Neon Genesis Evangelion The End Of Evangelion -1997- -

At release the film polarized critics and audiences: some praised its ambition, formal daring, and emotional intensity; others criticized its brutality, opacity, and perceived nihilism. Over time The End of Evangelion has become a critical touchstone—widely discussed in academic and fan circles—for its contributions to animation as adult art, its interrogation of subjectivity, and its influence on subsequent media that blend psychological drama with genre spectacle.

If you want, I can expand this into a 600–1,000 word essay, a shorter blurb for a catalog, or a spoiler-free synopsis for recommending to others.

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🧬 One movie. Two endings. Zero sanity left.

In 1997, Hideaki Anno looked at a conflicted fanbase and said, “You want an ending? Here. Have fun processing this forever.”

THE END OF EVANGELION isn't just a finale. It's a psychological detonation. Between the visceral horror of the live-action JSSDF assault, the haunting beauty of Komm, süsser Tod, and Shinji’s final choice by the beach, it asks the hardest question of all:

Is it better to feel pain than to feel nothing at all?

25+ years later, we're still debating what happened in those last 10 minutes. And that's the point. neon genesis evangelion the end of evangelion -1997-

🎬 Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997) 🎥 Dir. Hideaki Anno

How did you feel after watching it for the first time? (Be honest. We’ve all been there.) 👇

#NeonGenesisEvangelion #EndOfEvangelion #HideakiAnno #AnimeHistory #EvaForever #KommSüsserTod

The film is split into two halves: Episode 25: Air and Episode 26: Sincerely Yours.

Part 1: Air (The Descent into Hell) The film opens not with hope, but with disgust. Shinji Ikari, having just murdered the last Angel (Kaworu), has lost his will to live. He visits the comatose Asuka Langley Soryu in the hospital. In a scene that remains the most controversial in anime history, Shinji masturbates over her sleeping body. This is not fan service; it is a character study in absolute alienation, loneliness, and the inability to connect.

Simultaneously, the JSSDF (Japan Strategic Self-Defense Force) attacks NERV HQ on orders from SEELE, the secret cabal controlling humanity's destiny. They slaughter the NERV staff in a hail of gunfire. Asuka, awakening from her psychic coma after realizing her mother’s soul lives within Unit-02, unleashes a legendary rampage. She single-handedly destroys the entire fleet of mass-production Evangelion units—until they turn the tables. In one of the most gruesome scenes ever animated, the fake EVAs grow copies of the Lance of Longinus and devour Unit-02 alive. Asuka screams, "I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!" before being impaled.

Part 2: Sincere to You (Instrumentality) Shinji, watching the destruction, falls into a deep despair. Gendo Ikari, his father, attempts to merge the Adam embryo in his hand with Lilith (in Terminal Dogma) to initiate Third Impact on his own terms. However, Rei Ayanami, the vessel for Lilith’s soul, betrays him. She absorbs Adam and returns to Lilith, transforming into a giant, spectral figure. She offers the fate of the world to Shinji. At release the film polarized critics and audiences:

What follows is a 25-minute abstract nightmare. Third Impact begins. Humanity loses their physical forms (Tang) as their AT Fields—the barriers that separate self from other—collapse. Shinji is forced to witness the truth: people are fundamentally afraid of each other. Yet, he is also given the choice.

In the climax, Shinji rejects Instrumentality. He chooses the pain of individuality, the risk of rejection, and the beauty of reality—even if it hurts. He strangles Asuka on the beach of a red, post-apocalyptic Earth. Asuka, instead of fighting back, reaches up and caresses his cheek. Shinji breaks down crying. As she looks at him, she whispers the final line of the film: "Kimochi warui" (気持ち悪い — "Disgusting" or "I feel sick").

The film begins immediately after the final episode of the TV series. SEELE, the secret cabal behind NERV, decides to initiate the Human Instrumentality Project forcibly. To do this, they invade NERV headquarters using the Japanese Strategic Self Defense Force (JSSDF) to neutralize the organization.

The End of Evangelion stands as both culmination and provocation: it completes a story the TV ending left unresolved while interrogating the very idea of resolution. Its mixture of spectacle and interiority, refusal of easy answers, and willingness to depict trauma unflinchingly make it essential viewing for those interested in psychological narratives, auteur animation, and works that challenge the boundaries between genre entertainment and philosophical inquiry.

Shinji wakes up on a blood-red beach. The ocean is LCL. Lilith’s decapitated head lies on the shore, bleeding a black rainbow. The sky is a smeared Earth and moon.

And then, he sees her.

Asuka Langley Soryu is lying next to him. She is bandaged. One eye is covered. She looks dead. But she is alive. 🧬 One movie

Shinji kneels over her. He begins to cry. He apologizes for everything—for the hospital, for running away, for wishing her dead. He then begins to choke her. He is angry. He wants her to reject him again, to give him an excuse to hate humanity once more.

But Asuka does not fight back. She reaches up. With her one good hand, she gently strokes his cheek.

And Shinji stops. He collapses, sobbing.

Asuka, looking down at the pathetic boy, mutters the film’s final line of dialogue. It is a whisper, almost swallowed by the tide.

"Kimochi warui."

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997) is a feature-length cinematic conclusion to Hideaki Anno’s landmark 1995–96 anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. Released as a counterpoint and companion to the series’ divisive final two television episodes, The End of Evangelion delivers a radically different, more concrete—and more violently explicit—resolution to the show’s central conflicts. It blends apocalyptic spectacle, psychological collapse, mythic symbolism, and formal experimentation into a polarizing masterpiece that redefined anime storytelling for mature audiences.