The End of Evangelion

WARNING: This entry contains spoilers and NSFW content, digression is advised.

About

The End of Evangelion is a 1997 animated film which serves as a conclusion to the 1995 anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. As Evangelion has a substantial following online, the film is popular among fans of the seriese and anime in general and has inspired numerous memes.

History

Neon Genesis Evangelion first ran on television from 1995 to 1996. During the course of its run, the studio producing the series, Studio Gainax, infamously ran out its budget for the show before it could finish airing, leading to two highly abstract final episodes for the show’s run. To appease fans who felt unsatisfied with the ending, Gainax created two movies: Death and Rebirth, a recap that contained the first third of the new ending, and The End of Evangelion, the fully finished ending.^[1]

Plot

The End of Evangelion takes place after the 24th episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The film itself is divided into two episodes, labelled 25’ and 26’ to differentiate them from the TV counterparts. 25’ mainly details the attack on NERV headquarters by the Japanese Strategic Self-Defense Force and the deaths that ensue from it, while 26’ focuses primarily on the Third Impact, the name given to the show’s apocalyptic situation, and Shinji Ikari’s internal retrospection on what it means to live.

Reception

Although the film received incredibly polarizing reviews when it was first released, The End of Evangelion has been viewed positively in later years. The film currently has a score of 8.2 on IMDb, an audience score of 81% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a rating of 8.41 on MyAnimeList.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Online Presence

Gendowned

Gendowned is a series of edits involving the Evangelion character Gendo Ikari shooting a gun at various subjects. The footage of Gendo is taken from an The End of Evangelion scene in which he murders Ritsuko Akagi for attempting to stop the Third Impact.

Komm, süsser Tod

“Komm, süsser Tod” (“Come, sweet death”) is a song performed by Arianne Cleopatra Schreiber and played during the climax of the film in which the Third Impact takes place. The song is especially popular among fans of the series, especially on the imageboard 4chan, where it has been embedded onto various boards of the website in response to “tragic” events such as the purchase of the Oculas Rift by Facebook and the retirement of moot as the head of 4chan.^[5]

Tang

Tang is a fan name given to LCL, a fictional liquid in the Evangelion series said to be the blood of the angel Lilith. Though LCL does show up in the television series’ proper, its most infamous use comes from the Third Impact scene of End of Evangelion in which the remaining living characters are reverted into the substance. Because of its bright orange appearance in the movie, it is commonly joked among fans to resemble the powdered drink Tang, and those who revert into LCL are referred to as “being tanged”.^[6]

Movie Poster

The poster for End of Evangelion, which features Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Soryu facing the giant head of Rei Ayanami following the failure of the Third Impact, has become an iconic image among anime fans and is occasionally parodied.