bshassel

I'm watching my Neon Genesis Evangelion Platinum thinpack set for the first time and not sure if I should watch the original versions of Ep 21-24 or the director's cuts? Please help, will be watching tonight. I'm really enjoying this series and want to watch it correctly to get the most enjoyment out of it.

Thanks for your help ahead of time.

canaryfarmer

Watch the Director's Cuts. Ignore the regular versions (they're just shorter versions of the DC). Then watch End of Evangelion.

bshassel

Thanks for the quick reply. Should I also ignore Ep. 25-26? I have purchased End of Evangelion. I was planning on watching End of Evangelion and then watching Ep 25-26. Are they worth watching?

canaryfarmer

No, still watch 25 and 26. That's how the series was supposed to end (one would think?), and they shouldn't just be ignored. Your brain will explode, but this is normal. I would recommend finish the series proper, and then watch End of Eva maybe the next day, after you've given the series time to sink in.

End of Eva is one of the most amazing and intense anime films ever, IMO, and deserves it's own night of viewing. (and please please please watch it in the original Japanese, if you haven't been already. The English dub is nowhere near as good or emotionally charged.) (Also, due to Manga's general incompetence, you will need to select the 5.1 Japanese track manually with the audio button on your remote once the movie starts, as the menu will ignore whatever you choose there.)

Maxflier

When i watched it I skipped the last eps and just watched End of Evangelion.
I never felt the need to go back and watch the original 25 & 26 episodes.

And btw, please do report back after you get done watching/having your brain turned to mush.

Josh Z

"End of Evangelion" is not meant to be a replacement for the last two episodes. The events of each coincide with one another. You need to watch both to see the full story.

enrage

even though Ive watched the entire series and the 'end' and 'death and rebirth' twice. i still had to look up some stuff on the internet. I still had questions after all of it.
Closure isn't that cut and dry.

bshassel

Thanks all for the replies. I started this series a couple weeks ago and have been enjoying it but it hasn't been my favorite until...Episodes 18 and 19! Wow! Just some intense stuff. Really affected me. I had to catch my breath for a few minutes. Now I can't wait to watch the last 6 episodes.

canaryfarmer

Def. post back when you're done watching everything. I love hearing how people react to going through Eva for the first time.

neocheddar02

My advice is to watch the show from start to finish, then watch end of evangelion. I enjoyed the show's ending better (though there are a lot of "WTF is going on?" moments)

wishbone

I viewed the Platinum Collection thinpack from the last DDD 20% sale and I watched EoE a few weeks ago -- INTENSE is the operative word. I have the choral piece from Asuka's EoE Eva scene still stuck in my head.

A great series but outside sources are a definite help to better understanding what is happening on the screen. One would think that in this "modern" age that the children would have benefited from some psychological counseling, especially for the battle trauma. There is a fan-created Eva video that is set to Paul Oakenfold's "Soul of an Angel" that is worth viewing if you can find it.

bshassel

Alright I've finished watching the entire series and End of Evangelion. I wasn't impressed with the shows ending, maybe I didn't get everything going on. But End of Evangelion was better. But, there were many references I just didn't get. I give the whole series 4 out of 5 stars. One thing still bugging me is ***Spoiler**** Why the reference to Shinji strangling Asuka at the end? What the heck did that mean?

Sweet Baby James

It's my understanding that the director wanted the show to end like it did in the EOE movie. He had to go to plan B when his budget ran out and that's what you see in episodes 25 and 26[it's quite common for anime budgets to dry up-that's why you sometimes see a dramatic drop in animation quality in the second half of some series]. I personally enjoyed both endings.

Jason

Then why does it say "This is how Neon Genesis Evangelion was supposed to end"?

Breakfast with Girls

It's been a long time since I've seen either the series or the OAVs, but as I recall it showed two different viewpoints of the same event, didn't it? Maybe Anno originally wanted to show the more action-packed ending instead of the more "cerebral" (if you want to call it that) ending. Although in the series Shinji chose individuality, I can't remember if he did the same in the movie.

Despite all the re-releases of this series, I've never really felt compelled to own it. The battles were intense, but I never really liked the (what I perceived to be) pretentiousness of the ending and mind-numbing whininess of Shinji.

Deus

As BWG said, they both contain the same event. The differences are that End of Evangelion also contains what happens immediately before and after Instrumentality takes place whereas the final two episodes of the series focus solely on it and shows Shinji's thought process in much more detail. They compliment each other really and I personally found the ending to the series to be truly beautiful.

bshassel

I agree the ending was very beautiful visually. But, again did any here understand Shinji's reasoning in several scenes, especially the end, where he is strangling Asuka? I'm not understanding this symbolism.

GHackmann

But there's a semi-official interpretation of it here:

http://www.evaotaku.com/html/evafaq.html#question36

IMO, large parts of End of Eva are intentionally obtuse and shouldn't try to be interpreted. Director Hideaki Anno used the movie partly to wash his hands of Evangelion entirely, and to give a giant middle-finger to the rabid fans who wouldn't let the series die. (Some viewers even went so far as to mail death threats to the studio after a workprint of the movie's first half was screened in theaters!) I've always assumed that large parts of the movie -- especially the ending -- were intentionally vague and confusing just to make sure that the fanboys would never, ever get closure.