The each time that I re-watch EOE, I become firmer in my opinion that all the death and destruction in the first half of the movie is really incidental to the truth that Shinji must learn in the second half of the film.

I think that Shinji’s perspective on life and his loneliness represents a rejection of the “bowling alone” syndrome of modern society; nobody understands me so I’ll shut out the world. I also feel when Shinji and Rei are alone in the LCL field and everybody is merged together represents what Shinji thinks his ideal world should be. But he quickly figures out that he may not get hurt there, but it’s a hollow/false existence.

Shinji learns that to truly connect with other people he would have to open himself up to being hurt because at first you can’t truly whats inside another person’s heart. He comes to understand that while he felt that nobody tried to understand his feelings he never put any effort in to listening or trying to understand the other person.

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On the end, I’m somewhat closer to Hanners’s interpretation. But mine was even worse. They were the only people, in their willful stubbornness, to stay behind. Human Instrumentality did its little thing, and they were not part of it. If you take it as a re-telling of the same story as the end of the TV series (which I do, just with a little more information), all that convincing that everyone tried to do to Shinji during the pencil episodes did not work. But maybe it’s time for me to take another look at it, and the more I feel like Anno was a negative bastard, the more I seem to like him. And apparently, there was a lot of controversy over exactly how to translate the last line, but one thing’s for sure, it wasn’t a real positive-sounding one.

It is considerably more demanding of its viewers and expects them to work much harder to glean a meaning from the bizarre imagery; which is all well and good if the fans of the series walked in with that expectation, but in many cases they probably didn’t.

I don’t really know the story with that, but I wonder… seems that if you made it through the end of the TV series and wanted to see more, you were probably ready for some crazy stuff. Your interpretation of the live-action sequence is very cool, and sounds plausible enough to me.

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Overall I actually like your interpretation, as it’s far more positive than mine. My assumption always ends up at Shinji and Asuka not being the first to return, but the only ones to return… The only pair strong enough to become individuals again, making them the next Adam and Eve so that the whole cycle begins again.

I’m not sure about that last line and closing scene either, but I always felt that it was more a reflection of Shinji and Asuka’s entire relationship in the blink of an eye… Love, hate, disgust, jealousy, the entire gamut of human emotion basically.

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Anyhow, the movie was a good addition, simply because I felt it was a more suitable ending than that ‘acid trip’ in the TV series. A fantastic way to tie all loose ends and call it a day.

However, if I have one single criticism about the film, it kind of irked me that so much of it was so similar to Ideon: Be Invoked - nor did I feel it did anything better than Ideon: Be Invoked.

@Wildcard: I didn’t get the sandcastle either. The idea of the stage gives a sense of artificial-ness but kicking down a sandcastle? The two dolls represent loneliness and perhaps creating something then kicking it down represents Shinji’s childish desire to destroy everything. Just my guessing really!

@Peter S: I thought Misato’s end was brilliant. Heartbreaking, but brilliant. It sums up why I have so much admiration for her character. If you’re trying to weird people out with anime, I recommend anything by Satoshi Kon! They won’t know what hit them…

@coburn: I wasn’t too aware of the impact the show had made when I watched it either, so went in knowing it was apocalyptic and epic, nothing more. I find it a shame that people decide whether it succeeds or fails as a movie based purely on the hype and shitstorms. ‘Forcing the viewers to look at themselves’ is what the film does so well, which I think is why the live-action segment is so brilliant.

@Hanners: I’m no prude in terms of violence but at times it felt a bit unnecessary. Certainly not in the case of Asuka and Misato though - Anno isn’t afraid to inflict suffering on his characters, but their demises were so fitting. When Asuka is facing impossible odds, it’s possibly the only time when she’s seen to be happy and utterly in her element. Even though she’s suffering, she earns a heroic end. Misato’s scene is similarly superb; like you, my respect for the series must surely cloud my judgement on it somewhat.

The end has always left me scratching my head. I tried to look up the interpretations but I honestly don’t know. Sorry if that’s a disappointment to you but I never did come to a satisfactory conclusion. Here goes…

It’s a Shinji/Asuka pairing by the end, in which they are the first humans to return. I guess it’s a relatively happy ending but given the obstacles they’d have to overcome, maybe it’s just as well that we’re not shown the arguments and awkwardness that would come before a happy future together. The last line is I think Asuka remembering what happened in the opening scene…which probably means it’s one last reminder that you have to take responsibility for your actions. He did something that has sickened and upset her, but the caress suggests that she can forgive him. I think that’s as close to a happy ending that we’re ever going to get from Anno!

I never really felt that the first half of the movie was too bloody - This is a fight to bring about the total, unequivocal end (and remoulding) of the world as we know it, affecting every single living thing, and the use of extreme violence to ensure that was brought about on SEELE’s part made perfect sense. War is bad, and this was war, so I’ve always been glad to see it covered in such a no holds barred fashion.

Conversely, I was never too sure about the live action portion towards the end - I don’t dislike it, and musically it fits in wonderfully with Shiro Sagisu’s masterful soundtrack (again, a best ever?) but it felt a bit arbitrarily bolted on to me. I can imagine the theatre scene must have been quite something at the premiere though.

Really, End of Evangelion does it all for me - It’s thought-provoking, it’s occasionally majestically action-packed (Asuka versus the mass production Evas is absolutely breath-taking), it’s poignant (with Misato’s final scene especially)… I could go on, but let’s just say I’ve watched this movie half a dozen times and I fully intend to watch it many, many more before I get bored of it.

I’d be interested to hear your take on the end though, it’s always intriguing to hear from people what they think it all means.

Mainly I just love this film. I think it offers a far more natural transition from action into straight talking existential guff than was possible on TV. The film is probably more elegant in making the perspective shift and thus forcing the viewers to look at themselves.

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I haven’t watched EoE except for that one time. I’m not sure I agree that the studio was “throwing a tantrum,” because I thought the deaths of Asuka and Misato both especially moving. Misato even gives our whiny hero Shinji a pep talk before she dies! She was probably my favorite character in the show, so I was glad to see her die well. As for Asuka, the joy on her face when she started fighting is an image I still remember.

As for Rei? … Heh heh. I use the moment when her giant form rises up through the atmosphere as an example to friends who don’t watch anime of how wonderfully weird the format can be (that and scenes from Utena, twin columns of glorious anime strangeness). No converts so far. I wonder why not …

The one scene I really don’t get is the sandcastle one about halfway through - it’s clearly intended to be heavily symbolic but it still goes over my head.

And then I watched EoE, and it seems to me that all of that tying up is replaced with even higher levels of mental anguish, backed up with gratuitous blood. I suppose it made more sense than the TV ending but the film was just draining to watch, from start to end. It really did feel like the studio were just having a tantrum, and those live action scenes are something of an apology for making you sit through it.