After rewatching both the original series and what we have of the Rebuild so far at least 10 times each (yes, I have a problem), I was wondering if it could be confirmed whether or not the Evas go into a state of Awakening in Neon Genesis. Leleil's defeat by Unit 01 seems a bit questionable, but Unit 01 breaking out of the Bakelite, growing Adam's wings, and creating a tornado around itself at the midpoint of End of Evangelion seems remarkably similar to Unit 01's awakening at the end of 2.22. With Leleil, it doesn't look like Awakening, the Eva doesn't physically change at all, however, just before it breaks out, Yui speaks to Shinji in the core. After Misato goes into the entry plug following Leleil's death, Shinji says, "I just wanted to see them one more time", implying it was his will that allowed Yui to get Unit 01 to overcome it's restraints and rip out of the shadow.

Rebuild has taken as lot of concepts that could be said to be implied within the original, and then expands upon them. Impact Triggers are another example. The awakenings seems to be a further step of berserk mode, albeit with more control and less animal rage.

In the original, it's arguable that Unit-01 breaking it's restraints, becoming self aware, and consuming an S2 organ is an awakening. However, the bestial nature of the consumption still implies a berserk. This does allow the Eva to seemingly be within full control of itself come EoE, and that is most certainly the closest thing to an awakening within the original series.

The problem is, since the Rebuild were produced years later, that these concepts probably weren't developed until after the original series was completed. Likely, Anno saw potential in these ideas after the fact, and had them included in Rebuild.

In episode 19, after Eva-01 reactivates with a 400% synch, Ritsuko remarks, "As I feared/expected, she has awakened". Kaji also says at the episode's end that "Eva-01 has been awakened and set free". This is the most that comes of the idea of an Eva "awakening". It's not equivalent in any way to the Rebuild version, wherein you have burnt-out Adams being restored to their former power levels or whatever.

I always thought that the "awakening" in NGE referred to the resident soul of the Eva, in Unit-1 case being Yui, becoming more aware than before and being capable of being more proactive. While in NTE i think it's more of a power-up similar to beast mode in that it's the pilots command/desire that forces certain evas to evolve and undergo "awakening".

I'm not sure how Yui is any more "awake" there than she was in episode 16 -- or even episode 1, for that matter.

Ritsuko's reaction implies it has something to do with the sync levels, but then Kaji makes a similar comment even though he's still out by his melon patch with nothing aside from his own eyes and ears to let him know what's going on. So my hunch is... they probably just say "the Eva's awakened!" because it sounds suitably ominous and cool.

Well i made the assumption cause the soul was the intellect behind the evas actions when berserking or other actions not made by the plot, so when Unit-1 ate the S2 engine i thought that was a conscious decision by Yui to make the coming events go her way. Hence Ritsuko mentioning how the eva was "awake", it would makes sense she'd be referring to Yui. As far as Kaji, did he know about the whole soul inside the eva stuff? i can't remember if it's mentioned how much he knew about the evas.

I think there's a difference between being awake (the opposite of sleeping) like you are implying here and an eva awakening (opening up to its full potential) like in eoe or more distinctive in nte.

I think the awakening in the original series is less divine in the ways it appears to be in Rebuild. Strictly speaking, until Unit-01 ingests the S2 organ, it isn't the equivalent of a god yet. What isn't clear is what's going on to power Unit-01 during its berserk state in ep 16 and in ep 19 directly preceding its ingestion of the S2 organ, because in all the other episodes it is still hooked up to an umbilical cable.

Given Shinji is dissolved in the LCL both times during ep 16 and 19, I think it stands to reason that the presence of two souls without bodies/dissolved in the LCL existing in the core has something to do with it. Why or how this is sufficient to overcome the limitations of an internal battery for continued operation is definitely a mystery. What exactly about those circumstances allows for core to function as if it has an S2 organ of its own? If we didn't know that S2 stood for super solenoid then it might make sense that it refers to 2 souls (albeit being a massive stretch), but even if that were the case, there are too many factors concerning the two souls in particular to determine 2 souls is all that is required. For instance, Shinji and Yui are mother and child, does this affect anything?

Honestly the awakening and how it even occurs raises more questions than it answers in the TV series. Afterward it definitely seems to be the case that Unit-01 can self-activate at will without a power supply (part of why it is in lock-down after ep 19 until... iirc, ep 23, the one with Armisael). Despite being connected to an umbilical cable in ep 23, it doesn't need one at all during EOE to operate.

Personally, my best guess is that awakening specifically means that Yui has achieved a level of lucidity and awareness that she is able to overcome the restraints and permanently self-activate at will outside of situations where Shinji is in mortal danger. I don't think she was necessarily out of control in ep 19 if all there is to go by is how beast-like her behavior is. I don't know how you imagine mother bears protecting their cubs act, but I'm quite certain it's just as ferocious and violently unhinged. She was lucid enough to actually ingest the S2 Organ too, which I think makes it more likely she was consciously aware of what she was doing.

Shinji still has his body in episode 16.