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There was a thread here recently about people new to anime being too eager to give out 10s.

That would be me.

One poster suggested that one day, those people would find an anime so good they are forced to revise their previous opinions to fit their new definition of what deserves a 10.

That would be Steins;Gate.

Just a little backstory: I recently took a family trip to New York, decided I'd put a few episodes of different series with me to watch on the plane trips over and back; all of FLCL, a few episodes of Madoka, that sort of thing. Steins;Gate was a late addition to ... this list, the last in fact. I had about three episodes with me to get a taster, then just before I left, on a whim, I deleted pretty much all the music on my iPod and threw the entire series on there. I love my little whims.

I still don't know exactly why I did it, this series takes the whole "Watch the first three episodes" advice and throws it out the window, there is nothing particularly spectacular about the opening three. I remember reading somewhere that the plot gets "really intense around episode 11", and while I don't remember exactly what happens in episode 11, it was around that point that the show stepped into its stride. Yet there's something desperately compelling about Steins;Gate, even from its very beginning, I can't quite put my finger on it, maybe it's the brilliant characterisation and interaction, but whatever it is, it's there.

Animation:

While I'm not exactly drawing from a massive reference pool here, I can safely say that Steins;Gate has some of the best animation I've ever seen, second only to what I've watched of Guilty Crown in this regard. It's crisp, clear and neat. The look of some of the characters takes a bit of getting used to, Mayuri for one, but there's really no complaint that can be made here.

Sound:

Firstly, I have to declare my love of the opening theme, even after 24 episodes of it, I sometimes found myself going back again and again to listen over and over. Other than that, I can't say I really noticed the music at many points. I appreciate this actually, it never tried to steal the show, but instead just contributed to the atmosphere of the show.

Story:

Starts out fairly simple really, a few guys and gals make a machine that can send text messages to the past, and the story follows the consequences and potential of this, by and large. However, as usual, where time travel is involved, the plot will inevitable convolute (Is that a word?), and it does so in a delightfully interesting fashion. There's no waste or filler episodes, the entire series is one big arc, and all ends are tied up nicely. Once it gets going, Steins;Gate progresses at a nice pace, it never feels rushed or sags, so I can't really complain in any way about the pacing. It takes certain situations, and leads them in a way that makes you predict the conclusion, then takes a radical twist at the last second. It's a fantastic way of keeping the viewers' attention, and I'm raving like a fangirl now. The show does get almost episodic in the late teen episodes as it focuses on certain characters, but it never loses sight of the final post.

All I'll say is that the last two episodes are odd, and nearly out of place. Other than a surprise cameo at the very end, the last few minutes of episode 22 would make for a typical ending, but I'm glad they opted to bring the sort of end they did.

Character:

This is where the show truly shines, and elevates itself head and shoulders above pretty much every show I've ever seen. Every character here could get a story by themselves, but it's the way we experience the snippets of each that we do that truly makes us sympathise with Okabe, one of the most "normal", but ultimately compelling main characters I know.

Overall:

I had five hours left on the plane home, five hours left and more than one unwatched series, all of I'd been so eager to watch before I left. But I just couldn't. The program that I thought was so overrated six episodes in affected me to the point where I couldn't do anything other than sit back and digest it for the rest of the journey. Once I got home, my mean score was cut by a full point as I had to adjust my list to the new standard. So I don't really think it's necessary to end this review with any more waxing lyrical, instead, I'd like to give a message, to all the anime makers of the world: The bar's been set baby! Come and wow me.

I don't really know why I'm starting off with this one to review. Hell, I don't even know why I'm reviewing anything at all, it's 2am, Christmas Day. But NGE especially, as even from my limited knowledge of anime, it's probably the most divisive ever made. And to quote my previous sentence, "my limited knowledge of anime" makes this review even more fragile.

No matter what I put, there will obviously be people who disagree, and people who ignore this based on my inexperience. I'm going to try use this to my advantage; NGE is always one of the first animes mentioned in any newcomer thread ... I've seen, so I'll approach it like that: as a relative newcomer to the anime scene. So, without further ado:

Neon Genesis Evangelion doesn't really explain much in the opening episode. About a year ago I watched the pilot, thought "that's fairly cool", and then dropped it, so if you want to get a proper sense of it, watch the first three consecutively. Not only does this give you a better handle on what the hell's going on, they also give a bit of a preview of what you're dealing with here. The fight in the third episode is rather dark for the first half of the series, but it is more indicative of the latter half.

Anyways, the story is fairly simple, at least to begin with. A catastrophe known as Second Impact kills half the world's population, and 15 years later, giant monsters known as Angels attack Tokyo-3, the residence of our resident hero, Shinji Ikari. Shinji gets taken to his estranged father's workplace, is shown a giant robot and a barely living pilot of said giant robot, and is basically told to stop being such a whiny bitch and get in.

"Thus begins an epic tale, an almost Shakespearean bildungsroman, and a harrowing look into the deepest recesses of the mind..."

In other words, that's when stuff starts going down.

One thing I'd like to clarify before I continue. Evangelion isn't completely bleak from start to finish, I'd argue that episodes 7 to 15 are actually fairly lightweight for the most part. That's not to knock it though, episode 9 is still one of my favourites, but it's the last minutes of episode 15 that really kick the show into gear, and THUS begins the NGE that everyone remembers. I remember checking the Wiki entry for the show when I was about 10 episodes in, and going "Horror? Where's the horror?" Trust me, there's horror enough in the later episodes. And if that isn't good enough for you, get EoE.

The once-simple story quickly gets too complicated to summarise without major spoilers, so I'll leave it to you, suffice to say it contains enough "...the ****?" moments for all the family.

The characters. Oh boy, the characters. Yeah, here's where most of the controversy over the show comes in. Shinji's defining characteristic by the end is his angst, Asuka's is being a massive bitch, and Rei's is the whole utterly lacking a personality thing. That said, I loved them. Yup, I could forgive them for their unlikable qualities, and genuinely root for and relate to them. Maybe not all the time, but they all have their reasons for turning out the way they do, and I think it's a fairly realistic depiction of how most of us would actually react, if we were in their positions.

The art work is great, if a tiny bit dated. It's only an issue if you watch Rebuild first though, and it's in no way a wreck. However, as I've said, I'm a newbie, so don't take my word for it. I don't really know enough here to comment so I won't. All I'll say is, for the sake of your own enjoyment, don't over-analyse the crossplosions.

The music, for the most part, is pretty good. The soundtrack is usually fairly standard, the opening theme is brilliant, and I love the covers of Fly Me To the Moon. Thing is, as TVTropes will tell you, NGE is very fond of what's called "Soundtrack Dissonance", where they play beautiful, soothing music over horrific moments. It's done very well indeed and is usually massively unsettling. There's one particular scene in the show when a major character gets their mind torn to shreds and their horrifying past laid bare to a rather jaunty rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus. It's a scene that, to paraphrase Yahtzee Croshaw "Gripped me by the balls", even while it got almost too depressing to watch.

All in all, Neon Genesis Evangelion got to me. I loved the characters, loved the story, and it really made me think, so I can't really give it anything less than a 9 (It's not perfect, so I can't quite give it a 10, but the issues are really too minor to mention and it's easily a 9.9). It's a must-watch, as far as this beginner's concerned, and I hope this wasn't too terrible of a review to do it justice!