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Following a disastrous event known as "The Second Impact," humanity teeters on the brink of extinction. Having not completely eradicated mankind previously, creatures known as Angels begin attacking once more in an attempt to create a third, and final, catastrophe which will annihilate mankind once and for all. When conventional weapons fail to stop the Angels, however, the Japanese military organization NERV proposes the use of strange mecha called Evangelions. When the first Evangelion rejects its pilot, though, NERV's commander is forced to draft his estranged son, Shinji, as mankind's savior. Bitter of his father's estrangement and insecure in his abilities, Shinji struggles to overcome his doubts and fears in the face of certain death, but ultimately continues to fall short despite his efforts. As he slowly improves his skills, however, he must come to terms with the greatest question of all: is humanity worth saving after all?
Following the disaster wrought upon the world by a mysterious being called ‘Akira’, Neo Tokyo is now in social and economic turmoil. In such a decaying city, feisty Kaneda and his shy friend Tetsuo survive by running around in a biker gang, chasing local rivals and generally evading the police. Everything changes, however, when Tetsuo crashes into a strange-looking boy during a bike chase and the military ends up taking him away. When he eventually returns to his friends, he’s no longer the same weak little boy they always knew – in fact, a military experiment has turned him into something beyond human imagination. While the military is intent on reclaiming its specimen at any cost, Tetsuo is sick of being bullied around and is about to show everyone, including his friend Kaneda, exactly who is boss.
Each of these titles have a lot going on that doesn't really make sense and focus around a boy gaining a lot of powers that he can't really control. If you like titles that don't really make perfect sense, then these are a good fit.
When a group of children discover a strange cave at the beach, their lives are forever changed. Inside they find a hide out filled with computers and a man named Kokopelli who gives them a curious offer: to participate in a special game in which they save Earth from fifteen giant monsters. To defeat the invaders, he will give them a powerful mecha of black armor. The children eagerly sign the contract, name their new weapon Zearth, and must now take turns to pilot it; but the 'game' is in fact all too real and the consequences of battle become the stuff of nightmares. With no option to cancel the contract, is there any way to stop the game before it is too late for all of them?
Fighting in mecha isn't cool and kickass, but a tool of war that puts huge strain on the pilot and causes destruction just as much, if not more, as regular warfare. That's the message both these shows send out above anything. In both shows kids have to fight against unknown enemies in order to protect our Earth, wherever they like it or not. If you liked the combination of psychological themes with the mecha fights, you'll enjoy both of these shows.
Like most boys his age, the young Renton thinks of nothing but reffing – riding trapar waves on a board – and idolizes Holland, the leader of the renegade group of reffers named Gekko State. As an orphan of a famous hero, he lives a boring life with his grandfather until the beautiful Eureka crashes, literally, into his life. Now, with the help of his newfound friend and crush, Renton finds himself living amongst the crew of Gekko State. The errands are hard and the bullying is fierce, but with Eureka by his side, Renton just might find the courage to tough it out and even save the world!
Each of these series focuses around an odd girl, a boy that is eclipsed by his father, some odd mechas, and some mindf*ck. If you enjoy humanity versus something not-quite human and a boy's coming of age tale, you'll enjoy both of these.
"Are you there?" This is the question that the aliens always demand before they attack. The quiet island of Tatsumiyajima is secretly the last line of defense against mysterious invaders. In a quiet and rustic villiage, children were raised without any knowlege that they were born to pilot the Fafnirs, giant robotic war machines of terrible powers that are the only thing that can defend all they hold dear.These children's struggles will be the only thing that can hold off an enemy that attacks both our bodies and our sense of identity...
Fafner and Evangelion are kindred spirits, both explore the human elements and character interactions that are forged in extreme situations, employing the mecha genre as a means of developing the young pilots and the ordeals they go through. You are (not) Alone, in its skilful retelling of the first six episodes of Evangelion, is closely tied to the initial phases of Fafner.
A mysterious new hacker known only as the Puppet Master threatens to create chaos, erasing and rewriting the memories of his victims: humans who have cast away their physical body to become cyborgs. Is he an evil genius, or could he signal the beginning of a new age in the relationship between man and machine?
Quite basically, both of these titles are predominantly classic 90s sci-fi anime given more modern animation - notably more CGI. The Evangelion title also reworks the plot somewhat as it is part of a general remake of the franchise, while the Ghost in the Shell title is basically just a special edition of the original film, but if you want to see another iconic 1990s anime title with a new look after seeing one of these titles, the other would hardly hurt.
