I feel ya both on this, Baldur and jedi_spectre1.
My perspective has been hovering around for the past almost week since I watched it and my initial reaction was something like yours right now. But then I came around to some other parts of it. But now I'm questioning that take. It's all very confusing, and frankly distressing that I sometimes feel like I am trying to convince myself to like it more than liking it.
There are undeniably good parts to the film. But the bottom line is that, for a series of movies that originally aimed to tell a more coherent story than the original, it ironically failed quite spectacularly, at that specific goal at least.
Which is strange, because even though 3.0's hyper focus on Shinji was controversial, I applauded it for its bold commitment to exploring his point of view and thoughts in a new way than before. But then what is so strange is that 3.0+1.0 essentially swings completely in the opposite direction, barely focusing on Shinji at all, but rather using him as a plot device to achieve the goal of Anno (end Evangelion for good this time).
I think one can read into what happens and come to a reasonable explanation of Shinji's internal development and shift, but for the audience to have to do so much heavy lifting is very strange indeed, considering he is literally the main character of the series, and despite all the reasonable foibles people have with the prior endings for abandoning the plot or seeming too dark, they always focused ultimately on Shinji. Who he is, what he wants, how he changes and how he reaches those changes.
This almost didn't seem like the end of 3.0 Shinji, but instead seemed a bit more like he faded away than anything else, leaving use with Anno insert Shinji, which is really too bad.
Showing Shinji's conversation with Kaji Jr., having actual time between him and Misato, more time between him and Touji or Kensuke. Or hey, having him farm with Rei Q. All of these things would have allowed him to develop on screen more, rather than reach most of his epiphanies/changes off screen.
One can say he'd already risen up and done the right thing, fighting for others in 1.0 and 2.0 (in 3.0 he is doing it out of desperation), but really, I think from a certain point of view, this selfless Shinji in 3.0+1.0 didn't really run back to Unit 01 in 2.0 to pilot it purely to save everyone. Remember that he went berserk and ultimately forsook the world to get Ayanami back. While he seemingly came back without that specific plan in mind, it could easily be said that he at least went for revenge considering his bloodlust even before going berserk. Which, hey, whatever will get you in the pilot seat Shinji, I'm not arguing against you fighting for yourself, but I'm just not seeing you doing that in 3.0+1.0, it really seems more like you're fighting for others.
Eh. Ultimately, risking the chance of weakening my argument, I'm not sure I'd agree with that last last point I made. I do think those saying "he already got his determination in 2.0" to handwave his willingness in 3.0+1.0 are missing some of the point of the audience missing his recovery in this film, but whatever. Like I said my opinion fluctuates.
But when all is said and done, for a movie that's 2 and a half hours and filled with crazy action, it really seems like it misses so many opportunities to explore the one thing that matters most.
Shinji.
Edit:
Also, lol. I originally came here to post about how 3.0's soundtrack is literally addicting and once I started listening to one track (because someone in the "rank NTE" thread said they didn't like the duet songs
), I just HAD to listen to the rest. In comparison, 3.0+1.0's OST is very good, but lacking in some way that vibe. I just doesn't go quite far enough.
3.0 delivers (in all aspects but OST especially) just such a sense of beauty, tranquility, fierce defiance, grand terror, existential dread and almost religious awe ("From Beethoven 9" just hits so hard in this), that in some ways 3.0+1.0 seems to lack unfortunately. Maybe Shiro Sagisu couldn't make as much sense of the middle action set pieces as he could in 3.0, but they don't work quite as well here. "This is the dream" is very good, but it still feels like it doesn't quite hit enough of a satisfying crescendo/climax.
Edit 2.22:
I think one way the ending could have really hit more is that I see the meta point of Shinji erasing Evangelions (Anno is putting the series behind him and trying make it for real this time), but the non-metal reason is somewhat lacking. In terms of Shinji himself, there imo should have been some responsibility for the continuing loops on Shinji's part, like for example what if EoE Shinji started the loop instead of EoE Kaworu (my interperpretation). Therefore, in 3+1 his choice to rid the world of Evas and restore the Earth at the cost of his life would have a bit more meaning, as it would be fixing a mistake he was responsible for and atoning for his sins in a more meaningful and grand way than he even tried to in 3.0.
I like the idea Kaworu started the loops to try to make Shinji happy, but ultimately didn't realize Shinji needed to make himself happy. I actually really like that idea. I'm just saying that Shinji doesn't have a strong internal need to abandon Eva, only Anno does.
I think we're supposed to go with the idea that Evangelions, for all of the horrors they've brought upon Shinji, are also still a source of self validation and comfort, since they tie him down. Kind of like how Rei said in the beginning, "it's a bond to this world and these people". By casting them aside entirely he is cutting all ties to everyone else.
But even so, there's still some disconnect between his need to cut ties to Evangelions and move past his desire for validation through them, and Anno's own. Mostly because there could have really been a lot more put into that idea in the film itself.
Again, as I said before the audience has to do some heavy lifting.
That said, I am thinking once again that my 2nd take (the general meta-textual realization about the need to move past his external validation super mechs), is pretty accurate, and has some interesting meaning in the text itself.
I hope I will settle closer to my desired "best Eva ever" impression in the end, but I've just got to follow my real feelings here, and they definitely go up and down a lot. Maybe it is just the familiarity with the old material, but all this might be why I ironically think of EoTV and EoE as being "cleaner" than 3+1.
Axx°N N. wrote:
SPOILER: Show@ Archer, you captured a lot of what I feel.
