Rebuild of Evangelion: Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo Movie

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo is the third of four movies in the Rebuild of Evangelion movie series. This series acts as a recreation of the Neon Genesis Evangelion story on a fundamental level and has major differences when compared to the original in both story, characters, and development.

3.0 is the first movie that features a completely original story that is not based on the original series whatsoever. It is set 14 years after the end of the previous film, leading to locations and characters developing in significantly different ways than previously shown.

Unlike the TV series (animated by GAINAX), the Rebuild series is animated by Studio Khara, an animation studio founded by Evangelion Director Hideaki Anno in 2006. In addition to Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto provided character designs and Ikuto Yamashita created the mecha design. The movie also included newly available 3D CG technology that wasn’t present in previous movies.

This movie first released on November 17th, 2012.

Summary

Asuka and Mari are sent on a mission in space to retrieve a high priority target and are attacked by several Angel-like enemies. Asuka manages to capture the target, but discovers that another enemy had hidden itself on the target. Asuka calls out for Shinji for help and, to her surprise, Evangelion Unit 01 is found inside the target and it fires a laser that destroys the enemy.

Shinji later wakes up and is questioned by a previously unseen character: Toji’s younger sister, Sakura Suzuhara. After a medical examination, he is brought out to the command center of WILLE, a new anti-NERV organization led by Misato that formed after the events of the Near-Third Impact. He notices that everyone is glaring at him, but is still able to recognize Misato. Unable to fully understand the situation, Shinji begins grabbing at a choker around his neck, which Ritsuko calls a DSS choker. It is later revealed that the choker was placed on Shinji because they wanted to prevent him from piloting another Evangelion Unit and causing another Impact. Everyone feels a strong distaste toward Shinji, as he was the cause of the Near-Third Impact. Ritsuko (now Vice-Captain of WILLE) begins to explain some of what has happened in the past 14 years.
Asuka also appears, but only to charge at him, punching and cracking the glass separating the two. Shinji asks where Rei is, to which Ritsuko replies: “she no longer exists”. Another enemy appears and Shinji hears Rei’s voice in his head. Surprised, he calls out to her and a modified version of Evangelion Unit 00 breaks into the room and frees Shinji. Misato attempts to activate the DSS choker to kill Shinji, but she can’t bring herself to do it and Shinji escapes.

Shinji wakes up in the ruins of NERV. There, he finds Kaworu playing piano and the two end up playing a duet together. They quickly become friends and they begin relying on one another. Later, Shinji asks Kaworu what happened to Tokyo-3 and his friends, and Kaworu shows him what is left of the world he destroyed. Shinji says that he only wanted to save Rei, but he ended up causing incredible destruction in the process. Somehow, Kaworu is able to take Shinji’s DSS choker off and places it around his own neck. Later, a new Evangelion Unit, Evangelion 13, is completed and revealed to have a dual pilot system designed for both Shinji and Kaworu to pilot together. Shinji is hesitant, as piloting Evangelion Units has only brought him misfortune. A plan to restore the world to its former state is proposed by Kaworu, which gives Shinji the motivation to pilot the Eva.

The two begin their descent into the bottom of NERV to retrieve the Spear of Longinus and the Spear of Cassius, which are supposed to be the key for this plan to work. Evangelion Unit 02 and Evangelion Unit 08 attempt to prevent the two from retrieving the Spears, but are ultimately unable to. When they arrive, however, Kaworu finds that there are two Spears of Longinus, throwing their plan off track. Shinji, perhaps a bit over-eager to fix his past mistakes, begins pulling out the Spears on his own, despite the warnings from Kaworu. The Twelfth Angel appears and Kaworu realizes that he has become the Thirteenth Angel. Evangelion Unit 13 absorbs the Twelfth Angel and begins to Awaken. Kaworu remarks that the Fourth Impact has begun and Shinji realizes that, once again, he is the cause behind it. The DSS choker on Kaworu begins activating and, in his final words, Kaworu tells Shinji that he is not at fault and that they will meet again. Mari also manually ejects Shinji from Evangelion Unit 13 and stops the Fourth Impact from progressing any further. Later, Asuka finds Shinji’s entry plug and drags him out of it. Rei appears nearby and the three of them begin walking together on the barren, red-stained landscape.

Reception

Upon release, the movie grossed the second-highest in the Japanese weekend box office of 2012 with sales of ¥1,131,004,600. It also won the ‘Excellence Prize’ at the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2013 for the Animation awards category. Also it took first place in the ‘Excellent Animation of the Year’ category at the 36th Japan Academy Awards.

Links

Official History Page of Studio Khara
Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo) IMDb Page