It took me a long time to get into the Evangelion series. I know that makes me unusual as everyone seems to have loved it from the start. I think my problem was I started it backwards. I watched the Evangelion: Death and Rebirth movie first (which as you know, ends the series), fell in love with the weird, macabre, tragic angst of it all, and then went to watch the TV series from the start. To say it was jarring would be putting it mildly.