Season 1
Neon Genesis Evangelion, commonly referred to as NGE, Eva, or Evangelion, is a commercially- and critically-successful, influential and popular Japanese anime created by Gainax and written and directed by Hideaki Anno.
Evangelion is an apocalyptic mecha action series which centres around the efforts by the paramilitary organisation NERV to fight monstrous beings called Angels, primarily using giant mecha called Evangelions which are piloted by select teenagers.
The series originally aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from 4 October, 1995 to 27 March, 1996. There are 26 half-hour episodes in the series.
Evangelion was later released on DVD and re-released as a Platinum DVD with extra footage and interviews.
Neon Genesis Evangelion premiered in South Africa on DStv's Animax channel on Tuesday 10 June 2008, at 22h00. New episodes air daily, from Monday to Friday.
Episodes are taken from the Platinum DVD, making thirty 25-minute episodes in the series.
Repeats
Daily (weekdays): 01h05
Synopsis
At the turn of the century, the Angels returned to Earth, seeking to wipe out humanity in an apocalyptic fury. Devastated, mankind's last remnants moved underground to wait for the day when the Angels would come back to finish the job.
Fifteen years later, that day has come... but this time, humanity is ready to fight back with terrifying bio-mechanical weapons known as the Evangelions.
Now it's up to the mysterious shadow agency NERV to save Earth from total annihilation.
Events in the series refer to Judeo-Christian symbols from the book of Genesis and Biblical apocrypha among others.
Later episodes shift focus to psychoanalysis of the main characters, who display various emotional problems and mental illnesses; the nature of existence and reality are questioned in a way that lets Evangelion be characterized as "postmodern fantasy".
Hideaki Anno, the director of the anime series, had 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.