In the original Japanese it is 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン, Shinseiki Evangelion; literally "New Century Evangelion". Evangelion, incidentally, is Greek for "good news", and is typically translated "gospel" in the Holy Bible.
When first aired in Japan at a time slot intended for teenagers, it was not especially popular. However, when aired again in a time slot more suitable for adults, its popularity exploded and rekindled many adults interest in anime. Evangelion was, and continues to be, a strong influence on anime generally.
Although it starts as a regular mecha anime, the focus tends to shift from action to flashbacks and analyses of main characters.
The director, Hideaki Anno, probably according to his own experience, displays in this show plenty of mood disorders and emotional health problems, especially depression, trauma and separation anxiety disorder.
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Evangelion takes place in the near future (2015 AD), fourteen years after the catastrophic Second Impact, and describes a expedition to Antarctica where scientists discover a large being of light, deemed by them as the Angel. This conflict caused a massive flood, consuming a large number of Earth's population. The Second Impact to the general public though, was covered up and said to be the result of an asteroid hitting Antarctica (for more info on the Impacts, go to http://www.bfx-net.com/evafaqs/evatv.html and look for the Impact info). In this conflict, mankind is represented by the mysterious organizations called NERV, Gehirn (which became NERV), SEELE, and Marduk. NERV is in theory under the control of SEELE, but NERV has its own agenda, driven by its commander Ikari Gendou (father of Ikari Shinji: main character, whiner, and pilot of Eva Unit 01).
NERV carries out two tasks: to defend the Earth from Angel attack with a small number of Evangelions and the Human Instrumentality Project.
The Evangelions, which have the outward appearance of massive biomechanical robots and can be piloted only by 14 year old children. Pilots are selected by the Marduk Agency which is later discovered to be composed of about 100 ghost corps; pilots must have lost a mother or a very close loved one, which is then used as the soul of the Eva. Only the designated pilot of an Eva can pilot it, due to the bond of the pilot's soul and the soul of the Eva; otherwise, any other person who tries to synchronize (simply put, to technically work as one mind) with the Eva will be refused. It is later revealed that the Evangelions are not really "robots" but rather living organisms.
The secret second task, the Human Instrumentality Project, which (if successful) intends to start an artificial evolution of mankind. Considering the religious implications of the term "evangelion" imply that this event was to bring about the salvation of mankind in the context of a newly created Earth.
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