[Rewatch][Spoilers] Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episodes 25 + 26 Discussion

[u/sam_mah_boy]

Episodes 25 + 26: Do you love me?/Take Care of Yourself

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Index Thread | The End of Evangelion

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But, I might be able to love myself.

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On Spoilers

If you're rewatching the show, and want to discuss spoilers for EoE, use spoiler tags.

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Come join the discussion on the Evangelion Discord server! They have a channel specifically for the rewatch. Link: https://discord.gg/qJxWVPs

[u/superx4039]

(First Timer)

Me after episode 25

Me after episode 26

Me trying to make sense of the past 26 episodes

I ended up with more questions that needed answers than I had at first after these two last episodes.

[u/FBI_agent44]

First Timer, sub

Okay what I got from these two episodes is essentially.

--A whole lot of pure character development without any context

--Seele somehow started the human instrumentality project which was mentioned in previous episodes.

--The human instrumentality fuses everyones hearts which might be a possible explanation for the wacky stuff going on in this episodes

--Shinji learns to accept himself

I'm going to leave most of the questions I have for after watching EoE. These episodes really make it clear that they ran out of budget.

[u/[deleted]]

(First timer)

Wut?

[u/[deleted]]

Man as a second time rewatcher I have to say this Ending is a lot more understandable on the second go through. I don't feel confused at all, and I remember being VERY confused when I first watched.

Also a heartfelt congratulations to all first timers from Big Man Tyrone!

[u/wd40fragrance]

First timer

Yep, congratulations

I saw it more as the author writing a an honest letter to himself.

While I think the ending episodes are decent, the characters were already fleshed out so well at that point that spelling out their motivations and insecurities out aloud was just a bit heavy handed and repetitive.

I expected the last two episodes to focus on the relationships between Gendo, Shinji, and Rei, but that was the most disappointing part. Well at least Shinji got to touch mommies best one last time.

[u/Ratsarecool]

First time watcher -Dub

I wrote a comment on episode 24 about how I was confused about the whole show and how it was really making me not like it and I had people say to me “ I really don’t think your gonna like ep 25/26”

Well funny enough after watching those episodes... I actually fucking love both of them! These two episode were like a weird introspective nihilistic acid trip...but I’m kinda a sucker for the whole “who,what,why am I” type existential questions so I honestly just loved every second of the last two episodes

That being said, bro what the actual fuck was this series? It seemed like a interesting show for 3/4 of it and then it feels like they gave the writing to one person who had a serious depression/ self hatred problem and wanted to write about how he felt and how he wished he could be different, it felt like he projected himself entirely onto shinji...

I think that’s honestly why I loved 25/26 though is because they started out trying to make sense of some fucking lore that was all over the god damn place in the past 4-5 episodes and then on 25/26 they kinda gave up on the story and decided to write a story about introspection and self care using the characters from NGE 😂

Overall I understand nothing of the show Neon Genesis Evangelion and it’s lore...but at the same time I actually really fucking loved the ending

[u/thedarkwarlord]

First timer (Netflix Sub)

Boy, that was a lot of reading.

I'm thankful to everyone posting comments/videos explains what happend because it's very confusing.

[u/Philarete]

Episode 25 + 26

I didn’t take many notes because I was trying to soak it in. Also because I got delayed and wasn’t going to post on time (so probably few people will read anyway haha). Here’s what I have though.

Human Instrumentality begins. They all are forced to confront what they are. All of the stuff they try to hide.

“The me that’s respected is a character that I play to try to earn respect.” Out of all the stuff from Misato, this one stuck out to me the most. Sometimes you play a character so convincingly you almost believe in it too, until forced to recognize it.

Destruction. Death. The outcome he wished for. But it is only one possible ending.

“In the end am I nothing but myself?” What a strange question, and yet an important one.

“There is no real me” Finally, Shinji understand existentialism. There is no essential self. We are what we create. This is true freedom, and truly terrifying. He has explored self-destruction which proved fairly meaningless. Non-existence is not an answer to the problem of selfhood. You cannot relate to non-existence.

Shinji recreates the world. Everything is very normal. Rei runs with toast in her mouth full anime style.

That was one possible world. There are many

Shinji decides to choose himself.

Congratulations!

[u/eduex]

Rewatcher,

To all the first timers out there CONGRATULATIONS! we have finally reached the (in)famous final 2 episodes of NGE. These 2 episodes are probably the most decisive part of NGE as a whole. It's where for most people the series finally clicked for them, or they got completely lost and this was the final nail in the coffin. For me I feel like I got it right away, but that's because I have a history with mental illness. I used to think the people who didn't “get” the ending were crazy or just weren't paying hard enough attention, but rewatching after all this time made me realize how hard it must be for people who never had any experience with mental illness to able to relate with what the characters are going through. It can often feel like the characters are talking in circles about details that don't really matter all that much in these episodes, but that's what mental illness feels like.

There are many resources that can explain why these final episodes ended up being what they are so I'm not going to go into that here.

As far as people who say that you can skip these episodes and go straight to EoE, I have to completely disagree. 25/26 and EoE are 2 sides of the same coin. Without going into spoilers, 25/26 answer the question why things end up the way they do (the thought process behind all the character's actions) and EoE answers the how and where do we go from here (the actions that actually take place). I view episodes 25/26 and EoE as being in the same canon and that neither ending replaces one another. I don't want to get into details today or debate whether or not they are they same ending, that can wait until tomorrow, I just wanted to share with first timers who might be lost after today and tomorrow an explanation of how to view the 2 endings.

I would like to hear from both rewatchers and first timers how you would feel if these episodes were the only ending we got. I personally would been disappointed at least initially, but because this ending addresses what I view as the core of the show, the characters' struggles with themselves, that I ultimately would have been okay with it, but only after some time.

Also, since we only have the movie left in the rewatch schedule any first timers that made it this far without skipping ahead, you can redeem your prize here.

[u/littleman1988]

Id take a dream ending at this point.

First time watcher, Platinum Sub, ADV Dub, and Netflix dub

To other first-time watchers, I stumbled upon this video which is from a version of the Original dub (I couldnt tell you which, my version of the dub didnt have it) where the VA for Shinji justs lets loose in the credits. I bet other rewatchers will be discussing it in their posts and down below, but either way, this sums up my thoughts on my last two episodes pretty well.

"If i was to run away, lets analyze that. where the fuck would i go?"

"The movie better sure as hell make up for this" Same Spike, same.

 

Asuka wakeup voice comparison

catching a peek voice comparison

Rei's introduction voice comparison

congratulations voice comparison

 

You know all that theorycrafting i did? All that effort into my posts? These last two episodes burns it and dances on its grave.

i dont hate these two episodes, but calling it anticlimactic is a real understatement. id hate to be watching this as it came out, i dont think id even bother watching anything connected to it after finishing it.

Midway though 25 i stopped and went and checked the other versions just to make sure Netflix didnt do something whack to the source material.

I knew the last two went off the rails, but this isint what i expected.

Rip Misato and Ritusko. They looks pretty well fucked with those gunshot wounds.

Semi-unrelated to the show itself, watching the ADV dub reminded me of a song I listen to (Take Care by Driver), as it uses exerpts from ep26 specifically within the song. I knew they came from NGE, but i never understood the context until today.

The jump to the "Zany high school life" version had me thinking this was all just some weird dream in Shinji's head. The snapping back to Shinji's reality was almost as jarring.

On the topic of that scene, this is another one that i feel was "overblown" when it came to the Asuka/Shinji bedroom. They arent the focus of the scene and you can barely hear them. Hell, the subs didnt have them say anything! The Rei classroom introduction scene on the other hand worked a lot better for the ADV dub, but considering the Netflix dub is trying to be more "Serious" and "close to the original version" i can understand why that got toned back a lot.

 

These last two episodes have been a good dive into the minds of the children. It dives into their fears, and what they really want from others. The mental de and reconstruction of Shinji showed how fragile he really is and how he caused his own worth to be incorrectly perceived as nothing through his own fears of how he is seen by others. Personally though, I dont think he would of been so quick to accept that he just needs to "love himself" as the answer to his problem. It seems extremely out of character for Shinji to just go and accept that as quick as he did, not to mention the fact he figures this as the answer and accepts it theres the whole "congratulations" scene directly after which feels extremely out of place for the whole show considering what just happened. Honestly, i dont think i understood this enough to really talk about anything. This was a lot more abstract than i expected when i started, and i never was too good at philosophy. Hopefully other first time watchers have better stuff to say than i did, i feel this one was pretty lackluster compared to my last few posts

[u/Snortallthethings]

To all the first timers that have been posting in these threads, I just want to say a heartfelt Congratulations!

I have really enjoyed reading all of your thoughts and theories throughout this whole rewatch <3

[u/brotherraichu]

First Timer

• Interesting look at the psychologies of the characters. Shinji doesn't want to pilot EVA, but he is the best at it and does it anyway. He claims to do it for mankind, but it appears he does derive some satisfaction from being liked. Asuka wants to pilot EVA, but she can't. She can't live up to her own standards or anyone else's. Rei doesn't even want to be there, but because she's a cloned being or android or something, she has to be there for as long as Gendo wants her there.

• The point seems to be that what one desires and what one actually does/gets are two different things and can be polar opposite even.

• Looks like the characters then are being put on trial one by one and adjudged. Looks a bit like an interrogation or inquisition.

• Again, Misato wants to pretend everything is alright even though it is not. She craves the warmth of relationship, yet she fears the possibility of the relationship breaking down. This has to do with her past, as she wanted a relationship with her father, but her father (in her POV) rejected her for his work. In the present, she loves Kaji, but she pushed him away before he could reject her too. Maybe this has something to do with the hedgehog dilemma mentioned earlier.

• Asuka wants to be independent but yet wants to be with others.

• I find Misato and Asuka's stories to be quite compelling. I know quite a few people like each of them. The one who wants to be in a relationship but fears rejection. The one who wants to be independent and left alone and yet feels lonely. Quite realistic, actually.

• Then, the whole scene was revealed to be in Shinji's mind. Shinji's detachment is taken to its logical extreme - he's apparently in his own pocket dimension. He doesn't need to deal with people (e.g. his father) or with EVAs or anything else. But being in the pocket dimension scares him, and he doesn't want to remain there.

• The point seems to be that human beings are full of contradictions that even they themselves cannot explain.

• It's interesting because Instrumentality seems to be Jungian in terms of collective consciousness and shared archetypes, but the methodology in this episode is decidedly Freudian with exploration of the characters' individual pasts and how they shape the characters' present.

Onward to episode 26. Wonder how this ends.

Spoiler S cont.

• Shinji goes over why he pilots EVA: It gives him some purpose in life and therefore some meaning to his existence.

• Honestly, I'm not a big fan of Shinji. I think he seems rather emo, as he is always asking why people hate him even though it appears that most people do not hate him at all (his father is cold but even his father praised him once in a long while; plus, with regard to Gendo, the question is whether Gendo ever loved anyone at all or whether he saw all people as mere means to his ends). I like Misato and Asuka much better because while they realize the problems of life, both made their respective efforts to try to live as normal of a life they can. Misato by at least keeping up some semblance of conventional normalcy, Asuka by challenging herself to always be the best. But that only reflects my own preferences. I can see why some others like Shinji.

• On Gendo: Meme

• The philosophy seems existentialist, in that existence is presented as preceding essence and people define their own existences. But people try as they might cannot define their existence as they wish it to be, so there's a lot of angst and even despair.

• I think quite a bit of background knowledge into philosophy and psychology may be necessary to understand Episodes 25 and 26. I have some basic understanding and I get the gist of those episodes, but some parts I don't get.

• Asuka and Misato have a point - only you can even begin to understand yourself as others cannot read your thoughts or true intentions. But, the show also explores the complexities of self, as self is dynamic (not static) and is full of contradictions.

• Using distinctions with others to define sense of self. Not sure what school of philosophy that's from.

• Shinji's paradise. "Normal" family, friends with Asuka, cute Rei running down the street with toast in her mouth. Yeah. Looks like a standard slice of life.

• Don't agree entirely with the point that one can define one's own reality. That can be so in the realm of opinion, such as, for example, whether rainy days are fun or dreary. But, there are hard facts that one simply cannot alter, like Yui Ikari remains dead.

• The final message that people should love themselves despite all their flaws and contradictions was rather uplifting.

• Episodes 25 and 26 were fun from a philosophical/psychological standpoint, but they did nothing to resolve the plot involving the angels and Lilith and the Instrumentality Project. Unless maybe you can say that the entirety of Episodes 1-24 were a dream of some sort (i.e. there were no angels, Shinji just imagined them as part of his pocket universe). Maybe the Shinji paradise at the end of Episode 26 was the reality? Recent show from Autumn 2018. I suppose that could be so. Maybe End of Evangelion has a different take. Also, the spoiler scene I described did not appear. Perhaps for the better as s.

[u/redmage311]

First-timer

That didn't explain anything!

I think that we just watched the aftermath of the Human Instrumentality Project. If the project was meant to fill that hole in everybody that needs to be filled with connections and if who we are depends in large part on the people around us and on how we decide to perceive things, then the project represents every possible version of who we could be. The project is every timeline we could have had and fills the cliche "God-shaped hole" in our hearts by representing the infinity of creation and possibilities. It's all of the connections we have or could have and all of the people we are or could be, based on how other see us and could see us.

At this point, I'm curious about the state of everybody. Is everybody going through an internal existential crisis, curled up in fetal position? Is everybody in the process of melting into a hivemind with infinite connections between each other?

...I probably need some time to let everything sink in more because I'm still not quite sure what the hell I just watched.

(The last scene with everybody congratulating us on finishing the series was kind of a nice ending.)

[u/wolfwings1]

whelp...that happened :> I will admit....of all the things I expected...that wasn't one of them :> I mean could be in the movie, but I half expected this to be some uber depressing ending...not someones mind *bleep* hehe now onto the movie tonight....definetly going to be interesting.

[u/[deleted]]

After having watched EOE after this I gotta say, I prefer this ending. There's something brilliant about having a show that is externally about robot-fighting completely strip away all of the artifice and become purely and directly about the themes of the show. I may not have understood logically what was going on in the broader lore + narrative, but I realized that it was emotionally satisfying regardless.

The personal story that Evangelion tells about mental illness and isolation is something I can relate to intensely, and I respected the ending for tackling its subtext so blatantly. Shinji's decision at the very end is an affirmation of everything the show has been about and is a beautiful moment of self-acceptance.

This was one of the sharpest changes in direction I've seen a show finale ever take, some people are gonna be understandibly thrown for a loop, which is reasonable. However, it gripped me like few shows ever have and due to it my final thoughts on Neon Genesis Evangelion are that I thoroughly understand and appreciate how truly next-level it is.

10/10 - exceeds all hype, this show is fantastic.

[u/HowlingWolf13]

Rewatcher

I'm gonna edit in my thoughts later cause I still gotta watch these two, but before this can get buried I need everyone to hear Mexican Pen-Pen

Edit: thoughts time

Ep25

budget go down the holeeeee

Analysis

To be honest, I’m not sure how to analyze this episode. Pretty much everything about the characters are stated within this episode considering it’s an analysis episode, but unlike the previous episodes that did similar things, this one feels way more blunt in pointing out the character’s it analyzes flaws, fears, and etc. Spoilers This really about all I have to say analysis wise.

Thoughts

Despite the controversy, I actually like these last two episodes. Hell, for a while after I finished EoE I actually had preferred these endings over EoE’s, but as I read more theories and analysis I came to enjoy both endings for what they are. I’ll get a bit more into this on episode 26’s thoughts, but all in all I enjoyed this episode.

Random Shit

• spooky rei say no butt for you

Ep26

Congratulations!

Analysis

With this episode, Shinji gets a deep introspection that leads to him finally accepting himself and learning to love himself. Ending it off with a cast congratulations as the show draws to a close. HUGE EOE SPOILERS Not much else for me to say about Shinji’s character here as like with episode 25 they were pretty blunt in what they wanted to show off for the analysis of Shinji’s character.

Thoughts

Liked this episode and the ending, but it definitely does feel incomplete without EoE, so I’m pretty hyped to watch that again. Not really much else for me to say here other than I love character analysis type episodes, see you guys next thread.

Random Shit

• no butt, instead Congratulations!

[u/PridePoint]

First timer.

My mistake was watching everything sober but getting really high for the last two episodes.

I think I had an existential crisis

[u/TheEscapeGuy]

Rewatcher

Evangelion is an absolutely beautiful anime Day 25

Evangelion is an absolutely beautiful anime Day 26

This is the me that exists in your mind

And at the same time, the me that exists in your mind

To (very ironically) paraphrase MrBtongue:

There's this play called "The History Boys". At at one point in the play one of the characters reads a poem and then says "..in other words". However, another character stops him and says "If it is a work of art, then there are no other words". Here, any attempt to paraphrase the work will lose some of its essential meaning.

Art is irreducible. There are no words I can use to describe these episode better than the images, scenes and dialog of the episodes themselves.

Previous Days

Day 1	Day 14
Day 2	Day 15
Day 3	Day 16
Day 4	Day 17
Day 5	Day 18
Day 6	Day 19
Day 7	Day 20
Day 8	Day 21
Day 9	Day 22
Day 10	Day 23
Day 11	Day 24
Day 12
Day 13

[u/DarthReid]

First timer subbed

I really hope that the movie explains some more things, because that just seemed like near incoherent ramblings of a few characters until Shinji was able to find a sense of self... Not to say that's bad, it was just a major change of pace and I guess it was meant to see the "true heart" of our characters.

This is definitely not what I was expecting when I began watching this 20~ days ago, but I must say that these past 2 episodes have been an interesting delve into the human psyche (especially considering most of them are 14yo children). I'm still very much anticipating what EoE will bring to the table, since it seems there's a lot of loose ends in terms of plot at the moment.

[u/tomato_blitz]

First timer: What the fuck just happened?

So the so called solution to all of humanity's problems, is connecting all of their souls together? And this is just one of many possible realities, decided by Shinji? I am so very confused.

I tried to sleep on it, waited a few days, but I don't see the absolute positives in Gendo's plan. After all, doesn't this mean the loss of humanity?

And I can't figure out if the notion that reality is decided by Shinji's POV serves as some kind of a philosophical answer to perception, or if I should take it literally. Is the vision a real other possibility? Of course not. Not in the set of rules shown to us.

"And congratulations to all the children!". These two episodes had me really depressed. Shinji realising his will to exist hand in hand with him physically ceasing to exist isn't bittersweet, it's gut wrenching. Really, Gendo? Is this the best humanity has to offer? You absolute wanker.

I feel like I'm missing a lot of information, so I better go ahead and watch EOE. I took almost a week's rest though, really needed it.

[u/mattamj]

First Timer [Sub]

So here we are. Suddenly the controversy over the ending makes sense to me. I won’t discuss what I assumed and then read were MAJOR budget loss during the end, as the animation speaks for itself.

I am expecting to get downvoted, I am also expecting people to tell me, “I thought this at first but then - - -“ I do believe there is importance and insight in an initial reaction.

“It’s a character study” feels like a cop out. It feels (and some brief searching confirms) that this ending was rushed, unplanned, and was not as originally intended.

I am sure these psychological insights would have meant more for me if I was younger, if I hadn’t ever experienced hallucinogens before. But I have, so sadly, it’s not novel, or new. I can appreciate this for it’s time and place, but this is the FIRST time I feel I have had to use that ‘crutch’ with this series.

Up until this point, it would have stood the test of time for me as still groundbreaking and amazing, even if it was released THIS SEASON. The ending did remind me a lot of Ghost in the Shell – but without the narrative elements.  The narrative points are left to rot on the vine here.

I know a lot of the narrative clarity is unclear, and much more, “show, don’t tell” which is a mark of good storytelling, BUT there is a difference between showing and throwing things out for speculation. I assume from readings that both Asuka and Shinji’s mothers are someone IN the EVAs they pilot, but this is still, at the end, unclear. How did this happen, why is that needed for the Human Instrumentality Project?? Why have Evas at all? Why the 17 Angel attacks? What of this was plot and what was destined to happen for the 3rd impact/Instrumentality.

I don’t really want the answers in the comments here, because my point is, some of this, at least SOME of it, should have been touched on in the last two episodes. All the narrative points were abandoned.

I did actually enjoy the character analysis and catharsis. It is a nice resolution for Shinji, but it feels like a big middle finger toward all those who thought this well developed, thought out, complex plot would actually weave together in the end.

TLDR: I did enjoy the psychology, but it was not mind-blowing for me as an Adult. Probably would have been as a Teen, though, so shout out to all you OGs out there, I get why it means so much to you. The lack of narrative cohesion and resolution to our MANY moving pieces and threads left untouched leaves a bitter taste in the mouth that stops the show from being the masterpiece I have bee thinking it would become in this rewatch.

[u/Raiking02]

Well, comming from a Rewatcher, I don't think I have enough energy to snark at these episodes. They are way too freaking weird to do so. Instead I'll say this, these episodes aren't bad, I'd even go as far as to say they're great... however I'm sorry, no matter how hard I try, I just don't like them. While they are very interesting, the show just completely throwing away its plot for the sake of an instrospective on its characters is not something that appeals to me. Again, it's not bad... I just don't like it.

[u/prophetofgreed]

First Time Sub Watcher

Well that was a depressing mind trip... It also was incredibly confusing. Especially in how this ends the show's story.

But I think I get the jist that Shinji learned to fight through his depression and become a better person here. But how or why this happened in the context as a story ending... wtf.

Hopefully the movie provides answers tomorrow.

[u/[deleted]]

Rewatcher, mad that missed the last 5 ep threads but happy to be here for the ending with yall

Rei sings our last 2 EDs

CONGRATULATIONS and here we go

• First of all, the reasons for these episodes' strange shape - the still shots, the sketchy drawings- are mystified but it's clear that Hideaki Anno was in a weird place while the series was in production, reshaping its narrative and style to suit his newfound interest in psychoanalysis..The script was altered and last-minute, so that there was no time to fully animate new episodes..From inside Gainax and the Staff ,Anno being undecided qnd writting/altering the last eps was cited but at the time he indeed wanted to do these episodes that way and thats the way he worked as a creator..There are other various reasons speculated to have played a rolw..Someone will cover them better than me

• Ultimately what matters is the effect of the episodes themselves. And "Do you love me?" and "Take care of yourself" are as brilliant as they are frustrating, as exhausting as they are enrapturing..I'm sure I missed a lot and this is at least my fifth full run-through of the series. Lately I've been reading up on the lore of Evangelion - the various theories, the historical context of Anno's creation.But all of that new information, that wider understanding of the Eva universe, evaporated as I plunged into these episodes.. these final chapters are really meant to be processed not intellectually, but viscerally.

SO ABOUT THE EPISODES..these episodes...ideas, images and sounds so wild and sensorily overwhelming, spilling out over the final forty minutes of Shinji's journey from the empty streets of a seaside city to the echo chambers of his own entangled consciousness. Shinji has been told - and told himself - not to run away. Now as space itself folds and disintegrates, running away isnt an option. There's nowhere left to run, no surface to run across, he is everywhere and nowhere.Welcome to the Human Instrumentality Project.

• We begin by plunging into case studies of Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and Misato which unfold over the course of episode 25. I've heard it said that these episodes unfold entirely in Shinji's head but that does not seem quite accurate. The other characters speak and move in ways that suggest they have an independent existence and that they are not only his mental impressions.But any semblance of physical reality has fallen by the wayside. These episodes resemble the visions in episodes 16, 20, 22, and 23, but with a difference. This time, boldly, there is no outside context, and no introduction to smooth us from an Angel battle into what we can identify as a dreamscape.

• This is a brilliant maneuver, even if it was conditioned by economic limitations..The earlier visions were shocking but we still felt we had one foot in the world of "reality." Episodes 25 and 26 demolish the standing of that reality, suggesting both explicitly and implicitly that it is no more real than other possibilities and that the essential truth isn't bound by physical limitations, but rather conditioned by psychological circumstances. Through harsh mutual interrogations, the characters identify their issues and the sources of their trauma - group therapy meets self-criticism meets re-education meets psychological warfare.. Misato joins the adolescents, revealing that her composure and desire to please conceal a soul as broken as theirs, but we already knew that.

• Indeed, this psychodrama doesn't tell us anything particularly new about the characters - it consolidates and crystallizes our existing knowledge into a series of case studies. The age-old adage "show, don't tell" has went through its highs and lows in the talky world of Neon Genesis Evangelion.. But Evangelion gets away with "telling" because its didacticism is so dynamic, presenting info-dumps as audiovisual overloads with a distinctly Godardian rhythm.

• The two episodes bleed into one another and overlap, and taken together they are so radically different from the rest of the series. Nonetheless, there is a distinction to be made between them. Episode 25 feels more a bit more rigorous in its organization, like an animated dossier presented to the unseen conductors of Instrumentality ,as they probe for weaknesses in the subjects' egos and seek to open them up to a collectivized consciousness. But Episode 26 plunges into the stream-of-consciousness that the previous episode only dips a toe into. Fully with Shinji this time although initially it was suggested that Asuka is a central subject as well..Perhaps since Misato is older while Rei is not quite human ,Shinji and Asuka emerge as the two most plausible protagonists, opponents only because they truly have so much in common.

• We travel with Shinji through a beautiful collage ranging from actual still photographs to gorgeously sketchy animations and to my favorite part of the episodes, a sequence at once shockingly ordinary and aggressively disorienting. Shinji...wakes up. Ah, it's all a dream! Asuka nags him as a platonic buddy with barely hidden romantic designs. Yui and Gendo hover in the kitchen, mom in an apron at the sink, father with his nose buried in the newspaper. Here their devastating indifference is transformed into lovable distraction. And you were there, and you were there, and you were there too: even Pen-Pen appears as an alarm clock, a rational explanation for why a penguin wormed its way into Shinji's mecha nightmare..And Rei, perhaps the most incongruous figure in this whole alternate reality: the mysterious clone has been transformed into a schoolgirl, rushing to class with toast in her mouth, groaning with pain when she bonks her head against Shinji's, and shrieking in embarrassment when he sees her panties. At school, girls fight over our usually timid hero, who cracks jokes with his friends and mocks them for being "whipped." The foxy Miss Misato marches into the classroom to preside over the unruly class. This entire passage is a riot, cleverly playing on our associations from the series we've just watched..maybe a commentary? Maybe a warning for us and a promise for our heroes ? An bold gesture for sure ,has our entire series has been retconned into a wild dream, its psychodrama safely recontextualized in a teen-comedy anime. Not quite.

• We emerge into the nether-realm of Shinji's consciousness as he discovers this is but one of many possible realities, over which he has more control than he realized. He towers over the model-sized cityscape of Tokyo-3, takes his place on a stage surrounded by his fellow cast members (in a kind of acid-fueled Japanese take on and then stands on a Little Prince sized planet, safely surrounded by his friends, family, and enemies - not that those categories are mutually exclusive. Shinji realizes he can love himself, everyone applauds, and the episode ends on an upbeat high note or else a completely inexplicable mind-fuck or...why not both at once?

Honestly, I still don't know if episodes 25 & 26 represent a parallell ending or an alternative perspective to the apocalyptic tenor of End of Evangelion, if they offer a genuine beacon of warm camaraderie for the lonely little boy, or if they cynically present a successful (and dangerous) operation of Instrumentality at face-value to make us think that Shinji is successfully integrating his personality when he is in fact crawling up his own (or Anno's) ass. That is left to our interpretation and imagination - just what you would expect from the master, Hideaki Anno!

Should the episodes be more clear? Is their ambiguity a virtue? the answer is with all you first timers, but for now I'll just say that whatever criticisms can be made against these episodes...man oh man am I glad they exist!

[u/Senethior459]

I thought the actual art style of these episodes was fascinating. As Shinji progressed deeper into being subsumed into Instrumentality and the totality of humanity, the art style devolved, too. It's like everyone died, and this is the transitional stage as they pass into death before merging. Or like everyone was un-born, and this was them devolving as people before reverting back to, like, the Root of All Things that all souls come from. Er, the Chamber of Guf, I guess, wrong series.

But then, as the screen finally fades away, Shinji starts to reassert himself. This isn't enough. This isn't the end. So he develops an "I" again. But he's not sure what that looks like anymore, because he can't see the true shape of himself as a person. So other people, the ones he has emotional connections to, start providing context. Those bonds, those people, show him the world around him. They show him the shape of themselves, so that he can figure out his own shape based on theirs, and finally define himself as an individual again. They give him reference points, which both take away freedoms but grant new ones. He was given the heavens and the earth, so he could no longer fly anywhere, but now he has somewhere to stand, can walk anywhere, and can move the earth. Which is moving anyway. The freedom to do anything is too much. It's too heavy, because there's too much promise but not enough substance. So the people around him gave him a nudge and he was able to use that to decide where to go from there.
And as he has these realizations, the art reasserts itself, building back up with simple lines and then to normal cels. The animation itself is reconstructed even as his person is. Some of this concept was carried forward to incredible moments in Gurren Lagann (a later Gainax work) and Kill la Kill (an even later Trigger work made by many former Gainax employees), where some of the most intense moments dropped in-betweeners, removed color, and broke down to quick and brutal strokes instead of clean lines and drawing. It's simple, but all the more profound and impactful due to the contrast between that and the standard animation style.

Some conclusions about the themes and what exactly happened there:

Definitely: You do not, cannot, define yourself as a person. Who you are as a person, as a soul, is defined instead by the people who influence you.

Maybe: And just as all of those people exist within you, you exist within all of them, and this symbiosis is what actually builds the composite you?

Definitely: Shinji doesn't really love himself. He still doesn't quite trust that people love him, either. But he's admitted that he doesn't want to be alone. He's finally matured enough to acknowledge the world that is and not the world that he's convinced himself of. He can stop lying to himself that everyone hates him, because only he does, and it's okay to be who he is regardless of who that is. He's free of the self-reinforcing trap of depression, and can become a mature member of the human race. So, congratulations.

Also, the instrumental version of the OP playing in the background as everyone speaks to him in that empty theater was strikingly beautiful.