guy-in-a-suit than a three dimensional model ever could.
Architecture by and for sickos (complimentary).