Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion

I watched all 26 episodes of season 1 in the span of a couple weeks.

My friend recommended this show and I take his opinion seriously.

When I started the show I had no idea what it was I was watching. I was just getting a feel for the information I was being presented and the things I was seeing.

As I went on through the episodes, it became more and more clear to me that the show gave so much symbolism and analogies related to humans, AI, and creation.

When I watched the last episode and additional movie to cap off the Evangelion, it became so clear to me what I was watching. I had major self realizations too.

This show was one for the books. And I got to learn some Japanese along the way.

Never before has a movie put me through so many emotions. Anger, joy, fear, depression, hope, all flowed through me as the epic film unfolded before me. I was left emotionally wrung out the first time I watched it, and my view of life has been changed forever because of it. Just be warned, if you haven't seen all the TV episodes, you will be totally lost by this movie. Oh, and hope you haven't developed too much of an emotional attachment to the characters.

I am at a loss for words to describe this work. It does for anime what Beethoven's 9th or Wagner's Ring cycle did for classical music. End of Evangelion combines intense action with emotional drama superbly. A number of scenes depicting graphic violence and sexual content will probably bother some viewers. These scenes, however, serve to underscore the themes of the movie for the most part.

The animation is excellent and the music is great (and features a number of nice works by Bach) and the symbolism is truly rich and elaborate, involving many elements of Christianity and Judaism as the entire series is sort of a take on the Apocalypse. However, as many have already mentioned, watching the anime series before hand is necessary to even remotely understand what is going on.

A short transcript of my oral reaction to the opening of the second part of "The End of Evangelion": "Uhm...? Uhm...? Uhm...? Uhm? Uhm!? UHM!? UHM!?!?!?" Er, did... Did Lars von Trier write this? 'cause I feel like Lars von Trier wrote this. Did... Has anyone ever seen Hideaki Anno and von Trier in the same room?

"The End of Evangelion" is a messed-up trainwreck of a masterpiece. It makes "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me" and "Sedmikrásky" look like rational slice-of-life dramas. It is utterly insane. But also quite brilliant. This film certainly isn't for everyone, but if you enjoy watching minds unravel in insanity on-screen then boy is this movie for you. I give it 9 [Shinji's Crazed Screaming] out of 10

" How Disgusting" the last line of the movie may be in the minds of must viewers who see this film. This being an alternate ending to the post modern epic TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion. But although many viewers will probably leave either the theaters or their living room confused and dumbfounded this film is a great alternate conclusion to the TV series. The thing that makes this movie perfect is the fact that although one may not understand the details and significant plot points in the movie one can just marvel at the art direction and stunningly beautiful backgrounds present throughout the film. I myself am confused on some points of the film and the series but that does not harden my outlook on this film. Many hardcore fans have the luxury of understanding the plot and connecting the significance of each character to one another. I am glad that Anno gave us an ending that most fans agree is better than the TV ending. I think this film is a treat for all viewers and is one of the best anime movies i have ever seen. Even if one has not seen the anime TV series before, one can just marvel at the spectacular visuals displayed throughout the film and more importantly knowing the plot of the film is just a treat that adds to the films perfection. Overall even though this film leaves us a lot of questions the opportunity to find those answers makes this film and this film experience a reward for film watchers everywhere.

Direction: 10/10 Art: 10/10 Acting: 10/10 Plot: 10/10 Sound: 10/10 Writing: 10/10 Overall: 10/10