Hi heretol3arn! Welcome to the EvaGeeks Forum. I talked with you directly on the thread, but the person who spoke with you in private wasn't me xD.

I think what is the "real world" in some sense doesn't matter because they can all be just as real but for the characters for them the real world is to be with all of the other people they have met and been with on the journey of the films like the people Shinji met in the village the crew of the wunder etc. In the tv series Shinji didn't leave on the train taking him away from NERV and everyone he knew. Exiting the imaginary world and excited to return is something that is huge growth for Shinji and not because he is needed to be a pilot like before since that isn't a thing anymore but because Shinji is excited to continue life.

That station has become to most documented station in Japan since 8 March and I'm telling you that the stairs go over the tracks and down onto the opposite platform. IRL they'd have to run past Asuka, Rei, and Kaworu to get to the exit. "IRL" doesn't necessarily mean anything but the exclusion of that part of the run is probably because "up and out" with the focus on Shinji is the message and Shinji seemingly "running away" from his old friends is absolutely not the imagery Anno wanted, so he skipped it.

Oh I see, so both versions are true. Thanks for the clarification.

Kind of unrelated, but I have to say it amuses me the number of people (not necessarily on this forum) I’ve seen automatically assuming that the epilogue confirms that Rei and Kaworu are supposed to be a couple, and expressing how out of nowhere that seems.

Like bro, they’re literally just standing next to each other and talking.

Archer wrote:Kind of unrelated, but I have to say it amuses me the number of people (not necessarily on this forum) I’ve seen automatically assuming that the epilogue confirms that Rei and Kaworu are supposed to be a couple, and expressing how out of nowhere that seems.

Like bro, they’re literally just standing next to each other and talking.

To be fair, even a member of the Evangelion staff has fun with that ship:




PS: It's just an "official" doujinshi.

Really great to see that the reddit OP has joined here. Thanks for your input as well as UrsusArctos follow up. I feel like we're coming very close to an interpretation that makes me feel satisfied.

Archer wrote:Kind of unrelated, but I have to say it amuses me the number of people (not necessarily on this forum) I’ve seen automatically assuming that the epilogue confirms that Rei and Kaworu are supposed to be a couple, and expressing how out of nowhere that seems.

Like bro, they’re literally just standing next to each other and talking.

that seems so wildly out of character for both of them. if anything, the scene simply shows them as what they've always been: counterparts.

Okay, I think I’ve reached my final interpretation of the ending.

1. Shinji says goodbye to everyone (possibly even Kaji, who could indeed have his soul inside the anti-universe as a result of 3I shenanigans) because he realizes there’s a good chance he might be stranded forever inside the anti-universe, but has faith that Mari will come for him. After he speaks with them he YEETS them back to the real world (though this is only explicitly shown for Asuka).

2. Shinji “rewrites” the world to remove any remaining Angels/Evas/Adams and the corruption they left behind. This is shown by that shot of the Earth returning to blue and the moon losing its blood grid. He does not create a new world inside the anti-universe.

3. Content that he’s “saved the world”, all he can do now is wait for Mari as the mind fuckery of the anti-Universe starts degrading his integrity

4. Mari arrives in Unit-8 and pulls him back, represented by the color returning to the scene.

5. He “wakes up” inside the train station (which is just an imaginary construct), sees visions of the other pilots (these are just anti-universe ghosts like before, not real people) and leaves with Mari to return to the “real world” aka the Evangelion world. Whether Shinji and Mari (and the non-Shikinami pilots) return to the world aged-up, or whether it’s just an anti-universe metaphor for how much he’s grown can be left up to viewer interpretation.

I feel like everything here is at least consistent with what we see, even though intentional ambiguity makes proof impossible, and does away with any possibly problematic implications of Shinji just creating a new universe to live in.

I share an opinion with the stranger, it fits well in the final scene since enough ambiguity is left.
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Sorry for my English,is not my first language

I share that perspective too.

Archer wrote:Okay, I think I’ve reached my final interpretation of the ending.
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I was going to attempt to write a little about my interpretation of the final scene, but it seems you've already done my job for me. Very well explained, I think you completely hit the nail on the head. As Shinji returns back to his world, we return back to ours, both free from the Curse of Eva.

Totally agree, there's no point in Shinji going to a different place or going through another process of others, I'm pretty sure they can find themselves in the new world. It turns out that the farewell scenes have much more a symbolic value to us, the spectators, by saying goodbye to these characters. And, of course, there is the component of Shinji not knowing for sure if he will be able to escape.

I don't know if it's already been talked about, but the train leaving the train station at the end of the movie seems to be the instrumentality train. It's a brown old train with a single cart.

If it is, it would probably mean this scene happens right after instrumentality is over and Shinji has rebuilt the world.

^ if anything, that’s another piece of evidence supporting the idea that the train station is metaphorical.

I'd like to thank heretol3arn for their post on Reddit. I read it and it drastically changed my view of the film from "okay, this is pretty good" to "this is it, the perfect end to Evangelion." Thank you, heretol3earn.

One point that I have not seen mentioned yet in favor of the idea that train station scene takes place in the anti-universe (excuse me if I have overlooked something) is Misato's final order to Mari.

Right before Misato uses the Wunder to pierce Giant Naked Rei with the Spear of Gaius, she tells Mari: "Go to Shinji!" to which Mari responds: "You got it! I'll bring him back!"

I think this indicates that Mari sees her mission as bringing Shinji back to the real world, which, for these characters is not our "real world" but rather theirs of the post-Second Impact. Thus, Mari in the beach scene, followed by the train station scene, is in the process of helping Shinji returning to their world.

No reason why the train can't be both literal and metaphorical. Indeed I would argue that it is either both literal and metaphorical or purely metaphorical. No way it's just a train.

Rutilia Augusta wrote:Right before Misato uses the Wunder to pierce Giant Naked Rei with the Spear of Gaius, she tells Mari: "Go to Shinji!" to which Mari responds: "You got it! I'll bring him back!"

I've seen this movie 4 times and I've never realized this or its implications.

God, Anno, why your movie so good?

Okay, that pretty much settles it then, right? It's all but explicitly confirmed that at the end of the movie they return to the real world.

I definitely remember her saying that line but I dunno why I didn't put 2+2 together with the last scene, lol.

Archer wrote:Okay, that pretty much settles it then, right? It's all but explicitly confirmed that at the end of the movie they return to the real world.

Well, there is no doubt that Mari and Shinji won't stay in the anti-universe. If they return to the repaired "Evangelion planet", I think this is still left to interpretation.

I've even read a theory that the train station could be a new (and the last) cycle, because Mari took a long time to find Shinji.