EVA 3.0 Is 10 Years Old!

[Gendo'sPapa]

Happy 10 Year Anniversary to EVANGELION: 3.0 - YOU CAN (NOT) REDO!

The film was released in Japanese theaters on November 17, 2012.

Exactly 10 years ago TODAY the entire forum here collectively melted down.

The plot of YOU CAN (NOT) REDO was kept a complete secret. Nothing leaked. The trailers kept everything very vague. Fans knew there was a set piece in space with Unit 02, that Asuka now had an eyepatch, that Kaworu was going to be a featured character and that was about it. Leading up to release the general accepting thinking on 3.0 based off the first two movies was that it was going to have a couple surprises here and there but that it was essentially going to be a pretty faithful retelling of Episodes 20-24.

So when the first social media reactions started hitting the net after the first audiences in Japan got out of the first midnight showings of 3.0 I remember how nuts AND FUN an experience that was. I was working a night shoot that evening but was checking EvaGeeks every chance I could get and every bit of news from Japan sounded insane! It was impossible to tell what was made up and what was real. 14 year timeskip?! Eva 13?!!!! A spaceship called the Wunder?! Misato is Captain Nemo from Nadia?!

Ah man.... the memories.

Good times.

I was shocked when I finally did get to see it in full a few months later but I also almost immediately responded to it as being a more emotional experience since it's a horror film about Shinji finally finding himself caught in his worst nightmare. It's a fever dream of a movie that is my personal favorite entry in the Rebuilds. It's a movie that admittedly doesn't work in a traditional narrative sense since so much context and motivation from the other characters is intentionally kept from the viewer - these were things all obviously being held back from the viewer so as to be given in 3.0+1.0 for full effect but no one in the production anticipated or even dreamed of there being an 8+ year gap between movies at the time - but as an emotional experience it's my most memorable. I love this insane little movie.

Happy 10th Anniversary EVANGELION: 3.0 - YOU CAN (NOT) REDO. Unquestionably the most controversial decision made in the creation of the Rebuilds and one that completely changed the entire course, response and discourse towards the Rebuilds as a whole.

If you were around here 10 years ago when EVERYTHING CHANGED what were your thoughts on the movie at the time and what are they now?
And if you weren't on EvaGeeks then and have only known the Rebuilds as a story with a massive time jump in the middle what are your thoughts on YOU CAN (NOT) REDO?

[Mr. Tines]

Ah, yes, that time and the memorable thread [SPOILERS AS FUCK] 2ch Q synopsis prep. for anal devastation being updated in real time from early evening my time through to way too late at night - even if the next day was the weekend.

[BernardoCairo]

Ah, yes, that time and the memorable thread [SPOILERS AS FUCK] 2ch Q synopsis prep. for anal devastation being updated in real time from early evening my time through to way too late at night - even if the next day was the weekend.

Asuka WAS the final angel in the end, huh? XD

Also... Fuck, 10 years? I was only 10 years old. What's crazy to me is that 2012 and everything that came before it seems so far away, but 2013 and everything that came after it feels so close. Like, it's crazy to think that in 2015 (which feels like yesterday) Q was only 3 years old and now it's 10. The pandemic helped a lot to make huge chunks of time pass like they were nothing.

[nerv bae]

It's a fever dream of a movie that is my personal favorite entry in the Rebuilds.

Same. 3.0 goes fucking hard.

[The Killer of Heroes]

3.0 is also my favorite, but man I can't believe its been 10 years already. It feels like just yesterday that we non-Japanese speakers were waiting for subs for the camrip lol. And god after that it took so many dang years for the US bluray release.

I remember Xard's big analysis post being the first thing that really gave me any idea not only what 3.0 was doing as a movie but by extension Rebuild as a whole, but that's a bittersweet memory at best now since Xard turned to be...well, Xard.

[FelipeFritschF]

Still my favourite as well. I like how it took a big risk and even alienated much of the audience after the apparent wish fulfilment of 2.0.

[nerv bae]

I remember Xard's big analysis post being the first thing that really gave me any idea not only what 3.0 was doing as a movie but by extension Rebuild as a whole, but that's a bittersweet memory at best now since Xard turned to be...well, Xard.

Way before my time! Is this available to read on EGF?

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

How on earth is this movie 10 friggin years old?

I got the 4K restoration, and am about to show it to some friends of mine. I've been catching them up on Eva before the US Theatrical release. This'll be the trivia piece that ages half of them while befuddling the newbies.

[C.T.1290]

I still remember the early days when I first watched Rebuild.

Fuck, I’m old.

[Mr. Tines]

Way before my time! Is this available to read on EGF?

Everything is there in the archives. It may take some digging to find which post it was, though.

[The Killer of Heroes]

I remember Xard's big analysis post being the first thing that really gave me any idea not only what 3.0 was doing as a movie but by extension Rebuild as a whole, but that's a bittersweet memory at best now since Xard turned to be...well, Xard.

Way before my time! Is this available to read on EGF?

https://forum.evageeks.org/thread/13436/Our-Mistake-with-20-and-30-as-post-EoE-fiction/

[nerv bae]

Way before my time! Is this available to read on EGF?

https://forum.evageeks.org/thread/13436/Our-Mistake-with-20-and-30-as-post-EoE-fiction/

Thank you, will read.

[hui43210]

This all went down on my 23rd birthday. Watching the plot slowly roll out along with the new character designs made it easily my favorite day on this forum. I was then temp banned for being too excited and changing my avatar to Sakura, thus spoiling her for many users I'm sure. It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times.

Happy birthday 3.0! You'll always be #1 in my heart, and I'll defend you from the haters till the end.

[ElMariachi]

3.0 was actually my first serious contact with the Evangelion franchise, back in 2013: I stumbled on a synopsis of the movie (it was in TVTropes I think?) and that got enough of my curiosity (while knowing that NGE was one of the classics of anime) that I decided to finally see it.

Started by binge-watching NGE, then seeing EoE shortly after, took a few weeks to recover from the shock, then binged the three Rebuild movies. And even already knowing what would happen in 3.0, with it being what made me get in the series in the first place, it still managed to be the emotional equivalent of a gut punch. I think it was even more intense by having the series and EOE still fresh in the mind, seeing the now familiar places of Tokyo-3 and NERV just dead (NGE also had the place destroyed, but it was only in the last part of EOE), everyone we know warped into worse versions of themselves except Shinji and Kaworu.

As stated above, the idea to pull the rug from everything we knew of the setting with a surprise timeskip and driving a seemingly impassable wedge between Shinji and everyone else by having his worst nightmare - to ultimately screw-up despite his best efforts and be hated by everyone for it, something that was just the fear conjured by his depression and lack of self-esteem - become reality was a really big risk Anno took, but it worked on giving Rebuild its teeth and its own identity.

And not just the story, the visuals were stricking too, full of iconic shot and designs, from Asuka's tapered plugsuit and cap, to the Wunder, Unit 02's cyborg parts, Mark.09 functioning headless for most of the movie, the shots of the dead remains of NERV HQ, the utterly alien landscape of Tokyo-3, the omnipresence of the color red, Lilith's cadaver... it's been years since I last saw the movie, and there are still images in my memory as vivid as the first time I saw them!

And the fact that it took nine years to have the last movie only cemented 3.0 as the flagship of Rebuild, to the point that Asuka with her eyepatch, tapered plugsuit, track jacket and cap became the mascot of the Rebuild (even though she appeared only five minutes in that outfit, still way better than that abomination that was 2.0's test plugsuit )

For me, 3.0 is still Anno's second most powerful work with Evangelion, second only to EoE.

[BernardoCairo]

I wouldn't go so far as to say it's his second most powerful work with Evangelion. If you consider each individual episode of NGE as its own individual story block (with a beginning, middle and end), then there are some episodes which probably go harder, at least to me personally (22', 25 and 26).
However, what I will say is that Q is my favorite NTE movie and I consider it a very authorial work of art. I believe that, much like NGE episodes, all of these movies work as individual stories to some extent. But Q goes even further with that. I feel like I could watch it without having ever touched Evangelion and would still be stunned. I'm of the opinion NTE can't stand on its own without NGE, as so much of the tetralogy's identity and themes are intertwined with what came before it. Even still, I would argue that Q works on its own. Sure, having watched what came before makes it even darker (as you see how Tokyo 3 is completely in shambles) and you understand a bit more of what's going on. That said, frankly, not understanding what's going on is part of the Q experience (all of my friends get to this movie and then come back to me asking WTF just happened in front of their eyes).
It's a horror movie about isolation, but also a study on how to deal with rejection. It finally puts Shinji to deal with the consequences of his actions in the most brutal of ways. Just like life. Overall 10/10

[ElMariachi]

However, what I will say is that Q is my favorite NTE movie and I consider it a very authorial work of art. I believe that, much like NGE episodes, all of these movies work as individual stories to some extent. But Q goes even further with that. I feel like I could watch it without having ever touched Evangelion and would still be stunned. I'm of the opinion NTE can't stand on its own without NGE, as so much of the tetralogy's identity and themes are intertwined with what came before it. Even still, I would argue that Q works on its own.

Personally, I think that one of the big strengths of 3.0 was how it revealed that the first two Rebuild movies weren't just retelling of NGE with some changes, but actually a hidden prologue of the real story that was starting with this movie, that's why IMHO it feels like it can stand on its own.
Which is why I was disappointed by Thrice going back to intertwining even more with the TV series, to the point of going meta to make it an epilogue of EoE, which IMHO didn't needed it.

[dzzthink]

Q is definitely the most stand-alone and original of the movie series. I remember being glued to the iPad when I was 16, trying to understand what was going on. It set us up for a long wait and there was huge anticipation during the 10-year gap for a movie that would resolve the series. I probably spent a long time rewatching Q in order to get a feel for what is to come and to predict what the next film will be like. Safe to say that it is quite believable and unbelievable that the events of Q would all lead to thrice upon a time.

[BernardoCairo]

Personally, I think that one of the big strengths of 3.0 was how it revealed that the first two Rebuild movies weren't just retelling of NGE with some changes, but actually a hidden prologue of the real story that was starting with this movie, that's why IMHO it feels like it can stand on its own

Funny how you mention that, as a friend of mine and I once had a conversation about how these new movies would have worked really well if the story had started with Q.
I know that setting up the whole thing with the prior two movies exponentially increased the "wow factor", but I think Q could've worked really well as an alternative scenario from what happened in episode 20. Like, a "what would've happened if Shinji was stuck in that EVA much longer" kind of deal. I know the lore is all different but they could've got around it somehow I'm sure. All the characters had already been well introduced, so they wouldn't have to waste time on that... Or maybe they could've kept it as an entirely separate thing and what happened 14 years before the events of the story could've been presented as a slowly unfolding mystery or something.
Anyway, it is what it is.

[Axx°N N.]

I think Q is not only the best of the rebuilds, but the only one that actually lives up to NTE's MO, a retelling with tighter focus on Shinji.

I'm among those who had problems with lack of explanation regarding setting and character motivation back when it premiered, but you can fully argue that these choices are justified because of how well it marries Shinji's and the audience's experience. Compare to Thrice, where the POV sort of shift's to Rei as the audience surrogate, and lots of other characters here and theere because there's so much backstory untouched in Q to catch everyone up on, and then when we're with Shinji it ping pongs from him being shut down to him being fully closed-off in a "taking care of business" way, and we don't really get any intimacy as participants. Thrice (imo) never made the actions of characters in Q make sense in retrospect, but that feels like a flaw within Thrice less so than in Q. I find it easy to get lost in Q and assume these events make sense, for all I (don't) know about what occurred in the timeskip, and I feel like the contrivance of "everyone against Shinji but Kaworu" allows for the most tightly crafted storytelling that NTE has to offer.

There's a similar problem with Kaworu in NTE overall--I can't imagine anyone who sits down to watch NTE without prior knowledge of NGE/EoE would find Kaworu's character comprehensible in any way, what with his origins being vague and, really, sort of non-existent. But this works for me in Q--he's a new person who appears without the painful baggage of someone Shinji knew but who is now, fast as a whiplash, totally antagonistic. The emotional tone of having to trust this small grace is pretty palpable and it truly utilizes the setting--the emotional tone matches the literal physical structures; airship divorced from all we were familiar with, eye-glaring crew, distant lengths of devastation, one single kind person leading by hand down an uncertain tunnel.

I may be alone even among Q enthusiasts, but I think the action in Q is the best of NTE as well. I really like the fights down in the skull pit; the incomprehensibility of everything going on down there really adds a pathos to the proceedings that scream Eva to me in its DNA.

I find myself getting wistful when I see the wide-shot at the end with the beginning of Sakura Nagashi. I spent so many years being teased by that shot and the emotional tone I was left with and feeling like I had no idea what could possibly result, but that it really could be something special. I have a sort of nostalgia for it, even, and I think that kind of open-ended feeling benefits the film when it's taken on its own, without considering what led to it or where it leads. We have the overwhelming alienation and jarring modern designs of sci-fi Wunder depriving us of years of context, the slow industrial isolation of the Neo Nerv compound with a more hollow than ever Rei, and a deep in the earth, desiccated, abandoned version of what once was the final destination of the series: terminal dogma. Why did the earth have teeth? What exactly are the failures of infinity? We were left stranded in a setting defined by emptiness and still air and the film's pacing luxuriated in this to an effective degree--the pacing stops dead just to stop dead.

All of this felt deeply wedded to the story as it once was in a way that riffed on formula not for its own sake as plot, even though it was inherently interesting as a fan to see an alternate take on events, but to allow space for a new emotional tone. This definitely wasn't "there's a weird giant tunnel in the south pole, infinite sync rate is possible, and there's a parallel universe" tier, where the former allows space for action scenes that are just action scenes, the second is a plot twist for its own sake and didn't feel like it truly only could have been the explanation for Shinji's prior 0 rate, and the latter a speech-length dialogue, compared to how Q handles it, where every beat is in tandem with immersion.

So many things feel like they were off-shored from Q for Thrice to handle, and I feel like it was gambling or Russian roulette to do so in the end--many things in Thrice strike me as the best possible attempt to confront things leftover from Q, regardless of the quality of any given solution. What allowed there to be a tight story premise in Q then became a headache of a checklist.

In the end, though, the space this carved out for Q and everything that happens in it worked for Q in isolation. As a companion piece to the franchise, or even just something that makes structural sense, I can't say NTE works for me--but I really dig just taking Q as a sister piece to EoE.

[nerv bae]

I may be alone even among Q enthusiasts, but I think the action in Q is the best of NTE as well. I really like the fights down in the skull pit; the incomprehensibility of everything going on down there really adds a pathos to the proceedings that scream Eva to me in its DNA.

You are not alone. All four films have at least one good action sequence but I think those in Q are ahead by a nose. And this made me think of the musical score for the fights in the skull pit, wow; I'll quote myself from another thread:

Been listening to all four of the rebuild soundtracks recently and 3.33 just slaps. It's a really great soundtrack start to finish but in particular the five or six songs that accompany the fourth impact sequence amaze me.

I still feel this way a year after writing the above: The 3.33 musical score is amazing.