The story is set in 2015, 15 years after the Second Impact in which monsters known as ANGELS firsted appeared on Earth. By 2015 a special agency, NERV, developed mankind's defense against the ANGELS, Evangelion.

Piloted by 14 year old children, the safety of the world rests in their hands.

Neon Genesis Evangelion has set its own standard of animation where the 'heroes' of the series are not what they seem. The main focus of the series is about how NERV combats the ANGELS, however, underneath the surface there are conspiracies, secret agendas, spies and generally a feeling of distrust amongst the lead characters towards each other.

The movie titled: Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth cover the entire T.V. series and gives a quick overview of Evangelion.

Here are the pilots of Evangelion:

Appears in the 1^st episode. He is the son of Gendo Ikari. He has a mainly hate relationship with his father since he was abandoned at a young age. In the beginning he is very quiet and alone. As the series continue we get to see why Shinji acts the way he does. He is pilot of Evangelion Unit 01.

Appears in the 1^st episode but properly introduced in the 5^th episode. There is a mystery to Rei's background and she lives alone. Rei shows almost no understanding of human emotion except towards Gendo Ikari. During the series she develops more compassion and understanding of humans. She is the pilot of Evangelion Unit 00.

Appears in the 8^th episode. She is seen as arrogant, headstrong and stubborn. She like to have her own way everything from which room she likes to her choice of friends. Later episodes explains the reason behind her unusual behaviour. She is the pilot of Evangelion Unit 02.

Appears in the 1^st episode. He is the director of NERV and has control of all its operations. He is also behind the development of the Evangelion Units. Gendo is seen as a strict man with little compassion, especially abandoning his son, Shinji when he was very young. He only cares about Rei Ayanami and he hides many secrets that are revealed near the end of the series.

Appears in the first episode. At first Misato was a Captain at NERV then later got promoted to Major and was given control of all the Evangelion Units operations. Unlike the other main characters, Misato has a bright and cherry nature outside of work. However, when ANGELS strikes, her intelligence and quick thinking make her a resourceful leader.

Appears in the 1^st episode. She controls the Magi system - three supercomputers that govern the lives of everybody in Tokyo 3. She also anaylses the data from all Evangelion Units. Ritsuko has a nice personality and is best friends with Misato. Like Misato, both women are dedicated to their jobs and display great leadership skills even in the thick of battle. Ritsuko took over her mother's position in NERV when her mother mysteriously dies.

If you haven't watched Neon Genesis Evangelion do get it out as it is a great show with many twists and brain taxing problems to think about. It may also provoke some deep, dark secrets about ourselves.

AND try to watch the subbed version because the voices sound more `right'.

Reviewed by Anime Esper