Neon Genesis Evangelion - Evangelion is Deep and Original

Is Evangelion the Rick and Morty of Anime? How high of an IQ must I have to understand it?

Though, I do sometimes forget that some people think Eva is some incredibly deep thinkpiece. Well made and entertaining as hell, but it did always seem clear that it was pretty surface-level stuff. Besides that, there certainly was an air of mystery to the series, where you're left wondering the intentions and potential twists of things. But that's not really depth, just basic storytelling.

Man, the most iconic shots in Evangelion were references to other stuff? I feel played like a fiddle