Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth Movie
Neon Genesis Evangelion Death & Rebirth is the first theatrical film of the Evangelion series to be released. This movie is split into two sections: “Death” and “Rebirth”. “Death” is a recut and condensed version of the first 24 episodes of the anime series, while “Rebirth” is the first half of what would later become The End of Evangelion. While Hideaki Anno remained the executive director, he was assisted by Masayuki (who helped direct “Death”) and Kazuya Tsurumaki (who helped direct “Rebirth”). The End of Evangelion and this movie were originally intended to be released as a single movie but eventually had to be split up. Death & Rebirth would later go on to be re-released in several different forms throughout the years. In 1998, Revival of Evangelion was released and combined edited versions of both Death & Rebirth and The End of Evangelion into a single release.
Development and Controversy
After the strange and unorthodox finale of Neon Genesis Evangelion, many fans and critics were left either confused or disappointed. This lead to Studio GAINAX eventually greenlighting a movie project that was supposed to have a complete ending but was cut short due to time constraints and budgeting. As a result, two films ended up being made, the first being Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and the second being The End of Evangelion. Splitting the full ending up into parts garnered the ire of a number of fans, some of who took to extreme measures. After the release of Death and Rebirth, Gainax and director Hideaki Anno received letters and emails with harsh criticisms and, in some cases, death threats. Meanwhile, the GAINAX office itself was vandalized with red graffiti. Pictures of both the letters and the vandalism were taken and used in The End of Evangelion (although some letters actually included praise for Anno and Death and Rebirth).
Versions
Death and Rebirth
The original release. The first (and longest) section is referred to as “Death” and is a compilation of the first 24 episodes with a small amount of added scenes not present in the original series. Unlike most compilation movies, however, “Death” 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, “string quartet” scenes are added to the movie. Shinji, like in Neon Genesis Evangelion, plays the cello. Asuka and Kaworu both play violin while Rei plays the viola.
“Rebirth” takes up the last 25 minutes of Death and Rebirth and, unlike “Death”, features completely original content. It 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 Eva 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 Evangelion Unit 02 is gruesomely mangled just in time for Shinji to find her.
Death(True) and Death(True)2
Death(True) is a re-edit of the “Death” section of Death & Rebirth that omits the second section entirely. It removes some of the scenes used in the original release, while some were added back into Death(True2).
Revival of Evangelion
Revival of Evangelion is the final original movie release that compiles both “Death” and The End of Evangelion. As it contains the story of the original series (albeit in a condensed form) and the complete ending of The End of Evangelion, many consider it to be the penultimate version of the original movie releases.
Character Appearances
- Shinji Ikari voiced by Megumi Ogata
- Misato Katsuragi voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi
- Rei Ayanami voiced by Megumi Hayashibara
- Asuka Langley Soryu voiced by Yuko 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