People tend to describe the ending of Evangelion as "controversial". I suspect this is because "incoherent" and "budget-free" aren't on Marketing's approved words list. (Unfortunately, precisely the same total lack of budget affected the director's next show, Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou (aka KareKano), which is a pity, because it was vastly better.)

Still, if you're happy enough to invest some time in a couple of anime series, Shoujo Kakumei Utena (aka Revolutionary Girl Utena) and Haibane Renmei are both utterly excellent examples (although very different from Eva in almost every respect) and feature some of the best storytelling you'll find in just about any medium.

Oh, and if you're a fan of the giant robot genre, you could do worse than watch The Big O...


Here endeth the fannishness.

I've seen Utena already, but I'll try to remember to look out for the others if they cross my path...