Shinseiki Evangelion Movie: Air/Magokoro wo, Kimi ni

I distinctly remember gearing up to watch The End of Evangelion at the age of 15. I was expecting a dark and introspective albeit straightforward conclusion in the same vein as the show’s latter half, which would act as a replacement for the last two episodes, which I felt were too confusing and esoteric at the time. What I got, however, was something entirely different. It was the most surreal and cerebral cinematic experience I had been privy to and it had me feeling incredibly conflicted as to whether or not it was a good film. A few re-watches later, however, made me understand it ... a great deal better and made me love it more with each individual viewing and, while it was just as dark as I had initially anticipated, it has a beautifully optimistic message at its core.

Like the series that spawned it, the film starts out deceptively straightforward as it continues where Episode 24 left off as Shinji is stricken with guilt and grief over his actions in that episode and SEELE is preparing for the Human Instrumentality Project. It opens with what is arguably one of anime’s most shocking scenes before a couple of tense and even harrowing action sequences ensue. When the film reaches about the 45-minute mark, however, the viewer’s expectations are thrown out of the window as we are given what can only be described as an even more surreal and bizarre take on the events of the final two episodes with strange, apocalyptic Freudian imagery that gives even Eraserhead and Tetsuo: The Iron Man a run for their money. This may sound daunting but it is given adequate context by the film, which likewise manages to contextualize the last two episodes and, for that reason, the film and the aforementioned final episodes work hand in hand quite nicely.

As outlandish and bizarre as this film is, it never feels pretentious as its surreal occurrences are firmly rooted in the lore of the show through its masterful use of foreshadowing and the film is packed with details which make it ripe for rewatching.

As was the case with the show, the character cast remains as remarkable as ever as their arcs are given closure in ways which make sense given the events which transpire in both the show and the film. I know that Gendo’s is something of a point of contention among some viewers as some found it contrived but I thought it was poignant and made perfect sense given his motivations throughout the show. However, the protagonist Shinji goes through the most riveting arc which perfectly carries on from where episode 24 left off and ends beautifully as he and the audience are given a profound, even life-changing message about communication and life as a whole. It’s done in a visually stellar sequence which leaves me moved every single time I watch it.

Speaking of the visuals, the film is rivaled only by Akira as being the most stunning anime to have ever been released. Gone is the inconsistent animation of the show, and instead we get detailed, smoothly flowing movement. We get the best of both worlds too as Anno’s unparalleled eye for composition which made up for the show’s often limited animation is present here and better than ever. It’s to the point where almost every individual frame could be an artwork in and of itself.
The soundtrack is similarly impressive as we get some of the most emotive and powerful tracks I’ve ever heard. They aid in imbuing the apocalyptic imagery throughout the film with a sense of gravitas that makes it stick in the mind of the viewer long after the film has ended.

I understand that perfection is absolutely subjective as everyone's taste is wildly different as their criteria for what makes a good film is governed largely by their own principles and experience but I personally believe that The End of Evangelion is perfect as it does everything it sets out to do and does so brilliantly. It’s shocking, haunting, strange, mesmerizing and I honestly don’t think there’s anything quite like it. For that reason, as well as its important message, it is my absolute favourite film.

End of Evangelion was definitely a "surreal" movie to say the least. After watching the opening scene, I was quite scared for what would happen next, but EOE did not disappoint.

It serves as an alternate or retelling of the final two episodes of the series which left many fans alienated and baffled to say the least. The film provides the actual process of instrumentality, while sticking true to the introspective scenes many of us have come to know and love. The characters are a bit...insane, to say the least, but their personalities shine just as they did in NGE.

Despite its controversial content, EOE coherently wrapped ... up the series in a beautiful way that finally provided some answers to the fans. Packed with memorable scenes (Asuka's battle) and amazing imagery, EOE will definitely a movie that will never be forgotten.

THE GOOD:
If you truly love anime you will have seen all the movies and episodes you can for this series. It's truly a classic and nothing can come close to holding a torch to this series. It has great charactor development, great art, and OUTSTANDING storyline and it's fun to watch. What else do you need in a series? I love it sooooo much and if you want to find out more about the show and what fasn this go on over to evageeks.com

THE BAD:
Shinji (the main charactor) is really whiny and kind of the definition of the sterio type emo kid. I mean ... his personality is fun and he's kinda fun. It just kinda annoying when the main character is whining about going into battle.

I celebrate this movie for one reason and one reason only. It does something that no movie in its genre has done before: it makes its characters real. It embraces their infirmities, and brings out the true psyche of the apocalypse movie: a human being suddenly faced with the end of everything. How would you handle it? Would you go mad, would you embrace evil in the name of survival, or would you rise up and fight? Unlike the overly dramatized, preternatural courage exhibited by certain characters in Armageddon and Independence Day, not all of us will find the strength to rise up to the ... challenge. That is what this movie is; the end of the world from a human point of view. A good anime, but if you don't like vague or unhappy endings I wouldn't recomend it.

I'm going to keep it simple. Neon Genesis Evangelion is the most intellectually stimulating thing I've seen. As the TV series ended, I found myself confused and even a little disappointed. But as I viewed this film, End Of Evangelion, and everything was brought together, I was simply astounded. The artistry and thought behind every detail is something I have never experienced in an anime like this. This movie ends on a very abrupt note, but is not disappointing. It instead leaves room for interpretation and speculation, while putting a closer on the main story of Evangelion. In short, it is a genuine work of ... art.

/!\TRANSLATED REVIEW. THERE MAY BE ENGRISH. I'm sorry :< /!\

I've just finished watching The End of Evangelion.
For your instance, I have not watched Death and Rebirth of Evangelion, nor the two first Rebuild movies things.

So here is my critc, or my opinion, or not even... I think it tends more to my feelings, my perceptions toward both of the anime and The End of Evangelion. I really want to talk about it. There might be SPOILERS so be careful. I'm tired. I wrote this in french around midnight.

Imagine a "WHAT HAS BEEN SEEN..." type picture here.


Fuck. I have never seen a franchise playing this far ... with his viewers. It is the first thing I want to talk about. You got the final credits in the middle, after the real 25th episode, the author who is thanking some people but in fact you got one name and then an epileptic thing, the real life scenes, the scenes of a real theater, with no one, and then it is fully crowded, and then theres no one again... You also got one or two messages directly adressed to the spectator... And the final "bonus" chapter, completely weird, the abrupt end, and the word is weak... I feel... How could I say that...

And here is the problem. I don't know how to define this feel. Oh, yes, I like it, it makes me think, consider, analyze... But... I got the impression that I have been raped. Oh, and I sure do not know what are the feeling you get when you're raped, but as I don't have a proper word to put on (for now) and that theres a special context, I put the word rape on this feeling. So, if we add the fact that I liked it, I've been raped. And I liked it. I know that the author was depressed while he was writing NGE. And then we understand why the two last episodes were censored, rewrited. I have never seen so much sex scenes in a non sexual anime/fiction. There is the begining of the movie, with Shinji masturbating at Akusa, in coma. Or the reminder of the sex scene between Kaji and Misato... There is so many, more or less suggered...

And what about the story? Tentacling. And tentafucking. My ass is still on fire. It is, at the same time, simple and complex. The worst is that, with a little thinking, we can understand the story. But at the very end of The End of Evangelion. And not the whole story and background.

For all those facts, I have decided to inflict The End of Evanelion the note of 10 out of 10. The anime has been given a 9 out of 10.

{Contains Spoilers}

This movie is confusing. I get some of the overall messages, but they really get obscured by the needlessly oblique way Anno tells this story. I feel like this film could have been simplified so much, yet still maintained much of the artistry and layered messaging present throughout.

I have heard about this movie for years, and saw the series for the first time recently, enjoying all but the final episodes of it, which I also found unnecessarily dense and complicated. Though, I will say, I almost enjoyed the way the series ended better. Though it made even less sense than End of Eva , ... I found it to be somewhat more intricate and detailed, with exploring the reasons for Asuka, Rei, and Shinji's psychoses and why they were the person they are. I also enjoyed Shinji's character arc there as well, and felt like his growth there was more natural and realistic than his eventual conclusion in this film. I do like that the ending of End of Eva is much bleak and depressing than the series was, and that it has the guts to not reverse any of the death and destruction Shinji is somewhat responsible for.

Anyways, I should probably focus on this film. As with the series, the animation is absolutely phenomenal, and is so fluidly rendered. It is so detailed, and the craftsmanship put into every frame is extremely evident. I was aware of how depressed Anno was while making both the series and this movie, but it really shows in this movie. I have never seen a more bleak, hopeless, and utterly empty anime than this one. I can feel Anno's ennui through the screen, and honestly relate to much of his feelings and thoughts. Avoiding reality to escape pain and rejection is all too real for me, and is a good secondary message for the film, though how well it's executed is up for debate, since there is a valid argument for the events towards the end of the film counteracting the idea that facing reality necessarily leads to a better outcome.

Nevertheless, I get (mostly) what Anno was trying to say with this film, and his direction is excellent, but I honestly think some of it was executed poorly. Let me explain. So much of Shinji's self doubt and hatred of himself stems from his parents either dying or abandoning him, and this leads him eventual murder of dream Asuka, after she says he never loved anyone. I guess it could be argued that this is meant to be taken as an overly harsh inner criticism Shinji has of himself, it's presented as if it has merit and hits Shinji deep because he knows its true. If it's the former, it is masterfully done, and really drives the point home. If it's the latter, I think it's very much unfounded and unfair. Shinji lost his mother as a small child, and his father abandoned him, how the fuck could he have loved anyone after that? Is he supposed to love his abusive father that left him because he was too scared of pain? How could he have loved his mother when he barely knew her? I know this may seem nit-picky, but I view it as endemic of this film's larger problem of mixed messaging, not only in terms of the merit of abandoning escapism, but also in terms of whether or not Shinji's self-hatred is justified. Even though it seems pretty clearly justified, as he murders Asuka twice and ends all life on earth, it does almost seem like the film is making excuses for him, and letting his level of guilt be far too ambiguous.

This film also fails to provide a compelling argument as to why humanity should continue to exist, or why Shinji made his decision only to murder Asuka again as soon as he did it. It is not enough to say that without other people, life has no purpose or meaning, when if there were no people no meaning would be required. Why is humanity such a great and amazing species that we deserve to continue existing? There are compelling arguments as to why humanity is worthy of further existence, but this film does not succeed in providing them. And to say more on unsatisfactory conclusions, Why does Shinji go from suicidal and self loathing, to suddenly desiring of social interaction and love from others? His shift is built up, by not well enough. Again, Anno's unnecessary obliqueness rears its ugly head. When Shinji professed his desire to kill himself and everyone else, "Rei" says "Why do you have hands?" What is that supposed to mean? Is that enough for Shinji to start viewing life from a different perspective? If I was Shinji, nothing he saw would be enough to convince me of the wonders of life, having already experienced its horrors firsthand.

And to end my criticisms, I find fault in the concluding message/moral of the film, "You can make any place a paradise." Besides the obvious vagueness the film continues to employ, I find this to be an hopelessly naive and privileged notion. Tell this to Libyan slaves, victims of child trafficking, women held as sex slaves, people with degenerative skin diseases or other horrific chronic pain, people with severe PTSD, or just people not living in developed countries that are forced to sustain our excessive lifestyles. Not only can you not make any place a paradise, the exact opposite can also be true. Any place can become hell, and not through much effort at all. Deconstruction is far easier than construction, and every paradise can be demolished faster than it can be rebuilt.

Overall, I am conflicted about this film. The direction and animation is flawless, and it does have some good messages about facing your problems and dealing with pain and sadness head on. However, it does have many issues with themes and messaging, not only contradicting itself, but also failing to provide a sufficient justification for the lessons Shinji and the audience are supposed to learn, and ultimately relying on a overly simplistic hopeful message that surprisingly shirks complexity, considering the film is far too nebulous and confusing up until that point.

This film fucked me up to say the least. It made me feel like I was falling apart or that my mind was collapsing. Likewise, it's an incredibly complex 90 minutes of abstract philosophical ramblings thought up by a very depressed man. While it spoke to me, I will never again be able to watch it. It managed to get under my skin way too easily.

I believe that most of the people hating on The End of Evangelion, while they might "get" it, are not meant to be watching it. If you can't look at something abstract and fucking depressing and say, "Wow, this is meaningful," then Evangelion is not for you.

I will ... not get into spoilers, but I'll say this: The End of Evangelion is not for the faint of heart. Just because you got through the TV series does not mean this won't fuck your mind up.

Overall, I highly recommend it, but please don't walk into it thinking it'll be easy to get through.

This is not a review as much as it is a analysis over the last scene in the film thus, it will CONTAIN SPOILERS of the ending of the film. When it comes to Evangelion, you either really love it's story and characters or you hate the entire thing. I'd just like to convey my fondness for the ORIGINAL series and the EOE. I do hold the TV series and the film on a very high pedestal and refer to them as the closest things to masterpieces in the most subjective way possible.

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That aside, the topic I'll be discussing is the last scene in ... the 1997 film "Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion," where the three main characters in the anime meet on the beach after Shinji ultimately rejects the HIP(Human Instrumentality Project). The topics I'll be discussing are why Shinji strangles Asuka, how & why Asuka reacts that way, and why the ending is "happy." This is my personal interpretation of the EoE. I'm aware that there are many videos, forum posts, etc. already online but many are still very confused about the ending because I'll admit that the ending is extremely convoluted thus, I'll try to explain it in the most painless way possible. This will take a while, bare with me.

[PART I]
The first thing I'll be discussing is why Shinji strangles Asuka. Just to refresh your memory of the most relevant events prior to him choking her: at the start of the film the infamous scene where Shinji chokes his chicken infront of comatose Asuka occurs, Asuka has an epiphany of some sort, everyone starts getting seduced by naked Rei, and Shinji rejects naked Rei. Here's the more important sequence: Shinji and Asuka then find themselves on the beach, Shinji sees Rei floating above the pool of LCL, Shinji straddles Asuka and chokes her, Asuka then motherly caresses his face, Shinji stops choking Asuka and then begins crying, and Asuka looks down at him and says, "Kimochi Wariu." Two things must be clarified before we move on: Asuka IS NOT DEAD as many believe so and "Kimochi Wariu" loosely translates to "I feel sick," NOT "disgusting." These two ideas are very important as we continue.
The reason Shinji strangles Asuka was so that he could confirm that his decision was right to reject HIP and his decision was his alone. The reason he rejected HIP in the first place was because he wanted to be alone and because he wanted to be acknowledged/accepted by those around him. There's a lot of psychological ideas that helped me understand it, but I won't go in to too much depth. The first idea being in order to confirm individuality (or existence in general) there needs to be another form of consciousness, other than your own, that can acknowledge you. Think of it this way, you can never really tell if you're stupid unless there's someone who says you're stupid. This is why Asuka is important. Shinji needs to confirm that he has definitely prevented Human Instrumentality and that he can be exposed to the feelings and emotions of another being. Emotions and actions are all part of acknowledgement such as love, hate, and rejection. Shinji strangles Asuka because he wants to check if she'll respond to him, in which she gives him a soft caress over his cheek almost as if she's saying, "I know you're there, I understand." In which he breaks down after fully realizing what horrible things he's done to her.
People also speculate that he strangled her because shes preventing him from being alone. If he was to accept HIP, he would be one with everyone and always be in the presence of another inside LCL thus, Shinji proceedes to strangle Asuka with the intention of killing her and being alone.

[PART II]
Asuka's last line was a mistranslation and affected almost the entire message of the the whole TV series and film in a detrimental way. In the film the translation is that of "disgusting," in a more negative connotation, whereas she really says, "I feel sick," in the most literal sense. She literally feels sick, she's in pain. Pain from all of the sh*t she went through in the film(The most badass scene in the entire film). She's sick in the physical sense and on an interpersonal sense as well. She's also essentially sick of Shinji in the sense that Shinji is so much like her, meaning that she's sick of Shinji because he resembles a part of herself she hates.
The relationship between Shinji and Asuka is that of love and hate in the most literal way possible. Shinji and Asuka are unable to acknowledge each other in a loving relationship, so they instead do so in a hateful, demeaning, and borderline masochistic relationship.
Asuka has this sexual tension with Shinji where she's attracted to him, clearly shown by when she tries to kiss him and seduce him. However, the reason she was upset was because of Shinji's muted reactions. Shinji didn't give her what she wanted, which was sex. Shinji is also attracted to her, but before he can open up to sexual interaction, he needs to first establish acceptance between the two of them. This is also where the acknowledgement ideas and the hedgehog dilemma come into play. Using these ideas, after Asuka lovingly caresses him, he cries, and she's unhappy with LITERALLY EVERYTHING AROUND HER.

[PART III]
Yes, yes, yes. I did say End of Eva had a happy ending along with a very hopeful message too. The message Eva is trying to get across is that of acceptance. Only when you accept and love yourself can you love and accept others.
The last episode in the TV series takes place in Shinji's head, parallel to whats happening when he's in that LCL form, right before he rejects it. In that it talks about certain dilemmas Shinji has with himself and with those around him where he finally accepts his flaws and those around him, leading to the anticlimactic "Congratulations" ending. Not only Shinji, but every character is forced to come to terms with their flaws and wrong doings in the End of Eva and move on. A good example of this would be what Ritsuko does. After coming to terms with the fact that she's a terrible person(for many reasons including that she killed a 14 y/o girl, is a sex slave to Gendou, etc.) she begs for Misato to end her life, almost like penance for what she's done. Without context, it sounds like an extremely brutal thing, but Ritsuko essentially comes to terms with who she is with all of her boy troubles, mommy troubles, the fact that shes a murdurer and accepts her fate as SHE sees fit.

[CONCLUSION]
The main points being that Shinji strangle Asuka so that he can confirm his own existence, Asuka says "I feel disgusting," because she's in pain and because of Baka Shinji, and the ending is happy because it ends with the message of self acceptance and coming to terms with one's flaws in order to improve upon oneself.

P.S. Please excuse any grammatical inconsistencies. I really hope this helped anyone who was confused by the End of Eva. If you guys enjoyed this I'll definitely cover anymore Eva questions you guys have. Thanks for reading!

I can singlehandedly say that evangelion (the movies and series) is the most beautiful well thought through anime i've ever watched, despite this anime being old the animation is incredible. I'm not ashamed to admit i cried a few times while watching it. The only negative thing i have to say is that i didnt like the switch of voice actors after the original series.

also whats up with evangelion all of a sudden becoming popular again and being associated with nazi larpers and schizos? am i missing out on some sort of joke here? idk.. its been trending thr past few months on 4chan i ... thought it was odd

If I had a dollar for every time I was told to watch the Evangelion series, I would have enough money to buy the entire series of Madoka Magica on Blu-Ray. But unlike Madoka, we don’t always get our wishes granted and are instead consumed by two completely opposing opinions about the anime Evangelion. On one side you may hear that Evangelion is one of the most iconic, and trail blazing anime shows to ever exist. On the other you hear how Evangelion is pretty much the most over hyped load of garbage ever to come out of japan. But I think both sides can ... set apart their differences when it comes to the overall thought of The End of Evangelion. This is one of the most messed up and confusing conclusions anyone has ever seen.

The End of Evangelion, written by Hideaki Anno, is a movie combing episode 25 and 26 of the original Neon Genesis Evangelion TV show in 1995. Because of budget cuts, the last 2 original episodes were considered incomplete. In 1997 Hideaki Anno released the true ending as a movie and called it The End of Evangelion. Something that I found very interesting was the reception the movie received upon its release. Critics said the film was a mess and just as bad as the original ending. But over time the opinion of the film changed. To this day The End of Evangelion is considered one of the best Anime films.

Story:

The End of Evangelion follows the story of Shinji Ikari, an overly emo kid who is suddenly forced out of nowhere to drive a robot and save the world. Or at least, that’s what the TV show made you believe. I can’t really tell you what this movie is about because half the time it doesn’t even make any sense. The other half makes sense, but would spoil everything if I tried to explain it to you. Shinji makes some friends, loses some friends, and then jacks off over an unconscious friend who later goes super saiyan. I can’t and I won’t explain this movie any further. I will say that I thought it was good. But really confusing and made zero sense the first time I watched it. I went back to try to find a deeper meaning, but that just made my head hurt.

Score: 8/10


Characters:

At first the characters seem like every other anime character. You got the classic hot headed red head, the really quiet and mysterious white haired chick and your everyday kid who gets put in a spot where he must become a hero. But you’ve gotta remember that this show was made when characters like these were not as overused as they are today. It’s not so much the characters in this movie that I liked, but more about what the series does to the characters. I’d even be brave enough to say that the characters would have sucked if not for the situation they were in. It’s definitely not the best set of characters I have seen, but the way the movie wraps up, everything ends up kind of satisfying. Watching these characters change before your eyes and really getting to know them is something I really enjoyed.

Score: 9/10


Art and animation:

Much like my reaction with original series, I didn’t really expect much because this anime was so old. The characters on the cover had that mid 90′s feeling that you either love or hate. But I was surprised to see that I crapped my pants with glee seeing the art and animation in this film. I don’t care who you are or what you think of this film. If any studio takes the time to draw their mecha’s instead of turning them into cheap 3D crap gets points in my book. Since the show is focused on these mecha robot things, I was really expecting some choppy animation with each frame being dragged out over a 5 seconds. But I was really surprised to see how well everything was animated. Even the characters who look like they were straight from a “How to Draw Anime” book written by some American, they were animated in a way that looked well beyond their time.

Score: 10/10


Music:

The music in this movie is done by Shiro Sagisu who also did the music for both the original Neon Genesis Evangelion and the remakes. In recent anime, he’s done a bunch of stuff in the popular Shonen Bleach and the recently aired show Black Bullet. This guy has done music for a very long time, so if you liked the music in Evangelion and other works, I suggested checking some of his other stuff out.

The music in this movie is good. Like “stuck in your head all week” good. Its definitely not for everyone and in some cases is really unsettling. But that could just be because it was combined with the crazy animation and confusing plot. I would definitely listen to it on its own though.

Score: 10/10


Enjoyment:

To tell you the truth, I can say that I didn’t enjoy this film as much as I wanted to. I mean, sure there are a couple of parts where I was literally jumping up and down because things were exploding and getting cut up left and right. But towards the end… I just felt really weird. Like I didn’t have an opinion on the film for a couple of days after watching it. And even then I would question myself if that’s how I really felt or if that’s how I wanted to feel. You kind of get this mesh of every emotion to where you don’t really know what part of the mesh you’re looking at. The movie definitely effected my mood throughout the day. I found myself more open to opinions of others and a little annoyed at peoples unwillingness to understand even the simplest things. Maybe in a way, the movie had made me evaluate my own personal conflicts. And how, as a flawed human, I constantly strive like everyone else to find some purpose in life. Maybe the movie awoken something in me that I have cast away! Maybe I’m really tired! Yes! That must be it!

Score: 10/10?

Overall:

If you have not watched the original TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion, then there is no point in watching this movie. But if you still decided to disregard my words and want to watch it just for a kick of it, then I suggest not expecting anything to make sense at all. In fact, if you have watched the original series and want to watch this movie, I still suggest not expecting anything to make sense at all. But I definitely think this is a movie every anime fan should, at some point, check out. Whether you like it or not, it’s still something you’re going to remember for a long time. I also think watching this movie will open new doors to other anime you might find enjoyable. That or this movie will ruin anime for you.

Final Score: 9/10

I consider End of Evangelion a sort of microcosm of the whole EVA anime series. This movie is split into two halves, the first of which is full of action. As SEELE troops invade the Geo-Front, the NERV operatives hunker down to defend it and keep the Magi and the EVA units out of SEELE's hands. As you can imagine, this makes for some pretty intense firefights as well as some heartbreaking moments as characters we've come to know (and love?) start to perish in the carnage. The whole extravaganza ends with perhaps the most epic mech fight we've come to see in the series ... thus far, as Asuka is tasked with destroying several "mass production" EVAs in under four minutes.

Really, the first part is very straightforward and not difficult to comprehend. Lots of intense fighting and some character drama on the side. It's when the fight the mass production EVAs takes a tragic turn and Shinji fianlly snaps that we make our way into the second part. Can you guess what that consists of? Well, how about a shit-ton of internal monologue, navel-gazing, psycho-babble and sporadic, disturbing imagery? Sound familiar yet?

Fortunately while the trademark surrealism of NGE's mind-frag moments is kept intact here, this part is devoid of the philosophical bullocks that helped shit-up the second half on the anime. Sure, it's got some philosophical junk but it's very very limited and, thank the good fucking lord for this, not shoved down our throats like it was in episodes 25 and 26 of the anime. Of course, the second half contains all kinds of metaphorical and symbolic stuff that will definitely confuse most viewers after their first watch, so don't expect to completely understand it right away (if at all).

As for the technical aspects, the animation and art are actually pretty damn good the whole way through. The only complaint I care to make about it really is that some of the backgrounds begin to get a little stale in the second half (think: the random blank backdrops from Captain N). It's clear that GAINAX had a much bigger budget this time around as we see no escalator-scenes-where-two-of-the main-characters-suddenly-have-no-faces kind of junk in this movie. The music isn't exactly outstanding, but it does it's job well and is usually in tune with what's going on on-screen, sometimes even in a really bizarre way. And of course, the actors in both dubs do outstanding jobs, but really, what else did you expect?

To sum this all up, End of Evangelion is definitely a must-see for any fan of the series, or at the very least anybody trying to understand it. Just don't expect it to clear up all of the confusion left at the end of the anime series, because in some ways it creates more questions than answers.

Let me preface this by saying that I'm not really huge into anime. I've only recently started to get more into it, and this movie had a lot to do with that. I remember seeing a couple episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion back when I was a kid, but I never got into it. However I recently decided to dig into my backlist and watch the series, as well as the finale End of Evangelion and was thoroughly blown away.

So, where to begin? There's very little that can be said about End of Evangelion that everyone you talk to will agree with, and that makes ... reviewing it a bit more challenging than most films. Some will like it, some will hate it. Most will be confused. And that's okay. It should be said that this is not a film to go into blind. Knowing the story so far, portrayed in the series Neon Genesis Evangelion, is necessary. And while that fact is likely to turn some people away, all I can really say to that effect is "it's worth it, trust me." One thing I can say with absolute certainty: EoE is a masterpiece.

If at any point in this review, it appears that I am evading description of the story/plot, it is because this film is basically a 90 minute climax for the 26 episode series that preceded it. It is difficult to describe any amount of the plot without including spoilers, which I have attempted to keep to a minimum. Because of this, I tried to focus more on the effect of the film, rather than the way the exact narrative unfolds. Despite this, I do attempt to describe one scene to better convey the film's emotional tone. Take this as a warning that very minor spoilers follow.

EoE is a film that will likely take several viewings to truly pick up on everything it is trying to convey, both thematically and visually. There is an attention to detail that I suspect will go sadly unnoticed, as a lot of it appears on screen for a only a moment or two. This is a film that demands the viewer's undivided attention. Fortunately, that is rarely an issue, as the presentation is just so striking that I found it exceedingly difficult to look away from the screen for more than a second throughout the film's 87 minute runtime.

By virtue of it's content alone, EoE is not a film that everyone will enjoy. The opening scene, which I will not spoil here, sets the tone: utterly disturbing and bleak, perhaps even bordering on nihilistic. Within the first three minutes of the movie, we know that the main character Shinji, our supposed "hero," is a completely broken individual, having previously been forced to kill the only person who ever offered him unconditional love during events that occurred before the film begins. Soon after, we discover that many of the other character's rapidly deteriorating mental states have them heading in that same direction.

While the movie is certainly dark, it is by no means "dark for the sake of being dark." Nor does it glorify the violence it portrays. Characters die when they are shot or their bodies are broken, but there are no exploding piñatas of blood, and no gleeful squibs saturating the immediate area in red mist. If a character is shown dead or dying, odds are they are slumped in a corner, alone and helpless, with a pool of blood forming underneath them. This contributes to the film's emotional attachment to reality, and gives the film a sense of gripping realism, despite the relatively surreal plot.

Certain scenes evoke genuine discomfort, and can become quite difficult to watch. The best example of which portrays, Asuka, a 14 year old girl and another main character, who is suffering an existential crises, and is perhaps a single step away from suicide, before being placed inside of an Evangelion, one of the mechs for which the series is named, and sent underwater as part of a defensive measure. A special ops force is hunting her, and to that effect is dropping depth charges into the lake in an attempt to blow her apart. She realizes that she does, in fact, want to continue living, and begins chanting "I don't want to die" at first barely above a whisper, slowly, and I do mean slowly, rising into a chilling, almost feral scream. And if that wasn't bad enough, the scene is intercut with single frames of her face, decaying, worm ridden and utterly lifeless. This got to me. It will probably get to you too.

As a result of a major plot event, the final act of the movie is hyper-surrealistic. Visual imagery and metaphor abounds, a lot of which is obviously influenced by Judeo-Christian iconography. And although I suspect some of it to be a case of "yeah, that looks cool, let's put it in the movie," on the part of the director, this does nothing to detract from the images that do contain deeper meaning. A sequence which depicts a truly, existentially horrifying world-wide event is juxtaposed against a relatively up-beat song, further cementing the deep seated eeriness of the scene.

Despite the overall dark tone, EoE is optimistic at heart. Underneath its brutal exterior, there is no small amount of beauty. The imagery will stick with you, and I can almost guarantee you will leave with a multitude of images burned into your brain. The thematic elements of the film are overwhelmingly positive, despite the fact that they are for the most part presented in a pyrrhic manner. EoE is not afraid to make you think, and frequently brings up topics like existentialism, individuality, solipsism, the nature of existence and the point of life on earth. In a more literal sense of beauty, for a film released in 1997, the animation and art is refined and elegant. Honestly I can't recommend this film enough, but to restate, it isn't something you can just go into without the prior knowledge of the series. It's worth your time, I promise. And since this review is now far longer than I originally intended, I'll leave you know with a quote from the film that I believe displays the central message perfectly.

"All living creatures have the power to be brought back to life and the will to go on living. Anywhere can be paradise, as long as you have the will to live. After all, you are alive, so you will always have the chance to be happy. As long as the sun, the moon, and the earth exist, everything will be alright.”

Neon Genesis Evangelion is a highly philosophical shonen anime series released in 1996. It was written and directed by Hideaki Anno under deep depression and produced by studio Gainax. Neon Genesis Evangelion tells a story taking place in 2015. Monsters referred as Angels start appearing in Tokyo 3, a city built by an organization called NERV to defend humanity from destruction. If the angels were to become victorious, it would cause the 3rd impact, an apocalyptic event that would destroy all of mankind. The only hope for humanity are gigantic cyborgs, Evangelions. Evangelions are more than capable of destroying the angels, but only a few ... people can pilot them, all born after the 2nd impact that happened 14-years ago.

The show is highly acclaimed, but it became pretentious garbage for the last two episodes, seemingly because the budget ran out. Several questions and were supposed to be answered in the show but because the mess that it ended in, it was impossible. Enter “The End Of Evangelion”, a movie released in 1997, made to be a replacement for the finale of the original show. The End of Evangelion was supposed to tie up the loose ends. The angels were now defeated, and so begins the human instrumentality project, launched by Seele, an organization behind NERV. Human instrumentality project is basically the 3rd impact under human control, in which all of humanity would be mended into a state where everyone would become one. The protagonist Shinji Ikari, who has had quite a depressing life full of setbacks and losses becomes a victim of the circumstances. So he ends up as a central part in Human Instrumentality and has to decide if humanity is to live or to become one.

The characters feel extremely real, each representing a part of Hideaki’s personality. They all are deeply scarred, some trying to prove themselves, some trying to find meaning, some being sociopaths. The meat of the movie is in Shinji seeing people that he found courage in during NGE being in distress and a particular person being defeated by Seele’s Evas resulting in some truly horrifying moments. The movie pulls off almost everything it does with perfection. The music is gorgeous, every shot is highly artistic. The only thing about the production that was off is the english dub, the actors sound extremely out of place and their parts were recorded horribly. I will give credit to Allison Keith, the voice for Shinji’s mentor. She delivered her character’s emotions on point. Near the end of the movie, there were live action shots located in Japan. They came off as eerily cryptic and seem to have no real meaning. This and some of the philosophical questions the movie sets are interesting, if a bit pretentious. Still it made a huge impact (no pun intended) on me, and looking at it only as entertainment would do a huge disservice for you and the movie. Instead if you pay attention, there is a lot of symbolism and philosophy. NGE and The End of Evangelion paint a whole unique way to view the world. They will stick with the watcher. Even if they didn’t like it.

The End Of Evangelion gave a masterpiece of a series the ending it deserved. The world needs more pieces of art like this!

(After fan's complains ?) An alternative end of Neon Genesis Evangelion has been made.

I feel that I'll be hating from all NGE's fans for the mark I give, but let's explain that !

The end of the TV show was essentially in Shinji Ikari's mind, and brings phylosophics, psychologics and morals question.
But as I said in my previous Review of the TV show, we didn't know "what happened in the real life".
And this end corrects this !

General Review :
The animation is at the top ! The fight scene is really flowing, and offered to the second part of the movie so many possibilities ... to express all the metaphors animators wanted for this end.
OST are as good as in the TV Show, with a chorus insert song which slice between the seriousness of the situation and the angelic dimension of this universe.
Voice acting always perfect, with all this feelings especially for the voice of the main character !
So, for me, all "technicals side" are a success, so, why only 8 ?

If the first part was in the continuity of the TV Show, the second part is a bit more special.. To not say weird

I was very open-minded with the end of the 2 lasts episodes of the serie, but here, we have to be open-minded from another point of view.
If in the serie, we had to understand the choice of "reflect" from the point of view of Shinji, in the End of Evangelion, it's a bit more complicated.

As I said before, the first part is "normal", but the second, has used as many metaphore possible to express the destruction, and the creation, and, I had difficulties with the visual choices for it.
It was freaky seeing Asuka pure (and smiling) face on ugglies Eva's faces, vagina which represents the beginning of life, Lilith through Kowaru and Rei's features and so one.
Really it was the most difficult point to accept for me, because the message behind this : the choice of Shinji to accept the unification of all Human's souls or not was really cool, with great metaphore, in theory, a bit less in practic from my point of view

Two-Three criticisms like some characters personality's twist and motivation all suddenly for exemple (I was writing a more precise text about thisbut I remember the rule about "no spoil"), I hope you will know what I'm talking about.

But there is also good surprises like all current, but secondary characters who had their own though and desire, action and behaviour of some characters.

So, yes, this end is good and conclude better, looks like more an anime's end than the lasts episodes of the serie, and is good, but not perfect for me.

For starters, I would say to newcomers watch the first 26 episodes of NGE before watching this movie, otherwise you'll ruin the whole experience and you won't understand a thing and you might as well hate it like many people have already

the thing that got me writing this review is the fact that this movie is one of (and maybe the only) the movies that has dared to venture so deep into human mind and emotion thus bringing to my mind the outstandingly-laid message of the heavily philosophical, emotionally-armed thoughts that plague humanity's mind in our everyday of life

the first half provides a very ... good measure of action in a wonderfully crafted artwork , so it delivers some of the much-awaited action this series has been lacking in the beginning

the second half however, is the whole depth of the movie (in my opinion)
again the fearless delving into core human relationships, emotions and subconsciously resurfacing introspective questions that race into the mind of all our characters as the world comes to an end, are all interwoven in a mind-blowing complex which kicks off a highly materialized climax as the main protagonist reaches deeply into himself for a choice

The movie leaves you with a sensation of loss, gratitude, and striking-awe the likes of which I have seldom experienced

Again to the people who have been disappointed by the show and how it ended, I say give it a try now with episodes 25-26 and then the movie because now they both work in tandem with each other, and hopefully they answer some of the irritating questions that arise from gaps in the plot

I for one think that some animes much like this one do not need a heavy closure, it is not made to be a full-understand-it-all show, and quite frankly if it did, it would have lost its luster and everlasting impact on any viewer willing to experience the unimaginable

As you may probably know, they went out of budget on the very last NGE episodes, and fans weren't happy with the TV ending, which left a lot of loose endings, and changed the mecha action into psychological inner talk or something like that. So they decided like one or two years after to give Evangelion a proper ending. Some of the scenes in this movie fit into the horror category and I would say 'for mature audiences only'.

In this move you'll find Evangelion with a bigger dose of violence, gore, ethereal matters, suspense, and is the ending of a... anime classic, it's an intense ... experience.

The art is fantastic for it's time, great detail in the key scenes, the sound is the part that captivated me the most, the music, oh my... the music is excelent, genius Shigeru, also some classical works that make for a beautiful audiovisual experience. The character part in this movie has a lot of twists. Overall great movie, I like to re-watch it at times.

I would love to praise this movie up to the heavens, but unfortunately, I can't. End of Eva is a very different movie, to put it bluntly, the beginning of it was amazing and reminded me of why I loved Eva, but the later half of it was well,a down right mind F. That said though, I must confess that I loved it. At first I found myself speechless and unable to think straight after viewing it, I was then mad and wondered what the director was smoking to come up with it, but then I looked back and realized how much I loved it. ... The audio/visual quality took an notch up from the later half of the original series (as we all know their budget was dwindling), the dub was pretty much the same as the original show with the exception Makoto Hyuga who had one of the worst recasts I have ever heard (in my opinion). All in all, unless somebody had already seen the show or really wanted to see End of Evangelion, I would not recommend it unless I knew the person might like it as the content given in End of Eva is very much acquired taste and not something that just anyone could watch and enjoy.

Watching this masterpiece cannot be explained through writing. So I won't even try.

My memories are fuzzy. All I remember is ending the movie and staring at the wall for 30 minutes, just trying to digest what I just watched. Since my mental capacity had fully melted throughout it, I found it difficult to drift off into a restful slumber.

The following day, I felt shattered. I couldn't have prepared my mind to withstand EoE. Everything I thought I knew about what was possible in this medium vanished. Anno explains in a very blunt manner within the first ten minutes that the movie will not follow any ... rules. This is the consequence of giving a genius budget and freedom.

The scenes in this movie shatter and twist your brain before it can comprehend them. My answers could not keep up with the speed questions came out. But nothing was confusing. Every step forward that the plot took was logical.

This is one of the few times someone can write a story with this level of surrealism and somehow make it work. It's an organized chaos meticulously crafted by a brilliant individual with a grand vision. Every element of this apparent disorder is deliberately placed and designed to serve a greater purpose, revealing the intricate workings of a true genius.

This masterpiece didn't have the attention it deserved. For me, it holds an equal or superior place to works like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. I have yet to come across an audiovisual creation that can even rival the sheer magnitude and brilliance of this particular masterpiece. It's remarkable how EoE can express more in an hour than some artists do in a lifetime.

Omedeto, Anno...




If i recommend it? Have you read the whole thing?

This movie is unlike most anime movies where instead of being a standalone experience is instead a true conclusion to the anime series. It is incredible in nearly every way but before warned, it’s not for the faint of heart. Never have I seen a movie that filled me with so much existential dread. It’s characters are complex and well rounded, it develops them all in unique ways that branch from the series, and their internal and external struggles are tackled very well. The animation has also taken a step up from the series allowing more weight during fight scenes and for some truly jaw ... dropping and disturbing moments. It may not be the most fun watch for your emotional state, but it is a masterclass in story telling that should be experienced by any fan of the Neon Genesis Evangelion Anime.