User:Sjones23/The End of Evangelion
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The End of Evangelion (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン劇場版 THE END OF EVANGELION, Shin seiki Evangelion Gekijō-ban: The End of Evangelion) is a 1997 anime film written and chief directed by Hideaki Anno; it won the Japan Academy Prize for popularity. It is an alternate ending to the popular animated series Neon Genesis Evangelion. Many Japanese viewers felt unsatisfied by the series' two episode resolution, episodes 25 and 26, which take place completely in the psyche of the main characters. Only a few brief scenes hint at what happens outside of Shinji Ikari's mind, and viewers wanted a more satisfying explanation of these events. Additionally, episode 25 was originally planned to take place in the physical world; but it was changed due to time and budget restraints. This original script for episode 25 was then reused for the movie[1]. The film is divided into two parts, Episode 25: Air and Episode 26: まごころを、君に (Magokoro o, kimi ni, "My Purest Heart for You").
The End of Evangelion 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン 劇場版 | |
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Directed by | Episode 25': Kazuya Tsurumaki Episode 26': Hideaki Anno |
Written by | Hideaki Anno |
Produced by | Mitsuhisa Ishikawa |
Starring | Megumi Ogata Megumi Hayashibara Yuko Miyamura Kotono Mitsuishi |
Cinematography | Hisao Shirai |
Edited by | Sachiko Miki |
Music by | Shiro Sagisu |
Distributed by | Toei Company, Ltd. Manga Entertainment |
Release dates | July 19, 1997 |
Running time | 87 min. |
Language | Japanese / English |
The first part, Episode 25: Air, is based on the previous film, Rebirth. Rebirth is roughly equivalent to 2/3 of Air. The End of Evangelion later became the second half of Revival of Evangelion, a concatenation of Death(true)² and The End of Evangelion.
The film depicts the apocalyptic completion of the Human Instrumentality Project, where individual identity is destroyed to create a single existence for all human beings - that is, people's AT-Fields are destroyed and the entirety of humanity is turned into LCL. In this film, Shinji rejects the Human Instrumentality Project in favor of individual existence, whereas in the series it is left ambiguous.
Although the film was less abstract than the series' end, many fans criticized its violence and shock value relative to the television series and many continued to harbor a dislike of Anno's work in reaction. It is a common misconception that Anno created the film as revenge on the ex-fans of the TV show. The numerous hate-mail and death threats sent to Anno are related to the theatrical release of Death and Rebirth, not the TV series.[citation needed] Some of these letters, along with letters of praise, are briefly flashed in the film, near the ending[2]. Also, it may be another reference to the series Space Runaway Ideon, which also had a similarly-apocalyptic movie ending entitled Be Invoked.