Neon Genesis Evangelion satirized one in every of animation’s greatest tropes

The primary half of “Thrice Upon A Time” takes place in a peaceable village, the place Shinji, Asuka and Rei take a break from the motion. Their outdated mates Toji, Kensuke, and Hikari have all grown up, turn out to be adults, and constructed peaceable, regular, home lives that the pilots had been cursed to not lead. Shinji breaks the curse and offers his mates the possibility to reside these lives.

In Shinji and Rei’s final scene collectively, she is holding a child doll. Motherhood is a motif of Rei’s character that dates again to the unique “Evangelion”, and clearly a dream she was by no means in a position to obtain, particularly with the newly launched curse.

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Shinji and Asuka’s farewell takes place on a surreal shoreline with blood-red water, a sight acquainted to “Evangelion” followers.

“Finish of Evangelion” ends with Shinji and Asuka mendacity collectively on that very same seashore; they’re apparently the one ones to have chosen the painful uncertainty of actuality fairly than the happiness of non-existence. Shinji strangled Asuka whereas she stroked his cheek. Shinji stopped and commenced to cry, whereas Asuka regarded on in revulsion and whispered, “How disgusting.” This scene is a microcosm of the connection they share and the world they reside in, the place folks can proceed to harm others over and over, although deep down they care about one another (which is without doubt one of the methods “Evangelion” sounds like “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”). Shinji and Asuka at all times been on this seashore – however no extra. They admit that they as soon as beloved one another, however have grown aside and it is time to transfer on. Present that this time is completely different? Asuka is lastly an grownup; her outdated Eva plugsuit is half torn and her braids of hair are thrown on the ground, as a result of she not has any use for them.

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Shinji’s closing act provides the world a brand new starting. He and everybody else can solely be completely happy in a world with out Evangelions (rattling, I ponder what Anno is saying there), it’s due to this fact the “Neon Genesis” that he creates. Within the final scene, an grownup Shinji meets Mari at a practice station they usually escape into a brand new world, the actual world, and filled with prospects. The curse of Eva and the cycle of stagnation it represented is damaged.

In “The Finish of Evangelion”, Misato tells a near-catatonic Shinji that to be able to reside, he can’t be afraid of creating errors. She retains doing the identical issues over and over, studying just a little extra every time, and that is inevitable once you select to simply accept the dangers that life entails. On the finish of the movie, Shinji additionally accepted it; his happiness just isn’t assured, however it’s higher that he provides himself the possibility to search out it.

The message of “Evangelion” has by no means modified (settle for your self, for you might be all you might have endlessly, and go discover your happiness), it has merely advanced. Anno completed “Evangelion” the primary time leaving his characters in uncertainty, and he returned to finish their journey. By letting his characters develop and transfer ahead, he hopes his followers will too. If Shinji and Asuka have realized that there’s extra to this life than the Evangelions, why cannot we?