Am I growing out of anime?..or does NGE just suck?

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I've been hearing good things about this ancient series since I first grew tired with manga back in 2010. I started watching it a couple days ago and I'm on episode 8, maybe it's because I'm doing homework at the same time, but damn, it's boring and mind numbing as hell... Maybe as I was born 1996,and I've already watched stuff influenced by it so it's nothing new. Speaking of 1996, the animation is also THAT old. Though I mean I grew up with all the "big kids" watching DBZ and some Gundam. I even thought Gunbuster was pretty good, though the production did take away some charm for me.

I mean NGE has its moments but it didn't really "hook" me with the characters...and I can even look over the wimpy-@ss protagonist
Also, I was watching it dubbed so I couldn't speed it up or I'd miss the words...maybe watching slow for a change made it so mind-numbing.

I've also been missing some homework, so maybe the ensuing depression really turned me off paying attention to such a complex story I wasn't already hooked on yet.
I usually use fiction for escapism, and it usually keeps me in a good mood, and say something like Turning Girls, short and funny, rather than something strung-out like this, was a nice change of pace.
All I really took from NGE so far is just it's filled my head and taken up my concentration. Maybe I should take a break from anime for some time, but it feels like a part of me wanted to love this stuff but it fails to attract me now?

NGE has a really complex story that takes a lot of paying attention to. Some would say the story isn't even finished. There's a lot of character development, too, to pay attention to. If you were just hoping for good old mecha battles, this isn't the place, sadly. Though the earlier episodes are more action oriented than the later episodes, which become more suspense and mind-flaying confusing.

There is a remake in the works, slowly but surely coming out. I haven't checked on it's progress lately, but it's supposed to be a series of 4 movies. You could try those instead.

As for the animation style, I prefer it. Hard work on animation pays off in the end, compared to today's anime which is all just lazily photoshopped. That might just be a preference, but it's something that's been bothering me about today's anime.

All in all, I would give this anime a wait till you have enough time to visit the wikia for answers at least once. Because there's no way you're going to catch everything the first time around unless you have a super memory in that regard. And given that this anime actually has 3 different endings (Check the wikia for more info.) that all are supposed to either give more info/different perspective/different theory, it just makes it more complex. If you don't have a lot of time to concentrate, I would pass it for now.

Also... dubs? For shame. Subs, always. =P

TL;DR / Came for the giant mech, stayed for the characterization, plot, and theme

I watched NGE at first for the giant robot action. This is definitely not the entirety of the show, but it's what got me hooked.

There are not many characters I actually like. The top five, strongest to least goes -- Kaworu, Kaji, Pen-Pen, Fuyutsuki, and Shinji... Yes I do like shinji more than the rest of the characters.

My least favorite characters, from strongest to least are - Asuka, Misato, Ritsuko, Kensuke, Rei

I don't hate these characters because the characterization is bad. I hate them because I'm pretty sure, I'd hate them in real life. The characters themselves actually elicited emotions in me which few anime or live action movies have done. Same reasons for liking the characters I like. Each one of them, I found them to be someone I could identify and sympathize with, or admire four how they were written to act and be. Of course, you may wonder how Pen-Pen made the list. Pen-pen is a vital character. It's the small things he does(scare shinji, open the fridge door, take his own baths, comfort misato, taste the food misato makes), and the little interaction he gets which I love about him.

I found the plot to be straightforward at first. Post-apocalyptic disaster, and humanity now fights against space alien invaders with giant robots. Only that isn't the case. What are these aliens? Where do they come from? What caused the disaster? Where did humanity get these giant robots from? What created the geofront? Who is Rei Ayanami.... What is Rei Ayanami? The questions kept on piling up, some would get answered, leading to more and more questions. And soon, the plot wasn't anything like what it seemed at first. I loved it.

There are several themes that I found interesting. Not all started in episode one, and multiple characters dealt with some of the same issues. Self-Identity, loyalty, love, what family means, struggle between personal wants, needs, and duties, The will to survive, arrogance and defeat, ignorance and defeat, selfishness, and a whole number of others.

I do recognize that this show may seem slow except for the bursts of action. It does have a replay episode which I feel detracts from it, but I feel that way about any series or show that uses one. NGE is not action centric, although it uses the action it has very well. I wouldn't recommend NGE to someone who is wants a fast paced anime full of action, like half the gundam series, bleach, naruto, or any like that.

I saw a trailer for the series, and let out a big "nope", the animation was so terrible that I really did not want to watch, also mixed with word I heard about soul crushing. But what I have done is buy and watch the movies, which are a remake, the first seemed to be trying a little too hard to match the original in showing big scenes where they could save on animating by barely showing the characters, but the second looked to do much better. I have not seen the third yet, but I plan to do so when I see it out and dubbed, and still have no plans to watch the series.

There are always plenty of newer stuff to find, ironically one of the coolest I have seen recently, Kill la Kill, also has less complex animation than usual but manages to work. But if you are having trouble with your life it can be important to re-prioritise for at least a while, then come back and watch something great.

If you're still on episode 8, you aren't far enough in for the 'real' story to have picked up. It was deliberately crafted to appear as a 'normal' super-robot show for the opening arc.

It really depends on the anime when you think you're growing out of it. If the animation is outdated or the plotline childish, it will make it more difficult to watch and take seriously.

Plenty of the 2011-2014 animes are decent, and have really good animation. If that's what you think you're being picky about, then yeah, go for newer stuff.

In my opinion, NGE has too much going on for me to understand. It's very complex and well thought out, and not for simple minds or light watching.

TL;DR I really don't advise watching Neon Genesis Evangelion if you're relatively new to anime, prefer a simple good vs. evil organisation plot, or want flashy well-animated robots battling.

Everyone who's posted before me has pretty much explained the reasons why so I'll just say in short that EVA is indeed a complete entity unto itself. I don't know what your preferences are as I don't have any idea what, if anything Turning Girls is, but please don't disregard all anime on your experiences with EVA alone. Anime's a very diverse medium - research and find what personally works for you. After all, I wouldn't get away with condemning all American animation because I personally found Family Guy and Up! as dull as dishwater... (that's opinion, not fact, so I'm not condemning the many, many fans or people who have enjoyed/continue to enjoy both examples I've listed).

I guess it's one of those shows that has to grab you from the get-go. I personally LOVED it; but I tried RahXephon some time later, and it didn't do all that much for me (I did watch it from start to finish, though!)

There is some stuff going on in NGE that will put a lot of people off, and I guess it's not recommended to continue watching if you're constantly annoyed by the characters or certain plot points.

I'm not sure that I would recommend you watch the Rebuild movies of Evangelion instead. While the first one was basically a re-telling of the first 6 episodes of the TV show, and the second movie featured some major twists on the story of the next 10 or so episodes, the third movie is definitely its own entity that doesn't necessarily improve on any of the objections that people had about the story, characterizations, and themes of the TV show to begin with. If you dislike the original anime, I don't consider it likely you'll love the Rebuild movies.

I'm one of those guys who says NGE sucked. It just doesn't make any sense, especially the last two episodes (and the movie). And don't say it's cause I don't like a story that's heavy on character development and light on action, I loved Watchmen, but this is nothing like that. It focused too much on the characters when it should have focused on the plot, and was overall executed horribly. Let's hope Rebuild is better.

http://benthesage.com/reviews/aa/anime- ... d-rebirth/
http://benthesage.com/reviews/aa/anime- ... vangelion/

"All in all, I would give this anime a wait till you have enough time to visit the wikia for answers at least once."

I'm sorry but this is wrong, if a work of fiction has to rely on "research" in order for its audience to understand it then it failed. It needs to stand on its own two feet.

I find the problem with anime as I get older is the fact that it takes a bit too much time to really hook you in, one of animes strongest points is in story composition, it's satisfying to see a drawn-out character arc come to a close, but the problem for most older people is that there just isn't the time for this sort of investment...a lot of anime is also reliant on style, which is something that's fun for the younger folk, but style can only get you so far before you begin to demand substance, the substance in anime past all the animation/style/sex appeal is in story composition, and that takes a bit of effort, and what I mean by all that is that you don't really like all the giant mechs, and fancy sword action, you like and enjoy the characters behind all of that, which makes the setting fun.

I think that's part of what I miss about being younger, when a setting can really get your jones going it becomes very easy to invest in the characters, but age seems to turn this around.

Anyways DO NOT EVER multi-task while watching something that you want to enjoy for the first time, that stuff is a major immersion killer. Multi-task on additional viewings, never the first.