Evangelion: A Theme Analysis Review

The appropriately named End of Evangelion retells the ending to the anime (Japanese animation) series Neon Genesis Evangelion, which left fans disappointed due to budget constraints and lack of appropriate animating time. Picking up where the series left off Shinji Ikari in his Evangelion (Eva) has crushed the last of the otherworldly Angels and saved humanity from annihilation. However, the secretive organization SEELE now puts into action their to use Shinji and his Eva to cause Human Instrumentality plan, uniting all humanity into one being by causing the destruction of physical bodies and returning mankind to the 'primordial soup' it evolved from millennia ago. True to the series, the movie continues the tragic stories of each character, but with more symbolism and interpretive meaning than ever before. Many of those who reviewed the movie found it lacking in a true conclusion or full of "pretentious elements, incredibly grim imagery and an outrageously depressing atmosphere" as Escapist Magazine movie reviewer Jack Nicholls put it. While grim imagery may be an understatement even, his claims of the film being pretentious are lost on me though as I found the film to have a simple message that was easy to understand.

The movie delves into what's tough about being a human being and makes comments on topics through its strong use of framework, color, music, and dialogue. Hideaki Anno, director of End of Evangelion (EoE), gets his messages about intimacy, confidence, death, and individuality across to the viewer effortlessly with his at-the-time ground-breaking deconstruction of the human psyche coupled with a story that stands on it's own two foot among classics of animation. The dialogue and the animation come together beautifully with the voice actors showing every emotion from happiness to depression to downright insane, they really bring the characters to life.

Every character in EoE has a life of their own, even side characters show relevance to at least one message in the film. Throughout the film all the pent up feelings and burdens each character has is revealed and examined, yet at the end of the movie very few things are actually solved, the characters have just developed and learned to deal with them in the future. The 'hedgehog's dilemma' is mentioned once in the TV series, it says that in the cold hedgehogs will attempt to gather close together to stay warm, but if they get too close their spines will hurt each other. This represents everything the movie has to say about intimacy; Shinji is afraid to be hurt by others so he withdraws himself from the world, Asuka Langley is afraid of others seeing her weak side so she makes up for it by acting overly confident. Shinji and Asuka show this point perfectly, the tension that builds up between them is a result of both wanting to be close to the other, but neither being able to express themselves openly about it. Near the end of the film when Shinji is contemplating whether he wants Human Instrumentality to take place he speaks, in his mind, to Asuka as he knows her. He begs for help and she blatantly refuses, causing Shinji to break and begin strangling her. As he does so Shinji's memories flash on the screen as images and clips and he realizes that it was him not understanding that she wanted to be close that was causing his own pain. He releases her and then lightly wraps his arms around her in a hug, he finally understands that pain is a part of a relationship and that he can't run away from it any more than anyone else can, that as long as he's alive he has to deal with the pain because that's life. The scene is one of the best in the film due to the suddenness of it all and the way the images and music blended seamlessly together, it creates such strong emotion in the viewer to see the two young teenagers dealing with such intense emotions after what horrible lives they'd been forced into since young ages.

Along with intimacy comes the issue of self-esteem shown in the film through Shinji, Misato and a host of side characters. Shinji has been a weak-willed, never-say-no character who refuses to take control of his life due to his low self-worth and fear of being hurt by others. Misato on the other hand is the pinnacle of confidence that spurs him forward, she learned long ago that you need to take control of your own life if you want to get anything done, and she wants Shinji to know the same and to be proud of his own choices. Early in the film Misato finds a helplessly desperate Shinji cowering in the corner of a room awaiting his own death at the hands of SEELEs troops because his life has "no worth or value whatsoever." Misato drags him along with her and fights her way towards the Eva unit with Shinji in tow. Before they reach the destination though, Misato is shot in the back protecting Shinji right before they make it to a safe area. They enter the area and Misato presses the elevator button and props herself against the wall next to Shinji. She tells him he must pilot the Eva by his own choice, not because he should and not because she wants him to, he must pilot it for himself. Shinji can only quiver and tear up at her comments and state he can't do that; that he should just die. She hands him her necklace and tells him he has to because he's not dead now so he can't stop trying, as long as he's alive his life is worth living, then she kisses him and pushes him into the elevator, sending him off to the Eva below the ground. Shinji's barrier of apathy was only slightly broken by Misato, but when he reaches the Eva and hears the screams of Asuka being torn to shreds and his innocent companions being shot mercilessly he makes the decision to pilot the Eva and fight. He finally makes his own decision rather than being pushed around by others all the time. He went from simply waiting for death to fighting for his own life and the lives of those he wants to protect, the start of learning his own worth. The scene is one of a few that portray this idea of gaining confidence; I chose this one because it was the first in the movie and shows most easily the idea that Ano wishes to send that confidence isn't just gained overnight, it's a gradual change and it's painful and takes motivation to be happy with yourself. Pete Harcoff of Anime Critic interprets Ano's intentions