I'm coming out of the theater right now, on my tablet.

I have absolutely zero words. The movie stunned me into silence. Holy shit.

It both defied and overcame every single expectation and theory I had for it. The film satisfies everything you could ever want out of an Eva movie in every sense of the term - and then some. Wow. Wow.

 

Okay. Spoilery summary of the movie that I can corroborate with what I remember from the film. Massive, massive, massive, massive...

...fucking MASSIVE spoilers ahead.

You have been warned.

Spoiler

The film begins pretty much as the six minute teaser does. The main difference is that Mari is fucking singing the entire time Asuka's doing her epic space-aerobatics combat routine, and Asuka vehemently yells at her to stop singing. Mari is best troll.

After the scenes from the preview, the screen blacks out for a moment. Shinji comes to - we see him on the other side of a small glass window, housed in a coffin-like pod amidst a mass of coiled tubes, power cables, and machinery bathed in a dull red light, beeping and whirring. The scene cuts to him being dragged along on a high-tech gurney with a transparent screen over his head. Shinji looks fucking confused. He also has a nifty collar around his neck - gunmetal black, with a red area at the front. Skin-tight, metal, hi-tech. There are faintly glowing, red markings around the edge.

A young girl - maybe fourteen or fifteen - is asking him questions, checking items off a list as he answers. She's short, a brunette, and has a ponytail, and is dressed in a military uniform predominantly of black and white, with blue highlights. She asks him if he knows what his name is, if he recognizes the person in the mirror - the transparent screen shifts to a reflective surface as she does this - and is continually checking in with her supervisor on an earpiece/mic combo. He answers everything to her satisfaction, and technicians keep rolling the gurney along. She finally concludes that he presents himself as entirely human, and the scene shifts again as Shinji, confused out of his wits, tries to ask what the hell's going on.

They open up into a huge cockpit - it's a bridge. There's a seemingly irregular placement of gigantic, circular portholes, though on second glance they feel organic in arrangement. There's about ten people manning various stations that extend out from a central spine, at the top of which is a command deck about the size of a small car. The girl from earlier announces to the crew on deck that Shinji has arrived- who is referred to as Test Subject something-or-other (I can't remember the exact code they used). A woman who looks like Ritsuko, albeit with her hair cropped short, hands a shiny gizmo to another woman with Keel-esque shades and dressed in her iconic red fatigues - and tells her that it'll only accept her authorization code now, as the leader of Will-e, pronounced in German. The device is a trigger that will manually set off something called the DSS Choker - the collar around Shinji's neck. DSS stands for Deification Shutdown System, and the device is intended to blow his head to smithereens should he show signs of Awakening. Names are dropped. Ritsuko and Misato are confirmed to be as such, and prime the DSS Choker.

Everybody's fucking /cold/ to Shinji. He's confused, clueless, disoriented - the knowledge that Misato of all people would want him dead is clearly distressing for him. Alarms blare, and young recruits at the helm report that they've confirmed a Blood Type: Blue signal incoming. Misato asks Asuka over the comm if she's ready to go - Asuka herself scoffs, and disengages the locks on the Evangelion Unit-02 Kai, underwater. It's wearing a floatation device around its shoulders that expands, letting it roll away from the underbelly of a massive ship. Back on the ship, the deck Shinji is in shifts to combat mode - though he's elated that Asuka's all right, he wants to help and (rather childishly) asks if he should launch in Unit-01. Misato gives him a fucking frigid glare-of-death and tells him that the best thing he can do is to do absolutely nothing.

The ship that everyone's on is a massive, bird-shaped thing with obviously Angel-based technology all over it. An entire fleet of military-grade naval vessels surrounds it, hooked up to it presumably to provide power. They activate an N2 reactor, and Asuka is underwater using her Eva to activate the primary engines in the underbelly of the ship. It motherfucking /launches/ into the air by manipulating fucking space-time and controlling gravity, and two Angel-esque halos can briefly seen emanating from it.

An epic combat scene ensues against four pseudo-Angels (of a similar type as the Angel-esque thing that guarded Unit-01 in orbit), that work in concert to create a net-like energy force that disintegrates anything it touches. The ship - called Wunder, with the W pronounced like a V - has six main energy cannons that it uses in conjunction with some insane aerial moves to fish the four pseudo-Angels out of the red ocean and blow them to kingdom come. Wunder flies away like a boss, albeit sustaining damage, with the entire fleet of warships floating in the sky alongside it like a school of fish.

It's revealed after the battle that they don't need Shinji to do anything, because though he is 100% Shinji Ikari on a biological and metaphysical level, he can now only achieve a 0% Synch ratio with Unit-01. On top of this, Unit-01 is being used as the main reactor of the Wunder. Shinji is further distressed.

Shinji is put into a prison meeting type room with a glass screen separating him and the girl from earlier from the other occupants of the room - Misato and Ritsuko. Ritsuko orders the girl to tell Shinji her name and rank; it turns out that she is Sakura Suzuhara, Touji's younger sister. Shinji is nearly tripping. He's got no clue what to make of this - he assumes that Sakura is Touji's older sister, but is quickly corrected of that notion by Asuka, who barges into the room wearing her red tracksuit and black cap. The first thing she does is slam her fist into the glass separating her from Shinji and sending cracks all over it - her rage is incalculable. She informs Shinji that it's been 14 years since the events of Evangelion 2.0, and that she looks the same as she did before only because of what she calls the Evangelion's Curse. When Shinji asks about her eyepatch, she tells him to mind his own business. Misato is still cold as fuck. They inform Shinji that the DSS Choker will kill him dead should he Awaken by riding an Eva and experiencing sufficiently hightened emotions. Blow his head clean off.

Shinji inquires after Rei - he saved her, after all. He knows he did. Misato tells him, with a brilliant lack of consideration or tact, that no, he did not, and that Rei no longer exists in this world. Ritsuko corroborates this, saying that the only things they found inside the recovered Unit-01 were Shinji himself, and his father's cassette player that Rei was holding at the end of 2.0. They return the cassette player, after running checks on it. Shinji is distressed, clueless - and convinced that Misato and the others are lying to him. To him, the cassette player is evidence that he saved Rei.

With convenient timing, a voice only Shinji can hear rings out in his head - it's Rei. It asks: "Shinji-kun, where are you?" Shinji is further convinced that the others are, for some reason, lying to him, and bursts into an angry tirade. Asuka calls him a child, and storms off - Shinji insists that he did save Rei, and that Misato-san is lying. Misato reveals that this isn't NERV, though Shinji initially assumes that it is. They're an organization called WILL-E, whose primary goal is to destroy NERV and all of its Evangelions. Oh, and Rei's dead and not coming back. That one's worth repeating.

It's then that the ship rocks, and alarms blare. It's another attack.

In the chaos, Shinji escapes from the prison-room through a hole that got blown into the back wall. Sakura chases him. They end up in a hallway - the others catch up. Rei keeps asking where Shinji is - and Shinji finally yells out that he's here. A fist punches through the walls of the Wunder and tears a hole in the hull. An orange, one-eyed giant stares into the hole - Shinji recognizes it as Unit-00. But it's not - it's got a round, sharply pointed head, and it reaches out with its hand. Misato and Ritsuko order him to not go with the Evangelion - Misato draws her gun. Shinji rages - they're not helping at all. They've lied to him and they're going to destroy NERV, to which they respond that he doesn't understand, and that he doesn't have the entire picture. Shinji ignores them and hops onto Unit-00's open hand, and Sakura pleads with him: "I don't much care what you intend to do - just please, please don't ride the Eva!"

Unit-00 (in reality Unit-09) pulls away - but Mari, who has taken up a sniping position with Unit-08, blows its head clean off with a rifle shot. That doesn't even faze the Eva, and it quickly shapeshifts its shoulder-spike pauldrons into organic-but smooth looking rocket boosters, and flies off. Misato primes the DSS trigger - holding it in the air, but she's shaking. Unit-09 flies away, and the readout on the device reads "DSS Out of Range". Try as she might, she couldn't kill Shinji.

The camera cuts to Shinji. Unit-09, still headless, has taken him to the old NERV headquarters. It was a geofront, deep underground, but it's not exposed to open air, dilapidated and stained red. Bulletholes and chipped concrete walls comprise most of the structure, and it looks like an abandoned construction site more than anything else. It's still gargantuan in scale though, and Rei, dressed in a black plugsuit - Shinji is relieved to note that it IS Rei and he DID save her and Misato WAS lying to him - guides him deep down into NERV HQ. They pass over an open square - a piano is playing a fast-paced classical piece. Shinji looks down into the square, and sees Kaworu playing along. They move on.

They're brought to what looks like the old Evangelion holding cages. Theatrical spotlight use outlines Rei and Shinji. Gendo, wearing Keel-like shades himself, informs Shinji in curt order that he will be riding the Evangelion Unit-13 with Kaworu - cue spotlight - when the time is right. In the distance, a massive half-orb that is illuminated in purple light can be seen. Rei will support. Shinji asks some more - but Gendo leaves. The lights go off.

Shinji is deposited in a room with red floors, white walls, and a single bed in it. Food and clothes are brought in through an automatic hatch a few times a day. The food is pretty much just paste on a tray - and to top it all off, the cassette player doesn't work. Shinji decides to track down Rei to go talk to her.

He finds her in a small shack with no doors and only curtains to preserve decency, in a gigantic space with strangely colored lights coming from a circular abyss below. He doesn't knock - and backpedals when he sees her buck-naked. He asks her to put on some clothes, and Rei asks why, and if that's an order. Shinji insists that it is, and tries to start up some conversation once she's dressed. Rei seems robotic. She clearly wants to emulate the behavior that Shinji expects from her - but doesn't quite understand what he means. He asks if she wants to read - she liked reading, he says. "Is that what Ayanami Rei would do?" She asks. Shinji prefers to delude himself that this IS Rei, and promises to find the library and bring her some books. He does so later, though NERV's library is rundown and everything's strewn on the floor.

He comes back every morning to put a few new books on a pile in front of her quarters. She never reads them. She's never in. Shinji becomes further depressed.

Shinji comes across Kaworu playing the piano again - and Kaworu invites him to come and play. Kaworu provides a human comfort to Shinji, and teaches him how to play - they seem to be in perfect synchronization, and the scenes from the trailer with the incessant piano-playing are used here. Shinji comes back day after day, and this is basically the only human contact he has the entire time he stays at NERV. He asks Kaworu ifhe can fix the cassette player - he responds that yes he can, and does so. Shinji asks Kaworu to look at the stars with him - Kaworu interprets Shinji's words in his own way during their conversations. It's obvious to the viewer that Kaworu has an ulterior motive. Shinji is none the wiser.


One morning, Shinji notices that the clothes that NERV has provided him with that day are a bit too large. He looks at a nametag sewn into the inside of his shirt, which reads: Suzuhara Touji. Fuyutsuki summons Shinji as he passes in the hall, asking him to accompany him in a game of Shogi. They play, and Fuyutsuki drops some major bombs on the boy. He asks Shinji of what he remembers of his mother - and shows him a picture of Yui with an infant Shinji in her arms, surrounded by her colleagues. Fuyutsuki reveals that Yui still exists - as the control mechanism of Unit-01. She became unhuman and lost physical form, become something else in the process. Her name was Ayanami Yui - a departure from the TV show - and the Reis are clones of the Ayanami model. Shinji is sick. And shocked.

Shinji freaks. He confides in Kaworu about his worries, who offers to show him the truth - and that the truth will be painful for Shinji. Shinji readily agrees.

The scene shifts to the exterior. They're extremely high up in the air, on an exterior staircase that is rusting away. There's a red chain nailed to the stone walls as a handrail. Shinji is dressed in some sort of fullbody atmospheric suit - Kaworu simply strolls along. When the clouds clear, Kaworu reveals the truth to Shinji - the entire landscape is a bright, desolate red. Tokyo-3 is utterly gone. Gargantuan, Eva-like, human-shaped statues of crystalline red are frozen on the surface, and everything is stained red. Kaworu tells Shinji that, despite his intentions to save Rei, his Awakening at the end of 2.0 kickstarted Third Impact. However, Kaworu was able to stop that instance using the Lance of Cassius. This event is known to the Lilim as Near-Third Impact. The Door(s) of Guf were shut before true Impact could be achieved.

Unit-06 was then made into a fully automated Evangelion, and used by SEELE and NERV to truly start Third Impact about a year later. This caused devastation, wiping out nearly all of life on Earth, creating the blood-red planet we see today. The Lilim, according to Kaworu, intended to induce artificial evolution. All life adapts in order to meet changes in the environment - mankind however, changes the world around them to meet their own needs, and thus sought to evolve themselves into a higher state of being. This, Kaworu says, was the Human Instrumentality Project. It partially succeeded - Unit-06 was able to use the Lances of Longinus and Cassius, and halted Third Impact.

The remainder of NERV and the surviving civilian contingent now comprise WILL-E, and seek to bring NERV down. NERV and SEELE are one, for all intents and purposes, and seek to forcefully 'evolve' mankind. The Eva-like husks on the surface are the ADAMS - Kaworu calls them those that failed in becoming Infinity. It's implied that they were once human. The scenes in the trailer between 2.0 and 3.0 depict the conflict between those humans who were forcibly 'evolved' - the ADAMS - and those who were left behind - the old humans. For mankind, it's a fight for survival: in order for true evolution to take place, the old race must be extinguished.

Thus, WILL-E exists to fight for mankind's survival. They intend to pull off a Deicide - a God Killing. Their efforts are precisely for that purpose, though what exactly entails the Deicide are left unclear.

Shinji, understandably, begins to deny this. He didn't know - he never wanted this, and it's not his responsibility. Kaworu accepts this, and absolves him of his guilt - he claims that the Lilim are quick to crucify him, but he is free of guilt. All he must do is accept the consequences of his actions, and repent. He reveals that he and Shinji can fix this desolate future. Unit-13 is a dual-seated Evangelion, with a Dual-Synchronization System. This is necessary to pull out the two Lances from Lillith and initiate Fourth Impact, which will allow Shinji to Redo everything and remake the world. Shinji, in his vulnerable state, eats this hook, line, and sinker. The fact that Kaworu undoes the DSS Choker - Misato told Shinji earlier that it couldn't be removed - and places it around his own neck further sells the point. Kaworu tells him that he will take on the burdens of the Lilim's blame, and that Shinji thus is removed from sin. This convinces Shinji that yes, the proper course of action is to ride Unit-13 and start Fourth Impact. "Those Lances are our hope, Shinji-kun."

The reason Unit-13 is a dual-seater and requires two pilots is explained by Kaworu. In order to simultaneously remove both the Lance of Longinus and the Lance of Cassius, two souls are required. Rei is useless in this regard - her soul is 'elsewhere'.

Rei returns to her 'quarters' after a dialogue-less scene where she stands in front of an orange vat with an adult-looking Rei inside. She's dressed in her old school uniform - she still looks fourteen - and encounters Shinji, who crouches by her place, surrounded by a mountain of books that he'd brought for her but she never read. He furiously knocks over a tower of them - and asks why she never read any of the books. She replies that it was because it wasn't an order. Shinji rages, sinking further into his depression, and is tripping balls in the corridors. It seems almost as if he's experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia.

The scene skips to Unit-13's launch sequence. Shinji and Kaworu suit up, their movements oddly synchronized. Two Entry Plugs are inserted into Unit-13, which looks like a super-buff, awesome-looking Unit-01 with four eyes in its visor-thing and extra viewports along its neck. The Plugs go into each of its shoulders. Shinji's plug is shown as it goes through the initialization sequence, before the plug's visuals phase into transparency, providing the illusion that he's right next to Kaworu and they're in the same chamber.

Unit-13 is activated. WILL-E receives a signal confirming that a new Evangelion Unit was activated, and make their move.

Shinji and Kaworu descend into Central Dogma, where Third Impact was initiated, Unit-13 with one foot on a lowered cable and Unit-09 hanging above it with a reaper-esque scythe in hand.

They come into contact with a massive black dome, that Kaworu and Shinji deactivate. Kaworu says that it is a force field that Lillith erected 13 years ago that hasn't been breached since - in the darkness, there is a massive white figure reminiscient of the ginormous, white Rei that was in End of Evangelion, though its head has been chopped off and it's decaying. Unit-13 and Unit-09 land - the ground is littered with white, round things - they're gigantic human skulls. Eva-sized skulls. A vaguely-Eva shaped form is half-fused into Lillith. Kaworu identifies this as the remains of Unit-06. A Lance is stabbed into Lillith, and the other impales both Unit-06 and Lillith.

Kaworu tells Shinji that the skulls are the ADAMS, coming to their Origin - Lillith. The scene is reminiscient of sperm crowding around an egg.

Gendou stands in front of SEELE. Each of the monoliths are deactivated one by one - Gendo monologues. Though they have shed their forms and their souls now reside elsewhere, the members of SEELE are still mortal, and death will greet them all. One by one, Fuyutsuki deactivates them - a shadow of a brain is briefly illuminated as each SEELE monolith flashes white and then goes dark. Gendo reassures the final monolith - Keel - that their mission will be achieved, and that he will achieve Deicide. Keel tells him that he should do as he wishes - all of their goals were already accomplished, and Instrumentality is a success. Keel dies.

Scene change. A gigantic white head sits in front of Gendo and Fuyutsuki. It's Rei's head, though it's half-decayed and its sockets are emptied. Its mouth is in a crooked, lopsided grin. It's obvious that this is the missing head of Lillith. Dialogue.

Back in Central Dogma. Kaworu notices that the Lances aren't Cassius and Longinus - they're both identical. They're both Lances of Longinus. He realizes that NERV and SEELE have been playing him - and pauses to think. Shinji is confused, still convinced from Gendo, Fuyutsuki, and Kaworu's manipulations that the Lances are the key to his salvation and the world's salvation - when Unit-02 comes flying down the shaft, and attacks Unit-13.

When Asuka realizes that it's Shinji inside the hulking Evangelion, she calls him a brat again - he's a child. Brat-Shinji is her new nickname for him. Epic fight scene ensues - but Shinji is outmatched. Kaworu's not fighting at all, still deeply rooted in thought.

Rei in Unit-09 launches a surprise attack - but is stopped in her tracks when Mari in Unit-08 shoots at her with her rifle, hidden in the distance wedged into the ceiling. Epic combat continues.

I forget how the combat goes. TL;DR, Unit-02 runs out of batteries. Unit-08 shoots down a replacement pack. Shinji strides away in Unit-13 even though Kaworu tells him that no, he must not, that something's not right - and wraps his hands around the Lances. Unit-13's eyes go red, and it sprouts two new arms from its sides. Kaworu comes to a realization that this is what Gendo intended from the beginning. Kaworu's goals were always to realize Shinji's dreams. Shinji forces his way through and pulls out both Lances - and Unit-06 awakens.

It's revealed that Unit-06 with its autonomous nature has become the 12th Angel, and its entire body is its Core. Chaotic combat. The 12th Angel shifts and transforms into a female form - with Rei's face. The Rei inside Unit-09 has a moment. "Is that... me?"

The 12th Angel is dealt with - and Unit-13 in turn activates.

It turns pure white- and rockets up out of Central Dogma into the sky, a double-halo glowing behind it. Its eyes are glowing red, and it shines the purest white, with a Lance in either hand like some angelic figure. A cut to Mari's cockpit reveals that the DSS Choker has identified the formation of the 13th Angel - Kaworu. Kaworu reveals then that he, the First Angel, has been demoted or cast down to the 13th and final Angel because of these events.

The same red ring effects from 2.0 begin, turning the entire sky red and black and white. The Doors of Guf open again, and Kaworu seems sad and resigned. Shinji realizes that this is all on him. He caused devastation again, from a desire to do good. He turns to Kaworu - whose death is imminent because of the DSS Choker. He passes on some final wisdom to Shinji - Shinji is tear-choked and reaches out to Kaworu, only to be stopped by the actual walls of his Plug. Unit-02 and Unit-08 climb out of the crumbling hole left by Central Dogma, and see Wunder flying around being devastated by Unit-09 - Mari identifies it as a "Vessel of ADAMS".

Wunder enters the scene in an attempt to halt Fourth Impact. Unit-09 comes out of nowhere - Rei is unable to control her Eva any longer, the entire control interface going Dummy-Plug dark and SEELE's logo glowing red everywhere. An insane combat scene ensues with Unit-02. Unit-09 loses its head, bats Unit-02 into submission, and then its torso dissolves into glowy-blue Angel tissue and begins to merge with Wunder. Its objective is the drive core - Unit-01 is *ahem* instrumental in achieving Instrumentality, which is what Impact is for. Instrumentality will allow Infinity to be achieved - that is, ADAMS unifying with Lillith to become an infinite existence.

Asuka activates Code-777 on Unit-02 - it grows a tail, and its teeth turn to saber-tooth tiger fang badass fuckers. Epic combat ensues. Asuka is about to kill the pilot - but Rei manages to eject. Unit-09, now a pseudo-Angel, can't die. Asuka apologizes to Unit-02, engages the self-destruct, and ejects. Wunder is freed from Unit-09 and SEELE's control.

The Choker activates. The viewport is splattered in gore. Kaworu is dead, halting Impact. Shinji is shocked into pained silence. But the Doors of Guf aren't closing - Mari races to the scene, realizing that Shinji was SEELE's backup plan all along. As long as Shinji sits in Unit-13, its Deification will go on, leading to Infinity, which is the goal of Instrumentality.

Mari forcibly engages Unit-13's pilot ejection, and the Entry Plug goes flying off. Unit-08 disengages, and falls to the surface in a dead crash. Unit-13's glow subsides, and the Doors of Guf close. Fourth Impact is averted.

A scene with Gendo and Fuyutsuki. It's revealed that things went mostly according to SEELE's plan, though Fourth Impact ultimately failed. They always knew Kaworu's plan was to use the Human Instrumentality Project for his own gain - that is, to remake the world as Shinji wished. The purpose of Unit-13 was to engineer Kaworu's fall and turn him into the 13th Angel, which would result in his death. This would allow them to accomplish Instrumentality.

Gendo's, and by extension NERV's plan, however, involved using Shinji and Unit-13 to lure WILL-E and Wunder out into the open (and Unit-01 along with it). They would then use Unit-09 (NERV's secret weapon - Angelification, for lack of a better phrase) to control Wunder and Unit-01, and use that to subvert Instrumentality along Gendo's own objectives. This, however, fails.

The film ends as Shinji is curled up, depressed and broken, in the ejected Dummy Plug somewhere in the desert. The Plug is forced open by an irate Asuka, who scathingly taunts Shinji, "Oh, so you didn't come save me, huh?"

She forces him to get up, kicking his curled up, unmoving and unresponsive form, and dragshim out into the open. He's unresponsive, nearly comatose, and walks like a dead man. Rei shows up as well, and Asuka deduces that she was the pilot for Unit-09, calling her a clone of the "Rei lot". Asuka remarks that the "L Forcefield Density is too strong", and that they'll move to a place where they can be recovered. She drags Shinji by the hand. He drops the cassette player - which Rei then picks up. She follows the pair, and they disappear over a dune.

Credits roll.

And that's basically the movie. Some scenes may be out of sequence or not 100% accurate, but that's the gist of it. I'll post again later with some thoughts and analyses.

 

Spoiler

Well, I'll admit that I've already been spoiled to an extent for about a week now. Hell, I'm not waiting half a year or more to watch this damn movie, especially since there's no indication that a camrip is coming anytime soon with Japan's apparently strict laws about that. We'll probably have to wait for it to be released theatrically in China or some other place where they don't give a fuck for a proper camrip. Assuming it will be released somewhere like that at all, I don't know.

Anyway, that summary corroborates well with the spoilers I'd read previously, and also fills in some holes. Thanks for that. And on a side-note, I'm impressed with how you're able to to translate the whole thing effectively into English.

As for whether I like what I'm reading... yes and no. I think it'd be easier to focus on what I don't like, since it's a much shorter list.

First, I think the fourteen year timeskip sounds nice in theory, but they've apparently just skipped over some HUGE stuff in the interim. It would have been nice to see more of what we missed, as flashbacks or something. Like, you know, THIRD IMPACT. And also, what happened to Kaji? From what I'm seeing, he's not so much as mentioned in this one, despite all the time taken to introduce him in 2.0.

Second, this "Curse" that Asuka and Mari have that keeps them looking like they're still in their mid-teens. It seems like they want to have their timeskip without actually changing anything in a substantial way about certain characters. It also seems like there's no real reason given for why they haven't aged. I'd say it's the LCL, but they never actually say that apparently? But anyway, I think having an Asuka who actually looks more like she's approaching thirty (or hell, even twenty instead of fourteen) to accompany her personality changes would have been far more preferable.

Third, Mari. I tolerated her in 2.0 because I thought her character would become more fleshed out in this one. That doesn't seem to be the case from what I'm hearing, and she's just sort of there without being given a good reason for it. Could you elaborate more on that? Is she given some actual backstory here, or are there any definite hints toward future development?

And finally, Misato. When I first read some spoilers for the movie, I was lead to believe that the Near-Impact that Kaworu stopped at the end of 2.0 wasn't actually stopped in time, and caused the devastation in this movie. This obviously confused me, since that Near-Impact didn't seem to do much but make a lot of pretty lights and suck some rocks into a vortex. Misato, Ritsuko and co. didn't seem to be in any danger, and if they weren't in danger at Ground Zero, how could anyone else on the planet have been? Then I read that the Impact that killed most of Earth happened after, which explained a lot, but it didn't explain why Misato was so angry with Shinji when he awoke. I mean, if Unit-01 awakening had caused Third Impact like I had been lead to believe, then yeah, it would be somewhat understandable, but from what I'm reading, Unit-01 had nothing to do with Third Impact. It was inert and possibly already in space by then.

So why's Misato so angry with him? Did I miss something? Was it just his absence as it happened that made her angry? And I should also note that Misato was encouraging Shinji as he beat down Zeruel and retrieved Rei. And I mean, no one knew what would happen if he did that, not even Ritsuko, much less Shinji who's practically clueless about the true nature of the Evangelions at that point. Blaming him for anything regarding Third Impact seems... shaky.

Oh, and I almost forgot. What do you think about these rumors that Rebuild is a sequel to NGE and that Kaworu is actually looping through time? I suspected something like that from some of his enigmatic, foreshadowy dialogue in the previous two movies, plus the allusions between certain things in the Rebuild universe and End of Evangelion, but, well, there wasn't much else to go on at the time.

Now, obviously I haven't seen the movie yet, so maybe me bringing all this up based on internet spoilers rather than an actual viewing of the movie is a little much. But like I said, we're talking about fucking summer at least before I can see this (outside of the diminishing possibility of a camrip), or maybe longer. I can't wait that long to talk about it.

Whew. Anyway. Really want to see this movie for myself.

 

Fuck goddammit. Why would you tempt me.

I must not click spoilers. I must not click spoilers. D:

 

And we seem to have a date for the DVD / Blu-Ray release:

Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/new...-bd/dvd-to-add-ghibli-giant-god-warrior-short

 

We probably won't see a fansub until the first or second week in May though. And Road to Ninja's supposed to come out around that week too.

 

You underestimate the fansubbing community, man.

A quick TL can get that script done in six hours or so, and assuming a global team, encoding and captioning should be done within a further 12-24 hours.

With a movie as big as Eva, any subbing group worth their salt is going to use their own raws by purchasing a disc and ripping it themselves. There's also incentive in getting their content out first - it promotes thr group, after all.

I'd say two to three days for the first good subs, a day for crappy ones, and a week for quote-un-quote quality subs.

But then again, I haven't been in the subbing scene for a while. That and I've already seen the movie so I'm not that desperate to watch it.

Keke.

 

Depends a bit on quality too. On big movies like that, groups that do the really high quality stuff like THORA or UTW can take a week or so before they come out with their final versions. Think they do a bit of QCing and all in that time.

I have noticed most fansubbing groups take their time for cinema releases that they don't really do for normally aired episodes.

 

It won't even take that long. Fansubs are already out for the cinema camrips - all they have to do in that case is put them straight onto the dvdrips, and maybe add a few things here and there if the dvd is an extended cut.

 

...I'm done with this series. All the darkness and the possibility of EoE happening again, but worse. I get that it's sort of the point, but it all feels meaningless. No matter what happens it will all still suck. I like enjoying what I watch and this just looks like another bad road I've already traveled.

Fuck that.

 

You'll be back.

 

Well it's true that 3.0 turns things pretty dark, but I think I'll wait until the last movie comes out until I judge the series as a whole.

 

Okay, talking as a relative beginner here,:

Have read the 91 chapters of the manga that are out (I think that's all of them, right?) and now am interested in the movie's but should I watch the anime first?

Also, is the anime completed? Seeing that the manga is still going on, kinda, and now with new releases...

I guess my question is, which is the "correct" or most enjoyable, if that term can be applied to NGE, order to experience this franchise?

 

The anime came first and I think is very enjoyable. And something you would want to watch before the movies. Let's just say the movies are a lot better if you have a firm grounding in the anime.

And, you read the manga first? Interesting, since the anime came first and is completed, with it's own movie. You could probably get away with watching the movies first given you've read the manga, but I wouldn't.

Watching the anime first as a visual comparison first would highlight the more awesome moments in the movie. Example, the battle with Ramiel. It's tense in the anime, but fucking fantastic in the movie. Knowing the first before seeing the seconds lends a whole lot more weight to the second.

Oh, and the last episodes....just keep watching. Or say fuck it and watch the End of Evangelion instead. Then bury your heart.

 

I do tend to prefer manga's, so, started there. Haven't started any of the animated stuff yet, so, guess I am going to start with the anime.

Now a question that I hope is not going to start a fight but sub or dub? For me, both work but there are anime where one is better than the other. Angel Beats and Black Lagoon were good in both but I preferred both in english, same with FMA but I doubt I will enjoy the english version of Fate Zero. So, which one is better? Would say that sub is probably smarter since the movies are unlikely to be dubbed all that soon and I hope the VA are all the same but maybe the english one is amazing... sorry for all the questions, just don't like to look up stuff like that because most of the time, I get spoiled when I do that >_>

 

Anime should be watched first. Manga is its adaptation, though it did start coming out before the series had its premiere.

Anime has 26 episodes plus two movies. The first one, Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth, more or less retells the series and adds some new content. The second one, The End of Evangelion, is the grand finale.

After that you should read manga which you already did.

As for Rebuild of Evangelion, it's a remake of the original story in form of four movies. Or it's a continuation if some fan theories are right about it. Watch it after you are done with the original series.

 

The first two remake movies are out in dubbed form here officially, while the third has been, probably, subbed in Japan. It just came out there. The fourth is nowhere in sight.

As for quality, Evangelion got extremely lucky in the 90's to have a studio that dubbed and picked the right people for the right roles. They start off a little off, trying to find their shoes, but by the tenth episode you can tell they've adapted.

So the preference here doesn't really come down to quality but to preference. Dub is good and so is sub, so it's your call on that one. Personally, I started out with the dubbed version so I won't make the switch anytime to subbed, it would be too jarring for me.

 

^ This. All of this.

This always boils down to preference.

Watch the first episode or two subbed and dubbed then pick one to stick with. I've seen it both ways, and I feel that there really a massive difference quality-wise, Eva simply had great VO work.

---

The first time I watched Evangelion it was in a non-stop, 13 hour, mindfuck of marathon when I was 12. Note: This was a terrible idea.

I'm now wondering how reading the manga instead of watching the anime would have affected my first experience with it.

 

Evangelion has one of the better English dubs, especially for the time period it was made in. I've heard they make a few convenient translations that don't get the entire meaning of what they're saying in Japanese across sometimes, but it's not a huge distortion. You'll definitely "get it." And as someone said, it starts rocky, but you can tell they really start to grow into their roles as it goes on.

If you decide to go for subs, I've heard that the group "Zhentarim DivX" did the best version.

As for the order in how to view Evangelion:

1) The anime. Make sure to watch the Director's Cut versions of 21-24, or you'll miss out on valuable content.

2) The movies Death and End of Evangelion. EoE is absolutely necessary. Rebirth is just the first half of End of Evangelion, so it's pretty much redundant. I think the only difference between Rebirth and the final EoE movie are some cleaned up animation. As for Death, it's a recap of the series, but they throw in some new stuff too. It's not completely necessary, but it's interesting.

*As a side note, the events of End of Evangelion basically replace what you see in the final two episodes of the series. Some say they happen simultaneously, but I think the conclusion of the TV series is too different from EoE. Watch the whole TV series anyway.

3) The manga. It's weird because it came out before the anime premiered, but it's actually based on the anime, not the other way around like Naruto or whatever. The manga has some changes made along the way and expands on some things, but follows the same general plot line. I actually approve of a lot of those changes and expansions, though in general the anime's better, at least in my opinion. All those visuals and sounds and such can't be translated to a manga properly.

The manga's been running since ~1995. There've been huge hiatuses in its publication for some reason. I don't think the manga's finished yet, but it was wrapping up last I checked.

4) Rebuild of Evangelion. It's basically a retelling of the original anime. It's not a direct remake though, so don't go in expecting one. However certain things remain constant between them regardless. It's not finished yet either, so whether it's more than just a retelling, as some theorize, is still up in the air.

There's some side stuff, like this alternate universe manga based on something they show you in the final episode of the TV series, but personally I don't give a shit about that.

ReTake is basically a fanfic manga that takes place after End of Evangelion. It's interesting, though it's also a semi-hentai manga. Just keep that in mind if you go to find it.

 

Or just go here for All-ages version that has a more coherent story than the hentai version.

And as was stated previously:
- watch the original anime
- watch End of Evangelion
- read ReTake
- watch Rebuild of Evangelion