Pre-production After the first broadcast of the animated series
Neon Genesis Evangelion, some viewers felt unsatisfied with its ending. According to official information and staff statements, problems with the schedule, delays in production, and some personal indecision on the part of the director
Hideaki Anno led to the abandonment of the original script of the penultimate episode. In the case of the last episode, "
Take care of yourself", Anno stated in an interview he had roughly followed the original plan instead. The two final episodes, which focus on psychological introspection and long
inner monologues of the protagonists, met the expectations of Gainax studio's staff but became a source of discussion for fans; although the finale concluded the most important psychological themes of the series, it abandoned the main plot, giving rise to controversy. The issue was debated throughout Japan, fueling the series' already-high popularity. Fans demanded a new ending Anno also fell into a difficult psychological state. He perceived a lot of criticism towards his work, and felt he was accused of being sloppy and negligent. He also read online discussions in which some people argued about the best way to kill him; Anno thus no longer wanted to work in animation and contemplated suicide. On April 26, 1996, about a month after the final episode of the series was aired, the magazine
Monthly Shōnen Ace announced that a remake of the final two episodes and a feature-length film would be produced. The first feature film,
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth (1997), was intended to conclude the story of the original series and the second installment would have been a new story with a completely different setting. The project was intended to be released as an
original video animation (OVA) for the home-video market, but due to the series' success, a Japanese consortium financed the project with a fund so high they chose to release it as a film. The consortium included Imagica, a
film post-production company, and fashion companies such as
Fiorucci, Americanino, and
Edwin. At the suggestion of
Neon Genesis Evangelion character designer
Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, the unreleased film was to be set in winter, in contrast to the eternal summer in which Japan is trapped in the animated series. Anno also considered setting the show in winter; he wanted to recreate battles between
Evangelions on snow-covered mountains, regardless of the technical difficulty executing this idea would involve. In a post-apocalyptic scenario, with Earth almost destroyed and unlivable, humans would live inside an area protected by a barrier called an "AT field". Angels, the antagonistic creatures of the original series, would have attacked the area, concentrating their forces on the only bridge connecting it to the rest of the world, devouring human beings in the process. The project was planned for release in mid-1997. The production of "Rebirth", however, was delayed; so much material was produced that it was necessary to break it up into two releases. In addition, some staff felt reluctant and harassed by the production schedule, and the release of the second movie with new material was indefinitely postponed. In March 1997,
Death and Rebirth was released. The work contained two segments; one of sixty minutes and one of twenty-five minutes. The first segment, or "Death", is a montage of clips from the first twenty-four episodes of the series and some unreleased sequences. The last segment ("Rebirth") was a preview of the alternate ending. The segment includes the first twenty minutes of the following installment, ending at the beginning of the confrontation between Eva-02 and the Eva Series. Gainax then announced a second concluding feature film, which would have the same ending told from a new perspective.
Direction and development collaborated with Anno on the storyboards of "Sincerely Yours". After the series concluded, Anno fell into a difficult psychological state and his friend and anime director
Hayao Miyazaki advised him to take a break, to which Anno followed Miyazaki's advice and rested for a few months. Production for the film version of
Neon Genesis Evangelion officially began on November 8, 1996. The directing of "Air" was entrusted to
Kazuya Tsurumaki, who had worked as an assistant director on the television series. Other Gainax studio staff members, such as
Masayuki and
Shinji Higuchi, were involved in the process, and they collaborated on storyboards following Tsurumaki's direction. Anno directed "Sincerely Yours", and was assisted in the storyboard phase by Higuchi and
Junichi Sato. According to
Neon Genesis Evangelion producer Toshimichi Ōtsuki, the staff started working on
The End of Evangelion before the series had finished broadcasting, and worked until the last minute to complete the second feature film in time. Gainax initially proposed to call the work
Evangelion: Rebirth 2 but the title was later changed during production. Unlike the big media campaign for
Death and Rebirth, there was no special advertising campaign for
The End of Evangelion, and promotional activities were minimal. The authors wanted to create a funeral and "bury"
Neon Genesis Evangelion; Anno called the work
The End of Evangelion to represent the metaphorical death of the
Evangelion project; he himself ensured that the work died with his own hands, rather than see its popularity slowly fade away. The feature film was divided into two segments called "Episode 25'" and "Episode 26'", which replace those in the animated series. Like the episodes of the series, the segments in the film were given a double title; one in Japanese, and one in English. The title of the first segment was initially , a reference to
Robert A. Heinlein's 1957 science fiction novel
of the same name. The staff later opted for "Love is Destructive" or "Air", with the double meaning of "atmosphere" and music. The second episode was given the Japanese title
Magokoro wo, kimi ni ("Sincerely Yours"). Following a Gainax studio tradition of titling the final episode of a series from an existing story or feature film, "Sincerely Yours" is a tribute to the 1968 film
Charly, based on the novel
Flowers for Algernon by
Daniel Keyes, which was distributed in Japan with the same title. The home video editions of the series also include previews of "Air" and "Sincerely Yours" at each end of the original final episodes.
Writing ,
Asuka Langley Soryu's voice actress. Her performance influenced the writing of the final line. Due to time constraints, the original script for "
Do you love me?", the twenty-fifth episode of the series, went unused. When it was decided to resume
Neon Genesis Evangelion, Anno wrote the script of the "Air" segment based on the unused script. The episode was structured to be as close as possible to the ending the authors originally intended. For the second episode "Sincerely Yours", several narrative lines were added to the original script, deepening the themes already proposed in the final episode of the series. The two endings, film and television, were conceived as conceptually identical; unlike the television conclusion, which focuses on the psychology of the protagonists, the film version addresses the Human Instrumentality Project from an external point of view, whereas in the series everything was left to the introspection of the main characters. The script's tone was influenced by the staff's mood, since they were tired and exhausted. Shinji's mood changed from the twenty-fifth episode of the series, creating inconsistencies. With the sense of tension of the original series gone, the producers had difficulty; Kazuya Tsurumaki worked on the feature film, considering it unnecessary until the end. During the realization of the series and
Death and Rebirth, Anno asked anyone who worked on
Neon Genesis Evangelion to suggest ways events could be closed; Anno trusted in particular Higuchi, Sadamoto, and
Ikuto Yamashita, mecha designer for the series. One of Yamashita's proposals for the never-made feature film Nerv's base would have been a sterilized stronghold surrounded by wolfmen; Shinji in a flashback would have become his Eva, with which he would have swapped bodies. The Evangelion pilots would have had weight in politics, but Asuka would have been viewed with suspicion by Nerv, and as a traitor by Germany. In a scene of Yamashita's script, Shinji would have run with the werewolves, acclaimed as their king, while Rei would have cold-bloodedly killed a werewolf, saying she hates animals. Additional changes were made at the script stage; in one of the opening sequences, for example, Shinji would say goodbye to his two former classmates and friends,
Kensuke Aida and
Toji Suzuhara, at their middle school in Tokyo-3, just before their sudden departure for Germany. Picking up on the last scene of
Neon Genesis Evangelion eighteenth episode, Toji would shoot a basketball while using a wheelchair. In "Sincerely Yours", Lilith and the nine Eva Series would form a triangle-shaped pattern, later replaced in the final version by a horizontal Tree of Life. For the last sequence, in which Shinji strangles Asuka until the girl caresses his cheek, Anno based it on an event that happened to an acquaintance of his; the woman on one occasion was strangled by a malicious man but as she was about to be killed, she caressed him. When the man stopped squeezing her neck, the woman regained a cold attitude, uttering the words Asuka would say to Shinji in the original script, .
Voice cast For
The End of Evangelion, all of the voice actors from the original animated series reprised their roles, except for some characters that were excluded from the script during the writing phase, such as Toji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida. After the last recording session, Anno asked the cast to re-record the feature film from scratch; they completed almost every scene with detailed instructions from the director. Anno asked the actors to perform as though it was a live-action film, avoiding the typical recording of animated products. When Anno wanted to concentrate on the dialogue and emphasize the acting of the recording actors, he decided to point the camera from behind, leaving the characters off-screen or in a long shot, so facial expressions and lip-synching would not affect the recording too much. The "Air" scenes already present in "Rebirth" were also re-recorded. •
Megumi Ogata as
Shinji Ikari, the 14-year-old protagonist of
Neon Genesis Evangelion. As with the television series, Ogata was comfortable with her role but found screaming during the recording sessions difficult. Due to her agitation, Ogata clutched her neck too tightly, which risked spoiling her voice and almost preventing her from reciting the remaining lines. Although the scene is only a few minutes long, the recording took about ninety minutes to complete. • Yuko Miyamura as
Asuka Langley Soryu. Miyamura influenced the director, changing the details of her character. In the original script, Asuka, having just been throttled by Shinji, would utter the final line, "I can't stand the idea of being killed by someone like you", in the coldest possible tone. Dissatisfied with the line and Miyamura's performance, Anno asked her to imagine a stranger who could rape her at any time but would rather masturbate while watching her sleep sneaking into her room. Anno also asked her what she would say if she suddenly woke up and realized what had happened. Miyamura, disgusted by the scene, told him; . Anno later changed the line. •
Megumi Hayashibara as
Rei Ayanami and
Yui Ikari. •
Fumihiko Tachiki as
Gendo Ikari. Tachiki found it difficult to empathize with or understand the character. During the sessions, he received support from the staff, being directed step by step by Anno and the sound director. •
Akira Ishida as
Kaworu Nagisa. Ishida said he found the role "very difficult", and felt "a lot of pressure" during the recording of the film version. His emotional tension grew exponentially when he learned that there would be two feature films, but he was satisfied with his performance.
Animation and sound Unlike the television series, which was produced in
16mm format,
35mm film was used for the movie.
Kazuchika Kise, a member of
Production I.G and art co-director of the television series, and
Takeshi Honda, the animator of the
opening theme song of
Neon Genesis Evangelion, were called as directors of animation and mecha design. Shunji Suzuki, Teishi Hiramatsu, and Anno were chosen as art directors for the twenty-sixth episode. Suzuki and Hiramatsu directed the scenes, while Anno coordinated the fights between the mecha. was chosen as special effects director. Hisaki Furukawa and
Yoh Yoshinari were appointed assistant animators, Harumi Takaboshi as a colorist, Hiroshi Katō as art director, and Hisao Shirai as director of photography. Gainax involved the studio Production I.G, which had previously collaborated on some episodes of the original series. Besides the CGI, short frames with watercolors were also inserted during the Instrumentality scene. Anno commissioned the sound effects to Toru Noguchi, with whom he had previously worked on the television series
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. Anno asked Noguchi for maximum realism, to communicate sensations
cel animation was not able to express. Particular attention was given to the noise of lasers, the AT Field, and the sound of cicadas in the background, which was specially modulated to harmonize with the soundtrack. For the movements of the Evangelion units, he was asked to recreate the noise bundles of wires would make if they contracted as if they were muscles, treating them as living beings. For this reason, sounds usually used in other mecha anime were avoided. The director's demands were meticulous; he specifically asked to use the sound of a
World War II machine gun or to reproduce the sounds of particular historical ships during the process, while for the sound of the Prog-Knife, they reworked the metallic noise of a real cutter. Noguchi was assisted by Makoto Sumiya, a recording engineer from Tokyo TV Center.
Filming For the realization of the segment "Sincerely Yours", it was decided to include some live-action sequences to represent Shinji's inner universe; these include footage of street lamps, trains, graffiti, and the three main female voice actors of the series, Megumi Hayashibara, Kotono Mitsuishi and Yuko Miyamura. The sequences were filmed by a crew called the "Special Production Team" and were optically distorted. Anno was in charge of the script and was assisted by Shinji Higuchi as the special effects director, with whom he discussed ideas and compared his opinions about every single frame of the sequences. Other shots were filmed in the , located in the
Shinjuku district of
Tokyo. In the final cut, editors added a shot of a cinema hall with audiences of the previous
Neon Genesis Evangelion feature film,
Death and Rebirth. At the end of the segment, stills depicting graffiti on the walls of the Gainax Shop, doodles, and emails apparently written by fans of the series, including the words , were inserted. The letters were created
ad hoc by the staff on the basis of some emails Gainax received. According to an official pamphlet on the movie, the production of the fake e-mails simulated the hypothetical reactions of fans to reflect on the relationships that are established "between a work and its admirers". Originally, the authors had planned a longer live-action segment with a different content than the final version. The original segment revolved around the character Asuka, who would wake up in an apartment after drinking and spending the night with Toji Suzuhara, with whom she would engage in a sexual relationship. Misato Katsuragi would have been the roommate of the apartment next to hers, and Rei Ayanami, in the original series her rival, would have been her colleague and one of her
senpai, experiencing a less-strained relationship. In the alternative universe presented in the live-action footage, Shinji would have never existed; walking through the streets of Tokyo-2 city, however, Asuka would have heard the boy's voice calling her. Some of the unused scenes were used for the film's trailers. During production, Anno decided to cut the segment; according to
Evangelion Chronicle magazine, the director decided this after the unplanned double-theatrical release of the ending.
Music The soundtrack of
The End of Evangelion was composed by
Shiro Sagisu, who also wrote the music for the original series. The film also uses a wide selection of pieces by classical composer
Johann Sebastian Bach. The twenty-fifth episode was titled "Air" to pay homage to the second movement of the orchestral suite No. 3, known as "
Air on the G String", which was used in one of the episode's key scenes. The second half of the film also includes the tenth movement of Bach's cantata "
Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben". In an interview, Anno was asked about similarities with Kubrick, but he claimed that his films did not influence him "that much". A version of "Air on the G String" was arranged and recorded by Sagisu, while an existing recording of "
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" by pianist
Jan Panenka was used. Two original songs were written for the movie; "Thanatos: If I can't be yours" is based on the soundtrack of the original series and was performed by
gospel music singer Loren and artist Martin Lascelles under the stage name "Mash". Loren recorded the single in June 1997 in London under the supervision of Toshimichi Ōtsuki. The song was later used for the credits placed between the two segments of
The End of Evangelion. The song shares a name with the Bach composition "
Komm, süßer Tod, komm selge Ruh", and the melody has been compared to that of "
Hey Jude" by
the Beatles. Sagisu attempted to spin the guitar sound of "Komm, süsser Tod" in rotation from all surround outputs. Anno asked him to compose a piece so everything from harmonic progressions to instrument overlays would match the screen images. A Japanese song sung by preschool children was used in "Sincerely Yours" to add realism to a playground scene. Producer Satsukawa and a special production team visited Haishima Municipal Kindergarten in
Akishima, Japan, which was attended by the daughter of Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, co-founder of Production I.G, to record the song. ==Cultural references and themes==