On this day 20 years ago, July 19, 1997, a film debuted
in Japanese theaters to a host of hungry fans eagerly awaiting its
arrival. I wish I could have seen the
shock back then (much like how I wish I could see a premiere showing of The
Empire Strikes Back and hear the gasps when Vader drops that truth bomb on
Luke). Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End
of Evangelion, is the end all, be all finale to Hideki Anno’s game changing
Anime series. This film was the original
envisioned ending that never made it to the TV series due to budget and time
constraints (and the personal trials of the director himself). After the TV ending was met with “mixed”
results, backlash led to a theatrical release of the true ending. Man did the world not know what it was in
for. To this day, The End of Evangelion
stands as one of the greatest achievements in Anime history, bringing a close
to an amazing saga that went beyond the giant robots and the monsters they
fought. And today I’m going to share my
Top 5 Favorite Things about the film and why I think its still something that
should be seen by Anime fans of all generations.
#5-The Animation
Most Anime films nowadays based on a TV Series tend to
stick with the same animation from the small screen with maybe a smidge of
touching up…it’s almost a bit lazy. The
End of Evangelion was the precursor to really making a TV Series sequel look
feature length worthy, like Cowboy Bebop and Escaflowne would eventually
do. The movie is crisp, gorgeous and
unrelenting in all of its visual glory, from the action to the end of the world
sequence. The film is begging to be
freeze framed for every little nugget of detail thrown into each frame, not to
mention some of the blink and you’ll miss moments (Kwarou’s name on the mass
produced Eva Dummy Plugs or Asuka’s maggot ridden corpse.). I’d say I wish they went back and rereleased
the series like this…but that’s what Death and Rebirth is for. Of course, Death and Rebirth was meant to be
released with The End of Evangelion as one complete feature but End of Eva
needed more time, so we got the first feature which was a retelling of the TV
shows events. Evangelion never looked
better…until the Rebuild films came along.
#4-Asuka’s Blaze
of Glory
Asuka is many things…mostly on the negative side cause
she’s kind of, for lack of a better term, a bitch. However, when it came to piloting an Eva, she
could kick ass like no ones business.
She did great against Angels and got her big screen moment to shine in
End of Eva, taking on not only the Japanese Military but a legion of Mass
Produced Evangelion Units. It’s a
bloodbath on a huge scale (more on that later) and watching Asuka work is just
as exciting as the outcome is horrifically terrifying. Whether or not you agree with how it all
turns out, Asuka got to go out in a blaze of red headed fiery glory…even if it
is one of the hardest deaths to watch in all of Anime.
#3-The
Happiest/Saddest Apocalypse Song of All Time
“Kom susser Tod” (or Come Sweet Death). Sounds like a pretty dismal tune from the
title, right? You would not believe that
when the song starts just before the big Third Impact Sequence. It starts off kind of cheerful, followed by a
beautiful, serene batch of voices.
Overall, it’s such a toe tapping tune you almost forget the contents of
the lyrics OR that it’s playing against the backdrop of the end of the freaking
world. Once you know how the song truly
goes, there’s a feeling of dread you’d never associate with something that
seems so peaceful in nature. I guess if
this was the end of life as we know it…it could sound a lot worse.
#2-Nightmare Fuel
OVER 9000!!!!
You thought Eva’s brutally murdering other Eva’s was bad. You thought Eva’s eating Angels was bad. Well that was just the appetizer. The End of Evangelion is a relentless movie. The pacing never lets up and the amount of bloodshed and mayhem is one of the most extreme in any anime. Not only are we watching poor NERV employees getting gunned down, we seeing some of our favorite cast members biting the bullet in the most horrific and heart wrenching ways possible. Oh and there’s the sights of multiple, disfigured Rei’s bearing down over a slowly maddening Shinji. I also mentioned Asuka’s brutal end at the hands of the Mass Produced Evas…and the scream Shinji produces when he sees her mangled Evangelions torn apart corpse (God bless you and the screams you do Spike Spencer). This film has to potential to scare you half to death…but it’s an ending you will never forget because of that. Hey, you all wanted Anno to give you the true ending, you asked for this…just remember that.
#1-It’s not
perfect…and that makes it perfect
Not every question is answered. Hell the final moments are just as divisive
as the events of the TV Series ending.
In the end though, that just adds to the lasting legacy of The End of
Evangelion. As a capstone to a legendary
Anime, The End of Evangelion strives to finish the path begun in the series and
finish it just about right. And just
when you think you’ve figured it out, it either escapes you or you discover
another curve ball thrown your way that makes you start all over again. Is it frustrating? Sure, I doubt anyone wanted the story to end
more ambiguously or see their beloved NERV crew get massacred in the way they
were (Oh Misato). But it’s still a story
that stays with us and continues to be talked about decades after it has been
completed. Neon Genesis Evangelion
continues to find itself on many Top 10 Anime of All Time lists for its
thoughtful subject matter, shock value and deeper meanings. The End of Evangelion took all of that,
cranked it up and said…hope you’re ready to start all over again, cause the real
answers wont be coming any time soon…but they will eventually and this show and
the movie will always be around to bring out new theories and mindset that
change the way we watch it every single time.
How many Anime can you say have had this kind of staying power?
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