Anime: Shinseiki Evangelion Gekijouban: Air / Magokoro o, Kimi ni

Part 2: A Violent Roar

So this is what happens when you refuse Eva’s embrace.

If Neon Genesis Evangelion was the stern yet loving embrace with the ultimate message of accepting understanding yourself in order to begin accepting understanding others, then The End of Evangelion is the much wilder, more apocalyptic, but equally passionate gripping and shaking of your shoulders that desperately roars to you of the dangers of running away from reality and that regardless of how painful we can be, we must face it in order for good things to even have a chance at happening.

Where NGE settled on a satisfying realization for Shinji despite the current and borderline unambiguously devastating outside circumstances we are made aware of via a line of text that lasts for but a brief moment, this one takes a more apocalyptic approach, effectively resetting things in the end with hope for the future where everything is restored. It is a violent rampage that lays waste to nearly everyone, and an exaggerated showcase of the type of results inflicted on other people when you decide to run away from reality and close yourself off out of fear and spite.

The violence is a wondrous spectacle to behold thanks to the teams at Production IG and Gainax. The final battle Asuka has is phenomenal and gruesome to say the least, and all sorts of destruction are beautifully drawn and animated. All sorts of magnificently vibrant explosions, and all the carnage of a more Lovecraftian and apocalyptic kind are vivid, imaginative, and horrifying. Everything is left mangled in an almost heavenly state, as if this film needed any more Christian iconography-based faux symbolism, among other relatively minor flaws that are carried over from the main series. For an inherently unique positive of the film, one few would really notice despite how long it stays there, we have the scene of the audience. Said audience was recorded at the screening of the initial film, intentionally, for it to be spliced a the last second as part of the mind-shattering real-life montage Shinji and all viewers witnessed. The only blemish is one short action-heavy rescue with shakycam and even then, if something so small and isolated is the worst the film’s visual presentation does, that is a testament to the film’s visuals.

Among the many new, fantastic pieces added to this film by series music composer Shiro Sagisu, is the phenomenal track that plays at the height of the film’s chaos and climax, is the track “Komm Süssser Tod”. A lovely, oddly fitting track despite its seemingly happy tone, with fantastic english vocals. There are other intensely emotional tracks that are around as wonderful as the best tracks of the original series, such as “Munashiki Nagare” and the end credits theme "Thanatos -If I Can't Be Yours-" by Loren & Mash, a lovely, soothing, and jazzy song that separates the two halves of this devastatingly brutal film. There are even tracks that blatantly remix old ones in ways that are around as great as said original tracks, adding to the praise this film’s music shall receive, on top of how some fantastic tracks from the original make a return.

The carnage hits hard, not just for viewers, but most especially for Shinji, broken and reduced to his lowest point mentally and as a human being by the events of episode 24 in the show. He and we know that everyone is in ruin, with everyone they admired or loved being dead before this film or dying early on, and the ruin and death continues because he cannot stop it, and he even wants it just so he can run away again. He ran away, and not only is no one in or out of universe having that, but the bulk of the climax is him being confronted by that and slowly cracking as he is convinced to accept the truth, the message, thanks to introspective versions of everyone in the show and film that were related to him in a major way, as well as Rei herself communicating with him. Throughout the series, he repeats the line “I mustn’t run away”, and he does thrice total, this being the third and final time, and we see what becomes of it. You must face reality, not run from it. That is the only way for you to find any hope or happiness in the midst of dark times, and the best way for you to not inadvertently hurt others. Much like last time, this is a lesson everyone should learn in order to deal with harsh times. The final scenes support this immensely in one of the most powerful “show don’t tell” scenes in anime, all whilst providing a sheer sense of hope for the future, knowing that closure has been given for every single relevant character in the series in ways so perfect for them it hurts to see them leave the way they do. Those moments were the most heart-shattering, soul-smashing in the film, and among the most impactful of this behemoth of a franchise.

Does it go too far sometimes? Admittedly. Are there problems with the narrative? Without activating an entire volcano of spoiler-heavy questions and answers and whatnot that analyzes justifies, and even criticizes both the film and the show itself, I’ll say that it does, even if they are relatively minor. But it is a truly powerful and challenging film with something important to say that justifies its existence when it didn’t really have to. Anno could have just ignored the abhorrently unwarranted backlash from people who hated the final episodes, but instead, he channeled his anger into another piece of art that in some ways, does the finale one better. It gives the closure some people wanted, even if it is nothing like what many expected, let alone truly asked for. It does so expertly in many regards, even if it may come off as self-important and unnecessarily unflinching to the point of discomfort and outrage on the part of some viewers. However, it fits almost perfectly with every character and ties up the themes of the original in a way that shines a new, more despondent and challenging light on them. The fact that it came away with an equally important message that the show itself left room for is just the cherry on top of this demented, awe-inspiring, and loving sundae, even if the controlled chaos may go too far and leave things more ambiguous or disturbing than it needed to. However, this is the culmination of everything Evangelion is and was, perhaps even more so than the finale of the original. For that and more, The End of Evangelion is something special, and worth cherishing, much like its predecessor. Thank you for reading this, and with all that said, I bid you adieu.

Oh my god I will never ever understand why people like this horrible abomination to man kind so much and it says I have to give my likes and dislikes, but... I can't say them without going into a full on rant with spoilers, so here it goes, this is my honest opinion about the whole original series. I started off liking this anime because it was a giant robot vs monster series, but when it hit the third act of the series it went alllllll down hill from there. Everything went to shit after Kaji getting killed off for a BS reason, Asuka getting mind raped by a angel and her going even more insane, the first Rei getting killed off and getting replaced by a clone with no memory's of the original and the whole giant robot vs monster thing being replaced mostly by psychological bullshit banter and a LOOOT of religious symbolism to fill a whole bible, hell there is more religious symbolism in here than Hellsing, Devil May Cry, Full Metal Alchemist and Hunchback of Notre Dam combined and the same shot lasting forever with Rei and Asuka just standing in the elevator and Eva Unit 1 holding Kaoru. The End of Evangelion is the worst animated movie Ive ever sat my ass through, with its fucked up in the head scene with Shinji whacking off to a comatose Asuka in bed and getting his "you know what" all over his hand and saying im so fucked up, which you are by the way, is this how like your main hero? A bullshit stupid organization know as SEELE coming right the fuck out of no where and slaughtering all of NERV in there sight, more of Shinji being emo whiny little bitch and more stupid ass religious symbolism and fucked up weird as hell imagery, a full grown man (Gendo) touching a teenaged girl's (Rei) naked body, everyone in the world (except Shinji and Asuka) dieing and turning into goo and to top it off with the cherry on the Shit Sunday, have Shinji try strangling Asuka and her saying, I feel sick to my stomach, at the end.

They fucked up the characters also with Shinji being a emo, whiny, little bitch with the death of his mother and having daddy issues because his father is a child neglecting asshole and give him MORE crying scenes then Tobey Maguire in the Sam Raimi Spiderman movies. I know thats probably normal for someone, but OH MY GOD a giant monster is attacking the city, get your head out of your ass and start fighting that thing, bottom line, GET THE FUCK OVER IT SHINJI, Rei have her be a cute kuudere and develop a personality and feelings for Shinji, but nope like I said above, kill her off and getting replaced by a clone with no memory's of the original and last and definitely least is Asuka a crazy, annoying, schizophrenic, hateful, bitchy ass, tsunedere girl with a big mouth that thinks she's all hot shit with a big enough shitty pride that even makes Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z blush or disgusted.

All in all the origanal NGE sucks ass, Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei is million times more better this shit, yes a anime with brother and sister incest and a shit ton of talking, what people been saying, is far more better than NGE. Better yet hentai donjinshi of NGE are far more better the series, or read the Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Shinji Ikari Raising Project manga which I consider way more better. Its like School Days, the anime sucks ass, but the games are far more better than it by a long shot if you only go for the Kotonoha good routes and ignore that crazy stupid bitch Sakei.

Finally done with this review, if you like this drop me a helpful, I would really like it and if you got anything to say give me a comment on my profile or messages and thats it have a awesome day.

OKay, I am an Asuka fan and I am here to complain about Asuka and how she got pushed to the sidelines. She is my favorite character and I don't like what they did to her. It was too torturous, they ruined her eye and her Eva REALLY BADLY and Shinji just got even more hateful by going crazy, crying, and even choking her at the end (gladly, she didn't die).

I do not get the hype for this. The movie is boring. Asuka is what made the series better, I would've got bored and I did skip the episodes if she wasn't in them. So, I guess I do not get this movie or maybe I have to watch the series again.

So, now we got to suffer an hour of Shinji's pansy butt. Like in the series, he did get more likable towards the end when we learn about his past. I did like Misato more, too. Rei had a more decent ark, but I don't like the end of the world thing at the end. No one else I really could care much for.

This movie was just creepy and violent. I was thinking that this would be a great film but it was just very over-hyped. This movie just had me screaming at the computer through. The characters are quite different, Asuka is worrying about her mother and I was wondering if like I heard, it may be because her mother's soul was there or she was just relying on her to try her best to get through this hard battle but she had a really evil face on sometimes during the battle, I understand that this type of facial expression was new for its time but it still looked too evil. Misato seemed to have been in love with Shinji, she might've been this way in the series, too. And I don't understand Rei's arc of being above the world while it was destroyed.

I also did not like the new facial expressions for Asuka representing the scenes in the anime like when she wakes Shinji up, she's now more scary and hateful than she was likable and funny.

I also do not like the live-action combination in this, even though it did have a good message about reality in dreams.

The jazzy song at the end of the first half was okay but it was smoother than Fly Me To The Moon.

Gladly, it did not have Hikari in it but it still could do better than this.

The following review has topics and videos that are not suitable for children. Unless you are one of the "Children" chosen to pilot an EVA.

Critic's Log: Earthdate - May 21, 2012. Review #5: Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End Of Evangelion

If you have read my review of Neon Genesis Evangelion (The TV Series) and its movie Death and Rebirth, Well this is it. This is the big one. This is THE END OF EVANGELION.

This is the movie that either replaces the ending entirely, it can also be viewed as an alternate ending, and it can also be viewed alongside the final 2 episodes of the show, which I pretend it doesn't exist. This was a highly anticipated anime feature film for its time and the experience is unforgettable. Either you were mesmerized by its visuals, or you absolutely loathed its Artistic approach. Either way, this is a love/hate type of series. Here is The End of Evangelion.

Third Impact has been prevented and the planet is saved. NERV unexpectedly finds itself under attack. Gendo starts to set up his main goal, and SEELE launches a massive raid towards Tokyo-3 in order to conclude their main goal at any cost. NERV must now fight its most fearsome opponent: Humanity itself.

I apologize if this is slightly spoilerific, but that was just a little plot summary for this review concerning this movie. If there's anything I should warn you about, there is an off-screen masturbation scene right in the first 2 or 3 minutes of the film.

Congratulations Anno-san! You just disturbed your viewers in the first couple of minutes of the film.

To be technical. This is a Gainax production and they really made quite the impression for most people. The first half is very good. The spectacular action scenes present from the TV show go full force and all out in this first half. Asuka rising from the lake was the most epic action scene in the series. This leads into a gut wrenching twist of events during the last 10 minutes of the first half and hell is starting to break loose. The second half starts out nicely until Shinji gives up. After Shinji gives up, we are given philosophical, metaphorical, artistic, and ambiguous imagery and dialogue for the next 10 minutes until Third Impact begins. The human race appears to be raptured and then we get a glimpse of a really odd but interesting live-action scene of the film, I kind of understand the reason for the live-action clip but the meaning is a bit ambiguous. After the live-action scene, we finally start seeing the series wrap up into a somewhat interesting set up for the final scene.

If you wonder why I am not mentioning much detail about all this. Because this is another mindboggling mind frag ending filled in with this philosophical psychological metaphorical mindboggling IMAGERY that is a bit hard to decipher which makes this ending a bit ambiguous just like the TV show's ending, but more visual. The Final Scene is both hard to accept and is ambiguous. Shinji and Asuka are the only ones left in the world (how Asuka came back is hinted a little bit before the final scene, but still confusing) Shinji decides to strangle Asuka and then he starts breaking down, and that is how Neon Genesis Evangelion ends. The ending sure has a lot to chew on, but I can't say the second half's story isn't much since all the imagery makes the story hard to analyze.

The animation in this movie is a huge upgrade to the show. It looks twice as better than the show and the obvious reason is that the movie has a bigger budget than the TV show (which had a hard time keeping up with the budget). It is done well for its time, and the action scenes are spectacular in this movie. Gainax really went balls to the wall in 1997 and this movie proved it by then.

The live action scene was a ballsy approach, but I don't know how that would help the movie in any means.

When it comes to voice acting, The Japanese cast goes all out here. They have reached their peak with the characters in this movie. The English dub is nowhere at the same level. The dub is below hit and miss than the TV Show. I have watched this movie both dubbed and subtitled. I did not enjoy the dubbed version that much.

I also have something technical to bring up in this movie regarding language tracks, there is a cartoonish sound effect added in the dub in some scenes. It added nothing to the movie and it felt out of place. ADR Director Amanda Winn-Lee (who was the voice of Rei in the Original series and this movie) thought it would be a good idea to add this cartoonish sound effect, I could not accept this at all. If you want to know what sound effect I'm talking about, find the scene where Misato kills a JSSDF soldier in the first half of the movie. Also, some sound effects that came from the Evangelions also are different in the dub. Fine by me... But Manga Entertainment sure had the balls to include all that in the 5.1 Japanese audio track and leave the Stereo 2.0 Track with the original sound effects intact with no additions so forth. I am not kidding, compare the 5.1 and 2.0 Japanese tracks and hear it for yourself. I was a bit cheated by Manga Entertainment with their treatment of this movie.

The music by Shiro Sagisu is haunting and mesmerizing on most notes. It really fit the atmosphere of the movie. Komm, Susser Todd was a really interesting one to hear, because when the world starts, we hear a happy sounding catchy tune that is about suicide. The music is great during its first half and great during its mindfuck of a second half.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End Of Evangelion was availiable by Manga Entertainment and is out of print.

With all that said, The End of Evangelion is a visual feast. But it is not everyone's cup of tea. There are some things to like and some things not to like. When it comes to Evangelion. It is an anime that gives you a kind of feeling that can go in different ways, some will say it is awesome, some would say it is brilliant. Some people will love it, some people will hate it. All I can say is that this anime is ambitious and unique. It is ambitious that it puts in Action, Philosophy, Psychological intrigue, religious symbolism, and metaphors. It is unique that they tie in these elements and put them in with the relationships of these characters. This show is not all about giant robots, or action. It's about these characters that go through a lot of things and the show really displays that humans are fragile, whether it's mentally or physically. This is probably a safe bet that that is series' biggest strength, its weakness is probably that it has too much ambition. Is this an anime that will interest you into a psychology class? Maybe. Is this anime the greatest ever made? Not at all, I don't think it is worthy of being graded a 10 out of 10. Is this anime overrated? Yes, but I don't think it's terrible. I like it. I have already said this in my review of the TV show. This was my real gateway to anime, Pokémon was the first, but that was an Americanized version and I don't think it really counts much. This pretty much wraps up my trilogy of reviews of the Classic Neon Genesis Evangelion series from The TV show to the movie conclusion. I will review the remakes sometime in the future.

I give Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion a 8.6 out of 10. It is VERY GOOD!

Feel free to comment below and shine like a legend.

Before starting: NGE in general is clasified seinen, not because of violence and sex (this doesn't mean it doesn't has) but mostly because the ideas it shows are not always easy to understand. You'd be doing wrong if you expect it to be a stupid-hero-that-defeats-everything-and-saves-the-world, and only a fool would hope for a happy ending, what bring us to EoE, which I'm going to review. (NOTE: Please watch the series first before watching EoE)[br][br][br][br]Animation (9)[br][br]The animation is good, it's been more than 10 years since it came out and I still find it better than some of the current animes of the season. Realistic characters, realistic movements, decent backgrounds, even the irreal stuff seems well drawn. I'm sure you won't drop it because of crappy animation.[br]There is some real life scenes (way too litle) but they're there to help the audience grasp the meaning of the moment.[br][br][br]Sound (8)[br][br]The voice acting (Japanese voice acting) is great. The BGM captures the feeling of the scene, and the song used at the climax: 'Komm, süßer Tod', makes the whole experience more memorable. The sound is sure one of the strong parts of EoE.[br][br][br]Story (9)[br][br]Criticized by many, the story is in fact the strogest part of EoE. While many people find it pesimistic, shady, confusing and an offence to the original series, the truth is that this is how NGE is.[br][br]If you alredy watched the series, you might be wondering: 'What was that?' or 'What about everyone?'. Well. EoE answer you that.[br]Happening between episode 24 and episode 25 (not completely, some happens at the same time than the last 2 episodes, and the last scene is after), EoE Shows what went on after the last angel was defeated, It is not an alternate ending, it just complements the whole thing.[br][br]We also have to remember that NGE in general doesn't strictly follow reality, so having a fantasy ending is way normal, this doesn't mean that the ending is a bunch of senseless sequences of video, like many say. You just have to think the whole thing, and you'll find that what the author wants to express is way simpler than it looks.[br][br][br]Characters (8)[br][br]Characters go trough a lot of character development, some of them take more important roles than those they had during the series, and the main character, Shinji, goes trough a lot of questions to get to the finale. adding the psychological charge that characterizes NGE, you end up having a whole set of personalities, every one of them with ther good parts, bad parts, hidden parts, selfish parts, forbidden parts, evil parts, and everything that makes characters take form and have a personality.[br][br]Some say that the characters at EoE are irreal, and that donesn't follow logical ways to the things they're living, but the truth is that there is no way of knowing how someone whould react to an event like the events at EoE, nor is it posible to tell what they're feeling; I think that the characters react just as they should have reacted, and if there is any diference from the actions they'd have taken at the series, is just due to character development.[br][br][br]Value (10)[br][br]The value, although it should be something apart from personal opinion, I find kind of hard to rate it without afecting it by my own beliefs.[br][br]I find EoE (and the whole NGE series in general) an aspects of my life, it doesn't only define me as a otaku, but as a person too. Everytime I find an social-interaction problem, Lines from EoE flash in my mind, and this is because NGE (Including EoE) is more than an anime, it's actually Art, Art that succeeds at expressing something, Art that cautivates the mind, Art whose ideas define how you are.[br][br]If you should watch it?[br]Yes. Even if you don't like mechas, even if you don't watch this kind onf anime, even if you don't like it because is 'too mainstream', you should give it a try; if you don't understand it in the first time, then watch it again, if you still don't, read some aditional data, and watch it again.[br][br][br]Enjoyment (10)[br][br]No words here, every person find things the way they do for something, and to explain why I enjoyed EoE so much would take me to explain almost my whole life and personal experiences, but it sure made me think, redefine, and that's what I like on animes.[br][br][br]Extra comments[br][br]It might look like I'm overrating things up, but that's not my intention. You can be sure that I didn't make numbers bigger just to draw attention.[br][br][br][br]1.-That was all with my review, sorry if some things are not correctly written, English is not my mother tongue.[br]2.-This is a review and it contains mostly my personal opinion, things written here doesn't have to be true, nor have they to be false.[br]3.-Thanks for your time![br]

Note: Please read my review of NEON GENESIS EVANGELION to fully understand this review. Also, I have written a review for DEATH AND REBIRTH which may also put more of this review into context better.

The End of Evangelion is, simply put, the conclusion to the Neon Genesis Evangelion story put together as an OVA. After you've seen the NGE series, EoE should be regarded as the final episode(s) to be viewed straight after in my opinion. Why it was a separate OVA and not 3 or 4 episodes of the series I don't quite know. This gives EoE a quality that makes it difficult to review, because I feel it necessary to pigeon-hole it (to a certain extent) into being regarded as either a movie or part of a series, in order to base my opinions on it in the right context.

After careful consideration, I've decided to class it as part of a series rather than a movie. Even though it contains some minor live action footage at the beginning, separating it briefly from the notion of being a series somewhat, overall it has no 'beginning' or 'middle'. It really is just the 'end' of the NGE series.

Visuals:
I would say that the visual quality in End of Evangelion is just as high as the series. The animation is excellent, with tremendous artwork and lighting, and again mind-blowing camera work that just radiates the Evangalion style so famliar from the series. The action scenes are violent and bloody, and once again give great scale to the environments that they affect.

However, there is something added here in EoE that diminishes the visuals: the live action crowd and cinema audience footage. At the start and some way through the OVA, there is a few minutes of footage that just basically shows a crowd of people, with three girls subtly dressed as the characters Asuka, Rei and Misato. I always felt as though this footage was unncecessary and only spliced in to give EoE the feel that it was a stand-alone piece of anime rather than a part of the series. But of course, EoE is nothing but part of the series.

Sound:
How can one fault the sound? To be honest, I personally can't. There are great sound effects, music and ambiance that have continued their standard on from the series. The voice acting is once again the same excellent work. EoE contains new music exclusive to it, like a full song or two, played at key moments in the OVA. These are also very beffiting to the feel of the anime.

Story:
Down to business. EoE does not finish up at all where I ever could have expected. It is not just a tie-up to the series. It's plot has a progression beyond a simple conclusion. An EVOLUTION, I suppose, is a more accurate way of describing it. A friend of mine emotionally invested in it too deeply - as a result, to my amazement he actually found it to be quite disturbing.

The first half hour of EoE is taken from REBIRTH (from the OVA "DEATH AND REBIRTH"). Anyone who has seen DEATH AND REBIRTH literally could if they so choose, fast forward past the first half hour if they so wish, and would not miss a single new scene. But personally I think REBIRTH shouldn't have even been bothered to be included with DEATH - it sits much better here in EoE, providing better continuity for the OVA.

EoE begins after episode 24 of NGE. The 17th (I think) Angel has been dealt with, but the lead cast have now been left fairly physically and emotionally crippled in one way or another. The organisations funding Nerv Headquaters decide to liquidate Nerv, and try to initiate a global action that may affect the whole of humanity. What ensues is 90mins of absorbing, intense, and often shocking, unpredictable events.

The first half of the OVA consists of some very intense action, with an abundant degree of gritty violence. There is a great deal of excitement that's generated in a very short space of time, that I found really kept me buzzing throughout. But it's the concluding second half of the OVA that really toys with your thoughts. Religious, mythical and spiritual elements come into play very very heavily, and just when your skepticism has you believing that the 'legends' told within the anime have no real substance even in the anime's universe, your disbeliefs are shattered by what you then begin to witness on-screen. An evolution of both the anime's story, as well as the anime's world, takes place before your very eyes. The overall experience is epic and breathtaking.

If what I have described above seems cryptic, it's because I feel reluctant in explaining EoE more deeply in case I ruin the experience for someone who has not yet seen it. Those who have seen it will hopefully appreciate what I mean.

Character:
The characters are once again the same people from the series. However they have a limited scope of development within the duration of EoE. In this OVA there isn't as much focus on a handful of characters. It's much more global for the most part. The 2 or 3 characters that ARE singled out are only really done so to provide a reason for the camera to show the events occuring in a particular scene. Shinji would be the obvious exception. His character is more key to the plot that any other, and this is even more evident in EoE over the series.

Again, the creators take the characters down paths which THEY want to, without regard for the viewers' feelings about it. I still appreciate this purity, but can't honestly say that I enjoy it. By EoE, I truly disliked Shinji as this weak and 'cowardly' protagonist. Asuka also became more irritating. Truthfully, their characters, after their experiences could realistically be in that sort of state. But that doesn't mean it's enjoyabe to see. So once again, I call them a double-edged sword. They are emotional wrecks, with deep scarring, but being in an anime you feel a false sense of hope that they will overcome their problems. I do however applaud the character design for being different from the norm without being contrived.

Value:
I couldnt watch EoE on it's own. It would be like one day deciding to watch episode 24 of NGE, without 1-23 first. However, EoE is simply mandatory viewing after watching the series through. It provides the closure.

Enjoyment:
All in all this a fantastic ending to a fantastic series. I was on the edge of my seat in disbelief at times at what I was seeing. Metaphorically speaking, I would have never guessed the rabbit hole went so deep. My only real criticism, is that there is at times too much analysis of the mental states of some of the characters, where I feel it's been done just for the SAKE of it, rather than the NEED for it. But this only feels apparent after the first viewing. Overall EoE is a mind blowing experience, and I strongly would urge those that have finished the series to watch it. DIRECTLY afterwards if they can.