I always liked how they portrayed the EVAs, too. Unit 0 was a prototype, which in most shows would mean that it has some awesome special capabilities. But no,

I always liked how they portrayed the EVAs, too. Unit 0 was a prototype, which in most shows would mean that it has some awesome special capabilities. But no, in Evangelion, unit 0 is a flaky but very expensive piece of equipment that's dangerous to operate, doesn't even work half the time, and no one really trusts for anything important. Unit 1 is more reliable but the pilot isn't, so it kind of evens out. It's also a nice touch how, as the series goes on, the EVAs end up with different colored parts because they just use whatever replacement was on hand at the time. The city, too, goes from being a semi-normal modern city to barren, dystopian landscape. Not all at once, but in stages.