What is The End of Evangelion?
The End of Evangelion is a 1997 animated film directed by Hideaki Anno and Kazuya Tsurumaki, produced as a feature length alternative to the last two episodes of the television series. It is divided into two halves, Episode 25 and Episode 26, mirroring the numbering of the episodes it revisits, and it premiered in Japanese cinemas in July 1997.
Where the television ending stayed inside Shinji Ikari's mind, the film shows the physical events around him: the assault on NERV headquarters, Asuka's last battle in Unit-02 against mass produced Evangelions, and the unfolding of Human Instrumentality, the merging of all human souls into a single being. The imagery is deliberately confronting, and the film carries an adult rating in most territories.
The film grew out of an earlier project. Gainax first released Death and Rebirth in March 1997, combining a recap of the series with a preview of new footage, and audience demand for a complete theatrical conclusion pushed the full version that followed a few months later. Together the two releases closed the original 1990s continuity.
Physically, the film is a collecting landmark in its own right. It anchored Japanese LaserDisc and DVD releases, was issued in the West by Manga Entertainment on VHS and DVD, and later joined the rest of the franchise in high definition box sets. Original Japanese theatrical posters and the early disc editions remain among the most recognisable Evangelion objects.
