Shinseiki Evangelion Movie: Air/Magokoro wo, Kimi ni

[Spoiler Warning]

After watching the final episodes of the original Evangelion series, I was really baffled. What happened? I understood that it all took place in Shinji's mind, but that's about it. Where was the ending? What really happened?

Those answers are provided by End of Evangelion. We get an alternate retelling of the two last episodes, outside Shinji's mind. From the awakening of Lilith to the result of the Instrumentality, we get to see it all. Of course, there's a lot of moments which are confusing (this is Evangelion, after all), but you kinda get a better understanding of everything that happened. Oh, and for the ... sake of your well-being, remember that the age rating *is* 17+. There are some really gross scenes in this movie (but that's all I can tell you without spoiling too much).

Also, kudos to the animation in this one. I've always enjoyed Evangelion's animation, everything's just really neat, and incredibly flawless, and it stands off as good even today. The same goes for End of Evangelion. Nice animation, and I really like the effects appearing when the Eva series are invoking the Third Impact. I was a bit surprised that they suddenly decided put in real-life clips. For what reason they did it, I don't know, but for me, it certainly had its positive effects.

One thing I've also always enjoyed about Evangelion (it's a lot), is the music. Music often portrays the mood very well, so much that you can often only by listening to the song get a picture of the current mood. However, the music they use in Evangelion often goes the opposite way and make a great contrast to the events unfolding. This, however, only strengthens the mood more than any song portraying the mood in a normal way would do. Not to mention that the songs they used in End of Evangelion are great as stand-alone music as well.

Evangelion is a psychological anime, and the characters are and behave thusly. They're all traumatized, or have some kind of emotional problems going on. The original series portrayed the characters and their problems very well, and the movie did that as well. I feel that they are real human beings, and I end up sympathizing with them. They have deep emotional struggles, and you're nearly dragged into them.

Shortly summarized, the movie was very much like the original series, at the same time also explaining many things the original series didn't. If you've watched the original series, you should definitely watch this, because it's *at least* equally good.

End of Evangelion is truly a masterpiece of an anime movie.

For me, like many other fans, the last two episodes of the anime series of NGE left me feeling a little frustrated and confused. They are fantastic and innovative as stand alone works but do not serve as a satisfying conclusion to what was an amazing anime. EoE, however, allows Anno to give his magnum opus the ending it truly deserves: beautifully animated, packed with action and philosophical to the core, this film does not disappoint.

Taking place in the same universe as the anime, EoE serves as a re-telling of events outside of Shinji's ... mind or as an entirely alternative ending. The beauty if this movie for me is that it does not spoon feed you the premise, instead it is up to you to decide what exactly is real, what is symbolic and what is psychological.
The first half of the movie acts like standard NGE fare...there is plenty of action, and an interesting threat falls upon the nerv headquarters. We are treated to a fantastic Asuka based fight scene, which breaks up nicely the scenes of drama involving Shinji. The interactions between side characters are stellar as always, and one never feels as though a character is being neglected...even the minor members of cast are three dimensional with their own wants and ideals.
The second half of the movie is when Anno's depth of work begins to truly shine. Beautifully animated, with stunning apocalyptic scenes, this part of the movie can be enjoyed as an analogy about the fear of being hurt, and the need for the warmth of others. Shinji's fear of reaching out to others has (or almost has) devastating consequences as the world without barriers he envisioned appears before him. The philosophical narration does not read as psychobabble at all: instead, EoE steadily makes simple points about the nature of life. Despite the scenes of destruction EoE presents, the narrative is largely optimistic: as an example, one quote is "if you are alive, any place can be heaven,".
As always, this is a wonderfully animated work. The backgrounds of the movie are stunning, and the larger budget definitely shows through, with complex action sequences and amazing, surreal and cosmic scenery galore. EoE is a feast for the eyes! The music, while somewhat dissonant to the general theme of the movie, is great, and strong enough to be appreciated as stand alone pieces. Like the NGE anime, this movie uses famous classical music, which create a dramatic effect.
I watched the original japanese Version, and the voice acting was fantastic. Particularly the voice of Shinji...Megumi Ogata is some woman! From crying to *ahem* ....other things..she performs realistically and with a tone of voice so unusual yet convincing. Rei's seiyuu was also fantastic, voicing her with that hint of emotion that is needed for such a complex girl.
Expect to see some character development, especially from Shinji and Rei in this movie! Even the villanious Gendou becomes more sympathetic. The interactions between Rei and Gendou and Shinji and Misato are some of the most heart rending of EoE, however, surprise encounters between the supporting cast (particularly the lovely Maya) also tugged at my heart strings.
All in all, EoE is fantastic and an imperative part of the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise. This wonderful movie offers some of the best animation and characterisation I have scene in any series. If you are dissatisfied by the ending of NGE, this will be the conclusion you have been waiting for!

me, a dumb cocky 16 year old in 2013:


"wow eva is so overrated.....i can't even finish this show lol it's so pretentious and doesn't make sense, why should i even bother with eoe, let me just watch the rebuilds instead, gunbuster is SO much better!!"


me, a depressed and self-loathing 21 year old NEET in 2018:


"literally the existence of anime as a medium has led to this; there isn't any other example in the pantheon of japanese animation that can even reach the heights of this fucking masterwork, how does this exist, how does it understand me like it does, how can i ever even try ... to understand its scope and its depth fully, evangelion is a revelation, it's a vision, it truly is one of the greatest anime of all time but this film should be recognized as one of the greatest fucking films of all time, what's the criterion collection hotline, if they put another fucking wes anderson movie into their collection before canonizing this transcendental mindworm i will burn down their headquarters on god, this is a masterwork, the pinnacle of animation, the pinnacle of japanese art, how can you not just gape in awe at its majesty as its own work, regardless of the context after watching the series, it's spiritual in the sense that its reflection of humanity makes our very existence seem ethereal but still altogether messy, it shoves a mirror in our goddamn face for us to reevaluate what it means to exist, it uses intimacy as a canvas to paint the irrevocable black horror of the isolated human condition, this is a motherfucking masterwork in every sense of the words, nothing since the invention of the contraceptive pill has been this revolutionary and groundbreaking, why aren't more people talking about this, fuck you stupid hipsters who think this movie is shit, maybe you're shit, maybe you can't wrap your head around it, i sure can't either, because you're not supposed to fucking wrap your head around it you weaboo shits, maybe you're supposed to sit back and let the film take your emotions on a ride as an experience without trying to comprehend it and put it in your convenient little comprehension box that you put on your pathetic comprehension shelf so you can feel self-righteous and triumphant about winning a challenge that doesn't exist, this isn't a normal anime nor a normal movie where everything needs to have closed ends and neat exposition to explain it all, maybe try to come to your own conclusions, tarkovsky would have fucking sucked this movie's dick because he understood that art can exist as art on the merit that it's art without even assigning a single shred of meaning, you think solaris would be as good if the film was explained, you fucking piece of shit, this is a masterpiece, i can't believe with the film's scale, with the film's scope that it is introspective and intimate enough to make me feel like it understands me, understands what runs through my head at night when i jack off and feel empty and colder than before i ejaculated thinking of loved ones that got away, understands the inner dialogues of why i hate myself, of why i don't think i deserve the love i receive and why, even with all the suffering and the pain i've gone through in my period of depression, i wouldn't ever give up my individuality, i wouldn't ever change the rejection, i wouldn't ever want to change how i've turned out because of my thirst, my lifelong hunger for someone to love me as much as my parents do, i never would have thought an anime revolving around mechs would ever make me acknowledge that my shitty existence and my constant endless chasing of skirts not for sex or carnal release but to look for something as genuine as the love of my family and my friends who are hundreds and thousands of miles away from me as i rot every day in my room in a small town with no friends with just my mother, i lose myself in the intimacy and attention i receive from girls to give myself a sense of fulfillment, to fill in the whole in my heart of loneliness that i don't think i can ever plug, i'm a christian but i feel like even the spritituality i so treasure isn't enough, i turn the love and care i have for women into spite and control, i don't want them to leave, even if sometimes i force them to leave, how can i ever be content when all i do is spread my poisonous sense of self-worth found through others, how can i love others when i can't ever love myself without relying on the crutches of my interests, i don't think i can ever forget her, not with how much i dedicated to her in my thoughts and in my heart, because in the wake of the darkness that followed i realized i only love others and restrain them and find ways to fix them so i can distract myself from fixing myself, i'm so sorry if you're reading this, don't ever feel guilty for what i am now, some edgy bastard who quite literally fills that lack of romantic intimacy by obsessing over cartoon girls while lashing out at any friend who tries to drag me out of my own muck, i'm unfinished and i seek to be whole without considering that any day, i could crumble under the own weight of my own skeleton, and that's what happened when i met her, when i loved her until i realized the only thing i had to offer her was my love and attention until i couldn't love myself and offer her anything else, that's what evangelion is about, that's why this film is a fucking masterpiece, this movie is a fucking masterpiece, it understands that it's impossible to understand, it understands that people can never truly feel whole and unalone, but it also understands that to live as our own individual being with the hope that someday we won't feel so pained with our own dreadful lonesome selves, that someday we won't be so insecure about how others see us, and how we see ourselves, and someday even if none of those things happen, we can be happy and content with just the fact that we're alive, that we can find our identity through ones we love even if they don't love us back, even if they don't see us as we see them, as we treasure them, this film is a fucking masterpiece and literally uses sex as a metaphor during a literal apocalyptic cataclysm where billions of people melt into a bubbling puddle of primordial soup because sex is the most intimate state of being, of connection between mind, body, and soul, and it's the closest way we can achieve what we all desire deep down in our hearts, how we yearn to be loved, to be paid attention to, we are addicted to screens to our social media to friends we make without ever meeting, addicted to sitting in calls without talking to sit in servers and just read chat logs without ever responding so we can't be alone, because we must not be alone, our facebook and instagram and snapchat posts are cries for help, they're questioning yells into a void where we demand an answer and companionship, where we demand validation with cheap instant gratification in a sea of hundreds and thousands of digital friends who are just as thirsty and hungry for validation as you are, demanding, demanding answers, but there isn't a fucking answer, i can't tell you to fill that void with christianity, i can't tell you to fill that void with women, i can't fucking tell you to fill that void we all have with anything, because it can't be filled, but life is still beautiful because we're alive, and individuals, and people are still beautiful because they're alive too, even if they don't give us the love we want, reciprocate it or even acknowledge us, life itself is our pursuit for the answer we will never receive, assigning things that define us as several replacements, but knowing the answer to our voids and our eternal lonesomeness will never truly given to us, this film is one of those replacements, this film is a masterpiece, thank you hideaki anno holy shit"

The ending to the popular Anime series, Neon Genesis Evangelion, left many questions as to the fate of NERV, the children, the Angels, and many other plot factors unanswered or otherwise hanging.

To answer the baffled Evangelion fans, Gainax remade the ending into a two-part movie known as Death and Rebirth, which was to replace episodes 25 and 26 of the television series, which then led to this movie, Death and Rebirth itself being recreated into part one of The End of Evangelion. It begins much in the same fashion, with the final Angel already having been defeated, and the current enemy switching to humanity ... itself, as SEELE unleashes its own plan for the Evas and NERV... and indeed for the entire human race. What role will our depressed boy Shinji play in this dangerous situation? Will Gendo's plan swallow up all of humanity? Will Hideaki Anno ever figure out how to end an anime? These questions and more will be answered in what looks to be the final installment of Evangelion.

This movie can be taken in three ways if you are a fan of Eva and watched the original series:

1. It can replace the original ending to Neon Genesis Evangelion entirely

2. It can be viewed as an alternate ending

3. It can be viewed alongside the final two episodes of the series

I liked the original ending honestly, but this ending was better if you ask me, due to several factors that is. This was a highly anticipated Anime feature film for it's time, and the experience I had with it is unforgettable. Evangelion is a love-hate type of series, you either love it or you hate it. If you are one of the people who loved this movie, or one of the people who hated it, you cannot deny that this movie did something right at the very least to be memorable.

Gainax really upped their game here with this movie. The first half is very good, there are spectacular action scenes, which were present in the TV series, but in this movie they went full force and all out with the production. You get some amazing action sequences between Asuka and the Eva series. As for the movie's second half, we are given philosophical, metaphorical, artistic imagery and a well thought out dialogue for most of it. I'm not going to go into much detail with this movie's imagery and dialogue, as in I don't want to discuss what I understood and what boggled my mind while watching this movie. I'm just going to say that this movie is a glorious brain wreck that I believe the viewers have to experience for themselves to form their own opinions on it. It is filled with this philosophical, psychological, metaphorical and mind boggling imagery that is a bit hard to decipher, which makes this ending a bit ambiguous for most. It's like the show's original ending, but way more visual.

The animation in this movie is a huge upgrade to the TV show. It looks three times better than the show, and the obvious reason for this is that the movie had a bigger budget than the show, which had a hard time keeping up with the budget. It is done really well for it's time and the action scenes are spectacular in this movie. Gainax really went to a whole other level in 1997, and this film was their beautiful creation. Aside from the beautiful animation, there was a live action scene at the very end. I don't know what the point of the scene was, but I believe that Anno did this to add more deep meaning to the movie, and make it more artistic.

The voice acting in this movie is spectacular. When it comes to voice acting, the Japanese cast goes all out here and expresses the full emotions of the characters. I watched this movie in both dubbed and subbed, and I can safely say that the subbed version was way better here. The dubbed movie was not that good to be honest, the voice acting was fine and did it's job, but it was not as good as the subbed counterpart. I also noticed that the dub added some stuff from their own, rather than just dubbing over the movie. What I noticed was that they added a cartoonish sound effect in one scene, which felt really out of place and did not serve to better the movie in any way. Rather, the sound effect they added made the scene it was inserted in less serious. If you are wondering what scene I am talking about, it's the one where Misato kills a soldier, who was about to kill Shinji during the first half of the movie. The dub added a goo sound effect to the blood for some odd reason, the sub just had a gun shot and a silent death, which was more fitting for the scene, and kept the serious tone going. There are other odd sound effects that the dub decided to add for some reason, all of which made me like the sub more.

The soundtrack in this movie is spectacular and pleasing to listen to. It is not only good, but also feels unique in it's own way. Shiro Saguso, the music producer for the movie, really let himself go all out here. I had listened to some of his tracks before watching the movie, but this might as well be his best work. The tracks here are scary and haunting, and add more depth to the atmosphere that the movie was striving to achieve. Komm, süsser Tod is the the best one and the most memorable track, because it is the only happy sounding track in the whole movie, and where does it play? During the film's darkest moment. Due to it being the only happy sounding track in the movie, it leaves you shocked and surprised when it first appears. Oh, wait, it sounds happy, but it is actually a track that talks about suicide and death when you search for it's lyrics... I've never been fooled by a movie before, but this movie takes the absolute cake. How could I have even thought that something joyful, even as simple as a song, could come out of Evangelion? I thought the song was cheerful not only in the way it sounds, but also in it's lyrics. Congratulations, Evangelion! The soundtrack was great during the first half, and amazing during it's second half.

Overall, the End of Evangelion is a spectacular feast to behold, but it is definitely not for everyone. There are some things people will like about it, and some things they will dislike about it. Some people would call it awesome, while others would call it awful. Some people would call it a masterpiece, while others would call it a pretentious piece of trash. I agree with the former, I don't think that Evangelion is a masterpiece per say, but it is unique enough to distinguish itself from other Anime titles and be it's own kind of thing. It is exciting enough to keep you at the edge of your seat for most of it's duration. It adds everything in an interesting way, from religious symbolism and philosophy to spectacular action scenes, and blends them all together in a unique way.

End of Evangelion is a movie experience unlike any other that I have ever witnessed. It is more brutal and violent than the series before it (which says something), and it has some of the most insane plot elements and imagery that you will ever see from any Anime movie. It manages to wrap up all of the plot threads that were left hanging from the original show, and it ends on a note that can be seen as bleak and depressing for some, or hopeful for others. For a show that has a lot of ambiguous things going for it, I feel that this is a perfect ending for a franchise like Evangelion.

It is a movie that I really enjoyed, and I would recommend you go give it a watch.

End of Evangelion is a two-hour movie that consists of two hour-long episodes (Episodes 25 and 26) that was released on July 19th, 1997, has been licensed Stateside by Manga Entertainment, and was originally released over here on September 24th, 2002. Episode 25 incorporates and expands upon footage from the Rebirth segment from the Death and Rebirth movie (released on March 15th of that same year), and is based off the original script for Episode 25. It was produced by Production IG (famous for their work on the Ghost in the Shell series and xxxHOLIC) and Gainax (famous for their work on His ... and Her Circumstances and FLCL), and directed by Hideaki Anno (famous for his work on the original Gunbuster OVA and His and Her Circumstances). It won the Animage Grand Prix prize in 1997, and also won a Japanese Academy Award.

So. End of Evangelion.

This movie is billed as Episodes 25 and 26, and honestly, I can believe that this is the way that Hideaki Anno MEANT for Evangelion to go out, but was originally unable to do because of production funding falling out, Anno's mental breakdown, and not being able to meet the schedule. It is, at the same time, a broader view of what was actually going ON in the original Episodes 25 and 26, I think, as this focuses on both the psychological and physical action around what was happening.

There are some fairly epic fight scenes in here, a full explanation behind all the mysteries that the show left untouched, along with a fair amount of Shinji's cracky therapy session of Episodes 25 and 26. This feels a lot more satisfying than the original ending for the series, though the original ending was fairly passable in my mind.

WARNING: There are fairly graphic sexual images, violence, and gore in here. Those who are squeamish should probably not watch this.

The art definitely takes a step up from the series as a whole, especially the end of the series. It's a lot smoother, and the pastiche between animation and live-action that takes place at one point, though it will leave you feeling like it's made of crack, is absolutely amazing. The Judeo-Christian symbolism is back with a vengeance as well.

The music's fairly neat, too, as it uses a lot of fairly famous classical music, and a pop update of another fairly famous classical song, and it usually ties in with some of the most amazing moments in the film.

All the VAs return as well, which helps with continuity with the series.

Overall? Definitely worth the watch, and probably the best part of the Evangelion canon that's been released thus far.

Part 2: A Violent Roar

So this is what happens when you refuse Eva’s embrace.

If Neon Genesis Evangelion was the stern yet loving embrace with the ultimate message of accepting understanding yourself in order to begin accepting understanding others, then The End of Evangelion is the much wilder, more apocalyptic, but equally passionate gripping and shaking of your shoulders that desperately roars to you of the dangers of running away from reality and that regardless of how painful we can be, we must face it in order for good things to even have a chance at happening.

Where NGE settled on a satisfying realization for Shinji despite ... the current and borderline unambiguously devastating outside circumstances we are made aware of via a line of text that lasts for but a brief moment, this one takes a more apocalyptic approach, effectively resetting things in the end with hope for the future where everything is restored. It is a violent rampage that lays waste to nearly everyone, and an exaggerated showcase of the type of results inflicted on other people when you decide to run away from reality and close yourself off out of fear and spite.

The violence is a wondrous spectacle to behold thanks to the teams at Production IG and Gainax. The final battle Asuka has is phenomenal and gruesome to say the least, and all sorts of destruction are beautifully drawn and animated. All sorts of magnificently vibrant explosions, and all the carnage of a more Lovecraftian and apocalyptic kind are vivid, imaginative, and horrifying. Everything is left mangled in an almost heavenly state, as if this film needed any more Christian iconography-based faux symbolism, among other relatively minor flaws that are carried over from the main series. For an inherently unique positive of the film, one few would really notice despite how long it stays there, we have the scene of the audience. Said audience was recorded at the screening of the initial film, intentionally, for it to be spliced a the last second as part of the mind-shattering real-life montage Shinji and all viewers witnessed. The only blemish is one short action-heavy rescue with shakycam and even then, if something so small and isolated is the worst the film’s visual presentation does, that is a testament to the film’s visuals.

Among the many new, fantastic pieces added to this film by series music composer Shiro Sagisu, is the phenomenal track that plays at the height of the film’s chaos and climax, is the track “Komm Süssser Tod”. A lovely, oddly fitting track despite its seemingly happy tone, with fantastic english vocals. There are other intensely emotional tracks that are around as wonderful as the best tracks of the original series, such as “Munashiki Nagare” and the end credits theme "Thanatos -If I Can't Be Yours-" by Loren & Mash, a lovely, soothing, and jazzy song that separates the two halves of this devastatingly brutal film. There are even tracks that blatantly remix old ones in ways that are around as great as said original tracks, adding to the praise this film’s music shall receive, on top of how some fantastic tracks from the original make a return.

The carnage hits hard, not just for viewers, but most especially for Shinji, broken and reduced to his lowest point mentally and as a human being by the events of episode 24 in the show. He and we know that everyone is in ruin, with everyone they admired or loved being dead before this film or dying early on, and the ruin and death continues because he cannot stop it, and he even wants it just so he can run away again. He ran away, and not only is no one in or out of universe having that, but the bulk of the climax is him being confronted by that and slowly cracking as he is convinced to accept the truth, the message, thanks to introspective versions of everyone in the show and film that were related to him in a major way, as well as Rei herself communicating with him. Throughout the series, he repeats the line “I mustn’t run away”, and he does thrice total, this being the third and final time, and we see what becomes of it. You must face reality, not run from it. That is the only way for you to find any hope or happiness in the midst of dark times, and the best way for you to not inadvertently hurt others. Much like last time, this is a lesson everyone should learn in order to deal with harsh times. The final scenes support this immensely in one of the most powerful “show don’t tell” scenes in anime, all whilst providing a sheer sense of hope for the future, knowing that closure has been given for every single relevant character in the series in ways so perfect for them it hurts to see them leave the way they do. Those moments were the most heart-shattering, soul-smashing in the film, and among the most impactful of this behemoth of a franchise.

Does it go too far sometimes? Admittedly. Are there problems with the narrative? Without activating an entire volcano of spoiler-heavy questions and answers and whatnot that analyzes justifies, and even criticizes both the film and the show itself, I’ll say that it does, even if they are relatively minor. But it is a truly powerful and challenging film with something important to say that justifies its existence when it didn’t really have to. Anno could have just ignored the abhorrently unwarranted backlash from people who hated the final episodes, but instead, he channeled his anger into another piece of art that in some ways, does the finale one better. It gives the closure some people wanted, even if it is nothing like what many expected, let alone truly asked for. It does so expertly in many regards, even if it may come off as self-important and unnecessarily unflinching to the point of discomfort and outrage on the part of some viewers. However, it fits almost perfectly with every character and ties up the themes of the original in a way that shines a new, more despondent and challenging light on them. The fact that it came away with an equally important message that the show itself left room for is just the cherry on top of this demented, awe-inspiring, and loving sundae, even if the controlled chaos may go too far and leave things more ambiguous or disturbing than it needed to. However, this is the culmination of everything Evangelion is and was, perhaps even more so than the finale of the original. For that and more, The End of Evangelion is something special, and worth cherishing, much like its predecessor. Thank you for reading this, and with all that said, I bid you adieu.

Note: If you haven't already watched Neon Genesis Evangelion- go watch it. If you've already watched it, and you haven't watched The End of Evangelion-- for the love of god, please, PLEASE, watch this movie. Need I emphasis more?

Just like every other person who watches Neon Genesis Evangelion (NGE), I was in love, I was crying, but mainly, I was confused. If you are at all postponing watching The End of Evangelion (EoE) because you are confused with the ending of NGE, stop reading this review and go watch EoE. Why? Well, because chances are it will change your outlook on life. EoE truly is, ... as the rating system goes, a "masterpiece." Not one I can express with words.

NGE ends with Shinji killing kaworu, the only person who has ever loved him. You then see Shinji on the beach, with Misato, in obvious depression. She tries to console him, but only ends up hurting him more. The last two episodes are hard to explain. Basically, Shinji is in turmoil. He is hating himself, and feeling bad for himself. And honestly, who can blame him? He was faced with killing the only person that he believed truly loved him in life, or extinction of the whole human race. It's like being faced with saving your mom, or saving your dad. Neither choice is wrong, but neither choice is right. All it induces is pain, and suffering. All that Shinji wants to do is die, and who can blame him for that? Is suicide really a sin?

For me (and I know some will disagree) the whole Evangelion series was about loneliness. Everyone is afraid of being truly alone. People fear death because they do not want to be forgotten. They want to be remembered. They don't want to be alone. That's all shinji wants, is not to be alone. He says he doesn't want people to hate him, but he really just doesn't want to be alone. If you didn't know already, what Seele is trying to accomplish is to create god. By creating god, all physical forms of existence will cease to exist. All the souls on planet earth will come together and form one... "being", if you may. Shinji is at the center of this, as the being who will decide the fate of everyone in existence. Trying not to give to much of a spoiler, shinji chooses one way and realizes he is still lonely because everyone is something, yet he is nothing. He chooses to go back to the way he used to exist. However, after that several things happen that can be interpreted in many different ways. Although reviews are mainly opinion based, it doesn't feel fair for me to voice my opinion on such an amazing ending. If you really didn't understand the ending, there are thousands of discussions all over the web. However, every single one is only a theory. Hideaki Anno explained that EoE does not have one set meaning, or ending, for that matter. In a sense, you create the ending of this beautiful series with your imagination. Can you think of anything better?

Before Anno started creating evangelion, he had a girlfriend who fell terminally ill. On her deathbed, the last words she said to him were - "I was going to dump you anyway. Your disgusting." Shortly after, he created the masterpiece Evangelion. Many people believe that the last scene is a reenactment of the conflict that went on between him and his girlfriend. However, it can be interpreted in many ways. In fact, the whole Evangelion series can be interpreted in completely different ways. That, my friends, is the beauty of Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion.

Story:

Since Neon Genesis Evangelion has become standard affair for any anime fan looking to get into serious anime, I don't have to explain the story. But, it is necessary to point out the improvement of this conclusion in comparison to the series. Episode 24 ended epically and I'm sure that all the viewers expected no less from the last two episodes, but most were disappointed with the result. What the viewers were treated with was an in depth character analysis laced with reused images and even dialogue. While I actually enjoyed this interpretation of actions and emotions (I felt it fit with the direction the ... series was moving in toward the end) many were outraged (especially since the main reason for it was because Gainax used up all the funds for the show). After squandering enough funds, the original creator, Hideaki Anno, decided to create a true ending to his ode to otakus. Thus, End of Evangelion was created.

Alright, now that the back story is taken care of, I can move onto the actual story. EoE is epic in its own right. It begins with a full force invasion, an awesome fight between Asuka (one of my favorite anime fight scene), and the termination of almost everyone. Then it cools down for another depressing character analysis of Shinji, some weird live action moments, and screaming (yes screaming). When it is finally resolved you will either be completely confused or blown out of your seat (most likely both). So all in all, it is a great conclusion to a revolutionary series. If anything, it will make you think, which is always a good thing.

Art:

The artwork and animation were amazing when it first came out and it still are. I can't believe that this movie came out in 1997. It's little over ten years old and it still compares to a lot of shows that are coming out this new year. This would be a sure ten if it wasn't for the awkward live action scenes. I understand that they were mostly scenes from a live action sequence in which it shows a future NGE world that did not have Shinji, but just because the effort was put in to make does not mean that it should of been featured. It came off as lazy to me.

Sound:

The music is spectacular. From the originals to the classical songs, the music really complemented each scene. The piano version of Jesus Bleibet Meine Freude (I'm not sure if that is correct in any way) by Bach is beautiful and also perfectly fitting. In fact I am listening to it right now to get in the mood for this review. Shiro Sagisu really hit it with this soundtrack (everyone should check it out even if you do not plan on watching the movie).

Character:

Everyone is back from the series in one form or another (well mostly everyone) and they all act as expected of them. Shinji is as angsty as ever at one point choosing to sit and die, forcing Misato to drag him out of harms way (while Misato is bad ass in this movie). To really go into depth on the characters I am afraid that I would have to give away too many spoilers so if you really need to know how they are, refer to the first sentence of this section (and you should know the characters by now because you have seen the series, right? and if you have not then DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE!).

Enjoyment:

Now this is the hardest section to judge because it is completely based on one's opinion (which usually defeats the purpose of most reviews because you want to judge the product on quality alone and not personal feelings, but I guess all judgments are relative to the reviewer). I thoroughly enjoyed most of the movie and there should be an emphasis on MOST. No matter how much I liked a lot of the parts, I could not ignore all of the awkward moments laced throughout the movie (hospital scene anyone) and the live action scenes just got on my nerves.

So, in the end you should watch this movie if you are a fan of the show. You will appreciate the fact that it is a conclusion, but it also brings up some questions of its own which might annoy some. It is visually stunning for any time period but is absolutely outstanding for being ten years old. The soundtrack is a great listen, featured with both new and classic music. It holds true to the series and it should not disappoint.

Basically.

Giant Rei is Anime Escapism.

Shinji is the Otaking.

All that real life stuff that occurs in the film is supposed to get you to reflect on yourself as a viewer.

Reality is out there to slap you in the face and take you away from Big Rei Mama. But Mama is comfy and turns you into a hikikomori.

... Christian symbolism is there for Chuuni - but it also doubles as a platform to get you to think about how the Religious instinct may possibly be another form of escapism. Or, alternatively, escapism may be in the core of the religious instinct.

Misato fanservice is understandable as a trope thing within the realm of Otaku-ness, but from the outside view it's just creepy. About as creepy as what Hitchcock did in Vertigo.

Too much Freud.

Last 30 minutes is still my jam, no matter where I am. This is completely out of personal bias.

Wait for SubaHibi to be translated to see themes taken to their highest conclusion.

I hope Anno reads Wittgenstein before making 4.0. Alternatively - I hope he reads speculative realism or something weird like that, and rather than turn everyone into Orange Tang - they turn into boxes.

This review contains minor spoilers.

"It all returns to nothing it just keeps tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down." -That really nice song in this movie

After you finished Neon Genesis Evangelion, you may be disappointed by the end. Well... there is The End of Evangelion and in my opinion the best ending of Neon Genesis Evangelion in storytelling, soudtrack and just really enjoying if you liked the first season.

Story: 10

First I have to say that this movie can be really confusing if you watch it only one time. If you go deeper into it, it will be a complex but an outstanding story. It's thrilling, creepy, ... action-packed and can be very disturbing for some people (R+). If you're confused about the story in general, it's about Robots killing Aliens... no just kidding, there is more about it. It's about the end of the world and about a new beginning. Like the title sais: Neon (new) Genesis (the first book of the bible), Evangelion (the robots created by NERV), they want to pretend the end of the world and want to kill the angels with the Evangelions. The rest of the story is self-explaining and I don't want to get way to deep into it.
PS: some scenes are just for emotions like the scene where you see a cinema full of people or the back of the protagonists in real life... it's not for the story.

Character: 9

The characters are the same as in NGE: Shinji, Rei and Asuka, to name the most important. The characters are like the story very dark, depressed and thrilling. You'll see what kind of person Rei is and what purpose she has to NERV and the world. The main protagonist is little bit different than in NGE. He is not happy like in the last episodes of NGE, he is depressed and got no future... you'll see what will happen to him.
We got to see whats in Shinjis mind in some scenes what was brilliantly shown and helped the viewer to feel with him with a kind of symbolism.
The father of Shinji is still a guy you hate and is doing his brilliant job as an antagonist. Asuka gets more backstory and she is not really happy about anything that is happening.
The mystery around Rei Ayanami is absolutely mysterios and mindblowing.
Side characters got more purpose for the story and are more important than in NGE, which is nice.
But there are still some side character that are unnessesary and well... there is a scene... just why?? You'll see what I mean.

Sound: 10

The main soundtracks are still the same. But the music isn't that happy this time... or is it? But the main soundtrack is still very good in my opinion and got a jazzy, military flair.
The other main themes that are new are just masterpieces.
We got: "If I can't be yours", which is very jazzy and slow with many feelings.
AAAanndd we got: "Komm Süsser Tod": holy... this is a masterpiece of soundtrack. The Scene where it stars is just bonechilling, that ost is so good and is improving the scene and the whole movie so much. I am really happy about that Soundtrack. It gives you a world-end kinda feeling, I could jam to that song all day.
The Soundeffects are thrilling and got a horror type.

Animation: 9.5

Old but gold. Like in Cowboy Bebop aired in the same time, it's just timeless.
The fights are the best mecha fights beside Gurren Lagann I have seen so far, you can feel the impact in the main fight.

Enjoyment: 10+

In my opinion: The End of Evangelion is a roller coaster of feelings, it's thrilling, mysterious, mindblowing and will stay in your mind for a long time.
If you want to get in the backstory and symbolism you'll have definately even more enjoyment and you want to see it over and over again.
I watched it already 6 times. :)

Thank you for reading this review and I hope you'll enjoy The End of Evangelion or keep enjoying it.

Prologue.
Taking place right after episode 24 of the TV series the final angel has been defeated and all of the EVA pilots are now crippled in they own ways from Shinji being mentally broken, Asuka being comatose after getting mind-raped by one of the Angels to Rei going missing. Meanwhile, Seele puts the Human Instrumentality Project plan into monition as now Nerv must now defend themselves from Seele and prevent the third impact from happening.

Act I: The creation and the main purpose of the film.

Before we talk about what I thought about the story and characters of End of Evangelion let’s go over the background ... of The End Of Evangelion as well the creator himself Hideaki Anno. Hideaki Anno created anime such as Gunbuster, Nadia The Secret Of Blue Water, Neon Genesis Evangelion, His and Her Circumstances, and Gunbuster.
Honestly, I really liked and enjoyed his works especially Neon Genesis Evangelion where I consider to be his best work. Now at the time when Neon Genesis Evangelion was airing like with Tomino for Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, he was suffering through depression and just like with Tomino Mobile Suit Victory Gundam the depression really hit by the second half of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Because of that the second half Neon Genesis Evangelion became a psychological drama instead of being of a monster of the week type of show. Then comes the final 2 episodes of the show and like with many people on the net we thought the ending of the TV series was total shit. It had gotten to the point where people inducing fans of the show were sending letters to Anno which some of them were actual death threats. Ultimately Anno decided to re-create the final 2 episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion in the form of the movie called Neon Genesis Evangelion The End Of Evangelion where it not only was meant to close off many of the plot threads in the series but it also meant to give the series a proper ending that it deserves.

Act II: The grotesque but beautifully written first half.
Neon Genesis Evangelion The End Of Evangelion is by far one of the darkest pieces of media I have ever seen.
Right out the bat, the movie wastes no time showcasing it’s darker tone where the first couple of scenes we are presented with disgusting acts done by Shinji where not only he tried to commit suicide by drowning he jerks off to a comatose Asuka after failing to wake her up. I really liked the first scenes a lot because not only they are extremely well directed but does a masterful job of portraying the themes and topics of suicide, depression and downfall spiral. Not to mention as soon as Shinji finished jerking off of comatose Asuka he is filled with disgust he quickly says the following lines “I’m so fucked up”. The jerking off scene may not be for everyone due it’s disgusting nature but what it was it’s a well executed as it perfectly foreshadows the tone of the movie.

Now with that beautifully grotesque hospital scene done with let’s talk about the first half of End Of Evangelion.
The first half of The End Of Evangelion minus the hospital scene goes back to the first half of the TV roots where it’s all action pack that its filled with explosions and fights. However, unlike the first half of the TV series, the first half of the movie has a much darker thanks to it kill them all nature whereby the end of the first half almost every character in Nerv is dead including one of the mains characters which I will talk about soon.
Asuka battle with the Mass Unit Evas is by far my favorite scene of the movie. Not only it’s beautifully written and directed to the absolute core but it perfectly concludes her character arc even if her conclusion wasn’t exactly a happy one.
The final thing I want to talk about in this part of the movie was Misato death. Personally, Misato was my favorite character in the series because the not only beautifully written character that we can all relate to thanks to her backstory but she’s was a fun and likable character. We don’t see Misato much in the movie mainly because he only appears in a couple of scenes but when she show’s up in the movie she is still awesome as ever as she concludes her character with an emotional bang that honestly made me cry.

Act III: The fantastic psychological second half and the origin of Rei.

Before I talk about the psychological elements in the movie I want to talk about is Rei’s origin as well her role in the movie. In my review of Neon Genesis Evangelion I quickly talked about Rei but now I think it’s best to talk about her origin and purpose in the series and the movie. Rei was created by Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuyutsuki attempt to retrieve Shinji’s mother Yui Ikari. The attempt failed on some level where Rei may incorporate DNA from the Second Angel, Lilith because she is the vessel for Lilith’s soul. Now there are three Rei’s in the series.

Rei I was created around sometime in 2004-2008 where she is shown as a small child wearing a red dress in episode 21. After that Rei 1 gets murdered by Naoko Akagi, for revealing that Gendo Ikari referred to her as an ‘old hag’ behind her back.

Rei II is the second incarnation of Rei aka the Rei that we have been following in the series. Rei II is shown to be a teenager who is age 14 the same as Shinji. Rei II has a stronger relationship with Gendo meaning she does whatever he says without question. Not only that but he she as a building relationship with Shinji. She sacrifices herself by setting her AT Field to maximum to draw Armisael to herself and try to contain it temporarily and then activated Eva-00’s self-destruct to kill both of them.

Right after Rei II death, Rei III was created however she has no memories of saving Shinji as she states that “I think am the third”

How does this relate to Rei’s role in the second half of the movie to put this straightforward Rei is the most important character in the movie even more than Asuka, Misato and at times Shinji. She is a character that is impossible to relate too but I think that the whole point of Rei as a character. She’s not human at all but rather an angel in human form. Her whole existence in the series is meant to serve where the reason why Rei was created is so that Gendo can have a controllable link with Lilith for the Human Instrumentality Project where in the movie he tries to use Rei to allow to see Yui again. However, Rei rejects Gendo by taking his arm so she can regenerate her lost arm as well using merging with Lilith to start the third impact. Just from these are moments alone Rei has become my second favorite in the movie because not only she was a fascinating character that I loved but it all comes together in the end especially in the third impact part of the movie where she concludes her character arc. Not to mention seeing all three Rei together was amazing and it made me tear up.

Now with Rei done let’s talk about the psychological elements of the movie.

While the first half of the movie is action-packed with a darker tone the second half of the movie mainly focus on The Third Impact as well as all the psychological elements that the series is known for. The psychological elements are nothing but amazing. Not only it well directed that is filled with great symbolism that highlight the series core themes but all of the psychological elements and themes come to a beautiful conclusion for Shinji character as a whole.

I won’t be talking about the Third Impact as well the last scene because that should be experienced for yourselves but all I can about it that it’s downright amazing and beautiful.

Overall the story and characters of The End Of Evangelion is perfection to the eye. It may be confusing but if you go back and re-watch the series and the movie a couple of times everything from story, characters, themes, and symbolism will come together.

Act IV Final: The wonderful visual and music upgrade.

Visually this movie is fantastic. It took everything that we liked the series visual wise and expanded it to new heights. Production I.G and Gainax really did a wonderful job with its visuals as not only it is very well animated but the visuals direction and editing was just masterful. This is by far one of the best-animated anime movies I have ever seen period.

The same thing can be said for the soundtrack is which is a big upgrade from the series as every single track in the moves manages to fit the tone of the movie perfectly.

Now for sub vs dub Not gonna lie the dub for The End Of Evangelion has improved quite a bit when compared to the TV series but at the same time the dub still had a lot of problems. At the end of the day if you want to best experience of this series I strongly recommend the sub because not only it’s well acted but it does a much better justice on key scenes of the movie. Am not trying to say that the dub was awful or anything as it was improved quite a bit from the series but at the end of the day the dub of Evangelion is very inferior to its sub counterpart.

Epilogue.
Neon Genesis Evangelion The End Of Evangelion is a fantastic film. It took everything that was great from the series and expanded it to new heights. It concludes all the story and theme elements in the show. it concludes all the beautifully written character arcs that the series has built up from the very beginning. It masterfully concludes Neon Genesis Evangelion as a whole. There is nothing like The End Of Evangelion and all the anime that tried to copy it afterward (cough Darling in the Franxx and Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Rebellion) fail thanks to horrendous overall execution.

If you haven’t seen the series yet then I strongly recommend you checking out the series first before watching this film.

The End Of Evangelion is a masterful film that I will forever love.

Final Score 10/10

"End of Evangelion" provides an alternative ending to replace those crappy two final episodes of the Evangelion series. This starts where the recap part of the previous movie "Death and Rebirth" ended, repeats the second part of that movie and then continues on where it left off.

First of all, I think the repeat of the whole of the second half of the "Death and Rebirth" is unnecessary - that's a whole half hour of stuff that I've already seen. Most other people appear to have penalised "Death and Rebirth" for it, but I've chosen to take marks off "End of Evangelion" instead, as this is ... the later film, and is therefore the one that does the actual repeating. I guess that an argument can be made that the inclusion of the second half of "Death and Rebirth" is for the purpose of completeness, but it still feels like a cock up to me, as though they forced this into a movie when they didn't have enough new material to make a full length one, so made up the difference by repeating what's already been shown before.

Anyway, the second part of "End of Evangelion" continues straight on from where "Death and Rebirth" ended. This segment has much of the same feel as the first part, except it's better. Like the first part, it's a compelling watch and the execution is sublime. The music production is especially good, and I remember one track in particular. It's a poppy, upbeat song featuring sweet-sounding female vocals... the catch is that the song is called "Komm, Susser Tod" - German for "Come, Sweet Death" - its lyrics tells the story of someone about to commit suicide, and it gets played prominently during some apocalyptic scenes. The result is a fabulous cognitive dissonance effect that somehow makes the scene oddly powerful, memorable, and utterly brilliant. Also like with the first part of this movie, I feel there are a couple of scenes that are there for no other reason than being shocking and disturbing, and I'm not entirely convinced they are consistent with the existing personalities previously shown by the characters. But to be honest, this is a small gripe as the excitement rose to new heights and I became totally absorbed with the show...

...and then it all went weird again in the third part. Watched it once, didn't understand it. Watched it again with the commentary track switched on. With the help of the commentary, I was able to understand it a bit better, and appreciated more of the subtle symbolisms that went past me the first time. But still, it didn't all make sense, and in fact there are parts that even the people doing the commentary admitted they had no clue about - and they are staff on the actual movie for God's sake. There's some parts that just seems to be completely unexplained, and other parts where I probably didn't understand due to my ignorance of religion related lore. I've never heard of things like the tree of life and the 7 eyes of God (phrases I just picked off the commentary), let alone know what these are supposed mean in the context of the anime. I don't think I'll go studying the bible intensively just for the sake of understanding this - my patience for this franchise is at an end. There's even a scene showing some letters praising/threatening the director, which is really starting to take the piss. What's the hell is all that about? Maybe he should start telling us his blood type and shoe size next?!

If you're into abstract stuff with lots of symbolisms and room for philosophical interpretation, then this is definitely one for you. But for me, it was good, but no more than that. Weirdly enough, out of the original series, "Death and Rebirth" and "End of Evangelion", I actually liked "Death and Rebirth" the most - it's the only piece of work that didn't piss me off at some point.

Shinji Ikari, a teenage boy, abandoned at a young age, struggles against his depression and nihilism to pilot the mechanical-biological hybrid being known as Evangelion Unit-01 in order to save the world at the behest of his father, Gendo. His fellow pilot, Asuka Langley Soryu is in a comatose state after her last encounter with the ANGELS, beings made by the great entity ADAM who seeks to destroy the human progeny of other great entity known as LILITH. Shinji's father seeks to bring about the third impact, an apocalyptic, angelic event, in order to meet his deceased wife/Shinji's mother again. All the while, Shinji's ... mentor Misato Katsuragi and her co-workers, try to fend off the invasion of NERV, the organization that Shinji's father is in charge of.

"End of Evangelion" is the continuation of Hideaki Anno's "Neon Genesis Evangelion" series. It serves as an alternate ending, where, as opposed to Shinji being faced with the instrumentality project (a project based on the directive to create a collective, singular consciousness among the human species) his father tries to bring about the third impact.

The whole Evangelion series and storyline is full of symbolism and surrealism, and as a result, it can be reviewed and interpreted on many different levels. I have heard it interpreted from a Freudian stance, where Shinji is your typical oedipus complex case. I have heard it interpreted from a Schopenhauerean stance, where Shinji's depression is a depiction of the pessimistic futility of conscious life, where the human instrumentality program touches upon Schopenhauer's idea of "the World as Will and Representation".

"The Hedgehogs Dilemma", the idea that humans are like hedgehogs within social interactions and need to find a way to balance more introverted tendencies with extroverted tendencies, is a recurring notion in the series, which has its roots in both Freud and Schopenhauer.

Nietzsche's idea of the "Will to Power" is strong with Gendo's character, as he takes over an organization for his own purposes, but also, Nietzsce's idea of the Apollonian/Dionysian dichotomy is quite prevalent in "End of Evangelion" especially, as the plot deteriorates from structure to chaos, and eventually, Anno even breaks the fourth wall.

As you can tell, there is a lot going on in this series and film. And a lot of what goes on doesn't just occur on a cerebral level. It is very visceral and literal. The characters are concrete, emotive, and all have a certain degree of sincerity that makes them seem human. The artwork is fairly realistic and not too exaggerated, quite trippy during more-surreal scenes, and there are some beautiful frames like something out of a classical painting. The music is synchronized with the footage well, and both the English and Japanese voice acting casts were well suited to their characters.

At the end of the day, the blend of the literal and the abstract, the visceral and the cerebral, the exoteric and the esoteric make this anime series a work of art and a work of poetry. By the time you're done with it, you can just feel it. "End of Evangelion" is especially rewarding, because not only are there moments of vague epiphany, not only is the totality of it a well composed and substantial piece of art, but the tragic nature of it can induce some major catharsis.

"A dark, brutal, psychedelic orgy of sex and violence that culminated in the mass extinction of humanity set to an optimistic J-pop song with lyrics about suicide."
-David Uzumeri; ComicsAlliance.

Now that I've driven away those who can't take others' opinions or a harsher critic, let's go for the review.

It's being on discussion for years now whatever this movie is. If it's a sequel for the original TV series, if it's just an alternative ending or if it's the "real" ending that was originally written by Anno.
Actually, it doesn't even matter because essentially these three are the same.
The most accurate description that we can give for this ... movie (not the quote above) is that it follows the continuity and timeline of the TV series, using even repeated footage to testify, and narrates what happened before and during the Intrumentalization. Precisely, the events which were skipped on eps. 25~26. As the movie itself is divided, it's the story of "Air" and "The beast that shouted..." deconstructed and expanded.
Putting in other terms, it's the ending told from a different perspective, a more in-depth perspective. While the TV ver. focused on explaining what has happening inside people's mind during Instrumentality, the movie shows us what led to that and what was happening on the surface.
Independent from the label it gets, End Of EVA gave the audience a solid conclusion for the story, leaving almost no lose ends for those who were willing -and were capable- of some interpretation.
By "capable" meaning: rewatching some episodes and researching information on the symbolism that is used.

...According, it also shed some light on those who suffered a brain meltdown after "Congratulations!".

Another polemical question is whenever this movie was "necessary" or not.
You can read a share of the critics saying it's just GAINAX milking a money cow. However, just like not every fanboy trip around the symbolism of the franchise is true, things aren't exclusively commercial like this. GAINAX and Anno sure had their income from EoE, otherwise it wouldn't even be produced, but in the same side of the coin, it bought altogether the closure this series needed.
Given the final episodes of the TV version, it was clear that the story wasn't finished. In fact, at the time the TV series was about to end, the production of this movie was already being considered.
Hints of this fact are all over the place. AS for an example, the preview for episode 25 that aired at the end of episode 24 didn't contain scenes from ep. 25, those were sketches from this movie and the off-vocal description of it was also about the events from the movie.
This wasn't by accident, neither someone had the idea to "hey, let's retell this ending in case people don't get it" it was indeed planned before.
Hideaki's original script was way bigger and and more complex than the one produced. It originally had 28 Angels, 8 complete EVA units and the chapters about the Instrumentalization composed almost 1/4 of the final piece. Moreover, not only it was longer but also way more brutal and dark, holding Hideaki's original purpose of addressing the violence, indifference and the alienation of the audience itself.
Obviously, this wasn't possible.
Not only because of the censorship restrictions that would affect a TV series but also for the lack of time and budget to produce all this in 26 episodes. So, in order to give this closure and for the series finally show its "true colors" this movie was made.
Right at the start, they make sure to advise you that the approach won't be as behaved as the TV series, with Shinji's line "I'm so fucked up" being the most accurate and memorable description of it.
An easy and clear example of it, the "Prog Knife" of Unit-02 is actually a cutter (craft knife), did you know? Those used to cut paper that works better than a scissors? Isn't something extremely brutal killing something with that?
This is pretty interesting, not only because it conflicts with the (surface) innocent setting of the beginning of the story, where Shinji was just a boy and EVA was just a giant robot, but because it pictures the theme of the franchise itself: The conflict between the artificial, divine serenity and the crude, ugly, HUMAN truth.

Now, it's not an easy task make people feel uncomfortable but also accomplish it role as entertainment and "art".
EoE succeeded at it. The most solid prof if it is that after so many years people like me are still writing about it, and somewhere there's someone still reading about it.
It sure led into a completely polar and mixed reception but endured, recognized, through it.
The key to this success was on the manner, the elements, that were used to provoke feelings on the audience. This was, without a doubt, when Hideaki's talent as a direction and screenplay writer stood out.
Be prepared for a audio-visual assault, with sequences of shots and images rapidly being thrown at your screen, some at an absurd 1 frame/second timing along with a complete mayhem of sound, voices, dialogue, speeches.
The color pallet as well, shifts abruptly from deep calm colors to a berserk of exposure and high contrast.
-Seriously, it should be strongly enforced that people with epilepsy carefully watch this movie close to medical support. It surprises me the lack of warnings.-
In case you didn't get what I mean, this will become very clear near the ending but not before we listen to one of the reasons the OST for this franchise is outstanding.

NGE had "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" as a symbol of how important and cool the soundtrack can be. Analogically, EoE introduced us to "Komm, Susser Tod" which is German (as you probably guessed) for "Come, sweet death".
When it's played and why it means so much to the plot will be left as a surprise for the reader to find out.
Actually, since I'm already on the topic. A lot of names, text, symbology from this franchise are in German. It's worth google'ing it out. SEELE, NERV... EVA.

End of Evangelion did what it said it would. They couldn't find a better self-explanatory title for this movie than this one.
As a theatrical production, it had more freedom and a bigger space to spread its wings and show the crew and the story's full potential. To the point, nowadays it stands as a landmark and reference anime from the golden 90's with all it could offer. Giant robots, psychedelic shots, HIDEAKI! and to not be forgotten, the character design. Which set the pattern for many others, and not only this, but above all, its focus wasn't on being MOE or "cute" but SEXY.
Anime is entertainment, entertainment is art, Evangelion is art. And just like some paintings in museums, not everybody will appreciate it and some people need to take lots of steps back in order to understand it.

Who wants some Tang?

Short and Sweet Review:

If you have finished the Evengelion series, you know damn well the last episodes are as amusing as watching paint dry, well this "Alternative Ending" is the best thing that can happen to the series in my outlook, plus the finale (Which I wont reveal) will leave you banging your head for more! Although I gave Evengelion a 9/10, this OVA definately deserves a 10, there is no superior way to conclude a series than a giant fight, with plot holes being filled, and making the viewer think about the OVA after he watches it.

I believe even if you didn't like the ... Evengelion series, this OVA will alter your view.

If you did in fact find this review helpful, I do take value in my “Helpful” rating, so please take a moment of your time to tell me how you liked this review.

The end of Neon Genesis Evangelion was perplexing to say the least. Many people including me were left scratching their heads, confused and unsatisfied with how the series ended. Primarily because nothing was explained, and there was no climax to the story, it just ended with main character, Shinji Ikari facing his own psychological fears after basically everyone around him dies. Quite the metaphysical approach, but it wasn't a good ending because everything the entire series built up never went anywhere, it was just left somewhere... There was no actual ending to Neon Genesis Evangelion. Like what happened to Adam-Lillith-Angels? The plan that Gendo Ikari ... created (instrumentality), will it actually be the savior mankind or will it be the bane of our existence? What exactly is instrumentality? SEELE Vs Nerv, how will it play out? Obviously Anno Hideaki got lots of complaints and even threats, and his response to it all was the Mind-fucking ending to Evangelion: The End of Evangelion. That is the true ending, and a somewhat satisfying one to the Evangelion series. After watching the End of Evangelion for the 5th time, I think I have a pretty good understanding of it, but that's not to say I understand everything that happened because that's literally impossible. A lot of things were left ambiguous so that the audience could decide for themselves how it all truly ended.

The End of Evangelion is starts after the final Angel defeated, and now NERV is ready to initiate the Human Instrumentality Project which is supposed unite all of humanity with Lilith and bring about the Third Impact. Meanwhile, the SEELE organization is planning a full onslaught of NERV, planning to exterminate anyone related to the Eva project. Meanwhile, Gendo Ikari, the creator of NERV and father of Shinji Ikari has a whole different plan in his mind, and he's already begun. As SEELE invades NERV headquarters, Rei and Gendo are already gone. Shinji, our protagonist is in catatonic state. Asuka is in a state of unconsciousness in the hospital. All the meanwhile, the Third Impact finally takes place, bringing the world to a brutal and crushing end and consuming all of humanity in an orgy of corporeal dissolution and horrific death. And yes, the fate of all humanity-the world rests in the hands of Shinji Ikari is suffering from (the most powerful word that means "the highest amount you can get") psychological depression. Shinji is just so fucked up, in so many ways that it's so depressing and crazy. So how does it all work out in the very end? That is the story of End of Evangelion.

As you'd know if you've seen the Evangelion series, "Evangelion" is not about giant robots fighting other giant robots (Angels) or teenagers complex romance story. Oh nonono. "Evangelion" is really a parable about the most disturbing aspect of human existence: the pain of isolation and psychological depression. One of the greatest things about the movie though is it's pacing. The movie itself is only 1 Hour and 30 Minutes, yet so many things happen (of course, because of this, not everything is concretely explained but people like me who like to think for ourselves and create an alternate ending that fits our beliefs, enjoy that). The first half of the movie seems like fighting and killing, but behind all the action is what I believe Anno intended: Reduce Shinji to rock bottom; the highest point of psychological trauma and self-depression as a human being can possibly have before becoming crazy - which Shinji honestly is. But not only Shinji, but Asuka too. Once Asuka goes back out to the battlefield, she just becomes completely insane. Asuka is pushed to the lowest of pits by the end of the movie that it's depressing. She's a scared teenager who puts on a tough girl act. A mere child whose been abandoned by her mother, and believes that going out in the world means going out alone and dying alone. There is a narrative explanation during Asuka's battle with SEELE's created Angels that claims that the Evas have embodied with souls of humans, the pilots’ mothers. Of course, this doesn't make sense at all... But this is Neon Genesis Evangelion is it not? Anyways, because of this, Asuka's psychological mentality completely takes a turn once more, but there's another twist after she learns that and fights. Her battle is definitely the most exciting battle in the entire Evangelion series, but what happens at the end is pure disgusting and disturbing to watch. By the end of the first half of the movie, probably about 90% of the characters are dead. Then in the second half of the movie, "Third Impact' initiates and Shinji's time to pick between Instrumentality and Reality finally comes upon us. The entire thing takes place in Shinji's psychological mind. And, this is something that you the audience must experience for yourself before I spoil anything at all but this basically explains for the most part Shinji's deep psychological mind, each character's true feelings, what instrumentality truly is, and the final decision that Shinji makes. Through "deep" sayings by Rei and Kaworu - Adam and Lillith, Shinji will come to his senses and makes him understand his existence and the value he gives to everybody around him. The end is shocking and confusing to say the least, and I enjoyed this movie to the max, because this movie wasn't afraid to ask/give thoughts on philosophical questions such as the end of the world; humanity, meaning of life, psychological depression, human suffering, and so much more. The movie actually had me confused and thinking deeply. That is what made this movie so great (because... The movie itself had a ton of plot-holes and unanswered questions, but it's fun to use what the movie hints at and create your own story/ending, right?). Whether it's a masterpiece or not is solely on how you the audience interpret all the themes in the movie, but personally I do believe this movie is a masterpiece, not only within the anime community but for all stories.

Needless to say, the art and the sounds were magnificent. The design of the mecha/Angels are different than what you'd expect - unique. The use of christian symbolism seemed random at times considering Christianity wasn't/isn't a big thing in Japan, but it made the entire series "seem" more symbolic. With that said, the use of actual symbolism and pure art was genius although I still don't understand why there was a live footage scene of people at a movie theater during the movie... The music in the anime were great. Simply amazing. The voice cast was great as well. Hideaki Anno was very strict with his voice cast, and hence lots and lots of recordings were taken before actually being finalized. The sub and the dub are both great. Each character's voice fits accordingly to the characters; especially Shinji and Rei~ Loved it.

I truly believe that End of Evangelion is just Hideaki Anno's way of sticking up his middle finger and saying "Fuck You" to the entire world.

This film is not simply the best anime film ever made, it is the best film ever made, period. It not only is a brilliantly original piece of postmodern art, but a beautiful, complex, and surprisingly uplifting character study about the futility of escapism and the need to live a happy life right here in reality. It often seems that reviewers try too hard to hate this movie, paying too little attention and viewing it simply as Hideaki Anno's 'fuck you' to the fans. Please don't listen to these people. If you are depressed and love relatable (if not always likeable) characters with brutally real ... conflicts, watch the series, and then watch this film. Prepare to be lifted up, then brought down, then finally given hope by this masterpiece of a film. So here's my full review of this ending film.

Story: 9/10: The story of this film is pretty convoluted at times, so you definitely need to a) pay attention and b) see the 26 episode series. The second half of this film, in which the characters and the world itself is reborn as a result of the main character's decision, can be confusing if one does not remember the show. However, though important, the plot is fairly secondary, especially in this film. It is really about the characters, and nearly everything else exists as backdrop and symbolism for their complex struggles and Anno's high-concept message.
The way things are shown and the depth of the symbolism is incredibly top-notch, though.

Art 10/10: The art of this film is abso-fucking-lutely beautiful. Free from the budgetary constrictions of the sometimes visually lacking series and aided by more than 4 high-quality animation companies, the film looks so good for 1997, almost as good as Akira looked for 1988. An epic (and brutal) fight scene in the first half of the movie feels amazingly kinetic, impactful, and human despite not even being rotoscoped, and the apocalyptic montage of third impact is quite simply the most fluidly beautiful surrealist imagery I have ever witnessed. Every frame of this film is soaked in cell-animated beauty.

Sound: 10/10: The music in this film is also fantastic. The aforementioned fight scene flows to a brilliant orchestration of Bach's Air, and an amazing (and now famous) song (with english lyrics, no less) plays during the climactic sequence of the film. The voice actors are amazing too. I recommend the Japanese version, because the seiyuu do a brilliant job at conveying the emotion necessary for such a brilliant film. The english dub has its talent as well, but some of the actors are "meh" enough to add some unwelcome cringe to some of the film's most important scenes. The dub I give a 7/10, while the original deserves a perfect 10.

Character(!) 10/10: The best part of this film is certainly its brilliantly developed and brutally realistic characters. The complexity of their motivation, the height of their emotional trauma, and their final fates completely drive the entirety of this film. The main protagonist, Shinji Ikari, exibhits one of the most painfully accurate portrayals of depression ever explored visually, and the movie spends much of the time looking into this. The characters' decisions to attempt to live happily are the most thrilling aspect of this film, and Shinji's actions feel suprising, deliberate, and uplifting all at the same time. The film also boasts some of the best written character interactions in film, especially between Shinji and Asuka, as well as a scene between Shinji and Misato.

Enjoyment: 10/10: There are some parts of this film that are painful to watch because of their emotional impact, shock value, or brutality, but ultimately this film's brilliant resolution of character and plot arcs (in a compact 87 minutes, no less) as well at its ultimately uplifting message caused me to thoroughly enjoy this film. Although I did not always like relating to Shinji Ikari, it was a thrilling and bittersweet relief to see him finally begin to make his way through life.

Overall: 10/10: There are some things that are even more enjoyable when the consumer is depressed, and The End of Eva is certainly one of those things. The beautiful visuals, engaging plot, and insanely realistic characters prove the brilliance of this theatrical ending to one of the most incredible anime of all time. As a teenager and someone who struggles with depression, this film has helped me understand life and human relationships with its call to live in reality and outspoken rejection of escapism. In the end of eva, thoughtful viewers have the chance to see characters--no, people--reject a wishful escape, live through tragedy, death, and apocalypse to seek true happiness beyond depression. Viewers and characters alike witness death and sacrifice, but then, finally, resurrection and rebirth. And that, I believe, is the perfect End of Evangelion.

Neon Genesis Evangelion was already close to perfect as a series. Obviously the still shots and scenes based on them could get disappointing. While they did the best they could to make those parts stylistic, you can only take something like that so far before it gnaws at your senses. Unsurprisingly, when you give the people involved with Evangelion a real budget to work with, you get the best looking apocalyptic anime film since Akira.

Honestly amidst all of the moments of crazy in the film, out of all of the "crowning moments of awesome", the thing that defines this film to me is when one ... minor role character Ibuki, as the world literally falls to pieces and she is curled up in grief, begs another minor role character Hyuuga "tell me, have I done the right thing?". Hyuuga replies as fast as humanly possible "how should I know?". Everybody in this series is always asking someone else to tell them how to feel, tell them what to do, tell them that everything is definitely going to be okay, but the person being asked is never been even slightly qualified to give that answer. Even worse, things probably will not be okay. After all, the fate of humanity is in the hands of a little boy who only has any willpower when women are making him feel good.

The art/animation is amazing, the music is actually mostly a little more poorly picked than in the series, but it also has one of the best/funniest songs ever in Komm Suesser Tod. The action scenes are all pitch perfect - Rei might get the most character evolution, but Asuka definitely gets the most entertaining scenes. The "mysterious things are happening" scenes are pretty pitch perfect too. You could tell that they were really having fun working without solid guidelines or limits on where to take the plot, they just did whatever they wanted, and when you have the right talent in place that sort of thing works out as well as it did here. They really even seemed to have fun messing with the "Shinji being a whiny brat" aspect of the story, although on the flip side of that we got an even whinier Shinji than ever before whatever way that rubs you.

There are a couple of major plot events toward the end that some people have big problems with, and that is fair. By that point I think I always have felt so much overwhelming satisfaction that I have never really been able to be slightly irritated even when I try to look at it from a "non-fanboy" perspective. Ultimately this film went all out to try to be a masterpiece, and whether you want to consider it just a "make up" ending or a proper canonical add on to the series , I always personally felt it achieved absolutely everything Evangelion could have wanted to achieve in an ending.

The End of Evangelion provides what is often called a "more externally-focused" ending to the Neon Genesis Evangelion series. If viewers weren't sure whether the original "internally-focused" ending was to the producers' liking, that EoE is structured like the series and broken into Episodes 25 and 26 should clear things up. This is the real End of Evangelion. Whereas the original final episodes showed what was happening in Shinji's mind and enabled us to construct answers pertaining to the Human Instrumentality Project and final psychological state of the characters, EoE gives us so much more. But while crucial questions such as the origin of the ... angels and the motive behind Seele's plans are revealed, EoE stays true to the Evangelion series' approach of leaving things open to interpretation.

EoE has absolutely stunning animation and keeps the series' stand-out voice cast and enjoyable soundtrack. The storyline itself is a trip and much of the movie (especially towards the end) is done in a post-modern style which requires a lot of interpretation and will have viewers arguing for hours. Some scenes are grotesque, most are simply absurd. Watching one Eva eat another is nothing new to fans of the series, but it is pretty shocking to see the pilot's arm ripped in half, and there is something unnerving about watching an anime character masturbate on another if its not in hentai.

Religious symbolism is prevalent, but intriguingly the symbols typically represent nothing at all. There are also some incredible lines: an indescribable feeling of fear, anguish, and genuine shock overcame me when I heard Seele's ultimate motive for reducing all beings to LCL. If you have issues of existential despair, you may want to pass on EoE or you might go crazy. Finally, the ending with Shinji and Asuka is telling in many ways, delivering the message of Evangelion in a neat 2-minute scene.

Like the series, End of Evangelion is an interesting project. Different viewers will react very differently: some will find an immediate connection to the despair of the characters and will find great meaning in a collection of seemingly unrelated scenes; others will find the show so pretentious that they will make their disapproval known to anyone that will listen. I think that following the Evangelion series I was more in the latter camp. Having seen the movie, I still find the Evangelion project pretentious, but I understand what the goal was. Some viewers will walk away having been truly impacted by the film's message, and for this EoE is deemed one of the greatest in anime. EoE, like the Evangelion series, is one of those few works for which even a semblance of an objective evaluation simply cannot be given. At the very least, I've given you my opinion.

Overall Rating: A

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If you are disappointed in NGE's Ending, maybe its time to watch The End of Evangelion, or the other ending of Neon Genesis Evangelion... in some sort of way like the series' ending, you'll feel...

Okay, following in NGE, EOE is the other Episode 25 & 26 of the anime bundled in a movie. As I read forums about NGE, someone suggested to just skip the series' 25 & 26 and jump into EOE and I guess I should recommend this to you folks if you will try watching NGE someday because if you hate disappointing endings... you know what to do. The story itself may ... confuse you and me as well, is confused on the second half of the movie. Sure, the first half is pretty good but the second half kinda felt boring for me but probably I'll watch this again. 9/10

The improvement of art in this movie may not be noticeable but its good. But reminder that this is an Mild and Nudity movie, there are some scenes that I find similar to some gore scenes in Elfen Lied so I hope you'll be ready for the gruesome and nudity scenes. The action scene (with Asuka) is pretty good and yeah, the animation in the second half was fantastic, I don't know how to describe it that much. 8/10

The sound, I think they used some OST's from the series again but again, as I mentioned in my NGE's review, the sound fits whenever a action scene will come out. I think they used the 'Hallelujah' sound again with one scene. 7/10

Sure, Shinji is one of my favourite characters now, but I felt that his development become a waste in this movie and I feel that I'm watching TWGOK Episode 12 where all the developments that the MC had, become a waste. But yeah, don't watch him out at the hospital scene if you don't like a lot of nudity. The movie didn't explained that much how did he overcome his self-negative thoughts.

The ones that had the development that I've been searching for is Asuka and Rei. Heck, Asuka became a total baddass in this movie which make me want to put her in my list. She snaps out and totally understands herself. Even Rei too, the moment she said "I am not your doll." gave me chills. She and Asuka had this similar development where they finally snaps. 10/10

This movie again is one heck of a ride. I won't say what truly happened to the other characters because the whole movie is a spoiler if you haven't watched this yet. Maybe the second half of the movie will confuse you a heck about but still, EOE is one heck of an anime that will give you the chills and some mind .... and it may be not worth watching for others, truly, Neon Genesis Evangelion and The End of Evangelion is one of the most controversial animes that I've ever watched. 8/10