The themes of have been the subject of continued casual and academic debate since the Japanese media franchise was created by Gainax. In Japan, a national discussion of the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion resulted in widespread coverage of the show's endings and its retellings, contributing to the interest in academic analysis of the show. Most of the franchise features an apocalyptic mecha action story, which revolves around the efforts by the paramilitary organization NERV to fight hostile beings called Angels, using giant humanoids called Evangelions piloted by select teenagers. The psychological, religious, and philosophical themes explored in the work represent most of the discussion. Evangelion's influence in postmodern apocalyptic narratives on the sekaikei genre has been great, but it remains the most successful example.
Psychoanalysis
Evangelion has long been taken as a deeply personal expression of Hideaki Anno's struggles"Whereas Yamaga Hiroyuki last year said that Honneamise reflected his opinion of the world at the time he wrote and directed it, Anno Hideaki declared in last November's issue of Newtype that he's going only by his own value system in judging the series. That, combined with Anno's surprise remarks at the end of vol. 1 of "Eva" character designer Sadamoto Yoshiyuki's Evangelion manga (itself a similar, but "alternate" version of the anime story) that this project represents the end of four years that were for him no more than "simply not dying," indicate this anime television series is personal and deeply felt to Anno." "Overriding it all, as the noted Japanese social writer, Sato Kenji, has remarked, is Anno Hideaki's overall honesty, his own whisper of the heart—"to live is to change"—from one of Japan's top animators, caught for four years in the personal hell of depression and helplessness as an artist. It helps to remind one that the people who make anime don't do it just for the often paltry living it provides, but to express what's inside them with these tools they know. To make something that means something to them is the reason Gainax makes everything. "Arrogant and selfish" is how Anno describes it." "Speaking Once as They Return: Gainax's Neon Genesis Evangelion"]; Carl Horn, AMPlus 1.2 1996 and his long battle with depression. From the start, Evangelion invokes many psychological themes. Phrases used in episodes, their titles, and the names of the background music frequently derive from Sigmund Freud's works"Aside from Old Testament quotes, there are numerous cases in Evangelion of far-reaching references to such Freudian concepts as the Libido and death wish…", "Going off on a tangent, the choice of theme songs, "Thanatos—If I can't be yours" and "Come Sweet Death" both illustrate the importance of the death wish to the movie." pg 147, 150 of Fujie 2004 and perhaps some Lacanian influences in general."In the final episode, Anno is clearly referencing Freud and perhaps Lacan as the unseen voice inside Shinji's head explains to him that he creates his personality first through disassociating with the mother and then through distinguishing himself from others." pg 434 of Napier 2002 Examples include "Thanatos", "Oral stage", "Separation Anxiety", and "Mother Is the First Other" (the basis of the Oedipus complex is that the mother is the first object of the child's love). The scenery and buildings in Tokyo-3 often seem laden with psychological import, even in the first episode."Shinji and Misato's descent into the seemingly bottomless depths of Nerv headquarters can be read, as critic Endo Toru suggests, as a descent into the unconsciousness, metonymically reinforced by the profusion of downward escalators and elevators from which the protagonists emerge into a disorienting maze of long empty corridors and bizarre machinery (84). It is surely no coincidence that, in the first episode, Misato and Shinji enter Nerv only to become hopelessly lost, a situation that recurs symbolically and concretely throughout the series until the final episode explicitly displays Shinji as "lost" in his own subconscious." pg 428 of Napier 2002
Many of the characters have deep psychological traumas regarding their parents. Shinji's introversion and social anxiety stem from the death of his mother at an early age and his abandonment by his father. Asuka was the target of her mother's insanity and discovered her mother's body after she hanged herself; her tough, abrasive personality is a means of distracting herself from her pain, and she has made piloting Unit 02 her only source of pride and satisfaction. Misato's father neglected her when she was a child; after he was killed in the Second Impact, she stopped talking for a couple of years. In episode 25, Misato states that she was both attracted to and afraid of Ryoji Kaji because he reminded her of her father. Similarly, many scenes overlap images of Shinji's mother with depictions of his potential lovers, both lining up with Freudian theories. Ritsuko saw her mother having an affair with Gendo Ikari; after her mother's suicide, she felt both attraction and hate towards Gendo. Indeed, the last two episodes are "stripped of the high-tech gadgetry and the colorful visuals that characterize the earlier episodes in the series, these last two episodes take place largely in muted tones… a form of interrogation proceeds to be carried out as he [Shinji] asks himself—or is asked by an unseen voice—probing psychological questions."pg 426 of Napier 2002 The questions elicit unexpected answers, particularly the ones dealing with Shinji's motivation for piloting the Eva—he feels worthless and afraid of others (especially his father) if he is not piloting the Eva."At first he insists that he does so to "save mankind." But when that answer is met with the response "Liar", he shifts to a more complex self-analysis… he admits to piloting the Eva because of his own need for the liking and respect of others, and finally acknowledges that he feels "worthless" unless he is joined with the Eva." pg 426 of Napier 2002 Asuka and Rei are also depicted in deep introspection and consideration of their psyches. Asuka realizes that her entire being is caught up in being a competent Eva pilot and that without it, she has no personal identity: "I'm the junk… I'm worthless. Nobody needs a pilot who can't control her own Eva."As quoted in pg 426 of Napier 2002 Rei, who has displayed minimal emotion throughout the series, reveals that she does have one impulse; it is Thanatos, an inclination to death: "I am Happy. Because I want to die, I want to despair, I want to return to nothing." In episode 25, Shinji and Asuka show that they suffered similar pasts and found different ways of dealing with it. This is further established in Shinji when he claims he has no life without Eva, and this is disproven by the world shown in episode 26, followed by the famous "Congratulations" scene.
Religion The most prominent symbolism takes its inspiration from Jewish and Christian sources. It frequently uses iconography and themes from Abrahamic religions and mysticism such as Gnosticism and Kabbalah. Alongside the effort put into the combat scenes, Evangelion also attempts to convincingly portray the psychic struggles in which the characters engage. These struggles are both wide-ranging and emotionally draining. They are also presented with psychoanalytical sophistication as the characters try to come to grips with their own inner turmoil, their problematic relations with each other, and their relation to more remote forms of Otherness—the gigantic machines that are the EVAs and with which they must synchronize, and the enigmatic Angels who present a riddle that is increasingly depicted in terms of what seems to be a Christian or perhaps Gnostic notion of apocalypse."pg 425 of Napier 2002 and Kabbalah in the series's examination of religious ideas and themes. Anno suggested a grand theme with the work, including the nature of evolution, the existence of God, and its impact on humanity."Anno says the new offering from Gainax will consider some of the ultimate questions posed by science fiction, and, indeed, philosophy, such as: What is the nature of evolution? What is humanity's relationship to his or her God? Does god, in fact, exist? What does it mean for the human race if that question can be answered definitively?" From "Gainax Returns to Anime with Shinseiki Evangelion", published in the February 1995 edition of Animerica, and as quoted in Neon Genesis Evangelion, volume 10.
Assistant director Kazuya Tsurumaki said that they originally used Christian symbolism and themes only to give the project a unique edge against other giant robot shows, that there is no Christian meaning to the series,"There are a lot of giant robot shows in Japan, and we did want our story to have a religious theme to help distinguish us. Because Christianity is an uncommon religion in Japan we thought it would be mysterious. None of the staff who worked on Eva are Christians. There is no actual Christian meaning to the show, we just thought the visual symbols of Christianity look cool. If we had known the show would get distributed in the US and Europe we might have rethought that choice." ― Kazuya Tsurumaki EvaOtaku.com FAQ ; see also an interview with Tsurumaki which contains the same quote (Archive link) and that it was not meant to be controversial (although it was). Tsurumaki would later regret the decision."There are a lot of biblical references in Blue Exorcist; after the controversy surrounding Neon Genesis Evangelion, were you at all hesitant to include these references?" Interview: Blue Exorcist mangaka Kazue Kato" Hiroki Sato, head of Gainax's PR department, and Toshio Okada have made similar statements."But Hiroki Sato, 32, head of the public relations department of GAINAX, the company that produced the animation, says various devices included in Evangelion are only elements of the product and are not directly linked to its theme. 'Anno made a soul-searching journey in producing Evangelion by including his daily sufferings and thinking about them,' Sato says." Japan Economic Newswire, 8 May 1997, 'Cartoon 'Eva' captures sense of void among Japanese youth'"Mr. Anno ("Evangelion") apparently never read the Bible, despite the heavy Christian symbology of his work; he just (according to Mr. Okada) picked out a few interesting technical terms. Likewise, the anime creation staff might open a book on psychology and, rather than read it thoroughly, simply go through it picking out "great technical terms" to use in the anime!" https://web.archive.org/web/20080504115217/http://www.mit.edu/people/rei/manga-okadaluncheon.html Anno has said that Eva is susceptible to multiple interpretations."Evangelion is like a puzzle, you know. Any person can see it and give his/her own answer. In other words, we're offering viewers to think by themselves, so that each person can imagine his/her own world. We will never offer the answers, even in the theatrical version. As for any Evangelion viewers, they may expect us to provide the 'all-about Eva' manuals, but there is no such thing. Don't expect to get answers by someone. Don't expect to be catered to all the time. We all have to find our own answers." from Hideaki Anno's Anime Expo '96 interview, pp20–3 in the November 1996 Newtype, as translated by Miyako Graham in issue 43, pages 40–41 of Protoculture_Addicts and as quoted by Lawrence Eng