Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days

YESSS! No more whining Shinji or emo Rei! I, along with all other Evangelion fans, are probably jumping for joy. *jump*. In the anime series, a small protion of the final episode relates to a parallel universe where this manga series begins. The manga Evangelion Angelic Days takes place in New Tokyo 3, where young Shinji Ikari wakes up in a place where the main story of Evangelion starts just with a different atmosphere. On the way to school with his lifelong friend, Ausaka, they bump into a young girl named Rei. Though they get off to a rocky start, what awaits them in the future will test their friendships and their destinies. Compared to the anime series and manga series that came before it, this is the greatest thing they have released! However the characters have changed a small bit and some of the original storyline was altered just a few times, this series still is unbelievable!!! Evangelion: Angelic Days Volume 1 gets 5 stars out of 5. My name is Amone! Adios!

This is a wonderful alternate take on Evangelion. My only regret is I wish the volumes were a little quicker on release, but you can't have everything. ;)

Needless to say, Neon Genesis Evangelion is a classic in both the anime and manga fields, and perhaps one of the smartest stories to ever come out of Japan. It uses symbolism as well as if not better than some of the greatest writers of literature, has very strong characterization (Shinji, though annoying, is still well-known through-out the anime world as one of the whinniest characters ever), and has as dramatic and disturbing plot. So, when it ended with the ending it did end with (say that 5x fast), it left a lot of people wanting more. Angelic Days just so happens to be the "more" that people are wanting. Taking place in an alternate time-stream from the original Evangelion, Angelic Days is more of a light-hearted high school drama than a melodramatic action story. Shinji isn't the brooding teenager he was in the first series and though Asuka is her bossy self, she and Shinji are as close to best-friends as they get. Beyond those two, Rei is an outgoing, boy-hungry young girl and Kaworu (the boy-like angel from the first series) is an effeminate loner whose only friend is Shinji. And all of them are students in the same class, bringing them tightly together rather quickly in this story. Still, despite the concentration on everyday life in this volume, the promise is still quite apparent. There will be mech battles very soon, if not in the next volume. Rarely does the setting in this volume leave the school. In fact, most of the story in volume one deals with things that kids have to go through in school, including getting picked on by friends, girl problems, and issues with the parents. Except for one or two occasions, little in this manga would actually even suggest what is to come and only long-time fans of the series would see where this manga is headed. In essence, this is more of a light-hearted revival of the old Evangelion. This isn't a perfect manga, though. If you're new to the world of Evangelion, getting into Angelic Days may be difficult. There is very little in the way of character introduction. You just have to know what they were like before to understand what they are like here, and to appreciate what they've become. Also, the art isn't as clean-cut as I would have guessed it to be. There were a few panels that actually took a moment to discern what was in the picture. And finally, there were some grammatical problems. Though not enough for me to lower my rating, it is definitely enough for people who aren't interested in Evangelion to completely bash this manga into the dirt. As for recommendations, I highly recommend Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days to people who know, understand, and love the story in the old Evangelion. You'll have a greater appreciation for the changes made in Angelic Days if you're a knowledgeable Eva fan; if you're somewhat new to Evangelion you'll find some of the changes in this a little jarring.

Well, so far i must say i'm impressed. This is actually a book i can get into. It's kinda confusing for me (i don't read much manga) but after the first few pages, i got the system down, so i was able to read it without much trouble. Now, for me, this is a much lighter side of Evangelion, it doesn't have that feeling that your head just got hit with a Randy Johnson fast ball going 99 MPH.(the Series did that for many of my friends, as well as my self at times). I must say, I was hoping for the part where Asuka took Shinji's sheets off and snapped "You stupid perv, i didn't mean to get THAT up". They didn't even use the "Bologna Pony" line... Hmmm, on the cover though, with Asuka and Rei blushing while holding hands... I wonder if that'll have anything to do with the seires, or was that just to get the fanboys to grab it.

This book was well worth the wait. It gives you a lighter look at the evangelion gang and deals with some of the dream scenes that occurred at the end of the anime series. Being a romantic at heart this is a great new series. I am really looking forward to the next issue.