Happy 10th anniversary to Evangelion 2.0/Ha

[Rei IV]

Yes, June 27th, the same day Evangelion 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time was suppose to come out this year, was also the same day Evangelion 2.0 or Ha came out over a decade ago. For all its faults (I didn't find too many) it was a awesome, fun, action packed movie with lots of thrills and a epic, spectacular ending that would forever change this movie series (and Evangelion in general) and completely subvert our expectations. It also paved the way for best thing to come out of Evangelon: Evangelion 3.0/Q.

[Blockio]

Yes, happy birthday to Ha!

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Hands down, Ha was the most fun of any Eva movie ever made.

[kuribo-04]

∆ I wouldn't say that for myself. Fun to me is completely intermixed with the interest I feel for something for its artistic merits. 3.0 would be much more fun to me, for example.

But it's still definitely true it's a fun, colorful film, and more easily watchable with more casual people (though surprisingly my mother was more interested in 3.0 when I showed her lol).

Btw, when this film came out I was 13, and it would still take 2 years for me to properly find out about Eva and get interested in it, 2.5 years to watch it and become a fan, and 3.5 to watch 2.0/Ha specifically. Now I am old.

[Joseki]

I love Shinji's relationship with Misato in this movie more than any other relationship in all of Evangelion. Kaji explaining Misato's past to Shinji has to be up there in my top 3 of my favorite Eva moments.

Happy birthday Ha, you don't even look 11 years old.

[Gendo'sPapa]

I revisited the three Rebuilds this weekend (this was planned for a while to celebrate Thrice Upon A Time getting released and it felt wrong to delay my rewatch too) and love 2.22.

I think A LOT of 2.22 is going to come back into play in Final. In particular I think/I hope the Final film comes full circle and brings back the importance of shared meals.

In 1.0, Shinji & Misato share their microwaveable meal and the only other time food is referenced is Rei offering him his individually packaged meal at the hospital. It's food as convenience.
In 2.0, food comes into center play with all the shared meals, talk of Shinji cooking, Rei wanting to share a meal with them all, etc. Huge focus is placed on the necessity of people s preparing meals for each other, sharing food, sitting at a table or circle and interacting.
In 3.0, the only food in the film is the machine processed slop provided to him in his room. There's no humanity or love or even an idea of what the food is. It's automated.

I'm hoping the following might happen in Final (I put it in tags just in case someone hasn't watched the three films i guess)

SPOILER: Show

Shinji arrives/is taken to where the rest of WILLE & civilians are. After lots of reunions and character work, Shinji is brought to Misato's residence and Kaji is there, he isn't dead!, and he's cooking dinner. We know Kaji loves growing vegetables and he also states in 2.0 that Misato is not the kind of person who would stay home and do the cooking. Kaji, the one adult who has always treated Shinji as an equal, fills Shinji in on a lot of needed exposition and details, mainly concerning Misato, and then Kaji is the one who invites Shinji (and maybe Rei Q) to sit down and have dinner with him & Misato. Tears & emotions of course do follow as Misato & Shinji reconnect. Shinji FINALLY gets that home cooked meal to repair bonds with a parent that was promised to him long ago in 2.0 but it's not with his deadbeat dad who has completely abandoned him but with is with Misato, his surrogate mother who tried her best to make Shinji happy.