Neon Genesis Evangelion (anime) - Plot

Plot

See also: List of Neon Genesis Evangelion episodes

In 2000, the "Second Impact", a global cataclysm, destroys most of Antarctica and leads to the deaths of half of all humanity. The Impact, thought by the public to have been a high-speed meteorite impact, causes devastating tsunamis, changes in the Earth's axial tilt (leading to global climate change), and later geopolitical unrest (including general economic distress and nuclear war). Over the next ten years, the research organization Gehirn and its benefactor, the mysterious Seele organization, achieve a number of impressive scientific and engineering goals, including the creation of giant humanoids known as Evangelions and the construction of Tokyo-3, a militarized civilian city located on one of the last dry sections of Japan, in preparation for the arrival of beings known as Angels.

Five years later, 14-year-old Shinji Ikari is summoned to Tokyo-3 by his father Gendo Ikari, the Machiavellian commander of NERV (the paramilitary successor of Gehirn), and coerced into becoming the pilot of Evangelion Unit-01 on the eve of an Angel attack. Shinji begins living with Captain Misato Katsuragi and is soon joined in his mission to locate and destroy the Angels by Rei Ayanami (pilot of Unit-00) and Asuka Langley Soryu (pilot of Unit-02). However, the true nature of the Angels and the Evangelions is increasingly called into question by the conflicting conspiracies and agendas of both Seele and NERV, and their links to the mysterious Human Instrumentality Project.