Call me crazy but imo it's worth watching the entire series just so that you can then properly enjoy EoE -- which is surely one of the greatest animated films ever made.

Nah.

I'd push things like Spirited Away or Tokyo Godfathers first, as far as anime-movies go actually.

EoE is good for the Evangelion fans. But honestly, Tokyo Godfathers hit me way harder.

EoE probably doesn't even hit my top 5 list of anime movies.

#1: Spirited Away

#2: Tokyo Godfathers

#3: Girl who Leapt through Time

#4: Summer Wars

#5: "Voices of a Distant Star" for #5? Hmm, or maybe "Time of Eve" ?? A lot of things I wanna fit in here but not EoE yet.

Not even getting to the "classics" like Akira, Eden of the East, Ghost in a Shell or whatever. These above movies have some mainstream appeal but still manage to hit that thoughtful analysis and depth. I'd still put something like Ghost in a Shell or "Your Name" above EoE...

There are also 'kid anime movies' like Patema Inverted that really were excellent and deserve recognition.

EoE is niche and fine for Evangelion fans though. Absolutely beautiful, and some of the best fight scenes I've ever seen. But you gotta see some of the __good anime movies__ out there. They all stand above EoE IMO.

meh, I found Girl who Leapt through Time, Summer Wars, and Your Name to be pretty forgettable. Spirited Away, Tokyo Godfathers, and Akira are obviously classics, but none of them have made quite as deep an impression on me as EoE. I guess it hinges on which themes are most personally meaningful to you.

I'm one of the few Evangelion watchers who prefer the original series ending over EoE.

I mean, the scribbles are pretty out there, but the core concept written is about Shinji coming out of his depression thanks to human instrumentality project. Its a bit magical and I don't think depression works like that... but the optimism that you can talk through your problems with your peers is a good message.

It was a muddled ending with a weird storytelling style with a studio that obviously was running out of money. But it got the point across, to me anyway.

More so than the alternative ending, which I do realize more fans seem to enjoy because its got a really good fight scene in it. But the message of EoE is even more muddled and seems to just becomes an extreme parody of itself.

Evangelion always was very much introspective, but EoE crosses the line into navel-gazing. ROT13: V zrna, Fuvawv vf na nffubyr 13 lrne byq. Ohg... znfgheongvat va sebag bs na hapbafpvbhf Nfhxn? Zvfngb naq Xnwv'f frk fprar jvgu Fuvawv jngpuvat bire vg, qrpvqvat jurgure be abg gb xvyy rirelbar?

Like, there's a limit to what I can believe, and I do think that EoE crosses a line. I'm sure a young boy like Shinji can feel bad about his awakened sexual desires but... whooo boy. That's pretty out there.

I agree completely, I watched the original without knowing much about it going in and thought the ending was incredible. The ending of EoE on the other hand is way too self indulgent to me. I don't know if it's because I was younger when I first watched it so it had a different impression on me, but I even prefer the original ending over the ending of the Rebuilds.

I agree, I didn’t like it at first because everyone else told me to dislike it. It’s a lot more cerebral and less eye candy and has different interpretations.

I didn’t see welcome to the NHK or serial experiments lain! Not a fan of them?

Never saw them. Hard to like what I haven't seen, lol.

You might really like it! WTTNHK is a critique of Japanese, Otaku, and about aimlessenss, isolation and pananoia. SEL is about technology and out digital selves.