Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days is, simply put, a high school romantic comedy version of the original Evangelion anime. When I first learned about it, I thought that it might be a fun alternate version of a series that I consider to be brilliant or, on the flipside, a laughably bad retelling with little of what made the first series great. Unfortunately, it turned out to fall into the latter category. Doubtlessly, most anime and manga fans are familiar with the original Neon Genesis Evangelion’s story. Angelic Days share the basic plot – teenagers are chosen to pilot giant robots and learn about growing up inthe process – but little else. There’s none of the weirdness that you might expect, and certainly none of the depth. All the story really has to offer is a straightforward tale about kids and giant robots. It still has some of the mystery that comes with the mecha genre, but nothing about the plot stands out, especially when you remember that the original Eva did it better. As for the romantic elements… well, they’re nothing to write home about. Gendo and Yui, who star as students in a sidestory that takes up all of volume five, have a nice little love story, but other than that none of the character’s love lives are particularly interesting, and certainly not unique. Really, Angelic Days boasts no unique or even notable plot elements. The artwork, which could have improved my opinion of this series, did exactly the opposite. It’s very sparse in terms of detail, and not at all attractive. The best way to describe the main fault is that it’s quite… droopy. Most of the characters have almost limp posture, clothing, and hair. In addition, there’s something that bothers me about the character’s faces; at any given moment, they seem either lifeless or annoying. It’s just not a very good-looking manga. As for the cast… well, quite frankly, the cast of Angelic Days sucks. All of the unique characters that made the original Evangelion interesting are replaced by one-dimensional shells of characters. You have the average joe main man, the shy new girl, the grouchy but loving childhood friend, and more. If you’ve ever read a romantic comedy manga, you’ve met these people already, just not inhabiting the Eva cast’s bodies. While arguably an alternate universe has the right to reinvent characters, they should at least be reminiscent of the originals in ways other than name. If you’re a fan of the original Neon Genesis Evangelion anime or manga, you’re probably going to check this out regardless of what you hear. Still, keep your expectations low, because Angelic Days is nothing like normal Evangelion, and not in a good way. Even if you’ve never seen or read Evangelion, however, do yourself a favor and read one of the hundreds of other manga that cover mecha, romance, or both in a more original and enjoyable way.

Art: The art is probably my least favourite aspect of this manga. However, this mainly comes down to personal preference as I am personally not a fan of the early 2000s anime style such as the artstyle of Clannad or other anime from the period. The art itself is competent, although sometimes during the fight scenes it is a little hard to follow what is happening (this may be because I'm a bit dim lol) Story: The story here is probably the best thing. At the start it seems to just be a continuation of the AU seen in episode 26 of Neon Genesis Evangelion - however itdevelops into a much deeper plot than that. The characters develop very well, and, in my opinion, are infinitely more likeable than their NGE counterparts. Characters: Asuka: In NGE, I found Asuka to be very annoying. She was borderline hateable in my opinion and never showed any softer side. She wasn't a tsundere in my opinion, she was just a bitch. However, in this manga, she was more of a confused girl under a lot of stress. She could act out and even be annoying at times, however she did show a softer side and she was kind when it counted. When Shinji does something to help her, she thanks him. Shinji: Shinji felt like a relatively typical romance manga protagonist, and again I felt he was more likeable than in NGE, although I didn't really have a problem with him in NGE (I hated him a lot in EoE however) Rei: I didn't mind Rei in NGE, but she was a bit boring. I expected the whole time for her to reveal a kinder side to herself, however she never really changed at all. Rei here starts with more emotions, however she feels quiet and unusure - as you would expect from a girl who only ever knew scientists who were studying her. Tohji + Kensuke: In NGE, these two felt like background characters and I did not care one bit about them. In this manga, they were developed more and I came to like them. Overall: There were a lot of things I preferred in NGE to this manga, but there were a lot of things I preferred in this manga too. I feel like an ideal situation would be a mix of NGE and the plot of this manga - and I hear that the NGE manga is like that with better character development and such. Give the manga a try if you're like me and wanted to like NGE but couldn't. This isn't a perfect manga, but it was rather enjoyable. I haven't finished it yet because I can't find volumes 5 + 6 online but I will consider buying them and maybe I will update my review when I read them.

This manga was made for the only purpose= fan service (but not in a bad way.) The art can look a bit strange sometimes, but in general it's good (Shojo style). The best part is that you learn more about the side characters, and in general its more written like a typical Shojo manga. I think it's good that the reader is not overloaded with naked skin and forced situations,(like in other spin-offs series) Also, Nagisas shines here. He is the best character in Koutetsu no Girlfriend. If you like 2000s Shojo and NGE you got the perfect manga for you! But don't expert that the story getsreal deep tho