Spoiler Warning: As well as major spoilers for Evangelion 2.22, this post contains detailed information about characters and events in the original Evangelion anime series and movies.

While I enjoyed Evangelion 1.11 I felt that it was a little built stale with little in the way of meaningful new content, though admittedly what little new content there was is likely to be significant. Lessons seemed to have been learnt for Evangelion 2.22 because while a large amount of the story is recognisable from the equivalent episodes, it feels fresher than Evangelion 1.11 and introduces new twists on events.

Given that Evangelion 2.22 is covering the events of 12 episodes (7-19) there is a lot missing or altered in the early part of the story, with the majority of events from episodes 7-11 & 13-16 being ignored. In their place we get new versions of the introduction of Kaji and Asuka, with Asuka no longer having a crush on Kaji.

For the most part though, the loss of material does not impact negatively on Evangelion 2.22 as the film compensates for the loss of material by having a much tighter focus on Shinji and to a lesser extent Rei. This is not to say that Asuka is neglected as a large portion of the first half of Evangelion 2.22 is spent focused on her character, but it appears that her role in the long term is going to be different than in the original series with her taking Toji’s role at a critical juncture in the film.

There is also the introduction of a new Evangelion pilot Mari Illustrious Makinami in Rebuild 2.22. What it interesting is how little we actually know about her beyond her being a fairly competent Eva pilot who enjoys battle and appears to have an LCL fetish given her comments to and about Shinji. Her “crash into hello” introduction to Shinji also heralded a subtle nod that things are about to change as his tape recorder went to track 27, something which never occurred in the original series.

This event occurs at an appropriate point since it is at this point a small but dramatic shift occurs in Rei’s character with her becoming more open and friendly towards people and appears to be in love with Shinji. We also learn at this point that for Seele the most important Eva Unit may not be Unit 1 but rather Unit 6 another shift from the series.

It is also just after the track 27 incident, that Evangelion 2.22 takes a darker turn since up to this point things have been going as well as can be expected given the circumstances and Shinji thanks to Rei is about to have an opportunity to reconcile with his father. Fate however intervenes when Asuka is trapped inside Eva Unit 3 when the 9^th Angel takes it over. Things then go much the way of the series with Gendo ordering the Dummy plug system used when Shinji is unwilling to battle and Shinji is just as unhappy about it.

These events also form a contrast to events when the 10^th Angel attacks (14^th in the series) where events take a different turn than in the series with Rei and Unit 0 getting absorbed by the angel causing it to turn into “Giant Naked Angel Rei”. This is the prompt for Shinji to pilot again, and in contrast to the end of Rebuild 1.11 where he was not certain of why he was fighting, on this occasion he is certain what he is fighting for as he is fighting for Rei and her alone.

As in the TV series Shinji eventually defeats the angel when Eva Unit 1 goes berserk, however this time it is implied it is largely due to Shinji’s force of will and wanting to save Rei, as opposed to the desperation in the series. Shinji also manages to extract Rei from the angel, unfortunately the rescue of “Angelised Rei” also has an unfortunate “side-effect” as the same principle’s apply that did in End of Evangelion that a Rei who is combined with an Angel getting close to Shinji in Unit 1 is a bad idea if you don’t want Third Impact to occur. Which is the happy note that Evangelion 2.22, well it would be except for the post credit epilogue which changes the situation “slightly”.

If this is a true re-imaging opposed to a sequel (a theory I will discuss in a subsequent post), then what Evangelion 2.22 demonstrates that Rei and Shinji getting closer together is a bad thing, and not just because of the incest connotations due to Rei’s origins. The irony of Evangelion 2.22 is that this time Gendo wanted Rei and Shinji to become close, while in End of Evangelion it came as a surprise and caused his plans to fail when Rei chose Shinji over him.

In terms of the characters what I find impressive about Evangelion 2.22 is that despite the subtle shifts they are still recognisable as the characters from the TV series. Shinji despite his rescue of Rei is still a troubled teenager with issues with his father. Rei though expressing some emotion to the point that characters comment on it, is still normally quite and withdrawn with the main change over the TV series being an early shift in loyalties. Asuka is still vulnerable despite and prone to self doubt despite her showy displays and Gendo is still a terrible father who I suspect would get slapped by Yui if she came back to life for the way he treats Shinji.

Moving on from the charcters and the plot I was also impressed with the use of music throughout Evangelion 2.22, with it for the most part adding to scenes and feeling appropriate. There is one glaring exception to this though as the song used when the Dummy Plug controlled Eva Unit 1 attacks and destroys the Angel Possessed Eva Unit 3 is deliberately out of kilter with events. While there is a reason for this choice, it was not one I liked.

That aside however, I found little to criticise in Evangelion 2.22, while the events of several episodes are missing it does not impact the flow of the film. There was also enough new material to make it feel like a genuinely new experience that needed to be seen for itself, opposed to Evangelion 1.11 where I though I could read a description of the changes and be just as satisfied! The only significantly bad thing about Evangelion 2.22 from my perspective is that it will be sometime before the third of the Rebuild films is released outside of Japan, so it will be some time before I find out what happens next.

Rating

9/10 – While Evangelion 1.11 almost felt like a compilation show from the original series with a bit of new footage, Evangelion 2.22 did feel like a genuine re-imagining of the series while still feeling like Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Review Copy Notes

This review is based on an imported Region 3 DVD copy of Evangelion 2.22 and using the English subtitles on the disk. In general the subtitles were of a reasonably high grammatical standard, and though there were a few obvious errors in the subtitles, they did not slip into what I would consider Engrish. My only complaint about the subtitles was that the little English that was spoken was not subtitled, especially given that the spoken English from Kaji’s Voice Actor was difficult to understand.

Differences between Evangelion 2.22 and the Evangelion TV Series

Note: – As with the equivalent part of my Evangelion 1.11 review this is not meant to be a comprehensive list of changes but rather those which I feel are especially significant.

As stated in my review, there has been a lot of episodes skipped or heavily edited down. Given that 2.22 ends in a situation similar to that at the start of episode 20 I am inclined to view these ommisions as being largely down to time constraints and to allow the film to be more focused than of being of major significance. As such I will not mention them again unless I deem it relevant.

The first actual change comes at the very start with the introduction of Mari Illustrious Makinami who defeats the new 3rd Angel that had been captured, experimented on and then escaped with a “provisional” Eva Unit 5. After defeating the Angel she ejects from the Evangelion which then self destructs. There is also a strong indication that Kaji and Mari are working together as their dialog mirrors each other.

There is then Asuka’s revised introduction in which she takes down a new 7th Angel with relative ease, as in the series she is familiar with Misato, but unlike the series does not have a crush on Kaji. I suspect that the change in introduction and the lack of Kaji crush are again down to time constraints rather than being significantly relevant to the plot.

There then comes a change which is almost certainly significant, instead of Kaji delivering the Adam embryo to Gendo he delivers something referred to as the lost number being kept as a spare and called the Key of Nebuchadnezzar. This Key according to Gendo will open the gates of Human Instrumentality. At the moment I have no idea what role the key will play though.

It is not long after this that there is another development of significance when we see the building of Eva Unit 6. Unless there is some significant misdirection going on, it appears that this Evangelion is being built on the moon around the Original Lilith like being seen on the moon at the end of Evangelion 1.11.

The scene also shows that space technology is considerably more advanced in Rebuild compared to the original series, since in the original series they could not retrieve the lance of longinus from space, while in the Rebuild universe they can “build” an Evangelion on the moon and it is not too difficult for people with power to get there. We also see Kawaru again sitting on its hand, he also refers to Gendo or Fuyutsuki as father when he sees them watching him (in disbelief). I will give my theories about what might be going on in a subsequent post.

The next scene is set at a water treatment facility, and seems to be placed to allow for a hint of Rei’s “test tube origins”, establish that Shinji cares for her. There was also an indication that Asuka has some feelings for Shinji as she seems jealous of the attention he gives her. It also establishes that the reason for the Red seas was 2nd impact rather than anything directly related to End of Evangelion, though a twist cannot be ruled out at this point.

The scene also establishes Misato’s link to 2nd impact through a conversation between Shinji and Kaji and also shows a significant change in events. While in the original series there was only a single being of light this time there where four though the end result of the encounter appears to be similar to that in the original timeline.

The next scene then switches to the 8th Angels attack. The 8th Angel is analogous to the 10th Angel in the series and is attacking by dropping itself from orbit. Aside from a massive redesign which includes an initial sphere form covered in shapes that resemble eyes, to a much larger form when crashing and an internal body that attacks Eva Unit 1, events are very similar to those in the series.

It is after this that events start to shift from the path of the original series, starting with Rei making a proactive effort to get Shinji and Gendo to reconcile. It is here where Mari reappears literally landing on Shinji from above. There is then a subtle indication given that Mari and Kaji are working together since the next scene after Mari appears has Kaji teasing Shinji. We also learn that Gendo suspects Seele’s plans are centered on Eva Unit 6 rather than Eva Unit 1, a significant shift from the TV series.

After a little more light is given with more development on the Rei and Shinji front, there is for followers of the series a horrible sense of foreboding as the Testing of Eva Unit 3 approaches with Asuka being the test pilot instead of Toji this time around. I suspect that this development is again more down to time constraints and wanting to focus on the more established characters than a significant plot development. Events then proceed in a very similar fashion to the series with Eva Unit 3 being taken over by the 9th angel before being destroyed by a Dummy Plug controlled Eva Unit 1. This then leads to Shinji quitting NERV and Asuka being injured and in isolation due to possible Angel contamination.

There are some changes to the situation which will prove significant though, the first and less significant of which is that Asuka’s loss means that at that time the only active pilot working for Gendo is Rei. The second and more significant is that Rei has another shift in character since Shinji dumps his tape recorder which is revealed to have once belonged to his father and she picks it up and uses it as a memento in a similar way to Gendo’s glasses.

It is also made clear a little later that her emotions have firmly shifted to Shinji as she states she is fighting so he no longer has to. Given what happens at the end of Evangelion 2.22 this is significant as it was a shift in loyalties in Rei (albeit Rei 3 and not Rei 2) from Gendo to Shinji that caused Third Impact to occur the way it does in End of Evangelion.

As in the series the situation gets rapidly worse with the arrival of the 10th Angel (14th in the series), but this time Mari steals Unit 2 and uses it to combat the Angel. There is then a development in that Mari uses a hidden combat specialised “Beast Configuration” in an ultimately failed attempt to defeat the Angel. One thing I noted is that when using this form Mari’s eyes glowed Green, which was similar to the way Shinji’s later glowed Red when Eva Unit 1 awakened. This makes me suspect that the Beast Configuration and Awakened Evangelions may have some connection.

It is just after this when things change but initially stay the same with Rei and Unit 0 being eaten by the Angel causing them to merge. A similar event occured in the TV series with the penultimate (16th) angel which led to Rei 2 sacrificing herself to defeat it by self destructing her Eva. This time however, she does not have the opportunity and is absorbed causing the Angel to change shape into an amalgamation of its original form and the now infamous Giant Naked Rei.

Surprisingly however for the next few minutes events don’t change significantly from the TV series, Shinji is again convinced to pilot again albeit with Mari in Kaji’s role and he is fighting to save Rei rather than the world. From Shinji deciding to fight until Eva Unit 1 loses power are very similar to the TV series, however events after this are a different matter entirely.

The first change is that rather than Shinji panicking about the situation when he loses power, this time around it seems like he makes the Eva to move through sheer force of will. His eyes at this point also start to glow Red similar to how Mari’s eyes glowed Green. The next is that the “aim” of Eva Unit 1 is not to absorb a S2 unit from the Angel but instead to rescue the absorbed Rei.

It is at this point that things go from bad to worse for a neutral observer since after Shinji somehow manages to free Rei from the Angel, rather than disintegrating its remains coalesce into the form of a Giant Naked Rei which is gradually being absorbed into Eva Unit 1′s core. This process and merger then appears to trigger the start of third impact.

As with Evangelion 1.11 things don’t end until there an appearance from Kawaru, who after the credits appears in a completed Unit 6 and impales Eva Unit 1 with what appears to be a Lance of Longinus. If that was not enough his dialog again indicates that he has previously encountered Shinji as Kaworu states that this time he wants to make Shinji happy.

This means that unlike the end of Evangelion 1.11 where the situation was very similar to the equivalent point in the series, this time the situation is quite different. The first change is that the cat is out of the bag about the Eva Units being a tool to cause 3rd impact which could cause a change in direction for Misato’s character. The second change is that this time around Gendo planned for Rei and Shinji to cause third impact while in End of Evangelion it was a major miscalculation on Gendo’s part as it appeared he wanted to trigger it himself given his use of the Adam Embryo.

The next significant change is that Kaworu is at this point in time able to do as he wants as there are no Eva Units to oppose him, to make matters worse their is a strong possibility that his own Eva Unit could be an Angel itself if the original Lilith Mask is anything to go by. The final significant change is that while it appears likely Shinji will be in a similar situation to that in Episode 20 of the TV series (reverted to LCL in the entry plug) this time Rei is with him. This could make things interesting if Yui’s soul is present in Eva Unit 1 like it is in the TV series and Rei’s connection to her is the same.

I will give my thoughts on what these developments may mean and how they could relate to the events of the Original series in a Theory/Speculation based post to be published at some point in the next 2 weeks.