Neon Genesis Evangelion The End Of Evangelion -1997- -

The film is darker, more brutal, and more uncompromising than much mainstream animation. It blends hyper-detailed mechanical combat with abstract, avant-garde sequences: long, static shots; jump cuts; Biblical and psychoanalytic iconography; and sudden shifts from visceral realism to hallucinatory collage. Sound design and music (including Shiro Sagisu’s score and carefully placed silence) intensify emotional disorientation.

The film is split into two halves: Episode 25: Air and Episode 26: Sincerely Yours.

Part 1: Air (The Descent into Hell) The film opens not with hope, but with disgust. Shinji Ikari, having just murdered the last Angel (Kaworu), has lost his will to live. He visits the comatose Asuka Langley Soryu in the hospital. In a scene that remains the most controversial in anime history, Shinji masturbates over her sleeping body. This is not fan service; it is a character study in absolute alienation, loneliness, and the inability to connect.

Simultaneously, the JSSDF (Japan Strategic Self-Defense Force) attacks NERV HQ on orders from SEELE, the secret cabal controlling humanity's destiny. They slaughter the NERV staff in a hail of gunfire. Asuka, awakening from her psychic coma after realizing her mother’s soul lives within Unit-02, unleashes a legendary rampage. She single-handedly destroys the entire fleet of mass-production Evangelion units—until they turn the tables. In one of the most gruesome scenes ever animated, the fake EVAs grow copies of the Lance of Longinus and devour Unit-02 alive. Asuka screams, "I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!" before being impaled. neon genesis evangelion the end of evangelion -1997-

Part 2: Sincere to You (Instrumentality) Shinji, watching the destruction, falls into a deep despair. Gendo Ikari, his father, attempts to merge the Adam embryo in his hand with Lilith (in Terminal Dogma) to initiate Third Impact on his own terms. However, Rei Ayanami, the vessel for Lilith’s soul, betrays him. She absorbs Adam and returns to Lilith, transforming into a giant, spectral figure. She offers the fate of the world to Shinji.

What follows is a 25-minute abstract nightmare. Third Impact begins. Humanity loses their physical forms (Tang) as their AT Fields—the barriers that separate self from other—collapse. Shinji is forced to witness the truth: people are fundamentally afraid of each other. Yet, he is also given the choice.

In the climax, Shinji rejects Instrumentality. He chooses the pain of individuality, the risk of rejection, and the beauty of reality—even if it hurts. He strangles Asuka on the beach of a red, post-apocalyptic Earth. Asuka, instead of fighting back, reaches up and caresses his cheek. Shinji breaks down crying. As she looks at him, she whispers the final line of the film: "Kimochi warui" (気持ち悪い — "Disgusting" or "I feel sick"). The film is darker, more brutal, and more

Title: Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion Japanese Title: Shin Seiki Evangerion Gekijō-ban: Air / Magokoro wo, Kimi ni Release Date: July 19, 1997 Runtime: 87 Minutes Studio: Gainax / Production I.G Director/Writer: Hideaki Anno Genre: Psychological Horror, Mecha, Sci-Fi, Apocalyptic

By: Senior Editor, Anime Archives

Publication Date: May 7, 2026

In the pantheon of animated cinema, there are films that entertain, films that inspire, and films that haunt. Then, sitting alone on a cold, industrial throne at the intersection of all three, is Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997).

To the uninitiated, the title is a mouthful of jargon. To the initiated, it is a trigger for visceral memory—the screech of a Mass Production Eva, the sticky warmth of liquefied orange Fanta, or the crushing silence of a beach with a single, bloody kneecap. Twenty-nine years after its theatrical release (and several decades of discourse later), The End of Evangelion remains the definitive cinematic punctuation mark on the 20th century’s anxieties about intimacy, depression, and the shape of the human soul.

This article is a deep dive into the production, the plot, the psychology, and the legacy of the film that answered the question: What happens when the creator hates you, loves you, and asks you to choke a girl? By: Senior Editor, Anime Archives Publication Date: May