The Neon Genesis Evangelion Platinum Collection is a six-disc DVD set that contains all 26 episodes of the series, as well as the four "Director's Cut" episodes.

The story of Neon Genesis Evangelion goes back to the year 2000, when a global catastrophe known as the "Second Impact" occurred. During this event, Antarctica was destroyed, and half of the human population of Earth was wiped out. The government announced that the cause of the disaster was due to a large meteorite landing on Antarctica. However, it turns out the "Second Impact" was caused by experiments authorized by an organization called Seele; the experiments were actually done by a research organization called Gehirn. They were experimenting on "beings" that are referred to as Angels and Adam.

Ten years later, Gehrin evolved into a paramilitary organization called Nerv, which is located in Tokyo-3, a militarized civilian city located in one of the last dry areas of Japan. Seele has given Nerv the mission to locate the remaining Angels and destroy them, and accomplishing this through developing biomechanical mecha called Evas. Each Eva has its own designated pilot, and operates by synchronizing the pilot's soul and the human soul inside the Eva. This is done by using a liquid substance known as LCL.

The series itself actually begins in 2015, when Tokyo-3 is under attack by a third Angel. Conventional weapons are useless, so Nerv takes control of the battle. Nerv decides to use the Evas against the Angel. Meanwhile, Commander Ikari's 14-year-old son, Shinji Ikari, arrives in Tokyo-3 right as the Angel starts to attack the area.

It turns out Commander Ikari (who hasn't seen his son in three years), has summoned Shinji to serve as a pilot for one of the Evas. Shinji, however, suffers from anxiety, depression, lack of self esteem, and loneliness. As the Angel starts to attack the area near the Geofront, Shinji ends up reluctantly agreeing to pilot Evangelion Unit 01. Over the course of the series, two other pilots are important: Rei Ayanami and Asuka Sohryu Langley.

Neon Genesis Evangelion seems to start out normally enough, but as the series progresses, the viewer comes to realize there's a lot more going than there appears on the surface. By the end of the series, there's been a serious look at the psyches of all three of the main Eva pilots.

When it comes to this set, each disc allows you to choose which language you want: English or Japanese with English subtitles. The only disc in the set that has anything other than episodes is the first disc. In addition to the first five episodes, this disc includes DVD credits and "ADV Previews" (which includes six trailers for other anime being released by ADV at the time this set was released). The second, third, and fourth discs contain five episodes each. The fifth disc contains six episodes, and the sixth disc contains the "Director's Cut" versions of episodes 21 through 24.

One of the best things about this set is the fact that it collects all 26 episodes, as well as the four "Director's Cut" episodes, into one collection; this is much more convenient than having to buy the nine single DVDs that needed to be purchased before this set was released. However, the downside is that ADV decided to make this box set a "bare bones" release; they didn't even try to include the character profiles from the eight single discs of the main series, or any of the extras from the single disc release of the "Director's Cut" episodes.

If you're wanting to add Neon Genesis Evangelion to your anime collection, the Platinum Collection is the best way to go, even though there's not much in the way of extras. However, both this set, as well as the DVD singles, are out of print. Check out various used DVD sellers, and try to find the best deal that you can for this set.

Disc 1	Disc 2	Disc 3
Angel Attack The Beast A Transfer Hedgehog's Dilemma Rei I Bonus Features	Rei II A Human Work Asuka Strikes! Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win! Magma Diver	The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still She Said, "Don't Make Others Suffer for Your Personal Hatred." Lilliputian Hitcher Weaving A Story Those Women Longed for the Touch of Others' Lips, and Thus Invited Their Kisses

Disc 4	Disc 5	Disc 6
Splitting of the Breast Fourth Child Ambivalence Introjection Weaving a Story 2: Oral Stage	He Was Aware That He Was Still a Child Don't Be. Rei III The Beginning and the End, or "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" Do You Love Me? Take Care of Yourself	He Was Aware That He Was Still a Child [Director's Cut] Don't Be. [Director's Cut] Rei III [Director's Cut] The Beginning and the End, or "Knockin' on Heaven's Door” [Director's Cut]