Forum - View topicNeon Genesis Evangelion: I need some help understanding
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Hisdon
 Posts: 411 Location: Poquoson, VA |
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I'm gonna put this whole thing in spoiler, sorry if it's annoying, but best way I think I can do this without looking like a mess with lots of lil black dots in my text. I've just finished watching the entire series, and I -think- I understand what happened (also saw the movie) but I just can't grasp the idea that the ending was giving.
First off, the tv series ending (yes I understand these two endings are for the different choices Shinji could of have made) spoiler[ From my understanding this ending is if Shinji chose to stop hating himself when Lillith absorbed all the souls on the planet. Also from my understanding that point is when episodes 25+26 should have began. From what I understand here is if he could stop hating himself, him and the others could live a different life, free of wars, and be happy? Anyone feel free to add to this or elaborate, or correct me. It was a good ending but I don't think I understood it. ] Then the movie ending spoiler[ From my understanding, this is an ending where Ikari thought the world that he and everyone else could live happily didn't feel right, so he chose to return to his origenal self, and Asuke came with him (I think that's her name, the German girl.) Rei made a brief appearance here then disapeered...I'm not sure I really understand what happened to her or the other spirits. Which was kinda sad, she was my fave char in the series. So from my understanding the idea was Shinji and Asuke became the new Adam and Eve, but he started to choke her, then she woke up and stopped him? I guess he was trying to knock her out, not kill her, since he started to I guess...masturbate on top of her like he did at the beginning of the movie? Also she said "how disgusting" at the end, so she's not really dead. However, once again I don't think I understood this right, and what happened to Lillith, is the fake god dead? Her head fell off and split after her neck started bleeding and such. What about the other spirits? I -think- I grasped this, like the show, but I'm not sure. I'm guessing the general idea of both endings what that he learned not to hate himself or run from his problems, but confront them. Both of them are happy ones I guess, since he found...love I guess? I'm not sure, but I'm sure one of you gurus can help me out here, sorry once again if this coulda been searched, but I wanted to state the question my own way. ] edit: fixed some typos. for some reason i put Shinji's name as Ikari every time I typed it. |
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Mohawk52
 Posts: 8204 Location: England, UK |
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I presume, by your references, that the movie you saw was "Death and Rebirth" not "End of "?
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the Rancorous
 Posts: 2249 Location: Sac, Ca USA |
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the scenes he mentioned are in "End of" and not "Death and Rebirth." There is a topic titled "end of Evangelion Question" or something like that that may give you more understanding, but I'll give my interpretation regardless. And I should say this right now, my post will be nothing but a spoiler, so all will be blacked out from here on out...
spoiler[First off, I must state that the original episodes 25 and 26 pissed me off. They were both well written looks into the psyche of the characters and portrayed well, but they were NOT an adequate ending to the series at all. It set you up for a climatic appocolyptic showdown and then completely trailed off on something else entirely. Because of this, I completely disregarded this ending for myself and only see "End of Evangelion" as the actual ending. In "End Of Evangelion," Shinji was the chosen one to decide the fate of the world because he was the pilot of Eva unit 1. A lot of which I feel had to do with the fact that his mother's soul was still within unit 1 (remember from previous episodes, she was swallowed up by the Eva). That scene where it showed Shinji watching Misato bangin' Kaji as well as the glimpses of Asuka and Rei were the key of the rest of the movie IMO. I feel that the consciencness' and souls of all three characters were really there with Shinji and all that was said by them was their actual words. In other words, Asuka's complete rejection of Shinji's pleas was Asuka's actual decision and words to Shinji, which is why he strangled her in that scene and decided to let everyone be thrown into the elsian sea, or whatever it was called. Through this, Rei (who was also based on the DNA of Shinji's mom) talks with him about his choice and shows him the ultimate outcome of his decisions. Here, Shinji realizes that this world he desired was a very lonely world and that he indeed missed all of the people he knew and cared for in life, no matter what kind of pain they may have caused him. And so, Shinji decided to will himself as a separate entity. However, Rei states that the people must will themselves to be separate entities as well. Now, I strongly feel that Shinji lives on because he chose to be a separate entity. As for Asuka, this is what I think... It was a combination of Rei knowing how Asuka and Shinji really felt for eachother as well as Asuka already have decided that she wanted to live. Remember the rather heart wrenching scene of her, "I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die!" I think that is where she really willed herself to survive. As for Rei not living on with Shinji, here is what I think: Rei was based on the DNA of Shinji's mom, so basically, she wasn't even a real human in a sense. However, she was the only husk that was capable of housing a human soul, and somehow that made her able to fuse with Lilith. I'm still confused about this point, so that's just a guess of mine. Also, when Gendo and Yui (Shinji's mom and dad) are talking towards the end of the movie, Yui says that "as long as a single human lives, the Eva will exist." and it shows Rei staring at Unit 1 in space. My guess is that Rei was now the eternal embodyment of Unit 1. The final scene: I think that Shinji and Asuka WERE the next Adam and Eve. However, when Shinji awoke, he still had the words of Asuka from earlier in the movie etched in his head, where she completely rejected him, and THAT is the reason he starts strangling her. He feels that this is just another sick joke played on him; having to live alone with the girl who rejected him entirely and being forced onto her loveless pressence. But... when Asuka caresses his face during this scene, it was sort of her admittance that she felt the same way towards him that he felt towards her, and that is the reason that he stopped strangling her and broke down crying. As for Asuka's final line of "how disgusting," I have yet to decide if she really meant it, or if it was just meant as a "she's still Asuka" kind of thing. I personally loved that last sighting of Rei in the movie. I loved her character all throughout the series, but I especially loved that last little appearance mainly because that's how the entire story started. Remember in the first episode, Shinji sees an image of Rei on the streets of Tokyo 3, and that's when it all began. The series ended how it began. It almost brought a tear to my eye.] Well, that's my own thought, agree or disagree... |
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goins007
Posts: 291 |
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I think it's one of those things where the ending means something different to everyone. Nobody I know thats seen it can really come up with one version of what the ending really ment.
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daxomni
 Posts: 2650 Location: Somewhere else. |
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I just could not figure out the various endings to NGE, any of them. Everything up until the end was right up my alley, but the endings themselves didn't do anything for me and the more people try to explain the ending the less sense the rest of the series makes to me. I guess you need to be able to believe in things I simply don't believe in before you can truly understand the concepts portrayed in NGE's various endings.
The issues and plot seen in the bulk of the story were still very enjoyable. I just wish the ending could have been more inline with the rest of the series. At this point, from my vantage point, NGE is just another 'unfinished' title like so many other anime series that seem to stop abruptly, leaving the audience with little more than vague references and lots of loose ends. |
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GospelX
Posts: 185 Location: Ann Arbor, MI |
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Interesting thoughts, daxomni, but I don't think you have to believe in things to understand Eva. There's a whole lot of loose philosophical ideas and loose references to Christian mythology, but I think that's more of a matter of familiarity than belief.
I think the ending was very much in line with the story. Starting roughly halfway through the series is when things started getting a bit more internalized. Some episodes were character analyses in disguise, so it works out. It might seem vague to you, but it's complete in the long run. Just remember that Eva was not about the mecha action -- Eva's about the characters. |
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omar235
 Posts: 1572 Location: Florida, Jacksonvile |
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basically all it was, was shinji finally realizing that he actually did care about other people and that other people cared for him. The last scene where he's with Asuka means that he finally met someone who cares about him and he knows he's made the right disciion for the world.
I agree with the Rancorous about the scene with rei and what happend to her. Though I also agree that all the diffrent endings to series are open to interpretation, but maybe all these endings were really diffrent choices that shinji could have made and is the reason they made the movies with the diffrent endings. Anyone know if or when either Neon Genesis Evangelion movie will show again ( on any channel) in the U.S. Last edited by omar235 on Mon Apr 10, 2006 2:23 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Mohawk52
Posts: 8204 Location: England, UK |
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daxomni
Posts: 2650 Location: Somewhere else. |
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Oh, I think I got that part. Personally, I'm no mecha fan at all. In fact, the primary reason I approached and ultimately enjoyed NGE was precisely because it was NOT all about the mechs. When the ending came along though, well, nothing looked the same, nothing felt the same, and nothing made sense anymore... at least not to me. I'm a simple man who enjoys anime as a means of escape and as a throwback to childhood memories. Perhaps NGE simply wasn't made to be appreciated by folks like me.
I don't necessarily disagree with you, but certainly that begs the question "With friends like that, who needs enemies?!" Shinji got dumped on repeatedly from nearly every angle and most of the cast were either indifferent to his plight or were personally offended by it, often to the point of holding his gentleness against him. A consistent theme emerged that seemed to suggest that his meek temperament and lack of overt independence contributed to his extended suffering. Thus, to much of the cast, Shinji's problems were either unnoticed and irrelevant or expected and deserved. Even when someone felt compassion toward Shinji they rarely showed it in any tangible sense. Thus, regardless of what Shinji felt about the rest of the cast, the bulk of the series implied that this would have little if any bearing on how they treated him on any practical level. If the message was that Shinji eventually managed to find some form of faint, deeply hidden compassion in an otherwise cold and uncaring world, what difference would that make? Is the ending really little more than a glorified treatise on the supposed benefits of irrational cheerfulness? |
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