The Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series was in 1995. The movie version of “Q” was in 2012. Since then, Neon Genesis Evangelion has finally created a genre of TV animation called Evangelion in the Heisei era. Now that it has come to a grand conclusion, I thank you for your hard work. I can only say, “Thank you very much for all your hard work.

The Evangelion series that lasted for 25 years comes to an impressive conclusion!

Evangelion began as a TV series in 1995, with 26 episodes broadcast from 18:30 to 19:00 as a 30-minute anime. In the show’s latter half, some night scenes with a lot of blood are caught in the rating system.

After that, “Air” and “Magokoro wo Kimi ni” were released, and the movie ended with an “eh” ending. In 2021, the Shin Evangelion movie version was released.

It has been 25 years since the TV series and 14 years since the new movie version, so we have seen the final chapter of the long-running series.

Eva-like and un-Eva-like performances at the beginning of the film

At the story’s beginning, a defensive battle between the apostles in Paris. The apostles are proceeding to Paris, which has been dyed red. The way it progresses is funny. It is not funny when you think of the power of the apocalypse. Mari intercepts the apocalypse with the remaining Eva, the light-hearted battle scene typical of Eva so far, reminding us again that this is a sequel to “Q.” Then, after successfully defending against the attack from the apostles, Paris is de-cored by the “Anti-L System,” and Paris is “restored.” It gives us hope that the world can still be restored.

After that, the opening titles are played, and the flow continues from the final scene of “Q.” After a long walk through the cored red world, we arrive at the third village.

In that third village, Touji, Hikari, and Kensuke appeared. Each has grown up, and Touji and Hikari are married and have a daughter. It was a relief to see the people who did not appear in “Q” make an early appearance. In the worldview of “Q,” I thought everyone would die and not be saved, so I felt there was still hope for the world.

The third village feels Showa-era Japan recovering from the postwar period. Families sit together on tatami mats with tin roofs. The town is rationed, and a steam locomotive makes an appearance. If the Third New Tokyo City, where we live at the beginning of Eva, is in the early Heisei era, the Third Village in this movie version is in the middle of the Showa era. Was this a form of memory for Hideaki Anno?

Eva has never seen this direction and has a My Neighbor Totoro feel.

Gutless, Shinji gets back on his feet.

At the end of “Q,” Kaoru’s head jumps to his death before his eyes. Shinji is shut up in the sky. Shinji’s friends from the past try to get him back on his feet in the third village. But it takes a long time.

The story tells us about life in the present world, Rei’s change of mind, and Asuka’s situation. It is also a significant change from the previous storylines where the messenger appears and fights Eva.

Shinji is now a wholly withdrawn boy who wants no one to care about him. Rei supports him, and he cries to vent his feelings and get back on his feet. This sequence of events made me feel that this work is about a boy and a girl becoming adults.

The final battle. Eva-like battle and parent-child dialogue.

Wunder, led by Misato, launches a bludgeoning attack (or is it “Kakkomi”?) on the enemy to prevent an additional impact. Shinji, who has recovered, joins them.

The confrontation from then on was so typical of Eva that I could barely keep up with the continuous battles and developments, which told me to feel rather than think. The suicide attack of Wunder, the descent of Eva from Wunder and its reading, Asuka’s transformation into an apostle, and the confrontation between Unit 1 and Unit 13: there was so much information that it is impossible to describe in detail just by watching it once.

The final confrontation is between Shinji, who has grown up, and Gendo, who has not. Gendo’s reason for creating the world is Yui, who accepts him as he is, even though he is not good at socializing, and he rewrites the whole world to see Yui again. He is the same Shinji who was the same before he came to the third village.

In the end, Shinji rewrites the world into a world without Eva, and the story comes to a grand conclusion. I don’t know if rewriting the world or pretending it never existed is a dream come true, but that’s how the story ends when it’s expanded this much.

I still think that the ending of this film is the one where Asuka asks Shinji, “Do you understand why I was going to hit you?” Asuka says, “Because I didn’t make any decisions in Unit 3. So you’ve grown up a little.” As represented in the following example, it means that a boy becomes an adult.

This film depicts the universal theme that becoming an adult means thinking for oneself, making decisions, and taking responsibility for one’s actions.