For 30 years, Neon Genesis Evangelion has been steadfastly resisting any attempt to explain or summarize not just what the anime series is about overall but also its fundamental plot, thanks to creator Hideaki Anno’s constant revisions, retellings, and retcons. To honor this maddening legacy, GKids is re-releasing Evangelion‘s two alternate ending movies, Evangelion:Death (True)² & Rebirth and The End of Evangelion, in theaters for two nights only.
The original anime series, which aired for 26 episodes between 1995 and 1996, follows Shinji Ikari, a teenager who is recruited by a shadowy organization called Nerv to pilot a giant mech and fight beings known as Angels. The series’ last two episodes were famously confounding, leading to demand for an alternate ending. That’s what Evangelion:Death (True)² & Rebirth and The End of Evangelion attempt to provide.
Evangelion:Death (True)² & Rebirth, according to a GKids press release, is “composed of Evangelion:Death, a compilation of episodes 1-24 out of the original 26 episode series, as well as Evangelion:Rebirth, a portion of the alternative ending of episode 25, ‘Air.'” Rebirth also forms the first part of The End of Evangelion, which was originally released in theaters just four months after Rebirth.
From there, The End of Evangelion goes on its own journey. Or, as GKids puts it, “This final movie version was created as an alternative ending to the Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series, remaking the final two episodes from the series. SEELE plans an attack on NERV after failing to create a man-made Third Impact. After reaffirming both her own and her mother’s existence in a state of despair, Asuka returns and begins the counterattack. However, new enemies descend from the heavens. Meanwhile, Shinji witnesses the horrifying wreckage of Asuka’s EVA-02 while piloting EVA-01. Mass production models surround EVA-01 and perform a solemn ceremony. What does it mean to complete a human heart?”
None of this is going to make a lick of sense to anyone who hasn’t seen the original anime series, or even to some who have. To love Evangelion is to know that you’ll never truly understand it, and that’s okay.
If you want to catch Evangelion on the big screen, you can do so during its 30th Movie Fest. Evangelion:Death (True)² & Rebirth is in theaters on July 21, and The End of Evangelion screens the next day on July 22. You can find tickets and participating theaters here.
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