Neon Genesis Evangelion Angelic Days: Volume 6

Internet Bookwatch, March, 2008

Neon Genesis Evangelion Angelic Days: Volume 6

Fumino Hayashi

Viz Communications Inc.

295 Bay Street, San Francisco, CA 94133

9781413903621, $9.99 www.viz.com 1-800-394-3042

Intended for readers age thirteen to adult, the sixth and final volume of Neon Genesis Evangelion Angelic Days concludes Fumino Hayashi's alternate-universe take on the popular Japanese animated show and its characters with an array of short stories set at varying times in the characters' lives. Though the world of Angelic Days is less bleak than that of the anime, and its protagonists are less dysfunctional than their psychologically traumatized anime versions, they still have their own personal demons to confront. On-again off-again couple Misato and Kaji have to ask themselves just how they came to drift apart; Ritsuko Akagi grapples with her love for a man who can never love her in return; Hikari and Toji try to make a long-distance relationship work; and Shinji and Asuka face an uncertain future. Angelic Days eschews dramatic mecha battles or mystical confrontations for the complexities of relationships and everyday growing up, yet is all the more fitting a finale for it. Also highly recommended are Neon Genesis Evangelion Angelic Days volumes 1-5.