Bringing an end to this iconic franchise over a course of almost 30 years, this movie was, in every sense of the word, cinematic.
You can't ask for a better closure to Evangelion.
Despite the common brain melting factor which is just natural for Evangelion, this was very enjoyable. You can genuinely feel the growth in the characters, and the way they are similar yet different in some aspects to their original NGE counterparts. While we obviously got the cool actions scenes; fights between Angels/Evangelions and all, this movie does a fantastic job when it comes to the emotional aspects.
Rei Ayanami’s recharacterization is one of the best examples of character development I have seen. Sharply contrasting her doll-like NGE self, seeing her become more and more humane and have emotions was really refreshing. Rei confessing her love to Shinji was such a pivotal character moment for both; you’d never expect it to happen. And at the end, she got the happiness she deserved, when she departed from Shinji as he rewrote reality.
Seeing Asuka and Shinji’s relationship develop the way it did; with before it feeling like she resented him to it actually being how much she cared for him, it was amazing. Her dynamic with Rei too was developed pretty well, I liked it way more than how it was in NGE. The last scene of Shinji and Asuka on the beach, similar to the EoE one but in a more positive light, really made for a fitting end to her character arc.
Mari was a really amazing character, and a nice addition to the cast. Her role in the narrative was quite important; especially as she was the one who ended up with Shinji at the end. I think her removing and keeping his DSS choker at the last scene of the movie symbolizes her sharing the burden he holds in a world without Evangelions; the others might be oblivious to it in this new world, but all of the prior events did happen and only they both share that knowledge. This kind of makes them the Adam and Eve of this world, with only them having the ‘knowledge’ of everything.
Gendo Ikari has become one of my favorite antagonists now. As he was on the verge of achieving his goal, he realized that he had been wrong all along and what he sought; his wife Yui’s essence was lying with their son Shinji all along. Acknowledging his wrongdoings towards his son, he accepts his mistakes and lets Shinji take over, and Shinji too finally realizes what Gendo had meant by the ‘god-slaying’ he wanted.
Quite ironic how Shinji Ikari decided to rid the world of Evangelions through the power of Evangelion itself. Accepting that he might be alone, but still wanting his friends to find happiness; and especially wanting to break Kaworu Nagisa’s infinite cycle of rebirth, Shinji rewrote the world into one without Evangelions, a world where no one except him and Mari would have any knowledge of the events that had happened. A world where his friends would find true happiness, without being the playthings of a predetermined fate. Bidding farewell to all of Evangelions, he did ‘Neon Genesis’, rewriting reality and creating a world without the ‘Evangelion’. He trusted that Mari would find him, and she in fact did, keeping her promise.
And at the very end, we see Asuka, Kaworu and Rei on the train station opposite to the platform where Shinji is sitting. A train comes, symbolizing that Shinji is prepared to see his friends off in this new world, where they can live freely and happy. Mari arrives, takes his DSS choker, and grabs his hand and off they go up a flight of stairs and into a world without Evangelion. The animation transitions into real life footage of the station, presumably Hideaki Anno’s hometown, bringing a closure to this decades old franchise.
Thank you, and goodbye, to all of Evangelion.