Ask John: Can You Explain the Final Episode of Eva to Me?

Question:
Could you please explain the final episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion movie to me. Particularly what the point of the movie was?

Answer:
Spoiler Alert! Do not read further if you wish to remain in the dark about the final episode of Evangelion. Before I relate my answer to this question, allow me to state that what follows is my own personal opinion. That having been said; to really understand the final episode of Eva TV, you first have to understand the point of the series. Hideaki Anno stated, in his introduction to the Evangelion manga, that his original concept of Evangelion had to do with characters, not giant robots. Evangelion is a character development show first and foremost. It’s also a distinctly Japanese series, dealing with concepts very focused on Japanese ideology. In Japan, the accepted cultural behavior is to blend in with the crowd and not stand out as an individual. Adolescence is about exactly the opposite. Japanese teens, particularly Shinji Ikari, as a representative of repressed Japanese youth, has difficulty in developing normal, healthy interpersonal relationships because his society does not instinctively value such goals. The final two Evangelion television episodes resolve this dilemma by explaining that, regardless of social circumstances, fundamental human nature mandates a human need to distinguish oneself from others through relationships to others. The characters congratulate Shinji in the end of the final TV episode because, at that point, Shinji comes to realize and understand that his feelings of isolation are normal and natural and something to grow out of. At the same time, this period of maturing develops and molds one’s distinct, personal character. Because this character oriented conclusion did not resolve the plot elements relating to the giant robots and the Angels, and because so many fans perceived the show as a giant robot show, Anno had to give the series a different ending: one that conformed more closely to the expectations of the fans.

The Instrumentality of Man Project is a philosophical experiment intended to eliminate the inherent loneliness and isolation in mankind. A human being can never completely feel at one with another human, besides being in the womb, because of the physical borders between one human body and another. In the end of the TV series, Shinji comes to understand this and realize that it is both natural and normal for humans to exist in this way, since humans have existed this way since the beginning of the species. The Human Instrumentality Project is an attempt to dissolve the physical barriers between human beings, thereby eliminating all sense of disjointedness and singularity. While, in the TV series, the characters refuse this alternative, the Instrumentality Project succeeds in the motion picture, to results you’ll have to see for yourself when you see the film.