Foxkei

What if Neon Genesis Evangelion was a high school romantic comedy instead of a mecha show? You get Angelic Days, a spin-off manga based on the one scene in Episode 26 of the anime where Shinji imagines a world where everything is normal.

Normal, that is, compared to the anime and the manga by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. Shinji is a normal teenager who is close friends with Asuka. One day, Shinji and Asuka are running late for school when Rei, who actually has a personality, bumps into Shinji. Rei accuses him of being a pervert and peeking up her skirt. Did I mention Rei carrying toast in her mouth? It turns out Rei is the new transfer student. What else…Misato is the homeroom teacher and Kaworu is still friendly towards Shinji, Hikari has crush on Toji, and Asuka becomes rivals with Rei, who is falling for Shinji.

You can only use so much of the source material, so the manga introduces an actual plot near the end of the first volume. Shinji gets called to NERV? Something bad might happen to Tokyo-3? Sound familiar, anyone? You can tell that Angelic Days gets stale very quickly.

The art is passable, but I have seen much better. Sadamoto this isn’t.

Angelic Days is only worth picking up if you’re an Evangelion fan. Even then, I can’t guarantee you’ll make it past the first volume. If you want a spin-off done right, you’re better off reading Double K, which is way more awesome than Angelic Days.

Review by member WanderingMind — [ original post ]