The Rebuild tetralogy was billed as a way for newcomers to the Evangelion series to experience what many of us did with the original NGE series and End of Evangelion. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Rebuild series can only be holistically understood with its predecessors. What's even worse is that one particular character introduced in the Rebuild series also took references from the manga adaptation itself.
The Rebuild series can only be understood as its title suggests. It is a Rebuild of a new Evangelion timeline that tries to improve upon the more pessimistic and nihilistic view of its predecessors, especially EoE. So, I pity those of you who came into the Rebuild series without having watched a single episode of NGE or even the EoE movie itself.
Whereas NGE ended with a mostly psychological introspection and EoE with a post-apocalyptic acceptance of the self, the Rebuild series ends with an action- and narrative- driven resolution that tries to break out of the never-ending cursed loop and grants most, if not all characters the chance of renewed beginnings to life.
That being said, no amount of brainpower or mental gymnastics can convince me that 3.0+1.0 is worthy of the praise and admiration that its predecessors enjoyed. You can come up with all the theories and explanations you want to fill in the never-ending number of gaps, it's still not going to change my observation that 3.0+1.0 is an "optimistic mess". A mess.
The best part of 3.0+1.0 is Shinji's and Gendo's brief but crucial reconciliation, as well as Shinji's very short reunion with Yui. If there's any saving grace with 3.0+1.0, it is this familial reconciliation that never materialized in either NGE or EoE.
I still have much more to say about what I believe were screw-ups with 3.0+1.0, and even 3.0 itself, but I do not have any energy or time to spare at the moment. I might or might not add some more stuff, but for now, I stand by me verdict that Evangelion 3.0+1.0 is an "optimistic mess" that is nothing like what we imagined in the post-credits scene in Evangelion 2.0. I can only suspect that there was a radical change in the direction the Rebuild series were taking.
