Neon Genesis Evangelion – Episodes 19 through 26
Written by Hideaki Anno, Akio Satsukawa, and Hiroshi Yamaguchi
Directed by Masayuki, Masahiko Ōtsuka, Hiroyuki Ishidō, Akira Takamura, Shōichi Masuo, and Kazuya Tsurumaki
When I first started watching Neon Genesis Evangelion at the start of the year, I read that some fans hated the ending of the anime series. I wanted to know why that could be. Now that I have finished the show, I completely understand why some of the audience would not like this. I, however, am a big weirdo, and I loved it, yet I get that it goes in a wildly different direction and doesn’t provide the direct sort of conclusion you might expect from a show about giant “robots” fighting monsters from space. Of course, I will be watching and reviewing the two feature films that serve as a complementary ending next month, but for now, I just want to focus on the series.
First, I must say that these episodes flew by so quickly. The fluidity of the plots was pitch-perfect as each episode built upon the last until we reached the grand conclusion. I also needed to read some explanations when it was all done because the conflict between Seele and NERV/Gendo was not spelled out directly in the show. I also sensed that some of this is further developed in the films, so I tried to read only a little ahead. The gist I’m getting is that Seele set Gendo up to run NERV, but now he’s gone “off the ranch” and isn’t doing what they initially wanted.
One of the biggest things Gendo has done to warrant this suspicion is the creation of Rei. These episodes finally reveal the truth that she’s a clone. In particular, she is a clone of Gendo’s wife/Kenji’s mother. I thought the show handled this with great tension and elements of horror. It feels genuinely horrific when Ritsuko takes Kenji and Misato down to the basement and the clone vats. The perfect creepy moment was the soulless Reis floating in the tank, waiting to be injected with a soul if the current Rei dies.
Speaking of Ritsuko, what a tragic character, possibly the saddest of many unfortunate characters. Where she ends up is a testament to her character, helping to take down this system she’s a part of and the realization that she will be crushed inside the machine, too. The flashback episode where we learned about her mother’s relationship with Gendo while building the Magi was fantastic. Even more twisted as Ritsuko began a sexual relationship with her mother’s former lover and the man responsible for her suicide.
It seems parent-child conflicts are at the heart of Evangelion. Gendo & Kenji, Gendo & Rei, Ritsuko & her mother, Asuka & her mother. It seems this goes back to the Adam & Lilith connection, which I assume gets expanded upon more in the feature films? Humanity are the children and we are in conflict with the forces of creation that brought us here. The battles with the Angels are part of humanity’s fight with this force. My interpretation of the final two episodes is that in the destruction of the final angel, who appeared as a human and, at least for Kenji, exemplified the purity of human connection, humanity had reached its next evolutionary stage.
Episodes 25 & 26 show that the evolutionary leap is the dissolution of the boundaries between the Self and the Collective Consciousness. We are still individuals, but there is no barrier between us. A person can be in another’s subconscious and vice versa. In this state, a level of empathy heretofore impossible has become manifest. Throughout the whole series, Kenji has struggled with intimacy. At first, it feels like the anime trope of the adolescent boy nervous about girls.
By the end, I could see how Hideaki Anno took that trope and exploded it in a fascinating way. Kenji’s rejection by his father has left him unable to connect with others. He’s constantly trying to run away. Even his own sexual desires repulse him because he doesn’t want to be seen as using other people. That’s what Gendo does. No one means anything to him except his late wife; everyone else exists for him to use to try and reconnect with her soul. Asuka is a perfect foil for Kenji as we learn near the end of the series that she lost her mother in a different but similar manner. That explains her weird relationship with Ryoji, where she wants to pursue him sexually while he is meant to be a surrogate father. Kenji & Asuka have profound intimacy problems because of their traumas, and they are inhibited by the isolating nature of the Self.
I look forward to seeing what the feature films add to this ending. I understand they are happening semi-concurrently with the events of these final two episodes, but much more in the material world than the metaphysical one Kenji goes through. I’m also hoping for more clarification on what the Angels are and their origins because I never felt the series clearly communicated, or I majorly missed it.
My overall thought is that this show ended up being much better than I anticipated. It still had some of those anime tropes I find annoying, but the further it went along, the less prominent those became. I enjoyed how the series even mocks them in a short segment in the final episode as Kenji explores the possible realities he could live in.
Next month, we will be watching and reviewing Revival of Evangelion, or whichever of these edits/reconfigurations I see listed is said to be the most comprehensive.
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