Hideaki Anno’s Evangelion is one of the most paradoxically-popular media franchises ever made. Despite the anime’s surreal and depressing nature, it has gained a mainstream following as well as countless licensed pieces of merchandise. However, all that is finally coming to an end with Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time: Anno’s final Evangelion project and the end to the Rebuild of Evangelion film series.
Starting all the way back in 2007, the Evangelion film series was originally intended to serve as a more polished version of the 90s anime. The anime’s production was infamous for its budget problems and bizarre pacing, and a “rebuild” of the franchise seemed like a win for everyone. Anno’s studio would profit, and a new wave of audiences would get to discover the beloved franchise.
The basic premise of both the original anime and the film series is the same. Fourteen-year-old Shinji Ikari is forced to pilot a giant robot that serves as humanity’s only viable weapon against Lovecraftian monsters from space that seek to destroy the earth.
The first installment, You Are (Not) Alone, follows this premise perfectly. It’s an almost scene-for-scene remake of the first several episodes of the anime. The major characters all return with their voice actors, and their performances are just as good as in the anime.
The most prominent difference between the anime and You Are (Not) Alone is the animation quality. While I do prefer some of the character designs in the original anime, the animation of You Are (Not) Alone is more high-budget and polished. The new artstyle elevates Tokyo-3 to a living, shining city.
The second Rebuild film, You Can (Not) Advance, is where the films begin to diverge from the original anime. While most of the main plot is the same, the characters in You Can (Not) Advance are subtly different.
The subject of the biggest character changes is Asuka: one of the franchise’s most popular characters. Compared to the insecure, borderline Asuka from the original anime, the film’s interpretation of Asuka is much more confident and caring of her peers.
A particularly strange change is the inclusion of Asuka’s doll in the films. In the original anime, dolls were symbolic of Asuka’s fear of dependence on others, but film Asuka is shown fondly displaying a doll. It’s a small change, but it’s certainly indicative of how the film alters its main characters (whether deliberately or obliviously).
Other changes include reducing Toji’s role in the Angel fights, the inclusion of Mari, and some minor scenes being flipped up. The film also contains some distinctly Anno scenes (in terms of direction) such as the “dummy plug scene” near the film’s climax.
Despite these changes, You Can (Not) Advance is still a thoroughly well-made and entertaining film. In contrast to the depressing tone of most other Evangelion media, You Can (Not) Advance has plenty of scenes of the main cast bonding and having fun. In a way, it’s refreshing to see all these broken, unstable characters just gather around and enjoy themselves.
The series really begins to derail with the third film You Can (Not) Redo. Taking place 14 years after You Can (Not) Advance, the film has some familiar visuals, but many fundamentals of the story are subverted or altered.
While Evangelion has always had apocalyptic themes, You Can (Not) Redo is a post-apocalyptic film. Mari—a minor character in the previous film—is given more screen time than some main characters. Gendo (the original anime’s primary antagonist) seems to have completely different motives.
Like any other work that subverts and alters important elements of a franchise (The Last Jedi, Game of Thrones’s 8th Season, etc.), You Can (Not) Redo initially met with heavy criticism from fans of the original anime. Some criticized it for being nonsensical, mindlessly depressing, and incoherent in regards to the other films. Despite this, the film also has a cult following of fans who say the film captures the original anime’s themes of self-hatred and satirizes the saccharine image of Evangelion presented by the franchise’s merchandising.
On a filmmaking level, You Can (Not) Redo is brilliant in many ways. The shots and background are enormous in comparison to Shinji, giving audiences a feeling of loneliness and powerlessness. In contrast to this, some scenes are more tender and romantic such as the scene of Shinji and Kaworu’s piano duet.
While the film excels at visual storytelling, it completely falters at telling a good—or even coherent—story. In the original anime, irrationality and insecurity was what made the main characters feel more human in comparison to the spotless heroes in other anime. However, the film takes this to an extreme that drags its characters down to a level of unlikability and idiocy.
Misato, Asuka, and Gendo—three-dimensional characters with compelling backstories—now show barely any emotions other than anger and bitterness. Shinji goes from troubled but sympathetic to idiotic and parasitic. Ironically, the alien character Kaworu feels the most human out of all the cast.
You Can (Not) Redo ends on a bizarre cliffhanger, and fans outside of Japan have waited for almost a decade for the final film Thrice Upon a Time. While I do have my reservations about the film considering how disjointed You Can (Not) Redo was, I do believe that Anno—a director who has continued to improve his craft over the years—will deliver.