Revival of Evangelion Movie
Revival of Evangelion is the final Evangelion movie release before the announcement of the Evangelion Rebuild movies. It is essentially the culmination of Death & Rebirth and The End of Evangelion and is supposed to contain the entire story of Evangelion in a single release that was launched in 1998. The film itself is comprised of the “Death” section of Death & Rebirth, which acts as a re-edited retelling of the first 24 episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion TV anime series. The End of Evangelion acts as an alternate take of the final two episodes.
Development
As a compilation of the previous two movies, the cast and crew that produced this movie are identical to Death & Rebirth and The End of Evangelion. The production studio that headed its creation was GAINAX while Hideaki Anno directed the movie with the assistance of Masayuki and Kazuya Tsurumaki. Masayuki is credited as directing the “Death” section of Death & Rebirth and went on to create “Death(True)”, which is a secondary release of Death & Rebirth that omitted the “Rebirth” segment and cut out some scenes found in the original release. Another edit, called Death(True2) was also made, and this version is the one used in Revival of Evangelion. “Rebirth” was directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki and comprised the last 25 minutes of Death & Rebirth. It is nearly identical to the first half of The End of Evangelion, save for a few minor details.
Plot Summary
“Death”
“Death” (from Death and Rebirth) is a compilation of the first 24 episodes with a small amount of added scenes not present in the original series. Its story is told achronologically and can jump from the beginning of the series to the end at times. This method of editing is used to present each major character individually and summarize who they are and what they’ve done throughout the series. Throughout the movie, original “string quartet” scenes were added. Shinji, like in Neon Genesis Evangelion, plays the cello. Asuka and Kaworu both play violin while Rei plays the viola.
End of Evangelion
End of Evangelion takes place immediately after the events of Episode 24. Shinji is completely lost in life and has no idea what to do or where to go. Asuka is in an unresponsive state, he had just killed Kaworu, and he is too afraid to show his face to Rei or Misato. SEELE aims to begin the Human Instrumentality Project using Evangelion Unit 01. Gendo Ikari refuses to give them the unit and SEELE begins a full-on assault on NERV, beginning with a digital attack on Magi and later a physical assault on the facility. Asuka begins fighting back against the military force attacking NERV in Evangelion Unit 02, but they manage to cut her power cord, giving her a limited amount of energy to work with. Mass Production Evangelion units are also deployed in Asuka’s area, giving her a group of new enemies to deal with. They prove to be too much, however, and Asuka is defeated and Eva-02 is gruesomely mangled just in time for Shinji to find her.
The Mass Production Eva units begin the ceremony to begin the Third Impact using Evangelion Unit 01 and Shinji. A massive explosion reveals that NERV HQ is located inside Lilith’s Black Moon, which begins to float into the sky and become a part of the ritual. Rei fuses with Adam and Lilith. This Rei-Adam-Lilith being starts growing at an incredible speed and can seemingly phase through matter. The Third Impact continues and life begins to merge into a single entity. A psychological, dream-like conversation begins happening between Shinji and various characters, namely Rei. She says that this world where everyone is all a part of the same being is what Shinji wished for, but he says that isn’t quite what he wanted. A figure of Kaworu asks if he really wants a world where people can hurt each other to exist, to which Shinji agrees. Eva-01 reactivates and breaks through the giant fused being and the Black Moon begins to shatter, releasing all of the souls that were already collected. Shinji is able to say one last goodbye to his mother in Eva-01 before re-emerging from a sea of LCL. Afterward, Shinji and Asuka are seen lying next to each other on the nearby beach. Shinji sits up and begins strangling Asuka, who does not struggle, but rather puts a hand on his cheek. Shinji loosens his grip and begins sobbing while Asuka delivers the final line of the movie: “Disgusting”.
Characters
The original characters from the series are included in this movie.
- Shinji Ikari voiced by Megumi Ogata
- Misato Katsuragi voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi
- Rei Ayanami voiced by Megumi Hayashibara
- Asuka Langley Soryu voiced by Yūko Miyamura
- Kaworu Nagisa voiced by Akira Ishida
- Gendo Ikari voiced by Fumihiko Tachiki
- Ryoji Kaji voiced by Kōichi Yamadera
- Ritsuko Akagi voiced by Yuriko Yamaguchi
- Kozo Fuyutsuki voiced by Motomu Kiyokawa
- Toji Suzuhara voiced by Tomokazu Seki
- Kensuke Aida voiced by Tetsuya Iwanaga
- Makoto Hyuga voiced by Hiro Yūki
- Shigeru Aoba voiced by Takehito Koyasu
- Maya Ibuki voiced by Miki Nagasawa
- Keel Lorentz voiced by Mugihito
- Naoko Akagi voiced by Mika Doi
- Hikari Horaki voiced by Junko Iwao
- Yui Ikari voiced by Megumi Hayashibara
- Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu voiced by Maria Kawamura
- Pen Pen voiced by Megumi Hayashibara