What is the ‘True’ Ending to Evangelion?: An Essay (Spoilers)

What was the intended ending for Neon Genesis Evangelion?

Sep 21, 2019 11:17 PM

Offline

Jan 2016

259

Disclaimer: Many ‘facts’ about the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise are left ubiquitous by many of the creators (see David Lynch for more surrealist blue-balling), so I’m going to speculate a bit & leave the rest up to your imagination. This essay contains spoilers; & spoilers from other series or references will be marked with a spoiler tag!

After it was known to the public that Hideaki Anno created The End of Evangelion after receiving numerous complaints about the conclusion of the TV series, there has been controversy over which ending was the intended finale for this harrowing psychological drama. Personally, I believe that both are ‘true’ endings, but The End of Evangelion is more clear on what the hell is actually going on &, controversial opinion, the film’s ending is actually more positive.

If you’re familiar with my past essays, I’m going to split everything up into sections & then have a concluding thesis statement at the end, so here we go:

PART 1: THE TWO ENDINGS ARE SEPARATED BY THE DIFFERENT DECISIONS THAT SHINJI MAKES

Some people believe that both of the ending ultimately equal the same result, this is wrong, because the end of the series is while Shinji is still in Instrumentality, creating the assumption that he never seeks the path of individualism & free-will again because he finds acceptance & love when the souls of the dead are reunited. I guess it depends on your opinion on whether humanity should face the pain & loneliness of being individuals or if everyone should strive to all be of the heart & soul. I personally believe that individuality is worth the pain of having an ego that disconnects you from others, but that’s if you even believe that individual will even exists. Before I go into more philosophical banter, I’ll lead into my next point.

PART 2: EVIDENCE & EASTER EGGS THAT IMPLIES THAT SHINJI IS DEAD AT THE END OF EPISODE 26

The title of Neon Genesis Evangelion itself, euangélion being the Greek word that means ‘good news,’ genesis means ‘the beginning,’ & ‘neon’ may refer to a hand full of things, but as an addendum to this series’ context, it is most likely referring to the Ancient Greek word ‘Νέων’ which referred to figures of classical antiquity (who had fought in wars, not all won). So, combined it can mean ‘the beginning of good news for a war hero.’ Which means the cessation of suffering, right? Which would probably be the reason why Hideaki Anno stood by the original ending so vehemently (link), because the The End of Evangelion is the antithesis of that idea. In the film, Shinji decides to live on after the apocalypse & continues to suffer, whereas, in Episode 26 he accepts death & Instrumentality.

• Hideaki Anno was one of the key animators for the anime, Urusei Yatsura before he created Neon Genesis Evangelion—there are some uncanny similarities between Episode 26’s conclusion & a dark, surreal episode of Urusei Yatsura called ‘Pitiful! Mother of Love and Banishment!?’ (みじめ！愛とさすらいの母！？) where Ataru’s mother falls & hits her head

& it is implied that she dies at the end of the episode. With Urusei Yatsura’s episodic nature, the next episode is played as if nothing ever happened & everything is fine, but in that episode—she admits to wanting her husband & Lum to leave, so that her & Ataru can be alone. It isn’t directly confirmed what her intentions behind that statement are: if she just likes controlling Ataru’s life or if there’s a Freudian sexual attraction to him.

SIDE NOTE: A later episode seems to imply the latter, in a story centered around Ataru’s father & his desire to be with other women, he shows signs of visible disgust at Ataru’s mother showing her son affection when he’s glomming onto her for favors. Throughout the series, it is implied that Ataru’s father hates the idea of commitment, squanders money, & possibly cheats on his wife; whereas, with his mother, she repeatedly says that she only stayed married to her husband because of Ataru, making him her only reason to live, but then contradicting herself & saying that it would be better if ‘Ataru was never born.’ Urusei Yatsura’s characters are flawed & full of contradictions, just like in Neon Genesis Evangelion.

The episode closes with all of the cast & Ataru’s mother fighting in a war—which ends in the cast hand-in-hand, walking in a circle around Ataru’s mother (as it shows her as a weeping child). She then transforms into an adult & joins them hand-in-hand, the realm that she’s in is very reminiscent of the scenery in Episode 26 (war torn, vast, & bleak)—then the battleship Yamato flies above them with fireworks exploding, & the episode abruptly ends.

An examination of that scene: The characters are all holding hands in a circle because it’s an homage to the song ‘Ring a Ring o' Roses’ (Ring a Ring o' Rosie) is a song about the Great Plague of London (‘ashes, ashes, we all fall down’ is a reference to death) & in the sequence the characters are in a circle with locked hands, like the dance for Ring a Ring o' Roses. The connection to the battleship Yamato is a double entendre: the most obvious connection is the Yamato’s role in World War II—it was a ship that was sunk while protecting Okinawa from enemy vessels & is seen as Japan’s pride & joy, therefore (of course) a sunken ship is in the afterlife, & the second is that the Yamato is flying in the air, resembling a German zeppelin—another reference to World War II.

Connection to Evangelion’s Episode 26: Hideaki Anno took several things in Neon Genesis Evangelion & other works like Tomino’s Space Runaway Ideon, other than the obvious connection between Mother Moroboshi & Shinji’s deaths—Episode 94 of Urusei Yatsura has very similar imagery to End of Evangelion along with creepy, ethereal giggling that would later be incorporated into Rei’s transformation into Lilith.

PART 3: CONCLUSION A.K.A. ONE MORE FINAL: I NEED YOU

With all of the research done & pre-existing anime knowledge, I have come to the conclusion that most of the ideas in The End of Evangelion had been outlined before the TV’s ending, but Hideaki Anno was fine with it ending, though a few dozen questions were left unanswered. My theory is that the ending was partially ‘mapped’ out before Anno got death threats from disgruntled fans—this idea stems from some of the mentioned examples (above) & also, due to the fact the the title itself has another titular connection to a 16th century Nestorian gospel book, called Evangéliaire nestorien (Nestorian Evangelion) or Vie de Jésus-Christ (Life of Jesus Christ). A famous illustration from that manuscript is replicated in The End of Evangelion, in the scene where Unit 01 becomes the tree of life, though in the gospel, Jesus Christ is in the pillar of the tree of life—this image comes from a chapter called ‘Last Judgement.’

Nestorian Evangelion

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion

Many critics question the authenticity of the creation of End of Evangelion, whether it was created under the pressure of criticism or if it was the actual direction that he wanted to go; they cite examples, such as: the fan’s dissatisfaction from the finale of the TV series came from a hit piece that a famous social critic, Eiji Ōtsuka, wrote in a column; as well as, Kazuya Tsurumaki (co-director of ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion,’ GAINAX employee famous for directing FLCL) stated that the TV ending was ‘fine’ & noted that The End of Evangelion wasn’t necessary—despite that—he went on to use similar imagery to Lilith in his six episode OVA, Diebuster.

Top wo Nerae 2! Diebuster

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion

I personally think that he was fine with the way the TV series ended, but also had some ideas for a movie. I don’t believe that Hideaki Anno is the type of person to create an anime (especially seeing as how hardcore of an otaku he is in his personal life) for vindictive reasons. I don’t think him posting the death threats in the live-action sequence was meant to angrily shove it in the fans’ faces—I interpreted it more as a representation of what Shinji chose at the end of the film: reality.

But I want to see them again. Because, at that time, I know my feelings were real.
—Shinji Ikari, The End of Evangelion (1997)

EggheadLunaSep 21, 2019 11:40 PM

▾ Check Out My Original Series ▾

▾ Check Out My Blog ▾

Sep 22, 2019 12:24 AM

AlphaN00b

Offline

Jul 2017

228

the re-take doujinshi is the only true ending for eva

See All Discussions

Poll: » How much do you consume from the otaku world? castle2001 - Apr 22	38	by ForgotEyeWasHere »» 1 minute ago
Poll: » Which is your favourite Anime in this list? PushedCaraway - 24 minutes ago	4	by filjoh »» 9 minutes ago
» What will be the next KyoAni project? Tell me your thoughts. Pinoffin - 7 hours ago	43	by EpicO4 »» 11 minutes ago
» Women tend to have superior anime preferences compared to men? ( 1 2 3 ) Alpha_1_Zero - Apr 23	109	by Merani »» 23 minutes ago
» A Trend in Voice Actors in Anime Yuu_Kanzaki - 27 minutes ago	0	by Yuu_Kanzaki »» 27 minutes ago

What is the ‘True’ Ending to Evangelion?: An Essay (Spoilers)

More topics from this board

Poll: » How much do you consume from the otaku world?

Poll: » Which is your favourite Anime in this list?

» What will be the next KyoAni project? Tell me your thoughts.

» Women tend to have superior anime preferences compared to men? ( 1 2 3 )

» A Trend in Voice Actors in Anime

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters