It’s hard to summarize Neon Genesis Evangelion, and no this is not the beginning of my sixth grade book report. The manga and anime melds genres, tackling all themes from religion to sexuality to psychoanalytic theory. The popular series explores a post-apocalyptic world (shocking, anime never has one of those), where half the world’s population died, there is geopolitical and economic unrest (some nuclear bombs thrown in), and of course, giant robots. Evangelion’s mature and unique style significantly shaped later anime, even so much as changing how giant robots were designed (shows how much they use them).