For its time, Evangelion was rather groundbreaking, and was a

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For its time, Evangelion was rather groundbreaking, and was a major factor in transforming Akiba from "electric town" to "otaku town" and a big influence on anime in general. Nowadays, it remains an pretty good Monster of The Week show with interesting characters and development

Nearly every thread I have see about it results in one of two points being focused on: Shinji was a pussy. FUCK PUSSIES, or, The religious symbolism was meaningless.

The latter is the only thing resembling a fair criticism, but it's still a dumb point. The focus of the series was always on the characters, framed by the events occurring around them, with a general criticism on escapism. I think Eva is substantial as an homage of previous anime as well, not because of the "philosophical underpinnings" or "religious imagery" or what not. Those elements weren't particularly done very well or were very superficial, and generally only served a greater purpose. It understood the core premises behind a lot of popular anime, and what drew fans to those anime, and celebrated them. It really doesn't matter just how familiar with the religious symbolism you are or aren't. It's just there for show, and complaining that it's just there for show is stupid. Does anyone with actually think Evangelion would've been a better series if they had called them "Aliens" instead of "Angels"?

A rose by any other name. Anno just did it for flair. I really don't see what's wrong with that.