The Last Train Station Scene

[Mr. Tines]

Is any of the rest of the city digitally replaced too?

Apparently so -- some of the buildings that had been demolished/replaced since Anno lived there were restored.

[pir2confusion]

Apparently so -- some of the buildings that had been demolished/replaced since Anno lived there were restored.

So he recreated what his home town looked like, have people figured out the particular date, or important buildings that were added back?

[Szmitten]

You have to watch the first 30 seconds or so Anno documentary to see him doing the same run -- over the railway line and out the station exit.

Sure, just the cinematic language implies "up the stairs and out the door", it's just that it's "join the other platform then out the door."

But the next shot that follows is of Shinji and Mari leaving the station. It looks like the old brown train is a cg train while the yellow ones are real. I guess the brown one must be the old train that is always shown the mind train and the yellow one is what currently is used. Is any of the rest of the city digitally replaced too?

Yes, it's more about leaving the depression train empty and moving on, having joined everyone else (none of the others board the train). The brain train is CG.

Indicated in a Tweet from Khara2 Twitter, the last shot, once you see the blue AB Hotel building and that wide road is underneath you, there is a building on the same side but ahead with a red sign that says Mega Slot R&R; on the other side of the road, among the orange buildings is a white building with paint peeling and drainage issues with a small red and white vertical sign on the roof. This building (along with the trees in the distance behind it which were covered up by the new building) is wholly CG. Street view has a different building on that spot.

https://twitter.com/khara_inc2/status/1 ... 7271505925

[Ah Q]

OP's chronology of the final scenes omits a small but potentially significant detail. I don't know what it means, exactly, but I want to point it out.

Right after the train pulls into the station, but before Mari approaches Shinji, we get the iconic shot of white birds flying from power lines.

That particular shot is usually accompanied by a Quantum!Rei apparition. We saw it in Episode 1 of NGE and at the beginning of NTE 1.0. In fact, we saw it earlier in 3.0+1.0 itself. At about the 36-minute mark, when Shinji is sitting in the ruins of Nerv, we get a quick sequence of (1) birds flying away from overhead poles, (2) Rei's eye blinking, and (3) a Quantum!Rei apparition floating above the water, with what appears to be the moon (the old moon, not the rapidly rotating moon with red the crosswork pattern) in the background.

In the final scene of 3.0+1.0, though, we don't see a Quantum!Rei apparition.*

(*A potential caveat: When we see grown-up Rei and Kaworu on the opposite platform, the train pulls in in the foreground, and Rei and Kaworu are still visible through the windows. The camera then cuts to the power lines and birds, and then back to a long-angle shot of the train from Shinji's perspective. We get about a half-second view of the train before seeing Mari's hands. If you pause the movie at that shot, it does not appear that Rei and Kaworu are still visible through the train's windows. Were they an apparition? It could be that they had already boarded the train and sat down. Who knows.)

[TomsonPRD]

Asuka is wearing the jacket and clothes she had from the village when she wakes up, it seems to be the same fit that she had before she aged to 28. We also never see that anything is in the entry plug or even other people at the village just penguins.

Asuka's body is too big for the controls of the Entry plug. She has an adult body at that time.

SPOILER: Show

Not only that, but look how the jacket stops covering her "panties" and how the sleeves don't even reach her wrists, as opposed to the character sheets in 14yo form. Also considering the changes in her facial design, she looks just like her adult form we saw previously.

SPOILER: Show

[aboose]

I think the conversation about Asuka is very fruitful. I think that proves that Asuka is freed from curse of eva in the plug and then her plug lands by Kensuke's house and she returns to him in the original Evangelion world. This means that Asuka, Rei, and Kaworu all have a valid argument to have been able to escape Anti-Universe and return to the original Evangelion universe as Shinji sends them all away before he removes all the Eva from the world.

Which makes the train station scene all the more interesting, because some form of Asuka is depicted there. But clearly, the real Asuka is in the Evangelion world, not the "real world" that Shinji and Mari have blipped to.

I think there's merit to the idea that Shinji and Mari are in an apparition created by the Anti-Universe, or that the "real world" exists in the anti-universe. So are the Rei/Asuka/Kaworu at the station just hallucinations in Shinji's mind? Whether or not Mari and Shinji escape it to get back to the original Evangelion world or not is impossible to know, maybe.

Edit:

(*A potential caveat: When we see grown-up Rei and Kaworu on the opposite platform, the train pulls in in the foreground, and Rei and Kaworu are still visible through the windows. The camera then cuts to the power lines and birds, and then back to a long-angle shot of the train from Shinji's perspective. We get about a half-second view of the train before seeing Mari's hands. If you pause the movie at that shot, it does not appear that Rei and Kaworu are still visible through the train's windows. Were they an apparition? It could be that they had already boarded the train and sat down. Who knows.)

First off, appreciate the additions. I didn't catch that bit at all about the apparition aspect which I think strengthens this case a lot. I think there's several interpretations possible, but given that it is a station and they have been depicted riding on trains, there's a strong argument to say that the station is metaphorical and shows Shinji's return to the real universe. Kaworu, Rei, and Asuka are depicted on a different platform because they are already on their separate ways to their own lives. Shinji and Mari have just caught up and are now running to their exit from the Anti-Universe (which represents fantasy, imaginary) and back to "reality" (which Anno hyper-exaggerates using real reality as a visual). Shinji's actual "reality" is the Evangelion world, so maybe they're running to that, but from the audiences perspective it looks like real reality because that's what's real to us, and obvious the meta commentary point.

[Konja7]

Which makes the train station scene all the more interesting, because some form of Asuka is depicted there. But clearly, the real Asuka is in the Evangelion world, not the "real world" that Shinji and Mari have blipped to.

A recently theory I have is that Asuka in the train station isn't the Asuka we know, but Original Shikinami.

After all, we've never discovered what happened with Original Shikinami.

[Archer]

If we want to stick with the “train station is a metaphor, they’re all headed back to the Evangelion world” interpretation, I think it’s valid to read Shinji’s wish as destroying all the Evas and angels in the Evangelion world so that they’ll never be able to harm anyone again in the future, but that removing the source of suffering doesn’t take away the scars they leave behind. Even though I still think the “everyone except Shikinami stays behind in the anti-universe” interpretation is more consistent with what we actually see, the “everyone goes back to the real world and starts the slow process of rebuilding in a world without the threat of angels/Evas/L-contamination” ending is vastly more satisfying to me and I will gladly ignore textual evidence to believe that this is what actually happens.

Speaking of which, did we see any evidence that the Earth did in fact get un-fucked after Instrumentality? I assumed this would clearly be the case but I don’t recall anything outside the already-purified village area actually being shown at the end.

[aboose]

Archer, that's a good question. Yes, there is evidence:



In regards to the rest of your post, if I'm following correctly you're saying only Asuka is able to escape due to being ejected. However, Kaworu and Rei are both directly stated to be able to escape and go back to the world and let go of their hangups to Shinji. Also, all 3 appear at the station, so it's just inconsistent if you are to assume that Shinji Mari Rei and Kaworu are trapped in the anti-universe, even if that's what we see. Besides, Kaworu and Rei are shown leaving, which makes no sense if they are just going to end up trapped with Shinji. It also belittles Yui and Gendo's sacrifice at the end for them to all be trapped there, as well as Mari's words that she will find Shinji no matter where he is. I don't think it thematically makes sense.

----

I think Ah Q's point earlier about Kaworu/Rei disappearing is actually really interesting. It shows a shot of the birds flying away, then they disappear. I think there may be a symbolic meaning there for sure, that Shinji perhaps has let them go, or that they have moved on. Well, that's just piling on the message at that point, but I think it's implied that they are all leaving this "blip" universe to go to somewhere else.

One more thing I want to highlight. When Shinji comes to, he is sitting on a bench at the train station. Mari comes up behind him and takes off his DSS Choker. They then get up and leave the station. I know that maybe I'm over thinking it at this point, but isn't it strange to be sitting at a train station where the whole point is to wait for your next train to come, but instead, Shinji and Mari leave the station? I can't think of a situation where you would be sitting at a train station, then stand up and leave the platform. Obviously if you think about this from a meta standpoint then it makes way more sense (Shinji is not going to ride again, he is going to leave this endless loop and get to the real world) but I just thought it was funny when I saw it again.

[Archer]

Snip.

Nah, I’m saying Asuka is able to escape because she’s the only one explicitly shown to be physically back in the real world, and that the Asuka inside the anti-universe may possibly be the “original” Asuka (notably unlike Rei and Kaworu we never actually clearly see her face). I also don’t think they’re “trapped” in the anti-universe with Shinji, since.. like.. it’s a big world, and Mari/Shinji running out of the station without so much as waving towards them on the other platform is supposed to represent everyone being free to go their own ways and live their own lives free of Eva.

This interpretation requires us to take at face value that the world in the anti-universe is just as “real” as any other fictional world and that it’s not just a simulacrum or a mindscape like ep26’s AU. In fact it’s possibly MORE real because the live action footage is clearly supposed to suggest that this might be “our world” as in the IRL earth, or at least a fictionalized version of it. I think the technobabble about the “intersection of fiction and reality” and whatever nonsense Gendo was going on about with the Golgotha object also leans more towards the “Shinji creates a new world inside the anti-universe”, since the newly created world would literally be an intersection of “fiction” (it’s taking place inside a movie and everyone on the train platform is still 2D) and “reality” (it’s a fictional version of the real world without Evas and angels and black moons and whatnot).

That being said, wouldn’t it have been absolutely fucking wild if the last scene was live action?

Also, not sure if I didn’t read your whole post or if you edited it while I wasn’t looking but to address the point about the train station, I really don’t think it’s that weird. Maybe he was waiting for her to pick him up at the platform; maybe he was waiting for her to get off the train. I’ve definitely waited for people in a train station before so it didn’t stick out to me as anything odd.

At the end of the day I’m fine with either interpretation (though as I said I do prefer the “everyone goes back to the Eva universe” interpretation) and I think it’s definitely ambiguous enough (almost certainly by design) that you can read the scene how you wish.

[Konja7]

Archer, that's a good question. Yes, there is evidence:

I was just coming to show this picture. Yeah, the Earth has been totally restored.

In regards to the rest of your post, if I'm following correctly you're saying only Asuka is able to escape due to being ejected. However, Kaworu and Rei are both directly stated to be able to escape and go back to the world and let go of their hangups to Shinji. Also, all 3 appear at the station, so it's just inconsistent if you are to assume that Shinji Mari Rei and Kaworu are trapped in the anti-universe, even if that's what we see. Besides, Kaworu and Rei are shown leaving, which makes no sense if they are just going to end up trapped with Shinji. It also belittles Yui and Gendo's sacrifice at the end for them to all be trapped there, as well as Mari's words that she will find Shinji no matter where he is. I don't think it thematically makes sense.

I think it's ambiguous, because we see Asuka being ejected in the Entry Plug toward Earth, but we've never see something similar to Kaworu and Rei.

It's also confusing, because Kaworu and Rei are only souls at that point. That said, this Instrumentality could make miracles, so it wouldn't be impossible Kaworu and Rei could get new human bodies.

[Archer]

I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch for them to get new bodies. Everything’s pretty fucked up inside the anti-universe anyways, and the first interpretation demands that Shinji create an entire new world inside there.

While it shouldn’t be taken as evidence, in EoE souls are clearly able to re-manifest bodies from LCL so the general idea is certainly not unprecedented in Evangelion.

[Ah Q]

I was just coming to show this picture. Yeah, the Earth has been totally restored.

Not to go on too much of a tangent, but the other interesting thing about this shot is that the moon has been restored. It is no longer rapidly spinning and no longer has the red crosshatch pattern. That said, the moon appears to still be in very close proximity to earth. The seed pods that Misato ejected from the Wunder are even farther out. I'm probably reading too much into this.

[Ah Q]

In regards to the rest of your post, if I'm following correctly you're saying only Asuka is able to escape due to being ejected. However, Kaworu and Rei are both directly stated to be able to escape and go back to the world and let go of their hangups to Shinji. Also, all 3 appear at the station, so it's just inconsistent if you are to assume that Shinji Mari Rei and Kaworu are trapped in the anti-universe, even if that's what we see. Besides, Kaworu and Rei are shown leaving, which makes no sense if they are just going to end up trapped with Shinji. It also belittles Yui and Gendo's sacrifice at the end for them to all be trapped there, as well as Mari's words that she will find Shinji no matter where he is. I don't think it thematically makes sense.

We also see Kaworu, Kaji, and Rei leave the "sound stage" in the Anti-Universe. Given that we see them exit before Shinji creates a new world without Evas, it would be odd if their ultimate fate was to be trapped with Shinji in that Eva-less world.

At the conclusion of Kaworu and Kaji's dialogue, Kaji suggests that Kaworu join him and Misato to "work the earth" once Kaworu "retires." Kaworu says that "sounds nice." As we see them walking off into the distance, the sound stage door descends in the foreground. Shinji turns to see Rei -- apparently the long-haired Rei II from Eva Unit 01's entry plug -- with her crudely made Tsubame "doll." Shinji tells her: "Another one of you found a place she could call home. I'm sure Asuka will be able to find her own new place as well. . . . So there's a life away from here that you can live too."

Then, as Shinji tells Rei about the "new world" he is going to create, Shinji seemingly reassures Rei that he won't be alone: "And besides, Ms. Mari will come for me. So don't worry." Rei thanks Shinji and exits another one of the sound stage's doors.

Only at this point does Shinji create his new, Eva-less world.

This dialogue and imagery strongly imply that our Asuka, Rei, and Kaworu are not with Shinji in his new world.

[AdamMalkovitch]

And yet Shinji and co seem to "blip" to a reality that is completely clear of any devastation. It seems like he lands in the "real world" completely detached from any Eva reality.

Early on, I read a suggestion that what we saw was Shinji remaining in Minus Space, with Mari arriving just as the gate closed.

I saw it as less of the Door to Guf closing, and more as the Anti Universe disappearing Back to the Future paradox style. Since Shinji wished for a world with no EVAs, and EVAs in NTE still seem to be connected to the "ancient non human beings" who placed the Golgotha Object, it would seem even the origin of EVAs disappeared. So, since it must have been the NTE's equivalent of the first ancestral race who created the Anti Universe as well. When someone arrived from outside, Mari, she acted as a bridge back to the new world.
I know I'm at least right with that last part, because the train scene shows Mari removing Shinji's DSS Choker, which is a very interesting detail. You can't remove it yourself, you need someone else who trusts you to remove it for you, and it doesn't have to be a Gay Piano Angel either. Both of these bits involving Mari are such a fantastic metaphor for depression. It's virtually impossible to get out of it all alone, and it threatens to kill you with unclear reasoning. But, someone else can pull you from both the darkness of your own mind, the Anti Universe, as well as act as a physical companion to help your brain produce oxytocin and dopamine, helping with the physical, chemical aspect of depression, the DSS choker. Fuck I'm getting emotional actually typing it out.

[pir2confusion]

I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch for them to get new bodies. Everything’s pretty fucked up inside the anti-universe anyways, and the first interpretation demands that Shinji create an entire new world inside there.

While it shouldn’t be taken as evidence, in EoE souls are clearly able to re-manifest bodies from LCL so the general idea is certainly not unprecedented in Evangelion.

When big cg Rei and all the failures of infinity fall apart we see people and animals form bodies. Shinji has disappeared and reformed his body in the third one so you don't even have to leave the rebuild series for evidence.

[RussianRiz]

I really liked the interpretation that the Train Station is a world created inside the anti-Universe and represents the transition between the old and the new world. I guess Shinji and Mari running away of the station may really imply that they are going back to the Brand New Reality. I mean, there's no sense in Shinji creating two worlds. Why would he do that?

The other children in the station may represent this transition for them too. It's curious that we see Asuka there as she is already back to the Earth, but I don't think that's a symbol of a separation of the two Asukas and yes just a cool visual reference of her as another free individual, as now Shinji, Mari, Rei and Kaworu are.

[SEELE-01]

To me it was more a meta-ending.
Regardless of what this world entails for the characters, it seems more like Anno was taking everyone back to reality.
From the scene literally deconstructing Evangelion as media, complete with dioramas, cameras, sound stages, Tokusatsu costumes and finally by turning it into storyboards, Anno reminds the public that this is all fiction and that you have to move on like the characters did...

[Kendrix]

The scene could just be metaphorical (especially since it seems unlikely that Shinji would keep wearing the DSS choker for another 6+ years)

But if we assume it to be literal, then it could simply have been a distant epilogue after a timeskip.
In any case they are all in the same worldbecause Asuka is there , and we saw her get shot out to the village. Not to mention that the opposite would contradict the whole message & how the whole emotional crux of the movie was in showing that there are good worthwhile things left even in a fucked-up world

also, it's probably not unconnected with how leaving the instrumentality is shown as getting off a train. So at the end Shinji and Mari are at a train platform because they just left (& there are Kaworu, Rei and Asuka, who left earlier)

I see Mari's role as that of a mentor "welcoming" Shinji into the grownup world - she commends him on his newfound confidence & removes the symbol of his burden & guilty feelings, showing that he's free.

This is maybe a role you'd expect Misato to fill but while it's implied that she may in Kaworu's last line return actually confirming that she does so soon after her demise would negate the sacrifice, so Mari it is. she was also acting as a mentor earlier by praising him for how he handled the conversation with Asuka, & like generally giving him advice every time they talked.

I really liked the interpretation that the Train Station is a world created inside the anti-Universe and represents the transition between the old and the new world. I guess Shinji and Mari running away of the station may really imply that they are going back to the Brand New Reality. I mean, there's no sense in Shinji creating two worlds. Why would he do that?

The other children in the station may represent this transition for them too. It's curious that we see Asuka there as she is already back to the Earth, but I don't think that's a symbol of a separation of the two Asukas and yes just a cool visual reference of her as another free individual, as now Shinji, Mari, Rei and Kaworu are.

Hm. I didn't consider that they only actually "leave" when they run off together, but it does make sense. To the point that I'm tempted to say "Headcannon accepted!"

That fits with my reading about "they all just got OFF" the train.

This reconciles everything, actually - including why Shinji is wearing the choker and why Mari takes it off. (since there is no actual timeskip) & that we don't see a definite moment of Shinji leaving, & everyone's appearance here would represent their "mental" maturation, a future they couldn't imagine before this point.

They don't need to show us anything further than this because the story is over & the MCs have learned what they need to master the future.

If the anti universe can show you alternate timelines, it stands to reason that Shinji could get a glimpse of the actual future, & what his friends will actually look like. The three other pilots are just seen from a distance cause they already left, this just represents how they are free.
Hence why Mari covers his eyes - not to "distract" him from the others but so he doesn't spend to long looking at the vision, he has to come see their actual selves in the outside world.

If it were a timeskip, after all, Asuka would have to be older than the others since she was shot out of EVA 13 looking her actual age.

I think Mari may keep the younger appearance and just wait till she ages naturally since she didn't seem to mind it as much as per the spinoff manga, she'd rather have 10 more years to read books and learn languages

[Archer]

Personally, I don’t think there’s any way to reconcile that scene as happening in the direct future of the main Eva world. Like, I dunno what’s going on, but I’m 99% sure it’s not that. It’s gotta either be in purely metaphorical Instrumentality-space or in the “new world” Shinji created.

The one thing that still leans me towards “the pilots (except Shikinami) are all living in the new world” is the presence of Kaji alongside Kaworu. If he is indeed returning them to the Eva world with the village… is Kaji just, like, getting resurrected? How did his soul end up inside the anti-universe anyways? Everyone else Shinji talks to has a good reason for being there and is highly implied to be the “real them” and not just an Instrumentality ghost, but Kaji’s presence seems unexplainable as anything other than a projection. Also, now that I think about it, it’s kind of weird that he didn’t say farewell Misato (unless he did and I’m just stupid) since she actually has a way better reason to be there, considering her last act was delivering the spear to him inside the anti-universe.

I have to say, the actual cut to the train station (and, hell, a lot of the imagery preceding it, beaches and all) really reminds me a lot of the ending of Inception, where Leo jumps into the final dream layer to recover Ken Watanabe’s “soul” that’s been stranded there in Limbo. And like with Inception’s ending, at this point I think I’m happy to take the entire ending sequence and the epilogue on a purely metaphorical level. Are he and Mari returning to the Eva world, or are they going off into the new world? It’s absolutely intentionally ambiguous, and maybe the point is that it doesn’t matter, because both represent a “world without Eva”, where they can be happy, having properly moved on from their past trauma.