Previously:
NERV found itself under an attack it was doomed to fail
against. Gendo revealed his plans to
become God to get revenge on God because he’s Gendo Ikari and surprising no
one, he admitted he hates Shinji and always has. Meanwhile, Asuka got back into the fight
against crazed looking Eva’s and Misato saved Shinji’s life at the cost of her
own, though she got some bad guys in the process. Now Shinji stands ready to protect Asuka and
fight some terrifying Mass Produced Evangelions. It’s Part One of this double sized finale to
Final Impact: An Evangelion Gundam Anime Corner Special. I’m ready, you ready? Let’s roll.
Volume 13 (Episode 25-26, The End of Evangelion)
In the Anime:
Shinji finds himself unable to get to Eva Unit 01 as it
is trapped and cannot be freed. Asuka
battles the Eva Series while Gendo and Rei arrive at Lilith. Ristuko stands in his way, hoping to trigger
a protocol in the MAGI to destroy NERV HQ and grant her revenge. When the MAGI betray her, Gendo kills
Ritsuko. Asuka manages to annihilate the
Eva Series before her Eva shuts down completely. However, the Eva Series reactivates, regenerates
and tears a defenseless Unit 02 apart, killing Asuka in the process. Unit 01 eventually breaks free for Shinji and
arrives on the battlefield, only for Shinji to scream in agony at the sight of
Asuka’s mangled Eva. This give SEELE the
opening they need to have the Eva Series capture Unit 01 and begin the rite to
enact Third Impact. Knowing his time is
running out, Gendo attempts to begin his own Third Impact Rite with Rei. Rei defies him, stealing the Adam Embryo and
becoming one with Lilith before rising to meet Shinji.
In the Manga:
·
Shinji makes it to the battlefield just as Unit
02 loses an arm and shuts down. He
manages to rescue Asuka and battle the Eva Series by himself (both he and Asuka
basically each have an equal half of Asuka’s Eva Series battle from The End of
Evangelion).
·
In a brief lull in the fighting, Shinji and
Asuka have a friendly moment where theyre both happy to see one another again.
·
Before Gendo kills Ritsuko, he tells her that he
loved her. In End of Evangelion, his
audio is muted and Ristuko simply replies “Liar.” However, many fans suspect that is what he
might’ve said to her.
·
Shinji battles the Eva Series a second time
after they regenerate. He goes into a
rage when they cause more harm to Asuka, causing Eva Unit 01 to steadily become
more unstable. It even summons the Lance
of Longinus back as a result.
·
Rei takes just the Adam Embryo from Gendo rather
than his arm, telling him this isn’t the hand she wishes to feel, implying she
has retained some of her predecessors feelings for Shinji.
·
Asuka stays alive through the entire Third
Impact beginning, sealed inside Eva Unit 02
·
Ritsuko, with her last breath, shoots Gendo in
the throat, calling him a liar and telling him that the only woman he ever
loved was Yui.
·
We see a slew of Manga Exclusive Third Impact
memories during Shinji’s dream state, including memories with Yui, Gendo
abandoning him with his foster family and the first time he visited his mothers
grave with Gendo. All in all this
sequence is far less harsher than the rage and isolation filled feel of The End
of Evangelion
The brutality of The End of Evangelion is infamous. Some felt it was even a bit cruel what Anno
did to every character they’d grown to love.
In Anno’s mind though, they hassled him over the TV Ending and he was
gonna give the people what they wanted, whether they liked it or not. That ending was for THAT Evangelion. I’ll get deeper into that in the final
part. I bring all of that up now though
because the Manga is going a bit easier on everyones endings right now, even
though NERV still got masaccared and the main cast doesn’t have much long on
the board either. Still, Asuka’s still
very much alive and her moment with Shinji put a smile on my face. Many characters argue they bicker like an old
married couple and you know what, ShinjixAsuka all the way. Shinji better character development gets
rewarded too. While Asuka got to kick
the entirety of Eva ass in End of Eva, Shinji never got to do anything besides
wallow and suffer through the entire film.
Here, he’s in the battle and Eva Unit 01 get to let loose even fiercer
than ever. Much like End of Eva though,
it’s Asuka in trouble that gets Shinji in trouble, albeit this time she’s still
alive and not in a million Eva pieces being chowed down on. On to Ritsuko, like Misato, she got a more
fulfilling ending than the Movie. I said
before that Shinji should never be the one to kill Gendo, it’s just not
right. And it wasn’t going to be Rei
either cause she’s Yui after all. No,
Gendo’s one two punch of being betrayed by Rei and then shot in the neck by
Ritsuko is justice enough. Poor Ritsuko,
her conclusion about Gendo only loving Yui was right on the money, at least she
got the bastard this time. Rei’s refusal
of Gendo’s hand continues the theme of connection prevalent in the Manga. Rei’s memories fill her last clone and she
wants Shinji’s hand of comfort rather than Gendo’s hand of vengeance…like I
said, the first of two righteous gut punches for Gendo. I know I’ll have more to talk about with
Third Impact in a moment but I will say, it’s a far less intense version than
End of Eva, more in line with the soft spoken dialogue of the TV Ending
actually. Shinji’s not desperately
crying to be seen nor is he trying to choke a mental version of Asuka who
refuses to help him. Like I said, level
of violence in the Manga End of Eva…a lot but a bit less and yet still just as
intense but not as intense. This is a
very different ending and I’m here for it.
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