The End of Evangelion

Shin seiki Evangelion Gekijô-ban: Air / Magokoro wo, kimi ni; animated science-fiction, Japan, 1997; D: Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki, S: Megumi Ogata, Megumi Hayashibara, Yuko Miyamura, Kotono Mitsuishi

The NERV organisation managed to stop the last Angel from destroying Earth, but it's boss, Gendo Ikari, starts his own version of instrumentalisation in which he plans to merge himself with Rei and Lilith, the mother of human race, in order to finally again be reunited with his deceased wife Yui. But the SEELE organisation wants to stop that and conducts an invasion of NERV headquarters. Asuka and her robot EVA are brought to defend NERV. The instrumentalisation starts and "swallows" even Shinji and Asuka, who in the end become the only remaining people on a changed Earth.

Anime movie "The End of Evangelion" is some sort of an alternative version of the last two episodes of the anime series "Neon Genesis Evangelion", made in order to clarify a few enigmas (among other, Misato here mentions how the whole humanity is actually also an Angel). Bizarre, dreamy and extremely metaphysically-esoterical, this movie isn't for everyone's taste - some fans complained how the story is too violent, serious and morbid compared to the original, and all that deliberately because the author was already fed up with everything - but since Hideaki Anno is simply a genius, then even his "End of Evangelion" is, despite it's flaws, an excellent film. The sequence in which Shinji "moans" in the room, observing Asuka in a coma, and then looks at his hand cowered with white, gluey substance (sperm) is one of the most subtle examples of masturbation on film, while the part where Misato encourages him with a kiss ("That was a grown up kiss. Come back for more") is really touching. The game with symbols reached it's top in the fascinating finale in which Shinji and Asuka remain the only humans on Earth (?), while she just says: "I feel disgusted". It just shows the minimality of existence, but at the same time how it's also something greatest in the Universe.

Grade:+++