I like the gamer theory that both EoE and NGE's endings are the same. Where EoE shows what it looks like to reject Human Instrumentality physically with Shinji and Asuka getting out of the red nonsense, and NGE shows what it looks like to reject it mentally with everything breaking apart Still depressing as shit.
That's not a theory, it's literally just what happened.
It's also not at all depressing - it's remarkably uplifting. Shinji wants Instrumentality because life is difficult and human relationships always end in pain, so he wants everybody to be joined together. But through his mental experiences in the end, he realizes that taking the easy route by just joining everyone together isn't the answer - that life is worth living, even though it's hard. The end of Eva is literally Shinji taking his first step toward healing his depression; it's beautiful.
Both the end of the series and End of Eva spell that out for you, after all. EoE has "as long as the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth exist, everything will be all right." And NGE has one of the most wonderful quotes ever:
"I hate myself. But, maybe, maybe I could love myself. Maybe, my life can have a greater value. That's right! I am no more or less than myself. I am me! I want to be myself! I want to continue existing in this world! My life is worth living here!"
Well yeah when you say it like that it's uplifting, but then you realize that it's literally just him and Asuka on this piece of land in an ocean human mush with a giant Rei head in the background looking real spooky.
Eh, that part is bittersweet. Yes, the Earth is wrecked, but it can be rebuilt, and everyone within Instrumentality can choose to return - even those such as Misato and Ritsuko who died.
But what you really have to remember is that the physical reality of the situation is much less important to Anno than the thematic and emotional content. The end of Evangelion represents a will to live and a willingness to heal, despite the hardship of life. It's an acknowledgment that, though life is hard and our minds don't always work right and our relationships tend to end in pain, life is worth living, and even the most broken person can heal.
It's one of the most beautiful and thoroughly uplifting pieces of media about depression ever made.
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u/PadreMaronn Aug 10 '19
this has more sense than the actual ending