Undoubtedly one of the most culturally influential television shows of all time, Neon Genesis Evangelion  breaks all attempts  to categorize it. Is it a mecha anime? Yes. Is it a shounen anime? Again, Yes. But is it also antithetical to those classifications? Resoundingly, Yes. In my opinion, there is no anime that better examines the psyche of man.

Shinji Ikari, our young antisocial protagonist, is the most unlikely of heroes; a fact that everyone around him acknowledges. And yet unlike every other anime, this isnt a failure to be overcome through use of a montage and 80s music but rather an accepted fact by everyone involved; Shinji included. He isnt necessarily the first pick in the dodgeball game so to speak and yet he (along with 2 other young schoolchildren) represent humanity's last hope for survival.