The End of Evangelion is starts after the final Angel defeated, and now NERV is ready to initiate the Human Instrumentality Project which is supposed unite all of humanity with Lilith and bring about the Third Impact. Meanwhile, the SEELE organization is planning a full onslaught of NERV, planning to exterminate anyone related to the Eva project. Meanwhile, Gendo Ikari, the creator of NERV and father of Shinji Ikari has a whole different plan in his mind, and he's already begun. As SEELE invades NERV headquarters, Rei and Gendo are already gone. Shinji, our protagonist is in catatonic state. Asuka is in a state of unconsciousness in the hospital. All the meanwhile, the Third Impact finally takes place, bringing the world to a brutal and crushing end and consuming all of humanity in an orgy of corporeal dissolution and horrific death. And yes, the fate of all humanity-the world rests in the hands of Shinji Ikari is suffering from (the most powerful word that means "the highest amount you can get") psychological depression. Shinji is just so fucked up, in so many ways that it's so depressing and crazy. So how does it all work out in the very end? That is the story of End of Evangelion.
As you'd know if you've seen the Evangelion series, "Evangelion" is not about giant robots fighting other giant robots (Angels) or teenagers complex romance story. Oh nonono. "Evangelion" is really a parable about the most disturbing aspect of human existence: the pain of isolation and psychological depression. One of the greatest things about the movie though is it's pacing. The movie itself is only 1 Hour and 30 Minutes, yet so many things happen (of course, because of this, not everything is concretely explained but people like me who like to think for ourselves and create an alternate ending that fits our beliefs, enjoy that). The first half of the movie seems like fighting and killing, but behind all the action is what I believe Anno intended: Reduce Shinji to rock bottom; the highest point of psychological trauma and self-depression as a human being can possibly have before becoming crazy - which Shinji honestly is. But not only Shinji, but Asuka too. Once Asuka goes back out to the battlefield, she just becomes completely insane. Asuka is pushed to the lowest of pits by the end of the movie that it's depressing. She's a scared teenager who puts on a tough girl act. A mere child whose been abandoned by her mother, and believes that going out in the world means going out alone and dying alone. There is a narrative explanation during Asuka's battle with SEELE's created Angels that claims that the Evas have embodied with souls of humans, the pilots’ mothers. Of course, this doesn't make sense at all... But this is Neon Genesis Evangelion is it not? Anyways, because of this, Asuka's psychological mentality completely takes a turn once more, but there's another twist after she learns that and fights. Her battle is definitely the most exciting battle in the entire Evangelion series, but what happens at the end is pure disgusting and disturbing to watch. By the end of the first half of the movie, probably about 90% of the characters are dead. Then in the second half of the movie, "Third Impact' initiates and Shinji's time to pick between Instrumentality and Reality finally comes upon us. The entire thing takes place in Shinji's psychological mind. And, this is something that you the audience must experience for yourself before I spoil anything at all but this basically explains for the most part Shinji's deep psychological mind, each character's true feelings, what instrumentality truly is, and the final decision that Shinji makes. Through "deep" sayings by Rei and Kaworu - Adam and Lillith, Shinji will come to his senses and makes him understand his existence and the value he gives to everybody around him. The end is shocking and confusing to say the least, and I enjoyed this movie to the max, because this movie wasn't afraid to ask/give thoughts on philosophical questions such as the end of the world; humanity, meaning of life, psychological depression, human suffering, and so much more. The movie actually had me confused and thinking deeply. That is what made this movie so great (because... The movie itself had a ton of plot-holes and unanswered questions, but it's fun to use what the movie hints at and create your own story/ending, right?). Whether it's a masterpiece or not is solely on how you the audience interpret all the themes in the movie, but personally I do believe this movie is a masterpiece, not only within the anime community but for all stories.
Needless to say, the art and the sounds were magnificent. The design of the mecha/Angels are different than what you'd expect - unique. The use of christian symbolism seemed random at times considering Christianity wasn't/isn't a big thing in Japan, but it made the entire series "seem" more symbolic. With that said, the use of actual symbolism and pure art was genius although I still don't understand why there was a live footage scene of people at a movie theater during the movie... The music in the anime were great. Simply amazing. The voice cast was great as well. Hideaki Anno was very strict with his voice cast, and hence lots and lots of recordings were taken before actually being finalized. The sub and the dub are both great. Each character's voice fits accordingly to the characters; especially Shinji and Rei~ Loved it.
I truly believe that End of Evangelion is just Hideaki Anno's way of sticking up his middle finger and saying "Fuck You" to the entire world.
