Evangelion Shin Movie: Kyuu

Revisionary

The “Rebuild of Evangelion” tetralogy initially started out seeming like a shot-for-shot remake of the original “Neon Genesis Evangelion” series. While minor plot changes were introduced, there wasn’t much in the way of thematic deviations until the latter half of the second film, where drastic changes to both the characters and plots are made more readily apparent. Completely disregarding the footage shown in its preview, “Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo” is the third entry in the “Rebuild” series and the first to fully embrace its new take on the critically-acclaimed series. Taking place in a completely different setting from its original, “3.0” is an astoundingly distinct entry in the series that, for the first time in the tetralogy, does not borrow anything from its source material. Fans of the original will be completely flabbergasted by the extreme character changes, radical new environments, and artistic direction in this entry. But while the bold new direction the series is taking should be applauded, it should also be noted that “3.0” suffers from the fact that whereas its predecessors were character-driven, “3.0” is plot-driven. This results in muddy character motivations and actions that don’t make much sense in the grand scheme of things. While there are reasons for said characters to change given that the movie does take place 14 years after the second, they are never fully explained in a way that makes sense. This film relies on its characters to act in a borderline passive-aggressive manner that alienates Shinji, the main protagonist, and results in him making irrational decisions that end up just creating more problems for everyone. Shinji’s actions are the result of him waking from a 14 year slumber and being confused about everything that’s going on. It’s bizarre how nobody takes the time to explain things to him and then are surprised when he decides to do something completely insane because he doesn’t know any better. “3.0” suffers because it feels like Anno is trying to create an experience akin to that of “End of Evangelion.” Both films are mindboggling and confusing, but only the latter manages to do so in a way that feels like it has some kind of internal logic driving the madness. “Neon Genesis Evangelion” was never about giving the viewers answers, but it was also never about creating questions for the sake of doing so. Sure, fans may continue to analyze the intricacies and mysteries of “Neon Genesis Evangelion” many years into the future, but even the casual viewer will have some semblance of a coherent plot. Character motivations in the original, although occasionally unclear, never feel out of place given the situations the characters are in. However, in “3.0,” there very rarely feels like a rhyme or reason to the thoughts and actions of its cast. Of course, “3.0 + 1.0” will be making its debut in 2020, and perhaps that will clear up any questions viewers have in regards to “3.0.” As time goes on, I have no doubt that “3.0”’s status will change relative to its role in the tetralogy. But until then, this movie feels like a mishmash of odd ideas hamfisted in for the sake of shocking viewers. In regards to other aspects of the film, the visuals, voice-acting, and sound design are top notch as expected of Khara. Even fans turned off by the film’s bizarre storytelling will be drawn in by its absolutely beautiful visuals. Is this film a mess? Yes. Is it a beautiful mess? __Yes.__ To conclude, “”Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo” isn’t a terrible entry into this series of remakes, but it also fails to live up to the strong performance of its two prequels. There is a lack of internal logic and coherency, and those two are more than enough to make this potentially lowest entry in the entire “Evangelion” franchise (aside from the series’ cashgrab spinoffs)

Pockeyramune919

[ img20(https://bestanimations.com/Signs&Shapes/Arrows/Left/left-arrow-15.gif) ](https://anilist.co/review/6531)

[ img20(https://bestanimations.com/Signs&Shapes/Arrows/Right/right-arrow-29.gif) ](https://anilist.co/review/13151)

~~~__This Review Contains Spoilers for Evangelion 3.0 and End of Evangelion__~~~ img520(https://external-preview.redd.it/N5HEW8XCJ3bc0fr-zRCXtRqXxna-KA_Py11gz9DgxUI.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=698363baf0a20e2d64143238433eabb427dcc040) We return once more to *Evangelion*'s Rebuild movies, this time taking a look at the last movie for the foreseeable future, *Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo*, the third installment in the planned tetralogy. As I stated before, each passing Rebuild movie deviates more and more from the original television show. *1.0* was largely the first few episodes of *Neon Genesis Evangelion* with a fresh coat of paint and *2.0* recapped the next arc but deviated more and more until it stunningly concluded with completely new material. I predicted that in *3.0*, we'd chart completely new territory as the Rebuild continuity completely divorced itself from the television show. And I was correct! But being new is one thing, being good is another thing entirely. With this in mind, what do I think of *You Can (Not) Redo*? How exactly does *3.0* fare next to its predecessors, whether that mean the rebuilds or the television show? Unfortunately, I find myself criticizing the new direction. As it turns out, what’s new is largely old, in some ways. *Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo* follows directly where *2.0* left off, with the third impact averted and Rei and Shinji trapped inside Unit 01 via the Spear of Cassius that Kaworu threw. With all signs pointing to them being responsible for the decimation of Tokyo-3, UN raids the Geofront and the NERV staff is incarcerated. Most importantly, this movie marks the moment in which The Children of the Rebuild — Rei, Asuka, Shinji, Mari, and Kaworu — will finally come together. img520(https://c.tenor.com/00-cEC0EPzsAAAAM/ha-haha.gif) Whoopsie, just kidding! In reality, *Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo* takes place a whopping fourteen years after *2.0*. The Third Impact was just narrowly avoided but not before obliterating Japan and killing off most of the world’s already fledgling population. Shinji wakes up after being comatose to discover a battle-hardened Misato as the head of a new organization, WILLE. The movie follows Shinji as he tries to discover what has happened to the world and figure out if he can save it with his new, mysterious ally, Kaworu Nagisa. youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKk8xsaPx7k) The first thing viewers will notice about *3.0* (well, assuming they’re the type to stick around after the credits) is that it completely deviates from the preview established at the end of *2.0*. The children are in the same location, I suppose (though the Rei we know and love isn’t there), but it’s not so much a meeting, it’s a fight, and their interactions with one another are pretty fledgling. While the Third Impact has technically been averted, it might as well not have been, because the world is still ravaged. We don't see the NERV staff being incarcerated. Really, the only thing from the preview that made it to the film is the fact that Asuka wears an eyepatch now. I'd encourage viewers to skip the preview, as it just makes the opening of the movie more confusing. It can be pretty hard to parse out what's going on in the film. The timeskip from *2.0* to this one doesn't help in this regard as it takes a moment before we even realize we've gone fourteen years into the future. From a viewer standpoint, one moment everything is fine and everything has gone to crap in the next. It's fine for movies to have timeskips between installments, but there's usually context that makes the skip less jarring. Off the top of my head, I can think of three series that pulled it off a lot more gracefully. There's a five-year timeskip during the *Avengers* duology of *Infinity War* and *Endgame*. The latter picks up right after the first and has a timeskip *after* the movie has started, ensuring that viewers have the payoff to the previous plot threads while simultaneously making the timeskip obvious. There's a ten-year timeskip between episodes I and II of *Star Wars*, but time jumps between movies have been established at this point and the events of I had wrapped up sufficiently so that a timeskip wouldn't be jarring. Hell, the second *Indiana Jones* movie, *Temple of Doom*, takes place one year *prior* to the first, but it essentially doesn't matter, since the previous film wrapped up so nicely that viewers could easily jump into the next, establishing the episodic nature of these films. It might seem off-topic to talk about Hollywood films in an anime review, but it's to establish how *2.0* fumbled its handling of the timeskip and ultimately made for a more confusing experience than it needed to be. It's not only confusing, but its unsatisfying; *2.0* didn't wrap up nicely; the ending built a lot of momentum and plot-threads that were ultimately discarded due to the timeskip. img520(https://i.imgur.com/dn5MRbM.jpg) My bare synopsis gives you much more information than the movie itself gives viewers. As you can surmise, this makes for a disorienting experience. I'd urge for new viewers to read a brief synopsis going in, as it'll help a lot in getting acclimated to the new world. Many questions were buzzing in my head throughout the film and they really only began to be answered at the *halfway mark of the film*. Even then, the answers weren't really satisfactory and raised as many questions as they answered. I've heard the movie isn't newcomer friendly, but I think the point is moot, because I watched the original series and I *still* didn’t really know what happened. Since I *have* watched the original series, I knew it would be a good idea to check fan encyclopediae like *EvaGeeks* for answers. So, like the *original series*, you'll have to rely on supplementary materials if you hope to understand *3.0*. A counter-argument to my criticism could be that this is the *point*. Shinji has woken up after being in a sort of stasis for fourteen years. As such, *he* doesn't know what's going on, so it would only make sense that we, the viewers, similarly don't understand what's happening. I'll concede that this certainly makes sense, but unfortunately, I don't really care. While it's certainly artful that the structure of the movie emulates Shinji being a fish out of water, it doesn't make for a very pleasurable viewing experience. Annoyance being intentional doesn't change the fact that I'm annoyed. In my review of *2.0*, I stated "[the Rebuilds are] a new continuity, a seemingly more hopeful one. A continuity in which, even if characters must go through horrible trials to get there, there's a light at the end of the tunnel." img520(https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/027/528/519.jpg) I greatly, disastrously misread the last movie, or at least what the movie meant moving forward. *Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo* vehemently spits in the face of any hopeful interpretation of *2.0*'s ending. For facing his fears and following his heart to save the girl he loved, Shinji is brutally, mercilessly punished. He's initiated Third Impact (somehow), resulting in him being the catalyst for the (newest) apocalypse. His worst fears are realized in that everyone hates him. He's robbed of his newfound purpose due to him being barred from piloting an Eva. Most damningly, the girl he loved has seemingly perished despite his efforts, making all the pain he's caused for naught. And that's only the beginning of the film; things get far, *far* worse at its end. img520(https://i.imgur.com/wn94z2Y.jpg) Unlike the hopeful, yet still tense movie I imagined, *3.0* is oppressively depressing and hopeless, with constant reminders that the world has been irrevocably damaged and Shinji's to blame. We watch Shinji descend further and further into madness and despondency. There's not much hope to be had, but there's *just* enough to get stamped out at the end, breaking Shinji (and the audience) further. There's a gloomy tone throughout, making it more tonally boring than *2.0* and more tonally off-putting than *1.0*. To be clear, there's nothing wrong with a bleak show; [some](https://anilist.co/anime/85/Kidou-Senshi-Zeta-Gundam) [of](https://anilist.co/anime/16498/Attack-on-Titan/) [my](https://anilist.co/anime/1/Cowboy-Bebop/) [favorite](https://anilist.co/anime/16664/The-Tale-of-The-Princess-Kaguya/) anime aren't the happiest. There *is*, however, something fundamentally undesirable about a show that basks in bleakness, because when everything's dark, nothing really is and you [stop caring](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DarknessInducedAudienceApathy) because it's all the same in its unpleasantness. img520(https://i.imgur.com/SOrQ5kx.jpg) Honestly, my aversion could just be due to my own expectations. The ending of *2.0* **did** seem hopeful, it *was* sweet, but *3.0* retroactively made it this horrible choice of Shinji's all so that it could foster a depressing tone. It just feels so out of left field in light of what was built up. As an *Evangelion* veteran, this isn't exciting, we already got a depressing tone in the original. It actually reminds me of *End of Evangelion* in its unflinching, exhausting bleakness. A question I had after the movie was "what's the point?" What's Anno hoping to achieve with this reimagining if it ultimately comes out to be the same as the original? Oh sure, the setting might be different, but the takeaway seems like it'll be largely the same. Currently, it seems like it's hitting the same beats as the original, but worse. Like in *1.0*, the theme of the movie shines clearly. Towards the end of the movie, Shinji's goal is to reverse the damage he caused, "redoing" his time with the Evangelion. Kaworu even lulls Shinji into thinking redos are feasible. He states that, to get good at the piano, Shinji must keep playing a piece until he is satisfied with it. One look at the title shows that Shinji must learn that this lesson doesn't apply to life; no matter how hard one tries, they can't change the past, they cannot amend past mistakes, they must simply live with the horrible consequences. *3.0* also retroactively reveals the theme of *2.0*. Namely that, no matter how hard you try, you can't advance in your relationships, you can't advance towards a brighter future; your efforts will only blow up in your face. You can even take these themes to a metatextual level. No matter how much fans may want it, Evangelion won't advance to become a happier series; there won't be a "redo" of the series in which everyone is happy in the end. Like Shinji with the events of the third impact, trying to "redo" Evangelion only results in a product that's as depressing as the original. Again, I'm left asking, "**what's the point**?" This sentiment could have been made by simply not making any more Evangelion-related works. Why spend millions of dollars to essentially flip off the audience? Burning money while angrily tweeting about the Evangelion fan base would have achieved the same effect with less hassle. img520(https://i.imgur.com/t4lAmPR.jpg) For what it's worth, the rebuilds *are* apparently supposed to be more hopeful than the original. It should also be noted, however, that production of *3.0* caused Anno to relapse back into depression. Make of this information what you will. One thing I've heard is that the Rebuild series is happier due to the characters being less messed up. This sentiment only works in regard to the first two movies. It's true that in the rebuild continuity, Shinji is less cowardly and morose, Rei emotes more, Asuka is less of a gremlin, and Misato has more social moors and is less of a (possible) predator. These changes make it easier for some to empathize with the characters, but on the flipside, this makes it *more* heartbreaking when they suffer great misfortune. img520(https://i.imgur.com/rxX6jKU.jpg) Speaking of which, this go around, the characters were fine, I suppose. They didn't really grab me as much as before. Shinji acts in a manner you'd expect for a young man who just discovered that he caused the apocalypse while trying in vain to save his crush. While she goes back to being prickly, I still prefer this version of Asuka, who I like to call Pirate Asuka. Arrghsuka, if you will. Sure, she's an ass to Shinji, but it seems like she has a legitimate reason to be this time around, instead of being a general bully. Plus, I like the unique angle of her being a grizzled war veteran. I'm not sure it's fair to say that they reversed her character development from the last film; we see Asuka in a very different world than the last movie (another problem with the timeskip). However, that doesn't change the fact that, at least on the surface, it very much seems like the old Asuka. img520(https://i.imgur.com/20LntaJ.jpg) Speaking of grizzled veterans, I was really interested in what they did with Misato. Gone is the bubbly, yet no-nonsense [team mom](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TeamMom), replaced with a stoic commander. Despite all of this, she still harbors affection toward Shinji as evidenced by the fact that she doesn't blow him up when she has the chance. It's a shame Misato is barely in the movie, though she certainly makes an impact in how starling her transformation is. Gendo is more the same, though somehow even a bigger jerk than he was in the television show. img520(https://i.imgur.com/FA42pHa.jpg) I was sorely disappointed to see that Mari still has a bit part. Sure, she has a bigger role than in *2.0*, but she’s still hardly in the movie. She's still a treat whenever she's on the screen though. This only makes me want more of her. At this point, I'm resigned to the fact that if I want to see more Mari, my best bet is buying figures of her. Honestly, most of the characters saw little screen time. The only ones who were prominent were Shinji and Kaworu. Kaworu stole the show after having glorified cameos in the previous two movies. I love how he's so supportive of Shinji. Their chemistry was amazing and there was electric bishounen BL energy whenever they were on the screen. They even changed his design from previous movies to give him softer features. I'm half-surprised there wasn't a kiss. img520(https://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120322052756/evangelion/images/3/38/Kaworu_piloting_Mark.06_%28Rebuild%29.png) img520(https://31.media.tumblr.com/81e4855a278a1a976d67a57376778e1c/tumblr_mvumv04UWj1slvqiko1_500.gif) But of course, this is *3.0* we're talking about. Kaworu tragically dies while stopping another impact, his blood splattering all over the Evangelion cabin next to Shinji, traumatizing the poor boy further as he's robbed of two people who unconditionally loved him. After two movies of teasing, it feels like such a waste to kill him after one movie. But I suppose they're just trying to emulate the show. img520(https://preview.redd.it/zqe8bim2q0o41.png?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=4db4a40eb879978425b2dbcd593c777935d5cd49) The action scenes were decent, though they felt more sporadic this time around. The pacing of this movie made it feel like not a lot happened when some pretty big things did unfold, plot-wise. I attribute this to the pacing and structure, which is mostly Shinji either moping or bonding with Kaworu. For what it's worth though, I did think Evangelion Unit 013, with its dual cockpit, was pretty awesome. youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isyg0nNoPPU) The art direction is still great and a standout scene is Shinji losing his grip on reality after finding out that he didn't save Rei. This makes for a very uncomfortable scene as Shinki walked in front of a shifting background with a wide-eyed, haunted expression on his face. At first, I was going to say the music was worse, but upon listening to the OST again, I have to admit there are quite a few gems, some of which I added to the review. Unfortunately, *3.0* doesn't feature a rendition of Decisive Battle. img520(https://i.imgur.com/fSh9Jyg.jpg) There are certainly things I liked about *Evangengelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo:* the battles were pretty cool, Kaworu played off of Shinji nicely, and the setting itself was interesting. But these are overshadowed by my grievances including many characters' lack of screentime, the fumbling of the timeskip, and the dismal tone of the movie that departs from *2.0*’s. After being so excited at the end of *2.0*, I'm really disappointed in the direction Anno decided to take *3.0*. *3.0* while being new, ends up taking too much of what I don’t like about the original series to fully enjoy it. 6.5/10 D I've seen *Neon Genesis Evangelion* being likened to *Star Wars* in popularity, some going so far as calling it the Star Wars of anime. Taking this analogy a step further, we could say the Rebuilds would be the Sequel Trilogy of anime. The momentum built by *2.0* and *The Last Jedi* is squandered by *The Rise of Skywalker* and *3.0*. In both series, I was prepared to like the sequel/reimagining more than the original, but the latest installment sullied my goodwill. The rebuilds, however, have something that the Sequel Trilogy doesn't. The rebuilds haven't concluded yet. The rebuilds could very well turn themselves around and leave a tetralogy that I enjoyed overall. For now, I remain cautious in my optimism. img520(https://i.imgur.com/08YoqE6.jpg) youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utXF0PGPD3Q)

planetJane

~~~*All of my reviews contain __spoilers __for the reviewed material. This is your only warning.* ~~~ ------- ~~~*”You stumble, through questions* *That you could never answer*”~~~ By its nature, the third *Rebuild of Evangelion* film offers no definitive and final statements on anything. Not on Shinji nor any of the other characters. Not on *Evangelion*-The-Franchise. Not on its genre or its medium. Not on broader philosophies of art or the world. Not even on the literal events of its own plot. It is, fundamentally, *incomplete*. As much as any piece of criticism attempts to reckon with the film, it must too reckon with this fact. To write on any part of the mainline *Evangelion* series is to acknowledge that what you are writing doesn’t matter and may well be entirely wrong. img880(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdG9ZASWoAAdnHw?format=png&name=small) Yet, for all its incompleteness and intermittent obtuseness, *Rebuild 3* does induce a wide variety of *feelings* in the audience. Largely not pleasant ones, either. Throughout, *Rebuild 3* feels, to its core, sick, fake, cynical, wrong. Not in the same shellshocked-to-near-death sense as *End of Evangelion*. It is more akin to being many years into reckoning with your own neuroses, when even the breakdowns, the severed friendships and burned bridges, the self harm, and the unhealthy coping mechanisms, all of *that*, begins to feel as much an annoyance as anything else. It is “Oh God, are we doing *this* again?” in film form. img880(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdG1zSpX0AArt4e?format=png&name=medium) What is “This”? As with much well-accomplished art, the *Rebuild* films are open to broad interpretation. Throughout, I found myself contemplating *Rebuild 3*’s relationships to the franchise’s broader themes dealing with the bleakest parts of mental illness, but also with the franchise itself. Certain shocks of imagery do, definitely, feel like pointed commentary on What Evangelion Has Become. A few stretches of the film feel downright *sickened* by the whole thing. *Evangelion*, in another time and place on the internet, was compared--in terms of influence on its country’s pop culture--to *Star Trek*. img880(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdG-JY6XgAAgOUu?format=png&name=medium) Parts of the *Rebuild* films and the third in particular, seem to ask if it’s been worth it. There is a reason the infamous “ME!ME!ME!” music video chose to portray its doomed otaku protagonist as having specifically Eva figurines. Conversely, you certainly don’t have to toss many stones to hit someone who’s of the opinion that *Evangelion* “ruined mecha anime”, it was something of a stock contrarian otaku take for years. In certain niches of the internet, it still is. img880(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdHAEzhXgAIxKWN?format=png&name=medium) img880(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdHAKYlWkAEbhc9?format=png&name=medium) ~~~*Intentional or not, imagery of malformed and damaged NERV logos, empty headquarters, and mass-produced plugsuit gloves cannot help but feel pointed.*~~~ ---- Elsewhere, the film lacerates the character of Shinji so thoroughly and mercilessly that it seems to mock the very idea of a heroic narrative. This is especially true toward the film’s end, where Shinji once again fails to learn from his mistakes and once again nearly causes the end of the world. If *Rebuild 3* has a major flaw, it’s perhaps that it makes it all too easy to *distance* yourself from Shinji. Many of us carry heavy weights on our shoulders, but certainly few of us are guilty of causing most of an apocalypse. Twice. The one moment of reprieve he gets--his relationship with Kaworu--ends in explosive death, because he cannot bring himself to trust another person. img880(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdHTLTIXgAEEV6U?format=png&name=medium) The magnitude of one’s failures certainly can **feel** like the end times, so the impulse is understandable, but at some point this starts to all feel a bit like penance whipping. How many times do we need to watch Shinji ground to dust? He’s barely alive by film’s end, literally dragged around by the wrist by Asuka as he finally is forced to leave the tape recorder he’s clung to since the opening episodes of the original series behind. Maybe there is development in this version of the character’s future, maybe there is not. Hell, maybe he *deserves* all this, for his failure to rise to the occasion thrust upon him, or simply for being an abusive ass in *End of Evangelion*. In the moment, none of these questions feel relevant. *Rebuild* feels defeatist and anti-triumphant by design. It’s horrifically reductive to phrase it this way, but it occasionally feels like an evil twin of *Gurren Lagann*. It is a nightmarish, browbeating apocalypse. A planet, and a narrative, crucified. img880(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdHIYSmWsAE8fDx?format=png&name=medium) img880(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdHN8vOWAAEs3HD?format=png&name=medium) img880(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdHGdwAWoAEEm_N?format=png&name=medium) *Evangelion* on the whole inspires endless contemplation. Articles, websites, and so on exist that tear the franchise down to individual frames. It is a world one can get lost in, if they’re not careful, and it’s easy to gaze hopefully to the sanctioned creators--the “canonical” source of all this, whether they're Anno or not--and pray for reprieve and finality. But if the New Century Gospel needs a Book of Revelation, it’s not to be found in *Rebuild 3*. None of this is to detract from the film’s immense artistry. It is, by *any* conventional metric, a *good movie.* It’s just not a very *inspiring* one. Which, of course, is not something every film--or any film--*needs* to be, but it's not difficult to divine where the sharp divergences of opinion on *Rebuild*, and this film specifically, come from. It is easier to respect than like and easier to like than love. The irony is that *Rebuild 3*’s highs and lows, are, fundamentally the same as those of the entire series. This is an anime about Shinji. I struggle to think of many other fictional characters so utterly damned by their being such. You can play the tapes over, starting from episode 1 of the original series, as many times as you like. The story in them will never change. img880(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdHTe9wWkAAMRSU?format=png&name=medium) ----------- And if you liked this review, [why not check out some of my others here on Anilist?](https://anilist.co/user/planetJane/reviews)

Decibelle

One of the most poignant, emotionally-complex films of all time, from a series full of poignancy and complex emotions. What, you want more explanation? I dunno, go like, watch the movie with an actual eye for film analysis and thematic appreciation instead of crying about how much you hate Mari and how you think Hideaki Anno should have adhered to nothing but Lore and Cool Mecha Fights and how Shinji should have fucked [insert your favorite girl here] or whatever. People calling this creatively bankrupt are rich; when Anno rehashed the first arc of Evangelion wholesale in the first Rebuild movie and only diverged from it entirely in the final act of the second, no one thought he was just trying to sell figures or whatever, but given actual comprehensive writing and building upon the series' themes for an entirely new story with the third, and he gets accused of not caring about Evangelion. It's almost like these people didn't care about anything in Evangelion except for the cool fights and girls or something... I'll at least give you a push in the right direction to view this film through though. When presented with a complete overhaul of not just his life, but the entire world and how it operates as he knows and understands it, down to the very internal logic upon which the world acts, Shinji has to grapple with the stark reality as he knows it and find greater meaning beyond his own internal, closed-off universe. This differs from the television show, where Shinji is only able to confront a shifting of moral values after being passively thrust into an inescapable situation, or End of Evangelion, where Shinji is only able to confront his own personal failings after choosing to forego changing himself in favor of taking the easy way out. You might notice the slight but incredible differences in each of these situations; as Shinji's problems morph from entry to entry, mirroring Anno's internal struggles as a human being and a creator, so too do his responses, and so too do his consequences and ultimately how he chooses to resolve them for himself. This is not an abstract situation that he finds himself in here. There is no sinking into surreal thought experiments and self-reflection. There is no loss of the self in favor of melding with everyone else. There is nothing but the cold, hard truth; the world has ended, everyone wants nothing to do with you, and the only one who can bear the weight of your mistakes and sins is yourself. In this light, watching this movie is honestly a drag. There's no beating around the bush; this is an hour and a half of Shinji reckoning with his own faults and figuring out how to make sense of everything and still find light where there is nothing but darkness. The film is almost entirely set-up, and so resolution rarely arrives, and when it does, it is entirely born out of the characters' drives to see something change in this world, lest tragedy happen again and again. You have to be okay with the fact that you're watching a movie about struggling, knowing that the outcome of your struggle isn't entirely clear (and for nine years, audiences did not get this closure as well). And so it is that this is a top-tier film in every regard. Not because the lack of resolution or decisiveness makes it such, but because it accurately reflects the very real and ongoing fight for happiness, for making sense of the world around you, for _living_. For such a lethargic, sombre film, it really can't make its point any clearer than it tries to. The constant questioning by Shinji of his own (and everyone else's) motives, what it means to exist in a world that rejects you entirely and ultimately only wants to use you, and how to ultimately still believe in something no matter how unlikely it may be... doesn't it strike you as hopeful? There is a clear intent here on Anno's part to detail escaping the pitfalls of depression and nihilism, despite how prominent they are and how they can always strike. This makes every scene between Shinji and Kaworu hit all the stronger compared to the television show. It is not just simply love born out of deception, or love born out of holiness; it is love born out of _existing_, surviving what the world throws at you, knowing that even if that love may one day end, what matters is how it impacts and shapes you. Of particular note is the difference between WILLE and NERV's goals in this film. While the Eva units were obstinately a tool by NERV to fight Angels and prevent the apocalypse in the show and End of Evangelion, but ultimately designed to bring about a melding of all consciousness (thus bringing about a particular kind of apocalypse), in the Rebuild series, the intentions of Gendo Ikari can't be made any clearer and more direct. So long as you desire something wholeheartedly, you should throw away the world for it. Led by Misato, WILLE wants to prevent the total end of humanity, at the expense of all other living and desire. For Shinji to see both sides himself singlehandedly, and ultimately reject both in favor of trying (and failing) to find another solution, is a clear sign of character development on his part. Though he may not be consciously aware of it, and though he is still dragged down by the world's overwhelming desire to force him into the role he must play, there is still room for another option, to escape beyond destiny, no matter how much it dictates a particular desire. ~!And so it is by the end of the film, as Asuka lectures and puts down Shinji and drags him through the wasteland of their final battle with Rei blankly following them, that we come to see what the film states, what Shinji figured out deep inside but still has trouble fully accepting until directly and immediately faced with the consequences of his actions (as opposed to only seeing them in retrospect): there is still hope to be found. If only you realize that running away from your problems creates more issues than it does solve them, you can just break _free_ of the cycle.!~ And as Shinji learns this cold, hard truth in the aftermath of total destruction, so too does Asuka and Rei, so too does Anno, so too does the audience. No matter how pitch-dark the world is, there is always light to be found and use to navigate the darkness. You just have to reach out for yourself to find it.

Santt

~~~__Considerações iniciais__~~~ Nesta review, irei utilizar tópicos que considero relevantes a serem analisados sobre minha experiência ao assistir o filme em questão. Nestes tópicos, irei falar mais detalhadamente sobre os pontos citados. Tentarei ao máximo não colocar qualquer tipo de _spoiler_ sobre o filme, mas recomendo fortemente você ter assistido ao filme antes de ler essa _review_. Já fiz uma _review_ para cada filme que antecede esse, recomendo lerem antes de ler esse para ter uma melhor noção de alguns pontos que irei colocar. A sinopse citada abaixo foi algo pensado por mim mesmo, tomando como base a minha experiência com o filme. (Tempo de leitura: 5 minutos) ----- ~~~__Sinopse__~~~ Alguns anos se passaram desde os acontecimentos do filme anterior, e o Shinji não tem ideia da situação em que o mundo vive atualmente. Em busca por respostas, ele se depara com uma série de problemas que os outros dizem que ele foi o fator principal. Jogado e isolado de todos, de algum modo ele consegue fugir e tenta se recompor ao se encontrar com uma certa pessoa. Juntos, eles tentam reverter o quadro atual do mundo. ----- ~~~__Introdução__~~~ "Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo", também chamado de "Rebuild of Evangelion 3.0", é o terceiro de quatro filmes que apresenta uma nova visão para a famosa obra dos anos 90. Para quem não está familiarizado com a obra (o que eu acho difícil), ela foi criada e dirigida pelo famoso Hideaki Anno. ----- ~~~__Enredo__~~~ Diferente do segundo filme, que teve um foco maior em ação e em outros personagens, esse terceiro filme é notavelmente mais voltado para o protagonista. Somos jogados na visão de que se passou vários anos após o segundo filme, ou seja, um _timeskip_. Boa parte das coisas que esse filme trata, puxa para o lado do Shinji não entender o que está acontecendo, nos colocado na pele dele e vamos entendendo pouco a pouco a situação junto com os acontecimentos que vão direcionando para o pensamento dele. Achei isso bem interessante e bem executado. Outro ponto interessante e de maior foco no filme é a estruturação para as convicções do protagonista. Para isso, se é introduzido um outro personagem que dá um maior parecer da situação atual junto com várias discussões sobre o que o Shinji quer fazer. Isso meio que dá um "gás" nele, já que antes ele era o tipo de pessoa que só recebia e executava ordens. Trabalhar nesse ponto é o ponto chave para os acontecimentos finais do filme como também para o filme que vem em sequência (irei comentar mais sobre isso na _review_ do filme quatro). ----- ~~~__Personagens__~~~ Como houve um _timeskip_, tirando o protagonista e poucos outros, a maioria está visualmente diferente e em funções e objetivos diferentes. O primeiro que citei lá em cima é, como já falei, peça fundamental para toda a estrutura do filme. Há também aquela personagem que é "carne nova" na obra num geral, aqui ela ganha mais destaque. ----- ~~~__Produção / Animação__~~~ Não é de se esperar menos de um filme como este. Ele é excelente quando se trata de animação / produção. Dou atenção principal para as cenas onde os personagens tocam piano. Pode não parecer, mas animar esse tipo de coisa dá muito trabalho, mais do que várias cenas de ação onde envolve lutas entre os personagens. Aqui a produção conseguiu entregar algo muito bem feito, e sem o uso de CGI para animar os dedos. O excelente tratamento dado pela produção para esses momentos foi de extrema importância, já que nelas há bastante coisa transmitida para os pensamentos do protagonista. ----- ~~~__Conclusão__~~~ Considero esse filme superior aos seus antecessores. A ideia de nos colocar na pele do protagonista sem qualquer tipo de informação quanto o que estava acontecendo foi uma coisa excelente. Dar muita atenção e desenvolver bem esse lado dos objetivos do Shinji também foi algo de se admirar. Diferente dos filmes anteriores, ele mantem, ao meu ver, uma média mais do que "linear". Por isso, minha visão dele é bastante positiva. Realmente um ótimo filme que nos encaminha para a sequência final dessa reconstrução de "Evangelion". ----- ~~~__Considerações finais__~~~ Obrigado por ler até aqui! Se puder e quiser, deixe um comentaria falando o que achou dessa ou de outras das minhas _reviews_, sou bem aberto a qualquer tipo de opinião, seja ela positiva ou negativa (por favor, só não ofensas). Para comentar, basta falar no post que farei aqui no AniList falando exatamente sobre essa _review_. Recomendo lerem também as _reviews_ que fiz do filme 1, 2 e 4 de "Rebuild of Evangelion". Novamente, obrigado por lerem!

TheAnimeBingeWatcher

What is the point of remaking Evangelion? That question hangs over the Rebuilds like a storm cloud. Evangelion the TV show, and its movie conclusion End of Eva, endure as anime staples to this day. It’s a story that’s just as captivating now as when it came out over two decades ago. It doesn’t need a remake to remain relevant; I doubt Eva will ever _stop_ being relevant, at least for a very long time. And say what you want about Hideaki Anno, he’s never been the kind of guy to create art for the sake of cynically milking cash from his audience. So the only reason to remake it is if there’s something more to say. Something that the original show and movie didn’t quite capture, something that Anno desperately needs to contribute to the never-ending conversation he started so long ago. But what IS that something? For what reason does this story need to be told anew? As much as I enjoyed the first two Rebuilds, they don’t really do a good job of answering that question. 1.0 literally just repeats the show shot for shot. 2.0 mostly condenses and remixes stuff that’s already happened, but less good and more needlessly indulgent. We’re halfway through the Rebuilds and we still don’t understand why this movie series even exists. And after 2.0′s barn-burner of a finale, I was hopeful that 3.0 would finally deliver the answers I was waiting for. Then I watched 3.0. And suddenly, everything makes sense. Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between, You Can (Not) Redo is utterly fucking amazing. It’s a statement of purpose that makes every unanswered question click into place. It’s a staggering work of artistic vision. It’s a statement of purpose like a lightning bolt from hell. It blows everything about the previous two Rebuilds out of the water so effortlessly, it honestly makes them feel worse by comparison. It’s everything I hoped it would be and so, so much more. Whether or not it’s truly on par with the original Evangelion, I don’t know; I guess I’ll have to wait for the final movie to answer that question. But for the first time since I started watching the Rebuilds, I finally feel like this series _can_ match up to the original Evangelion. It _can_ live up to its staggering legacy. Somehow, Anno and his team at Studio Khara have written a new chapter in this franchise’s legacy that genuinely feels like it’s adding to the conversation. And it comes in the form of a movie that’s just as heartwrenching, just as pulse-pounding, just as wretched, and just as beautiful as the tale that’s lead it here. It’s also a very disorienting movie, which is entirely the point. We cold-open fourteen years after Shinji caused the Third Impact at the end of the last movie, fourteen years that Shinji’s essentially spent in cryosleep as the world has collapsed and struggled back to post-apocalyptic life. When he’s finally wokem up, he finds himself in a world where everything is changed, everything is broken, and barely anything resembles the people and places he left behind. And just as he reels from this staggering information overload, the movie doesn’t slow down to explain anything until around halfway through. The first twenty minutes are nearly non-stop action, showing off the new status quo in a barrage of futuristic technology, breathtaking monster fights, and sweeping apocalyptic landscapes. It’s an absolutely _insane_ rush, tossing both us and Shinji from one jaw-dropping setpiece to the next with barely a moment to catch our breath. At times, it’s so overwhelming that the shock and awe almost becomes numbing. So much technobabble and barely explained high concept fuckery is thrown around that it’s all but impossible to get a read on what’s actually going on between the chaos. You’d think this would be a crippling flaw, but honestly, Evangelion’s plot and lore have always been kind of an incomprehensible clusterfuck, so 3.0′s just carrying on that tradition if anything. And it _definitely_ puts us right in Shinji’s head as he’s assaulted with the innumerable ways that things have changed. “Welcome to the new world,” it seems to say. “Now get up to speed, because we’re not slowing down for you.” And what a new world it is. The planet is awash in the kind of stunning imagery that would feel right at home in Berserk. Mountains of red bodies, blood dripping from oversized heads, seas burned crimson and teeming with alien life, NERV headquarters reduced to a bombed-out Gothic shell of its former self, and a climactic fight that takes place on an underground mountain of skulls in the shadow of a fossilized titan that dwarfs even the Evas. The grungy realism that defined the show’s aesthetic has been replaced with a majestic, almost Dark Souls-ian portrait of an incomprehensibly primordial universe on the brink of erasing itself from existence. It even makes some genuinely fantastic use of CG during the battles, amping up their scope to mind-numbing extremes. And the cinematography is just as fractured as the world it portrays; at times, the framing, lighting and editing seem to cast the environments as a grand stage upon which actors say their lines. Spotlights shine down on characters without a source. Shaft-esque expressionistic flairs dominate the movie’s conversation-heavy middle chunk. Just like at the show’s end, the fabric of the story itself is beginning to come undone from the shock of what it’s been forced to endure. It hasn’t devolved to the pure abstraction of the final two episodes yet, but the warning signs are all there. Things can’t go on like this much longer. Sooner or later, this world is going to unravel again. And yet, for all this bleakness and despair, one thing that can’t be denied is that this movie is _fucking awesome._ It kicks so much ass on so many levels that it’s impossible to keep track of all the amazing moments. I can’t even count how many times it made me _shriek_ with glee as it pulled off yet another Gurren Lagann-worthy setpiece. Evas dueling in the shadow of a god’s withered husk! Evas fighting Angels in space! Captain Katsuragi commanding an army of anti-NERV warriors with unparalleled badassery! AND MOTHER! FUCKING! ASUKA! God, this movie fixes _everything_ wrong with Asuka from the last movie. Every attack she makes, every blow she takes, every Angel she thrashes, every impossible plan she carries out through sheer force of will, all of it left me _screaming_ with joy. It’s like we’re getting to see post-EOE Asuka, the Asuka who conquered her self-loathing and smashed the Eva series to bits, finally get to cut loose and kick some fucking ass. It’s amazing! It’s absolutely fucking amazing! It’s like the past fourteen years turned her into a Gunbuster protagonist! Actually, that’s how _all_ the anti-NERV warriors come off: a colorful cast of misfits stolen from a much more upbeat mecha anime and thrust into a dying world, facing down the post-apocalypse with undying spirit despite the impossible odds. Even though we barely spend any time with them, they feel so lived-in and fleshed out that I could imagine an entire anime series just about them fighting to keep humanity’s flame alive after the Third Impact. It fucking _rules._ And Shinji get to enjoy none of it. Which finally brings me to the point of the whole thing. The reason the Rebuilds had to exist. Why this timeless story was worth continuing. And yes, I do mean “continuing.” Because despite ostensibly being a re-telling, what 3.0 makes clear is that the Rebuilds are true thematic sequels to the original show. They’re not meant to be your first experience with Evangelion; at least, their true impact is lost if you haven’t seen the show already. No, these movies are meant for those who have already been marinating in the NGE stew ever since it first came out and changed anime forever. These movies are for the lost, lonely kids who saw themselves in Shinji whether they wanted to or not. These movies are for the Eva fans who have never been able to stop thinking about it. These movies are for the Shinjis of the world who never managed to grow up. Neon Genesis Evangelion came out a full decade before Anno decided to remake it. In that time, those who first watched it as teenagers would grow up into adults. Some of them managed to take Eva’s lessons to heart. They learned to love themselves, to find peace with their demons, to embrace the world no matter how much it scared them to do so. But some of them didn’t. Some of them remained scared and small, a prisoner to their selfishness, their terror, their helplessness. Shinji was able to start the healing process despite all the shit he went through; in real life, not everyone is so lucky. And now, much like Shinji in this movie, those lost kids are faced with an adult world that’s so different from the world they knew, a world where everything is different, everything is broken, everything is a million times harder to deal with... and they’re still fourteen years old, grappling with the same demons that paralyzed them so long ago. Reliving the same memories, making the same mistakes, searching for a way out while stagnating in their comfort zones. And faced with what they can’t understand or accept, all they can do is continue to suffer as they always have. All they can do... is redo. None of us will ever destroy the world with our mistakes. None of us will ever be the unwitting key to Armageddon. But there are times when we’ve all felt trapped by our mistakes. There are times when it feels like we’re doomed to keep messing up over and over again, unable to improve or fix what’s broken. Shinji doomed the world to save a single girl, and now he has to face that. He has to face the cruel, unflinching truths of a world he’s ruined, the dark secrets and hidden agendas that brought him to this point. Everyone else has grown up, moved on, created a new world from the wreckage he left behind. But he is still fourteen years old, afraid, grasping for an answer that never comes. The eternal otaku surrogate protagonist has been left behind by time, trapped reliving the same old memories as the people he once cared about become alien and the consequences of his actions grind his soul into dirt. An adult who never got over being a teenager. Who never learned to love himself. Who never figured out how to break the unhealthy cycles he was trapped in. He is fourteen now just as he was fourteen years ago, and unless something changes, he’ll forever remain a child in a world with no more place for him. Cast in that light, the point behind the first two Rebuilds being what they are becomes abundantly clear. Shinji, just like the audience, is still stuck on Evangelion. He’s stuck reliving the same events, the same memories, searching for meaning without finding the strength to move past it. 1.0 and 2.0 are a comfort zone for Eva fans. They’re familiar. They’re unchallenging. 2.0 in particular is more indulgent and coddling, with its simplified dialogue and aggressive fanservice. They’re what it feels like to be frozen in time, relearning the same lessons without ever moving forward. And then in comes 3.0, shattering that comfort zone to pieces and exposing the audience to the sudden, cruel reality they’ve been hiding from. It forces them to confront the passage of time, their alienation from the world, the fact they’ve just been making the same mistakes over and over again. It forces them to realize that just like Shinji, they never managed to grow up. The comforting illusion those first two movies created was nothing more than the fear of change made manifest. But as much as some may wish to live in the world of 1.0 and 2.0, it’s the world of 3.0 they must have to face. The world where nothing makes sense, where nothing is fair, where your flaws are laid bare and there’s nowhere to run, where time moves forward whether you’re moving with it or not. It’s a final wake-up call to those who are still Shinji to this day, asking them once again... to try. Which brings me, at last, to Kaworu. Kaworu was one of the weirdest parts of the original show. He appears out of nowhere in one of the last episodes, has an entire love story with Shinji, and then dies like Jesus for the otaku hero’s sins, all in the space of 26 incredibly esoteric minutes. He wasn’t so much a character as he was a mangled plot device who barely worked as part of the story, even as the thematic point he represented was essential to the show’s overall message. But in 3.0, at last, we see Kaworu as he was meant to be. A fully realized character full of stirring emotion, a loving bond built up with Shinji naturally over beautiful moments of connection, and an ultimate sacrifice that ripped my heart out of my fucking chest. _This_ is the tragic beauty that this character was always meant to represent, finally unfettered by production hell and painted in vivid color. Kaworu Nagisa made me laugh. He made me cry. He made me believe in his love for Shinji ten thousand times more than the original show ever managed. Seriously, that piano duet scene was so unspeakably beautiful, I don’t know how I survived. And it’s in this scene that Kaworu once again becomes the thematic lynchpin tying everything together. Because his message to Shinji is the message of these Rebuilds: keep trying. Practice the same thing over and over until you get it right, and then move on to even better things. Don’t give up because it seems hard or impossible. Don’t give up because you think it’ll never work. Keep trying. Keep fighting. Even when tragedy strikes, hold onto hope. Because even if you can’t redo the past, you can redo how you approach the future. No mistake is unforgivable, no failure unfixable, no cycle so broken that you can never escape it. All it takes is the courage to stare the end of the world in the face and say: “Fuck it, I’m going to try again.” Evangelion 3.0 is a stunning achievement. As pure cinema, it’s a triumph. As a continuation of Evangelion, it’s a masterpiece. As a message for all the Shinjis of the world who remain trapped by their worst impulses, it’s damn near spiritual. I have no idea how the final movie is going to wrap things up, what conclusion it will ultimately arrive at. The only reason I'm not giving this one a perfect 100 is because I'm still waiting for the true finale to see if this whole experiment can truly measure up to the original NGE. But after the heights this one reached, I have full confidence that it’s gonna stick the landing. One way or another, Evangelion is going to end again. And this time, maybe we can finally break free of despair and let it carry us through hell into a brighter future.

de4th

rebuild of evangelion 3.0 spoilers As the rebuild had 2 movies which were pretty good but did not touch the "perfection" of the original eva I was a little disppointed with the rebuild just because I thought I would never see anything in the original writing style and yet came the movie 3.0 to completely change the perspective he has for rebuild while in the previous 2 he went to remake the original eva (mainly in the first movie) and from the second to throw you a completely new plot, comes the 3.0 to throw a lot of hints for the connection with the original and present an original plot with the experience that hideaki has gained in the years since the original. I do not know why people have hated this movie so much, basically I know a few reasons just no one tells me exactly what the subject of arguments, I hear things like that is bl, that the plot does not make sense, excessive use of cgi, and that characters "psychologically tortured" And as it's logical, none of these points make sense and very simply the people who say them have gone crazy biased to see the film based on the bad score it has on all the listing sites or they just did not understand the plot. The bl between shinji and nagisa does not apply to anything since in the movie he constantly emphasizes that the "love" that exists between them is just friendly, on the part of shinji because nagisa was the only creature that has shinji . as a person with personality and not as the third child or the pilot of unit 01, on the part of Nagisa because I actually got shinji a tool for a purpose (and nagisa is used for a purpose) and no one has seen them as people in a nutshell saw themselves in shinji, so bl does not exist. Unlike the original eva, the rebuild explained a lot more about the plot and covered holes in the original that it did in a hurry to finish. Even the excessive use of cgi does not make sense because it is the only rebuild movie that does not have much fighing in relation to the rest, it looks to focus on the psychology of the characters and to build some facts for 3.0 + 1.0. Shinji and the other characters had constant mental breakdowns in the original but the specific people who say that the characters are psychologically tormented in the original for some reason did not bother them, while in rebuild everything in relation to the mentality is much lighter. One of the most positive parts of the movie that enlarged the role of nagisa and showed us a complete picture of his character in more detail because in the original he had taken a little screentime, and his actions made a lot more sense and we could understand nagisa as a character . and why he sacrificed himself for shinji and humanity as well as the pain he goes through because of his immortality and his condemnation to be merely a tool born for a purpose. The animation was very good for the season of 2012 and of course it is very good and for today's standards also the coloring was very on point managed to show the dark spot of the film and at the same time the bright colors where they showed that there is hope in it the story. One of the best movies ever made in the anime industri for me at least.

CryoStrider

__God's left his Heaven, all's wrong with the world.__ I really hated this movie. I think it's a spit in the face of the Evangelion franchise and cements the Rebuild series' position as an inferior derivation of a much better constructed classic. So, I already didn't like a lot of things about 2.0, like how it treated the characters in a very archetypical manner (like Asuka, who was pretty much just turned into a generic tsundere with very little depth), but Eva 3.0 manages to build upon the bad things in 2.0 and ruin the characters even further by not only turning everyone into a bunch of insufferable assholes that treat Shinji like crap and refuse to explain anything to him even though that could potentially ensure that he doesn't fuck things up again, but also by making every character lose about 20 points of IQ and start acting like complete imbeciles. Asuka turned into an edgelord with unrealistic anime-like dialogue (something very uncharacteristic of Eva) that still acts like a child even though she's 28 years old with more than a decade of life experience on a post-apocalyptic world, and Kaworu turned into pointless yaoi fanservice. Shinji became possibly the biggest idiot of the bunch, even more than he already was in the last movie, which I guess was a decision originally made to appease the people that didn't understand the point of his character in NGE and complained about how he didn't have a "backbone" or whatever, so they just turned him into a complete fucking numbskull who acts like a generic shounen protagonist and just does things on his own accord despite everyone trying to tell him how it's going to ruin everything, like trying to save Rei with the fucking 'power of friendship' in 2.0 (not even exaggerating here, that's pretty much exactly what happens in that sequence with the glowing purple eyes and other cringeworthy stuff). I think it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the once incredible cast of characters has been ruined beyond repair. A lot of things in 3.0 make no sense whatsoever, it throws completely random and nonsensical terms and imagery at your face and expects you to just not question it at all. The only instance where they try to explain anything is during the ridiculous exposition scene with Fuyutsuki playing shogi with Shinji which was just laughable, it's as if Anno realized "Oh fuck, there's actually a lot of stuff I need to explain for anything to make any sense and I already wasted a bunch of time with pandering fanservice and terrible action scenes, I better just throw in a random expository scene where Fuyutsuki explains a bunch of already-known information to the audience (except the whole "Shinji's memory got erased" thing, which came out of nowhere and made no sense). Yeah, that oughta make 'em happy". It was not fun at all to just watch 90 minutes of completely pointless and nonsensical bullshit. Some people would say that that's exactly the point, that we were supposed to feel like shit just like Shinji, in which case I have to say that was a job very well done, since the movie managed to make me feel frustrated and annoyed and didn't provide anything close to an entertaining or meaningful experience. I also just wanted to quickly talk about the Jar Jar Binks of Evangelion: Mari. Now, Eva is obviously a series about exploring deeply flawed and realistic characters, and Mari is the antithesis to that. She is a shallow character without any sort of point or development. She has no impact on the story and goes directly against the anti-escapism themes of Evangelion. She's by far the worst character in this entire movie series, she doesn't fit the franchise at all, every time she's on screen I lose a little bit of my will to live, and seems like she's just there to provide some fanservice for the inane morons who always complain about how the characters in NGE are "bad" because they can't see a well-written and complex character if they smack them in the face, so they just shoehorned some generic cute/quirky waifu-bait anime girl that has absolutely no place in a series like this to keep those idiots entertained as if they were dangling keys in front of a baby. I've seen some people saying that that's also exactly the point behind her character, that she's supposed to criticize the escapist otaku who only care about these kinds of shitty characters, but whether that's the intention or not, I would have to repeat the same thing I said for the whole "making you feel like crap to emulate Shinji's feelings": it doesn't work the way it's intended, it's not smart, it's not well-communicated, and it just takes away from my enjoyment. Even if you're making a bad character "ironically", she's still terrible and annoying nonetheless. I also think there is a considerable tonal problem with this movie. On one hand, it seems like they were trying to make it way more serious than the last two movies and maybe even trying to somewhat match the extremely bleak and dreary tone of EoE, but on the other one this movie has so many things that feel out of place and even unintentionally funny at times, like Kaworu's death, which was hilariously badly executed and reminds me of Darth Vader screaming "Noooooooo!!!" in Star Wars Episode III from how cheesy it was with its attempt at being dramatic. Its surface level dark and edgy tone seems to be used to over-compensate for how light-hearted, safe and pandering the last movie felt, but the problem is that it doesn't stick to its guns. Think about Asuka's final stand in EoE, that fight has so much weight to it when it comes to both the visual aspect and to her character arc, it's extremely brutal but the violence doesn't really feel like it's there just to "look cool", it actually feels very fitting to the tone they were going for and the whole fight manages to feel both over-the-top and realistic/grounded at the same time. 3.0's action scenes on the other hand feel very meaningless and "show-offy", like they were not even trying to make them feel grounded or tonally consistent with the rest of the movie in any way and just tried to make them as ridiculous and over-the-top as possible. Then there are things like how Mari just shows up to sing in a "cute" manner and to bounce her tits at the screen every now and then. It seems like this movie just doesn't know what it wants to be, and it feels very messy and inconsistent as a result. The whole movie is also just insanely tedious and uneventful, and felt like a giant waste of time. Fucking NOTHING happens throughout pretty much its entire second act. This movie has about as much content as episode 24 of the anime series. There are so many lengthy, drawn out, badly directed, mind-numbing, and pointless action scenes where you just have no idea what's going on and don't understand why you're supposed to care about anything or anyone. Never start your movie off with a half-an-hour prologue consisting mostly of action scenes that makes up almost a third of the entire runtime where it's very hard and confusing to follow or care about what's happening. I usually hear people praising how this movie looks, but that's something that I find hard to agree with. I didn't hate the visuals or anything, but I think there are a few things to mention, like why did they completely change the artstyle and even the fucking aspect ratio from all of the other movies? The last two movies had an artstyle that was, in my opinion, a fairly decent update on the classic one (minus the terrible CG), but the new one simply doesn't look very good. I just don't see the point in changing it, especially considering we're in the middle of the movie series. The old characters look sort of uncanny and there are some new characters that just have absolutely terrible designs (like that pink-haired girl with big lips, and most of the other people on Wille's bridge crew) who look NOTHING like Evangelion and just act like annoying archetypical anime characters, it fits the franchise so little that it hurts. Anyway, it's clear to me that they were trying to go for this dark and gothic "third-impacty" aesthetic, but the visuals are way too clean, sanitized, and artificial for it to work, it looks overly "digital" and it just feels like it's lacking all of the grittiness from EoE, which is a visual style they were clearly trying to replicate here. And like the last two movies, there is so much fucking CG that it makes my eyes bleed. Every single action scene overuses CG to a ridiculous extent. What happened to the amazing sakuga of the original series and EoE? I want to see things like Asuka's fight against the mass produced Evas again, not the assault on my eyes that is the CG in the Rebuilds, especially considering that their budget and time was basically infinite, so that's not an excuse. I think the only thing that I enjoyed about 3.0 was the soundtrack. The movie had such a great amount of potential, after all it was supposed to cover some of the best episodes from the original TV series (eps. 20-24). I didn't even care that much about the timeskip, they could've used that opportunity to do some really interesting stuff with the plot and characters, but this is what they fucking came up with... Everything in this movie feels extremely forced, it's trying its damn hardest at every point to __be__ Evangelion but it just doesn't seem to understand what makes Eva so good in the first place. It's Eva as if it was made by a teenager who watched EoE and thought all that movie had going for it were the dark/trippy visuals. This whole thing feels like a mocking parody of Evangelion made by someone who doesn't really understand the original and thinks the entire franchise is just meaningless gibberish and nonsense and hasn't got any logic behind anything whatsoever, while thinking "let's make the most confusing and nonsensical movie possible with terrible, annoying characters since that's what Eva is all about, and then let's add some pandering fanservice and generic action scenes because that's what the series needed to be good." And just as a final note, all of these theories about 3.0 and the Rebuilds in general being a "deconstruction" and meta-commentary on the Evangelion franchise as a whole are of very little importance to me, since the underlying themes don't really matter if they're not accompanied by an actual good piece of media. End of Evangelion, for example, was still an absolutely amazing experience to me even without being able to fully grasp its deeper themes/messages at first, and it doesn't suffer from any of the problems that this movie does. If EoE wasn't as incredible as it was and relied entirely on its themes to succeed as a movie, but was a boring, nonsensical, frustrating, incompetent, inconsistent, badly executed mess, then I would be saying the same thing about it. What the fuck happened, Anno? How did you go from making one of the absolute best anime of all time to this? Do you just not care anymore? I don't know what happened behind the scenes for this movie to turn out the way it did, but it is undoubtedly very sad to see one of my favorite franchises turn into a shadow of what it used to be.