Neon Genesis: Evangelion The End Of Evangelion -1997-

Title: Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion Japanese Title: Shin Seiki Evangerion Gekijō-ban: Air / Magokoro wo, Kimi ni Release Date: July 19, 1997 Runtime: 87 Minutes Studio: Gainax / Production I.G Director/Writer: Hideaki Anno Genre: Psychological Horror, Mecha, Sci-Fi, Apocalyptic

Picking up immediately after Episode 24, the film is divided into two halves: Episode 25: Air and Episode 26: Sincerely Yours.

The film opens not with hope, but with an act of profound degradation. In what remains the most shocking cold open in anime history, Shinji Ikari masturbates over the comatose body of Asuka Langley Soryu in a hospital room. There is no music. There is no fan service. There is only the wet, pathetic sound of a broken boy treating the only person who could save him as an object.

Act I: The Descent The narrative resumes immediately after Episode 24. The 17th Angel, Kaworu Nagisa (the angel who loved Shinji), is dead by Shinji’s own hand. Asuka is catatonic after her psychic violation by the 15th Angel. Rei Ayanami is losing her sense of self. NERV Commander Gendo Ikari is betrayed NERV and SEELE, who have labeled NERV as rogue. neon genesis evangelion the end of evangelion -1997-

SEELE launches "Operation: End of Evangelion"—the invasion of NERV headquarters by the Japanese Strategic Self-Defense Force (JSSDF). What follows is fifteen minutes of pure, uncut carnage. The JSSDF, armed with positron rifles and ballistic knives, massacres every NERV staff member in sight. Ritsuko Akagi is shot dead in the LCL pool. Maya Ibuki is vaporized while crying for "Senpai." Misato Katsuragi, after kissing Shinji (a "goodbye kiss" that is equal parts maternal love and romantic desperation), sacrifices herself to get him to Unit-01, detonating her necklace bomb as the elevator doors close. She dies bloody, alone, and questioning if she was a good person.

Act II: The Rejection Shinji crawls into the Entry Plug of Eva-01. He refuses to pilot. He begs for death. But the Eva activates on its own, breaking through the Geofront’s armor. The Mass Production Evas—white, grinning monstrosities with S² engines, bird-like wings, and mechanical halos—descend. They disarm Unit-02, which is ironically piloted by a suddenly conscious, screaming Asuka.

Asuka’s battle is the film’s action centerpiece. Awakening from her catatonia, she realizes her mother’s soul has always been inside Unit-02. For one glorious, furious moment, she achieves total synchronization. She dismantles the MP Evas, spinning like a Valkyrie. But then the Evas regenerate. They impale Unit-02 with a replica of the Spear of Longinus. As the cable is cut, Asuka looks up to see the MP Evas in a crucifixion formation. They descend with their mass-production lances. Title: Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion

The screen goes black. We hear the sound of flesh being torn, metal being chewed, and the wet, guttural scream of Asuka Langley Soryu being devoured alive. The MP Evas then use Unit-02's corpse as a ritualistic crucifix.

Act III: The God-Kaiju Shinji, witnessing Unit-02’s death, screams. Eva-01 goes berserk, ascending into a quasi-divine form—a tree of life. SEELE, observing from orbit, declares the beginning of the Human Instrumentality Project. Their goal: to break down the AT Fields (the walls of the heart that separate one soul from another), turning all of humanity into a single, orange sea of primordial goo (LCL). No pain. No rejection. Just a lukewarm ocean of collective loneliness.

Gendo attempts to merge Adam (embedded in his hand) with Rei, but Rei—having developed independent will—rejects him. She turns her back on the man who treated her as a tool and returns to Lilith (the giant white mask crucified in Terminal Dogma). Rei transforms into a colossal, spectral giant. She absorbs Gendo’s arm, then merges with Lilith, who then absorbs Eva-01. Picking up immediately after Episode 24, the film

What follows is the film’s infamous "Third Impact." It is not an explosion. It is a psychedelic, live-action, metaphysical essay. As Shinji sits inside the god-machine, he is put on trial. Rei/Lilith shows him the truth: his friends are not real archetypes, but wounded people. Misato uses him for comfort. Asuka sees him as a weakling. Rei is just a ghost.

Shinji, drowning in self-loathing, wishes for all of humanity to die. He wishes to erase the pain of "other people."