The Original End Of Evangelion is a Masterpiece

[00:00] it's March 27th 1996 Japan is about to

[00:05] witness the last episode of the anime

[00:07] television series neon genesis

[00:09] evangelion with an ending that would

[00:11] make many people question its existence

[00:13] in the first place not only in regards

[00:15] to episode 26 but also episode 25 that

[00:18] was released a week prior these episodes

[00:21] were talked about so much regarding its

[00:23] approach its ambiguity and especially

[00:26] its lack of animation during certain

[00:28] parts to the point where a number of

[00:30] fans felt frustrated by the fact that

[00:32] many questions were left unanswered some

[00:34] apparently even sent death threats to

[00:36] the creator of the show Hideaki anno and

[00:39] graffiti gained access to do walls it's

[00:41] been claimed that the controversy was

[00:43] massive during its original release but

[00:45] there have also been reports where the

[00:47] controversy was nowhere near as big as

[00:49] it seemed to be that many fans also sent

[00:52] letters showing their appreciation of

[00:53] these last two episodes what is known is

[00:56] that a year later Anna and the studio

[00:58] Gainax would release a film titled the

[01:01] End of Evangelion which would retell the

[01:04] events of episode 25 and 26 in a

[01:07] different manner the reason why is still

[01:09] unsure but my guess is Anna was

[01:12] definitely dissatisfied with something

[01:14] either with the fans or with himself or

[01:17] most likely both whatever the truth

[01:20] actually is there is no denying that the

[01:22] last two episodes did feel frustrating

[01:24] to a lots of fans and the end of

[01:27] Evangelion is deemed by many as the

[01:29] definitive ending but I'm not here to

[01:32] talk about the film I'm here to talk

[01:35] about the original end of Evangelion and

[01:37] why I think it's a masterpiece

[01:41] [Music]

[01:42] I'm not going to talk about every aspect

[01:46] of the show and all of its underlying

[01:48] themes broader the aspect that caught my

[01:50] interest and how I believed to have

[01:52] culminated perfectly in the ending of

[01:54] the show what's my personal view

[01:56] experience and my own analysis of this

[01:59] show and it's ending our but first we

[02:03] need to talk about plot as a whole

[02:06] generally plots normally consists of a

[02:08] sequence of events that advances a story

[02:11] forward through cause-and-effect plots

[02:13] is considered to be crucial for a

[02:15] telling of a story to work and make the

[02:17] audience engaged in other words a

[02:19] narrative is constructed that forces our

[02:22] characters into a structure of events

[02:24] and then we accompany them towards a

[02:26] resolution of some kind so knowing this

[02:29] what is a violence plots and how does it

[02:32] eventually lead to its last episode the

[02:35] plot consists of a teenage boy called

[02:37] Shinji

[02:37] who was recruited by his father to work

[02:39] for your organization nerve and Pilots

[02:42] giant mecha called

[02:43] Evangelion more specifically Ava won

[02:46] this is done to fight against an alien

[02:48] species called the Angels known to have

[02:51] caused the global Cataclysm which

[02:53] happened 15 years prior called the

[02:55] second impact in other words a third

[02:58] impact is imminent and Shinji is told

[03:00] that he is the only one who can save the

[03:03] world but by the end of the show you

[03:06] don't really have that resolution in the

[03:08] simplest terms you have Shinji

[03:10] questioning himself constantly and all

[03:12] of the other characters continuously

[03:14] speak to Shinji for him to figure things

[03:16] out which means that the last two

[03:18] episodes don't really have any sort of

[03:20] plot resolution buts as I mentioned

[03:22] before I believe this to be a

[03:24] masterpiece why well let's talk about

[03:28] character arc witnessing a character

[03:30] through means of a story in its plot

[03:32] normally equals to his or her growth the

[03:35] plot constructs the sequence of events

[03:37] so that the character can go from point

[03:39] A to point B parts and character arcs

[03:42] normally work together as one and many

[03:44] people especially in regards to American

[03:46] cinema tells us this should always be

[03:48] the case but the reality is that all

[03:50] this comes down to

[03:51] perception of the audience and what each

[03:53] want from a movie and what I connect

[03:55] with the most when watching any sort of

[03:57] medium is character especially how that

[04:00] characters portrayed through the use of

[04:02] imagery and enhanced by the use of sound

[04:04] and music how all of these come into one

[04:07] to express something that holds dear to

[04:09] the person who created it where we truly

[04:11] understand his or her psyche through the

[04:14] portrayal of its main character and this

[04:16] is shown in the last two episodes of

[04:18] Evangelion a form of expression that I

[04:21] believed to be rooted in Japanese

[04:22] filmmaking and its culture which differs

[04:25] from the approach that usually happens

[04:27] in American cinema American cinema has

[04:30] the intent of having this story be the

[04:31] foundation of everything in other words

[04:34] you need to have a solid script solid

[04:36] plots solid character arc in order to

[04:38] have what is considered to be a solid

[04:40] film American films when they do this

[04:43] well it is utterly incredible movies

[04:46] like Once Upon a Time in the West and

[04:47] The Hustler are great examples of this

[04:49] because American cinema normally has

[04:52] characters with well-established

[04:53] identities they either know who they are

[04:56] or what they want to be and many times

[04:58] falls in the category of who is the good

[05:01] guy and who is the bad guy this isn't

[05:05] always the case because you have films

[05:06] like taxi driver and Apocalypse Now who

[05:09] raise that question especially

[05:11] considering the time it was made but

[05:13] normally American cinema makes it quite

[05:16] distinct who is on each site Japanese

[05:18] cinema doesn't quite portray this the

[05:21] search for one's identity is approached

[05:23] from a very different angle initially

[05:26] both sides of the spectrum seem to be

[05:28] quite clear but as the story goes along

[05:30] characters start to show more of who

[05:32] they are underneath how their perceived

[05:34] identities can be misleading like it

[05:37] happens with the Seven Samurai what is

[05:40] good and bad black and white starts to

[05:42] become grey this can be found in so many

[05:45] Japanese movies with the most well-known

[05:48] being Akira Kurosawa's films so if this

[05:50] is prevalent in Japanese cinema this is

[05:53] also going to translate in similar forms

[05:55] of medium which can easily be found in

[05:57] the world of anime anime is all about

[06:01] taking these ideas and developing them

[06:03] as much as

[06:04] Cybil now almost every character whether

[06:07] good or bad eventually develops them in

[06:09] a way that makes them human and almost

[06:11] all anime is like this even shown an

[06:14] anime you still have both protagonists

[06:17] and antagonists were really struggle to

[06:19] find their identity not saving the world

[06:21] is it the main goal but an excuse to

[06:24] show the flaws in human nature of these

[06:26] characters and a tormenting past they go

[06:28] through that's we can be like them

[06:32] Holly's works of Arts have an impact

[06:34] that lasts longer than just the duration

[06:36] of a movie or an episode how the

[06:38] struggle with finding their identity

[06:40] also comes with the struggle of their

[06:43] own failure this I believe to be in part

[06:46] caused by the aftermath of the Second

[06:48] World War

[06:49] how so many people suffered and lost

[06:51] their lives how the ideals and strength

[06:54] their country used to uphold so proudly

[06:56] were ultimately shaken to its core how

[06:59] that must have impacted them so much for

[07:01] so many years prevalent even to this day

[07:04] and this can be found in so many anime

[07:08] which many times deals with an enormous

[07:10] explosion caused by mankind or nature

[07:13] itself and now it's affects everyone in

[07:15] such a negative way and how that can be

[07:18] a representation of the characters

[07:20] failure making them question their

[07:22] beliefs and who they are in the first

[07:24] place which leads us back to Neon

[07:27] Genesis Evangelion having the story take

[07:30] place 15 years following the aftermath

[07:33] of the second impact which almost

[07:35] destroyed the human race currently

[07:37] trying to prevent a third one due to the

[07:40] enormous consequences of the previous

[07:42] impact and our main character Shinji is

[07:45] forced by everyone to be the savior but

[07:47] he is a character who struggles

[07:49] immensely with the notion of failure a

[07:51] character who doesn't have a clear

[07:53] distinction of what is right and wrong a

[07:56] character who was suffering a great deal

[07:58] and has no grasp of who he is and that

[08:01] is what Neon Genesis Evangelion for me

[08:05] is all about it's about how the creator

[08:07] of the show he there Keanu is able to

[08:10] convey all of this into one story but

[08:12] most of all into

[08:13] character it's not just about Shinji

[08:16] it's about a know expressing himself

[08:18] through Shinji it's known that anno

[08:21] suffered through immense depression

[08:22] throughout the making of this series to

[08:24] say he wasn't in a good place is an

[08:26] understatement and even though it's been

[08:29] said that he didn't have a clear path of

[08:31] where the story was headed especially in

[08:33] regards to the limitations and troubled

[08:35] scheduling towards the end of the show

[08:36] what is clear he never lost sight of

[08:39] what was important to him to tell in

[08:42] this story and that was Shinji and his

[08:45] progression as a character which seems

[08:47] to be a no trying to find some sorts of

[08:50] catharsis through Shinji and his

[08:52] development in very simple terms Shinji

[08:56] is someone who doesn't want to deal with

[08:58] the society he lives in early on in this

[09:00] story he tries running away from it but

[09:03] that's also makes him feel like he let

[09:05] down the people who expect more of him

[09:07] and Shinji is constantly going through

[09:09] this loop of uncertainty he tries to do

[09:12] things to make other people like him

[09:14] more but he also doesn't want to have

[09:16] the responsibility of doing those things

[09:18] he feels like he never has a choice and

[09:21] he's always forced to do what other

[09:23] people expect him to do but then when he

[09:26] doesn't do any of it

[09:27] he feels alone and feels like he failed

[09:29] he has difficulty in dealing with the

[09:31] lack of connection he has with his

[09:33] father gender and how his hardship has

[09:35] affected him he has difficulty in

[09:37] finding someone who has cared for him

[09:39] the same way his mother had when he was

[09:41] a young boy and finds that comfort in

[09:44] other female characters especially right

[09:46] but also how his personality contrasts

[09:49] heavily with ahsoka but in reality she

[09:52] is just as fragile as he is and this at

[09:54] times they share a mutual connection

[09:56] which can be attributed to love how

[09:59] Masato even though she is the person who

[10:01] is taking care of him is only really

[10:03] able to communicate honestly through a

[10:05] sexual connection and how Kaoru is the

[10:08] only man that Shinji had a strong trust

[10:11] an emotional connection with regardless

[10:13] of our brief or manipulative it was all

[10:16] of these characters are here to show

[10:18] shinji's enormous insecurities as a man

[10:20] the lack of a mother figure the lack of

[10:23] a romantic

[10:24] action the lack of a sexual connection

[10:27] the lack of an emotional connection

[10:29] these aren't always mutually exclusive

[10:32] to these characters but all of this is

[10:34] to develop shinji's character even more

[10:37] because shinji wants any sort of

[10:39] connection but is also extremely afraid

[10:42] of it and sees it as a negative thing

[10:43] and why most of them especially the

[10:46] female characters always show up during

[10:48] his mental breakdown scenes shown in

[10:51] episode 16 and then in episode 20

[10:54] reaching the existential nature in its

[10:56] conclusion in episode 25 and 26 Shinji's

[11:00] ultimate goal as a character is reached

[11:02] in these final episodes where we leave

[11:05] the physical world and dive into the

[11:07] human instrumentality project where

[11:09] everything and everyone become one

[11:13] deconstructing right eye enemy Asuka

[11:15] Langley

[11:16] Misato Katsuragi were especially shinji

[11:19] ikari with him figuring out each

[11:21] instance of his life the world he lives

[11:23] in who he perceives himself to be what

[11:26] everyone perceives himself to be who he

[11:29] really is

[11:30] because for me Evangelion was never

[11:32] about say boy getting inside the robots

[11:35] and defeating angels

[11:36] it wasn't about saving the world it was

[11:39] about Shinji overcoming his notion of

[11:41] failure and finding his own identity and

[11:44] the culmination of this comes with the

[11:46] freedom scene this is for me one of

[11:49] those moments that will forever stick

[11:51] with me because it suddenly uses the

[11:53] arts of animation as an actual form of

[11:56] expression leading shinji into a world

[11:58] of nothingness a world of freedom the

[12:01] freedom of not having to worry about

[12:04] anything or anyone of no society of not

[12:08] having to do anything at all of being

[12:10] utterly alone which in turn creates a

[12:13] feeling of insignificance to shinji and

[12:16] thus he creates an area an existing

[12:19] dimension where he's able to stand on

[12:21] this makes him feel grounded to a sense

[12:23] of reality but removes an aspect of

[12:26] freedom he wants hats and through this

[12:29] existential moments of his with Masato

[12:31] Rea Asuka Kaoru his father and even his

[12:35] mother explained the

[12:36] exception of reality he comes to the

[12:38] following conclusion that for him to

[12:40] have a perception of himself he needs a

[12:43] world and people around him to perceive

[12:45] him as a form of existence and through

[12:47] that perception and his own the

[12:49] similarities and differences he finds in

[12:51] the many forms of himself that exist

[12:53] through him and everyone else he becomes

[12:56] who he is

[12:57] Shinji this is all shown with very

[13:00] little use of animation with a wide

[13:02] screen almost like a literal clean slate

[13:05] and a very simple drawing of Shinji and

[13:07] creating that first sense of reality the

[13:10] grounds is simply the drawing of a line

[13:13] to which he slowly starts to take the

[13:15] form of other shapes to explain more the

[13:17] perception that he has of himself once

[13:20] he realizes his conclusion the simple

[13:22] drawing of him becomes more defined and

[13:24] we see a close-up of his face speaking

[13:27] about this realization the realization

[13:29] of who he is this is just filmmaking at

[13:33] its finest regardless if Ana didn't have

[13:36] a clear path of where the story was

[13:38] headed regardless that plot elements of

[13:40] the show had been removed due to its

[13:42] similarities in regards to horrible

[13:44] events that transpired in Japan a year

[13:47] prior Ana and the animators were so able

[13:50] to create something really special how

[13:53] it engrossed me in making me ultimately

[13:55] relate with Shinji and how it made me

[13:58] understand better what's a person like

[14:00] ana might have gone through in his life

[14:02] how it made me question myself and my

[14:05] existence through this conversation

[14:06] between these characters I never saw

[14:09] Shinji as a wimp or a crybaby

[14:12] I saw a boy who had difficulty in

[14:14] realizing his own existence how hard it

[14:16] was for him to deal with it throughout

[14:18] his life how he faced failure and

[14:21] overcame it in the end by realizing that

[14:24] he has the power to look at things it's

[14:26] people at the world but especially

[14:27] himself in a different slights as

[14:30] explained to him even something positive

[14:33] can be experienced on rainy days and how

[14:36] everyone in one of the most ridiculous

[14:38] but also satisfying conclusions

[14:40] congratulate him in the last scene

[14:43] ending this show on a smile at the end

[14:46] of the day when we talk about plots in

[14:49] my eyes it should never be seen as the

[14:51] end goal of making a film or a show but

[14:54] rather as a means almost as an excuse to

[14:56] dive deeper into themes that open our

[14:58] eyes to subject matters that are

[15:00] important for us to think about that

[15:02] cinema isn't just about telling a story

[15:05] it's about expressing emotions it's

[15:08] about expressing one's fears their flaws

[15:11] and their minds and realize better

[15:14] what's our emotions are what our fears

[15:16] are our flaws and especially how this

[15:20] shapes our deepest thoughts and

[15:21] insecurities cinema has the benefit of

[15:24] having endless possibilities to showcase

[15:26] anything through its visuals through its

[15:29] sound its music and acting and how this

[15:32] can come all together with the use of

[15:34] editing which Neon Genesis Evangelion

[15:36] excels at constantly showing at times

[15:40] really long shots that culminate on

[15:42] extremely difficult choices that our

[15:44] characters have to make but also

[15:46] contrasting beautifully with certain

[15:49] fast paced cuts to make us understand

[15:51] better the psyche of these characters

[15:53] the show uses so many tools in so many

[15:56] different ways to express something that

[15:59] can be really powerful which

[16:00] encapsulates perfectly the last two

[16:03] episodes of this show and in a twisted

[16:05] turn of events realizing who shinji is

[16:08] helps us identify ourselves even more

[16:11] the humanity shown in shinji is

[16:13] terrifying and depressing it maybe gives

[16:16] us insight to what people can go through

[16:18] mentally including even ourselves all

[16:21] expressed in a way I had never seen

[16:24] before this is why I believe the

[16:26] original ending to be a masterpiece I

[16:30] can't deny that watching this show 20

[16:33] years later didn't benefit me it did

[16:36] because I had the opportunity to watch

[16:38] the director's cut versions of episode

[16:40] 21 to 24 which not only deepen the

[16:43] events in episodes 25 and 26 but also

[16:46] tie in perfectly with the film the end

[16:48] of evangelion how to film parallels

[16:50] perfectly with the existential nature

[16:52] found in episodes

[16:54] five and 26 and how we see the events of

[16:57] the third impact and fold throughout and

[16:59] how our characters Asuka Rey and shinji

[17:02] are involved in this how the plot and

[17:04] character arcs do eventually intertwine

[17:07] and come to an end

[17:08] presenting us with the ambiguous scene

[17:10] between Shinji and Asaka where we see

[17:13] Shinji reacting aggressively towards a

[17:15] Sakai which results in her caressing his

[17:17] face how Shinji then breaks down

[17:19] emotionally until the moment ends with a

[17:22] saccas line how disgusting how there are

[17:25] million ways to try and explain what

[17:27] happens in this moment especially if we

[17:29] consider the scenes between them

[17:31] throughout the film but I do believe it

[17:33] to be more positive especially when we

[17:36] realize the original ending of episode

[17:37] 26 because in the midst of such a

[17:40] terrifying moment there was a sign of

[17:42] hopefulness how ahsoka acknowledges

[17:45] changes existence and what he needed at

[17:48] that time which episode 26 teaches us

[17:51] that even on rainy days we can

[17:53] experience something good from it how

[17:56] both the original episodes and the film

[17:58] are complementary to each other and are

[18:00] needed to fully comprehend everything

[18:03] that happens even if it takes multiple

[18:05] viewings to form our own opinions and

[18:07] analysis and what they mean to each of

[18:09] us both psychologically and emotionally

[18:11] I didn't have to wait a year to witness

[18:14] all of this or even weeks I watched all

[18:17] of it in one week and I was in all of

[18:19] its brilliance but nothing can ever take

[18:22] away the moments I witnessed the freedom

[18:24] seen in episode 26 that's for me is a

[18:28] true nature of everything that makes

[18:29] Neon Genesis Evangelion one of the best

[18:32] shows I've ever seen but most of all one

[18:35] of the best character studies of all

[18:38] time

[18:40] you