It's been days since I finished watching all the Evangelion episodes and movies, and I'm still depressed. Don't feel like talking to anyone, don't feel like eating, going out, playing videogames, nothing. :-(

'Da frell!?? Cheer the frack up! Say no to emo! lulz!

Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 1


It's been days since I finished watching all the Evangelion episodes and movies, and I'm still depressed. Don't feel like talking to anyone, don't feel like eating, going out, playing videogames, nothing. :-(

You registered just to say that?
Lol, just get over it. Some anime may leave you depressed, but then you realize it's a drawing that has been entirely made up, and you get on with life.

see. that's why people should never make evangelion their first anime. you should get into dbz first or sailor moon. naruto or bleach. these anime give hope at one point or another to pull through tough situations. these translate to not cutting yourself irl.

but eva? no no. that's too advanced for you young whipper snappers. people who aren't ready for it are most likely to end their lives for lack of enough anime experience.

might i recommend pokemon the anime? very good. and full of hopes and dreams.

I'm 19 and this isn't my first anime (in fact I've known about it since I was a kid). Eva's definitely the most depressing thing I've ever seen though, anime or non. Anyway I made the post to hopefully spur some Eva discussion, but you guys apparently have some sort of superiority complex, so I'll take the topic elsewhere

Is it really that bad? I never saw the ending to that series--or any movies. My interest tried to keep it, but I always wound up changing the channel to something else or playing a video game.

I've heard that Shinji became a non-well liked character.

Perhaps I should go youtube it...

I'm 19 and this isn't my first anime (in fact I've known about it since I was a kid). Eva's definitely the most depressing thing I've ever seen though, anime or non. Anyway I made the post to hopefully spur some Eva discussion, but you guys apparently have some sort of superiority complex, so I'll take the topic elsewhere

While I do agree that these guys were being cunts, half the blame is yours. Nothing in your post indicates a desire for discussion or sets a direction for it. All you did was post a thread saying "Eva made me depressed."

I'm going to leave this open so anyone who actually wants to seriously discuss the show can post in it, but the bullshit ends now. Either make something of the thread or let it die.

lol. kill my fun why dont ya! hmph!

so how bout them new movies? lol

lol. kill my fun why dont ya! hmph!

so how bout them new movies? lol

the new movieS? How many are there? I know that there was an announcement (or maybe a rumour that has now been conformed) about the live action movie.

All I can say about the continual revival of this series is... say hello to another decade of expensive merchandise.

There are 3 new movies being made, the last being comprised of two distinct section similar to Death and Rebirth (although both parts will feature original material rather then one being a re-cap). The movies serve as a retelling of the original series while changing a few plot points. In other words it's not really a must see for anyone but Evangelion fans.

OH GOD!!!

I still don't understand how people can like this Anime - Then again, there's people who love Prince of Tennis :rolleyes:

As most people have said, this is a bad Anime to start with.
Depending on how you want to get into Anime, you can either be a regular fan or a true connoisseur

A regular fan starts by watching the stuff on TV, and will make those anime the staple of comparison to all other anime titles from then on. There's nothing wrong with that except for the fact that the anime chosen for TV are the polished titles that are chosen for their instant popularity factors - i.e: character cuteness/coolness, similar story elements, etc...

A connoisseur tends to start with either classics, diamond-in-the-rough, or new releases, and builds from there.
Classics allow you to see the progression of anime from the past till now. Classics are hard to get into since animes have evolved dramatically. It's an acquired taste, but will let you appreciate todays animes even more.
Diamond-in-the-Rough titles are the anime that aren't so popular because of their crappy animation or hero/villians, but tend to have good plots. You've got to look for these.
New Releases speak for themselves.

Either way go about it, it's an expensive hobby to keep up with. I used to be a connoisseur, but stopped when the "popular" animes became cookie cutters for dozens of copycats - some good, most bad. Now I'm just a regular fan and very picky about what I buy.

I wouldn't put eva in the same class with Prince of Tennis. Though I do agree the initial small cult following has turned into an overblown fanbase community, I do not agree it's a bad show.

I tend to watch them as they come; usually trying to pick up two or three new shows every quarter season.

eva in same league with prince of tennis? that is just outrageous! prince of tennis is like one of those anime that charaters gets stonger by getting into tough situation, whereas eva is more deep with emotions and shows more details of the characters' emotion with graphics in more reallistic ways. and the details of damaged objects are really great. plus eva not exactly the best anime to start with (as said above) because eva is quite different than some of the classical fight-and-get-tougher stuff.
while, prince of tennis seemed to be quite realistical at first, using techniques that are actually possible in real life (although it made the skills more extreme than it is) near the end, it started to get really unrealistic like (not sure how to say in eng) tezuka zone?( all the hit tennis balls are directed toward tezuka no matter what..), Ryoma's drive-A, tornado smash?. those are just wtf.

also i do agree that eva is somewhat depressing, but compared to really depressing anime......its not that depressing to make you skip everything.
if you want to get less depressed by those kinds of anime, the only way is to watch more depressing anime to get used to the depressing emotion i think lol



i suggest ef - a tale of memories, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, and Air.

lots of people said they found Air really romantic.....so not true for me.

if you havent watched it, that will really get you depressed.

why? well... the main character gives his life to save someone! not like dying but kind of pass on the life force should i say? and they die a couple of times?
i cant even remember how weird and depressing that was.
air gotta be the most depressing anime i watched.

if anyone want to get cheered up from depression, i really really strongly suggest :Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (aka: Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi) and Ouran Highschool Host Club.
these two are just non stop laughs. :)

ps: prak// you're quite right so i gave 3 quite depressing animes

Vincentre// Shinji was non-likable ass from the start and he gets more rational/active near the end (still messed up character no matte what)

synce// 19 and depressed with eva... you need to get out and see the world around you. marriage split up with children not knowing who to live with, people you know dying...if these happened in an anime, it would be like a ten sec to minute long flashback, but in real life, it stays with you forever. try living with that.

If you want an 'Eva Epic' that isn't 'Eva', I recommend Noein.

Eva rip #2432-
"Eva is like Macross on a really, REALLY bad acid trip!"

If it really depressed you, then you could still become emo or something like that xD

Ionnoo~. Haibane Renmai pulled my heartstrings in wonderfully terrible ways. (course I never saw eva... <.< so I couldn't really compare).

I always found Eva to be tremendously uplifting. "At least you're not Shinji."

I'm 19 and this isn't my first anime (in fact I've known about it since I was a kid). Eva's definitely the most depressing thing I've ever seen though, anime or non.
lul, imo evangelion isnt so depresing, more like dramatic/confusing/strange, but not depresing :D
End episode of Berserk - thats depressing - try it out : D
and if u whant something more, try "requiem for a dream" in non-anime : D

cheer up dude, there is lot of things that you should be happy of. : D
<high-fives>

The ending to the series didn't leave me depressed, I actually found it to be a bit uplifting. Although it took me some time to figure out what the bloody hell had just taken place.

As for the movie, End of Eva, yeah that's a depression-fest for you. Best bet is to crank up some happy tunes and move on.


End episode of Berserk - thats depressing - try it out : D

I was going to say that dammit! But seriously, the ending to Berserk is pretty fudged up.

My friends worn me about Berserk...I didn't listen. Now I wished I never saw it. It started good then the story went to hell in like 2 episodes...literally.

It's been days since I finished watching all the Evangelion episodes and movies, and I'm still depressed. Don't feel like talking to anyone, don't feel like eating, going out, playing videogames, nothing. :-(

Um a bit drastic much to sacrifice your health over ficitional characters? lol

Gosh I was sad for Rei Ayanami, but I didn't go that far lol XD.

The ending to the series didn't leave me depressed, I actually found it to be a bit uplifting. Although it took me some time to figure out what the bloody hell had just taken place.

As for the movie, End of Eva, yeah that's a depression-fest for you. Best bet is to crank up some happy tunes and move on.



I was going to say that dammit! But seriously, the ending to Berserk is pretty fudged up.

I just watched Evangelion and the movies.

I am not depressed though I am not exactly sure what exactly went on in the last two episodes.

Anyone care to explain it?

even so i still like animes

I missed the last episode. im still mad about that.

EDIT:

I got the platnium addition and finished last night.
It really is one of the most depreasing things I've ever watched.
Afterwards I didn't feel like I wanted to continue living,
And It made think myself into some odd depressive state.
I need to whatch it again.
I still have unanswered questions

From what I've seen of this series, which is only the first seven episodes, all I can bring myself to feel about it right now is indifferent.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not assuming at this point it's a bad series or anything. And possibly my expectations are too high at this stage. But is it just me in thinking this show starts off at a snails pace? So far, the plot doesn't seem to be going anywhere. And while I'm sure it must pick up at some point, the wait seems unnecessarily long.

If you found Evangelion depressing then do yourself a favor and never ever watch Grave of the Fireflies, even though its a very good movie, it's also very depressing.

Evangelion.... could have been better. I dont care what anyone else saids, YOU know why!! freedom of speech!.

From what I've seen of this series, which is only the first seven episodes, all I can bring myself to feel about it right now is indifferent.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not assuming at this point it's a bad series or anything. And possibly my expectations are too high at this stage. But is it just me in thinking this show starts off at a snails pace? So far, the plot doesn't seem to be going anywhere. And while I'm sure it must pick up at some point, the wait seems unnecessarily long.
The story begins to tumble downhill roughly halfway through, by which I mean the characters' lives descend irrevocably to shit. The director's too, if I remember correctly. Specifically it's this reflection of art on life that I love most.

edit, hah forgot my original intention in posting:
So yeah, if you only saw the first ten or so episodes, you missed out on the tumble.

I'll bear that in mind. Thanks for the input there.

The story is mainly an incoherent mess with whole sections that are never properly explained and plot points that contradict previous plot points. It's the characters that make the show.

The story is mainly an incoherent mess with whole sections that are never properly explained and plot points that contradict previous plot points. It's the characters that make the show.

PLEASE EXPAND ON THAT

I AM CURIOUS

On which part?

whole sections that are never properly explained and plot points that contradict previous plot points

Quite a lot of things aren't properly explained.

*spoilers*

Why all the pilots are 14 years old, who Seele are, how the Dead Sea Scrolls are able to predict the future, how Gendo was able to transfer Rei's soul from body to body, the Lance of Longinus, the differences between the goals of Seele, Gendo and the angels (as it is it appears as if they want the exact same thing, yet are trying to stop each other anyway) are all things just off the top of my head that have no real explanation at all within the show. As for the contradictions, the two that I remember the most are when Gendo describes the Adam embryo as "The first human being" (That is actually Lilith, a fact that Gendo is supposedly aware of) and when Rei's soul is shown to be the one inside Unit 00 (presumably from when the first Rei died), even though Ritsuko states that Rei only has one soul that is transfered across the Rei clones when each die.

*/spoilers*

There is a limit to how many things you can leave up to interpretation in a series without it just plain not making sense.

It's definitely sounding to me like this series is hugely over rated.

That said though, I'll stick with it for a bit longer before jumping to any definite conclusions. If indeed it's the character development that's the most decent thing about the show, that's a good enough reason for me to give it more of a chance.

Quite a lot of things aren't properly explained.

*spoilers*

Why all the pilots are 14 years old, who Seele are, how the Dead Sea Scrolls are able to predict the future, how Gendo was able to transfer Rei's soul from body to body, the Lance of Longinus, the differences between the goals of Seele, Gendo and the angels (as it is it appears as if they want the exact same thing, yet are trying to stop each other anyway) are all things just off the top of my head that have no real explanation at all within the show. As for the contradictions, the two that I remember the most are when Gendo describes the Adam embryo as "The first human being" (That is actually Lilith, a fact that Gendo is supposedly aware of) and when Rei's soul is shown to be the one inside Unit 00 (presumably from when the first Rei died), even though Ritsuko states that Rei only has one soul that is transfered across the Rei clones when each die.

*/spoilers*

There is a limit to how many things you can leave up to interpretation in a series without it just plain not making sense.
Sections highlighted in bold are in fact explained in the series. The rest, you have a point (off the top of my head). Though personally small trivia such as those wouldn't dissuade me from a whole series.

As for the contradictions, SPOIL
Analogy: If Adam is species, each angel is a different genus. Humans belong to the same genus as Lilith.

I always thought the soul of Unit 00 was artificially created in the same way as Rei's. In this manner, you could say Rei and 00 possess the same soul (or are twin souls).

This post is over.

I would be interested to hear the explanations for the bold points. I've watched the series quite a few times and never took away any answers to those points.

Also, for the record I think Evangelion is a fantastic anime. It wasn't at all my intention to dissuade anyone from watching it. I just think the story is nonsense.

Also, for the record I think Evangelion is a fantastic anime. It wasn't at all my intention to dissuade anyone from watching it. I just think the story is nonsense.
Understood.

Explanations including spoilers:

1. Each pilot had a spiritual connection with their Eva. They were selected because their psychological profile matched demands and because of their availability. The reason the Evas contained souls of the pilots' loved ones is due to Gendo's orchestration.

2. Technology, I'm assuming. The same advanced technology that is capable of giant soul-inhabited clones, artificial humans, etc.

3. The angels wanted to merge with Lilith for their evolution, at the expense of each other angel and humanity. Seele, for the evolution of humanity at the expense of all the other angels. Gendo, to be reunited with his late wife. From what I can tell, the difference in goals between the latter two is derived from their implementation.

*spoilers*


1. Each pilot had a spiritual connection with their Eva. They were selected because their psychological profile matched demands and because of their availability. The reason the Evas contained souls of the pilots' loved ones is due to Gendo's orchestration.

But that doesn’t address the point of why they all happened to be 14 years of age.


2. Technology, I'm assuming. The same advanced technology that is capable of giant soul-inhabited clones, artificial humans, etc.

I assumed that it was some sort of wacky sci-fi process as well. It doesn’t change the fact that unlike all other wacky sci-fi processes in the show they don’t event attempt to explain it, or even provide clues as to how it’s done.


3. The angels wanted to merge with Lilith for their evolution, at the expense of each other angel and humanity. Seele, for the evolution of humanity at the expense of all the other angels. Gendo, to be reunited with his late wife. From what I can tell, the difference in goals between the latter two is derived from their implementation.

I know they all had different motivations for causing Third Impact but the show never details how each of their scenarios differ. Especially in the case of Gendo and Seele, they both appear to want to merge all life into a single being, so why did they bother fighting over control in the end? What difference would one being in control over the other make? If Anno had an answer in mind (and he very well may have) he didn’t put enough information into the show for us to be able to work it out.

*/spoilers*

Confusing thread title. Fixing it.

*spoilers*



But that doesn’t address the point of why they all happened to be 14 years of age.



I assumed that it was some sort of wacky sci-fi process as well. It doesn’t change the fact that unlike all other wacky sci-fi processes in the show they don’t event attempt to explain it, or even provide clues as to how it’s done.



I know they all had different motivations for causing Third Impact but the show never details how each of their scenarios differ. Especially in the case of Gendo and Seele, they both appear to want to merge all life into a single being, so why did they bother fighting over control in the end? What difference would one being in control over the other make? If Anno had an answer in mind (and he very well may have) he didn’t put enough information into the show for us to be able to work it out.

*/spoilers*
Regarding the second two paragraphs, personally I prefer when everything isn't explained out in a Murder She Wrote fashion. Shit sentence structure so I'll try again: I detest shows that spoon feed everything to the audience.

My memory is hazy, perhaps Shinji was instrumental for Gendo's objective while irrelevant for Seele's. Meaningless postulation.

As for paragraph one, I thought it had something to do with the date of first impact. It was hinted at in one episode methinks.


edit. At any rate, we're only discussing details right now. I do agree with you that the characters make the show, by far. (Well, for me it's characters + philosophy but hey.)

1. Each pilot had a spiritual connection with their Eva. They were selected because their psychological profile matched demands and because of their availability. The reason the Evas contained souls of the pilots' loved ones is due to Gendo's orchestration.


Can you expand a bit on this? I know that Unit 01 absorbed Shinji's mother, and therefor he was the most suitable person for it, but whose souls Unit 00 and 02 contain? I don't remember something like this being mentioned in the series

Can you expand a bit on this? I know that Unit 01 absorbed Shinji's mother, and therefor he was the most suitable person for it, but whose souls Unit 00 and 02 contain? I don't remember something like this being mentioned in the series

02 was Asuka's mother (revealed in End of Eva). 00 was an artificial soul similar to Rei, both directly related to Lilith (which is why she could synchronize I suppose).

Hm, I've corrected an earlier post which analogizes Lilith and Adam - I got the two mixed up.

Buh.

*SPOIER ALERT*

Actually not all the Evas contained the souls of the pilots loved ones. At least not Reis anyway. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Reis Eva 00 had the sould of Naiko Akagi (the one whom hated Rei so; part of the reason was out of jealousy of being Yui Ikaris clone and Gendos love interest and also because of the fact that Rei kept calling Naiko an old hag being "no use anymore" so Naiko strangled Rei to death). That was why Rei got hurt so badly during the first test of Eva 00 near the beginning of the series.

But Shinji and Asukas Eva did have the soul of the pilots loved ones. ROKI for Asuka, it was the soul of her mother Kyoko.

I don't remember the series for Touji and the soul of Eva 03 ever specifying that one though.

I hope that helps ^^.

Are you sure? I always just assumed it was an artificial soul - explaining why it would often go berserk during testing, leading to the implanting of true human souls. But your explanation does make sense as well.

Considering that it was the prototype, an artificial soul would make more sense to me :/

Also, thank you both for cleaning this out. Now the plot makes much more sense!

np

I could not even follow the story of Evangelion. First half of the series was good. After that I don't know what happend. Nothing made any since. ?????????????????????????????????????????????????

Also, for the record I think Evangelion is a fantastic anime. It wasn't at all my intention to dissuade anyone from watching it. I just think the story is nonsense.

No worries, nothing you said gave me that impression. (if that was a response to what I said before). ;-)

I still intend to finish watching it. It's just it's been obvious, from some of the things described in here, that alot of the comments I've read (on other sites) regarding this show are exaggerated. That's why I'm inclined to think it's over rated. Though of course it's possible my views may well change by the time I've watched the show through to the end.

One reason that Evangelion is so wacked out is because the wrighter was.......how should I say.......... mentally unstable.

But that doesn’t address the point of why they all happened to be 14 years of age.


Chamber of Gaf

According to Hebrew legends, this is where souls gather before they are born as humans. If it ever becomes empty, a soulless child will be born, and this is considered to be the omen preceding the destruction of the world. In the VTR records from when Adam awakened at the South Pole is the announcement, "Retrieve thermal dampening system as soon as the door to the Chamber of Gaf opens." The second impact occured right after this.

Judging from that I'd assume they were looking for the soulless child (presumably Kawaoru Nagisa) to bring about instrumentality.

*spoilers*

Doesn't make sense, since Seele knew where Kaworu was all along: wherever they were keeping him. Plus he has a soul (Adam's).

The children weren't chosen because of anything in relation to instrumentality to begin with though; they were chosen because they were all theoretically capable of piloting Evangelions. The pilots themselves are mostly unrelated to instrumentality (besides Rei, of course).

*/spoilers*

Mainly just guessing there tbh.

No worries, nothing you said gave me that impression. (if that was a response to what I said before). ;-)

I still intend to finish watching it. It's just it's been obvious, from some of the things described in here, that alot of the comments I've read (on other sites) regarding this show are exaggerated. That's why I'm inclined to think it's over rated. Though of course it's possible my views may well change by the time I've watched the show through to the end.

Keep a straight jacket nearby just in case.


*spoilers*


The children weren't chosen because of anything in relation to instrumentality to begin with though; they were chosen because they were all theoretically capable of piloting Evangelions. The pilots themselves are mostly unrelated to instrumentality (besides Rei, of course).

*/spoilers*

That and Shinji's dad being one of the biggest douche bags in anime history.

U should try Saikano, I think its even more depressing...

I see there's a Magna called Neon 'Genesis Evangelion - Gakuen Datenroku' Sort of a retelling/revised version. Maybe in this one Shinji won't be such a gigantic twerp.

There are a lot of Evangelion mangas...
I think the anime came first and them the manga...
But all in all it was pretty messed up...
Like in the end with everyone saying congradulations to shinji...
and some other stuff... Rei clones...

Shinji thought of himself as worthless, living only to do what he was told in the hope others would then like him.

Prior to the congratulations scene, he undergoes a change of heart, decides life is worth living, begins to see the joy and beauty in the world. The congrats scene is representative of his achieving that worth in the eyes of others which he so longed for. Since/if it transpires in his mind, this signifies recognition of his own self worth as he values others' opinions and he envisions them approving of his existence.

I am afraid that I am going to have to agree with you, man watching the whole series in one sitting is not an advisable option for anyone aiming on leading a pleasant existence.

Believe me, I tried, my heart sank to the core of the Earth and my mind just kept mulling over the issues raised ad infinitum for days on end.

Although one bright note to the whole series is the vision that the creators had in putting together such a masterful display of humanity at it's most corrupt & dark.

For you its depressing, for me its hilarious.
Best anime ever.

Start thinking of Eva's as hard disc's and that Asuka Shinji & Rei is a single person.

And pilots were not chosen, they forced them to do it, because only they could sync to their mothers DNA that was in Eva's.
Eva 01 thinks its Shinji's mother. So it takes him inside, and gives birth to him just like his mother did.

It makes no sense, only because you can't understand it :D

You're full of shit and should never post here again.

Like I care what you said?
They put so much shit in NGE its like a big pile of crap, and the more you dig the more shit you find.
NGE is there for those who want to understand it. For everyone else, gtfo.

Again, you're incredibly full of shit. No one is impressed by your diatribes, nor swayed by them to believe that NGE was not a pretentious, yet altogether brainless heap of fetid ass.

Same here... than I discovered Jesus... or was it Pani Poni Dash...

NOW GO! CUT YOURSELF!

I COMMAND YOU!

Again, you're incredibly full of shit. No one is impressed by your diatribes, nor swayed by them to believe that NGE was not a pretentious, yet altogether brainless heap of fetid ass.

If you reply again, then you got serious problem dude :D
I respect you opinion. Just mine is that NGE is best anime ever, and will remain as that :)
ps
get laid...

Content-free spite reply.

As I've said before, Evangelion was intellectually stuck up its own ass.
There was an intelligence to the show, there were deep, meaningful messages stuck somewhere in all the bullshit. I prefer the manga by artist Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, who changes many plot points for a more clean-cut version of the events in the series, the deal with Eva unit 04 and Toji has a much greater impact due to Toji's death and that Shinji was one of the few people who knew beforehand, as opposed to where he was the only one who didn't know and he didn't find out until they ripped open the plug and he saw the rescue workers dragging an unconscious Toji out of the wreckage. It makes much more sense in terms of character motivation and the development of Shinji's mental state and hell, it makes him more likable because in the anime, he was bitching all about that sort of thing when Toji came out of it just fine and he didn't even know it was Toji until after it was over.
Stuff like that. The manga kept the best parts of the anime and got rid of the filler episodes, like the Angel that attacked Nerv HQ as a series of continually evolving living circuits. There's only one instance of those really long and annoying inner monologues where it's Shinji just blabbing the whole episode, trying to justify his existence to those around him and himself and failing at it, except it makes sense and there's actually some character development involved.
Anyway, insofar as Evangelion being depressing....when I was 14 and bought the whole series on DVD (don't know how I managed to do that), yeah, it was a bit depressing. The End of Evangelion still is a little depressing, not because everyone dies, but because there is a truth to it. If we, the human race, could melt our bodies, free our souls, and merge together to create god, living in absolute peace, happiness, and harmony for all eternity, you know that we wouldn't just because we value our individuality so damn much. At the time, the series did break some new ground, but not to the point that its been glorified to. If you want an intellectually stimulating anime from 1995, I'd go with the Ghost in the Shell movie. That seems to be the biggest draw to the series for people, is that they want to be able to comprehend it all and seem like they're intelligent. They may be, they may not be, but when its all said and done, if you can understand it all, you've either spend way too much time, or you think you get it when you don't. How can you? The series' writer's don't even understand it all, so why should anyone else?
That said, it's not a terrible anime either. It has some cool concepts and the Evangelions look cool as fuck. The relationships between the characters are interesting to watch before the shit hits the fan midway through the series and Asuka falls apart, Shinji regresses, stuff like that. The music isn't bad, either, with the exception of the 10,000 different versions of "Fly Me to the Moon" they have.
Oh, and one last thing about the movie. Regardless of how good it actually is, I do have to applaud it for doing two things the series never did and doing them both to the extreme and at the same time.
1) Fuck with your head.
2) Be violent as hell.
It does these two things magnificently, and it often does them as the same time. I don't care what anyone says, in that regard it is amazing.

Nah I read the manga, its much cooler. But anime is way better. It brings different viewer different picture. So its impossible for people to understand it in the same way. Everything is so contra-verse that when you are talking about it you can say verse-contra :D
Yet its depressing only to people who are living in a bubble.
Very similar anime is Serial experiments Lain. Its much easier to understand and shorter.
If this anime is depressing because it tells you in the face that life has no meaning. Sorry but thats true.
I know another line: "When they are about to die, people try to remember everything from the past so they can confirm to them selves that they existed. I hate that selfishness." or something like that.

Whoever found Evangelion depressing, was already depressed to begin with! I was enraged at the last episodes. Sorry, I like my mech animes to not be filled with emo bullshit. Who cares if you don't like yourself, go kill some fucking aliens!

Change "depressing" to "pretentious" and you're right. Seriously.

This is one of those animes you'll have to put some efforts in to understand, as it contains deep and complex psychological themes. But if you do, you'll get a master reward.

The most depressing part (according to me) is, like stated before, where the characters downhill-with-my-sanity part at the second half.
Asuka, acting so boldly and confident, is completely destroyed mentally when Shinji beats her in the synchronizing tests AND her love turns her down, and her results plummet together with her confidence as a result, until she is a shadow of her former self, unable to even pilot the Eva 02.
Shinji, a boy with no confidence who rely solely on the appreciation of others, as well as a not-so-healthy relationship with his father - his only parent. But he finds his call in piloting the Eva 01, an even occasionally take initiative and trusts his own ability. But he faces large hardships, like being trapped in an Angel, his Eva autonomously attacks his classmate (I intentionally left out "friend") and seeing loved ones die.
Rei follows orders. Until her real identity is revealed, her disciplinary nature seems hollow, even with the story of Gendo saving her life. And when her identity IS revealed, It's even more depressing. She is a doll, a puppet made to replace a child who where strangled by her fathers lover.

I really didn't understand the story until i watched The End of Evangelion. The film supposedly displays the actual events of the last episodes (while they focus on the psychological aspect of the characters due to money issues). Here, the tragedy continues. Asuka, paralyzed by sorrow in her Eva finally comes to therms with her mothers death and realizes she is always with her, and has always been. She regains confidence and fires up the Eva to battle the fully autonomous S2-powered mass-production Evas crated by Selee. Her umbilical chord is cut, and while she fights desperately for during her 30 second or so battery-life, the most heart-ripping usage of Bach's "Air" suite is played, so lovely in company with her desperate attack. This is the most beautiful moment of Evangelion period. But when she have defeated the last Eva, and her battery is out, they reactivate and savagely pierce her Eva with their spears before crudely dismantling her Eva 02. She is presumed dead. Shinji sees her Eva's mutilated body and realizes he is on his own. Then some seriously scary and mystic events go down and the world ends to the second most awesome choice of music: Komm S�sser Tod (Come sweet death in German), a blues for a liquefying world.

The soundtrack always puts me in the same mood.

Great but depressing anime. Seriously.

It is quite an interesting series, I'll admit that I felt pretty shitty about myself after watching just the movies. (I'm waiting for the platinum pack to arrive in the mail :( )

But i think that their is an interesting fact to why Eva seems to be so depressing so those that view it. Hideaki Anno, the director of the anime series, suffered from clinical depression prior to creating the series, and the psychological aspects of the show are based on the director's own experiences with overcoming this illness.

What you have to realize is the the emotions you are feeling are only through the characters in the anime, they are not your own, you may feel really depressed at the moment, believe me I have been there and it isn't a great place to get your self stuck in. But something will come along that will pull you out of that depression, but you are going to have to want it in order to get it.

Nothing against you, mate, but...

couldn't resist :D

Yeah I made the mistake of reading the 1st page and then not derping onto the rest.
I deserve that :fabulousbatman: