Any bets what kind of ending we will get? A weird like the TV Show? A depressing like EoE? Surprisingly optimistic like the manga?

After the third film timeskip and other changes people are probably prepared for everything, but I would like an ending where Shinji finally achieves the nirvana of the no f*ck given attitude and becomes one with the rock and roll.

 

It took me a while, but finally checked 3.0+1.0. In short, it managed to be a satisfying conclusion, but in my opinion it didn't reach EoE levels, but it could be nostalgia speaking.

Spoilers ahead.

Elements I liked:

Spoiler

- A slice of life anime in apocalyptic movie was risky, but gave time for Shinji to get out of his depressed state without rushing it. Getting some characters in their older appearances was a nice bonus.

- Characters like Minato finally behaved a lot better than in 3.0 were it was like a contest who could kick Shinji harder.

- Giving Gendo and Shinji a resolution. While the original was probably better for not doing it, because it's something of a cliche, I liked that the second version decided to be different and give them a chance to both fight and talk.

- A fight in the Anti Universe. For a moment I was confused why animated buildings behaved like boxes, a quite weird mistake to make for animators, before realizing they went with a movie studio setting.

- That I finally learned to like Mari. She's still a character for a different setting in my opinion, but she had Shinji back.

- A happy ending for most.

Elements I disliked:

- The fight in an empty red space. Counted time for it to end.

- 3d Rei. Took me completely out of the film for a moment.

- Killing Misato. I would really want a version that gives her a happy ending, maybe with Kaji, instead of usual sacrifice.

- Giving Gendo the excuses. Having him be basically his son was a good reveal, but it should not be presented as if it makes him worthy of Shinji's forgiveness.

- It could be a weakness of a subtitles from Amazon, they had at least two mistakes with who was speaking off-screen, but a lot of techno and mystical talk was hard to get. I feel like it was unnecessary overcomplicated compared to the original, but once again, maybe it's a nostalgia talking.

All in all, after the long wait we got a conclusion that managed to be quite good which is probably the best it could be with all the expectations.

While Anno says it's his last entry into this universe, apparently it's not the end of it and with Kaworu talk about repeating the cycle we may get a version where Shinji will fight for his happiness from the beginning instead of world forcing him to do it.