Evangelion

I would have to say that IMHO Evangelion is the greatest anime ever.. of course that's probably because i'm in love with all of the women on the show. They all have the most complex personalities that the world has ever seen. Whether it's Asuka's incessant whining (which can really piss you off if you easily get annoyed) to Rei's Introvert on downers "I can and will be replaced so I mean nothing" mindset. The Evangelion girls have won worldwide acclaim as among the hottest ladies ever... too bad they are animated... *sigh*. The plot is also excellent. A post (and pre, for that matter) apoctalyptic world that is constantly under attack by beings known as "Angels" To combat these Menaces, mankind "cloned" the Angels and created evas. The plot follows Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, and Asuka Langley Soryuu as they battle the enemy and insure that humanity will have a world to live in.

The formal name is "All-purpose Humanoid Fighting Machine - Android Evangelion" (HANYOU HITOGATA KESSEN HEIKI - JINZOU NINGEN EVANGELION). 14 years of time and an astronomical amount of money were used to build the Evangelion in order to carry out the Instrumentality Project. Able to both deploy and neutralize an A. T. Field, it is the only fighting force that humans have to counter the Angels. It operates on electric power, and is limited to about 5 minutes of active time without external supply. Therefore it is normally supplied with electrical power through the umbilical cable. (The Evangelion Mass-Production Models from Eva-05 onward are equipped with the S² Engine and thus do not need this cable.) Originally the Eva do not have souls. For this reason, the soul of Yui Ikari was made to dwell in Eva-01.

The name Evangelion is thought to derive from "Eve", wife of Adam in the Old Testament, and "Evangel", the Greek word for "gospel".

Source: The End of Evangelion : Glossary contained within The End of Evangelion - Theatrical Program.

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Follow up to Apatrix: Actually the most accurate (not literal, but accurate) translation of Neon Genesis Evangelion is Gospel of the New Century

The word evangelion is common to both modern and ancient Greek and is derived from the prefix ev, more commonly transliterated "eu" (as in euphemism, eulogy etc.) which is used to denote something benign, and the ancient "angellein" which means to announce. Hence "angel" is merely Greek for harbinger and not some metaphysical jargon.

Literally, evangelion means good news. In common usage as well as in mediaeval and modern Greek, it means the gospel, which makes sense since Christians consider the gospel a good newsflash from God.

The Evangelion, or EVA unit from Neon Genesis Evangelion is a biological creature designed to combat the angels and instigate Third Impact.

The EVAs are clones of the first angel Adam, or, in the case of EVA-01, Lillith. They have metal restraints to help keep them under control. They also contain a human soul trapped within, lying dormant (they have no soul of their own and the presence is needed for the AT Field).

The main defence is the AT Field, the barrier of the soul. In combat the EVA's AT Field will corrode the angel's, leaving it vulnerable to the more recognisable forms of weaponry such as the progressive knife or the pallet gun.

Only children conceived around the time of Second Impact are able to pilot the EVAs. Piloting is done via a direct neural connection, not only do the pilots' thoughts become actions, but injuries to the EVA result in pain for the pilot.

The first productions of EVAs lack an S2 engine so their enormous energy requirements are met by drawing power from a large umbilical cable. When this is cut, backup power lasts between 1 and 5 minutes of normal usage, although when put under minimal power it can last for many hours.

The power may in fact be for the restraints (with a fail safe keeping it inactive without the power) based on the EVA's ability to berserk, the soul within the EVA will awaken and take control, berserkers are often extremely brutal, have a lot of control over their AT Field and do not require energy from the umbilical or internal batteries.

The mass produced EVAs have an S2 engine so require no separate energy source.

With their ability to create an AT Field they remain the only weapons able to defeat the angels, however their main purpose is to instigate Third Impact. The exact details of how they would achieve this is dependant on whose plan of action is decided upon.

Another purpose, one that Yui Ikari believed, was that EVA was created so that humanity would survive, even after the end of our universe, EVA-01 would still around as a testament to our existence.