Anime and Cinema Experience: Evangelion's Transformation

Tonight I watched Evangelion 3.0+1.0
at the IMAX Projection Screen, and the is completely different from watching it on a regular computer screen. It was released in theaters first, and I think it was probably released around August last year when it first came out. Today it just officially launched in the cinema. As someone who often watches anime release or re-releases, I usually don’t get good seat selection at the theaters. But luckily for me, since Im a solo viewer, I managed to pick up an acceptable spot.
Eva has a stronger call than other anime. The way it calls is very powerful.

After finishing the movie, there was so much I wanted to say, but I just erased everything because I realized that detailed analysis doesnt matter as much as experiencing the emotional journey firsthand. On one hand, Ive become too familiar with Eva; on the other hand, the film itself has elements transcending the fourth wall, which you can sense after watching it. Especially towards the end when it happens in negative space, each element emphasizes that its about growth. It combines in-theater and out-of-theater growth into one narrative, making it hard to explainsimilar to how difficult it is to summarize someone’s personal growth with simple words.

The director Horie Naoya did an incredible job bringing the story to life. In this theoretical world, everyone gets a happy ending. But I dont think its realistic for some people. Its not like that. The film itself is a metaphor about growth. Even if you see all the stories as children’s inner perspectives, theres something we can learn from it. The movie wants us to understand that when we truly accept reality and include others in our vision of ourselves while acknowledging our responsibility to them, we start to grow. Once we begin to grow, the things we thought were so bright and crazy will slowly fade away. The animation fades out, and reality comes back, just like when the credits roll into real life. Well face a very genuine world that feels close to us. Those vivid but fading colors will become something we miss when we talk about our youth. At the end of the film, I felt so sad because those images and memories came rushing back. They felt as though they were from adolescence itselflonger than it should have been. When I realized that everyone else had moved on and I hadnt either, I felt even sadder. Their lives are all moving forward now, but Im still stuck in the past. Ill have to keep going like this forever. Its not easy to accept such an ending.

Before this, I watched
and started paying more attention to the artistry of animation. At the beginning of the Paris battle scene, the amount of emotion poured into the drawing astounded me. Through the visuals, I could feel that they truly put their hearts and souls into conveying those subtle emotions. This passion isnt shown through the plotits in the art itself. The connection between imagery and music is almost the same; storytelling isnt just a small part of the narrative. When youre trying to express something, it often comes through your visuals or music more than words can.

This time, I really felt the charm of anime. The voice acting also left an impact on me. The first few scenes made me tear up. Toward the end of the film, when they listed all the staff members in the credits, I got teary-eyed again. I thought they were so courageous and dedicated to their work. From my perspective, this movie is like the whole production team sharing a genuine connection with us. Sometimes I feel I cant handle these kinds of exchanges. The ending of
was already pretty goodits the wish of the production team and also what theyve grown into as adults. What about my own growth?

Two years later, I updated on EVA: The Movie Parties 4. In theaters for the first time now! Before that, I had never seen Parties 1 and 2. This was a good opportunity to catch up. The opening and ending are definitely worth watching in theatersIMAX Projection Screen offers an entirely different experience.
and
have impressive visuals in the cinema. Honestly, I dont remember when I last saw themit might have been during my university days, so the plot probably didnt stick with me as well. All I remember are the first three EVA units running after the sixth angelic mission. This time, they really stood out in
. The first few scenes of this part were extremely impressive.

I didnt react much to the plots when watching and , but it was interesting to see how things changed after knowing the endings. However, as I started watching Q
, I suddenly felt emotional. From the perspective of the movie, is the only person who truly cares about and is willing to talk to him. Everyone else either has some kind of barrier or is unable to communicate. True_si no one can change for the better nowthis wasnt a normal ending because its surrounded by other people with serious mental issues.

The introduction of Third Village in
was necessary. Both Winter and Kirei, who are normal people, helped true_si understand the normal human condition. The Third Village taught them about Black and White Lie. Finally, true_si returned to his initial body inside the Negative Realm. In this fourteen-year gap, he got to experience responsibility and with White Lie. Now, he and Black Lie have completely closed their distancethey no longer need to talk about anything.

After finishing the movie, I started watching various up ’s subs or analyses on Bilibili. After accepting a subs like
s narrative interpretation, it was hard for me to watch other subs afterward because of the strong exclusion effect in narratives.