Shinseiki Evangelion Movie: Air/Magokoro wo, Kimi ni

“Man is spirit. But what is spirit? Spirit is the self. But what is the self? The self is a relation which relates itself to its own self, or it is that in the relation [which accounts for it] that the relation relates itself to its own self; the self is not the relation but [consists in the fact] that the relation relates itself to its own self. Man is a synthesis of the infinite and the finite, of the temporal and the eternal, of freedom and necessity; in short, it is a synthesis. A synthesis is a relation between two factors. So regarded, man ... is not yet a self.”

If you do not understand the quotation above, it is doubtful you truly understand The End of Evangelion. Does this mean you are an idiot? No. Both Kierkegaard and Anno use flowery, pretentious language. Instead of getting to the point, they use convoluted phrases to give the impression of depth.

The End of Evangelion. This film, like the anime series, has its fair share of fans and critics. Although this reviewer liked the film, which does not mean he necessarily enjoyed all of it, he belongs to the latter group. From its incoherent narrative to its plot holes to its implausibility—let us not forget clichés and contrivances—the film is riddled with flaws; this is an undeniable fact. Were it not Evangelion, it is reasonable to assume the film would have been met with a negative reaction upon release.

Let us be honest. Several reviewers on here, as well as fans in general, were disappointed with the ending of the series. People were confused on what actually happened and did not like the philosophy and psychological introspection; the finale seemed to be a departure from the already established storytelling format—and it was. The End of Evangelion, the alternate ending, is no different in this regard, so it is puzzling why fans accepted it.

The film has the same structure as the series: the first half is typical fare, and the conclusion goes into an overload of philosophy (but with more visuals). As with the original ending, existential themes are explored. Philosophical discussion is welcomed, but only if it serves a purpose. It does not. The ending—no, the film itself—is controversial and for good cause. Many of the scenes, and the ending itself, are ambiguous. Hideaki Anno did not bring closure to his story: people still have no clue what happened or what it all means. (According to MAL reviewer Kajia, even the DVD commentators could not comprehend several scenes.)

Anyone who states they understand the true meaning (the intended interpretation) behind the film is a liar. Without input from the director, we cannot know. This is not a flaw, but a positive characteristic. The beauty of The End of Evangelion is you are allowed to take what you want from the film, and your viewing experience depends entirely upon your past and knowledge base. If the film changed your life, if your interpretation of the film differs from others, or if you believe the film is nonsensical, that is fine. No one can say you are wrong. With that said, an interpretation of the message(s) behind the film will be given. (Do not read any further if you have not watched the film.)

From the beginning, Neon Genesis Evangelion has provided commentary on humanity and life. Continuing on from the series, Shinji, the protagonist, struggles with determining whether his life is worth living, although it does seem he is quite resolute on ‘no’ for the majority of the film. It is only when circumstances—no, the world—changes Shinji realizes it is better to keep living and within the company of others. He is essentially embracing the absurd: he understands he will keep attempting to find meaning but will never be able to find any. It is better to live a life without meaning rather than not live at all, even if we are miserable.

The goal of the Human Instrumentality Project is to merge all souls or individual consciousness into one entity, one consciousness. No individuality—just sameness. No conflict, no pain, no struggle for identity. This seems like a good thing, right? Wrong. Life is a continuous struggle for identity, and conflict & pain are inevitable. Shinji realizes this and rejects Instrumentality. Multiple individual existences can be born once again from the single entity, given that people realize what differentiates themselves from others; in other words, they must find their self.

"How disgusting." This final remark is not directed at Shinji but rather humanity. Hideaki Anno does not like that society forces us to be what we are not (inauthentic self) instead of what we actually are (authentic self). We are all pressured to act a certain way, even though these behaviors are not true to ourselves. We act for them (the they-self) rather than for our self. Our personality or mindset is shaped by the collective; our identity is created for us. Anno thinks we should create our own identity, not be easily influenced by society, and remain true to our self, living authentically rather than inauthentically.

There is disagreement over character development in the film. Some reviewers claimed the characters did not develop in the series but did in the film. No. This reviewer does not hold to this belief. In the series, their development was directly related to their mental state. We observed how the characters' mental condition deteriorated. The series served as a character study, and the characters were great and realistic. (Those who suffer from depression or emotional problems do not recover easily. Without help, their condition can easily become worse.) In the film, there was character development, but it was limited to Shinji and Rei. Shinji became more disturbed (the infamous scene) and Rei became independent, no longer a puppet to Gendo. Asuka's recovery should not be accepted as character development: it was a contrivance.

The philosophy, symbolism, and unclear ending are the reasons why this film is still actively discussed. The aforementioned elements made The End of Evangelion an influential film, but not a masterpiece. Furthermore, the philosophy was incorporated to make the film look cool. It was redundant and often jumped from concept to concept. The original ending, although repetitive as well, is the superior ending. It provided for an interesting meditation on individuality, bad faith, Dasein (authentic self), and das Man (inauthentic self) through psychology.

(Contains minor spoilers)


The more you love someone, the more their suffering will affect you.


It’s difficult for me, as a viewer, to really feel grief for a character that the author himself already hates. Rather, above all, I suppose I do feel the absolute hopelessness and melodramatic nihilism seeping through each and every frame of End of Evangelion (EoE), so perhaps I do feel depressed. But to say that I feel for the characters would be disingenuous. To create something beautiful, you must first love it. With mere hatred and resentment, one might be a victim of a fault in writing: bad melodrama. Though without establishing ... how the series leading to the movie is and how the movie actually ends, this would definitely seem like an unjust critique, for arguably, this movie has quite a positive conclusion considering that this is Evangelion that we’re talking about. So let us first talk a bit about the series as a whole.

Evangelion's main selling point is perhaps its strangely thorough and unflinching presentation of the characters' psyche, under the influence of a hopeless apocalypse. The most obvious trait that every character seems to share is that they all are fundamentally broken human beings with literally no redeeming quality, and the author views this somewhat as a demonstration of his own belief. That is, all humans, after exploring the deepest, most vulnerable of their Freudian ids, are exposed to be inherently disgusting, full of selfish needs and nothing else. The movie therefore ends on a loosely absurdist note, being that for one to find the meaningful in the ostensible meaningless, it accepts the fact that humans are despicable but they should all accept each other’s flaws and come to appreciate who they truly are.

For context: Human Instrumentality Project eradicates structuralism, individualism, freedom of choice and any sort of desires and struggles simply because there's nothing to be desired or struggled to begin with. It is the ultimate escapism for weaklings (since abandoning the self relieves you from everything), and also is a desperate, unrealistic resolution to its abiding misanthropy. Rejecting Human Instrumentality means escaping escapism, accepting responsibilities, retaining individuality – viz. understanding one's own shortcomings, learning to deal with it and learning to appreciate others even with the pre-existing 'AT-Field'. Therefore in all of this rambling, it actually has quite a simple message with the aid of some profound ideas - accept the insecurities and flaws and appreciate yourself and others. The problem is not so much in this seemingly irreproachable conclusive message, but rather in its execution (or at times, lack thereof).

As we spend the majority of the runtime in both the series and the movie exploring all the despicable human traits reside in our characters without any glimmer of faith in humanity whatsoever, the said conclusion seems rather dubious and otiose, because we have not come to love the characters, or more accurately, we’re not supposed to love them. If the movie wants us to love our pathetic absurdist self, it should’ve executed in such a manner instead of insisting on whining how the characters are so vulnerable and flawed. Admittedly, the flaws of Evangelion’s characters are very human, even relatable in many ways; though as shown through how irredeemable every character is, it is easy to lose every shred of hope and humanity, and so it seems as if we’re just experiencing a philosophical misanthropic manifesto of the author himself with a forced positive final note. It’s almost uncanny in a way. At the end of everything, the characters supposedly accept the barest of each other’s flaw, but not to have come to appreciate their valuable attributes because simply, there is none. EoE merely persuades its characters to appreciate other people’s flaws and not their strengths, because every character in the movie is too broken and similarly insecure. Talking about realism, that seems highly irrational and delusory to me. Human simply isn’t a complete blackness with only deep dark desires, nor are they all about insecurities. To undermine the goods would both be unwise and, as I’ve mentioned, melodramatic in poor taste.

I’m sure for Anno who had been suffering from clinical depression at the time, this would be a feasible point of view. The total hopelessness, total nihilism, total cynicism in oneself and in humanity, and the desperate desire for the nonexistent love that is. However, this is, if anything, foolish and parochial. It doesn’t accurately represent humans, nor does it hold much worth since it derives from a suicidal man after all. For this reason, he bitterly self-inserts and has thus come to despise the characters, and perceivably struggles to see the lights within his own creations. The approach of believing in such complete absence of so many things, in such a setting that aims to convey humanity as a whole, has created this sense of misanthropy and profound hatred, ultimately resulting in the misalignment with the movie’s underlying philosophy.

For better or worse, it’s clear that EoE is not within the realm of subtlety when it comes to psychoanalysis, or character self-analysis in general. I’m not talking about every little action the character decides to take here (which can sometimes be subtle), but their psychological trip that literally vomits dialogues of emotions with an unchanging formula – has a character confronted with his/her own issues, has them denied it, has them begged further to deny it, drives them practically insane, has them admitted it. I remember being so intrigued when this method of character reflection was first introduced in the second half of the series, until they kept chewing it over and over again even in the movie. The issue isn’t that it’s so raw and lacks subtlety, but it is overused with over-expositions, and thus has the earmarks of being whiny. This was slightly more balanced in the series, since different methods of characterizing are used more varyingly. Though for this movie, this method takes up the entire climax. Characters having existential crises every so often does not interest me, more so when there’s nothing new to put on the table. Shinji’s (or any other character) flaws have been previously explored, at which the movie's "crazy phantasmagoric sequences" are but visually whiny (albeit impressively so). So, contrary to some popular beliefs, the characters weren't terribly complex or anything in this movie.

It also doesn’t help how convoluted of a story EoE is, making it incredibly distracting for the first several viewings. The entire point of EoE is to discern the characters’ internal struggles and appetency to appreciate and be appreciated. By way of explanation, EoE is executed as a character-driven movie. So making a plot this infuriatingly convoluted really isn’t a wise decision, because it distracts viewers from what the movie tries to convey. If, and only if, the convoluted narrative has some sort of thematic value, meta even, then it might’ve been perfectly acceptable, which unfortunately isn’t the case for EoE. Even after reading pages of explanations to fully understand the supposed plot holes, it is still the narrative’s fault for being so negligent of properly explaining all the already jarring events. It barely scratches the origin of the Angels, or Lilith, or anything, and these are supposed to be the mystery built-up throughout the series awaiting for a satisfying payoff. It is a narratively incoherent mess of a story that really doesn’t have to be so overly complicated. Sure, it's easier to shrug it all off and give the audience a big middle finger since "nothing matters anymore at that point". But this wasn't Burning, the movie, type of ambiguity. It's simply more lazy than tactful.

But here we are. Despite all of that being said, I still gave this a 5, meaning it was not bad at all. Because even though the movie failed to make me deeply care about the characters, it still gave me adequate emotional depth that I could spiritually connect to. As I said, it’s a raw movie with raw emotions, about very real issues, even if under the director's disagreeable lens (since that didn’t really detract it from being emotionally impactful). Because the director and author, Hideaki Anno, is also being raw and very true to himself in the movie. It doesn’t mean I liked his bizarre point of view any better, but it’s undeniably difficult to completely hate the movie simply for how emotionally real it is. Other than that, the animation, music and choreography were also pretty great, and since I have quite a soft spot for that, I’m giving the movie a bit of personal bias here. So, audiovisual-wise, this movie is exceptional to say the least. And emotionally, it excels, considering how much I downright disdain the pov this movie took.

In conclusion, ok movie, nice audiovisual, whatever philosophy, bad execution. Used to be a 10 from me for such a long time, and for holding some personal significance, I'd say it's a 5/10.

I'll just keep this fairly short and straight to the point. The movie acts as a sequel to the TV series and is cool for a while. The characters are really annoying with their self-loathing and hatred for mankind. In the final quarter of the movie, things get batshit crazy and start making no damn sense at all.

I like it when anime makes you think. When you consider watching it again to truly understand everything now that you have all the pieces of the puzzle. I didn't enjoy Ergo Proxy that much, but it did a very good job of this. Things were confusing ... until the end where things finally made sense. Neon Genesis Evangelion is simply arrogant. Everything is so damn vague that you'll never understand what the writers originally intended. It's okay to be subtle, but they go so far beyond that to the point that the ending becomes guesswork.

This is a proper sequel for a little while, but don't waste your time on the ending. People have their theories, but I say the ending still sucks because it doesn't make a shred of sense even after I just watched it.

i just finished the movie, finished the series earlier today, i dont know how to feel about this series, i was like really enjoying the anime and starting to get with the character development and the way the series worked, then by the end i got all confused again, watching the movie today cleared my mind about some stuff, but i guess this anime really wasnt it for me, i dont think shinji is a bad character like every one says, but at the same time i find it very difficult to pity him or have any positive feelings towards him at all (mostly after ... the hospital scene) i do think he is a little bitch besides all the problems and traumas he has to deal with, but man did it upset me, its not a bad series by anyway, i mean i've been thinking about the series nonstop since i finished it and this is my very first time reviewing something, so that gotta say something by itself, why to summarize it, i do recomend the series and think its worth watching all the way. you might have a different take on the series since i think it has a lot of stuff that its very personnal about everyone so i guess its a different experience for each, i just guess it wasnt what i was expecting but at the same i enjoyed most of it, as the review says, mixed feelings about this, sorry if this got a little confusing, as i said this is my first review and english is not my primary language, by all means watch it and i would love to read other takes about it.

What the movie gets right in terms of visuals and artistry, is counterbalanced by it's failures in storytelling. We, as the audience, don't know what the central players in the story want. We don't really get to understand what the end goal of SEELE or Gendo Ikari is and how the different ways one would initiate Human Instrumentality and/or 3rd Impact would really differ from one another. The audience doesn't know what is at stake or which side to root for (if any) and thus it is very difficult to feel invested in what is going on on a literal level.

The movie manages to maintain ... some momentum thanks to it's stellar characters and it's interesting visuals. It does leave you with plenty of stuff to think about in the end, so if you want a movie that forces you to exercise your brain matter, End of Evangelion delivers. If you want a conventional and satisfying ending to the story, kicked off by the TV-series, this isn't it.

I have a love-hate relationship with End of Evangelion. On one hand, I feel like the movie is needlessly convoluted and full of itself. On the other, I admire the ideas behind it and the sheer balls that it must have taken to make a movie so intentionally unfulfilling.

(SPOILERS ARE MARKED) Neon Genesis Evangelion is honest, it tells things as it is. It must be said that director Hideaki Anno, at the time of creating EoE, put his life into Evangelion. Battling his raging depression and contemplating suicide, this was his outlet. You could say that it was created for himself, as much as others. Trying to understand this movie is an uphill climb. Some things are bound to be confusing/don't make sense. Ultimately, the movie is split into two parts, the first part being episode 25 of the original series, and the second episode 26. The first part is brilliant in and ... of itself, but the second part is where the magic occurs. Without spoiling, the human instrumentality project that was presented tasks shinji with the decision of whether to merge human conscience, free the world of pain and suffering, or maintain a sense of individuality, everyone with their own conscience, a world of misunderstandings and regret's, where everyone may not be on the same page, where forging relationships with others bring pain. The screen flashes death threats directed at Anno for the ending of the original series, and that is as far as I can go without spoilers. Having finished the series, I don't have the slightest idea how you may react, you might think the original ending is better, you may think this was a waste of time, you may think the whole series was a waste of time, you might just be confused, I can't recommend it to you. Hideaki Anno once said (before the movie was created) "Evangelion is like a puzzle, you know. Any person can see it and give his/her own answer. In other words, we’re offering viewers to think by themselves, so that each person can imagine his/her own world. We will never offer the answers, even in the theatrical version. As for many Evangelion viewers, they may expect us to provide the ‘all-about Eva’ manuals, but there is no such thing. Don’t expect to get answers by someone. Don’t expect to be catered to all the time. We all have to find our own answers." ”Evangelion is my life and I have put everything I know into this work. This is my entire life. My life itself.” The End of Evangelion is a piece that holds nothing back, challenging and questioning philosophical questions at its very core, going beyond the plot itself, going beyond the protagonist, placing you in his shoes, and asks you the same questions. But it departs with a hopeful message, after all of the killing, bloodshed, gore, and psychosexual abuse(this one starts early on), social trauma, misunderstanding: the message being that we should try to understand others instead of running away, no matter the pain it may bring, instead, we should accept reality, and accept ourselves for who are, just like in the ending of episode 26 where everyone begins to clap for Shinji after his acceptance of himself after his sudden burst of optimism, I believe that was intended for Anno himself. I digress, as mentioned earlier, Evangelion is like a puzzle, and there is no way to guarantee if you will like it or not, but if you remotely enjoyed the original series, you should really give this a go, because for me, it is one of the greatest anime movies of all time. 10/10 thanks for reading (SPOILERS) I also wanted to add a general explanation of the ending that I found quite compelling for those who have already seen the film, credit goes to https://myanimelist.net/profile/ronri#lastcomment


Human Instrumentality almost occurred, but because of Shinji being locked inside Unit-01, he had a say in how it would be run. Combine the fact that Rei and Kaworu, essentially Lillith and Adam at this point, had a deep connection to Shinji, and this gave Shinji a bigger chance to to have a say in things.

After some heavy reflection, mind-screw, and an argument with the Asuka in his mind, Shinji decided to reject Instrumentality. In doing so, he freed himself while preventing the rest of humanity from combining into one collective being. Asuka seemed to have survived as well, whether or not it's because of her own survival instinct or because Shinji wished for her return is somewhat ambiguous (though both explanation seem plausible).

In the end, all of humanity had been reduced into LCL, thus leaving Shinji and Asuka as the only remaining human life on Earth. Still, Yui said that anyone who had the will could actually pull themselves out from the LCL so it's not entirely a bleak ending so to speak as it gives the prospect that some people can actually return back to normal just as Shinji and Asuka did.

Shinji nearly choked Asuka to death as a way to re-affirm his existence, in order to determine if what he was seeing were real or not, especially given the mind-screw he had just experienced. With Asuka's comforting touch, Shinji realized he's back on Earth and breaks down into tears from the whole experience. At the same time, Asuka's spunky attitude had returned, with her normal self finally back.

While it certainly seems very mind-screwy, it was actually a very optimistic ending with a bit of hope attached to it. Kaworu and Rei find peace in their self-realization and transformation as Adam and Lillith; with both confronting and comforting Shinji for the final time. Despite her initial death, Asuka re-discovered her love for her mother, while maintaining her will to survive. Finally, Shinji learns to accept himself and the life he has despite all the pain and suffering he's been through.

I'm between saying this has made me give up on anime or this is the best thing ever created.

If you wanna feel like you're on drugs for an hour and a half, pop this in.
Cause this will put you on a trip.

It doesn't help that mid way through there are like 5 minute credits and all of a sudden live action bits.

This could be a crazy fun drinking game that would probably kill you.

I regret being born.
... I feel like my life keeps ending and ending and nothing real actually exists.

The soundtrack is amazing though.

End of Evangelion is a movie sequel to the Neon Genesis Evangelion TV anime, meant to serve as the true continuation of the plot depicted from episodes 25 and 26 of the TV anime due to negative fan outcry to the original TV versions of the mentioned episodes. With the Angels defeated, SEELE launches an all-out attack on NERV headquarters to seize control of it and seek the resources they need to trigger Third Impact. Meanwhile, Shinji is in a regressive mental state due to prior events of the TV anime and Misato must track him down to both save his life from the intruding ... military forces and have him pilot Eva Unit-01 again to prevent SEELE from fulfilling their plans with Third Impact.

Much like the TV anime before it, End of Evangelion is yet another controversial part of the anime medium since there is division over how fans interpret the events of the ending and what preference they have for its ending between the original TV series ending or End of Eva. Some also see it as Hideaki Anno giving a middle finger to the fans in response to the negative backlash and death threats that he and Gainax received in response to the TV anime’s ending. I suppose in regards to preference, I would prefer the ending provided with End of Eva given that it actually continues the plot of the series unlike what the TV anime provided in its final two episodes, though that’s not saying much as Anno’s story direction still makes things a much bigger mess with the film’s plotting due to his continued insistence at pushing his existentialist beliefs with the film.

Outside of a certain infamous scene between Shinji and Asuka that I’m not gonna dabble into, the first half of the film offers a mostly solid and engaging spectacle as NERV tries to fend off against UN military forces, manipulated by SEELE, attacking their base. The battle is depicted as an uphill struggle for NERV throughout as they lack the resources to adequately fend off the large-scale military invasion launched by SEELE. In addition, Misato finds herself having to knock sense into Shinji’s inactive mental state when all hell is breaking loose on NERV and Asuka has her moment to shine in fending off UN military forces and the mass-produced Evangelions when she realizes the true nature of her Eva unit.

However when the second half commences, everything with End of Evangelion’s quality goes down the toilet. Anno resumes his insistence on exploring his philosophy with much of the second half focused on Shinji’s angsting and self-loathing in a rather incoherent visual spectacle, the boy being a pathetic mess throughout much of the movie and still coming to the same flawed solution to his problems that Anno pushed from the ending of the TV series. The actions that result with this also lead to making Shinji much worst of a character compared to the TV anime’s resolution, though the visual sight of what transpires is probably one of the few highlights to seeing End of Eva’s second half.

Visually, End of Evangelion is easily a considerable improvement over the TV anime. There is more consistent animation quality with the designs of characters, mechs, and settings; and there is noticeably more fluid movement shown onscreen as well, the visual highlight being Asuka’s battle with the UN military and mass-produced Evas during the later part of End of Eva’s first half.

Overall, End of Eva’s positives only come from the spectacle that comes from seeing the conflict between NERV and SEELE escalate to the point when things eventually get catastrophic with everything in the film. The first half of the film is engaging to see, but things quickly go downhill by the second half due to Anno continuing to force his beliefs into the film and coming to the same messy conclusion that resulted within the first series. For those saying that the film is a middle finger to Eva fans complaining of the TV anime’s ending, I guess I would be in the camp that think this way with End of Eva.

Gonna keep this review short. In my opinion this movie provides nothing new or interesting that the original series didn't take care of. In the original NGE ending Shinji is able to realize and find his own self worth after a few episodes of introspection, and while it would be nice to have gotten a bit more explanation on Adam, Lilith, the Second Impact, Lilim, Lance of Longinus, etc. unfortunately this movie doesn't do an adequate job of really explaining all those things in detail. So what we end up with is a movie where the characters act out of character, and the end of ... NGE is just retold in another way, but doesn't really amount to anything extra. It's a wholly unnecessary addition.

Acid is one hell of a drug.

Seriously, this was just insane. And just like the original series. It starts great, then just goes down the toilet. I'm not sure who decided to let this be produced, but hopefully are no longer in the anime industry.

The only enjoyable part was Asuka kicking EVA ass. That and the lovely animation are the only two things that allow this movie to stand on two legs.

I don't think there is really much to the movie, despite all the raving about symbolism here and there. But there is one great thing I've taken away from the whole Evangelion line-up, ... is it makes everything else look so much better, and for that I'm thankful.

Don't watch this, or the orignal series. Dumpster fires should be contained, not spread like the holy gospel of anime.

pretty good for your first anime, I watched this speed run it any% with the speed of 5x speed. my proudest speedrun. thus making it quite extravegent show. watching it alone at midnight made me realize that shinji is actually making his own world while transporting it into another realm.

The moment shinji squirted his 10 years worth of accumulating tadpoles it was destined to become an amazng anime. the amount of tadpoles alone cant comprehend the amount of plot this show has. I cannot describe more about this anime any more. you need to watch it yourself for the maximum experience.

Don't be fooled people praise this movie as if its a mind-altering, life-changing and literally the best piece of media ever created by man. But tbh its literally just a teenage horny fantasy. The character development makes no sense, everything is sexualised for no reason like why tf do all the cuts have to look like clits. The best thing people say about this movie is that it gives you some fucked up sense of wtf the end of the series was but simultaneously ruins all the characters and explains nothing. overall had two good aspects sound and art, rest of the movie sucked.

I can't believe how much Shinji ruined the movie. I was quite alright with Shinji during the show but Shinji annoyed me over the top in the movie. He pisses me off to no end and I can't believe how much I would have liked this movie if Shinji wasn't such a little bitch. At least in the show, he was a little bitch but like I understood but in the movie its just so fucking unbearable. Even in the second half of the movie he was complaining and crying and that pissed me off so much. Like I didn't watch a movie to WATCH ... SOMEONE CRY god damn. Woulda been so good w o that little bitch.

After the disappointment of the original anime's conclusion, this movie is a much better way to end Evangelion, despite some problems I have. Keep in mind the score I have is representative of the first 24 episodes of the series plus this movie. This will also contain spoilers for the original series.

The characters, world, and plot pick right back up from the moment the supposed final angel was defeated. While these elements are expanded on, Asuka is unfortunately gets very little, and what she does get feels extremely out of place. The focus is pretty much entirely on Shinji, but he quite literally does nothing ... but cry for like half the movie and Misato has to drag him along. Rei doesn't do much either, but I really don't know what she'd do.

One thing this movie has is that it's willing to actually commit to the darker themes. The original series really doesn't kill any major character except one guy we spend a single episode with. I won't spoil anything, but don't expect that kind of security here.

Unfortunately, there are some of the same problems I had with the original series. Everything is recontextualized to make more sense, but some stuff is still questionable. Some of the dialogue lacks any subtlety. It has some fanservicey scenes as well. Honestly, despite the good, I was afraid I'd finish this series with a 5. However, the movie surprised me with what might be a 10/10 scene.

This paragraph is a spoiler, so skip it if you want. ...Shinji, tired of the world, goes along with human instrumantality. Some say that the final two episodes of the original anime, and the scenes that take place in this section are very similar, although slightly better. Then, we get something incredible. The focus is on reality, with live action shots and beautiful music to accompany it. Many may say that this is pretentious and symbolizes nothing, but even a little background of the series makes it clear what this means. End of Evangelion was made because of the disappointment of the ending of the original series. This ending not only is a reminder to the audience of the fact that reality is more important than a movie, but also a representation of what Shinji rejects. Eventually, he realizes he needs to have connections with people, and rejects instrumentality, destroying the fusion of Adam and Lilith. He isn't the only one, as Asuka and presumably others also return to reality. Despite his promise to improve, Shinji tries to kill Asuka, but when she gently touches his face, he stops. Asuka says 'disgusting', and then the movie ends. Many argue what all of this means. Personally, I think it represents Shinji's condition. He desires connections, but he also expects the worst from people, which is infinitely relatable. Asuka is disgusted by how little Shinji has learned, and how he aided human instrumentality for a moment. While somber, it gives hope that maybe Shinji can change for the better.

End of Evangelion has even better visuals and sound than the initial series. The music is always suited to the scene, the animation is great, and the direction is the best the series' seen so far.

I'm not sure whether to give this a 6 or 7, but you'll see the score so you know my current feelings. This series has issues, but it's still good, and this movie was a satisfying ending in my opinion.

This movie would have worked if not for one thing IE the show's cardinal sin character writing. Anno STILL doesn't get that you can't make your main character an unlikalbe whinny kid who did THAT in the opening scene and expect me to feel bad. Asuka gets some development to make her less of a bitch. THEY Still think they can make Rei/Gendo/Ritsuko's entire personalities "I'm so mysterious nothing sticks out about me"and expect me to give a shit about them. Gainax made another mech called Gurren Lagann that I despite my love for HATED the ending of this made me realize "the character writing ... is so good to the point where I felt most of the cast deserved better, in this show I couldn't give 2 fucks if it happened" everything else is ok at least the themes actually do something other than trick rabbid fans into thinking this has more to it like the show

If you're like me, and you're looking for a proper explanation of all the mysteries the TV's final left unsolved, let me tell you you're in the wrong place.

Like some of you already know, the last two chapters of the TV series took place in shinji's mind and left us all with the feeling of "WTF? That's it? That's the fucking final? This movie on the other hand, although doesn't solve the mysteries, it does explain what was going on outside of Shinji's mind during chapters 24 and 25, showing us what happend with the rest of the characters.

The art and sound are great for ... the time the movie was released and fit perfect with the shocking scenes throughout the movie.

Like I said before, the main reason why this movie doesn't deserve a 9/10 is its lack of sense. So much that I had to watch a couple of Youtube videos to truly understand the ending. I just hope they fixed these errors in The Rebuild of Evangelion.

I've seen this movie a long time ago, specifically around 12-13 years old when I saw it on a pirate anime page that a friend recommended to me and where I watched most of the anime in my puberty.
Before anyone gets mad at rating it as low as 6, I'll tell you why. To begin with, I was too young to understand the movie, I saw the series and the movie because some YouTubers said it was a masterpiece and at that time I was obsessed with rare anime movies from the 80s and 90s, the 1st minutes was like "ah This happened in the ... series finale, didn't it? " then it went to "what? NERV has been besieged" from that to "why did Misato kiss Shinji?" and then go to "or hell, more thoughts of the main character", then "... Eh? Why everything is destroyed? Why Azuka fights against the robots those targets? THAT'S DAMN GREAT" and in the end something like "WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING? ???", in conclusion. An emotional chaos. After that, I had to watch videos on youtube to understand 3/4 of the movie.
What I liked about the movie is that it presents what happened outside of Shinji's thoughts (where the end of the series took place) as a more general ending, with which everything that is outside the protagonist is concluded , it is as if they were 2 routes of a visual novel and when putting the 2 together the true route is formed, even to put us in context of what was happening with shinji, they put scenes that happened in chapters 25 and 26 in various parts of the film of the series, only that that confuses the viewer more.
My conclusion would be that it is a very good film, that despite having a very hasty ending, it knew how to give the best that the series could give in this feature film. If you are a 12-year-old boy who has only seen 2 ecchi animes in his entire life and wants to see evangelion because it was recommended by some guys on the internet, you should follow these steps:
1-See the entire series up to chapter 24.
3-Watch the movie until it reaches 1h 18min. 30 sec.
4-See chapters 25 and 26 of the series.
5-Pick up the movie where you left it.
Yes. I have not seen the movie again (more than 10 years ago) but I remember the time I saw it like the back of my hand.

Imagine mixing various ingredients and expecting to come up with masterclass dish. Usually, instead of delicious food, even a very experienced chef might end up with something perhaps looking good, but tasting mediocre at best. Why I write it? I feel that Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion movie can be compared to that kind of soup. Something ambitious enough to mix different themes and tropes, with tools to make such plan happen, but ultimately failing to deliver a good movie.

There have been many reviews written about the End of Evangelion over the years. I could do the same, even if I had to ... pretty much repeat similar arguments, just wording them differently; or analyze this movie in details, bringing up certain moments and analyze them shortly after. I won't do this, though. Instead, I will focus on what I didn't like and what made my score so low.

This review is spoiler-free and focuses mostly on technical aspects of the movie. I assume, since it's a sequel, that every reader is familiar with the content from Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series from 1995-1996.

What bugged me the most was the composition. This movie felt more like two double-length episodes connected with each other without much consistency. Artism or not, it simply doesn't look good to see a movie divided into two easily distinguishable parts, where one is radically different to another. First 40 minutes are full of well animated action sequences, showing what was happening shortly after the tragic events from ep. 24 of the original TV series. Great direction, fluent animation, good art. Second half presents a more artistic approach, however, it fails to do it well. Many sequences looked as if the most of this movie's budget was spent in the first half, making the second one have moments that could be put on par with ep. 25 and 26 of the original TV series. Way too different, even to the point of being edgy, and simply looking cheap. You could accept it in a TV series, but not in a movie. Movies tend to have bigger budgets and its creators have more time to work on them to polish as many elements and scenes as it is possible. It's a shame. It might sound harsh, but as a regular viewer I shouldn't care about possible production issues or background behind the production process when watching a movie, but rather fully focus on... watching that movie instead.

Another thing that I saw as a con was symbolism. I saw references to many things commonly mentioned in various analyses on the Internet, but they didn't serve as symbols. More like fancy references to make the movie seem to look more complex and sometimes dark, but nothing more than that. No matter how one might try to fabricate hidden meaning behind said elements, they just don't feel connected to the point of saying "yup, everything has a meaning". Using artistic methods such as "show, not tell" and imagery was visible and present, sure, but so what? So what if these symbols were all over the place, but only few of them actually had any type of connection to each other and built up a bigger picture? It's a good moment to quote Roger Ebert, brilliant movie critique, who said once: "If you have to ask what it symbolizes, it didn't". Can't agree more, especially when it fully applies to the End of Evangelion. I saw many times NGE fans acting really toxic towards somebody not seeing much or any symbolism at all in the movie, using insults implying poor knowledge of people commenting on the movie or pointing out ignorance, whether the author of critical comment was polite or not. It's funny, given how freedom of artistic expression allows us to interpret works of arts the way we want to. It includes both overthinking by nitpicking certain elements and building up theories around them, and underthinking by simplifying a work of art through focusing on its clarity. Nothing is wrong with that, and none of the ways of interpretation I have mentioned above makes their fans more intelligent or less intelligent.

Aside from these two major negative aspects that I found as overshadowing almost everything good I could find in this movie, there were three aspects that felt absolutely awesome and presented high quality for the whole length of the End of Evangelion. They are: music and voice acting, everything harmonized with soundboards made with care.

In conclusion, while this movie is definitely worth of checking out, since similar movies are not released so often, I can't guarantee it will be entertaining to watch. I can imagine the End of Evangelion being a hit or miss for most of people. You might love it or hate it. You can also end up like me, I mean unamused and also disappointed. After hearing so many paeans about this movie, I didn't have high expectations aside from seeing a good movie, because I know how devoted fans of basically anything might hype up a show and present it as close to flawless, while the reality may be completely different.

Although, if somebody expects to see an avant-garde spectacle of random symbolism mixed with giant mechas fighting with their enemies, with crazy stuff happening on screen that might not make much sense, but seem edgy and dark enough to provoke viewers to analyze it and find their own interpretation (even if through overthinking), then they might enjoy this movie. Sadly, I didn't enjoy enjoy it myself.

I'll start this off by saying that I gave Neon Genesis Evangelion an 8/10. I really like the concept and although I wasn't completely disappointed in the last few episodes like many people were, I was excited to see the movie to see what really happens. But... I didn't really get that. Or at least, I saw stuff happen, but it didn't make sense.

Story - 3
The first half and second half of the movie are very different. The first half feels a bit more like a classic NGE episode, but somehow less dramatic, even though this should be the most dramatic point in the ... series. Also, nothing is really explained. I still don't completely understand why NERV was under attack. But yeah, probably the most disappointed part is that it doesn't feel as dramatic as it should.

The second half of the movie is confusing and eventful. A lot happens, and this movie is definitely something to watch if you just want to see chaos, which not gonna lie, sometimes I am in the mood for. But it is too confusing. Whenever I look up a question I have about the end of the anime, there are tons of different answers and interpretations. Am I okay with some things being left up to interpretation? Yes. But not the entire end of the plot. Like I do not understand what happened and what the actual ending is. I already know you are thinking I am just too stupid and only watch anime with the most simple plots ever, but I actually love psychological and mind-bending anime where not everything is just told to you. But there wasn't enough structure in the end of the anime in my opinion. Your questions are not really answered.

Art - 7
I gave Neon Genesis Evangelion a 7 for art, and I was watching this movie I was appreciating how the art seemed to be more detailed in parts, and how some mind-bending scenes were very nice to look at. However, I moved the score back down to a 7 because I have to agree that the real-life camera footage feels very out of place. I don't see the value that added to the anime at all. It wasn't even good footage in my opinion.

Sound - 9
I LOVED Komm, süsser Tod (English: Come, Sweet Death). This is an 8 minute song which somehow does not feel too long at all because of how beautiful it is. It is really, really catchy, and makes the scene in which it plays in so much better. I love the juxtaposition of the depressing, melancholy lyrics with an upbeat tune. I tend to not like when a song with words is played in it's entirety for a portion of a movie, like in Your Name. However this song was done so well.

So why did I not give a 10? Well, I originally felt like I should just for that song alone, but I want to rate the sound holistically. I thought that Neon Genesis Evangelion had a 10/10 soundtrack, which is what lowers my score for End of Evangelion. I felt that the dramatic tracks used in Neon Genesis Evangelion weren't carried over to the movie. Some spots in the movie almost felt awkward because of the lack of music in the background. However, the most dramatic scene of all is done well with Come Sweet Death, so I am thankful for that.

Also, I did not care for the music used halfway through for the credits. I wish they had just used Fly Me to the Moon or something.

Characters - 3
I really loved the characters in NGE, but it feels like new characters in EOE. I don't feel Misato's fun personality as much any more. I don't think Shinji's dad is expanded upon enough to be interesting. Characters are also just downright confusing in their actions. This movie takes the process of starting out down in the dumps but then finding the motivation to keep going, and speeds up the process by like 10x speed. I swear, characters will feel so completely lost and like this is it for them, and then SUDDENLY they are fighting again, in a blink of an eye. I wish we could see more of the transition period between being at their lowest, to having motivation to keep going again. I think it's a shame that Shinji is also victim of this. I seriously don't get how Shinji changed at the end. He changes... I think... but it's hard to tell what he is thinking, what is reality, and what he even does to cause the events at the end of the movie to occur. I also really didn't like the opening scene with him, it made me kinda hate Shinji.

Overall, it just felt like the characters went through the gap in between NGE and EOE. Like, EOE is supposed to happen right after NGE episode 24, but if you watch NGE and then EOE immediately after, you will feel like the characters have oddly changed.


Enjoyment - 6
The enjoyment factor is basically what is making me give this anime not a below average score. I gotta say, even though I am upset that a lot of my questions weren't answered and that it was overall disappointing, it was kinda fun to watch. Again, it is just pure chaos. Kind of reminds me of the end of Shiki, which I really enjoyed. Even though a lot wasn't explained, scenes like Come, Sweet Death are just so good to watch, and what you are seeing happen looks so interesting, even though I don't understand what is even going on.

Again, as in NGE, I didn't like the unnecessary fanservice.

Overall - 5
Not as good as I was expecting at all. This movie basically answers no questions, but hey, it is exciting and chaotic, and maybe as a lover of NGE, that's what you like.

If you watched NGE, I would watch the movie, but if you are confused going in, don't expect to have a ton of answers at the end.