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Oct 5, 2022
The year is 2017. A young high school freshman was starting to gain an interest in anime. Particularly, an interest in a series that blended the mecha genre with psychological drama. This series, at the time, was not available on any streaming services or blu-ray, so this student ended up watching the first five episodes on an anime torrenting site.
This was the first time that I had watched Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Over three years later, about a year after it finally made its appearance on Netflix, I finally watched the entire series, and it immediately became one of my favorite pieces of media. Afterwards,
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I watched End of Evangelion, which, whilst one of the bleakest experiences I’ve had with a film, soon became one of my all-time favorite films.
Within the past weeks, I had an epiphany.
This is a conclusion that I came to way too late: I see too much of myself in Shinji Ikari.
I’ve always been more reserved to myself, not very outgoing, and have felt emotionally broken at times. I feel unloved at times. Almost like I’m a burden. This is due to my lack of confidence and self-esteem, which is practically a parallel to that of Shinji’s. It’s almost jarring to watch, as someone who has dealt with depression for quite a while (with it becoming especially accelerated during the past two years of the pandemic), another character whose psychological issues are almost similar to yours.
This all leads to August 11: The day that I watched Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon A Time. I was left stunned. This is possibly the best film of 2021, and a perfect ending to The Rebuilds.
Continuing where 3.33 left off, we follow a broken Shinji who doesn’t want to live anymore, on a journey with an angry and frustrated Asuka. At the same time, Mari is working with Misato and WILLE on trying to restore certain areas to their previous state. During all of this, Gendo Ikari is still trying to enact his plan to complete the Human Instrumentality Project.
Spike Spencer gives a fantastic performance as Shinji, who has reached his lowest point in this film.
Tiffany Grant is great as always as Asuka, along with Allison Keith returning to voice Misato. Amanda Winn-Lee is excellent as Rei, who is featured a lot more.
John Swasey is phenomenal as Gendo Ikari, the vile, determined commander of NERV. Deneen Melody is great as Mari, who plays a very major role in this film.
With his direction, Hideaki Anno has crafted a perfect finale with what is basically permanent closure to his most famous work. Anno says farewell to Evangelion with some brilliant animation and complex storytelling.
A testament to how great the animation is in these films, can be summed up with the opening action sequence with Mari in Paris, from the framing to the fluid movements.There are also callbacks to specific moments and elements in Evangelion. It’s as if Anno is reinterpreting or reconceptualizing these elements for this film. One could even say that he is rebuilding it. In a way, this is somewhat true, as Anno was in a better and healthier state of mind during the making of the tetralogy, with an exception to the beginnings of this production, which was one of the reasons for a delayed production. It is also strangely meta at times as well. In discussing the overarching themes of this film (which become more apparent during the third act), Anno leaves the finale with one central message.
It’s time to let go and move on.
This is it for Anno. He is in a much happier and better state of mind than when he was originally working on NGE. It is also a command for the viewer to move on, as with him moving on from Evangelion (with this chapter of Anno’s life coming to a close), it is time for the fans to move on.
As for the music, Hikaru Utada’s theme for the finale, One Last Kiss, fits perfectly with the film, as it compliments the conclusion quite well.
Evangelion 3.0+4.01 is a film that moved me to the brink of tears and left me quite emotional. It is the permanent end to one of the greatest franchises ever (in terms of Anno’s involvement), and is not only the best film of 2021, but one of the best films of the decade so far.
Bye-bye all of EVANGELION, indeed.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 5, 2022
When one discusses film franchises, there are always those that are regarded as the black sleep of that series. Whether it be The Godfather Part III, or the first two films of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, these entries are often looked upon with disdain. This is the reputation that Evangelion 3.33. has garnered, since its release back in 2012.
I watched Evangelion: 3.33. You Can (Not) Redo on August 9, on Amazon Prime Video, and it was a really great film.
Taking place fourteen years after the events of 2.22., Shinji Ikari wakes up to a world with a much different appearance than the one
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he once knew. Practically everyone that he had once known had turned against him. For instance, there’s Asuka, with all her bitterness and boiling anger directly aimed at Shinji. The only person whose character hasn’t quite changed is the joyous and eccentric Mari Makinami Illustrious, who was introduced in the previous film.
Spike Spencer is excellent as Shinji, whose world is beyond fractured at this point, but basically broken.
Allison Keith is fantastic as Misato, Shinji’s guardian, who has experienced and dealt with quite a lot in the past fourteen years, which has drastically changed her, which is quite evident in her voice.
Deneen Melody is also fantastic, reprising Mari in a stellar vocal performance.
As for the direction of this particular entry, Hideaki Anno has crafted another great film. Anno has directed a film that bathes in its nihilism far more than the previous entries in The Rebuilds. He crafts a gorgeously animated opening action sequence (along with the plethora of other people who worked on the animation), featuring an intense space battle with fluid movements from the piloted EVAs, along with great usage of CGI. Anno also introduces interesting and fascinating concepts never before explored in the franchise, such as the Evangelion curse.
The only major issue that I have with the film is that it is kind of rushed at times, such as Kaworu’s storyline.
Evangelion: 3.33., while not my favorite of the Rebuilds, is a film that doesn’t deserve the negative reception that it has received here in the States, as it is quite a great film.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Oct 3, 2022
Freedom is an illusion. All you will lose is the emotion of pride. To be dominated by me is not as bad for human pride as to be dominated by others of your species.
I watched Hideaki Anno’s Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance on August 8, on Amazon Prime Video, and wow. This is an absolute masterpiece.
Continuing the storyline from 1.11., the film focuses on Shinji Ikari, and also deals with the arrival of a fiery redhead German pilot named Asuka Shikinami Langley, along with the emergence of burgeoning new threats and stronger Angels. There is also the emergence of a mysterious, eccentric British
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pilot named Mari Illustrious Makinami, who appears in Tokyo-3, after a cataclysmic event involving EVA Unit 05 that is shown in the opening sequence of the film.
The casting of the English dub is great, such as Deneen Melody as the offbeat Mari, adding humor to her performance, along with the iconic Spike Spencer returning to voice Shinji Ikari.
Hideaki Anno further forms the Rebuilds into its own narrative with this film, separate from the storyline of the original anime, whilst containing some elements from the original series. Anno also does something that wasn’t quite shown as much in the original series: Showcasing the normal daily life in Tokyo-3, along with one sequence featuring The Children (along with Toji and Kensuke) attending a trip to a sea-life sanctuary. When it comes to the animation, there are amazing fluid movements of the EVAs in the battle sequences, along with some gorgeous sequences of the city of Tokyo-III, thanks to Anno’s use of a higher budget and newer technology.
However, while this film does have some lighter moments (at times being a little lighter than the original anime), it reaches a disturbing level in one particular scene that is shocking, even for Evangelion. This is a particularly gruesome sequence towards the end of the second act that is quite bloody and saying it’s grisly would be an understatement.
It is downright horrifying.
It doesn’t help matters at all, as a piece featuring the vocals of a children’s choir plays in the background. It is the textbook definition of disturbing dissonance.
Evangelion: 2.22 takes the original source material of the anime and goes for a completely different turn from the original story, whilst still retaining its soul. With gorgeous animation, great music, and the brilliant mind of Hideaki Anno crafting the story, it is easily the best film of the Rebuilds so far, and I will even go as far to say that it is one of the best films of the 2000s.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 3, 2022
You won’t die, I’ll protect you. I’m not worth protecting…
I watched Hideaki Anno’s Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone on July 25, on Amazon Prime Video, and it is a phenomenal film.
A remake of the first five-six episodes of the original anime with a larger budget and gorgeous animation (albeit with a few differences), the first film of the Rebuild series follows Shinji Ikari, a lonely traumatized boy, who is picked up by Misato Katsuragi, a captain that works for a government organization.
He is recruited by this particular group, NERV, an organization founded by his father Gendo Ikari, to pilot an EVA (a
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gigantic mech filled with fluid that is synched up with the human body) in order to fight against mysterious beings known as the Angels, who are associated with a cataclysmic event known as The Second Impact.
With Hideaki Anno returning to his creation after a decade with this film, he is at the helm of an excellent piece of cinema. As a result of his direction, Evangelion: 1.11 has a perfect blend of psychological drama (with insights into Shinji’s and Misato’s state of mind), the mecha genre (with brilliant action sequences involving the fights against the Angels) and the post-apocalyptic genre (with the concept of The Second Impact).
There is also beautiful animation, such as one scene with Misato and Ritsuko sitting in a bar, with an array of purples enveloping the background, and the usage of CGI animation in certain scenes. This is the result of Anno leaving Gainax (the studio that produced the original anime and the End of Evangelion), to found his own animation studio, Studio khara.
Finally, there is a perfect musical choice with the masterpiece of a song, which is Beautiful World by Hikaru Utada, a track that blends trance music with J-Pop, which plays during the credits sequence.
Whilst Evangelion: 1.11 is practically a remake of the first five-six episodes, it is a fantastic start to the Rebuild series of films, still retaining the complex storytelling of the original anime, along with refined animation.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 3, 2022
This review was originally written on September 26, 2020.
I watched Hideaki Anno’s The End of Evangelion on September 5, and...... oh boy. This film is literally the end.
The alternate ending of Neon Genesis Evangelion, one of the greatest series of all time, EoE replaces episodes 25 and 26, due to the massive negative reception of those episodes. Those episodes resulted in Gainax, the animation studio that produced the series, being vandalized and Anno getting emailed death threats (which images of both are featured in the film).
In terms of how the film is, it is a masterpiece. One of the greatest animated films ever
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made. Co-produced by Gainax and Production I.G., this film demonstrates how horrifying the Human Instrumentality Project is.
This series is probably one of the most depressing pieces of media I have watched, but this film takes it up a notch on the depressing, psychological, aspects of the series. The music in the climax of the film features one of the most upbeat songs about suicide.
In conclusion, with gorgeous animation, excellent plot, and a great soundtrack, The End of Evangelion is an excellent conclusion to a great series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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