Few anime are as viscerally uncomfortable as Neon Genesis Evangelion. What appears to be a mecha anime with a dramatic slant spirals into a full-blown tragedy by the last few episodes. Due to a mix of budget cuts and the showrunner’s own mental health, NGE forged a legacy by throwing its audience into the psychological deep-end. It’s not shock value that defines Evangelion, though, but an often raw & cynical approach to philosophy and humanity.
In many respects, the original anime became a critique of the mecha genre – its inability to detail the psychological horror of forcing children to fight wars inside of giant robots in a realistic or grounded manner. Needless to say, Evangelion is not for the faint of heart and that goes double for the movies.
The Neon Genesis Evangelion anime has a conclusive ending, but it was followed by movies that expanded the franchise’s world while fleshing out the series’ own conclusion. The Evangelion movies are harder to comprehend than the anime, but they’re an important part of understanding the franchise’s greater story.
Updated on July 28, 2022 by Renan Fontes: The Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise has come to yet another close following 3.0 + 1.0: Thrice Upon A Time’s release. Few series can pull off a satisfying ending, let alone three, but that’s what makes Evangelion so special. The Neon Genesis Evangelion movies have helped keep the franchise’s popularity’s alive years after the anime’s conclusion. Most importantly, 3.0 + 1.0 actually pulled off the feat of tying up the Rebuild movies into a genuinely compelling finale that doubles as a love letter to everything Evangelion. With the original series on Netflix and the Rebuilds on Amazon Prime, there’s never been a better time to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Death & Rebirth (1997)
Runtime: 101 Minutes
Death & Rebirth has an interesting role in Neon Genesis Evangelion’s story– mainly because it’s completely irrelevant to understanding the story at large. Originally released in March of 1997, Death & Rebirth was a two-part film meant to recap audiences for The End of Evangelion while offering a short sneak peek into the upcoming finale.
Death itself recaps the first 24 episodes as quickly as possible, offering a broad breakdown of the anime’s core plot (that in no way replaces the actual act of watching the series as Death misses vital characterization and theming,) while Rebirth covers roughly the first quarter of End of Evangelion.
While worth watching from a historical perspective, it’s important to keep in mind that quite literally everything seen in Death & Rebirth is shown elsewhere within the franchise in a clearer context. Death & Rebirth is very much a product of its era, a movie that exists only to hype up the main product.
The End Of Evangelion (1997)
Runtime: 87 Minutes
Released in July of the same year, The End of Evangelion shows what was happening to the world during the events of episodes 25 and 26. Although meant to clarify the narrative, End of Evangelion arguably makes the story more complicated in a film that fundamentally changes the very fabric of Evangelion’s universe.
End of Evangelion is an at times overwhelming film, capitalizing on a level of horror that the anime couldn’t afford on television. The story is uncomfortable, Instrumentality is harrowing to watch in action, and the ending is powerful enough to warrant discussion & analysis decades after the fact.
1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (2007)
Runtime: 98 Minutes
The Rebuild of Evangelion formally began in 2007 with the release of 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone. Where other films would pivot direction & tell their own story (one that might even tie into the previous anime and End of Evangelion), You Are (Not) Alone is a fairly straightforward remake of the anime’s first six episodes.
The film does need to trim some of the fat away, but the end result is an extremely tight story that recontextualizes Shinji’s growing friendship with Rei while faithfully recreating Evangelion’s first few episodes. It’s not exactly analogous to watching the first six episodes, but 1.0 is a solid remake all around.
2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009)
Runtime: 108 Minutes
You Can (Not) Advanced is considered by many fans to be the best of the Evangelion films alongside End of Evangelion and it’s not exactly hard to see why. What appears to be a simple remake of the series’ second act pivots into its own beast entirely that makes it so the entire second half of the anime can no longer happen in the Rebuild of Evangelion.
Tonally, 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance carries the most upbeat mood of any of the Evangelion films, showing Shinji more confident than ever, as if to create an alternate universe where the main characters can actually work through their trauma in a healthy manner. But this is all a cruel trick on the movie’s part, leading to an ingenious twist where Shinji triggers Third Impact long before it’s meant to hit.
3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012)
Runtime: 96 Minutes
While 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance released two years after 1.0 in 2009, 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo needed a bit more time in production (an important detail to remember,) releasing only in 2012. Flashing forward 14 years after the end of You Can (Not) Advance, 3.0 is easily the strangest movie in the franchise– and that’s saying something.
The world has fundamentally changed to the point where Shinji awakens someplace entirely unrecognizable. Neon Genesis Evangelion loses all semblance of true humanity in 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, but that in many respects is the point. Once lovable characters have lost their charm, are outwardly cold to Shinji, and are generally alienated by the film’s focus on Kaworu.
3.0 You Can (Not) Redo also balances its stellar animation with well-choreographed action, but the story itself is hard to stomach. 3.0 puts into perspective the consequences of 2.0, but it’s more or less set-up for the final movie.
3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Time (2021)
Runtime: 155 Minutes
The final installment in the Rebuild of Evangelion, 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Time was delayed multiple times over the years. In 2020, its slated June release date was yet again postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Finally in March 2021, the final Rebuild film hit cinemas to fanfare. While it’s notoriously difficult to please Evangelion fans, the film has received widespread critical acclaim. On a box office front, 3.0+1.0 broke Japan’s IMAX opening day record and earned 9 billion yen within 100 days of its initial release.
Considered more approachable and optimistic than earlier films – and The End of Evangelion especially – the fourth and final movie puts the Instrumentality Project into motion at last. Rather than succumbing entirely to his sorrows, for once Shinji and company are given the chance to rally. While Thrice Upon A Time is still intellectually challenging and destined to divide fans, most would agree that the ending lives up to the franchise’s reputation. Evangelion is never easy to dissect, but the effort is worth anyone’s time.