I personally like the manga the best due too the extra amount of detail and a few extra scenes. But I like the Rebuild movies better voice acting and visuals not too mention the extra characters and new plot line after the first movie.

I personally didn't like the voice acting in the manga at all.

Each have their strengths and weaknesses, I guess, but I prefer the 1995 series the most because of the direction and the characterization among other things.

I prefer the original series. The rebuild is good too, but they cut most of my favorite parts out of the story.

Nothing better than the original series, 1) It's Anno's original work 2) IT'S WHAT EVANGELION IT'S. I enjoy Rebuild, but it's a well made example of milking the cash cow without risk (No, THE TIME LAP DOESN´T COUNT AS RISK)

Manga?? Great art but shitty,abyssal storywritting : the ending, the way Sadamoto depicts Shinji, Asuka, Gendo, their relationships, etc......

The series with the DC episodes and EoE is without doubt my favorite, followed by the Rebuild-Films, wich are also awsome to but are only nearly as intense and groundbreaking as the original work.

The manga was nice but it screwed up some relationships between certain characters a lot.

Guy Nacks wrote:I personally didn't like the voice acting in the manga at all.

Since NTE isn't finished yet, so I won't judge it against other entries. But I thoroughly enjoy it.
I can't remember too much about the Manga, except for it's pleasant arc and different handling of Kaworu. It felt a little bit lacking, though.
The original is one of the best things that happened to the medium as a whole, so I think I like that the most?

Ah, such pulpy chatter is really invigorating once in a while!

That's a tough call, since I think there's always something to enjoy more or less in either the original series, the manga or the new movies. Now, if I could only take one of them on a deserted island, which one would it be? Actually, I can't decide.

The manga is quite interesting for changing some scenes already known from the original series by adding some lines (or thoughts) for the characters. And, I guess, the most major difference will only come with the final chapter.

The new movies are actually starting to make sense with the beginning of the second one. They might have slightly altered a few scenes in the first one, but in general it's a retelling of the episodes before the 'action arc' (though with a bit more of an epic soundtrack).

Finally, we have the original by itself, first with it's quite different ending (compared to other series), and second, the additional movies, the latter leaving me a bit speechless, once the ending credits came up, which is something not many (animated) movies did accomplish in the past.

GT-One wrote:The manga is quite interesting for changing some scenes already known from the original series by adding some lines (or thoughts) for the characters. And, I guess, the most major difference will only come with the final chapter.

One problem of the Manga is, that the main draw is seeing how Sadamoto changes the original. Another problem is, that he very rarely changes anything to the better or adds something interesting.
Good art, though.

Now I've got them all I wouldn't want to be without any of them. The differences are as fascinating as the common aspects of the stories they tell.

If you ask which I would recommend to someone in isolation, I think that would vary according to who asked.

While I consider all three separate, but equal iterations of the same story, I think part of a person's preference is based on what version of the franchise they were introduced to first. In my case, I'm one of those few people that came into it through Sadamoto's manga. At the time, I was curious about the series (its reputation proceeded itself) and I couldn't afford getting the anime (I didn't own a DVD player and for VHS tapes it was $25 for two episodes). The manga was cheaper and I only needed the ability for my brain to process words and pictures to follow the story. In time, I did get the TV series and the Rebuild movies, but for many years, the manga was Evangelion to me. I enjoyed the story, wrote a fanfic based on it, and I'm looking forward to the final volume, even if the ending might not be as good as the TV series. I wouldn't go as far to say it's my desert island version of the story, but it is the one I'm most fond of.

I like each version of the Evangelion story in its own way. I don't really think that I can pick a favorite, since I like them all practically equally (although that may change after I read the manga ending, since I have yet to do so.)

Guy Nacks wrote:I personally didn't like the voice acting in the manga at all.

Wat

I personally prefer the Rebuild movies. I think 2.0 is one the best anime films ever made and the best Evangelion thing ever.

By far the Manga i loved the way that the story was explained in a much simpler way (compared to the original series) and i also loved the subtle extra details to Reis character which made me like her a whole lot more. Plus due to it all being drawn it doesn't have any of the budget problems that the 90s series had and it also has some extra back story's added in to which are great. So with all those previously mentioned factors put together the manga is in my opinion the best version of the EVA storyline.

Manga all the way through - but that's probably because that's the first incarnation of Eva that I've been exposed to. Also when presented with a choice to watch an anime or to read a manga I always choose the latter. So yeah.
But what I also like in the manga is that the story is more coherent then the anime, it omits the angels that don't contribute to the real plot development and it has a sense of purpose to it - everything that I find lacking in NGE anime.
As to NTE... it's still unfinished so it's hard to say anything final but I love its graphics and music. As to the story - (I'll) wait and see.

Guy Nacks wrote:I personally didn't like the voice acting in the manga at all.

What are you telling me you didn't me you didn't like Samuel l Jackson as Black Hyuga in the manga?
If i had to pick in a order it would be the anime, then the rebuild, and then the manga. I woulda liked a couple of things in the manga better than the anime, but then again idk. Like in the manga Kaworu is introduced way earlier and it probably woulda been harder to guess he was the last angel, but the way he made an impact in the series and it carried on to EoE is great with just one episode. Also Sadamoto was definitely less cruel than Anno, another reason why i take the anime over the manga. The characters aren't as introverted in the manga. I woulda like the Asuka vs MP Evas fight to go the magna route instead of the Tv Route, but then EoE wouldn't have been the giant F you it was if Asuka hadn't been mutilated.

Original Series & EOE is a perfect example of "lighting in a bottle." What should have just been another in a long line of silly anime robot shows became something truly special thanks to a mixture of artists, personal lifes, freedom of expectations, budgetary restraints & a hunger to create. It's the best the Evangelion universe ever has been & it's the best the Evangelion ever will be. It's pure. It can't be repeated.

The manga is enjoyable. I love Sadamoto's art & it's the best the characters will ever look but as a narrative it surprisingly makes Eva feel very standard. It removes the depth, flaws & complexities that make Eva what it is & turns it into another in a long line of silly robot stories.

Rebuild is the most entertaining on a purely visceral level. But, I also love Rebuild the most on a conceptual level. Anno knows he can't replicate the "lighting in a bottle" experience that NGE was so he's doing his own thing & playing with both tone & the expectations of Eva fans. Each movie seems to be an absolute dilution of a certain section of the fan bases approach to the original series. 1.0 is the predominatly direct retracing of Eva - it's the same story with a little cherry on top. 2.0 is Eva as the fun, robots vs. monsters, shipping relationships, cute girls in hot outfits, heroes rise to the challenge version of Eva that a lot fo fans want. 3.0 is the heady, flawed, intimate, confrontational, weird Kubrickian type Eva that some people love immensely but a great deal hate.

I love two of the three - NGE & Rebuild. I enjoy the Manga.

I, personally, prefer the original series and the manga (of what I've read, I stopped like a bit before the ending cause it wasn't out yet, should probably finish it) over NTE, if only because I think NTE looks too...artificial. Like I dunno, I think the traditional inking done with the original series looks better than the digital coloring and CGI used in the new films.

I dunno, that's just me.

Before this thread I would have honestly guessed that 95% of EGFers easily preferred NGE. Shows what I know.

I put NGE on a level that the manga and NTE don't even really come close to, which is sort of unfortunate since it doesn't allow me to really like the manga and NTE as much as I probably could. I wouldn't really take any of the changes to the original story made by either works, like, the first time I watched Episode 06 I wasn't thinking, "This animation is terrible and it makes Rei looks like a troll," or "I wish I could see old Ramiel blow up a bunch of Nerv's missiles in a stylized fashion" and I wasn't thinking those things because I was simply thinking about how wonderful the build up and the battle were. I could go on and on about the omissions I loathe in NTE, but I'd just be saying things people have said for years regarding the matter, I'll just say that I like NGE so much that I think the Jet Alone episode was worthwhile because it taught us that Hyuga that fly a plane and that Death is a fantastic film.

I also subscribe strongly to the thought that EoE could not possibly be topped, so I believe that NTE never really needed to be made in the first place. I've enjoyed the films immensely, and the manga was fun and had its touching moments, but they're like a friend that you only see once a month and forgets when your birthday is.

Nonetheless, more Eva is never a bad thing.

^

This is all basically my opinion as well.

NGE/EoE, easily.

NTE & the Manga are fun but NGE as a whole is just far too special to be topped IMO.