Why There's One More Final - End of Evangelion Analysis

[00:00] people think too much about the final

[00:01] scene of the End of Evangelion well that

[00:04] makes it sound like I think people

[00:05] shouldn't care about it this is one of

[00:07] my favorite scenes in any movie ever and

[00:09] it deserves all the attention and

[00:11] speculation that it gets however I think

[00:13] a lot of people maybe get too deep into

[00:15] the speculation of what is literally

[00:17] happening here or what the characters

[00:19] are exactly thinking and they failed to

[00:21] grasp the more General thematic purpose

[00:23] of it because it wasn't stated directly

[00:25] in words I think a lot of what makes

[00:27] this final scene valuable to me can be

[00:29] drawn simp from how it feels to watch it

[00:31] not even needing to question what's

[00:33] going on symbolism what Shinji is

[00:35] thinking when he chokes Asuka or why she

[00:37] says disgusting the finale is placed

[00:40] right after a very uplifting and hopeful

[00:42] sequence the orchestral score Soares as

[00:44] Shinji appears to come to understand his

[00:46] tendency for escapism and as he hears

[00:49] the final words from Ray cowo and his

[00:51] mother ultimately resolves to reject

[00:53] instrumentality return to the real world

[00:55] and make more real connections with

[00:57] other people on top of the score heavy

[00:59] Reverb is placed on many of the voices

[01:01] delivering sometimes esoteric yet

[01:03] ultimately uplifting

[01:05] [Music]

[01:13] [Music]

[01:22] statements and Visually the sequence is

[01:25] filled with lots of bright imagery or

[01:27] shots of light against the darkness like

[01:29] the Stars against the background of

[01:31] space or the glowing crosses Rising

[01:33] above a destroyed world with light now

[01:35] breaking through the clouds all of these

[01:37] sensory elements combined to deliver a

[01:39] dreamlike feel Heavenly even without

[01:41] thinking about the narrative the visuals

[01:43] the music the dialogue wash over the

[01:45] viewer like a blanket of pure optimism

[01:47] in the face of the world's destruction

[01:49] it's appropriate as this scene takes

[01:51] place in the goo the divisive barriers

[01:54] between Souls have been broken down and

[01:55] everyone exists in a state of blissful

[01:57] Harmony it is in this state that Shinji

[01:59] is is able to realize that he had made

[02:02] positive connections even friendships

[02:04] with other people and he's able to

[02:05] decide that he wants to try continuing

[02:07] to overcome the barriers between people

[02:10] and make more real Connections in the

[02:12] moment it feels like a powerful decision

[02:14] to take the harder path on which he has

[02:15] already been hurt many times but also

[02:17] the one that's more mature and rewarding

[02:19] the feeling is one of ascending above

[02:21] everything beyond the destruction past

[02:23] previous conflicts and hardships

[02:25] achieved through the simple will to get

[02:27] better it's beautiful the music Fades

[02:29] out Shinji says goodbye to his mother

[02:31] and the Evangelion floats away into the

[02:33] vastness of space we get the sense that

[02:35] it could have ended there but it can't

[02:38] there's one more

[02:40] [Music]

[02:46] final we are immediately greeted with

[02:49] shots of a devastated Wasteland the sky

[02:51] is dark the land is ravaged and the

[02:53] water is the color of blood there is no

[02:55] music no Heavenly orchestral score just

[02:57] the red waves crashing against the beach

[02:59] the immediate feeling is one of ju

[03:01] opposition to the previous sequence the

[03:03] world outside instrumentality is not

[03:05] nearly as wonderful we have been brought

[03:07] back down to earth and it feels harsh

[03:09] and unforgiving the next two shots

[03:11] expand on this we first see Shinji and

[03:13] Asuka laying next to each other on the

[03:15] beach from high above the composition

[03:17] emphasizes that the two characters are

[03:19] isolated there's nothing and no one else

[03:21] around them from farther away they

[03:22] appear close together but the next shot

[03:24] isolates them from each other putting

[03:26] their arms on opposite sides of the

[03:27] screen the barriers between Souls have

[03:29] returned they are alone on this beach

[03:31] with only each other and even then they

[03:33] feel so far apart again these two shots

[03:36] and shinji's following actions serve as

[03:38] a contrast to the anywhere can be

[03:40] paradise sequence it reminds us what it

[03:42] means to leave instrumentality being put

[03:44] back into a world where people don't

[03:46] immediately understand and love each

[03:47] other this is highlighted by the imagery

[03:49] and the audio it puts us into an

[03:51] experiential State fundamentally

[03:53] different from the one in which Shinji

[03:54] made the decision to heal grow and

[03:56] Conquer hardship it forces us to think

[03:58] that maybe that decision only could have

[04:00] been reached in that state of bliss

[04:03] because even if it will all be okay as

[04:04] long as we have the Sun the Moon and the

[04:06] Earth Shinji chose to destroy the world

[04:08] as we know it and now it looks like this

[04:10] even if anywhere can be paradise he now

[04:12] has to share it with the person most

[04:13] Central to his self-hatred even if it's

[04:16] possible to make real connections with

[04:18] other people he has to do it with the

[04:19] embodiment of his social failure outside

[04:21] of instrumentality he doesn't have the

[04:24] strength to grow at least not right now

[04:26] in fact he's in a mental state much more

[04:27] selfish and destructive than he was at

[04:29] the start of the movie of course that's

[04:31] not to say that it's impossible for him

[04:33] to grow or that the previous sequence's

[04:34] pep talk was wrong but this is how the

[04:36] movie chooses to end the final scene of

[04:38] the End of Evangelion is a challenge to

[04:41] its own optimism the choices of imagery

[04:43] audio and Direction make us immediately

[04:45] feel that growth is not as simple as a

[04:47] bunch of beautiful phrases stated over

[04:49] pretty music and ethereal visuals and

[04:51] they delivered that message much more

[04:53] effectively than any possible internal

[04:55] monologue or dialogue explanation from

[04:57] the characters it more subtly prompts us

[04:59] to question how easy is it really and

[05:01] puts us more into the director's heads

[05:03] space dealing with how difficult it is

[05:05] to decide to heal from Rock Bottom to

[05:06] stick with it to stay consistent with

[05:08] your personal growth to not stagnate or

[05:10] regress aelion gives us one of the most

[05:13] beautiful uplifting sequences in all of

[05:15] fiction and immediately follows it up

[05:16] with shinji's crushing regression into

[05:18] the state where he decided everyone

[05:20] should die because in our lowest moments

[05:22] we can still logically know that there

[05:24] is hope that there is a way out that

[05:26] there is potential for good as long as

[05:27] we keep living but even then it still

[05:30] feels like

[05:35] this I hope you enjoyed this short

[05:38] little video I've been thinking of it as

[05:40] kind of like a companion piece to the

[05:42] aelian G Leon video I made a couple

[05:44] years ago and I was able to finally put

[05:46] it into words after getting the chance

[05:48] to see end of Eva in the theater back in

[05:50] March which was really cool if you have

[05:52] any thoughts leave a comment I would

[05:54] love to hear it remember to go outside

[05:56] and have a good rest of your day

[06:00] [Music]

[06:06] the composition emphasizes oh hello Cat

[06:12] Cat come on