First off, EVA clone. This show could not be more like Neon Genesis Evangelion if it tried (and this show doesn't try very hard to do anything). Instead of Evas there are "Goddesses", whatever the hell that may mean, and who seem to change their names every week (at least in the God-awful American dub I was subjected to). Instead of Rei, we have... well, Rei, but he's in Shinji's role. Newbie pilot automatically compatible with the mecha... bleh. Cliched, now.
The dubbing is terrible. I've honestly never seen worse, even in say... DBZ. The show was cut to run in the regular Toonami block and stayed edited for the Adult Swim because they were too lazy to put the cuts back in. Or the plot back in. Or the characterization. Or any cohesive sense. There are cut scenes where I can only imagine there used to be something sensical. But you never know, there might not have been.
The anime is based on an as-of-yet incomplete manga, and the idea carries over into the show... it has absolutely no sense of direction. The series is totally pointless. It would take at least 5 seasons to get into the explanation phase of the manga in the show-universe's naggingly slow pace. I so wish that they had explained the EX or how each pilot has his own ability or why girls magically don't have it or... just... something! They didn't explain a damn thing!
This is the Hamtaro of the Adult Swim block. I'm thinking they were somehow forced into playing a girly (shoujo) anime. Every vibe from this show--the pretty boys, the flowing animation, "Goddesses" etc etc seem to say "bishounen" instead of "shounen", which I suppose someone didn't understand along the way.
Perhaps they honestly thought it was a show suited for the 12-25ish male demographic they have with Adult Swim. That's why in the first episode, they cut out the compromising few frames with Zero and Hiaed. Then they left in the Ernest/Gareas nonsense. And then they leave in all the strange, creepy weird things that Hiaed says to Zero about them being the only ones alike and so forth. ::Head slams against desk at this point.::
If you are looking for a good animated adaption of an excellent manga, stay far away from this one. Wait for D.N.Angel. If you are looking for a fluffy-mecha-pretty-boy anime, you're still looking in the wrong place, go watch Gundam Wing.
There is nothing for this show to offer, unless you really want to try and collect every anime title, ever. If the story intrigues you, or you just want to know what just happened, by all means save your sanity and get the manga.
