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Evangelion 3.0
You can (Not) Redo
A
By Reaper71
h, Evangelion. I like to consider myself something of
an Evangelion fanboy. I loved the first two rebuild
movies so much, I went back and watched the
original series as well as End of Evangelion (EOE).
I bore to death anyone who would listen to my numerous
theories and explanations behind the recurring symbolism
and the less, “cohesive” sections. Most of all, I would never
pass up a chance to illustrate my excitement for the next
rebuild movie. I spent four years waiting for the release, and
another 4-5 months for the Blu-Ray. I watched, I took in, I
digested, and I frowned.
This wasn’t what I was waiting for.
Evangelion 3.0 (technically I watched 3.33, but that’s
irrelevant) takes place a whole fourteen years after the
events of 2.22. Shinji finds himself a prisoner of the anti-NERV
organization Wille, led by his old friend Misato and countless
other acquaintances. What was expected to be a happy,
warm welcome turns out to be
a cold rejection, as
the entire crew seems to hold
a grudge against
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Shinji for doing something he doesn’t remember doing. From
here on is a roller-coaster ride that will play with your mind
and crush your preconceptions.
Not in a good way, mind you, but it will.
Every single character has changed, as to be expected
after fourteen years. But the fact is that why they have
changed ironically remains a mystery to Shinji until nearly
half-way through the film. People frequently refuse to offer
him an explanation for no good reason, seemingly only to
make him (and the viewer) more and more confused. There is
also no explanation of what happened within those fourteen
years to bring the characters to where they currently are, and
some very important characters (such as Gendo) are given
such incredibly short roles that it’s positively stupefying.
A few terms are tossed around so liberally and then never
used again (Key of Nebudchanezzar? L barrier?), and the
climax of the movie was a haphazard (from my perspective)
mess, nearly impossible to follow and increasingly difficult
to care about. I
watched and understood EOE,
but ironically,
this is what stumps me.
Anime Reign | Issue 2 | 2013