The End of Evangelion

The End of Evangelion

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Hideaki Anno
Kazuya Tsurumaki
Produced by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa
Written by Hideaki Anno
Starring Megumi Ogata
Megumi Hayashibara
Yūko Miyamura
Kotono Mitsuishi
Music by Shiro Sagisu
Cinematography Hisao Shirai
Edited by Sachiko Miki
Production
company
Distributed by Toei Company
Release dates
  • July 19, 1997 (1997-07-19)
Running time
 87 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

The End of Evangelion (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン劇場版 Air (エア)/まごころを、君に Shin Seiki Evangerion Gekijō-ban: Ea/Magokoro o, Kimi ni) is a 1997 Japanese animated and live-action science fiction film written and directed by Hideaki Anno and animated by Production I.G. It is an alternative finale for the series Neon Genesis Evangelion.

The film is divided into two episodes: Episode 25': Air / Love is Destructive and Episode 26': My Purest Heart for You, Sincerely Yours / ONE MORE FINAL: I need you. They replace or coincide with the series' controversial final two episodes.

The End of Evangelion initially received mixed reviews, despite obtaining the Animage Anime Grand Prix in 1997 (among other awards). A 2014 Time Out New York poll of filmmakers saw The End of Evangelion voted one of the 100 best animated films of all time.[1]

Plot

Teenager Shinji Ikari is the pilot of Evangelion Unit 01, one of several giant cyborgs designed to fight hostile supernatural entities called Angels. Distraught over the death of his friend Kaworu Nagisa, Shinji visits fellow pilot Asuka Langley Soryu in a hospital and masturbates to her comatose body.

The shadowy committee SEELE has discovered that commander Gendo Ikari intends to use NERV, the paramilitary organization that deploys the Evangelion units, for his own plans. SEELE dispatches the Japanese Strategic Self-Defense Force (JSSDF) to seize control of NERV, killing most of the staff. NERV major Misato Katsuragi orders Asuka moved to the cockpit of Evangelion Unit 02 and placed at the bottom of a lake, then rescues Shinji from JSSDF troops. Determined to have Shinji defend NERV, Misato brings Shinji to Unit 01's bay doors, but is mortally wounded in the process. Misato implores Shinji to pilot Unit 01, kisses him, and forces him into the elevator. Shinji discovers that Unit 01 is immobilized in JSSDF bakelite.

After concluding that NERV's defeat is inevitable, Gendo retrieves the Evangelion pilot Rei Ayanami. He plans to use her to initiate Third Impact, a cataclysm which will kill everyone on Earth, and reunite with his deceased wife Yui. Attempting to stop him, NERV scientist Ritsuko Akagi sends a computer command to destroy NERV. However, Casper, a computer core modeled on Ritsuko's mother, overrides her command and Gendo kills her.

Inside Evangelion Unit 02, Asuka overcomes her trauma and re-activates the unit. She destroys the JSSDF forces, but SEELE's new mass-produced Evangelion units dismember her and Unit 02, leaving her for dead. Breaking free of the bakelite, Unit 01 ascends above NERV headquarters. From the cockpit, Shinji witnesses the mass-produced units carrying the mutilated remains of Unit 02 and screams.

Gendo attempts to merge with Rei, who has the soul of Lilith, an angel hidden beneath NERV headquarters, to begin Third Impact. Having merged with another angel, Adam, Gendo will become a god if he merges with Lilith; however, Rei rejects Gendo, absorbs Adam and reunites with Lilith, and her body grows to gargantuan size. The mass-produced Evangelion units pull Unit 01 into the sky and crucify it, beginning the ritual to initiate Third Impact.

After several dreamlike contemplations, including a fight with Asuka, Shinji decides that he is alone and everyone in the world should die. In response, Rei/Lilith dissolves humanity back into primordial soup, reforming the souls of humanity into a single consciousness. Initially accepting this new state, Shinji feels that there is no happiness in the real world. However, he rejects it when he realizes that life is about experiencing joy, as well as pain. Rei/Lilith dies and Asuka and Shinji rematerialize in an apocalyptic landscape. Shinji begins to strangle Asuka, but when she caresses his face, he stops and breaks down in tears.

Cast

Character[2] Japanese English
Shinji Ikari Megumi Ogata Spike Spencer
Rei Ayanami Megumi Hayashibara Amanda Winn-Lee
Asuka Langley Soryu Yūko Miyamura Tiffany Grant
Kaworu Nagisa Akira Ishida Aaron Krohn
Misato Katsuragi Kotono Mitsuishi Allison Keith
Gendo Ikari Fumihiko Tachiki Tristan MacAvery
Kozo Fuyutsuki Motomu Kiyokawa Michael Ross
Ritsuko Akagi Yuriko Yamaguchi Sue Ulu
Makoto Hyuga Miki Nagasawa Keith Burgess
Shigeru Aoba Takehito Koyasu Jason C. Lee
Maya Ibuki Miki Nagasawa Amy Seeley
Keel Lorentz Mugihito Tom Booker
Yui Ikari Megumi Hayashibara Amanda Winn-Lee
Ryoji Kaji Kōichi Yamadera Aaron Krohn
Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu Maria Kawamura Kimberly Yates

Production

The ambiguous ending of original Evangelion TV series left several viewers and critics confused and unsatisfied.[3] The final two episodes were possibly the most controversial segments of an already controversial series[4] and were received as flawed and incomplete by many.[5] Director Hideaki Anno received death threats from some fans dissatisfied with the ending.[6] However, Anno and assistant director Kazuya Tsurumaki defended the artistic integrity of the finale.[7][8]

Gainax launched the project to create a film ending for the series in 1997, first releasing Death & Rebirth as a condensed character-based recap and re-edit of the TV series (Death) and the first half of the new ending (Rebirth, which was originally intended to be the full ending, but could not be finished due to budget and time constraints). The project was completed later in the year and released as The End of Evangelion.

Music

Regular series composer Shiro Sagisu scored The End of Evangelion. The film prominently features selections of Johann Sebastian Bach's music throughout the movie. Episode 25' has the Japanese title Air, being named after the Air on the G String which is played during the episode. Among the other pieces included are Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major (I. Prélude), Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (transcribed for piano and later played again with string instruments in the end credits), and Pachelbel's Canon.

Among the other insert songs are "Komm, süsser Tod" (Come, Sweet Death), an upbeat song (which appears in the film at the beginning of Instrumentality), "THANATOS -If I Can't Be Yours", which is played in both the end credits and the credits to episode 25' (the song is based around "THANATOS", a background music piece used in the series). Another song, "Everything You've Ever Dreamed", was recorded for the film by the same vocalist (Arianne) as "Komm, süsser Tod", but was not used and was later included on the Refrain of Evangelion soundtrack.

Interpretation

In the final scene of The End of Evangelion, Shinji and Asuka have separated themselves from the collective human existence. Shinji begins strangling Asuka, but when she caresses his face, he stops and breaks down in tears. Asuka then utters the film's last line, "気持ち悪い," which has been variously translated into English as "I feel sick" or "disgusting".[9] The meaning of the scene is obscure[10] and has been controversial.[11] According to Tiffany Grant, Asuka's English dub voice actress, director Anno once said the comment was a reference to morning sickness.[9]

Release

The End of Evangelion was first released in Japanese theaters on July 19, 1997. Between its release and October 1997, the film grossed 1.45 billion yen.[12] The film was later distributed on Laserdisc in Japan. It also included the first release of the video versions of Episodes 21–24. The film was split up into two 40-minute episodes with brief intros (similar to episode 22), edited credits (for each episode instead of credits for both between the two), redone eyecatcher-textboards (showing "Neon Genesis Evangelion Episode..." instead of "The End of Evangelion Episode...") and a next-episode-preview section in Episode 25'. The episodic version of the film was on the last two discs of the Laserdisc release of the series (Genesis 0:13 and 0:14 respectively), each containing 2 episodes (the original TV episodes and the new End of Evangelion episodes respectively), although the film was also released in its original cinematic form on VHS, Laserdisc, and later DVD. The script was serialized in 4 issues of Dragon Magazine from August 1997 to January 1998. The movie was released on Blu-ray along with Death and Rebirth and the TV series in a box set on August 26, 2015. [13]

In 2006, The End of Evangelion was shown theatrically as part of the Tokyo International Film Festival in Akihabara.[14]

Red Cross Book

The Red Cross Book (as it is unofficially known, for the large red St George's Cross on its cover) was an A-4-sized pamphlet sold in Japanese theaters during the release of The End of Evangelion.[15][16][17] The book was written by Gainax and various production staff of the Evangelion TV series and films, with an interview with Tsurumaki, a listing of voice actors and brief essays written by them on their respective characters, short biographical sketches, commentary on the TV series and production of the films, a "Notes" section covering the setting of the films, and a glossary of terms used in the series, manga, and the two films. The Red Cross Book was left out in the Manga Entertainment release due to copyright issues.[18] However, it was translated by fans of the series.[19][20]

Distribution

In North America, ADV Films, the license holder and distributor for the Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series, declined to license The End of Evangelion and the associated films, with Manga Entertainment "reportedly [paying] around 2 million dollars" for the rights.[21] Rei Ayanami's English voice actress Amanda Winn Lee wrote the film's script for its English subtitled and dubbed adaptations, and produced and directed the dub.[22] The cast consisted of mostly voice actors reprising their roles from ADV's English adaptation of the TV series, with several supporting roles recast because the original actors were unavailable. To accommodate voice actors living in different parts of the country, the dub was recorded in three locations: Los Angeles, Houston and New York City.[23]

In discussing the film's English dub, Mike Crandol of Anime News Network determined that "the remarkably strong performances of the main cast overshadow the weaker voice work present", though he criticized the script for being "slightly hammy" in parts. Crandol praised the final exchange between Spike Spencer (Shinji) and Allison Keith's (Misato) characters as "one of the most beautiful vocal performances to ever grace an anime".[24]

The End of Evangelion: Renewal

A new version of The End of Evangelion was released on June 25, 2003 in Japan by Starchild and King Records as part of the Renewal of Evangelion box set (which compiled "new digitally remastered versions of the 26 TV show episodes, 4 remade-for-Laserdisc episodes, and 3 theatrical features" as well as "a bonus disc with never-before-seen material").[25]

This version of the film joins the "recap" film Evangelion: Death with End and omits the Rebirth segment from the first film. Also, on the aforementioned bonus disc is a previously unreleased deleted scene shot in live-action with voice actors Megumi Hayashibara, Yūko Miyamura, and Kotono Mitsuishi portraying their characters, 10 years after the events of Evangelion. In this continuity, Shinji does not exist and Asuka has a sexual relationship with Toji Suzuhara. The sequence concludes with a male voice (implied to be Shinji's) saying, "This isn't it, I am not here," proving it is a false reality seen through his eyes.[26] Manga Entertainment announced in 2006 that it was "ironing out the contracts" to release the Renewal versions of Death & Rebirth and The End of Evangelion the next year,[27] though their rights to the film have since expired.[28]

Reception

End of Evangelion won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize for 1997 and the Japan Academy Prize for "Biggest Public Sensation of the Year"[29] and was given the "Special Audience Choice Award" by the 1997 Animation Kobe.[30] EX.org ranked the film in 1999 as the fifth best 'All-Time Show' (with the TV series at #2).[31]

In Japan, between its release and October 1997, The End of Evangelion grossed 1.45 billion yen.[32] Manga artist Nobuhiro Watsuki wrote:

“ A little while ago, I finally saw the theatrical version of Evangelion (I'm writing this in August). It was obvious that the people who created it didn't love the story or the characters, so I'm a little disappointed. But the dramatization, the movement, and the editing were superb. When the story led into the self-improvement seminar, I was nearly fooled for an instant. I don't know if most people enjoyed it, but as a writer, I was able to take home something from it.[33] ”

Newtype USA reviewed the film as a "saga of bamboozlement". It also criticized the film's "more biblical overtones, teen melo-drama and bad parenting" and that "for some frustrated viewers, these DVDs might bring on the '4th impact' hurling these DVDs against the wall."[34] Manga Entertainment CEO Marvin Gleicher criticized the Newtype review as "biased and disrespectful" and a "facile and vapid" product of "ignorance and lack of research".[35]

Many reviews focused on the audio-visual production; Sight and Sound editorialized that "narrative coherence seems a lesser concern to the film-makers than the launching of a sustained audio-visual assault. The kaleidoscopic imagery momentarily topples into live action for the baffling climax...",[36] an assessment echoed by critic Mark Schilling.[37] Mike Crandol of Anime News Network gave the film an overall passing grade and described it as "a visual marvel". He described the DVD release as "a mixed bag", expressing displeasure over the "unremarkable" video presentation and overall lack of extra material.[24] David Uzumeri of ComicsAlliance summarized the film as "a dark, brutal, psychedelic orgy of sex and violence that culminated in the mass extinction of humanity set to an optimistic J-pop song with lyrics about suicide." Uzumeri also stated that the "themes of [Neon Genesis Evangelion] criticizing the audience for being spineless and lost in a fantasy world were cranked up to eleven, as the protagonist Shinji basically watches everybody die around him due to his refusal to make any effort whatsoever to engage with other people."[38]

Legacy

In a 2008 article for Slant Magazine, writer Michael Peterson wrote that "it was not until the End of Evangelion film that Anno's visual strengths as a director really stood out". He observed that "Anno, like David Lynch, possesses a skill at framing his shots, and using the attendant color, to create visual compositions that stand out not only as beautiful in the story's context, but also as individual images, a painterly quality that he then applies back to the work. When Anno frames an image, the power of that specific image becomes a tool that he can later refer back to for an instantaneous emotional and intellectual response."[39]

Carlos Ross of Them Anime Reviews compared the tone of the film to The Blair Witch Project in that it deconstructed the series while "cashing in" on it. He was especially critical of the film's entire second half by saying:

“ The second half of the movie is so incoherent and obtuse that it completely loses the mainstream audience (and in fact, virtually any audience) this series has attracted before. It goes beyond art film and beyond anime. And in doing so, it goes beyond the audience's capability to understand and be entertained, which defeats the purpose of something labeled as art."[40] ”

Schilling reviewed the film as more than a deconstruction, but an attempt at unification of mediums:

"Despite the large cast of characters, decades-spanning story, and a profusion of twenty-first-century jargon, much of it borrowed from early Christian sources, the film is essentially a Power Rangers episode writ large: i.e., super-teens piloting big, powerful machines and saving the world from monsters. We've seen it all before. What we haven't seen, however, is the way the film zaps back and forth through time, slams through narrative shifts and flashes explanatory text, in billboard-sized Chinese characters, at mind-bending speed. It's a hyper-charged phantasmagoria that defies easy comprehension, while exerting a hypnotic fascination. Watching, one becomes part of the film's multimedia data stream.
Shinseiki Evangelion is looking forward, toward an integration of all popular media - television, manga, movies, and video games - into new forms in which distinctions between real and virtual, viewer and viewed, man and machine, become blurred and finally cease to matter. O Brave New World, that has such animation in it."[41]

Chris Beveridge of Mania.com described the film as "work[ing] on so many levels", but cautions that it is not meant to be watched without having seen the rest of the series.[42]

The End of Evangelion is frequently ranked among the greatest anime films. Patrick Macias of TokyoScope ranked it one of his 10 greatest films,[43] and the best anime movie of the 1990s;[44] CUT film magazine ranked it third on its list of the top 30 best anime films.[45]

In 2014, Time Out New York ranked the film at #65 on its list of the top 100 animated movies as voted for by filmmakers.[1] Critic Keith Uhlich described the film as an "immensely satisfying" conclusion to the TV series, the climax as "an end-times free-for-all that mixes Christian symbology, Jewish mysticism, sexual paranoia and teenage angst into a searing apocalyptic stew," filled with "sights and sounds you'll never forget," and Shinji's line, "I'm so fucked up," as the most memorable quote.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rothkopf, Joshua (15 April 2014). "The 100 best animated movies: Full list". Time Out. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  2. ↑ Anime News Network. "Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (movie)". Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  3. ↑ "The kaleidoscopic imagery momentarily topples into live action for the baffling climax, which alternates Disneyesque bromides ("Truth lies in your heart") with metaphysical blather ("So long as the earth, sun and moon exist, everything will be alright.")." Sight and Sound (2003)
  4. ↑ "The stunning originality of these final episodes cannot be overstated … the series deals with these elements in breathtakingly creative ways to create a unique and memorable vision of inner and outer collapse, and, perhaps, renewal. It should be noted that many viewers were outraged by the two final episodes. Expecting a more conventional end-of-the-world scenario, fans were baffled and indignant that, instead of outward explosions and satisfying combat, the cataclysmic struggle occurred wholly in the character's mind." "In these last two episodes the machines have literally stopped, and both characters and viewers are left with no recourse but to confront their/our own flawed humanity in all its desperation and insecurities without the technological armor of the typical sf text." pg 427 and pg 428 respectively of Napier 2002
  5. ↑ "The End of Evangelion: Commentary". EvaOtaku.com. February 20, 1998.
  6. ↑ "Anno Hideaki allegedly created the two episodes contained here in response to death threats from fans dissatisfied with the original conclusion to his anime sci-fi saga." Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion, M.L., Sight and Sound, vol 13, issue 4, April 2003; pg 59
  7. ↑ "Lately due to the ending of episodes #25 and #26, some people started watching Evangelion. They were not anime fans. In fact many of them are females and they tell me that they really enjoyed episode #25, objectively. Most anime fans are furious. I understand their anger. I can't help laughing when hard-core anime fans say that we did a very lousy job, with intentional negligence. No we didn't. No staff members did a lousy job. In fact, every member at Gainax gave more energy than anybody can imagine. I feel sad that those fans couldn't see our efforts. Personally I think the original TV ending we showed ended up beautifully." Hideaki Anno, Protoculture Addicts 43
  8. ↑ "My opinion was, 'Why don't we show them the entire process including our breakdown." You know — make it a work that shows everything including our inability to create a satisfactory product. I figured that, "In 10 years or so, if we look back on something that we made while we were drunk out of our minds, we wouldn't feel bad even if the quality wasn't so good.'
    Q: Really?" "KT – So, no matter what the final form, I feel it was great just being able to make it to the end of the TV series. " Tsurumaki interview, RCB
  9. 1 2 "Current Info" - (a personal FAQ page by Tiffany Grant)
  10. ↑ "Understanding Evangelion". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 29, 2011. By opening their hearts to one another Shinji and Asuka at last have a chance at happiness. Unfortunately the brutality of this scene obscures its tender meaning, and the Evangelion saga ends on a dour note despite reprising the positive message from its television conclusion.
  11. ↑ "Review - The End of Evangelion". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
  12. ↑ December 1997 NewType, p.90
  13. ↑ "Evangelion Gets New Japanese Blu-Ray, DVD Boxes". Anime News Network. 2014-12-01. Retrieved 2014-12-01.
  14. ↑ "Exclusive Screening Report: Shin Seiki Evangelion Movies Death (True)2 / Air / Magokoro Wo, Kimi Ni (The End Of Evangelion) At animecs T!FF In Akihabara 2006"
  15. ↑ Moure, Dani (March 21, 2001). "Neon Genesis Evangelion: Special Edition Movies Box Set". Mania. Retrieved January 1, 2011. ...the data here is translated from the "Red Cross Book", a source of oodles of information made for sale as the programme book for the movie in Japanese cinemas. It's extremely comprehensive and it's a good way of presenting the data
  16. ↑ "Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth DVD". Animefringe. August 2002. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  17. ↑ "AICN Anime Report". Ain't it Cool News. November 28, 2001. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
  18. ↑ Manga Entertainment Press Panel: Metreon Festival of Anime" at the Wayback Machine (archived February 2, 2002)
  19. ↑ "Answerman: Late To Work". Anime News Network. July 23, 2002. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  20. ↑ "The Top 25 Must-Visit Anime Websites". Animefringe.
  21. ↑ "October 8-14 Anime News". Anime News Service. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  22. ↑ The End of Evangelion (DVD). Los Angeles, California: Manga Entertainment. 2002.
  23. ↑ Lee, Amanda Winn; Lee, Jason C. (2002). Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth DVD commentary (DVD). Manga Entertainment.
  24. 1 2 Crandol, Mike (September 24, 2002). "Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
  25. ↑ "Neon Genesis Evangelion: Renewal of Evangelion DVD-BOX". Mania. June 25, 2003. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
  26. ↑ The first half (roughly) of End of Evangelion live-action sequence on YouTube
  27. ↑ "SDCC: Manga Entertainment Announces A New Co-Pro; Talks "Karas," "Eva" And "GitS"". Toon Zone. July 22, 2006. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
  28. ↑ Sargento Soma - ANNCast. Anime News Network (November 6, 2009). Retrieved on 2010-12-28.
  29. ↑ "MY EMPIRE OF DIRT: The End of Evangelion". J-pop.com. Archived from the original on January 29, 1999.
  30. ↑ Animation Kobe 1997: An Attendee's Report at the Wayback Machine (archived July 12, 2000)
  31. ↑ "1998 Animage Grand Prix Results". EX media. May 16, 1999. Archived from the original on October 3, 2000. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  32. ↑ December 1997 Newtype, p.90
  33. ↑ Act 147, Rurouni Kenshin volume 17, ISBN 1-59116-876-7
  34. ↑ Newtype USA issue 1 pg 157
  35. ↑ "Manga Criticizes Newtype". Anime News Network. November 8, 2002. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
  36. ↑ Light and Sound 2003
  37. ↑ "[EoE] throws so much visual and narrative data at its audience, including titles zapping by at almost subliminal speed, that total comprehension is all but impossible. The experience is similar to watching a kid play a Final Fantasy video game at warp speed or flipping through a Shonen Jump comic in a blur". Contemporary Japanese Film review, Mark Schilling, ISBN 0-8348-0415-8, pg 334
  38. ↑ "Alan Moore x Hideaki Anno: Their Failed Assassinations of Their Genres". Comicsalliance.com. January 17, 2011. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
  39. ↑ "The Economy of Visual Language: Neon Genesis Evangelion". Slantmagazine.com. August 28, 2008. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
  40. ↑ Ross, Carlos. "Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion". THEM Anime Reviews. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
  41. ↑ Contemporary Japanese Film 1999
  42. ↑ Beveridge, Chris (September 30, 2002). "Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion". Mania.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-01. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
  43. ↑ Top Tens - Archive of Lists (2003) - Senses of Cinema. Archive.sensesofcinema.com. Retrieved on December 28, 2010.
  44. ↑ "TokyoScope's Patrick Macias found them magnificent bastards, actually, judging The End of Evangelion the most important anime film of the past decade and a considerably more progressive work than that year's other cel-phenom, Princess Mononoke." http://web.archive.org/web/20060822225929/www.pulp-mag.com/archives/6.03/flcl.shtml
  45. ↑ "An Eternal Thought in the Mind of Godzilla". Patrick Macias. November 18, 2006. Retrieved September 11, 2009. The new issue of Japanese film magazine CUT is about to street....Anyways, here is CUT's list of the 30 Greatest Anime Films of all-time, forever, always, never changing, no arguments. And for the record, I agree with about 5 of them....3. End of Evangelion

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