[crocal]

You have to live in a world where there is no Netflix and no Disney/Pixar yet. Where the standard for mass-media japanimation is Dragon Ball Z. People had to wait for each episode for days if not weeks. At that point in time Ideaki Anno was a name only known to relatively few people, but we knew he could deliver stellar stuff. Evangelion started hyper-well animated and characters resonated with many viewers. Cool music too. The story arc looked promising with dark brooding villains and misteries everywhere. It was really something at the time. Where it ended is another (controversial) story.

[glandium]

Correction: it's Hideaki