Poll: Why did people hate the ending of "Neon Genesis Evangelion"?

[Austin Howe]

No really, why? The main "action conflict" of the show, protecting earth from the angels, had been resolved in Episode 24. Episodes 25 and 26 are best described as the "falling action". It tries to resolve the conflicts with the characters, and because most if not all of them are intra-personal(1), it resorted to an existential smackdown where the characters are forced against A) The harshness of reality, and B) How easilly hat reality is changed. It was not at all meaningless. If the show had simply resolved at 24 with a few minutes of closing that wasn't like what actually happened, it had been well established throughout the seris that we would've been left with a host of characters whose lives are no longer wrth living because all of their self-worth and purpose comes from piloting the EVAs. It had to find a way to resolve without being a tragedy, and it worked.

Please do discus. That ending was really not worth the death threats.

(1) Due to the death of Toji, there were no longer narrative threads regarding the sexual relationships between the characters.

 

[AbsoluteVirtue18]

Because, it all just devolved into a mindf**k.

 

[glenbruton]

You could see they just ran out of money and ended it as cheaply as they could. It deviated sooo far from the established norm.

 

[tthor]

i've never seen the show, but i have had a bit of a history lesson on it. from what I know, the makers had a lot of plans for the show, but near the end the company went bankrupt, and so the makers needed to rap up and finish the show quickly (do to that they soon wouldn't have any money to make the show). so they just threw together the (from what I've heard) craziest ending they could to finish up the show.

I think i've also heard of possible reboots of the show simply to give it a better conclusion

 

[Loop Stricken]

I think i've also heard of possible reboots of the show simply to give it a better conclusion

Rebuild of Evangelion, I'd assume. They've put out two films already. They are awesome.

 

[Bon_Clay]

i've never seen the show, but i have had a bit of a history lesson on it. from what I know, the makers had a lot of plans for the show, but near the end the company went bankrupt, and so the makers needed to rap up and finish the show quickly (do to that they soon wouldn't have any money to make the show). so they just threw together the (from what I've heard) craziest ending they could to finish up the show.

I think i've also heard of possible reboots of the show simply to give it a better conclusion

They've already rebooted the series in the form of movies, there's two of them already out I believe. Its called Rebuild of Evangelion.

I didn't really care for the ending the first time I watched it, but I was like 12 or 13 at the time. I've re-watched it since and grasped more of those episodes since, and my opinion on them has gotten better.

The ending was definitely influenced by the dieing budget and a need to wrap things up. But it wasn't just a complete mess of thrown together garbage. It did have meaning to it if you paid enough attention to the series and did some thinking. It could have been done better, as the style was so totally different from the rest of the series it didn't feel consistent or as satisfactory as the same revelations could from a clearer presentation.

The two movies that followed it, Death and Rebirth and especially The End of Evangelion, did a lot to clarify things and give you some closure, so I suggest anyone who watched the show to at least watch the latter of those.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Rebuild of Evangelion, I'd assume. They've put out two films already. They are awesome.

Yes. They are. I own them on Blueray. ^^

I loved the entire original series (and own it all on DVD) including the final two episodes. They were a character study - not really part of the plot. When you get to them, it's best watch them as such, and then watch "End of Evangelion" for the end of the plot. The final two episodes even foreshadow the events of EoE.

I honestly don't know why people get to pissy about it. It's been years since they released the End of Evangelion movie to end the story - it's not like you had to wait for it for several years.

Like I did.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Its called Rebuild of Evangelion.

I own the first two, and I've never heard that title.

They're called Evangelion 1.11 and Evangelion 2.22 (in the US).

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

i hate the ending of the original 26 episode series because they didn't even touch the whole instrumentality thing, there was all manour of intrigue and conspiracy still to come. basically, they had the right idea creating end of evangelion as a "replacement" for the last two episodes.

What are you talking about? The original last two episodes were the instrumentality of Shinji.

You know, how in End of Eva, everyone

Spoiler

sees a vision of happiness and turns to LCL

- that's what's happening to Shinji in the last episode. In slow motion (so that it takes 20+ minutes).

 

[Salad Is Murder]

Because the show is really bad, with a stolen plot poorly done and populated by thoroughly unlikeable characters.

The end was just the point when most people realized it.

 

[Julianking93]

Because the show is really bad, with a stolen plot poorly done and populated by thoroughly unlikeable characters.

The end was just the point when most people realized it.

My thoughts exactly.

Didn't really see the appeal. Or actually, I did but it wasnt' for me. Just seemed like another mecha anime with a pseudo-intellectual plot and about 2 or 3 good characters. The rest were unlikable and annoying.

Of course, that's my opinion of it, but after having nearly everyone tell me it's the greatest thing ever, I just found it rather bland.

 

[Bon_Clay]

Its called Rebuild of Evangelion.

I own the first two, and I've never heard that title.

They're called Evangelion 1.11 and Evangelion 2.22 (in the US).

Really? Cause Loop Stricken's post you quoted yourself also referred to it as that.

The project of remaking the series as movies is called Rebuild of Evangelion, the two movies so far are titled Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone​, and Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance​.

 

[Gaiseric]

Huh, I didn't know the studio had money troubles. Some of my friends and I joked that their budget must have run out and I guess it did.

It's been many years since I watched those episodes, but I don't remember good things. From the above posts I can surmise that the movies were good and that I should watch them ASAP.

edit: Most of what I can remember of the show is the fights and when Shinji goes bat-shit crazy on one of the baddies.

 

[trollnystan]

I didn't like NGE at all. In fact I couldn't finish it. I know roughly how it finished though as my two roommates had a marathon weekend once and I'd occasionally wander in to talk to them only to hurry out before Gainax hurt my brain.

Yeah I'm not a big fan of Gainax. They ruined KareKano as well as far as I'm concerned. Is it so hard to have consistency?

OT: I started watching a mecha show with some comedy, slice-of-life and little dark bits in it, only to watch it turn into a pseudo-philosophical/religious emo skullf*ck. Poorly budgeted and drawn pseudo-etc etc even. Suffice to say, I was unhappy.

(I'm tired. Sorry for the brashness but my brain is not working. Time for bed methinks.)

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Its called Rebuild of Evangelion.

I own the first two, and I've never heard that title.

They're called Evangelion 1.11 and Evangelion 2.22 (in the US).

Really? Cause Loop Stricken's post you quoted yourself also referred to it as that.

The project of remaking the series as movies is called Rebuild of Evangelion, the two movies so far are titled Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone​, and Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance​.

In Japan, yes.

In America (or, you know, wherever else they get dubbed) they have the titles I mentioned (and subtitles reading "You Are (Not) Alone" and "You Can (Not) Advance" as you mentioned).

I just never heard them called "Rebuild" before.

Edit: And I was too lazy to mention it in my previous post. Didn't mean to call you out specifically - you were just the easiest to quote.

 

[Beautiful End]

I remember I saw the ending (Series) and the movie (Far longer than an episode) a couple of years ago. Here's why I didn't like neither one:

1. The series had been building a series of scenarios where, even though every single character was just a pawn of a far greater plot, it looked like it was actually leading somewhere. And by this, I expected Shinji to either stand up to his father or for his father to die in a really dramatic and traumatizing way for Shinji to add insult to injury to Shinji's persona (It would fit, ya know) or for Asuka to end up with Shinji or at least acknowledge him in some sort of way or for Rey to find some sort of closure/happy ending considering her past(s).

2. I didn't understand the ending (Series) at all. It is only until now that I understand it *Looks a couple of posts above to the Spoiler part*

3. *SPOILER, MAYBE* The movie failed to make more sense. It was perhaps the exact same ending as the series one, except here you see everyone die and Shinji and Asuka are the only survivors of a world where there's no one else. So I could assume that they're gonna die soon too, only it will be awkward and creepy. *END SPOILER, MAYBE*

I dunno, I would like to see the ending being 'dumbed down' for those of us who didn't want to get into a intergalactic pseudo-metaphorical argument with the ending. All of the endings appeared to be lengthy when in reality, they could be summarized in a single sentence. I was expecting more from a series that had such a big fan database. And personally, I thought the series was alright. But the ending kinda ruined it for me.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

You know what annoys me about these threads.

"I didn't understand Eva so it sucked."

Really, you think something's bad because you're too dumb to understand it?

I respect the people who dislike the characters - they are still missing the point, but it's a valid reason to not enjoy watching a show. The people too lazy to think just piss me off.

Evangelion (any version) is high art. If you're too lazy to pay attention and think, then go watch something else and stop complaining about it. For those smart enough to follow the nuance, it is a powerful and moving piece of literature.