Anno’s Evangelion: A Study In Mental Disorders

Hideaki Anno’s magnum opus of an anime, Shin Seiki Evangelion has long been the subject of debate for anime fans. There will always be conflicts on whether the show reinvigorated a stagnating industry or if it was all hype. There will be fans arguing one way or another about the validity of the countless revivals and reinterpretations of the original material, including the latest CG-heavy movie project entitled The Rebuild of Evangelion. The debate on whether one of the female leads is better and more attractive than the other is likely never going to end. However, the fact that all of the characters exhibit some extreme examples of severely stunted mental health is a point of great interest to the fans. The latest installment can be viewed as a protracted case study into just how warped a human mind can become.

For a good introduction into this facet of the show, there’s always the lead character, Shinji Ikari. The boy exhibits signs of incredible social anxiety, being completely unwilling to engage in social activities at the onset of the show. In some ways, his politeness and tendency to apologize repeatedly for things that are not his fault, as well as...