Creators: Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Gainax
Translation: Mari Morimoto
Adaptation: Fred Burke
Publisher: Viz
Age Rating: Older Teen
Genres: Sci-Fi, Action
RRP: $15.95
Evangelion Collector's Edition v1: Neon Genesis Evangelion Special Collector's Edition v1
Reviewed by David Rasmussen

Yeah. Call me jaded, but somehow after being subjected to so many so-called "controversial" things, I'm becoming really unaffected by things that are "controversial." Anyway, if you're picking this up, it's more because it is almost consistently recommended by people, and not because of some sort of controversy. Controversy is short-lived (if you want proof of that let's see if you can remember past controversies like The Da Vinci Code, NARC the video game, or whatever the last three American Idol controversies were).

This "manga," touted by the back cover as "not simply a retelling of the Japanese animation series" (which would actually sound impressive if a lot of manga/animes were not matching set pieces 100% of the time), this "version" is supposed to be Evangelion co-creator Yoshiyuki Sarasota's "subtly diverging interpretation..." Well I didn't make a page-by-page comparision between a previous version I have in comic format and this, but… hmm… I'll take it that they're in fact right when they say things like that. I guess.

The controversy has a religious slant if I remember right, something about God getting all weird and deciding he needs to send large powerful mechs codenamed "Angels" (with actual angels piloting them) down to reality to "retake existence" or something like that, slaughtering billions in the process. Yeah, that's such a nice God… not.

It's 2015 when this starts and the Angels have returned, and it's not to bring glad tidings of great joy. Into this fray comes one Shinji Ikari, a 14-year-old waste of space who seems to have nothing but bad things going on with him.

His dad is a loser who is more interested in the hot piece of tail that is his creepy distant female Rei than his own flesh-and-blood child. The hot female he ends up getting picked up by is a large bundle of dysfunctional (though even I could find something to love about her).

Shinji barely sets foot in the series and getting to know the cast and already he's getting peer-pressured by his uncaring dad into combat in one of the huge Evangelion mechs versus an Angel (and boy does that suck as he ends up getting dragged through hell fighting it).

And then as if to point at the ills of things to come he manages to make it through his first trial by firefight, only to see his own dad hovering over Rei's hospital bed like some lecherous creep... yeah, if you are an Evangelion diehard you know why, but I can safely claim not to be one so I can mock the hell out of him all I want. Pervert! Pervert! Fuzzy-faced glasses-wearing freak is a pervert!! Nyah-nyah!! So if Shinji was hoping he'd somehow bond with his dad after making such a fuss about piloting the EVA mech thing, then managing to get through said fight... yeah, don't worry Shinji, even if you didn't make a whiney fuss and did exactly what you were told I'm betting you'd have been ignored all the same by your broken dad.

OK, so I'm mocking this, but it is still what it is, a solidly done series that has won many fans for strong writing, great artwork, characters you can really get attached to, and action/drama that just rules. People are not placing this series consistently on their recommendations lists for nothing, you know. Too bad the video game companies haven't caught on since the only games for this series for the most part are in Japan only (partically none have been ported into English yet as far as I know about it).

So with that said. this is a recommendable read if you are already fans of the Anime series, or are Evangelion-curious. A B+, enjoy.

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6 October 2009
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