Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth

adambolt1.5

The final boss of clip shows.

Hatercles

Shinji: I can’t believe we locked ourselves into this freezer.Asuka: You know, if this were an existential mech anime and we got locked in a freezer, we’d probably flashback to all our old episodes. Shinji: Yeah (chuckles)Asuka: (chuckles) Say, do you remember that time Leonardo Leonardo opened Tokyo-4 across the street?Shinji: Oh yeah. The NERV of the future...

Jim5.0

I haven’t seen Death and Rebirth since I first watched Evangelion about 15 years ago, and I’ve basically forgotten what happens in it. Stupid people on the internet convinced me it was just a lazy clip show and I always skipped over it whenever I felt one of my frequent urges to rewatch the series and films. Now I’ve realized I might have been making a mistake.I watched the DEATH (TRUE) edit tonight - if it’s even remotely like the film's original cut, I’ve been very wrong about Death and Rebirth for far too long. The way footage is remembered, ordered and cross-narrated here creates entirely new perspectives and feelings on the series that I hadn’t considered before. It feels like Anno and the rest of the show’s writing team are trying to fully synchronise with the audience and achieve as close to an understanding between others as is humanly possible. Everything’s a little clearer here, a little more explicit, like we’re breaking down the AT Field of each character’s inner wall. The scene where they’re overlaying Misato’s boisterous beer-drinking with an inner monologue about why she feels the impulse to be bad is just brutal stuff. I feel more for that character every day.