My first boyfriend was obsessed with Evangelion, and I thought he was stupid for liking big fighting robots. He admitted to liking the series for it’s big fighting robots and also being a lover of other Mecha anime. After we broke up I swore not to watch it because it was likely to be as stupid as he was. When my high school’s anime club started watching the series I realized my ex-boyfriend was stupid for categorizing Evangelion as Mecha anime.
Evangelion at it’s heart is a series about humanity. It explores the question of what it is to be human, why we choose to survive, and whether or not all the pain and suffering of being an individual is worth it.
The television anime starts off in an age of innocence. Big fighting robots fighting aliens that are coming 15 years after a massive disaster that only a handful of people know the truth of. The purpose of this being the genesis of the series was to mirror our own collective state of self awareness. The series slowly begins to deconstruct the concepts of what it means to be human, why we want to be alive, why we are afraid, why we love, and most importantly why we need one another.
Evangelion isn’t about big fighting robots and aliens. This should NOT be a spoiler as in the very first few episodes we see that the Evangelion has a human appearing hand, and can activate on it’s own. The Angels are called such for a reason, and the imagery and mythos of the series is more heavenly and godlike from the get go on purpose.
So if you like big fighting robots, and series drawn out of cool action sequences Evangelion might not be for you. Both the Evangelion TV ending, the End of Evangelion movie ending, and most likely the Rebuild ending all devolve into nearly incomprehensible meaning of humanity mindfucks.
At age 15 this series gave me a primer in Fruedian psychology before I really knew who Freud was, or what the word psychology meant. Fifteen years later I still feel stupid when I try and grasp the ending of the series (TV and movie versions). Over fifteen years and forcing people in my life to sit through all 26 hours Evangelion’s insanity and beauty on at least four separate occasions I am still learning what the hell it all means. My partner is also a long time fan of the series and the two of us have sat down and watched huge chunks of the series at least three times, and we are still learning.
This series is a must watch for anyone who gives a damn about theology, evolution, philosophy, and/or psychology. This series is a must watch for anyone who loves science fiction. Evangelion continues to influence modern day science fiction with season four of Fringe, Iron Man, and the Avengers being recent examples.
Thoughts on the Rebuild
The Evangelion Rebuild start off as an abbreviated remake of the original series. However, by the last third of “You Cannot Advance” the plot deviations are substantial from the original television series. The first movie is a great abbreviation of episodes 1-7 of the original series. For a more gorgeous version of the animation, a higher quality dub, and skipping a few really boring scenes “You Are (Not) Alone” is not a bad way to start the Evangelion series. The second movie begins to deviate from the original plot from the very beginning. So if this is your first go through of the series and you want to experience the original environment of Evangelion I recommend not watching the rebuild past movie one prior to viewing the original series. It is also safe to watch movie 1 and then episodes 8-26.
For me the Rebuilds skip past a lot of essential character development, and several angels that greatly deepen the Mythos of the series. The approach to the characters and the series mythos feels more superficial in the movies. This was necessary as the first 11.5 hours needing to be condensed down to four to give the series ample time to finally have a proper ending.
I still recommend watching the television version of the series. It deepens the experience of the characters and gives a lot more background and insinuation regarding the series mythos. While some characters and events are changed between the Rebuild and original version Evangelion is clearly the same series at heart, plot changes are made simply to quicken the pace, rather than to alter the story itself.
The Beginning of Massive Spoilers and Pondering on Evangelion’s Thesis
I can easily understand why there was a need for at least 3 endings of this series.
After knowing Evangelion’s endgame episodes 1-15 of the TV series can feel like a meandering wander to the end. However, the pace mirrors our own individual journeys. Starting where we all begin as teenagers just beginning to realize our own autonomy, to injured adults, and then if we choose self-aware adults who know and choose their own suffering. This is precisely why the original series will always have a place. With its painful minutes of still frame, the ongoing frustration with Shingi’s endless screamings of “I mustn’t run away”. All of this is a slow descent into the madness, ending in a sense of meaning and identity. This is something the Rebuild will never be able to truly offer of its own accord.
What the slow descent of the original series did not allow for was ample time to explore the third impact, and(depending on interpretation and version) human instrumentality. This is why the movies, original and rebuild, have a purpose in the telling of the thesis.
Third Impact
The third impact is an amazing concept, with so many interesting dimensions. At it’s heart it’s man attempting to recreate itself in God’s image. The whole series is man attempting to become God. From removing Lilith’s soul from her body and placing her into a human, to cloning the bodies of Gods and powering them with mentally unstable teenagers. The third impact initially is a fight between Adam’s children and Lilith’s children. Adam‘s angels are trying to recreate earth in Adam‘s image by initiating Third Impact. When the Angels fail, and humanity realizes it has complete control over all the components of God the series becomes a war over potential philosophies and outcomes regarding the evolution of the human race.
The third impact itself has so many potential points of genesis, and so many potential outcomes that it is a hard story to tell. I do however like both versions told by the original series and “End of Evangelion“. Shinji under the guidance of his mother turned Goddess deciding whether or not he (and therefore we) should join as one entity, or remain individuals. The idea that Unit 1 starts as the parts of the God that created humanity, to gaining the entire soul of a human, to gaining the last remaining piece that it needs to become an independent entity, while being guided and protecting the offspring of its human soul is such a powerful vehicle to explore these essential questions of humanity.
The movies take a sharp turn right into the third impact before the second movie is even over. So much of what led up to the third impact in “End of Evangelion” has gone undone, and I don’t know how it is all going to turn out in the Rebuild though I am exited that we have up to 4 hours to tell the story. Not having Leliel (the Zebra ball) to absorb Unit 1 and go through Shinji’s and Yui‘s mental process of reawakening, as well as not having Shinji absorbed into Unit 1 along with Zeruel’s S2 engine leaves me with a lot of questions as to how the Rebuild will approach the Third Impact.
Third Impact is initiated by Unit 1 with a cloned body of Lilith merging with the soul of Lilith while in the presence of a human soul along with the body and soul of her son. “End of Evangelion” begins Third Impact with Rei III(with Lilith’s soul) absorbing Adam’s body and soul into herself, then merging herself with the original body of Lilith. The tree of life is channeled through Unit 1 along with Shinji and Yui, while being held by the Adam derived Evangelion production series.
Gendo Ikari’s character in the Rebuild hints to purposely speeding up the timeline to prevent Seele’s version of the Third Impact. However, in the series Gendo planned to merge directly with Lilith’s soul, Lilith and Adam. All this hints to a potentially new environment of the Third Impact. However, I trust Hideaki Anno to leave Shinji Ikari in charge of the fate of humanity no matter how the Third Impact starts.
Based on previews movie 3 appears to start with Kaworu coming to earth in Unit 6 and halting the beginning of the Third Impact by impaling Unit 1′s head with the Lance of Longinus. So it would appear the genesis of the Third Impact is a false start, and is meant to tutor the viewer into knowing what the third impact looks like so we know when it happens later on.
A Few Words for Critics of the Ending(s)
Do you have a brain? Episodes 25 and 26 are clearly titled “The Human Instrumentality Project“ which is clearly where the series was headed, it is mentioned multiple times and it was loudly announced in the series that Kaworu is the last Angel. If Shinji and Yui‘s experience inside Leliel’s sea of Dirac, or Shinji’s full absorption into Unit 1 while defeating Zeruel wasn’t an indicator to you as to where the series was headed, I guess I can’t help you.
The first part of “End of Evangelion” is simply what was happening outside of Shinji’s mind. Though really it is what is happening inside of his mind that really matters, which is why we still spend a lot of time in his head throughout the “End of Evangelion”. What I loved about Human Instrumentality was that it left so much of the outcome open to interpretation. Once we get into “End of Evangelion” we get tied to all of the Lilith/Adam mythos, and are forced to pick a fork in the road.
In “End of Evangelion” is more about the questions the series poses, versus the outcomes of the individual characters. Hideaki Anno has stated that this was his intention for the series, and wished for viewers to interpret as they will. I think it’s great to have a series that leaves you with more questions, than it gives answers. The endings of Evangelion mirror the stories of our own lives, each journey gives us answers, and then gives us many more questions.
Congratulations!
I want to thank EvaGeeks for their incredible, easy to use, and thorough wiki. EvaGeeks makes a great companion for decoding this incredible series.
