It only seems like yesterday
when I picked this up in my 'local' bookstore and said to my dad:
'Oh, this is supposed to be good'. What an understatement. In my newbie
days I had no idea what I was gibbering on about. Now, a year later,
I'm pretty much the same, so despite this being the first manga I
ever set eyes on, and also the first anime I bought, this is a totally
unbiased review.
The manga version of Gainax's brain-melting epic of robots, angels,
insecure males and exploding heads is a different take on said theme,
by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, the 'co creator'. The plot is more or less
the same as the anime, but the characters have their own, new personalities.
An example of this is Shinji himself, in the anime he is shy and often
irritatingly pessimistic. In the manga, he is a wittier, more bishoneny
character (I think so anyway). This isn't a bad thing however, the
tweaked character personalities are a fresh and welcome change, and
in my opinion make a better and more interesting story. You do actually
care what happens to Shinji in the next battle, and you do actually
worry when he goes crazy and starts destroying things randomly.
The artwork is very similar to the anime, with the more realistic
approach to the characters. Hardcore fans will be interested/outraged
to find that Shinji is drawn with brown eyes on the cover (as opposed
to blue). A problem I find with manga is that I can never tell what
is actually going on in the pictures, but NGE 
is extremely well presented, and must surely contain some of the clearest
artwork, as I managed to find no problems reading it as the first
manga I ever set eyes on.
Watching the first episode after reading the first manga, I was disappointed
that the anime lacked the charm and pace of the book. I accept that
many will disagree with my opinion that the manga is the better of
the two, but none can say that this isn't one of the best manga around.
10/10 - As a manga alone and as an 'addition' to the series,
it is outstanding in every way.
Alternative Review by Helen Reeves
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