willwoodmill
Warning: spoilers in the second to last paragraph of this review the rest is spoiler free.In 1995 Neon Genesis Evangelion aired on television for the first time, and it immediately became one of the most popular animes of all time, As the the show went on it became more and more controversial with each passing episode, because the show started out as an action anime with a deep and complex plot, but towards the end the show started to become detached from reality and became a sort of surrealist existential show about what it means to exist. The shows massive change in style left many viewers unsatisfied with the ending, especially the last two episodes, which contain some of the most insane stuff you will ever see in your whole life. So in 1998 the directors of the show, Hideaki Anno and Kazuya Tsurumaki, released an alternate film ending for the show, and that Film was Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion.Before anyone asks, yes, you need to watch the anime before you can even think about trying to watch The End of Evangelion, and I know this is going to be a controversial statement, but the show is good enough that even if you didn't need to watch in preparation for The End of Evangelion, you should still watch it just because of how great it is, Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the most creative and experimental shows of all time. The show/film is about an insecure Japanese teenager, Shinji, who is asked to become a pilot of a giant mech suit, when the city is acted by strange creatures nicknamed "angels." Shinji's distant father is the leader of the government operation know as NERV, which controls the Eva's, (or the giant mech suits). There are two other kids who also pilot Eva's, both of them girls, that Shinji has a hard time getting along with. As the show goes on it becomes clearer that it is not about some alien invasion, but a character study of Shinji, and more importantly about his purpose in this life. End of Evangelion, continues from where the third to last episode left off. (Well actually it's tough to tell if it's a continuation of the last two episodes or a complete replacement.) I should say that I'm not going to be talking about the plot of the film, because it would be impossible to do so without spoiling Neon Genesis Evangelion. But, in order to try and satisfy all of the shows fans, the film attempts to blend the insane, intense action of the first half of the show, with the surrealism of the second half of the show. Did I say attempts? I meant flawlessly, it flawlessly blends the action of the first half, with the surrealism of the second half.It's animation perfectly matches the story, insane, beautiful, layered, and unforgettable. There are so many memorable images from The End of Evangelion. The last time I saw a film that had so many creative visuals, would have probably been The Holy Mountain, or 2001: A Space Odyssey. Actually End of Evangelion shares a lot with both of those films, the one major difference would be that End of Evangelion focuses on a single boy, while those other films tell much more broader stories. Evangelion tells the story of Shinji his experiences, his struggles, his weaknesses, and most importantly his purpose. At the end of the day that really is what the Evangelion series is all about purpose. Shinji has been struggling with the reason for his existence ever since the beginning of the show. Before the show began he thought he had no purpose, but when he was recruited by NERV he suddenly had a purpose, so he then thinks that he exists solely to pilot the Eva, and without the Eva, there would be no need for him. This creates a sort of symbiotic relationship between Shinji and the Eva, (because the Eva needs him to pilot it after all). Warning next paragraph contains spoilers.The ending is one of the most heavily debated endings of all time, Shinji and Asuka are lying on a beach somewhere after they have separated from the rest of humanity. Shinji then sees Rei floating in the distance, Shinji tries to strangle Asuka, but eventually stops, Asuka then says them that changes depending on what version you saw, it could have been "How disgusting," or "what a disgustingfeeling," or "I feel sick," depending on which version you saw. The film then cuts to black and ends, leaving people everywhere trying to decipher the cryptic ending. Here's what I think happened, Shinji had separated from the rest of humanity, but after he did that he realized how much he missed everyone, symbolized by Rei appearance in the distance. Shinji longed to bewith someone else anyone else, even if it meant that he would be hurt, so Asuka appeared, (she was the one he really loved after all.) Shinji then tries to strangle her, because she hurt him. He then gives up because he never had the ability to kill humans. Think back to episode 18 where Shinji refuses to kill the infected Eva-03 unit because it might kill the pilot inside. Asuka then says her line, which basically just shows her complete disgust at how pathetic he is, remember how much Asuka hated Shinji self-loathing, how she made fun of him for always apologizing even when it wasn't his fault. Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion, is as beautiful as it is mysterious, the film is one of the ones that just causes your mouth to drop when you see it for the first time, and every time after that.9.8/10
Ucare
I did not watch the original 26 episodes series but I watched in these days all Evangelion films, because of the high ratings: Death and Rebirth (a recompilation of the original series), The End (a rewriting of the End of the series, still considered one of the best Anime ever), and then the last three, 1 and 2 which reboot the series apparently without mayor changes, and 3 which goes in new territories. At first I will write about Evangelion in general, and then about this specific movie here. In all Evangelion the writer touched any possible demagogic stereotype and cliché on earth: father/son relationship, Oedipus complex, a bit of the typical Manga Style sexuality, cheap psychology, and a huge amount of very cheap esoterism with symbolisms of all kind. My opinion? A big omelet of everything, which finally means absolutely nothing. Wiki says that after the failure of his previous works (which he judged as childish) he wanted to make something "deeper". My impression is that he did not even try to BE deeper, rather just to SEEM deeper in order to impress the audience. And I am afraid that only the Naive could be impressed by such a confused mess.I can still see why this show had success: Evas are cool, fights too, and there is enough mix of drama, action, teenage nerd sexuality in the typical Japanese style, and some sort of epic. I suppose that if you are younger than me and without any knowledge of psychology or esoterism, and a bit nerd, you may enjoy this works pretty much more than I did.About this film: to be honest, I cannot say it is BAD. It has got anyway all those faults I said above, exponentially increased; it is an omelet, a potpourri of anything which means nothing. It is just too much of lot of things together with no real control or knowledge to do a good mix. And the end and post end keep being too complicated and pretentious and cosmically confused. It is just, too Japanese twisted kind of dramatic esopsychology. Stunning graphic of course. But the rest, the plot, which is vital, well, the plot is disappointing.
Patrick Scott
The directors of 'End of Evangalion' not only invents a unique and rare conclusion to the evangalian series, but subtly depicts existentialism and the misunderstood juxtaposition of dream and reality, what is real and fake. It also deals with the perks and folly's of humanity whilst handling the extreme dramatization of romance, and tackles the strange entities and characters that dwindle through the imagination of the show. The director of the series has focused more on his interpretation of life and his experiences, rather than ending the series on a satisfactory note for viewers. In my opinion this film is more riveting than what fans of the show would have preferred. However, there is indubitable confusion through this film, you as the viewer watch in pure awe and absorb the unmistakably inspiring and slightly deranged messages contained within the story. The film cleverly sidetracks to tell the story of evangalians and approaches and accesses the issues of the human being.
