As depicted in New Evangelion Theater Edition: The End, EVA is far from over, but the activity of manipulating EVA (the pilot in the play is called Children) and the "kids" influenced by the work is far from over.
Released on March 8, "New Evangelion Theatrical Edition: The End" exceeded 10 billion yen on July 12, which was about to end its release (July 21), and successfully achieved the best box office result of the theatrical version of the series. This achievement also surpassed the director's highest box office of 8.25 billion yen on "New Godzilla", making "Evangelion" ("EVA") a veritable masterpiece of Hideaki Anno.
As the finale of Hideaki Anno's half-life "EVA", "New Evangelion Theater Edition: The End" caused a huge response in Japan, and on March 22, the documentary "Genre Hideaki Anno Special Program" that spent four years exclusively tracking and interviewing Hideaki Anno was broadcast on NHK. On April 29, the documentary was rebroadcast in the form of an "expanded version of the front and back parts", supplementing the clips that were cut due to the limitation of the broadcast time, and adding the content of the interview. The two broadcasts of this documentary have enabled the audience who have been affected by the "mystery" in "EVA" and grown up with this work to have a better understanding of Hideaki Anno and his team. In order to repay the audience, voice actors such as main character voice actors Emi Ogata and Emi Hayashibara went to the theater on March 28, Hideaki Anno rushed to the theater on April 11 to thank the audience, and on July 11, Hideaki Anno and the voice actors took the stage together in the final stage thanks, reviewing and discussing the bits and pieces of this work spanning 26 years.
Hideaki Anno and the voice actor took the stage together in the final stage thanks. Image: Oricon
For the audience who has witnessed the 26-year history of "EVA", when the word "end" appears on the screen after watching the movie, perhaps what echoes in their hearts is their own different "graduation" mood. This feeling varies from person to person, and it is also reminiscent of the real world where the "human completion plan" has not arrived, which makes people feel a lot of emotions. As the final screening day approaches, the phrase in the film that puts an end to the history of the EVA work is "Farewell, all the EVA." The weight and meaning of "will also gradually become apparent."
The middle of the poster reads: "Farewell, all the EVs." "Image: cinema
"EVA" is over – arguably the biggest impact of "New Evangelion Theater Edition: The End" to the audience. As a series of works with a certain "incomprehensible" characteristic, the theme of "dialogue and mutual understanding between father and son" is maintained, which meticulously brings relief to the characters' hearts, and also shows the "if" side of a parallel world. It is this film that copes so perfectly with the plot of these 20 years of development that makes the audience burst into tears.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="8" > a quarter-century of changes in EVA</h1>
Compared to the TV version of EVA and its sequel, The Old Theater Edition, the New Evangelion Theater Edition has a clearer story line. As a result, the work also has more space and time to explore the inner world of characters such as Masayoshi Tsurugi, Ayabori, and Asuka. It is this creative generosity that makes the story depict the world "14 years later" through the "New Evangelion Theater Edition: Q" after the shocking ending of "New Evangelion Theater Edition: Broken", and a new chapter can finally be ushered in the perfect ending of "New Evangelion Theater Edition: End".
The clone "Ayabori", which is the same as Ayabori. Image: livedoor
From the end of the anime TV version to the first half of the "old theatrical version", the tragic character Asuka, who was once in a pitiful situation, will really meet someone who can be sincere with her. And the clone "Ayabori", which is the same as Ayapolis, will also get his own emotions and happiness in his worthless daily life. Miri Katsugi, who is already a mother, replaced the "adult kiss" given to Shinji in the old theatrical version with a hug, giving hope to the future. As for the protagonist, Zhenji, he also becomes no longer evasive, and looks directly at his father, Lingyuantang, from the front -- this pair of fathers and sons who have a grudge become able to express themselves directly to each other. The dramatic changes that take place in the main characters are depicted in New Evangelion Theater Edition: The End, making the film's 151 minutes seem so tight.
The salient, direct sexual depictions that once existed in animated television and "old theatrical versions" have also become almost absent in the New Evangelion Theatrical Edition. Sexual depictions of "the sentimentality of a 14-year-old girl," "the escapism of an adult who cannot dispel the psychological shadow," or "a certain desire of the characters" were reborn in the New Evangelion Theater Edition and became purer and cleaner. It is precisely with this purity of depiction that The New Evangelion Theater Edition: The End can usher in such a positive, sunny end.
Of course, there is no "better or worse" between the animated TV version and the old and new theater versions. It is in the face of audiences of different eras to give different styles of answers, "EVA" can maintain its vitality for a quarter of a century. The influence of the EVA series on subsequent works should not be underestimated: there are many examples of successful contemporary works that have been influenced by EVA.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="14" > new to EVA</h1>
The television version of EVA was broadcast from 1995 to 1996. At that time, the audience, who was the same age as the protagonist Shinji and others, is now about 40 years old. If these viewers have also become anime creators under the influence of "EVA", it is now the peak of their creative careers. It is also this group of creators and the 35-year-old descendants who were substituted into the "pit" of "EVA" who held various important positions on the creative scene and supported the Japanese animation industry today.
The Great Search Line Jumps restructures and uses the apostles from EVA. Image: Youtube
In fact, not only today's works, but also the influence of "EVA" can be seen in the movie "Jumping Search Line" that began to be broadcast in 1997 and the manga "Ranger Kenshin - Meiji Swordsman Romance Tan" that has been serialized since 1994. The great impact of "EVA" has also brought great inspiration to the creators of the same period: "Jumping Search Line" once obtained the consent of the producers of "EVA" and re-arranged the BGM of "EVA" and used it in the work. In the 21st volume of the manga, The author of "Nobuhiro Rakko" and Tsuki Nobuhiro confessed that he was influenced by Ayapolis when designing the appearance and personality of the protagonist Kenshin's former wife, Yukidaiba.
The shedaiba prototype is taken from Ayabori. Image: mangaworld
How exactly do we define the novelty of EVA? Among the many attractive elements, the most prominent feature of the work is the naked display of the character's psychological fragile character design, the unique style of video picture performance, and the mysterious narrative that makes speculation and investigation endless.
In terms of character design, "EVA" will not deliberately wrap and embellish Shinji's desire to be "wanted to be needed" and will not hesitate to reveal his weak personality traits, but will show his inner entanglements as they are. In the old theatrical version of Air/True For You (1997), Shinji even confided in the scene inside the train: "Be gentle with me!" "Reason with me, talk to me!" ——Shinji's voice actress Emi Ogata's acting skills are so realistic that even if you watch this scene today, the audience will shudder from this true feeling. "New Evangelion Theater Edition: The End" is a "solution" for the confession of this old theater version, and it has also become a famous scene that captures the audience's heart.
"Be gentle with me!" "Reason with me, talk to me!" Image: Youtube
As the protagonist, Shinji does not deliberately play handsome or show himself more perfectly, but constantly cares about the eyes of others and seeks a kind of acceptance and recognition of himself. In the first episode of the TV version, in response to Tsubasa's order to take the EVA, he said, "How can I manipulate this?" He refused, and in the fourth episode, he gave up the position of EVA driver because he could not withstand the pressure. Throughout the play, Shinji maintains an immature psychological state, constantly distressed by his relationship with his surroundings, and experiencing the torture of near-mental collapse.
"How could I possibly manipulate this?" Image: Youtube
It is precisely because of this past that the unfolding of "Shinji Finally Accepts His Own Destiny" in "New Evangelion Theater Edition: The End" will bring the audience a feeling that the long journey has finally ended. The protagonist portrait of Shinji, which is too "real" and can bring "empathy" to the audience, has also become an extreme example in the animation industry, and has been referenced and borrowed by a large number of future works.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="25" > the clever construction of "I want to understand because I am ly."</h1>
As Hideaki Anno put it in the Genre of Professional Work Hideaki Anno Special Program: "As long as the shooting angle and image editing are done well, animation is no problem even if it does not rely on action, and it is no problem to narrate with still pictures." Therefore, in terms of video performance, the most prominent style of "EVA" can be said to lie in its shooting angle and image editing.
Even in the New Evangelion Theater Series, which is full of action performances, the character eating scene maintains its unique shooting angle. The animated TV version of EVA is filled with a lot of still images: especially the scene before Nagisa's death in episode 24 lasts for 50 seconds. This still-screen performance, which was long enough to be recorded in the annals of Japanese animation, even made the audience at the time wonder if there was a broadcast accident. This creative philosophy of that era is difficult to fully replicate — although there are scenes in The New Evangelion Theater Edition: Broken, the length of the still screen has been greatly shortened.
Forbidden footage of the scene before Nagisa's death. Image: Youtube
In addition, the addition of live-action images, the integration of Chinese character design into the performance effect, and the meticulous depiction of the spiritual world of the characters are all the embodiment of the design and experimentation of "EVA". Even if today's audiences look at past works for the purpose of completing the plot in order to watch "New Evangelion Theater Edition: The End", they will still lament the avant-garde nature of "EVA" in that era, enough to imagine the impact she brought to the audience 26 years ago.
The third main feature of EVA is the difficulty of the story. As reported by Dimensional Studies, Anno's phrase in the documentary "Genre of Professional Work Hideaki Anno" that "not many people like works surrounded by various puzzles anymore" symbolizes that image culture, led by animation, has now entered an era of "pursuit of intelligibility". Gone are the days of "engaging the viewer through puzzles to immerse themselves in a work," and the viewer in this reality is inevitably overwhelmed by a sense of "loneliness." However, in the midst of this change, EVA has always implemented the creative attitude of "not explaining too much about the content of the work".
This gesture seems to test the audience's ability to understand, prompting them to think and interpret the blanks of the story. In this sense, in the process of being examined and analyzed, the attractiveness of "EVA" can be multiplied in the process of actively exploring and discovering works by the audience. Elements such as the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the mythological inheritance that can be seen everywhere in the work also make the audience need to absorb a wealth of knowledge in order to examine the core of the story.
EVA is rich in difficult religious and mythological elements. Image: Youtube
Originally, setting a threshold for understanding the story might dissuade some viewers. However, the appeal of the unique image style avoids this possibility to the greatest extent. It is this "because of the style to understand" structure that makes "EVA" firmly grasp the fans. Wanting to understand the essence of the work, wanting to get close to the core of the story - at this time, the world of the work has become a kind of vision for the audience.
The character depiction that perfectly shows the character's heart, the unique style of the video screen performance, and the story that constantly stimulates the audience's curiosity are just some of the charm of "EVA". Like the characters and mecha designs that are still avant-garde enough after a quarter of a century, the influence of EVA will probably be difficult to dissipate in the future, constantly captivating and stimulating the next generation of audiences and creators.
Today, manga created by a teenager who grew up under the influence of EVA has caused a social phenomenon in Japan. That is the "Spell Return" serialized in the "Weekly Shonen JUMP".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="36" > faithfully follows the "teachings" of EVA</h1>
The manga Spell Returns depicts a battle that takes place between a spell spirit and a "spellcaster" who tries to lift the curse. In order to accumulate training and eventually become a spellcaster, high school student Yujin entered the Tokyo Metropolitan Spells High School, the training institution for spellcasters. Here, he and many of his partners work together to fight against the "curse spirits" that drive people to extinction.
The current hit shonen manga "Spell Return". Image: JUMP official website
Shueisha's "Spell Returns official FANBOOK" shows that Wasami, who was born in 1992, met the work "EVA" during his junior high school years. Originally, wasami was shocked by the "Grim Reaper" that began serialization in elementary school (2001), and he has since honed his creativity by absorbing nutrients from works such as EVA and Hunter.
Spell Return Official FANBOOK
Wasami himself said, "I have a lot of respect for director Hideaki Anno. The TV version of "EVA" will not explain too much about the setting and world view, leaving the audience with room for imagination, the story composition or the place based on entertainment works, all of which have brought a lot of influence to my creation. ”
As he argues, the omission of the description in The Spell Return, or the use of a "reader cannot understand without racking his brains", are the result of faithful adherence to the "teachings" of the EVA.
Wasami also said: "Since EVA is based on a mythological system in the story, if I want to challenge it from a different perspective, it is only the Buddhist system. It can be seen that it is precisely because Wasami has the work "EVA" in his heart as a frame of reference for his creation, and the story foundation of "Spell Return" has been established.
Spell Return is reminiscent of EVA's mech. Image: Manga "Spell Return"
In addition, there is a scene in "Spell Return" that makes the reader feel that it is a tribute to the appearance of a huge robot in "EVA". Even in the prequel to the manga, "Spell Return 0 Tokyo Independent Spell High School", there are scenes that pay tribute to seele, the secret organization of EVA. And the protagonist Otome's sincere confession of "wanting to get along with others, wanting to be needed by others, to give yourself the confidence to live" also reminds us of the true heir of "EVA".
A scene that pays tribute to Seele, the secret organization of EVA. Image: livedoor
Of course, "Spell Return" is also an excellent manga work with many original elements, however, it is precisely because Wasami references and introduces elements of many excellent works, including "EVA" and "Death", which resonates with readers, making her one of the most popular juvenile manga at present.
In the "Spell Walk" additional part of the TV version of "Spell Return", there will even be images of playing the "EVA" trailer meme. In this sense, EVA seems to be a high-dimensional existence of seele's "human completion plan" for subsequent works affected by it.
Wasami is purely intoxicated and loves "EVA", does not hide his "dead fan" identity and the gesture of reference and tribute to "EVA", in his creation of "Spell Return" has become a social phenomenon in Japan, capturing the hearts of many new generation of young readers today, we have to make us deeply sigh for the inheritance and continuation of Japanese anime creativity.
Similarly, in the last-volume commentary of the 2021 issue of Weekly Shonen JUMP, which was released on March 29, 2021, Kohei Horikoshi, author of the popular manga "My Hero Academia", also said: "I went with Wasabi to watch the New Evangelion Theater Edition: The End, and the "EVA" in my mind was finally over. If I can't stand this kind of stimulation alone, I can only stand it if someone is with me. It can be seen that "EVA" has become the creative birthplace of creators who are now active in the frontline of Japanese anime.
"Thanks, goodbye, congratulations" has even become a cultural shirt. Image: Natalie
As depicted in New Evangelion Theater Edition: The End, EVA is far from over, but the activity of manipulating EVA (the pilot in the play is called Children) and the "kids" influenced by the work is far from over. At this point, from the final words of "EVA" to the "Thanks, Farewell, Congratulations" for parents and children in the "New Evangelion Theater Edition: The End" (Fatherにありがとう,母にさようなら、ち して、全てのチルドレンに、おめででとう) is also a blessing for contemporary Japanese anime people who began to create under the influence of EVA.