"There's No Hidden Meaning:" Evangelion Has Been Called Many Things Over the Years, But Its Creator Just Calls It Pretentious

There’s never been an anime quite like Neon Genesis Evangelion. When it first aired on Japanese TV in 1995, it looked like a typical mecha series—giant robots, alien threats, and teenage pilots. But as the story unfolded, the mystery quickly took center stage. With its dense religious imagery and cryptic symbolism, Evangelion has kept fans theorizing and debating for nearly thirty years. Was it all a profound meditation on identity and existence, or just a coming-of-age story dressed up to look deeper than it really was?