Evangelion Movie 3: Q

[Spoilers obviously]

I saw Rebuild 3.0 about a month ago, and during that time I didn't think much of it. It was just another movie in the series, and I didn't analyze it to any significant extent. The action was intense, the plot seemed interesting at the time, the animation quality was superb.
Recently however (coinciding with the UTW BD subs release), there has been an influx of discussion posts about 3.0, and I figured that there had to be a reason for such a community reaction to the movie; there must be more to think about. So I went to re-watch the movie again with a ... bit more acuity and that's when I came to a conclusion:

The movie was a huge cop-out.

Evangelion 3.0 answered no questions. I am in no way exaggerating when I say that the movie was better at taking away things that we previously knew rather than clarifying anything for us in the Rebuild series. This is itself is not a bad aspect of the movie, as it can be attributed to two things

a) Studio Khara wants us to ask a lot of questions and get curious so that we'll buy 4.0

b) Anno is trying to be clever and allow the viewers to emulate Shinji's confusion after 14 years in sleep by giving the viewers that same confusion.

The second option seems much more likely, and in such a case I could say that it was executed well. Shinji probably had no idea what in the world was going on during the entire movie, and I can reciprocate that feeling. If I had to make a list of everything that was left unanswered or simply pulled out of Khara's ass, it would have to be:

1. Why did there have to be a 14 year time skip? The teaser at the end of 2.0 did not imply a time skip in any way and I don't think there was even a need for such a long one. I expected the story to pick up immediately after Kaworu speared Shinji and it could have easily done so with much less clumsy exposition ("Hey Shinji, let's play play Shogi. Oh yeah by the way your mom is the soul of Unit 01 and all Reis are clones of your mom. Oh, and you suck at Shogi.")

2. Why was everyone a dick to Shinji when at the end of 2.0 it seemed like everyone was fine with him going all out and even egged him on? It was also clear at the end of 2.0 that Shinji did not cause enough damage to obliterate the Geofront as shown in 3.0, as Kaworu stopped him beforehand and everyone had evacuated to a shelter of some sort. The desolate wastelands and weird spinning moons and chalices were never explained and were most certainly not Shinji's fault (as the teaser in the end of 2.0 shows a clear afternoon sky and a calm Geofront shortly after Shinji gets speared).

3. Why did WILLE need to break from NERV? It was not NERV's fault that Shinji's supposed Third Impact happened, and it's not like anyone knew of Gendo's Human Instrumentality plan (which I assume was already on the way, because Kaworu seemed prepared enough). There's doesn't seem to have been a need for Misato to have broken from NERV, as NERV wasn't doing anything wrong. It feels like the existence of WILLE in 3.0 is just there to give a conflict without any real depth.

4.What's the significance of having the two spears be Longinus types? How does that even happen and why in the world did that make a difference?

5. Was there any reason to have Unit 06 to contain the Twelfth Angel? I thought Kaworu was pretty comfortable using Unit 06 and I'm not sure why the Twelfth Angel would even be needed to start Instrumentality. Also, how did Kaworu "fall" from the first Angel (which is supposed to be Adam) to the Twelfth Angel and why did that make a difference? Heck, I'll go as far as to say that the entire scene at the bottom of the Geofront was just pulled out of Khara's ass, there was literally no context for anything (Lilith is dead for some reason. Just go with it, we're not going to explain.)

Those are just five big ones that I named off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are plenty of other plot holes and unexplained things that I'm missing. 3.0 definitely had the well-choreographed fight scenes and beautiful animation to surpass it's predecessors in spectacle, but it was just that: spectacle. Every significant plot device (WILLE and Wunder, two Lances of Longinus, Adam's Vessel, etc.) just appeared out of thin air and was force-fed into our minds at a lightning-fast rate.

Of course I don't go into anything in the Evangelion franchise expecting answers. In fact, answers are the opposite of what I usually expect from anything Evangelion. However, there is a difference between using unanswered questions in context with previously known facts to generate suspense and curiosity and just taking a bunch of haphazard ideas, animating them, and throwing them in no particular order or significance into a movie that was three years in the making. In fact, I walked into 3.0 fully anticipating a high level of suspense and ambiguity. I would have left satisfied, but instead all I got was Studio Khara telling me, "Hey, everything that we told you before doesn't mean shit. Now here, take all of these incidental plot lines and characters that we just came up with and expect you to care about with no context and go enjoy yourself a movie."

In fact, none of these things would even have effected me if it weren't for my biggest peeve with the movie: the way Rei was treated. Okay, sure I can buy that original Rei wasn't salvaged from Unit 01. But don't try to play off this new Rei clone as being developed in some way and expect us to care about her or feel anything when she makes the supposedly miraculous decision and decides to eject from Unit 09. No Hideaki Anno, we've spent two movies geting to know the first Rei and seeing her develop from the stoic white-haired nonchalant to a character that can actually warm up and make Shinji happy. It's perfectly fine if she gets killed off for shock factor and for another burden on Shinji's conscience, but that in no way works if you simply introduce another stoic white-haired nonchalant and try to develop her in the same way. Let me guess, this Rei dies/disintegrates/becomes an Instrumentality Trigger too? Big deal.

Maybe I had too many expectations of the movie. Maybe I shouldn't have gone into 3.0 with security in my thoughts. Maybe I'm simply not watching it properly or maybe I even missed everything important in the movie (What more can there be? We already know that the all the imagery and symbolism is just there to look flashy). But even if I had a complete and 100% understanding of everything that could have led up to and been in the movie (which is not really the intention of the Evangelion series, and is probably not possible), 3.0 still had a lazy and bullshit execution of a plot. Sure, anyone can go ahead and tell me that I am meant to be confused all I want, but a line must be drawn between confusing your viewers intentionally and failing to make a cohesive and coherent storyline.

TL;DR: Hideaki Anno pulled 3.0 out of Khara's ambiguous (albeit well-animated) ass.

It’s been over three long years since Studio Khara’s brilliant Evangelion 2.0 graced our unprepared eyeballs and earholes with its fresh and exciting take on the classic anime series. Fans grew antsy and expectations ran higher than ever for this third film in the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy to deliver the goods, and Neon Genesis mastermind Hideaki Anno knew he really had to shake things up with the newest installment to keep everyone flocking to theatres and DVD racks in enthusiastic anticipation. And he shook things up alright.

Picking up where part 2 left off, You Can (Not) Redo — or Q Quickening, if you’d rather ... – begins with a mesmerizing six minute sequence in which Studio Khara blows 75% of their budget on Asuka retrieving Shinji’s unconscious body from outer space by shooting the shit out of some artificial angels. It’s lavishly animated and beautiful on multiple levels, keeping the viewer on the edge of their seat as pretty colors light up the cosmos. The action is insane, even jaw-dropping, perfectly setting the film up to be an action-packed thrill ride. And then Shinji wakes up.

Do you remember the preview at the end of Evangelion 2.0? Yeah, none of that happens in this movie. Instead, the remainder of the film is a joyless husk; a cheap imitation of NGE that plays out more like self-indulgent fanfiction than something written and directed by the original creator. Following a fourteen year (yes, fourteen) time skip, in which no one has aged a day — a minor inconvenience that is apathetically hand waved near the outset — protagonist Shinji Ikari enters a world in which everyone hates him but refuses to say why. Poor Shinji is just as confused as the audience by this, but all of his requests for clarification seem to result in a reply of “don’t touch anything”, “be quiet”, or “fuck off ya twat”.

Misato now commands a fleet of flying battleships, her goal being the destruction of remaining NERV personnel. While this could have been an interesting storyline had something — anything — built up to it, this motivation comes completely out of left field and feels extremely unsatisfying. It is then that Rei, who Shinji was told died in the last film, suddenly shows up to whisk him away to the now-desolate NERV headquarters. The audience is subsequently left wondering why the hell Misato’s fleet hasn’t completely wiped them off the map yet, as their staff consists entirely of Gendo, Rei, Kaworu, and Fuyutsuki. That’s not a joke either; their staff is literally half the size of the average internet forum's before Shinji shows up.

By the time the fairly predictable climax rolls around, viewers will have been left utterly bored by almost an hour of nothing interesting happening. The film is mostly set in drab, empty environments — and if that was meant to be symbolic in some way, Khara failed miserably. Plot twists from the original Neon Genesis Evangelion occur in ways that are presented in a much less compelling manner this time around, and the bulk of these scenes simply feature Shinji being kind-of-but-not-really depressed and the expected yaoi ship-bait between the leading man and Kaworu. However, their interactions feel more manufactured than before; an attempt at shallow fanservice rather than a pivotal moment in the protagonist’s character arc… a character arc that hardly even exists in this film.

That's not to say that their relationship was particularly well-written in episode 24 of NGE - far from it - there just wasn't enough meat for it to be expanded upon at this level without some major rewriting. Their storyline works more for the concept than it does the execution in both instances, and the way it was presented in the original series, while certainly out of left field, made it seem like it had more depth than it really did. In 3.0, it just happens, because. It didn't really seem to affect Shinji much outside of moving him to the next plot point. But it's unfair to make such a blanket statement at this point in time; the final movie could definitely do some interesting things with Shinji/Kaworu.

Fans of human interaction and actual dialogue will no doubt be distressed by the fact that Kaworu is the only likable character and how the interesting dynamics and relationships of past Evangelion works have been completely discarded in 3.0. Rei has maybe twenty lines total, the majority of them being “I don’t know” and “that is not my order”. Gendo says all of one sentence to Shinji and only has a couple more lines after that. Ritsuko exists solely to deliver exposition and disappears after the first act. Misato is basically a new character. Mari speaks almost entirely in one-liners. Kaji doesn’t even appear.

The story as a whole is mostly inconsequential and serves only to undermine what was accomplished in the previous two movies. Nearly everything established or built up in 1.0 and 2.0 is either ignored or demolished in part 3, leaving the fourth and final movie to probably function better as a standalone piece than part of a film series. I hold NGE (and the other Rebuild movies) dear to my heart and consider The End of Evangelion to be among the finest films ever made — animated or otherwise — but even my love for this franchise cannot make You Can (Not) Redo look like a good movie. Sure, it excels in the A/V department (as expected), but it has no soul, meaning, or purpose. Anno’s heart is nowhere to be found in this glorified fanfic; it’s a stylish Eva knock-off at best.

Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Cop Out Harder

This movie. Oh why this movie.
Coming from someone who has seen the series in it's entirety multiple times, I can in fact confirm my verdict on this film without seeing it's successor.

This film is bad. Really bad. "Cop Out" isn't even coming close to describing it. We take all the established material from the previous films and just throw it away, like a used dish sponge.

We change characters without explanation, break canon with no explanation, do stupid things for no reason, and don't even take a second to tell you what you need to know. Now, this may ... be okay in some fiction, but it never makes sense in this movie, as all the people who could explain and would are here, but won't. getting from one scene to another isn't even straight forward.

The teaser at the end of 2.0 may be implied to happen in between movies, but that is such an awful excuse for making this movie so nonsensical.

The story is no longer stand alone in the sense that it can be narratively coherent by itself. This movie is fully reliant on what it's successor will do.

What is 3.0? insanity and set pieces. and even the set pieces fall flat.

If I could compare this film to something, I'd say it represents everything wrong with some of today's anime. Recreating the same things over and over, overusing CG, relying soley on action, breaking continuity with no explanation, and breaking characters with no explanation.

This movie ends without answering anyone's questions, and only creates more. Your only solace here are the visuals and the Soundtrack, both of which are great. Even then, they don't make this movie worth watching.

2.0 was one step forward for Evangelion, and 3.0 was a trip and fall into the abyss.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is a legendary series which made its First Impact in the anime industry seventeen years ago. Boasting a cast of characters as intricate as the plot itself, Evangelion has earned both pride and glory as one of the pioneering anime series that has garnered massive audiences and acclaim around the world.

But this praise is not without being sullied with controversy.

Indeed, the original Neon Genesis Evangelion adaptation was notoriously known for its unconventional plot, its extensive complexity of drama and its indescribably upending conclusion which had left even those most hardened fans mad with confused outrage. The Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy of films ... were produced with the aim of doing justice to the original series.

Now the question remains: Has Hideaki Anno, the Neon Genesis Evangelion series creator, stepped closer to the completion of his beloved Evangelion as he wanted it to be?

Rebuild of Evangelion: Evangelion 3.0 Q Quickening takes off fourteen years after the Near-Third Impact that was triggered at the end of Rebuild of Evangelion: Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance. After this lengthy period of time, everything that we have come to familiarize ourselves with from the two preceding movies has been drastically and irreversibly transformed. Be warned and brace yourself as you watch this next instalment of the Evangelion series, for this is -the- Evangelion that you are facing and it will not fail to throw you off your rocker regardless of how well-anchored your chair may be.

There is no shortage of action in this film and Evangelion 3.0 delivers quite the powerful punch. The opening sequence is merely a taste of the intense combat that is featured throughout the film. An entire set of new EVA units is introduced in this latest instalment for each of the young pilots. The new mecha units have been redesigned and upgraded to beefier and vastly more powerful versions of the predecessors, which is no surprise considering the large time lapse that has taken place. However, unlike in previous conflicts, the battles that are now being fought are not simply between Mankind and Angels. With the advent of the Near-Third Impact, loyalties have shifted and Misato Katsuragi’s anti-NERV organization WILLE now wages a brutal war against NERV with its flagship the AAA Wunder that possesses enough insane power to kill even God.

The dramatic changes unveiled in Evangelion 3.0 do not simply limit themselves to merely new EVA units and circumstances. Surprisingly, the most unsettling transformations occur at the human level. Past allies have become each other’s mortal enemies in this desperate and merciless battle to determine the future of Mankind. Evangelion 3.0 paints a grim blood red future which is personified by the redesigned returning characters and on the newcomers to the cast. The atrocities of war have been made apparent on the battle-hardened and gloomy faces of the cast. It is quickly ascertained that humanity harbours a great contempt for a tragically oblivious and ignorant Shinji Ikari and it is implied that the responsibility of a dreadful sin weighs on heavily on his shoulders. Ironically, much to the contrast of the entire world that has changed around him, Shinji Ikari manifests no change whatsoever despite the time that has passed since his last conscious thoughts. Veterans such as Misato Katsuragi and Gendou Ikari return with menacing demeanours and sporting superfluous eyewear. Unit 02-Dash EVA pilot Asuka Langley Shikinami makes a stunning return with a magnificent eye patch and her trademark tsundere compliments. Fans will also rejoice with the coming of Mari Illustrious Makinami’s glasses and her perpetual state of latent sexual attractiveness. Kaworu Nagisa makes his debut as the new EVA pilot and steals the hearts of many with his enigmatic charisma. In essence, Evangelion 3.0 features the original cast whose colours and identities that have been completely repainted with the red gore of war.

Evangelion reprises its role as an animated psychological trip straight to the mental asylum, but unlike the original adaptation, Rebuild of Evangelion manages to fall into the boundaries of comprehension that mere mortals possess. The film itself takes on a grim atmosphere and maintains a subconscious aura of mystery that shrouds the audience in ignorance. Many details concerning the events that occurred within the fourteen year time lapse were meticulously withheld for a large part of the movie and the culmination of this tension has a tendency to leave its viewers in a catatonic state of shock. Near the film’s conclusion, viewers may expect to suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and exhibit inexplicable confusion with many unanswered questions that will hopefully be resolved in the series finale. Currently, I can attest to that deranged and disturbed mental state.

The musical score of Evangelion 3.0 composed by Shiro Sagisu is an artistic masterpiece in itself. The music features a harmonic symbiotic relationship between orchestral instruments, choir and electric guitars surprisingly added to the mix. Most strikingly of all, the piano pieces steal the spotlight. Kaworu and Shinji’s piano duet vastly contrasts the doom-and-gloom atmosphere that Evangelion 3.0 boasts, but their light musical presentation was a refreshing welcome which provided a brief respite to the other heavy piano pieces that reflected the grim circumstances. Hikaru Utada’s fans will also scream in delight with her return to the musical scene with the melancholic Sakura Nagashi featured while the curtain of credits draw to a close.

With the long-awaited and highly anticipated Evangelion 3.0 aweing its audience with top-tier animation quality and a masterfully executed story reaching its conclusion, viewers will be left with even more questions and angst as they wait for the Rebuild of Evangelion to draw to its inevitable close. Evangelion 3.0 leaves much to be desired, and perhaps to the dismay of many, its direction may be out of the comfort zone that was presented in the preceding films. It seems that the producers are hell-bent on pursuing the near-suicidal mission of saving the original Neon Genesis Evangelion ending, and in order to achieve this daunting task, they employ the same tactic of “screwing over Shinji as many times using the most dastardly means that they can possibly conceive.” After all, it is Evangelion, and it is a necessity that the remake lives up to its reputation. One can only dream that they succeed, and I look forward to that day.

Now returning to the initial premise of embarking on this arduous and lengthy journey; have we come one step closer to answering Hideaki Anno’s goal of remaking Evangelion as it he wanted it to be? Alas, that is a question which can only be answered by Anno himself. However, as witnesses of his artistic masterpieces, each individual of his audience is privy to their own answer to that question. With this, I thank you for reading mine.

I just watched Evangelion: 3.0 and I have to admit it was not what I expected. Having watched the previous 1.0 and 2.0 I knew that there would probably be new characters, new music and scenes, but I did not expect that there will be so many! It's almost a completely new movie, quite different from the old story. Evangelion has always been apocalyptic and this can be seen much more in 3.0 than in the previous 2 movies. While watching it you can feel that the end is coming. There are so many new and never before seen things (really really cool too)! The ... music, the art, the action scenes ,the EVAs and the plug suits, everything is perfect and blends into one unforgettable movie. It was hard to keep up with all that was happening and I wish it didn't end that quickly, I wish there was more! And there will be more. Like before, there was a preview of the 4.0 movie after the credits of 3.0 and yes there will be more new things (it's really tempting to write what they are but I don't want to ruin your enjoyment)! I think that any EVA fan will not be disappointed. Just watch it whenever you can (preferably on a big screen). It will make you think and wonder a lot because, as usual, not everything is explained but this is EVA after all. I know I want to watch it again!

Evangelion is a complex work; the television series challanged the dimensions of the anime world by creating a dark, world where not everything is told to the viewer. Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone and 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance were somtimes viewed as not following this trend, showing us just about everything.

Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo changes all that.

Story: Fourteen years have passed since the climatic moments of 2.0; this is not the world Shinji Ikari remembers. Many things have changed, and Shinji is left very much like the viewer; completely and utterly confused.

I'll be fair; Evangelion is well known for having a ... story that baffles the casual viewer; however, 3.0 takes this idea way too far. We know very little about what exactly is going on during the story, or why they are happening. The ideas and motivations of characters are not thoroughly explained, and the viewer is left unbeknownst to whatever the hell is going on.
As I said, I will be fair to this movie; there is still a fourth move coming, and that may answer some questions that are lingering in our minds, but until those questions are (if they are) explained, the story remains the weakest portion of 3.0.

Art and Sound: Easily the highlight of the film. As compared tot he relatively colorful animation of 1.0 and 2.0, Redo shows off a much darker world then the one we left years ago; the world is dark and shadowed, and great clouds cover the skies. This is truly a world descending into hell, and whilst I usually hate darkly drawn anime, this is easily the best of them.
The music, of course, is perfect as usual. Sweep orchestral tracks fills this film, giving the movie a large sense of scale that only the greatest of anime films could muster. The music is at lest on par with 2.0, which was truly excellent.

Character: Another aspect of the film that suffers compared to the other two films; characters in 3.0 are very different to when they were seen in 2.0, in particular characters such as Rei and Misato. Normally, I would have no problem with this, but the issue stands that their ideals and motivations are not throughraly explained. Again, when 4.0 rolls around, they may be explained, but until then, this simply is to large a problem to ignore.

Overview: In closing, Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo is not a bad film at all; it's still very good. However, the story and character issues are simply to large an issue to ignore, but does not detract horribly from the film. Hopefully with 4.0 somewhere on the horizon all of my (and all the other Evangelion fans) questions will be answered, and the conclusion of The Rebuld of Evangelion will wrap up all of the issues everyone has had with the series.

When I first watched Evangelion in my middle school days, I was as any other person who watched the series. I liked it, yet I thought there were things that could have been done better. I came to be attached to the characters, although I found them annoying in some ways. Evangelion is not a perfect story. Yet it was an amazing story, and more than all else, it was different. I am a complete sucker for moe animes, to a certain extent, but I cannot stomach what Evangelion has become: Nothing more than fanservice for people who like to do very little thinking and ... a lot of staring. I thought the first two movies in Rebuild were OK. They were another story altogether, and maybe this time they'd improve the show. Shinji definitely saw improvement in 2.0 when he became much more "masculine" than before. I was completely saddened by how Asuka and Rei were no longer Asuka and Rei, they were nothing more than the generic moeblobs who develop a rivalry over the one male and proceed to argue for him. I can't say i didn't enjoy seeing Asuka in the new suit in 2.0, although it had NO PLACE IN THE STORY.

Even with all this, I could take Rebuild. Yet when I watched 3.0, I came to the realization Anno has ruined his own masterpiece the way one ruins a good drawing by overworking it and trying to perfect it. Either that or he has fallen trap to the recent trend of animes consisting of nothing more than generic "cute" females and lots of shooting and explosions. There are so many plotholes in this movie, it is obvious Deux ex Machina was implemented many times throughout the production. The sudden "fact" that LCL retards aging so they could move forward years in the story yet keep the voluptuous 14 year old bodies the girls possess is an obvious excuse to rake in the fanboys.

Everything that originally made the characters unique from other characters in other shows was taken away in Rebuild. Shinji's perseverance regardless of the problems he faced, Asuka's progressive downfall into despair while remaining a lovable character, Rei's robot-like personality and rebellion when it came down to the end, all gone to make space for the shallow beauties and guns.

In summary, if you want to retain whatever amount of enjoyment you got out of the original Evangelion, and you DON'T want to watch yet ANOTHER archetypal movie, don't bother with Rebuild anymore.

I havent been an Evangelion fan for long. I just watched the TV series a few months ago, and I loved it of course, but it wasn't one of my favorites. I hated the End of Evangelion, I feel like it kinda messed up the entire TV series. After that, I reluctantly watched the first two movies, and they were ok. I had my hopes kind of low for 3.0.

Maybe that's why I am absolutely floored and how truly fantastic this film is. I feel like I cant express it in words, but I'll try.

Story (10):

Here's where 3.0 is either a hit ... or a miss with some people. I can see how the story would be completely confusing and frustrating for some, while amazing for others. Personally, I found the story to be fantastic. (Being a huge Kaworu/Shinji fan probably helped that a lot though. Maybe I'm biased.) Most of the time you don't know what's going on at all. This might be frustrating for some people but, remember we have another movie coming, and that will very likely explain most of the missing parts in our brains right now. Keep that in mind before you watch this movie. Confusing and dark plot lines in movies are my favorites, and Evangelion 3.0 delivered that beautifully, even more than the entire series could combined.

The ending was heartbreaking. I should be used to bawling my eyes out while watching Evangelion at this point, but I'm not. And I don't think I ever will be.

I really can't say much else story wise without spoiling, so I will move on.

Art (10):

I'm not sure I even need to comment on the art. It's the same as it was in Evangelion 1.0 and 2.0, except a bit darker. I love it. The animation, as usual, is glorious. It keeps true to the original series' style, while at the same time making it modern. It works very well. There are some disturbing images, but if you're an Evangelion fan, you're used to that already, so it's a moot point.

Sound (10):

As expected, the soundtrack is perfect. As it was in the previous films, and in the TV series. Not much else to say, except that it fits the dark atmosphere of the art and storyline as it always has.

Character (10):

3.0 is centered mostly around Shinji and Kaworu for the majority of the movie. We do see Asuka quite a bit though, who acts a little differently than she did in the previous Evangelion movies. In fact, most of the characters do. This might bother some people but... whether they have aged on the outside or not, 14 years have passed. Of course things are going to be different. Misato we dont see much, but she is completely different than she was before, almost unrecognizable. Like I said, there's another movie left, so we have an explanation for that for later. Rei is the same basically, from what I can tell, never been a huge Rei fan. Though Shinji's attitude towards her does change drastically, which is completely understandable with the given circumstances.

The only person I have a problem with is Mari. Never liked Mari. She just feels out of place, the only reason she's there is to back up Asuka. And to be the ""comedic"" relief, which this dark, emotional, action/mecha film does not need. She's utterly useless. She could be anyone, a cardboard cutout would have more personality. I don't even want to talk about her because it's just grueling how unneeded and annoying she is, so, moving on.

Shinji and Kaworu really steal the movie for me... watching these two interact is incredible. Self-loathing, depressed, guilt-ridden Shinji, who has nothing and no one to hold on to, finally has someone to love him. And someone for him to love. When have we ever seen Shinji smile like the way he smiles at Kaworu in this movie? We haven't. Maybe this just hits a personal point for me, since I know what depression and guilt can do to someone, and how much just one person can do so much to help. It's truly an amazing story, whether it's "romantic" or not, you can perceive it how ever you want. But Kaworu means everything to Shinji. He is his last hope, the last thing that makes him happy, the last person who can "save" him and the world that he knows. But I'm getting a little off track, so let's get back to personalities before I go overboard.

Kaworu's personality in this movie is mostly the same, as is Shinji's. If you enjoyed seeing the little interaction they had in the TV series, you will love them in this one. Though Kaworu's entire existence feels like he's only there for Shinji... that's kind of how it is. And he still has a personality of his own. He's quiet, thoughtful, kind, and extremely upfront with his feelings toward Shinji. It's hard to describe Kaworu's personality, honestly. But if you watched the original TV series you know how he is. He is my favorite Evangelion character, always will be. Sorry Misato, you're a close number 2.

Enjoyment:

This film is a blast for me. The dark story and atmosphere just really captured me, engrossed me into the post almost-third impact world. It's confusing, scary, and just has a really uncomfortable "what the heck is going on" feeling to it. I love it. Seeing the characters interact in this world (again, Shinji and Kaworu) is the best part. There is nothing that can spoil this film for me, not even Mari's annoying self. I had a blast watching it the first and second time, and I'll have a blast watching it the 50th time, I'm sure.

Overall:

Overall? Hm. I would say it's a masterpiece. Probably my favorite anime film, if not one of my favorite overal films, of all time. There's just very few things about this movie I dislike. I wish it were a bit longer but... We can wait for 4.0 right?

I hope you guys enjoy this film as much as I did. And please forgive any typos I may have made, it's 3 AM and been a long day. I just had to talk about this movie before I exploded of excitement.

Thanks for reading!

Ah, Evangelion. I like to consider myself something of an Evangelion fanboy. I loved the first two rebuild movies so much, I went back and watched the original series as well as EOE. I bored to death anyone who would listen to my numerous theories and explanations behind the recurring symbolism and the less "cohesive" sections. And most of all, I would never pass up a chance to illustrate my excitement for the next rebuild movie. I spent four years waiting for the release, and another 4-5 months for the BDs. I watched, I took in, I digested, I frowned.

This wasn't what I was waiting ... for.

Evangelion 3.0 (technically I watched 3.33, but that's irrelevant) takes place a whole fourteen years after the events of 2.22. Shinji finds himself a prisoner of the anti-NERV organization Wille, led by his old friend Misato and countless other acquaintances. What was expected to be a happy, warm welcome turns out to be a cold rejection, as the entire crew seems to hold a grudge against Shinji for doing something terrible that he doesn't remember doing. From here on is a roller-coaster ride that will play with your mind and crush your preconceptions.

Not in a good way, mind you, but it will.

Every single character has changed, as to be expected after fourteen years. But the fact is that why they have changed ironically remains a mystery to Shinji until nearly half-way through the film. People frequently refuse to offer him an explanation for no good reason, seemingly only to make him (and the viewer) more and more confused. There is also no explanation of what happened within those fourteen years to bring the characters to where they currently are, and some very important characters (such as Gendo) are given such incredibly short roles that it's positively stupefying. A few terms are tossed around so liberally and then never used again (Key of Nebudchanezzar? L barrier?) and the climax of the movie was a haphazard (from my perspective) mess, nearly impossible to follow and increasingly difficult to care about. I watched and understood EOE, but ironically, this is what stumps me.

It's a good thing there are redeeming factors.

The art and animation are fantastic; not as good as the previous movies, of course, but still most definitely exceptional. The liberal use of CG distracts from it, but what is here is eye-catching, jaw-dropping, and simply brilliant. The sound is of similar caliber, but it's relegated to the side in the movie; I would not listen to a single song on this OST without visual accompaniment, which is truly a shame, as many songs on 2.22's OST were fantastic while standalone. The only exception to this is the ending theme, Sakura Nagashi, which captures the feel of the movie incredibly well, and shows why Utada Hikaru is very deserving of her widespread acclaim. Voice acting continues to set a high standard, particularly Megumi Ogata's performance as Shinji, which I thought was very well done and brought me farther into an otherwise broken movie.

The characters, on the other hand, do not deserve the same amount of praise, in my opinion. The interactions between Shinji and Kaworu were well executed and definitely entertaining to watch, but that's as far as I can go. Mari is a completely unnecessary character, and doesn't contribute anything of value to the overall story. Misato's new character isn't explored nearly enough, and is frequently very off-putting. Ritsuko has no role other than to deliver exposition, and Gendo's has about five lines in the entire movie and shares Misato's problem. Rei has been reset to, well, rei (I'm sorry), and has lost all of her characterization from the second film. And Asuka, well, I'm not sure what to say about her. That's the problem, really. Her character wasn't really developed or explored, but what was there wasn't taken away, and I at least appreciate that. Other than that, there isn't much to say.

Out of all the Rebuild movies, I believe that 3.0 is the closest to the original's psychological themes, even going so far as to say that it's trying to emulate them. But if that's the case, then it's failing spectacularly. There is no real psychology to see here, and the original series wasn't known just for being confusing. There was a message, an overarching story-line, characterization. This movie has none of these things. It is simply confusing, and just being confusing does not Neon Genesis Evangelion make.

There is much more that needs to be added.

The unwarranted hate towards this movie has been baffling. Many critique the story for not explaining much, others critique it for having dumb characters that simply do not trust each other, and other critics simply go for the idea that it wasted our time. To those people I say, what is your point? This is Evangelion for crying out loud. The Neon Genesis Evangelion TV show was precisely all those things combined except it was much longer and much more monotonous. This film definitely has a lot of value to it and is much better handled than anything the TV series ever did.

If there was ... one saving grace the TV series ever had, it was its main character Shinji. Many people might call that blasphemy, but it is no further from the truth. Going psychologically into the mind of a depressed kid who has the entire weight of the world on his shoulders is something you do not see much in anime. In this movie, they go full force with this concept. Shinji through his one shining moment in the last movie where in which he tries to save Rei, actually ends up being the one who causes the third impact killing probably millions...OUCH! It's like kicking down an already beat up puppy. To make matters worse, his old friends do not trust him anymore and he never was able to rescue Rei. Everything is once again thrown all at him, causing him unbelievable pain. Also, his father Gendo still does not care for him...things just don't go well for Shinji. However there is one more light of hope in his life. Kaworu becomes friends with Shinji and acts as the stool that keeps him standing in order for him to never give up. The friendship is incredibly well handled and much more believable than his short appearance in the TV series. The ending of the movie uses all of the above themes such as the friendship/relationship, Shinji's ongoing fight with depression and him trying desperately to make things better no matter what the cost. The ending is incredibly emotional and tragic because like I said before things just simply never go well for Shinji.

As for the plot point of his friends not trusting him, I believe that they have good reason. He not only killed millions, but he could potentially be used in a ploy by Nerv (who are the bad guys now) to crush the rebels. Them being not trusting towards him is understandable because they do not want to reveal their own plans to the enemy. Though I must admit, the rebels not revealing anything to Shinji at the end when he is about to make things worse was quite dumb on their part. Oh, and Asuka is still as annoying as ever!

The movie is incredibly well animated thanks in part to the large budget, and by god do they like to show it off! Many minutes are wasted with montages of preparing for battle. The other flaw with the movie is that not much of the actual plot is revealed and things are still incredibly clouded in mystery. That is to be expected in an Evangelion movie but I still wish they could have given us more instead of wasting our time with mech transformation sequences and some abnormally long pauses. Once again, to be expected in a Evangelion movie. I do wish they could have stepped away from these flaws though. Also, gratuitous pointless clone Rei nude scene...ONCE AGAIN, to be expected. LOL! Let's hope that the last movie at least resolves the plot and gives us the answers we want.

In the end, I enjoyed Evangelion 3.0. It ain't a masterpiece and has many flaws, but Shinji's depression psychology and friendship with Kaworu is the main focus of the story, and it does it extremely well. That is what this movie is about, a point critics tend to gloss over.

Oh, Evangelion. What to do with you.

Let's start with what little good there was. While I can't truly judge the art, as I only saw a camrip, it seems to have the same quality as the previous two movies - that is, very good. At times things seems very busy, like there was a lot of junk on the screen that didn't need to be there and a lot of unnecessary camera work (rotating around and such), but maybe those things would be fine in a normal presentation, rather than a camrip. That's all I'll say on that, as any more ... would be speculation.

The soundtrack was, as always, top notch. Wonderful orchestral and choral compositions provided an excellent soundscape for the movie. I didn't pay much attention to the sound effects (camrip), but they certainly seemed functional. However, I've listened to the OST over and over, and it's still fantastic. Great soundtrack.

Unfortunately, that's where the good in this movie stops. I've been a fan of NGE since watching the TV series five years ago, loving the characters, art, music, and plot. The first Rebuild movie blew me away, and the second excited and intrigued me for what was to come. After watching Rebuild 3, I was sorely, sorely disappointed.

If you came into this expecting any of what was in the last movie's teaser to happen, think again. I don't believe a single scene from the teaser was present in this movie, and it almost makes me wonder if I watched the right thing. Obviously I did, but there should not be that much of a disconnect.

The major problem is that this movie plays out as though it was written by someone who saw only the faces of the characters and heard only the ending of Rebuild 2. NOTHING is the same as how it was before. Unit-00 makes the tiniest of cameos (I think; remember, this was a camrip), Unit-01 is present but never really visible, and Unit-02 is barely anything like its original imagining. Mari now pilots Unit-08, Rei pilots Unit-09, and Shinji pilots Unit-13. Almost everyone has a new plugsuit.

Worse still, the pilots are still their same ages, but everyone and everything else has aged fourteen years since the end of the second movie. This means we see characters that never existed before, don't see characters that are familiar, and Misato, Ritsuko, Gendo, and Fuyutsuki are all older and not really displayed in any capacity that reminds you of how they once were. NERV is almost gone, and there's a new rebel faction that's been fighting it. None of it offers any connection to past movies, and its presentation makes the movie feel like a completely different movie with pseudo-familar NGE faces pasted on top.

Kaworu is present and plays what we're told is an important role, but the movie could've gone on without him. The Rei that's present is a different clone from the one in the two previous movies, and adds nothing to the movie. Mari has as little development and character as before. And finally, the plot is pointless and meandering. The movie is truly little more than, "Okay, you just saw Third Impact, now let's kick off Fourth Impact." It's bad.

If you were hoping for a triumphant third installment in the Rebuild movie quadrilogy, I'm sorry. This isn't it. This is a poorly made, poorly executed failure of a movie.

I don't usually go into a movie expecting high things, and the things I've heard about this movie threw my expectations up in the sky and below in the darkest part of the ocean. When I went into this movie, I honestly didn't have any expectations. They were thrown around so much, I wasn't prepared for really anything. But, in the end, perhaps it took too many risks and it wasn't very coherent to what the other movies seemed to be building towards (which, is arguably a good thing) but ultimately failed to build towards to something worthwhile either.

STORY -

First, I want to ... talk about the story. This movie takes place 14 years after Evangelion 2.22, which--felt pretty gimmicky to be perfectly honest. I think this could have been handled well given the time...but it just came across as a rushed idea thrown in for some separation from the rest of the franchise. It would have been really cool to have seen a grown up Asuka, Rei, Mari and a young Shinji thrown into this new world full of total strangers that ultimately look down on him. It would have made for better chemistry with some of the other new characters. Secondly, the movie just doesn't make any sense. I didn't know what was going on. It didn't explain how Kaworu came into being, why Misato is in conflict with Gendo, why the world was even destroyed by an impact we have no real understanding of--much less explain the very confusing ending of 2.22 (which I'm still scratching my head over the details). It doesn't look like we'll get any explanation for any of these, and there's a lot more that I'm sure won't get explained. Eva is not one to hand answers on a silver platter, but it at least gives you something to go on. This threw new rules into the mix and it came across as unusually confusing for Eva as well as just plain sloppy in the story department. There is a fourteen year time gap between Evangelion 2.22 and 3.0 and yet there is no real sense of what happened in that fourteen year interim. Shinji seems confused, but even at the end of the film he still seems confused. There just wasn’t room in an hour and a half movie to tell the story they were trying to tell. Even Evangelion should not be excused for this. The movie was also pretty dull. With scenes involving star gazing and playing the piano and playing board games and trying to convince Rei to read books (despite the fact that Rei liking reading books was never even established in ANY form of Evangelion in the past)... The movies pacing was very fast, but also very bland. A lot of nothing happened, but a lot happened. It made it so that even the climax at the end was so un-compelling and quickly done, it seemed like a joke. The only part in the entire movie I felt was exciting was the first six minutes in space. Oh, and of course... There was the dreadful “exploding collar” plot device. Which was put on Shinji by Misato of all people and later removed... But instead of actually disposing of the collar, another character puts it on for some pointless reason in a fit of insanity I suppose. It’s decisions like these that make me stop believing these characters exist. Which Eva has never really been able to do before, I’ll give this story that. Also, the psychological nature of these Rebuild movies has been almost completely eradicated. There was one scene with Shinji tripping on acid for almost no reason... But these movies keep proving to me Anno had no idea what made the original series so special. There is no sacrifice. Kaworu’s introduction and conclusion is pointless. Shinji’s ultimate decision is also unrealistically foolish, even for him... I thought this was supposed to be a coming of age story? And yet... I’m not getting any of that from this movie. It’s boring action after boring action after mistake.

ART –

The art doesn’t feel like Evangelion. The character designs are slightly different now. The contour of the face on Shinji for example is more warped. The art design actually looks like it’s weaving its way towards Gurren Lagann. Especially with “Leeron Ritsuko”. The new character designs are abysmal, pink haired random girl with big lips... I’m looking at you. But there’s also the addition of the hulking beard guy, weird afro dude and latino girl... The only positive addition was that of Touji’s sister Sakura, who looks like she could easily slip into the Eva cast no problem. But for the most part, these characters are so unmemorable it’s kind of sad. Especially since Eva is known for it’s cast of diverse character designs. These new additions don’t even look like they’re from Eva. They look just like dropped character concepts for another anime. In fact, the whole movie’s art doesn’t feel like Eva. Gone are the heavy mech battles of the End of Evangelion, gone even the flashy flips of 2.22... The battles in this movie were not very well choreographed and were just kind of there. The camera angles Anno is so well known for, weren’t that good. One scene in particular, when Kaworu and Shinji were playing the piano utilized still frame shots and cheap, noticeable 3d animation. Another sign the movie was rushed in production and while some of the new designs were interesting, they really did not seem like the characters had grown fourteen years older, merely gone on a bad trip to the hairdresser. It’s disappointing seeing as these new Rebuild movies are supposed to be so outstanding in the animation department. Hopefully some of these problems will be fixed in the final version of the release since studio Kahara has a nasty habit of patching animation hitches later on. The color pallets remain nice, and some scenes are very well done however.

CHARACTERS –

Mari, Mari, Mari. Beloved for no reason. And continues to disappoint. Her blatant existence for nothing but fan service is made abundantly clear in this film when her breasts flapped like two rag dolls attached to the front of her chest near the ending of the movie. I was expecting her to transform above her generic “Mari Sue” and become a true member of the Eva cast, though she was reduced to nothing more than a busty fanservice sidekick for Asuka. Speaking of Asuka, she and the rest of the crew at Willie have an irrational hatred for Shinji which wasn’t justified given that Asuka hardly knew him--and Misato was so eager to cheer him on in the last movie. The characters are in fact...SO different from their 2.22 counterparts and their transformation so unjustified, it comes down to nothing more than poor writing. One of the advantages that the original Evangelion movie: the End of Evangelion had, was that it had characters who people had grown to love and know through out 26 episodes of the television series. Their relationships had been built, and while they might fight sometimes, they still obviously cared for one another. This movie brings new characters to the harem, including Touji’s underdeveloped younger sister who has maybe three lines of dialogue. What was the point? The cast of Willie... The latino woman, the bearded guy, the pink annoying Gurren Lagann character? What was the point? Perhaps they intend to develop these characters further in the final movie. But there’s just no time to do that. The characters that were newly introduced in the last film, don’t get developed in this one. Mari and Asuka aren’t touched upon. Kaji died off screen. Kensuke and Touji died off screen! What was the purpose in the last two movies? All these characters were left unresolved. Introduced for no reason. Suspended in writer’s hell. Rei’s now back to her robotic state and is a throw away. Gendo likewise just did nothing (some things never change I suppose) and Seele even less. While the relationship between Kaworu and Shinji is sweet, it’s a lot of fluff really. In the original series, part of the reason Shinji is so taken with Kaworu is that he’s a sweet guy who’s there when Shinji really needs a friend, because his whole world has just been turned upside down. That is the case in this movie as well, but the desperation of Shinji’s situation is kind of marginalized by the hopeful nature of these scenes. It feels like Shinji is on vacation. In the series there’s none of this. Of course the greatest sin this movie commits is the massacre of Misato. Venomous, unwilling to listen or care, she has been warped off screen by 14 years of loathing for Shinji. The only mercy she shows is slight bits of hesitation about KILLING Shinji. The whole movie probably wouldn’t have happened if her character wasn’t so different. If she sat with Shinji, asked his some questions, they talked and hugged it out... None of the events in the movie would have taken place. In fact, none of the events in the movie actually matter in the outcome. It’s THE MOST unjustified change the movie makes to the cast. And it’s unforgivable. She was the character to ground the rest of the characters, and now she’s a simple antagonistic bi*ch. She was one of my favorites. Now she’s one of my least favorites. I hate hating characters I love.

SOUND –

The music was fantastic! I just don’t think it was used very well in this movie. In the climax, it was one song after another and really didn’t do anything for me. That being said, the music itself was moving and quite extraordinary with songs like Ode to Joy and Wrath of God in All it’s Fury (but again, used pointlessly and Ode to Joy only as a callback to the original series and nothing more). Voice acting pulls it’s way in the lead with Shinji being AMAZINGLY well performed by Megumi Ogata. The rest of the cast likewise, astonishing in all its beauty. The new actors for Sakura and the rest of Willie were also good, though they were not in it long enough for me to tell just how good. Sound effects are nice as well. Click and bleeps where they should be in the ship. But honestly, who watches anything for the sound effects?

ENJOYMENT and OVERALL –

Despite all the negative things I’ve said so far about this movie, it isn’t all that bad. It’s actually better than 2.22 in my opinion! It’s still fun to watch when the Eva units are zooping around doing their thing. It’s also interesting to see a new world ravaged by time. AND IT’S A BREATH OF FRESH AIR TO HAVE A NEW STORY! Thank god for that! There was SO much potential here. But the movie was far too slow. I would have liked to have seen more heavenly battles of epic proportions since it would have made this movie a lot more interesting to watch... Even if that’s not what Eva’s been about for years. Instead, it tried to do something different this time, and it really didn't work.

Evangelion 3.0 you can not (redo) haha fitting title for such a mediocre movie of evangelion don't get me wrong l don't hate the rebuilds they are rather enjoyable and fun
but 3.0 trys to hard to be the original and fails in that aspect let me tell you why



Story 5/10 ohh the story how awful you are :/ the 14 year time skipped was an awful plot point to begin with and nothing is literally explained in this film what happened after shinji saved rei in 2.0 nope he didn't old rei is dead and another clone is to take ... her place this movie puts you into shinji's shoes. Anno you don't have to focus on shinji throughout the whole movie you can switch perspectives to another point this whole plot is confusing as hell common excuse ohhhh original evangelion was like that no not really if you sat down and thought about what you saw you understood it well l did anyway anyway i don't wanna give away too much on to the art.



Art 8/10 one of the nicest things about the rebuilds is how good the animation is like fuck l know that they milked this series of the original but l am still seriously impressed the action scenes are fantastic for the movie and the characters desgins are very cool as well except for misatos.... and gendo's anyhow the art is one of the highest points of the show onto the sound.

sound 8/10
Ahh the sound l love the music in 3.0 its seriously one of the best sound tracks l have heard in an ost here is a youtube link to my favourite ost in the movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r49GgrC0_EY
yes the ost suits the action and does its job and l love it now onto the worst part of the movie........

Characters 4/0
Jesus fuck what the fuck did they do to my beloved misato well she wasn't very good in the rebuilds in general but still the movie gives us no explanation about what the fuck shinji did wrong asuka is more of a cunt with a less justified reason without her tragic back story mari dosen' do shit again and mari is just mari shinji is the only good character in the whole movie all the characters are butchered and soulless it really hurts saying this ....
the relationship between shinji and kaworu is still nice and its probably one of the highest points of the show to me dat piano scene lol anyway the characters are all awful except for shinji really upsetting l know :C anyway onto enjoyment.


Enjoyment 8/0 despite the shit characters and story this movie is still a very fun movie to watch l highly recommend grabbing some buddies and having a beer while watching the movie as its very big block buster popcorn material i have seen this movie 4 times btw its very rewatchable and still very enjoyable.


overall 5/10 Despite the nice animation and amazing music that does not save this movie the characters suck the story sucks for evangelion at least really upsetting to me at least hopefully 4.0 is better anyway thanks for reading my review. :D

Evangelion 3.0, in my opinion, is the most enjoyable of the three rebuild movies so far in the four part movie series. I guess one reason is because it was a film I wasn't expecting. In the last two Rebuild movies, most fans of the original series, like myself, already knew what to expect as their stories unfolded. The first rebuild move 1.0 covers the first 6 episodes of the original T.V seriies. The second movie does seem to take a different direction in some parts of the story, but overall uses the same plot elements from the latter half of the T.V series ... to help tell its story. While the movie was good, it didn't seem to work as a film, since it was treated more live its T.V counterpart, and the pacing of the film seemed to be too fast as the director was trying to add too much information into the film, which failed to set an overall tone.

Evangelion 3.0 sets a tone for its audience that is so effective and mesmerizing. The story takes place 14 years after 3rd impact was avoided. Our main protagonist awakes inside a dark ship, where he finds his former guardian, Misato Katsuragi, as the captain of an anti-Nerv organization called Will-E. Their goal, as stated by Misato later in the movie, is to stop her former organization Nerv from preventing future Impacts from occuring. However what's so striking and captivating about the opening scene is how everyone seems to have a sense of hatred for Shinji. As he starts to ask questions about the past, he is treated with silence and looks of disgust from everyonne on board. The environment feels as if Shinji is on the lowest level od Dante's hell itself. Was Shinji's desperate act of heroism to save Rei in the last film, the real reason as to why the whole world is wrecked beyond repair? Who knows?

After the battleship Wunder successfully defeats the angel in the ocean. Shinji is again treated like crap from everyone on board. Even Asuka, the one girl he seemed to care for, has an unknown grudge against him, as she attempts to punch him through a glass wall. Did Shinji's actions alsso seem to have a bad impact on her. Once again, who knows? The fact that we as an audience know so little about the past and the effects it had on the people around him, icrease our intrigue in the fim, as we demand to know these answers. Later on, Shinji is rescued by the woman he believed he saved, Rei, and is taken back to the old ruins of Nerv. These ruins seem to be hell itself, as there is no lush of life, or anything inhabiting the old headquarters. They seem to be decaying in structure, and are stained in red. However one area of the ruins seems to be full of life, as it contains a boy, a piano, and a plant full of life.

Shinji quickly quickly befriends this boy known as Kaworu, as they bond by learning how to play the beautiful tune "Ode to Joy" Shinji also tries to talk to Rei, but seems to have no chance, as she doesn't remember anything about Shinji or what she did in the past. This leads to Shinji relying on Kaworu, as he appears to be his only chance at finding peace. However Kaworu cannot hide the truth of Shinji's past actions, as he shows Shinji the horrifying aftermath of the 3rd Impact he started. While Shinji does seem to be affected drastically by his actions. Kaworu later offers him the chance to redo the past by joining him in piloting an Eva.

The most tantalizing element of this movie is the lost hope and despair Shinji feels as he is revealed little by little about how much worse he has made the world. The tone is captured just right, and the pacing is just perfect as it lets the movie tell the story itself through Shinji's perspective. Add to that a great musical score composed by Shirô Sagisu, along with great camerawork and lighting, this film is a fun and engaging experience for any fan that wants something different. While the film leaves many questions unanswered, it does help set up for an exciting fourth and final installment.

Here's a little preface: I watched Evangelion 2.22 a long time ago. Just once. I couldn't handle watching it for a second time. Back then I thought it was the most horrible disfigurement they could have come up with for my favourite TV anime series. What happened in Eva 2.22 that appalled me that much? Please read the crazed rant I composed back then in an attempt to somehow express my anger and leave it all behind. But to sum up what happened in Eva 2.22: it trivialized. It basically took everything about the fascinating characteristics of the original and pressed it into bite-sized stereotypes. ... This review again will be deeply personal. But if you expect another rant for the next installment of the Rebuild series, I'm sorry to disappoint. It is true that I think it is even worse than the second one. But I don't have any energy left for anger. Just apathy. Let's get this over with.

What is it that we watch Neon Genesis Evangelion for? What is the decisive factor that polarized (and thus touched) so many and started so many debates? Is it the engaging mecha fights? Or the intriguing mystery about recreation and death? All the mystic shenanigans? It is true to say that all these perfectly executed elements shape the image of the original series. However, it is in fact the human aspect of Eva which always lifted it up and apart from all the other good anime out there. Characters interact with each other, show us their innermost personalities and weaknesses. It's a plea for the understanding of human fragility. Whereas other shows just glisten with the shiny (but eventually empty) message of "Get your act together! Be a man! Trust in your friends and all will be well!", Eva dared to show as a protagonist who cries, doubts himself and breaks under the pressure as a human being. It was criticised for that. No doubt it is scary to face your own weaknesses and realize you are actually a fragile construct instead of the blazing icon you'd like to see yourself as. I don't feel any disdain towards people who hated Eva for that. It's a truly human reaction. But you know what I hate? When the director who made me realize this basic aspect of humanity suddenly joins this group of people and tells me to "Get my act together!".

- The Characters:

In Eva 2.22 they replaced the beloved human characters of NGE with stereotypes. Bad enough. But at least they had some characteristics to relate to (even though only on the most basic of levels). Evangelion 3.33 replaces almost all of its characters with some kind of John Connor No Future variation. A version of the character who's heart is closed. Forever. Love has failed and hate prevails. Apparently, Hideaki Anno and his friends lost the slightest bit of interest in who these characters are or were. All we get now are tough, soulless war machines where once we had people of perceivable emotional warmth. I have a personal symbolic character for that: In seeing the new version of Ibuki Maya, I suddenly realized how much the insecure and inconspicuous desktop worker of the original series meant to me. Well, we don't have any of that anymore. Emotions are for kids. You don't want to be a kid. You want to be a man. Easy as that. Gaki Shinji now replaces Baka Shinji. Get your act together!

- The Story:

Again, it is something completely different from the original series. Yes, it again resembles the likes of Kill La Kill or Gurren Lagann more than anything Eva related. But that's old news. New news is that we now lost all traces of story relatability. It's a blatant mess. We have a mixture of inconceivable over the top action sequences, a lot of "the world has gone to heck and it's your fault" trash talk and some slice of life content inbetween. Not much makes sense. It actually left me quite speechless and it's hard to say anything about it. My biggest guess is that after boiling down Eva to a run-of-the-mill Mecha Shounen in the last movie, they wanted to recreate some of the mystery and grit of the original series. That being said, it's not like you cannot understand the plot. But it's not really leading anywhere. It's also not something that you can or want to think about, because it's just impossible to relate to it in the first place.

- The Design:

Wow. Now that stuff is all over the place. The appearance and disappearance of weird objects, the sudden transformations of objects into other objects while particles fly through the air and the world turns upside down play a major part in the confusion within action scenes. Is it a design flaw if you cannot tell which is which and who is who? Probably. It's a pain to watch, that is for sure. And all in 3D. When in Eva 2.22 we had the problem of bad 3D cg models blending in on 2D backgrounds, this movie turns the table around and makes 2D drawings look out of place in the completely 3D rendered environments. You can say about 3D animation whatever you want, but please keep in mind that 3D animation is usually cheaper and less time consuming to make than traditional 2D animation. Everytime you see a 3D action sequence in this movie, it is thus basically a discount 2D animation scene. A proper scene that you have missed out on. As for the character design, it's Sadamoto again. And almost every character has their John Connor No Future design update. Oh, and Asuka is now wearing a wooly hat with cat ears on top. Kawaii deshou~? Get your act together!!

- The Final Conclusion:

Sorry for not going into as much detail as I did in my review on Eva 2.22, but I am sick and tired of this movie. It managed to sink even further down than its dreadful predecessor and not only trivializes the issues and problems of human interaction and intimate exchange of emotions, but actually actively tells me to forget all about it and grow up already. Don't show fear. Don't show doubt. Don't show pain. We don't give a damn about what you feel. Oh, and besides killing the original idea of the franchise it also illustrates absolutely no action dynamics, no story relatability, no real emotional character interaction, some really bad 2D animation (just look at the way Shinji moves while playing the piano. or at the inconsistency of Kaworu's design) and some horrible over the top videogame 3D sequences.
If it was Anno's goal, he finally succeeded in throwing me off this train. I am leaving the stage of the next and final Rebuild movie to the fans of random 3D action, nonsense mystery and style over substance. Eva is dead, baby, Eva's dead. In mind and matter.

---

Oh, I'm still going to watch it though, the next one that is. Whenever (and if ever) it comes out. And I will most probably be devastated again. I guess I won't be getting my act together anytime soon.

Oh, Evangelion, the name alone manages to spark riots among avid fans of the series, emotional outbreaks over those who have loved and cared for the characters as they developed and the people like me, who are simply here for the ride in the hopes that Anno and his team will finally stop mindfucking us and give us an ending worth watching.

For those of you who don't know, i'll fill in what you may have missed before i go on to the actual review:
To cut a painfully long and complex story short, teenage pilots are called up to pilot giant mecha robots known as Evangelions ... to fight off the world's greatest threat known as Angels to prevent the Third Impact; a disaster which will inevitably cause the destruction of the human race.
In the series, our main protagonist, Shinji Ikari, who, due to many psychological defects such as a giant Guilt complex and something called Hedgehog's dilemma (the inability to become close to someone in the fear you may get hurt trying to get close to them) he is often seen running away from his fears rather than grabbing the bull by the horns and saying "screw this, i'll do what i want".
In the rebuild movies, however, the story is radically changed, adding in new characters, plot points and most importantly...personalities as Shinji, up to now, is a complete badass who ends up making selfish decisions that result in cataclysmic consequences because he simply doesn't give up.

Then 3.0 happened, and whatever 2.0 had built up in terms of character development and story had been completely re-written as not only is there a 14 YEAR time skip between movies, we never, at any point in the film, get to know what the hell happens and why things have panned out the way they have.
Is this a bad thing? No, the story itself is masterfully done which is honestly the least i expect from Hideaki Anno, but its done in a way which raises more questions than it answers, which many die-hard Eva fans such as myself will start to think "Its going to have another mindfuck ending" you see, this isnt so much of a film, its more of a transition piece between 2.0 and 4.0, it doesnt do much to move on the story, but focus on the relationship between Shinji and Kaworu, alot of things have yet to be explanied such as
-Who is WILLE?
-Why do they exist?
-What THE HELL happened in the 14 years?
-Why do Asuka and Misato treat Shinji like dirt?
-What is the point in Mari?

Sadly, none of this explained, and we just got what we got...

What we DID get was badass action scenes through and through, especially the whole Asuka-Neko Eva thing that i dont entirely understand, the hints of a more in-depth and overarching story that Eva fans are most likely shit scared of right now (I know i am) and most importantly, a fucking PIANO scene in which we see Shinji learn how to play the Piano via Osmosis as it takes him best part of 80 seconds to play an entire classical piece.

All joking aside, Evangelion 3.0 does not do much at all to move the story along, sure it gives you vital information in preparation for 4.0, but thats all it is...preparation.
The fight scenes are above-par i have to say, each sequence is heart pounding and for those who havent watched it yet, you will have no idea how these battles are going to end , especially the last one, where 5 friends are pitted against eachother for reasons we sadly do not know.
The dialogue is fantastic, using only relevant information and having its own blunt way of explaining things, sadly i have not seen the dub yet, but i've heard its very good and am looking forward to it!

People think that Anno has got his hands on the steering wheel again, and that this movie has substantially more religious undertones than the last two, but honestly i think people are just over-analysing it, i understand the story perfectly fine and my brain was barely switched on.
Another important point to mention is that if you're expecting character development for Mari or any other character that isnt Shinji or Kaworu, you're going to have a bad time i'm afraid

Yes, I am new to the Evangelion series, and I have never seen the original animated series. The first two movies in the reboot were AMAZING. Top notch characters, engaging story, some of the best anime visuals I have ever seen and a kickass soundtrack. I went ahead to watch part 3 with a lot of expectations.

But boy was I in for a shock. The opening sequence was okay; the other two movies had better action sequences. Once the action was over and people started talking, stuff got really bad really fast. Very many characters were completely changed around and the time gap of 14 ... years was just... yeah... I thought it was an error in the English translation. The movie was going in such a bad direction that I actually stopped watching, which I never do with movies.

Part 3 was the exact the reverse of what part 1 and 2 did right. It felt like the whole story that was build up in part 1 and 2 was thrown in the dust bin. It really makes me feel bad when the story of a series you loved watching takes such an abrupt u-turn.

That said, the visuals are stunning and the sound is gorgeous. I could understand that if you watched the original series you could enjoy this. For those who haven't: stop at the ending of part 2, that's the best way to enjoy it.

WARNING - SPOILER IMMINENT.

There is not a fine line between subtlety and senselessness. As with, there is an unmistakable difference between directing styles that allow an open interpretation with one that leaves the audience clueless. Q will leave you mostly clueless. It takes the questions posed in 2.0 and further complicates it, with new questions thrown at you along the way, without possibly having an answer. Evangelion as a whole have always been this way, but Q takes it up, more than just a notch.

I would like first to establish, from my point of view, what Q is and what Q is not:

1. Q is ... an alternate version of Episode 24, heavily altered and expanded. It is in all its glory, a psychoanalytic journey that dissects Ikari Shinji who is thrown into a world he no longer knows; every single person he cares about either bore a grudge on him or no longer care about him, for reasons unknown.

2. Q is a dialogue that is character driven. There is a plot but it hardly moves, significant in the big picture only because Gendo said what can be summed up as “JUST AS PLANNED”.

3. Q is not the answer to your questions. That much is obvious without even watching it.

4. Q is not overly complex. It is not “2deep4u”; it simply offers no explanation for a lot of things.

5. Q is not a standalone movie. While the idea that you should wait for 4.0 before giving a verdict is ridiculous, you should not judge it after watching it just once.

Now, let’s get to business.

“Ikari Shinji is awakened by WILLE, an organization that is aimed to defeat Nerv, led by Makoto Katsuragi and most of the staff that once worked for Nerv. He however, is treated with disdain by WILLE and even by Katsuragi, much to his confusion. Rei is nowhere to be found. While Shinji is forced to deal with the seemingly unjustified hatred aimed towards him, Nerv attacks WILLE and Shinji bears witness to a situation that further complexes his confusion.”

Q presents a rather extreme departure from what our common sense has led us to believe from the events in 2.0. The fact that Third impact in Q is not at all what we saw in 2.0 (to what is able of us) is the defining element of Q. It is frustrating how Anno chooses to justify this simply using a time skip, forcing us to fill in the blanks with assumptions without evidence.

Instead of relieving our questions since the 2009 premiere, Anno chose to dump even more of them. New Angels dubbed as the “Nemesis Series” with markedly different properties, how Eva 01 ended up in the Tesseract, a monologue by Kaworu that defies human understanding. Those are some among the many questions that begs answer you can’t possibly find before 4.0. And not just that; 4.0 might not even have an answer.

Like said before, 3.0 offers little in terms of plot progression since it is based on Ep 24; altered and lengthened whereas the previous movies although different from the series, still borrows elements than spanned several episodes. The only significance Q has in terms of plot is remarked by Gendo near the end, and is enigmatic at best.

We were also fooled by the preview for Q in 2.0, which is also something I am not a fan of. It also devalues the preview in Q itself. To me this is obviously trolling on Anno’s part.

But Q is not at all bad. No, I’m going to level with you here; Q is excellent.

If you’re one of those people who wanted an objective movie, steer clear. This is not for you. In fact, if you want an objective ending, Evangelion as a whole is not for you. Evangelion is not a lovey-dovey, heartwarming slice-of-life comedy moestory that is so laden nowadays, and Q is Evangelion with schizophrenia on LSD wielding a baseball bat on a Pterodactyl. When you see it, you won’t know what to make of it. If you liked 2.0 just because of the last scene where Shinji mans up and became God while trying to save Ayanami, you will be equally disappointed. Evangelion is depressing, cryptic, cynical, enraging and unresolvable, and I want it to stay that way.

What is Q about?

Q is about understanding a boy who is thrown into circumstances he couldn’t possibly have known. A boy who is hated for doing something he believed was right, with consequence nobody could’ve known. A boy who almost destroyed the human species unknowingly while trying to save a girl, how he copes with hatred and disdain he did not deserve, how he realized the girl is not saved, and how these piling burdens drive the dynamics of Shinji-Kaworu, who is the only person that consoled him and offers him the hope of salvation. Basically, Q is a story of teenage angst, times a billion. Q is about doing something right the only way you know how to, only to be blamed for it. Q is about Anno.

And I love it.

I was thrown into a movie without possibly understanding a significant part of it, yet this weakness fades in the face of Shinji’s struggle for salvation.

Up till know, I’ve watched the movie 3 times. I’ve referred to wikis, to /a/, to forums, so on and so forth. I’ve spent days looking up for plot weaknesses, analyzing them and discussing them. Plotholes remain plotholes but some things are to me debatable, and I have no qualms with the directing decision to opt them. An example would be about WILLE’s refusal to explain to Shinji about what he had caused; it is unnatural to act like WILLE had acted in this regard, but it is not impossible. The rationale is simply its function to drive the story the way Anno had intended; it is to me, a forgivable flaw.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all three times, each more than the previous. I am well aware of the fact that unless 4.0 is 3 hours long, Anno could not possibly answer all the stacked up question; what actually happened in the Near-Third Impact, “The vessel of Adams”, Kaworu’s senseless monologue, and is the Rei in Q the same Rei he thought he saved (which can explain the telepathy and Q-Rei’s self-hallucination). But he doesn’t have to either. In fact, I would prefer that he’ll just disregard the smaller questions and only go to those that have a major impact (some mentioned just now).

It should be of no surprise if Q serves mainly as a preparation for 4.0. I would say that I am left wanting for more and now my head may probably explode due to the pent-up hunger for answers. But at the end of it, I am extremely pleased with Q. I hope Anno would continue to expand his idea and I hope that 4.0 will be amazing. I wish to Anno, good luck and all the best, only wanting him to know that he has created something truly unique and personal, even if it was just expanding from his oldl idea.

Not everyone likes Evangelion, and not everyone likes Q. But for those of you who do, don’t let what others say affect you.

Apparently, a lot of hate for the new Eva movie comes from the fact that the movie essentially pressed the reset button after the end of the second movie and threw away certain plot elements and stuff that were established beforehand. This isn’t really a surprise to me given that even before it came out, I knew that the script for the movie had been rewritten numerous times before and after the second movie came out (in fact, the second movie and Evangelion as a whole are the product of a bunch of rewrites) and I knew that the chances of seeing the scenes from ... that initial Eva Q preview were nil. I was also aware of that time skip thing due to accidentally glancing at the MAL summary (why?) when I went there to see what was up. Yeah, that time skip. That’s pretty much the reset button that apparently got pressed in the audience’s mind. What do I say to that? Bollocks. And I’m not even English.

I had an idea of what Evangelion Q was going to be like once the subtitle came out. You know, that You Can (Not) Redo thing right next to the 3.0? Yeah, the other two Eva movies had those subtitles as well and lived up to them effectively. Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone gave Shinji a mother figure with Rei when all the other characters shunned him and Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance tried to have the characters mature, only to be brought down by forces beyond their control. Since the second movie ended with the Third Impact occurring due to Shinji’s “growing a spine” it makes sense that the next movie would be set on trying to reverse the damage caused by it. And failing miserably, because Evangelion says “fuck that shit”. We’re not that Shaft magical girl show we keep getting compared too. We’re Evangelion, bitch!

Yeah, while the movie was obviously not what was originally intended, I fail to see how it has jumped the shark or reset anything of any kind, especially considering how events played out, both in regards to what happened previous and what happened here. The basic gist of the story is this: Shinji fucked up and caused EoE to happen, only people actually survive it —-> he gets thrown in a harsh world that he caused and is depressed b/c his GAR moment from the last movie worked against him —-> he tries to make things right —-> he fucks up again because the reset button does not exist in Evangelion —-> he gets sent into even more depression —-> movie ends. There’s a couple of other details, but that’s what happened in a nutshell. And I’m failing to see where Eva went wrong regarding that. Or is it the basic plot line people don’t like? To which I ask, why?

Evangelion has always been about personal failure and how it affects the mind. One of the biggest draws (and biggest weaknesses) is, and has always been, Shinji’s fall from grace. And that’s what this film gave us: Shinji going through hell and having his mind broken because he keeps fucking up. The only thing that’s different is how they put him through that hell: utilizing a trope all too common in anime, and then reversing it for maximum impact. This was done in the second movie too, except Eva Q moved on from mocking super robot shows to mocking Jun Maeda’s endings. And let me tell you right now, it was fucking fantastic to see Shinji depressed, filled with hope to the point of overconfidence, and then more depressed than ever when he realized that trying to reset everything just makes things worse. Especially since I don’t like reset button endings and I think whoever invented should be tarred and feathered for the rest of his miserable life.

And I loved how they showed it too. Similar to how AKB0048 uses its flash as a way to both support and attack the idol industry whilst giving fan service, Evangelion Q uses its flashy robot fights and other fan-pandering elements to keep the audience’s attention whilst exemplifying just how determined our characters are in their goals that are doomed for failure, particularly when Shinji is concerned. In fact, every complaint I see from a detractor is just another positive to the show to me. Shinji never getting to see the outside world, instead trapped in a dark isolated place where he can only mostly assume how dangerous it is outside? Dug it because what’s assumed is usually much more damaging than what you actually know, especially if you’re alone. Kaworu warming up to Shinji so easily? Considering Shinji’s mental state at the time, it makes perfect sense. The way we’re just thrown into this new world without much of an explanation and we’re never really given one (like how the resistance group was formed and why piloting an Eva prevents you from aging)? Reflects Shinji’s state of mind quite well, so why not? There’s even some good old mindfuck thrown into the movie. Maybe not as much as the series, but it’s still there.

I never thought this message got lost by all the distractions this movie had (and believe me, I noticed quite a few). Yes, Mari remains all but useless except to be an extra pair of tits. Yes, there’s quite a few communication problems. Yes, we don’t actually get to explore this destroyed world and what happened to characters like Shinji’s high school friends or Kaji or whatever. Yes, they might have overdone the robot fights a bit. But in the end, I don’t think any of those are important to the plot, and I think the plot itself kept its focus on what it was trying to do the entire time.

I loved the directions this movie took. And I am definitely buying the fucking Blu-Ray when Funi eventually puts it out.

Evangelion 3.0 is certainly has fans squarely divided. Some will even go as far to say this is either a love it or hate it film. However, is this film as bad many would tell you? To be honestly that is completely up to you but I will give you my opinions on this whole ordeal.

This movie takes place nearly fourteen years after the events of the last film. While the Third Impact was nearly averted it still had some lasting effects on the world. Now it been almost half a decade and the world is still bitter and slowly rebuilding. War is now ... being waged not only between humanity and the Angels but of Wille and Nerv. Plenty were turned off by the numerous changes from the previous film and by extension the original series. This film really does separate the Rebuild movies apart from the rest of the franchise. However this isn’t necessary something to cheer about. It feels that the time-skip was just there to give the franchise a face-lift as oppose there actually being meaning behind it. Why did they make such a big leap ahead in time? Couldn’t they just have done two or three years? I mean as much I adore everyone’s new looks don’t really see why such a huge time-skip necessary?

This is a surprising dark film and that saying much giving the source material and leaves only a glimmer of hope. This is also not as much action as the last film with the film giving more attention to the plot and characters. Shinji eventually wakes up obviously all lost and confused much to like we the viewers are. He thrown into new world where he is completely unfamiliar with and he doesn’t know who to trust or to turn to. Everyone blames him for the current state on the world and the majority of them are cleaning up after his mess regardless of whether it was intentional or not. Even those who were previously all for him don’t give much more than a glance. That is where Kaowru comes in and become what is essentially his guiding light through it all. One of the film’s few strengths is that it all about Shinji and his plight to the cope with the consequences of his actions. That in life even when you’re doing what you believe is right that it doesn't always guarantee that it will turn out for the best. We really don’t get much development from the rest of the cast and especially many of the new characters. To say that many of the new characters don’t really leave much of an impression is an understatement. I don’t remember or care whatever their names were. Almost forgot to mention Mari who really adds nothing to this film really save for the usual witty banter and of course the fan-service. Which is sad really because we really don’t know much about her.

The Rebuild movies continues to impress with its stunning visuals as you can really feel that effects of the Third Impact and its consequences. All the new character designs really do separate this film from the rest of the franchise but in a good way. I especially love all the new mecha designs present here and to see them in battle was a feast for the eyes. Shiro Sagisu's score proves just how lighting can strike twice. The music really does wonders to a already good film acting as a necessary supplement as it should be. The ending theme especially is quite beautiful and really gives me to the feels. Then again I expected nothing less from Utada Hikaru who became famous for her work the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

This movie gives you plenty of questions and not many answers and by the end you are still in bewilderment. This is glaring problem with the film and is many of the reasons why the movie incites so much anger from people including myself. By the end, none of our questions are answered and the lot of us will be left scratching our heads wondering the heck just happened. Hopefully the people at Studo Khara know what they are doing.

To put it mildly, this film was not quite the masterpiece as the last two films. To many unanswered questions and was quite literally a mess. There were moments where I genuinely enjoyed this film though. I was generally interested in main character’s struggle to right his wrongs and the huge spectacle the movie presents. However, this is sadly one of the movie few strengths. While the last two films try to consolidate the story of the original this films tells an almost entirely new story. Helping this film franchise feel more than just a mere reboot. Overall this is not worst film I've seen but not necessary a great one. It look and sounds great though I'll give it that. Now we have to wait who knows how long until the next film and hopefully it clean the mess that was this film.