Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion First Watch
July 24, 2019 8:19 PM - Season 1, Episode 27 - Subscribe
The film is divided into two episodes: Episode 25': Love is Destructive and Episode 26': ONE MORE FINAL: I need you. They are meant to either replace or complement the original ending in Episode 25 and Episode 26 of the original series with a more "real world" account of the episode's events.
Content Warning: This episode is way more violent than pretty much the rest of the show combined. Also it makes either more or less sense than the original series conclusion, depending on who you ask.
Read more about it:
TV Tropes
Episode 25'
Episode 26'
EvaGeeks
Combined
Episode 25'
Episode 26'
Content Warning: This episode is way more violent than pretty much the rest of the show combined. Also it makes either more or less sense than the original series conclusion, depending on who you ask.
Read more about it:
TV Tropes
Episode 25'
Episode 26'
EvaGeeks
Combined
Episode 25'
Episode 26'
It's first revealed in episode 24, which is also where we learn that "Adam" in Terminal Dogma has actually been Lilith the whole time.
For a lot of reasons, I personally find the series ending more satisfying than this one. Two things I do like a lot about End, though: Rei rejecting Gendo and taking control of Instrumentality, and also the whole "Kom, Süsser Tod" sequence. Mainly because the latter is a pretty dramatic demonstration of how different the idea of "and then all of humanity lowered its barriers and merged together as one" from the actual reality of what that means. Plus, Maya's special person being Ritsuko is pretty sweet.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:07 AM on July 25, 2019 [5 favorites]
For a lot of reasons, I personally find the series ending more satisfying than this one. Two things I do like a lot about End, though: Rei rejecting Gendo and taking control of Instrumentality, and also the whole "Kom, Süsser Tod" sequence. Mainly because the latter is a pretty dramatic demonstration of how different the idea of "and then all of humanity lowered its barriers and merged together as one" from the actual reality of what that means. Plus, Maya's special person being Ritsuko is pretty sweet.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:07 AM on July 25, 2019 [5 favorites]
Oh, if that was Adam in Gendo's hand then that explains what ever happened to that Adam embryo that Kinji brought. Maybe Gendo wished to Adam/Lilith merge with Rei/Yui as his final plan.
posted by zengargoyle at 7:54 AM on July 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by zengargoyle at 7:54 AM on July 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
So I guess the chain of events is:
1) Gendo/SEELE some idea as to how to bring Adam and Lilith together.
2) Gendo happens to burn his hands while attempting to rescue Rei from an activation accident.
3) Gendo decides that the burns would be sweet spot to put Adam, so he could walk around with him all the time and no one would notice due to the gloves?
posted by Kikujiro's Summer at 7:58 AM on July 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
1) Gendo/SEELE some idea as to how to bring Adam and Lilith together.
2) Gendo happens to burn his hands while attempting to rescue Rei from an activation accident.
3) Gendo decides that the burns would be sweet spot to put Adam, so he could walk around with him all the time and no one would notice due to the gloves?
posted by Kikujiro's Summer at 7:58 AM on July 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
Maybe Gendo wished to Adam/Lilith merge with Rei/Yui as his final plan.
Yes, that's my interpretation as well. For him (and Fuyutsuki?), Instrumentality is about reuniting with Yui. That's the difference between his version of Instrumentality and Seele's, because I don't think that Seele knows about Rei being cloned from Yui and that Unit 01 has Yui's soul inside of it. Which is why I describe Rei as rejecting Gendo, because when Instrumentality happens and everyone else turns into Tang Gendo is explicitly told that he won't be allowed to reunite with Yui after all.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:41 AM on July 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yes, that's my interpretation as well. For him (and Fuyutsuki?), Instrumentality is about reuniting with Yui. That's the difference between his version of Instrumentality and Seele's, because I don't think that Seele knows about Rei being cloned from Yui and that Unit 01 has Yui's soul inside of it. Which is why I describe Rei as rejecting Gendo, because when Instrumentality happens and everyone else turns into Tang Gendo is explicitly told that he won't be allowed to reunite with Yui after all.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:41 AM on July 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
3) Gendo decides that the burns would be sweet spot to put Adam, so he could walk around with him all the time and no one would notice due to the gloves?
In the manga, apparently, Gendo eats Adam. But either way, it seems like Gendo absorbs Adam as part of his plan to control Instrumentality. Whether he specifically fused Adam into his right hand or whether Adam just happens to manifest there is unclear. There are lots of other places on his body where he could have hidden Adam without arousing suspicion, so I have to assume the "right hand" thing is ultimately another one of those Biblical-ish allusions that the show uses without any specific deeper meaning in mind.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:48 AM on July 25, 2019
In the manga, apparently, Gendo eats Adam. But either way, it seems like Gendo absorbs Adam as part of his plan to control Instrumentality. Whether he specifically fused Adam into his right hand or whether Adam just happens to manifest there is unclear. There are lots of other places on his body where he could have hidden Adam without arousing suspicion, so I have to assume the "right hand" thing is ultimately another one of those Biblical-ish allusions that the show uses without any specific deeper meaning in mind.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:48 AM on July 25, 2019
Yeah, my take was that Seele wants instrumentality for ideological reasons, while Gendo wants instrumentality for intensely personal reasons. It wasn't super clear to me why Seele and Gendo would be at odds, given that they basically want the same thing; upthread people mentioned that they wanted different people to be "in control" but I don't understand what "control" of instrumentality even means, given what it does to everyone.
The only thing I could think of is maybe Gendo's version of instrumentality is limited: by initiating instrumentality the way Gendo wanted to, maybe it limits the effects only to him and Yui/Rei. Everyone else would be out in the cold, which Seele would very much be against.
posted by chrominance at 8:50 AM on July 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
The only thing I could think of is maybe Gendo's version of instrumentality is limited: by initiating instrumentality the way Gendo wanted to, maybe it limits the effects only to him and Yui/Rei. Everyone else would be out in the cold, which Seele would very much be against.
posted by chrominance at 8:50 AM on July 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
I think STEELE wants it all, Gendo wants Lilith to dominate. As luck would have it he had to remove the restraining spear from Lilith which pissed SEELE off and played into his Lilith/Yui/Rei version of reuniting. STEELE wanted to claim the joining of weak Adam/Lilith and be the new god. Gendo wanted to still be there to be with Yui.
Like strong Adam/Lilith is a hard reset and poof everything is nullified. Weak Adam/Lilith is an opportunity for godhood. Weak Adam and stronger Lilith is a reset with a different life.
posted by zengargoyle at 8:59 AM on July 25, 2019
Like strong Adam/Lilith is a hard reset and poof everything is nullified. Weak Adam/Lilith is an opportunity for godhood. Weak Adam and stronger Lilith is a reset with a different life.
posted by zengargoyle at 8:59 AM on July 25, 2019
I was under the impression that the conflict came down to who gets to "drive" during instrumentality, Gendo or SEELE. The answer to that question that absolutely no one wanted was "Shinji", who the movie wastes no time in portraying as a self loathing mess right out of the gate. And so of course all the other plans fall apart and the fate of humanity falls to Shinji, the least qualified possible person. He's the protagonist, not the hero. The last scene is awful but consistent: epic adventures and immense responsibility is not therapy.
posted by phooky at 10:05 AM on July 25, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by phooky at 10:05 AM on July 25, 2019 [7 favorites]
Weird, The Onion just posted an article about baby Shinji?
posted by tobascodagama at 12:49 PM on July 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 12:49 PM on July 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
Ok, I got around to watching the second half of this last night and woah do I dislike that ending. I mean yeah, they both say that power fantasies and god complexes are non-great, but I much prefer the version where I get taken outside the frame of that universe and shown a path where Shinji might deal with his shit (thereby leading the way for viewers who empathize), rather than the version where it rubs my nose in how f@#ked up things can turn out in the whole instrumentality scenario, and how much more the story can damage Shinji, and abuse women. I'm not totally up to speed on the context but if this film has as much to do with Anno's internal state as I get the impression the series does, then things sure took a dive for him during that period, huh? Hope he's ok now. Sincerely.
posted by threecheesetrees at 12:53 AM on July 26, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by threecheesetrees at 12:53 AM on July 26, 2019 [3 favorites]
I feel like it's important to see this at least in part as a response to the fan reception episodes 25 & 26 got. There's a strong element of "You want to see what was happening in the world outside Shinji's head? You're sure? Well, fine. Happy now?"
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:17 AM on July 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:17 AM on July 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
Thanks, I hate it!
Yeah, the "death threat"/graffiti sequence (frustratingly untranslated in the Netflix version, at least if you have subtitles on) makes that subtext clearer. (Although most of those reactions, both positive and negative, are technically aimed at Death & Rebirth rather than the TV ending.)
I'm one of those people who finds the TV ending satisfying, so I think that inclines me more to accepting that both endings fit in the same continuity, even if it's not quite clear where the seams are.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:22 AM on July 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
Yeah, the "death threat"/graffiti sequence (frustratingly untranslated in the Netflix version, at least if you have subtitles on) makes that subtext clearer. (Although most of those reactions, both positive and negative, are technically aimed at Death & Rebirth rather than the TV ending.)
I'm one of those people who finds the TV ending satisfying, so I think that inclines me more to accepting that both endings fit in the same continuity, even if it's not quite clear where the seams are.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:22 AM on July 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
They sure deliver on the promise of fanservice, though, huh? And then Misato promising to have sex with a 14 year old, and Shinji’s fucked up misogynistic turn. Like Asuka says, disgusting.
And pretty unsatisfying! But as to whether this is an alternative to the final episodes or a complement, this IGN article has a little more fuel for the fire in regard to Rebuild Of Evangelion.
posted by rodlymight at 1:04 PM on July 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
And pretty unsatisfying! But as to whether this is an alternative to the final episodes or a complement, this IGN article has a little more fuel for the fire in regard to Rebuild Of Evangelion.
posted by rodlymight at 1:04 PM on July 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
Well if it’s a middle finger to shitty fans then I hate it less, but I still hate it. Here’s hoping the final Rebuild movie is a 2hr deluxe version of the series ending.
posted by threecheesetrees at 5:05 PM on July 26, 2019
posted by threecheesetrees at 5:05 PM on July 26, 2019
Gendo ain't seeing Yui in The Big Gestalt as she's in 01. Ditto on his assistant/right hand guy. God, that one dude who only saw Rei, the tall one, he knew how bad the scenario was at the end and might have been one of the only ones to have that knowledge prior to The Big Gestalt. Shinji very obviously is not coming out on top. Asuka seems to re-assemble from the LCL on the basis of Purified Hatred For All Things Ikari? But is still pretty fucked in the giant sea of death scenario.
Yui gets to float off as a sentient, immortal monument of humanity though.
Yui as both evil genius and Main Villain gets the win??
posted by Slackermagee at 5:56 PM on July 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yui gets to float off as a sentient, immortal monument of humanity though.
Yui as both evil genius and Main Villain gets the win??
posted by Slackermagee at 5:56 PM on July 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
Gendo gets eaten by Unit 01. He's got what he wanted, to be with Yui forever.
Asuka finally gets to cut loose, and show her combat expertise. Such a happy moment for her, and it's wrecked by some bullshit out of nowhere. There was no whale-faced Eva behind her to throw that giant blade, and it transforms into the one thing that could stop her. This is what made me realise she was never able to win on her own terms in the series. Every time in the series, she had to rely on someone else helping out, but this time it was almost like the movie was saying "Cool, but you're not the protagonist. You don't get to save the day.".
Hey Ritsuko, you may be two steps ahead of Gendo, but you don't get to blow up HQ. You're not even a main character lol.
It's great to see this all in HD. You can see all the technobabble screens, all the cyborg parts of the chairman, all the horrific eyes that pop up. Everything looks wonderfully clear and colourful. It's crazy what artists can do when given the budget.
Almost as crazy as having the credits in the middle of the movie. I can't think of anything else that's done that.
posted by WhackyparseThis at 9:50 PM on July 27, 2019 [8 favorites]
Asuka finally gets to cut loose, and show her combat expertise. Such a happy moment for her, and it's wrecked by some bullshit out of nowhere. There was no whale-faced Eva behind her to throw that giant blade, and it transforms into the one thing that could stop her. This is what made me realise she was never able to win on her own terms in the series. Every time in the series, she had to rely on someone else helping out, but this time it was almost like the movie was saying "Cool, but you're not the protagonist. You don't get to save the day.".
Hey Ritsuko, you may be two steps ahead of Gendo, but you don't get to blow up HQ. You're not even a main character lol.
It's great to see this all in HD. You can see all the technobabble screens, all the cyborg parts of the chairman, all the horrific eyes that pop up. Everything looks wonderfully clear and colourful. It's crazy what artists can do when given the budget.
Almost as crazy as having the credits in the middle of the movie. I can't think of anything else that's done that.
posted by WhackyparseThis at 9:50 PM on July 27, 2019 [8 favorites]
I don't think I need to look at anything else on the internet, Austin Walker has the winner. A Home Movies / End of Evangelion crossover I didn't know I needed.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 8:43 PM on July 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 8:43 PM on July 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
Reading this as a giant middle finger to the fans who sent Anno death threats makes the movie make sense to me. It's not especially subtle either. Shinji masturbating over the broken body of Asuka is a direct accusation of pervert fans who like to masturbate to 14 year olds with severe psychological issues. Here are the fan letters, on camera. Let's undo the breakthrough Shinji makes in the series finale to make him wallow in misery and eventually be rejected by the whole human race. That what you wanted? And here, you wanted more faux-religious iconography, violence, conspiracy nonsense, and naked girls? Check, check, check, and check, drown in it all. Happy?
"Disgusting."
posted by JDHarper at 9:22 PM on July 29, 2019 [6 favorites]
"Disgusting."
posted by JDHarper at 9:22 PM on July 29, 2019 [6 favorites]
I saw thing on Twitter that Anno is now doing a Shin Ultraman to go with his Shin Godzilla.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 2:34 PM on July 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 2:34 PM on July 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
Shin Godzilla: What if Godzilla, but bureaucracy
I tease. I actually really liked that part -- that if this was actually happening, these are all the hoops and paperwork that would be required before anyone could do anything.
posted by fiercecupcake at 3:20 PM on July 31, 2019
I tease. I actually really liked that part -- that if this was actually happening, these are all the hoops and paperwork that would be required before anyone could do anything.
posted by fiercecupcake at 3:20 PM on July 31, 2019
I love the interpretation of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" that plays over the footage of hate mail. It feels like an actual crying session with rising and falling waves of sadness. Since the emotion of the piece is completely opposite to the "joy" of the title, it's also an interesting foil to "Komm, süsser Tod", an upbeat pop song about suicide. Taken together, both pieces reiterate Evangelion's cruel thesis (oh ho ho) of how we humans so often fail to communicate our feelings with each other.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 10:25 AM on December 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by J.K. Seazer at 10:25 AM on December 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
I get that Shinji and Asuka have been horribly traumatized. But what the hell. It didn't need to be a happy ending, or up note or anything. But it didn't have to be so unbelievably dark.
So unrelated to that, I personally find the biggest unresolved mystery of the series to be Fuyutsuki's motivation. In the episode focusing on him he seems to have a decent conscience, and it implies that he learned something which caused him to pivot from exposing SEELE to joining it.
Except... what ultimately happens, and he was fighting for seems to be pretty much exactly what he was hoping to expose. So what was the secret which would produce his change of heart?
Also, did I just miss the reveal previously where Gendo's hands had Adam grafted to them? That seems like a pretty big detail which just floated by.
posted by Kikujiro's Summer at 6:06 AM on July 25, 2019 [1 favorite]