Shinseiki Evangelion, Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou - Anime Recommendations

How do you compare a mecha and a school romance? It's quite easy to do when they both have the same director ;) . I always viewed "Kare Kano" as a companion piece to "Neon Genesis Evangelion", and I'm sure there are many who agree with me. Both should be watched to really get into the head of one of the best anime directors of our era, Hideaki Anno. While "Neon Genesis Evangelion" slowly and steadily broke down and finally destroyed it's characters, "Kare Kano" starts with some broken and empty people, and truly brings them up. It slowly raises up these oh so human characters. It's important to note NGE was made before Kare Kano, so i suggest you watch them in that order ;) . Both series psychoanalyze their characters. Both series have emphasis on character development, fleshing out their characters, and in essence both are actually just character dramas at their hearts. While NGE has mecha, and Kare Kano has romance, both are better looked at as dramas. Both series are very psychological, a little philosophical and have very deep characters. Also the characters in all these are realistic people, with their own self-doubts, fears, anxieties and problems. And many characters could even be considered to have some mental disorders! A few need the aid of a good phycologist sooner rather then later. The artwork and character designs in both look a lot alike, although this sin't surprising since both series were animated by Gainax. Both series also have a similar music style, also not very surprising since they both had Shiro Sagisu on board for their music. Both series have a lot of Anno's distinctive charms (such as good use of still images, use of photographs and videos of real life, and many common motifs are found in both series [eg emphasis on power lines]). Both series also must deal with a screwed up budget at times. But he handles both series very well despite the money troubles. At least as best as he could. I doubt many directors could pull off something like these shows, if they had to deal with the problems Anno did. Most importantly both series are straight from the heart. You can just feel the emotion Anno put into each of these series. You can sort of feel what he felt, understand what he went through, and really get into his mind. Also both shows are very smart series, and best watched if you can either relate to young teenagers and their issues, or if you yourself is one. But don't think that's going to stop them from showing you some dark, depressing, and disturbing things now and again. And they are still very mature shows. But the emotion seems to only hit you correctly if you can think like a teenager at times (or are one yourself). So if your looking for something else to watch after being blown aware by the masterpiece that is "Neon Genesis Evangelion", look no further then the slightly flawed, but still brilliant in it's own right, "Kare Kano". read more

report Recommended by Prede

Gainax + Hideaki Anno productions, with almost identical animation and style. Even though one is a romantic school comedy and the other is a mecha series, both have psychological depth. Karekano may seem light hearted, but it can get pretty serious when necessary. Both of these series have teenagers as protagonists, but don't ignore the life and problems of the adult characters around them. They also have several themes in common: dramatic family issues, being alone, wanting to be accepted, hiding one's true self, etc. Lastly, both anime, despite being mostly solid, are quite incomplete and inferior to their manga counterparts, and will leave you "wtf?" at the end.

report Recommended by RenaPsychoKiller

Both were animated by Gainax and featured Hideaki Anno as an important member of staff. They are both dramas that explore the pysche of their main characters. Lastly, they both use unique animation techniques, such as still images of writing, to convey messages about the character's state of mind

report Recommended by TVC15

They have Anno's hand. First you will watch kare Kano expecting a typical Shoujo Anime, but if you pay attention on it, kare Kano is a great piece of art. The Soundtracks were made by Shiro Sagisu, just as Evangelion * Actually Kare Kano's soundtrack is on Evangelion rebuild 2.0* I always tell people to pay attention on it, Kare Kano is not a simple shoujo anime, it is a great show, its deep.

report Recommended by ClaraB

While both have very different plots, kare kano and Neo Genesis Evangelion are very similar in the psychological aspect, Both main characters have to deal a lot with their personal problems. Looking past all the action in NGE and all the comedy in Kare Kano, both anime have a deeper meaning.

report Recommended by salujas

- Same Studio and the same Director (Anno Hideaki). - Despite the plot and setting are parallel to each other, similar vibes and themes overlap between the two series. - When elements of the Psychological genre arise, it is stylized in the same way Evangelion is. - The main male lead questions his morality and is tied down by his past (distressing relationships with family members - just like Shinji Ikari). - Both series are quite dark, although Kare Kano is definitely more lighthearted.

report Recommended by HughesyV

First of all both are directed by Hideaki Anno, so there are gonna be obvious parallels simply due to the style of directing and what Anno likes to portray in his works. Moving beyond that, Anno very clearly made the series his own, a lot of the character analysis prominent in the latter half of Evangelion appear once again and are faced with coming out of their shells in a similar manner to the characters of Evangelion. Another theme carried over from Evangelion is the theme of accepting both yourself and others, something the characters in Evangelion never quite manage to do until it’s far too read more

report Recommended by KlldbyCuriosity

I certainly wobn't be the last person to compare Kare Kano & Evangelion. But the two shows are actually more similar than meets the eye. They share the same director, 'Hideaki Anno", so they share a similar style of cinematography & shot composistion. Kare Kano also contains the studying of human psyche & how it affects the characters in their day to day lives like Eva does. It also has a similar style of music thanks to Shirou Sagisu returnng to do the score. Take this more as me recommending Kare Kano to Eva fans more so than recommending Eva to Kare Kano fans.

report Recommended by unimportantuser

Though mecha and romantic comedy have little in common, Kare Kano is not a normal romantic comedy. Made by the same director of Evangelion, Hideaki Anno, Kare Kano is loaded with long scenes of introspection, incredibly complex and nuanced characters, and visual symbolism that will get stuck in your head forever. In other words, it's probably the show most similar to Evangelion in both style and substance. Don't be fooled by the 7.6 score: this show is criminally underrated because of its inconclusive ending episodes (just like the Evangelion TV series!), which aren't even bad, though they don't quite live up to the glory of read more

report Recommended by GoddessOfSwans

Shinseiki Evangelion, Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou Recommendations

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