Wonderful character development!

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Seeing that you're on this IMDb page, you have likely either already seen this film or have just found out about it through its relation with the anime series, Neon Genesis Evangelion. That show carries a hugely polarizing reputation within the community, in no small part because of its last two episodes. NGE was a series that defied many viewers' expectations, with some claiming it to be an outright deconstruction of its genre. Finishing the story with bizarre, underwhelming animation and psychological evaluation of its characters that undercuts all narrative advancement, left almost everyone baffled. It seemed like something was missing. There had to be some kind of sequence that would re-contextualize the ending and Gainax was unable to animate it with the show's rapidly declining budget. So, naturally everyone was intrigued when they discovered this film, and believed that it would address all of those concerns. End of Evangelion is not for the faint of heart. It is not a conventional horror film per se, but it is filled some of the most grotesque and appalling visuals I have witnessed on screen, animation or otherwise. Everyone watches this movie for the first time expressed the same traumatized feelings that its characters. This film has no concern with easing the viewer into this nightmarish world. Just a few minutes in, you'll see one the movie's most deplorable acts, and it just never lets up. Yet for every gory action scene and sequences displaying the worst things humanity is capable of, there is a counter weight of hope and love for mankind that comes into focus after much examination of the film. It may seem that EoE relishes in a nihilistic worldview upon first viewing, but it all comes down to reconciling the difficulties of human emotional connection and companionship. There is phenomenal animation, directing, music, and editing that all feed in to the film's message. The Komm, süsser Tod scene has got to be the most emotional scene I've ever witnessed in film.If you have yet to watch this film, just make sure you have watched the Neon Genesis Evangelion TV anime beforehand. That certainly goes without saying, but otherwise this confusing film will be downright nonsensical. I would recommend watching this at night and not under the influence of anything. If you know someone who has already seen this, it would be a good idea to watch EoE with them so you can more easily unpack its narrative and themes. I like to inform people that I view this film as more of an extended ending to the show, rather than an alternative one. I and many others feel that even though the events appear completely different, the characters arrive at the same point as the show's ending.Of course, if you disliked NGE, then I would not recommend this film; it's not going to change your opinion in the slightest. For everyone who's interested, please give it a chance. You'll feel a pit in your stomach after your first viewing, but hopefully you can feel like that you have gained just a bit more insight into the story and themes. If that's true, don't hesitate to re-watch it. You'd be surprised how much this film gives you on repeat viewings.

The End of Evangelion, an alternate ending to the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion may come across as pretentious, but it perfectly captures realistic emotions with symbolic ambiguity and philosophical themes. This anime is a deconstruction of the mecha genre. That is, tropes and clichés of that genre are taken apart. In the case of End of Evangelion or Neon Genesis Evangelion, unlike a typical protagonist in a mecha series, who is brave and willing to fight in any situation, Shinji, the protagonist of Neon Genesis Evangelion is wimpy and apathetic to his task, which is a realistic reaction of most teenagers faced with a similar situation. While some dislike the emotional realism and are just looking for a feel-good story, I enjoy it because it gives a better understanding of the genre as a whole. Most of the key scenes are purposely ambiguous and littered with symbolisms or hints that point to possible answers. Honestly, I'm not good at catching symbols and analyzing, but the part of the fun in watching Neon Genesis Evangelion is trying to reach a conclusion or researching what other viewers have concluded. The infamous last line of the movie can be interpreted as "I feel sick" or "how disgusting" because of the ambiguous nature of the language, and I have yet to see a logical conclusion or reach a conclusion myself. The philosophical themes add to the psychological nature of the story, which is quite open for interpretation. I see the series as an argument against hedonism, which is the philosophy that the goal in life is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. However, we see that Shiji chooses a world where there are both happiness and suffering instead of a world with everlasting happiness. The question that this film answers is: "would we perceive a world where there are only endless 'ups' as real and fulfilling?" Perhaps this film reveals what true happiness is. The End of Evangelion may seem like a dime-a-dozen, action mecha anime at first, but that is just a facade. This series requires heavy thinking and the pursuit of truth, whatever that may be, if it exists at all.

When I first starting NGE I was instantly hooked by the possibilities that this show presented. Giant robots fighting each other? Awesome! But as the series continued, things got worse. Much worse. The action scenes were replaced by long conversations about emotions, the feeling of excitement became like a distant memory. The plot became so caught up in its own meaningless definitions of mankind.And then came the ending of the show. If you're hoping that the movie might be different like I was, don't be fooled. The characters are still painful to watch, with Shinji whining more in this movie than in his whole career as 'teenager voted most likely to commit suicide by the end of the year'. I get that he's supposed to be this depressed kid, unsure whether he wants to save mankind or punish it. But please, give him one entertaining quality, like being really good at whistling. Something. Please.As for the other characters, Asuka is the only one I really enjoyed. Just like the rest of the movie, the animation is the only redeeming element. Her fight scene was animated beautifully, with matching violence and everything that I wanted from robots beating the life out of each other. So, if you're looking to become frustrated with a plot that tries much too hard at being deep, and characters that make you want to claw your eyes out, I'd definitely recommend this movie to you. Otherwise, stay far away from this movie.p.s: is the movie only getting such high ratings because of the giant, floating 'plot' points towards the end?

I am reviewing here the whole TV series plus this ending. Note: these are the actual final episodes of the TV series that should have been and the quality of the production is lower than those of a typical feature length animated film, such as those put out by Ghibli.So, well, lets see: This series is pretty much the most over the top / pretentious thing ever made. Specially this cinematic ending: It beats the Tree of Life in terms of pretentiousness as ending is pretty much the film the Tree of Life, plus giant robots and psychologically problematic characters. Watch it if you love over the top stuff, this makes other over-the-top stuff such as Akira look like Avatar.Also, Hideaki Anno appears to show his middle finger to the nerds who watched this film in the final 15-20 minutes he indeed says: stop watching TV and go live a little!I note that I gave The Tree of Life a rating of 1/10 while this would have a rating of 9/10. Why the massive difference? Well, for one thing, this film is a million times faster and lots of stuff happen during it, while in the Tree of Life, nothing happens. So it could hold my attention during its whole 82 minutes, where more stuff happens than in most 140 minute films. Highly recommended for the nerd inside you. : )