Shelf Life

Evangelion 3.33: You Can (Not) Advance

After four long years in release purgatory, Evangelion 3.33: You Can (Not) Redo has gotten a North American release. Easily the most infamous film in Rebuild of Evangelion so far, it's developed quite a reputation from screenings. While the second film is where Rebuild first starts diverting from the original series to a significant degree, this third one is where it turns into another story altogether. So the question is – does this new take do justice to that vaunted anime classic, Neon Genesis Evangelion? Or does the film live up to its subtitle?

In Rebuild, the Third Impact happens after the incident with Unit-03. But instead of the whole thing playing out End of Evangelion-style, here they manage to halt the process relatively early. The planet ends up transformed into a red wasteland, but nobody has turned into yellow goo yet. Rei seems to have died, and for what he did, Shinji is placed in stasis and locked away. This film opens with his release 14 years later. Asuka and Mari break him out of his confinement on behalf of a mysterious new organization, WILLE. This group – which represents the remnants of humanity on the blighted Earth – is led by a hardened, older Misato. Her primary goal is to keep Shinji out of Gendo's hands, and she seems willing to kill him if he proves uncooperative. However, when a Rei clone arrives to take Shinji to his dad, he escapes with her, convinced that she's still the person he knew. With this, a trusting Shinji is back in Gendo's clutches. But will an unlikely ally make a difference in this latest iteration of their power struggle? Or will Shinji remain a pawn in his father's schemes?

First, the elephant in the room. If you loved Evangelion 2.0, there's a strong chance that this film will put you off. I like both of 'em, but understand why some fans might resist this one. Evangelion 2.22 was a pretty perfectly paced action film. Evangelion 3.33 drags way more, particularly in the beginning. There's also the issue of familiarity. Evangelion 2.22 deviated just enough from the original to come across as a remixed version of a beloved story. Evangelion 3.33, in contrast, is all new material. Beyond that, it's purposefully, dramatically different from the Evangelion we knew before. It wants to shock the viewer with how alien it is, mimicking how Shinji must have felt waking up from his coma. To do this, it throws a wrench into character relationships that otaku culture has been invested in for 15+ years. Asuka is absolutely livid at Shinji, Misato cold, and Rei once again a blank slate. It's staggering to see such a beloved show discard its status quo so easily (at least on the surface). Evangelion 3.33 is deliberately alienating in a lot of what it does with its characters and tone. I like this because it keeps the series as fresh and uncompromising as it was in the beginning. Evangelion first became a big deal by messing with expectations for what a mecha anime should be. Evangelion 3.33 messes with expectations for what an Evangelion remake should be. I admire that.

Personally, I'm a fan of this new direction for the series. I've already expounded my opinions on the original show vs. Rebuild in-depth, but this third film is the one where this is all most apparent. In my opinion, Evangelion's meat is the story about Shinji's emotional state. On that front, the vastly different plot actually doesn't change it that much – he's still a depressed kid desperately seeking validation from his mean dad. The new story just gives him more opportunities to do things about it, illustrating the depth of his emotional problems. Particularly, it places Shinji in a situation where allowing himself to be manipulated by Gendo isn't the passive thing to do, just so that he can do it anyways. This makes Shinji's desire for his father's approval apparent in a way that it might not have been in the show, where it comes across more via what he doesn't do (tell his dad to get lost) than what he does. This all naturally extends from how Shinji's character was depicted in the original. It also represents, in my opinion, an advancement in Hideaki Anno's ability to communicate his mental state at the time of making Evangelion. The show is infamously an articulation of Anno's personal demons, and these films are just as personally expressive. It's clear that Rebuild is happening because Anno wants to revisit this story, and not just to keep milking the money cow. Evangelion is a rare cultural touchstone that began as and remains capital-A Art, even decades after its absorption by the mainstream.

That's not to say that the film is flawless. The WILLE stuff (which makes up the first third of the film or so) is mostly narrative dead space. Whether it amounts to anything will depend on what role the organization plays in the fourth film. Is it setup so that they can hit the ground running later on? Or is it just fanservice for the mecha design fans? I have a pet theory that Touji's sister, Sakura, was introduced as an eventual love interest for Shinji. The rest of the women are too broken and/or his mom's clone. You can harass me about how right/wrong I am whenever the fourth film comes out. (Hopefully before this third film's date of 2028.)

In terms of production, the Rebuild films do a great job adapting and altering Neon Genesis Evangelion's art style to their own purposes. In one sense, it's an upgrade. The original series may have occasionally been made for approximately no money, while these films command all of the resources that Evangelion's status as one of anime's premiere franchises can provide. The animation is great, while the CG integration is very strong. There are, however, some deliberate stylistic differences. The character designs are slightly more fluid, while the colors are much brighter. At first, this seems at odds with the original series, which is largely renowned for its images of starkness. However, this reflects one of the biggest differences between the originals and Rebuilds – a newfound sense of openness. By the second film, Shinji, Rei, and Asuka had already proved themselves more capable of interpersonal connection than they ever were in the original series. That continues here, with moments between characters that are downright romantic. These are, of course, shaded with some of the most vibrant gradients that Evangelion has ever used. The revamped visuals suggest a world where everyone isn't trapped in the desaturated prison cell of their own psychoses, and thus can potentially interact with each other in healthy ways.

In terms of imagery, this film contains a uniquely Eva-ish portrait of the apocalypse. It adds quite a bit of new iconography to Neon Genesis Evangelion's already rich visual canon. There's Lilith's rotting corpse, the red land coupled with the bright blue sky, and the four-armed Evangelion Unit-13.

The dub has the usual Evangelion dub problems. I've found people either can't stand Spike Spencer, Tiffany Grant, and co., or they grew up with the dub and that's how it's always been. As a release, it's quite nice. I'm especially a fan of the design. Matching the Evangelion 2.22 case, the cover is minimalist text over a flat cover, but it's been given a matte texture. It's classy and imposing. This standard edition comes with a very good art booklet for the release's price. At 52 pages, it contains key art for most of the film's character and mechanical design.

Overall, this is a solid release of the latest installment in the controversial Evangelion saga. Love it or hate it, you can't deny the series' unparalleled ability to drive anime fans into a passionate frenzy. I'll see you someday for Evangelion 3.0+1.0's release, if there are even any humans alive at that point.
-Gabriella[TOP]