T5W#284-Top 5 Things I Want to See from Evangelion 3.0+1.0-Thrice Upon a Time

Somehow, I knew this would happen.  With the resurgence of pandemic cases in Japan, it was announced last week that the grand finale to the Rebuild of Evangelion saga: Evangelion 3.0 +1.0-Thrice Upon A Time, was once again being postponed until an unspecified time in the future.  Does this mean we might still see it in 2021?  At this point who knows.  The film has more or less been completed by now.  However, f you checked out my Evangelion Retrospective back at Christmas (and if not, im pretty proud of it and you can check it out right here:  http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/neon-genesis-evangelion-retrospective.html) you’d know that even without a pandemic ripping across the planet, the final chapter of Rebuild of Evangelion has taken a long time to get to anything close to completion.  From the tumultuous production hassles of Evangelion 3.33 to the break Hideaki Anno took to direct Shin Godzilla and recharge his batteries, Thrice Upon a Time is building to become one of the most epically anticipated Anime of all time.  Today, I ask myself, I’ve been watching these movies since the beginning.  What do I want to see accomplished in the grand finale?  What are the Top 5 Things I Want to See from Evangelion 3.0+1.0-Thrice Upon a Time?  Well, thank God for Top 5 Wednesdays amirite? 

#5-The Best Action Yet

While Rebuild of Evangelion isn’t flawless, the action set pieces have always been dazzling and mind blowing. Evangelion 1.11 recreated and updated several of the earliest battles from the TV Series in fine HD form.  Evangelion 2.22 was a laundry list of wishes being granted when it came to kick ass fights, particularly at the hands of Mari and Asuka.  Evangelion 3.33 was a cluster cuss of action confusion but the opening low orbit rescue of Shinji and Eva Unit 01 by Asuka and Mari was a helluva opening and one of the best sequences in the entire franchise.  Just where the heck can you go with Thrice Upon a Time?  Hopefully the best has been saved for last and what glimpses we have seen show Asuka and Mari utilizing a fused Eva Unit 02 and 08 to face what looks like a legion of mass produced Evas, looking very different from the sinister grinning monstrosities from The End of Evangelion.  In short, the action has yet to disappoint in any Rebuild film.  Hopefully Thrice Upon a Time does not break this trend and sends out this retelling with all barrels blazing.

 

#4-The Return of Evangelion 2.22 Shinji

One of Evangelion 2.22’s more surprising developments was that of an increasingly confident Shinji Ikari.  Well known as one of the winiest and most frustrating protagonists in Anime, Shinji grew a huge back bone by the end of the film and was determined to save Rei’s life even if he didn’t realize he might bring about Third Impact in the process.  In a way, 2.22 Shinji is what TV Shinji always aspired to be: confident, complimented and kind of a bad ass.  3.33 wiped that slate clean by returning Shinji to the normal status quo…but to be fair his reactions to everything and the world around him were equal to our own because WHAT THE F*** WAS GOING ON!!!???  It got so bad that Asuka had to drag him out of the 3.33 finale and into the credits.  Here’s hoping Shinji gets some of that good spine back, no matter what craziness Thrice Upon a Time might have in store for him.

 

#3-The Lost 14 Years

One of Eva 3.33’s more devisive elements was the decision to jettison the “Preview” we saw at the end of 2.22 and instead took a left turn into unknown territory.  Shinji’s decision to try and rescue Rei resulted in Third Impact or something close too it and changed everyone irrevocably.  Misato is now a rage filled commander with an equally jaded Ritsuko at her side.  WILLE now stands as the organization hellbent on taking down NERV with a slew of new faces at the helm of the Wunder.  Mari and Asuka haven’t aged and Kaji is totally absent from everything.  Just what the heck happened during these missing 14 plus change years?  Will Asuka or Rei reveal anything to Shinji cause God knows he and the rest of us are due some actual answers.

 

#2-Mari’s Origin

Even before he big screen debut in Evangelion 2.22, Mari Illustrious Makinami made a splash with her cute design and, once the film arrived, her reckless and fun attitude.  Mari is easily one of the best parts of the Rebuild saga, handling the action sequences with ease and humor aplenty.  But who the heck is Mari?  Where does she come from?  How much does she know about that’s going on in the big picture?  What is her role to play and what is her endgame?  It was ok to ignore some of these in 2.22 but we got pretty much no advancement on Mari’s storyline in 3.33, besides her getting to team up with Asuka, something the might be happening again in Thrice Upon a Time.  We want to know more about Mari and if Rebuild’s last chapter wont give it to us…maybe a spin off manga or something?

 

#1-Evangelion Multiverse?

So with this one…it’s complicated.  I’ve heard rumors and theories about Rebuild possibly being a sequel to the TV Series or End of Evangelion, with the world reborn and making the same damn choices that lead to the same damn results.  It would explain why Mari seems to know so much and why Kwaoru is extremely interested in Shinji.  If another Third (or God forbid Fourth) Impact does occur, what’s to say that Shinji cant somehow see glimpses of other alternate futures or even previous timelines?  Could he maybe interact with End of Evangelion Shinji or even that alternate “What If” we saw in the TV Series finale, that subsequently became the basis for two Evangelion Manga Spin Off: Angelic Days and The Shinji Ikari Raising Project?  This is probably the most farfetched thing I might want to see but if this is to be the definitive end point on Evangelion, then looking back on what’s come before and what could come isn’t a bad notion, right?