is a 1997 Japanese anime apocalyptic science fiction film written by Hideaki Anno, directed by Anno and Kazuya Tsurumaki, and animated by Gainax and Production I.G. It serves as an ending to the television series Neon Genesis Evangelion, which aired from 1995 to 1996 and whose final two episodes were controversial for their atypically abstract direction.
The story follows the teenagers Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley Soryu, who pilot mechas called Evangelion to defeat enemies who threaten humanity named Angels. Shinji is subjected to the Human Instrumentality Project, a process in which human souls are merged into a single divine entity. The film features the voice actors of the original series, including Megumi Ogata as Shinji, Yuko Miyamura as Asuka, and Megumi Hayashibara as Rei.
Shortly before The End of Evangelions release, Anno and Gainax released another film, Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth, which summarizes the first twenty-four episodes of the series. Like Death & Rebirth, the creators conceived The End of Evangelion as a duology comprising "Episode 25: Love Is Destructive" and "Episode 26: I Need You", remakes of the last two episodes of the original television series. In 1998, the overlapping films were edited together and reissued as Revival of Evangelion.
The End of Evangelion was a box-office success, grossing . It was honoured at the Awards of the Japanese Academy, the Animation Kobe, and the 15th Golden Gloss Award. The movie also won the 1997 Animage Anime Grand Prix, and was praised for its animation, direction, editing, emotional power, and screenplay, though some reviewers criticized its oblique religious symbolism and abstraction. Since its release, the film has frequently been cited as one of the greatest animated films of all time.
Plot
Episode 25': "Air" / "Love Is Destructive" Teenager Shinji Ikari is the pilot of Evangelion Unit 01, one of several giant cyborgs designed to fight hostile supernatural entities called Angels. Shinji is distraught after having had to kill his friend Kaworu Nagisa, who revealed himself as an Angel in human form. He visits his fellow pilot Asuka Langley Soryu in a hospital where she lies comatose. Trying to shake her awake, he accidentally exposes her breasts and masturbates over her comatose body.
Nerv, the paramilitary organization that controls the Evangelions, is controlled by a secretive committee called Seele, which has been planning to initiate an event called the Third Impact, which will wipe out life on Earth and achieve Human Instrumentality. Seele discovers that Shinji's father Gendo Ikari, the commander of Nerv, intends to create his own version of the Third Impact to reunite with his deceased wife Yui, whose soul resides in Unit 01. Seele dispatches the Japanese military to seize control of Nerv and exterminate its staff. Nerv major Misato Katsuragi orders Asuka to be moved to Evangelion Unit 02 and placed at the bottom of a lake. Misato, who wants Shinji to defend Nerv, rescues him from the invading troops and drags him to Unit 01's bay doors but is fatally shot in the process. Before her death, Misato implores Shinji to pilot Unit 01 and kisses him. Shinji discovers Unit 01 has been immobilized in bakelite.
Gendo meets with pilot Rei Ayanami, who carries the soul of the Angel Lilith. Gendo possesses the body of the Angel Adam, and he is intent on combining it with Lilith to begin the Third Impact. Inside Unit 02, Asuka overcomes her trauma upon learning that the soul of her deceased mother is inside Unit 02. She then re-activates the unit, and destroys the military forces, but Seele's new mass-produced Evangelion units arrive. Asuka defeats them, but they reanimate and disembowel her and Unit 02. Unit 01 breaks free of the bakelite and ascends above Nerv headquarters. Piloting it, Shinji sees Seele's units carrying the mutilated remains of Unit 02 and screams.
Episode 26': "Sincerely Yours" / "I Need You" Rei betrays Gendo and takes Adam for herself. She merges with Lilith, who changes into a gigantic, white version of Rei. The mass-produced units pull Unit 01 into the sky and crucify it, beginning the ritual to trigger the Third Impact.