Summer of Kaiju: Neon Genesis Evangelion (Netflix release)

As a kid, I spent summers watching old Godzilla VHS tapes from the local Blockbuster. Since then, I've associated the sweltering season with giant monsters flattening cities into rubble. In that spirit, I'm doing a series of kaiju-themed posts for the dog days of June and July...

The opening of the classic TV series "Neon Genesis Evangelion" is perhaps anime's greatest head fake. The first few episodes prefigure a fairly standard mecha show about teens piloting robots to save the world from giant monsters called Angels. You think you know how things go - the reluctant hero pilot Shinji will slowly gain in skill and confidence, and will eventually fight a final boss enemy in a climactic battle.

It's not until episode 4 (when Shinji starts battling crippling despair and almost runs away from the whole thing) that the viewer realizes NGE is going to be something different.  Stick with the series long enough, and the narrative melts into a soup of psychological turmoil, Kabbalistic references, and an abstract referendum on the nature of existence. Studio Gainax and creator Hideaki Anno famously contended with tight budgets and Anno's depression while making "Neon Genesis Evangelion," but the end result is an idiosyncratic work that ranks as one of the best anime ever made.

Netflix recently released "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "End of Evangelion," the movie retelling/remake of NGE's infamous final two episodes. Thanks to the intricacies of international IP licensing, the Netflix version has puzzling additions (an English re-dub), puzzling changes (a new translation that messes with the gay subtext in a famous episode), and puzzling omissions (the memorable covers of "Fly Me to the Moon" that ran over the end credits are now gone).

It might not be the best way to experience the show, but this is certainly the most available the series has ever been, and it's a must-watch if you're an anime fan who's never seen it: