How does the Evangelion manga differ from the anime?

The differences begin on the first pages. The manga opens with Shinji already more openly resentful of his father, and his internal monologue throughout is fuller than the anime's, because prose narration can carry thoughts the television series expressed through silence and repetition. Readers consistently describe the manga's Shinji as easier to follow, and its Gendo as colder and more deliberately cruel.

Character roles shift in the middle volumes. Kaji receives a backstory involving his brother and the famine after Second Impact that the anime never shows. Kaworu arrives earlier relative to the plot and stays longer, with his relationship to Shinji given more room and a darker edge. Asuka's history is also made more explicit, including material the anime confined to brief flashes during Instrumentality.

The ending is the largest divergence. Sadamoto follows the broad shape of The End of Evangelion but resolves it differently, with a final chapter set after the events that suggests a reset, ordinary world in which the characters meet without memory of the conflict. Where the film ends on ambiguity and a single choked sentence, the manga ends on a note readers generally read as hopeful.

Practically, the manga is also the easiest Evangelion continuity to collect completely: 14 Japanese volumes or five English omnibus volumes cover the whole work, with no films, specials or version variants to chase. That completeness in a small shelf footprint is a large part of its appeal to collectors who want one finished object.