Neon Genesis Evangelion, Volume 1

It's kind of a weird experience reading a story set in a post-apocalyptic 2015, when it is 2015 in reality and we didn't have a global cataclysm at the turn of the millenium. Ignoring the obvious dissonance between the fictional and alternate realities, the story of giant robots battling alien angels is one which I am less interested in now as I was in high school (when anything anime was a novelty) and I first watched some episodes of the series and added this book to my reading list. Technically, it's a good story as far as mecha-based anime goes, since the focus is less about the post-apocalyptic world and robot battles and more about the character development of the young pilots, but I still don't really have any interest in show more pursuing the entire series. show less

I don't know what I was expecting when I grabbed this, thinking, "Maybe this will help me finally understand some of the parts of the NGE anime and movies that I don't get!" I mean, same author...it's really just a doubling down, so far, on exactly what I saw on screen. Maybe the later issues will be more helpful.

I did appreciate the little "author's note" at the end, which gave a little weird glimpse into Hideaki Anno's brain. It actually did sort of explain some things, though not in the way he intended, I think. "I feel I am being irresponsible." Ok, then.

Good start to the series. I particularly like the changes that [a:Yoshiyuki Sadamoto|164714|Yoshiyuki Sadamoto|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1274725162p2/164714.jpg] made to Shinji for the manga version. I've kind of realized that certain character personalities work better as written characters (whether in prose fiction or in sequential art), and others work better in motion mediums (like anime or live action film). The characterization changes just work better here.

The one complaint I have is that I lose track of the action in some of the action sequences, particularly when the military is attempting to stop the Angel in its first attack (and failing).

2007 Review:


after watching the anime, I thought it was time to read the manga. A series as full of hopelessness and despair as the creator was during his 4 year mental breakdown. Rejects and castoffs trying to save the world. All hope and optimism are gone. I am going to try to read up to the current volume[#9 I believe]. Depends on if the local libraries have them or not.

I originally watched the anime series and fell in love with the complexity of the plot and the singular uniqueness of the Evas. However, it left me with more questions.

This manga offers succinctness and clarity in all the places where the anime did not. The quality of the art is top notch and consistent with the feel of the anime version. Also, this edition offers a phonetic glossary of the katakana and hiragana FX text along with the sound it is meant to represent. This became increasingly interesting and helpful as many of the characters are a vague memory for me. I am anxious to see how the remainder of the currently available 10 volumes will stack up, but this first installment is pleasantly encouraging.

I don't know. This story is so ingrained in me as an early anime I saw. Reading the manga was interesting. Still processing.

Not bad. Sometimes the action was hard to make out, I suspect in part due to the fact I'm still getting used to looking at it from right to left. I suspect while it doesn't take too long to get used to reading the text but there's something more subtle going on with processing movement. I might read the next one or two, although I'm not terribly compelled to do so yet.