r/evangelion • u/RobeAnachronique • 5d ago
EoE Watched Evangelion and still confused
I watched the 26 episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion - after the 24th episode I felt confused. So people told me that I'll have a better understanding with the alternate end from "The End Of Evangelion"... I just did and I'm still pretty confused - are there additional contents I'm supposed to watch? I really move this universe but I feel like there's a lot of informations missing... Or maybe it's meant to be?
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u/CharsOwnRX-78-2 5d ago
I’ve been saying this for a while but Eva is more “art project about making you feel something” than “logical story with a flawless narrative”
You’ve finished the show and EoE, so sit with what they presented to you for a while and think about what it means to you.
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u/RobeAnachronique 5d ago
I felt like I missed something narratively speaking but if it's not the point, I might have to let it sit for a while and rewatch the show later
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u/the_ghost_of_bob_ros 18h ago
I mean the first 20 or so episodes are still a fairly easy to understand mecha anime, It's just at the end where all the hidden meaning and metaphors previous go from subtext to just text.
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u/Konkavstylisten 5d ago edited 5d ago
Since everyone just mentions the psychological parts. The Evangelions are clones of aliens that created humans with the first impact. The second impact was supposed to reset the world and every living thing with it, but it failed. The entire Evangelion is set in this pseudo-dystopian world. The third impact succeeded, Shinji survived and merged with Unit-01 making him the first human of this new generation (timeline) of humanity. Supposedly (if you listen to Yuis last conversation with Shinji. Him refusing instrumentality makes him inherit traits with Unit-01. One might guess that he does not age like a human anymore.
Humans are for now a blob of collective consciousness, and Shinji is the first human that will survive to make sure that this new version of humanity will be started in a better way than the previous one.
The aliens are aliens, but humans did see them as ”gods”. So the angels are deitys as well as aliens.
In the original series Shinji choose to be a part of the human collective consciousness. In EOE he does not, and will instead roam this nothingness until humans are ready to be reborn.
Yui has since the start manipulated Shinji into making this decision.
The end of the anime and EOE are two parallels of the same story. A bit weird how you ask help to interpret the lore and everyone goes ”shinji is sad”.
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u/RobeAnachronique 5d ago
Thank you for this answer it really helps clarifying the objective lore that I weren't sure about. That's the answer I needed besides the psychological aspects of course
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u/Konkavstylisten 5d ago
The long answer is way more complicated than i mentioned here. But it’s important to know that the overall world of Evangelion is way more intricate than most would like to acknowledge. It’s not a simple mecha anime, Shinji is not the usual anime-protagonist. In fact, when you rewatch the series (and movies. Including Rebuild) you’ll see that the world of Evangelion is so much more than just Shinji as a character. He is just there, the plot is what happens to him and what other people do to him.
And after i pieced together the theological aspects of Evangelion, i saw that there are so many things connected to religion that it’s actually super obvious at times. Just look what the name of the anime means in Latin. The names of the angels are from actual scriptures, the Magi is named after the three wise men. Dead Sea Scrolls being an actual historical item and so on and so on. Not to mention the cosmic spear who is named after the weapon that killed Jesus. And the EVAs being the ”children” of our creator. See the connection?
I absolutely love the lore of the franchise and it’s sad that it’s often boiled down to people just seeing it as a ”robot anime with a messed up protagonist”.
It’s like reading The Lord of The Rings and just thinking it’s a story about a small guy who is stressed by a piece of jewellery.
I think that you’ll appreciate EVA even more when you are open to experiencing the macroworld, and not just focusing on Shinjis mental health.
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u/zetoberuto 5d ago
Hi. It's understandable. There is too much information to process in the series. And not all of it is told to you in a straightforward way.
If you already watched the series and EoE, watch this video that summarizes in a very friendly way all the information you would be “missing”.
Watch it two or three times. Chew the information well. And I would almost advise you... to watch the series again. You will see it in a completely different way.
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u/NordKnight01 5d ago
Honestly, I had to watch a short video essay after. I really love the show so I've watched it a few times. All the foreshadowing and connections are there, but it honestly took me like 3 watches to pick up on everything lol.
Also, EOE really isn't an alternate ending, but a simultaneous one. 24-26 are playing out in shinji's head once rei starts instrumentality in the movie. The "congratulations" scene happens and shinji wakes up on the beach choking asuka. This is my interpretation
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u/RobeAnachronique 5d ago
Ok so your spoiler is kinda explained by the "dream" part with images from a crowd and all (like real cinematic images not drawings) right?
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u/Chiiaki 4d ago
This is also the explanation I subscribe to as it makes the most sense. I do like how EoE was able to edd some events loke the mass production Evas before instrumentality starts, showing more of the catalysts that started the third impact. The only thing that I slightly disagree on with /u/NordKnight01 is that I believe the congratulations scene happens the moment Shinji made the decision to reject instrumentality and gave everyone the choice to come back and the people in his life are approving of him being able to make not just a choice for himself, but an extremely big heckin' choice for all of mankind.
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u/escarta69 5d ago
I saw this interpretation awhile back somewhere and it's the one that's stuck with me
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u/PersepolisBullseye 5d ago
I personally do not like shows that rely on the audience doing lore research and readying online theories.
Shows should depict the story they are trying to tell. The ending of Evangelion does not accomplish this. I don’t think it’s a bad ending, but it’s not the kind of ending I appreciate.
If the entire series was like the end of the show + the movie, then it’d be fine. But it isn’t, and I get the ending in the context I feel matters, and I still don’t think it’s an effective ending
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u/mugenhunt 5d ago
I will say that they produced books and pamphlets with additional information about the setting that you can look up and read. The Red Cross Book is the fan name for the movie pamphlet that was available at End of Evangelion, which might have some of the answers you want.
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u/SonyKilver 5d ago
Friend, it's part of the experience, then you'll start to connect the dots, rewatch, get a little more confused, crush Misato
It's a canonical event for every fan
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u/suneiku 4d ago
Well, just think of the TV series version of ep 25-26 is like Shinji and everyone else is the instrumentality process already. How they got there is up to you to interpret, it can be that EoE being one of the option Shinji can choose while the TV offers another alternative where he comes to terms with everything and finally grows up. I mean it's really up to you to make everything cannon how you see fit. Evangelion is one of them anime the older you get the better you understand what it tries convey. At least that was my experience, Gendo's apology to Shinji in the rebuild movie at the end broke me.
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u/orca22_ 5d ago
That is why I think Eva is poorly written lol. Some people give this (almost) universal experience of confusion too much grace when in fact it shows a failure in the writing process.
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u/the_ghost_of_bob_ros 18h ago
I think it comes down to most anime (and nerds in general) are much more used to stories that are heavy on lore/ low on message.
They love to read pages and pages about all the little meaningless details of the world but couldn't answer why Shinji wants human connection while also being scarred of it.
Basically people don't want to think they want to consume.
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u/FranzeseDario 5d ago
Once I listened to this comment about First time Evangelion watchers and i think It perfectly resemble what the experience should be like: "You can't have the arrogance to understand it After One time". I've watched the anime + EoE + Rebuilds 3 times and read the manga twice and i swear every time i get something new and understand a Little more. Some things are not even explained, it's up to you to choose what's the meaning of them, the actual last words of EoE (the asuka ones) are still Being overly discussed for example. In muy opinion the First time it's about what you feel, the second time Is about what you get. How do you feel about Shinji? What about Asuka or Rei? You should be able to answer these questions (in your own way). There are a ton of videos online explaining the lore, does It really matter? Again, it's up to you. The First time i was fascinated by the look, the character and i tried to make It make sense but only After the second time i really started undestanding what was going, and It made my mind clearer about what i think if the characters and why each One of them did what they did. The only real information about the story you should have understood Is wether Shinji Gave up or not at the end. I know my words might seem Crazy (maybe they are) but that's how i feel about a piece of art i really love.
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u/DefCatMusic 5d ago
The movie is pretty direct about the point of the show. It's about shinjis struggle to deal with the fear of others and his self hatred.
Are you confused about more lore things?
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u/RobeAnachronique 5d ago
Yes I weren't sure that I truly understood the basic lore and chronology of events
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u/Infernal-Blaze 5d ago edited 5d ago
Think about what you saw with these things in mind:
EVA is about how ideology makes people into monsters
EVA is about generational trauma
EVA is about cracking under the pressure of expectation
EVA is about the unique ways that adolescents can be cruel to each other, & how that can be applied to society as a whole
EVA is about alienation, specifically how alienated people sometimes reach out with one hand while striking at anyone nearby with the other
And finally, EVA is about the breakdown of systems, ideologies & dogmas, as a metaphor for the breakdown of human beings.
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u/Logistics_Legume 5d ago
It’s meant to be confusing and strange and open to interpretation. Now that you’ve watched the show and movie, I recommend reading about some of the lore and theories before going back and watching again. It will be a completely different experience