One of the better followups to Evangelion is what the animators did after they did Evangelion: FLCL. Yeah, they did that bonkers show to decompress from Eva.
FL CL is my favourite anime, I HIGHLY recommend it. But stop after the second season. Do not watch the third season. Trust me, the show will be much better that way, imo. The only good thing about season 3 is The Pillows are still doing the soundtrack. The Pillows need to do more soundtracks for anime. I wish they would be AT LEAST A PART of every anime. I love The Pillows.
Everything after NGE was pretty bonkers tbh. FLCL, Gurren Lagann, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, you name it. Don't even get me started on the ex-gainax employees that made Trigger...
Alex Thibodeau Where is the love fore Kare Kano A.K.A. His and Her Circumstances? That show was tailor made to heal the psychological wounds inflicted by NGE. Gainax, Anno, and Shiro Sagisu worked on it together. For God’s sake, Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0 used songs from it’s OST just like 3.0 used music from Nadia the Secret of Blue Water! Yukino Miazawa is criminally underrated as a waifu and the only 21 volume manga I have read thru’ multiple times is the anime source material. I don’t mean to gush but listen to the OST at least.
Literally the dumbest controversy ever! Netflix: *Changes Kaoru's famous "I love you" line to "I like you"* People: OMG MY GROSS PERVERTED FANFICTION IS RUINED! Also the Fly Me To The Moon removal is moot, because of its binge watch style streaming
Netflix changed integral parts of the characters with their shitty dub. The whole impact of Kaworu's death was that Shinji was forced to kill the only person who loved him. Fucking ruined it.
What to watch after Eva: Ghost in the Shell (this omission is criminal btw) The Sopranos Tatami Galaxy Boogiepop Phantom Twin Peaks Kara no Kyoukai Parasyte: The Maxim Hunter × Hunter Neon Genesis Evangelion
Gurren Lagann. Created by Gainax (they also created Evangelion). It also involves giant mechs and it’s extremely off the charts bonkers! It’s way more happy and upbeat, which makes it a great follow up since it’ll help ease all of the dreppresion and existential dread that Evangelion caused.
If depression is what you want then check out Welcome to the NHK. If high tech is what you want then it's gotta be Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. If you've seen both of these and want a mix of the two then it's Texhnolyze.
I don't remember where I read it, but the rebuilds are supposed to be what the author really wanted, Because he was depressed when made the original and that's why the story was so sad and fucked up. lol
Serial Experiments Lain was mentioned but not its lesser known and far more impactful cousin, Texhnolyze. Texh is one of the most brutal explorations of the human condition. It is excruciatingly slow (but for a reason) and has one of the single most thematically satisfying endings to anything...ever. I cannot recommend this show enough.
Anime has been a challenging taste to acquire, but I've been working at it. Evangelion was almost like "hard sci fi" (which I like) but it left me a bit downhearted. Of your entire list I am only familiar with Trigun and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure; your summary of both is spot on. I'm still only able to take each in measured doses interspersed by breaks for more conventional fare (e.g. Hero Academy). Keep up the anime recommendations! I really need episodes like this for ideas of what to try!
So Neon Genesis was the first anime I went out and watched fully. I followed it up with another Gainax studio anime, Gurren Lagann, which to this day is one of my favorite anime. I would definitely suggest it as a follow up to Neon Genesis.
FLCL is basically Eva as farce which is great Shin Godzilla is also fantastic and be on the look out in the future for Shin Ultraman If you like smart, open-to-interpretation anime with melancholy, apocalyptic, quasi-Christian themes however, I'd like to recommend the movie Angel's Egg.
The Promised Neverland is a VERY good anime that was recently recommended to me. It's about a bunch of kids who realize their entire life has been a lie and how they go about escaping that lie. It's pretty disturbing and questions the boundaries between right and wrong. There is only one season out at the moment (the second season is scheduled for next year I believe) so read the manga if you want to know more. The manga is still on-going at the moment but it is well worth it.
Why do I seem to be the only one to notice that domestic cats have all of the domestication of a lion; which is to say none. They're just too small to eat you when they get bored. Don't believe me? Imagine you'd have to live with either your cat the size of a lion, or a lion the size of your cat for the rest of their lifespan. Which would you pick?
Boogiepop Phantom. Watched it at the same time as I originally watched Serial Experiment: Lain, and both stay in my mood. Mobile Suit Gundam Wing is another I’ll add, just because that was my first ever anime series I saw, thanks to Toonami
I feel like Gurren Lagann should have made the list. It's like the studio took all the leftover notes for EVA and decided to make a show that was unspeakably Rad and uplifting. And also made their white haired pretty boy some sort of angry cat shark boy thing
Vision of Escaflowne if you can get past their noses, Berserk hands down is just amazing, and Dual Parallel trouble adventure is more campy and fun and a lot less serious / realistic on the life problems and is more of a harem anime with giant robots.
Let's see Stranger Things was inspired by Elfen Lied (plus Akira) and Elfen Lied was inspired by Evangelion. The idea of stranger things mating with Neon Genesis Evangelion to make Elfen Lied is a sketchy perspective. Although, it seems simple enough that Stranger Things and Neon Genesis Evangelion that are not the one of the same, but they do carry their own story by what they leave behind are somewhat linked together than chained away for was Evangelion left numerous shows with inspirations that lead interpretation towards man's corruption in society and reality would alter an outcome towards one's anew hope may pass by. A group teenagers that are set in situation that they couldn't understand are the related analogies that all of this shows have in common except Trigun, Jojo Bizzare (wow they really stretched their list to fill their blanks to surpass RU-vid's 10 minute rule). Why not reedited and retitled this video "What to watch after Evangelion that are relatable to Evangelion. Like Akira and FLCL despite their differences they do left a nostalgic mark of impression to pop culture and anime right through and through.
Do you want super cat girls? Space pirates? Badass female samurai? Grappling sentient spaceships that fight in space? Then Outlaw Star is for you! No really it is horrifically underrated, and no I don't care that it doesn't quite fit into the theme of today lol Also Trigun has some rather bad mental episodes that just bring you down, but mostly it is all about an amusing hyper evolved plant person with insane accuracy with his gun.
A little more shots fromtge animes you were talking about would make it much better. The studio is cool but could talk over the shots.. Would help to decide whether to watch it or not... Thanks though
Thank you for your defense of RahXephon. Did it cover a lot of the same tropes and themes as Evangelion? Oh hell yes, but definately far from a rip off. If I were to describe it in similar terms though, I would say it was what would happen if Evangelion didn't run out of money half way through production.
@@tamrasshieldmaiden5764 Actually, there is a strong theme of religion, renewal, and rebirth. But yes, it is a love story between to teens separated through time dilation and a kind of ethnic divide. Hell, SPOILER ALERT, Ayato is litterally being held by the image of Haruka from 12 years earlier.
I'm surprised I see no mention of "Paranoia Agent" in the comments. All you have to do is watch the opening credits to realize the show is going to screw with your head somehow.
Just because I hadn't seen it mentioned maybe a little Promised Neverland. But yeah I agree with lots of others and FLCL is always great for a great romp and catchy music. And let's face it the final battle dual fielding axes is amazing soundwork
Great list of companion pieces. I like that you went perhaps out of the box on a few that thematically had parallels. The Elfen Lied one makes me think back, I really hated the ultrviolence being enacted on these sweet young girls, it was horrible and seemed pointless as well. It's funny though, I'm comparatively new to Eva and the violence these kids experience isn't as bothersome to me. Perhaps I find less redemptive qualities in the cast, they are all, by plot necessity, flawed beings. And they crank their flaws up to ten just in case you didn't notice, lol.
