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, 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.
