The End of Evangelion (1997)
Written by Hideaki Anno
Directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki and Hideaki Anno
Apparently, a large enough contingent of viewers were dissatisfied with the ending of Neon Genesis Evangelion, and creator Hideaki Anno produced this follow-up feature that exists parallel to that conclusion. From what I read, it sounded like Anno went back and forth between his original concept and some altered ideas. It is a very jarring experience for the central narrative to suddenly collapse into an internal dialogue between Shinji and mental projections of the important people in life. There’s also a meta-commentary on anime cliches that pops up and a weirdly upbeat ending. Several questions were left unanswered, so it was decided to go back and add more to the finale.
Shinji has killed the final Angel, who appeared as a human and showed great compassion and empathy towards the teenager. He’s experiencing an existential breakdown and growing angrier towards his cold, transactional father, Gendo, the creator of Nerv and the Eva program. Seele, the secret committee that oversees Nerv, discovers that Gendo has been manipulating the end goal so he can be reunited with his deceased wife, Yui. They dispatch hordes of military units to overtake Nerv to stop Gendo. Meanwhile, Misato, head of Nerv operations, has finally turned against Gendo and the org intent on protecting the child soldiers that make the Eva units operational. Secrets are revealed as humanity is pushed towards the Third Impact, a moment where all consciousness is collapsed into a collective mass.
The animation quality here is phenomenal. The animation in the series was alright, but this is of such a higher caliber, closer to the level of Katsuhiro Otomo or Satoshi Kon’s work. The characters move with fluidity, and the epic pieces are gorgeous. It helps that much of the imagery here is derived from famous paintings and religious iconography. It adds to the surreal breakdown of perceived reality as the Third Impact occurs. The things we see are angelic, grotesque, and everything in between. The visuals also capture the characters’ quieter, intimate moments before everything goes wildly off the rails and humanity appears to end.
I won’t pretend I fully understand all the esoteric imagery and concepts presented in Evangelion. Even Anno said that all religious and philosophical concepts were intended to make it seem like something more profound was behind the show. He said he did it to sound “intelligent.” What sounds most likely is that Anno wanted to get some really personal stuff out in his art. He admitted to being depressed when the show concluded to the point of attempting suicide. There’s a lot of anger in this conclusion, some directed towards the pressures & expectations of making a show like this, but also towards himself as unable to overcome psychological hurdles he is entirely aware of.
Shinji has a choice: Become part of the Third Impact, lose the material to the immaterial, or return to a material plane where he will be one of two humans left alive. In the end, it’s Shinji and Asuka, the new Adam and Eve, whose relationship is fraught with enmity. He at first chokes, then suddenly caresses her cheek, and she responds that she feels sick. It’s a line she dropped in the series during one of her many clashes with Kenji while having to live in the same apartment with him. If Shinji had merged with the Third Impact, he would have been accepting unconditional love and acceptance. He chooses to return to a world of conflict and dissatisfaction. To say this ending is bleak would be an understatement, and it is a total counterpoint to the happier conclusion of the show.
Anno is talking about his role as an anime fan (otaku) and how he and others become obsessively fixated on things that may provide joyful escape but, if not moderated, can create a distance between themselves and other people. In many ways, Evangelion has a lot in common with the recently released I Saw The TV Glow, where its main character clings to a nostalgic show from their childhood to avoid facing the truth about their gender identity and the trauma of their childhood. Media has this nasty way of pacifying us like infants. We can find relatability with fictional narratives, but if that story becomes more important to us than the actual material world and the relationships we should cultivate, there’s a problem.
We walk around in a world of Others, seeking connection. Shinji finally chooses to connect with the world rather than be consumed by this mass of nothing. Remember that Gendo used the Third Impact to reunite with what he thought would be his wife. Gendo and Shinji are very similar, up to a point, in that they struggle to connect with others. Gendo becomes perversely transactional with everyone under his command, while Shinji stammers and needs help to express his thoughts. Shinji’s reunion with Asuka is a beginning. Here is a person, one of the most difficult he’s ever met, and he will have to learn how to get along with her somehow, some way. Anno seems to be speaking to himself and his fans that no matter how much fear or anxiety we hold about Others, we are the Other to them, too. Despite what can feel like miles between us, we must find a way to understand and accept each other.
Evangelion is a wildly complex show that reminds me of getting caught up in the minutiae and lore of things like Lost or Twin Peaks. Any fandom becomes dangerous when those involved cut themselves off from the world to sink deeper into the fiction. That’s why I love taking the media I view, wrestling with it, and making connections to what I see in my life and the greater world around me. That is the true intent of art – to see how another thinks and feels. A piece of media that exists as nothing but escape is not art; it’s a sedative. It’s capitalism selling you a way to numb yourself to the horror it has injected into the human experience. Art is alive; it breathes, grows, and changes with you.
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