Neon Genesis Evangelion

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Neon Genesis Evangelion is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi series from studio GAINAX (FLCL) created by director Hideaki Anno.

The series is licensed by ADV Films. It premiered on [adult swim] in October 2005.

Contents 1 Story 2 History 3 Credits 4 Episodes

Story

In the near future, mankind is still reeling from Second Impact, a global phenomenon which killed half the Earth's population and tilted the planet on its axis. An insecure 14-year-old boy, Shinji Ikari, is hired by his estranged father Gendo, leader of the government organization NERV, to pilot a bio-mechanical android Evangelion Unit-01 to defend the city of Tokyo-3 from monsters known as Angels. The series revolves around Shinji's interactions with the NERV personnel and discovering why he has been called to fight, while uncovering the mysteries behind NERV, Second Impact and Gendo's secret agenda.

History

Since the original series' debut in Japan in 1995, Evangelion has remained one of the most popular anime titles worldwide, spawning a number of feature films, spin-off manga and merchandise.

The first two episodes were originally shown on Cartoon Network's Toonami block during a special "Giant Robot Week" promotion in February 2003, which despite heavy content edits was the first time the series received national exposure on US television. The series later premiered on [adult swim] on October 20, 2005 where it ran for the most part uncut.

Credits

Original Story	GAINAX	U.S. Licensor	ADV Films
Director	Hideaki Anno	ADR Director	Amanda Winn Matt Greenfield
Producer	Noriko Kobayashi Yutaka Sugiyama
		ADR Script	Matt Greenfield
Planning	GAINAX
Character Design	Yoshiuki Sadamoto	English Voice Cast
Art Direction	Hiroshi Kato	Spike Spencer	Shinji Ikari
Mecha Design	Hideaki Anno Ikuto Yamashita	Amanda Winn Lee	Rei Ayanami
		Tiffany Grant	Asuka Langley Soryu
Director of Photography	Yoichi Kuroda	Allison Keith	Misato Katsuragi
Music Production	Starchild Records	Sue Ulu	Ritsuko Akagi
Animation Production	GAINAX Tatsunoko	Tristan MacAvery	Gendo Ikari
		Guil Lunde	Kouzou Fuyutsuki
Production	GAINAX NAS TV TOKYO	Aaron Krhon	Ryoji Kaji
		Joe Pisaro	Toji Suzujara
		Kurt Stoll	Kensuke Aida

Episodes

Warning: Episode summaries may contain spoilers.

1	Angel Attack (2/24/2003*; 10/20/2005) Shinji Ikari arrives at NERV headquarters in the middle of an Angel attack on Tokyo-3. His estranged father Gendo has brought him in as the pilot of an enormous mecha--Evangelion Unit-01--but will he accept?
2	Unfamiliar Ceiling/The Beast (2/25/2003*; 10/27/2005) The Angel has been defeated, and clean-up work on Tokyo-3 begins. NERV head of operations Misato Katsuragi offers to take Shinji home to live with her, and from there their awkward relationship begins.
3	The Phone That Never Rings/A Transfer (11/3/2005) It's Shinji's first day at his new school, and his role as an EVA pilot makes him popular with his classmates--except for one whose little sister was injured in the previous battle.
4	Rain, Escape and Afterwards/Hedgehog's Dilemma (11/10/2005) Shinji runs away from NERV after Misato chastises him for disobeying orders while fighting the Fourth Angel. Ritsuko describes their relationship as "hedgehog's dilemma"--the closer they are, the more they cause each other pain.
5	Rei, Beyond the Heart/Rei I (11/17/2005) Twenty-two days after a disastrous activation test, First Child Rei Ayanami is called in for another experiment. Shinji finds Rei is not very emotive (even when he accidentally sees her naked) but seems to get along with his father just fine. Meanwhile, research on the Fourth Angel finds it has DNA identical to humans.
6	Showdown in Tokyo-3/Rei II (11/24/2005) The Fifth Angel appears, and Shinji is badly injured when his EVA takes a direct shot to the chest. As he heals, Misato devises a plan to utilize all the electrical power in Japan to power up a JSDF prototype rifle, which ultimately depends on the teamwork of Rei and Shinji.
7	The Human Creation/A Human Work (12/1/2005) Misato and Ritsuko attend a presentation of a rival company's new alternative defense against the Angels, the atomic-powered pilot-less robot Jet Alone. But when it runs amok during activation, Shinji, in Unit-01, and Misato must race to stop it before its engine goes critical.
8	Asuka Strikes! (12/8/2005) Misato flies Shinji and his classmates out to where a UN naval fleet is carrying the newly assigned Unit-02. They meets its pilot, the boisterous Second Child Asuka Langley Soryu, who drags Shinji along for the ride when she takes on the Sixth Angel in her EVA.
9	With One Accord in a Flash/Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win! (12/15/2005) Unit-01 and Unit-02 battle the Seventh Angel, but its ability to divide into two identical halves is more than a match for either of them. The only way to defeat it is for Shinji and Asuka to pull off a perfectly synchronized attack pattern.
10	Magma Diver (12/22/2005) The Eighth Angel is discovered in its larval form deep in the Mt. Asama volcano. Asuka is sent down in Unit-02, which has been fitted with special heat-resistant Type-D armor, to capture the Angel before it can hatch.
11	In the Still Darkness/The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still (12/29/2005) The Ninth Angel attacks Tokyo-3 in the middle of a citywide power outage. Shinji, Rei and Asuka must navigate the access ports to get to Central Dogma as NERV personnel prepare to launch the EVAs manually.
12	The Value of a Miracle is.../She said, "Don't make others suffer for your personal hatred." (1/5/2005) Misato gets a promotion, and Shinji learns of her personal vendetta with the Angels and why she joined NERV. When the massive Tenth Angel is detected over Earth calculating its aim for a kamikaze attack on Tokyo-3, all three EVAs are sent out to intercept and destroy it.
13	Angel Invasion/Lilliputian Hitcher (1/12/2005) During a synchronization test with the three EVA pilots, the Eleventh Angel infiltrates NERV headquarters as microbiotic corrosion and hacks into the Magi supercomputers. Ritsuko must race against the clock to program a self-termination code to destroy the Angel and prevent the Magi from triggering a unanimous self-destruct.
14	SEELE, Throne of Souls/Weaving a Story (1/19/2006) Recapping the Angel attacks that have happened so far, the members of SEELE warn Gendo about acting independently from their plans. Ritsuko performs a test with Rei in Unit-01 and Shinji in Unit-00, during which Unit-00 goes berserk.
15	Lies and Silence/Those women longed for the touch of others' lips and thus invited their kisses. (1/27/2006) Shinji meets with Gendo to visit his mother's grave, while Asuka has a blind date and Kaji has an appointment in Kyoto. Later Kaji, Misato and Ritsuko attend a friend's wedding while Shinji and Asuka are left to amuse themselves.
16	Sickness Unto Death, and.../Splitting of the Breast (2/2/2006) All three EVAs are launched to battle the unusual Twelfth Angel. Conventional weapons prove useless as its "shadow" swallows everything in sight, and soon Shinji and Unit-01 are swallowed as well. Ritsuko formulates that Shinji is inside the Angel's "Sea of Durac" and must devise a rescue plan before Unit-01's life support systems give out.
17	The Fourth Child (2/9/2006) The second branch of NERV disappears with a flash of light in the Nevada desert, taking with it a new prototype S2 engine with an unlimited power supply. The US government requests that Unit-03 be sent to NERV headquarters in Japan as soon as possible as its pilot is finally chosen.
18	The Judgment of Life/Ambivalence (2/16/2006) Unit-03 is flown into Japan, but after it arrives it goes berserk during a routine test and mutates into the Thirteenth Angel. Shinji, still in the dark about the EVA's pilot, is the only one who can stop it, but his compassion for the person inside is more than Gendo's patience can take.
19	A Man's Fight/Introjection (2/23/2006) Disgusted that his father nearly killed his friend with the dummy plug in his own EVA, Shinji leaves NERV once more and vows never to pilot an EVA again. Shortly thereafter the Fourteenth Angel attacks Tokyo-3, and despite a valiant effort, Asuka and Rei are defeated, leaving Shinji with an important decision to make.
20	Form of Mind, Form of Man/Weaving a Story 2: Oral Stage (3/2/2006) NERV and the EVAs are heavily damaged from the Fourteenth Angel's attack, much to the chagrin of SEELE. Rei and a distraught Asuka are both safe, while Shinji has disappeared inside his EVA.
21	The Birth of NERV/He was aware that he was still a child. (3/9/2006) Misato is taken into custody when Kaji's actions fall under suspicion. SEELE, concerned with Unit-01 devouring the Fourteenth Angel's S2 engine and becoming a living god, interrogates Fuyutsuki, who recalls the time he met a man named Gendo Rokubungi and the events that led to the formation of NERV.
22	At Least, Be Humane/Don't Be. (3/16/2006) Asuka's synch ratio is falling, and she's taking out her loss of self-confidence as an EVA pilot on everyone around her. When the Fifteenth Angel appears over Earth, Asuka disobeys orders in an attempt to get back in the spotlight...but is totally unprepared when the Angel's telepathic mental attack digs up some traumatic childhood memories.
23	Tears/Rei III (3/23/2006) When Asuka is helpless and Shinji proves no match, Rei sacrifices herself and Unit-00 to save Shinji and defeat the Sixteenth Angel. Miraculously, she survives the battle...but why does she have no memory of it?
24	The Final Messenger/The Beginning and the End, or "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (3/30/2006) With Asuka in a catatonic state, NERV searches for a replacement pilot for Unit-02. Enter the unusual Fifth Child, Kaworu Nagisa, who makes quick friends with a lonely Shinji. Kaworu is revealed as The Seventeenth Angel, and when he uses Unit-02 to infiltrate Terminal Dogma, Shinji is forced to destroy someone he once trusted.
25	The End of the World/Do you love me? (4/6/2006) The final Angel has been defeated, and Shinji is in a pit of self-loathing for killing Kaworu. Instrumentality begins, where the souls of mankind merge into one being. Shinji, Asuka, Rei and Misato ponder their reason for living, while Shinji finds he has inadvertently wished for a world of nothingness.
26	The Beast that Shouted "I" at the Heart of the World/Take care of yourself. (4/13/2006) As instrumentality continues, Shinji feels he is useless when he is not piloting an EVA, and finds that in a world of nothingness he has freedom but no identity. When he is shown a world where he is not an EVA pilot, he comes to realize that the world can change with one's perspective and promptly comes out of his protective shell.

*Air dates during "Giant Robot Week".