Rating: 
Summary: it's the beginning, so nothing too special yet
Review: This is the first 4 episodes of the popular anime series. At this point, we are not sure what the overall plot will be. The first four episodes serve as introduction and not much else. The world is flooded and there is an alien race attacking the Earth known as Angels. The only thing that can stand against the Angels is a new robot called EVA. The Eva unit must have a pilot. Shinji, a 14 year old boy has been tapped as the pilot. Shinji does not feel that he is up to the task and is also dealing with issues of alienation and loneliness. He doesn't have any friends and does not make friends easily. Being the pilot of the EVA unit (the only available pilot) only serves to isolate Shinji even more. These first four episodes are really only character information and do not drive or truly set up a plotline. I enjoyed it, but didn't love it.
Rating: 
Summary: NGE is on the top of the anime food chain...
Review: The series isn't your typical mecha you got used to seeing, nor the usual "heroes" who comes in to save the day. This is one of the best psychological, yet the most disturbing anime ever written.We also got used to see the heroes of other mecha animes enjoying the moment of victory. Here, it's quite the opposite.
Tokyo-3 was under attack. The pilot Rei Anayami was in no condition to fight the intruder. Shinji Ikari was called upon by his father, the commander of a task force called NERV, to pilot a bio-mechanical robot EVA Unit 01. All Shinji wanted is his father's love and affection. He was forced to put himself in the situation no other 14 yr old child should endure. Shinji never wanted to pilot the EVA nor get involved with NERV. You can see the terror through Shinji's eyes once he battled the 3rd Angel. What can you do? Is there anyway to stop this monstrosity? Only to see a glimpse of what kind of an entity is the EVA Unit 01.
Rating:
Summary: "Like an Angel without a Sense of Mercy"
Review: Imagine a world that has been devastated. Under attack by forces that are hardly understood, where humanity is driven to live underground in city fortresses. Imagine that the only hope for the future is in gigantic, bioengineered robots and the 14-year-old children who must pilot them. And behind all this a shadow organization with its own agenda for humanities future. This is Shinji Ikari's world. Arriving in Tokyo in the middle of an attack by Sachiel (the third 'angel'), Shinji discovers that his father's sole purpose in calling for him was to pilot an Evangelion robot. But rather than having time to train, the terrified Shinji has to go into action immediately. And the future of the world hinges on his success. Nor will this be for the last time. With Rei Ayanami, the other EVA pilot suffering from severe injuries, Shinji must take on all the pressure and risk by himself. The first four episodes focus on Shinji, his arrival, adjustment, and the tattered relationship he has with an ice-cold father. Of equal interest is his mentor, Misato Katsuragi, the beautiful young leader of the NERV control center. She is serious and silly, courageous and insecure. For Shinji, who is just coming of age, living with Misato's whirlwind of moods can be a bit much. But if anyone can penetrate the boy's layers of lonely isolation, it is Misato. Thus begins Neon Genesis Evangelion, a long running and highly successful anime series that, in many ways, still sets the standard for Japan's animation work. What sets it apart from many such animated features, both in Japan and here in the U.S., is that it is far more than simple action entertainment. Instead, Hideako Anno, the force behind the production, is intent on creating a multi-tiered story that unfolds slowly, revealing strong character development and an unusual metaphysical backdrop. The artwork is solid and imaginative, a composite of strong modern lines and the eerie biological architecture of the Evangelion robot's and their enemies. Hideako Anno's filmic technique is as complex as his character development, full of suddenly flashing images that make you grab for the control to go back over the action for what you thought you might have seen. Art and story blend together seamlessly for an eminently watchable treat.
Rating: 
Summary: Haven't seen the rest of the series, but so far looks great.
Review: ...First off, this is not a stand alone DVD, it is sold my itself, but you would be really disappointed if this was the only DVD for this series available. From what I understand, and it seems so far to be very true, this series starts out very slow. This DVD basically has four short episodes, with everyone of them wanting more. It's like watching half an episode of your favorite tv show. You can't not watch the rest of it... After watching many other anime, I find that this series has very basic animation, and fuzzy sound quality, but I find this to be not so important compared to the actual storyline. I can't wait to watch the next 4 episodes. Highly recomended.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Beginning
Review: The episodes that started the series, this is one of the gretest beginnings to any Anime series I have ever watched. This DVD is jam-packed full of action and sets up the plot to the rest of the series so beautifully that right after seeing this, I went out and bought every episode in the series. It leaves plenty of unanswered questions and leaves you cringing for more. A must buy for any anime fan.
Rating:
Summary: A good introduction to an incredible mental rollercoaster.
Review: The first disc of Evangelion is merely an introduction. It sets up many of the characters and the plot. Although this is a good disc, it doesn't even compare to the rest of the dvd's. Don't judge the rest of the series on this dvd. While the series may appear to be a straight forward action series, it is much more.
Rating: 
Summary: A slow start
Review: If I were to judge a series on the first two to three episodes, then Evangelion wouldn't have made it. The story starts very slow, and this DVD is more of a prologue to the rest of it. So, either buy the whole series, or don't buy any of it. The series gets 4 stars, this DVD only gets 2. Trust me, the second and third DVDs are a lot more exciting, and lay the groundwork for the really [messed] up stuff that happens later. I believe the company that distributes Evangelion in the stater ADV, now has a box set that wioll save you money in the long run. Check there and bestprices dot com first.
Rating:
Summary: I loved it, until the credits
Review: If anyone refers to an anime as 'high-art' they are either stupid or...okay anyone who says anime is 'high-art' is a moron. However, on the whole anime TV shows are a lot better than your average american cartoon. While shows like 'X-files', 'Dark Angel' or '24' have much more sophistication than 'Evangelion', 'Cowboy Bebop' or 'Tank Police', most of these came out in the eighties and the effect they've had on American culture is undeniable. The release of so-called 'adult' Animes (and I don't mean Hentai like 'My fair masseuse') such as 'Akira', 'Ghost in the shell' or my personnal favorite 'Wicked City', made the American public take a second look at animation, and re-evaluate how we looked at it. The things that could be done dirt-cheap in a cartoon, took hours of work, hundreds of dollars, and came out looking just as fake as the cartoon, in the eighties at least. Now, 'Evangelion' is not 'The Matrix' or even 'Tron', but it is very entertaining. The plot revolves around a fourteen-year-old being asked to join a secret government project to fight giany monsters called 'Angels'. This element may have inspired the I.C.O.N. short stories of Za'chary Westbrook. However when we first meet the kid he's waiting to be picked up by an adult woman who sends him a picture of her that makes you wonder just how old this kid is. Little things like this are probably not so much story/animation discrepancies as they are the result of horny animators. If you watch Anime on a regular basis you wonder if they're done by fourteen-year-old boys. The kid pilots this robot (the title character) and we spend more time exploring the tortured psyche of our hero than seeing fight scenes, but it remains genuinely interesting. This is because there is a lot to explore in that tortured psyche, the kid's got more issues than National Geographic. All-in-all the story is interesting, if not fanaticism-inspiring; the characters are well-rounded (especially the females, but what else is new?); and the whole nine-yards is one of the best ways to introduce yourself to the world of anime. I'd say the best thing about the DVD though is the ability to skip the end credits which is the only part of this show that could make me want to turn it off. As those end titles role we here some nameless Japanese pop-singer butchering Frank Sinatra's classic 'Fly me to the moon', it's disgusting, it really is.
Rating:
Summary: An all time great
Review: Evangelion has been called by some the greatest anime of all time. I may be inclined to agree with them. While not my favorite, it has beauty and versitiliy that I've seen nowhere else in anime, or in anything. Neon Genesis Evangelion is an undoubtably serious story, with lots of focus on the phychology of the characters, each of which are painfully real in their faults. From Shinji's immaturity and insecurity, to the seeming apathy of Mr. Ikari, Evangelion doesn't present you with a world where the heroes are virtuous do-no-wrong characters, but instead an almost believable world. It doesn't limit itself to that though, Evangelion goes much farther. It has some lighthearted features, like Misato's house with her "hot springs penguin" Pen-pen. It has building relationships, between NERV members, as well as Shinji and his classmates. It's very original too, even though on the surface it looks like another giant robot anime, it obviously isn't. While the fighting can be very well choreographed, you can see that it isn't just empty fighting between good and evil; you can see that the Evas battling the angels are just used as a medium for creating an unforgettable story about people. The subtitled format (optional of course, when you have a DVD), can be a little hard to follow at times. It's easy to fall behind when there are scenes with News Reports or background conversations, so the screen is flooded with subtitling from different conversations. If you can sort all of this out, its worth the effort. The voice casting is much better in Japanese than in English.
Rating:
Summary: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Review: The series is very good. Probably suited for the more intellectual type people, so if you're looking for action packed film this might not be a good pick. The ending is very good, but yet very different and brings the main plot witch is easly missed sence there are so many sub-plots. It lays it out for you in a weird fashion so you might have to watch it a couple of times. A must have for any anime fan.
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