I don't know what I was expecting when I grabbed this, thinking, "Maybe this will help me finally understand some of the parts of the NGE anime and movies that I don't get!" I mean, same author...it's really just a doubling down, so far, on exactly what I saw on screen. Maybe the later issues will be more helpful.

I did appreciate the little "author's note" at the end, which gave a little weird glimpse into Hideaki Anno's brain. It actually did sort of explain some things, though not in the way he intended, I think. "I feel I am being irresponsible." Ok, then. ( )

It's kind of a weird experience reading a story set in a post-apocalyptic 2015, when it is 2015 in reality and we didn't have a global cataclysm at the turn of the millenium. Ignoring the obvious dissonance between the fictional and alternate realities, the story of giant robots battling alien angels is one which I am less interested in now as I was in high school (when anything anime was a novelty) and I first watched some episodes of the series and added this book to my reading list. Technically, it's a good story as far as mecha-based anime goes, since the focus is less about the post-apocalyptic world and robot battles and more about the character development of the young pilots, but I still don't really have any interest in pursuing the entire series. ( )

Good start to the series. I particularly like the changes that [a:Yoshiyuki Sadamoto|164714|Yoshiyuki Sadamoto|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1274725162p2/164714.jpg] made to Shinji for the manga version. I've kind of realized that certain character personalities work better as written characters (whether in prose fiction or in sequential art), and others work better in motion mediums (like anime or live action film). The characterization changes just work better here.

The one complaint I have is that I lose track of the action in some of the action sequences, particularly when the military is attempting to stop the Angel in its first attack (and failing). ( )

Dementia at it's best! ( )

I don't know. This story is so ingrained in me as an early anime I saw. Reading the manga was interesting. Still processing. ( )