I recently watched the original tv show, which spoke to me on a very deep level so I decided to watch the movie right afterwards and I'm honestly a bit confused.From what I could get on my own, Ikari's mistake was closing off his heart to others as he thought he would only hurt them, Shinji is afraid of rejection/that others, whose emotions/thoughts can't be known because of the barriers that exist between all persons (represented through the AT field) and so wishes for those to stop existing and for everyone to merge into one, but, essentially like in the original tv show, without others exisitng your own sense of self disappears and so it's like you're dying yourself. There was also the stuff about reality being unknown, dreams being the extent of that reality (i.e. your reality ends where your goals/desires end up reaching the furthest they can) and truth being something your determine yourself (I feel like I got all of this stuff much more clearly in the original tv show, if this movie isn't supposed to deviate from that). I get that Shnji eventually decides to reverse his wish for everyone to become one and that part about Nagisa explicitly being stated to be the hope that the Other accepts you is something I got in the orignal tv show. What I struggled with getting at first was the last scene with Asuka, until I was stupid enough (not sure if I should've done it in the first place, but I was so confused about a whole lot that I couldn't resist) to look up for pic related which explained that scene as well as connecting all of these loose threads I had in my mind about it all.Is there something that comes after this? This feels a bit unsatisfying ngl (is this how people felt after the original ending, though that one was much more satisfying for me). 1/2
>>2847357502/2Honestly, I still feel like I missed a whole bunch and I'm not sure if I like it nearly as much as the original show as the ending felt so much more abstract/obsfucating, difficult to grasp and just not as easy for me to connect with compared to the original. I've heard this is supposed to be the true ending up the series, but I fail to understand why it exists when the original ending was so much more satisfying (for me) to watch.
>>284735765hate to be a basic person but the visual quality of the film with the action aswell as the giant god Rei sequence and the weird crucifixion/pool of blood imagery was so good I'll take the movies ending easily, plus choosing to retain oneself was a positive note to end on, nice to see both Shinji and Asuka there in the end. I like both but you're thinking narrowly to not see the aesthetic and cinematic quality to what the movie offered.
>>284736711>choosing to retain oneself was a positive note to end on,Yeah, the movie felt noticeably more positive and like it was actually trying to lead the viewer in a hopeful direction with some more closure than the original ending. I also agree that the movie definitely trumps the original in terms of aesthetics, obviously. I'm not saying it's bad; I just wasn't able to connect with it as deeply as with the original ending. I was in tears by the end of it and Asuka's storyline was heartbreaking to watch (in this one it feels a bit like she experiences cruelty just for its own sake and it kind of bothered me a bit). I'm more so thinking the issue lies more with me considering how little I got the original tv show when I first watched it at like 12/13 years old.
>>284736967overall I think both are worthwhile and I'm glad we have them especially because you can take something from both. My question to any that know is if the rebuild series offer anything worthwhile in the esoteric end of things aswell as the transcendental sort of visuals, I wanna know if I should watch them or if all they have is more aliens
>>284735750the last shot is meant as a microcosm of the hedgehog's dilemmashinji is aloneshinji encounters asukastricken by fear that she hates him and will try to hurt him, he attacks her firstbut rather that fight back, she reaches out to his face, as if to say 'yeah, I get it' and admitting she feels disgusted by the whole dilemma rather than putting up a strong front.it works on two levels, one is its a poignant illustration of the main theme. and two, it makes a point that just because Shinji's had his revelation doesn't mean he's magically cured of all his problems, he still needs to put actual work into regulating his mental and physical behavior otherwise he'll just spiral again. Which is arguably where Anno's mental state was at the time. That right when he was thinking he had things figured out, he started relapsing and lashing out at people again. After this comes the Rebuild of Evangelion movies. They start off as just a big budget retelling but things start going very differently from the second movie onwards, and they function as Anno's final reflection on Evangelion and how he sees things differently after seeing it reran and gain an obsessive fanbase that keeps coming back to it, and seeing the story retold in manga and visual novels and dating sims and video games, while he himself has (with some relapses) more fully confronted and worked through all these issues over many long and painful years and ultimately wound up in a much better placeIt might be worth reading the manga first though just to help put things in a bit more context
