It was almost a decade long wait for it but Evangelion 3.0+1.0-Thrice
Upon a Time finished off the Rebuild of Evangelion Film Series with one of the
best entries in the Evangelion franchise.
Even with a franchise as large as Eva, no one could’ve predicted things
would turn out so well, especially for a film with such a hectic production
timeline.
Thrice Upon a Time gave us
some of the most unexpected twists and in my review, I tried to keep things as
spoiler free as possible to preserve the experience.
Well, it’s been a few days, time to talk
Spoilers and about the stuff I truly enjoyed about this brand new ending to
Evangelion.
These are my Top 5 Moments
from Evangelion 3.0+1.0-Thrice Upon a Time.
Last chance, reading after this point means you don’t mind a few
spoilers (also I’m doing everyone a solid and reinforcing that in the title of
my Top 5…so there, warning issued, let’s talk.
#5-The Brand New Dub with some Old Friends
Amazon Prime ended up being the lucky studio to bring the
long awaited final chapter of Rebuild to US shores and across the world in multiple
languages.
Much to my surprise, this
included an English Dubbed track that they announced about half a day before
the movie premiered on the streaming service.
I didn’t pay enough attention at first and just assumed they’d use the
voices Funimation used for their prior dubs of the other three Rebuild Movies.
But once I started listening more closely, I realized
they’d done more than that.
Not only do
Spike Spencer, Tiffany Grant and Alison Shipp return to their iconic roles as
Shinji, Asuka and Misato (just as they have with the other movies) but the new
Amazon Dub brings back several other voices from way back in the ADV/Manga
Entertainment Dubbed days, VA’s who’d worked on both the TV Series and Movies.
This includes Amanda Winn Lee as Rei; her
husband Jason C. Lee as Aoba, Brett Weaver as Toji, Amy Seele as Maya and Michael
Ross as Fuyutsuki.
I not only smiled at
hearing these iconic voices with these characters, it also makes me loathe the
Netflix redubbing of the Series more because they couldn’t shell out to bring
these guys back to reprise roles that have been associated with them for
decades…but that’s a rant for another time.
#4-Gendo: The Final Boss
Evangelion has always been about Shinji and Gendo and the
fact that neither can get along or understand one another.
Gendo’s so hyper focused on his grand plans
he ignores Shinji unless he has a use for him.
In turn, Shinji feels abandoned by the only blood relative he has left
and constantly wishes to appease Gendo when he gets the chance.
Their relationship has been examined a lot over
the 25+ years of Eva’s existence but one thing the TV Series and End of Eva never
gave us was a proper showdown between Father and Son.
After all, SEELE might have been the brute
force behind NERV’s slaughter in The End of Evangelion, but I always felt like
Gendo was the bigger threat to bringing about Third Impact.
Thrice Upon a Time gives us that fateful
battle we all kind of hoped for: Shinji vs. Gendo, both in a visually bonkers
Mecha battle and on the metaphysical plane, showing us a deeper and more
explorative side to Gendo than ever before.
It gives both Shinji and Gendo better closure on their relationship than
ever before.
#3-Shinji Grows Up
Speaking of Shinji, he was in a pretty bad place at the
end of Evangelion 3.33-You Can (Not) Redo.
That movie jumped us into a new time period without explanation and refused
to give us time to process or get anything answered.
In a way, it was ok to sympathize with Shinji’s
state of mind cause we were just as lost as he was.
And yet, it felt like 3.33 did away with the
positive growth Shinji experienced in Evangelion 2.22-You Can (Not) Advance, in
favor of a more traditionally tortured Shinji.
Shinji does take a minute to get back on his feet but once he does, he
completes the actual growth he’s been going through during this new
series.
Shinji opens up to those closest
to him, admitting feelings for some and standing up to others even if the
outcome might not be what he wants it to be.
This is the Shinji we always wanted to see: one who really looks at what’s
traumatized him most of his life, accepting it and learning from it to become a
stronger, better version of himself.
This is the Shinji we all wanted as humanities representative in The End
of Evangelion…the one who probably wouldn’t ruin the world in the process.
#2-A Happy Ending
Were it not for my #1 choice, this would be the biggest
surprise of all.
Yes, not everyone makes
it to the final credits (sort of), Misato in particular goes out in a far more
heroic blaze of glory than her fate in The End of Evangelion.
But Thrice Upon a Time gives Shinji and the
other the last thing anyone ever expected: A Happy Ending.
Shinji makes peace with his father, Kwaoru
learns to find his own happiness, Asuka accepts her feelings for Shinji and Rei
and Kaji get proper send offs as well.
Shinji even makes the game changing decision to rewrite the world
without Evangelions…but gets saved from having to sacrifice himself by his
reunited Mother and Father, yeah even Gendo gets a happy ending out of all of
this: finding his wife while doing an act of love for their son.
When the world resets and we see a grown up
Shinji, seemingly in a relationship with Mari of all people, run off with a
smile and a more mature voice, it feels weird…but it feels right.
This was a new Evangelion from the same Director
who wanted to do things differently.
A
different Anno, changed over the years and then some, gave us a sunnier ending
for a series no one would associate with the word “hope”…and it’s so beautiful.
#1-The Kids Take a Breather
After Evangelion 3.33 left us all going WTF, we waited
and wondered how Anno would write himself out of that pretty deep hole.
His solution: Spend the first third of 3.0+1.0
having Shinji, Asuka and Rei take a freaking breather.
Yeah, the trio travel to an untarnished
countryside, reunite with old friends, and just chill the frak out for a bit.
Rei especially benefits from this entire
stretch as we see her learn about what it means to be Human and make a life
that is her own…even if its doomed to not last.
Shinji finally begins to open up, with Toji and Kensuke having his back
as always.
Asuka…is kind of the same but
you can tell she’s changed too with everything that’s happened.
Considering The End of Evangelion began with
the mass slaughter of NERV HQ, Thrice Upon a Times opening is just what was
needed to wash away the unevenness of 3.33’s finally and give its core three
characters time to take a step back and think about what’s come before and what
might lie ahead.
It was a pure breather
and probably one of the best mini stories to come out of a 26 year old
franchise.
Honestly, this could have
been an entire movie unto itself and I would’ve been fine with it.
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