Evangelion: Housou 30-shuunen Kinen Tokubetsu Kougyou

Hands down the best thing Hideaki Anno has made since the end of the original series (including his awful live-action movies, tokusatsu and not), which is still to this day the only thing worth of experiencing from the entirety of the Evangelion IP. 12 storyless (as it was already storyless the main series) minutes focused on the best girl of the main trio and best character of them all period (proud card of the Asuka Sohryu Langley fan club since 1999 here) which give her justice after the awful treatment she recieved in the terrible End of Evangelion movie, by showing that she's a strong, passionate woman with no time to waste in pointless, non-existant (my last rewatch of the main series speaks) romantic relationships of any kind with the men in the shows (particularly the main male lead) as her interest is in defending earth (and in loving the real-life men who consider her one of their wives, of course) through the use of mechas that can perform kamen rider kicks. It's also great to hear that Yuko Miyamura never lost it at the voicing department during these thirty years, despite her health problems. I can't recommend it enough, including to those who have been there since the very first inception of the Urutoraman/Gojira Tribute with hot chicks....errrr, I mean Evangelion back in the 90's and have been disappointed in both the director and the direction of the franchise since then.

Really loved how it gave some sort of closure to the original langley the sohryu the asuka. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The references, the callbacks, the gags so much to like about I personally liked everything about it, watching this after growing into an adult is really an experience. If you have compeleted all of evangelion anime this is a must watch. Go in blank with just your feelings for the franchise love,hate,frustration or whatever amalgation it is just go in 15 min adventure in and out. Everyone who liked Eva you should watch it. I highly recommend it especially after completing all of mainline eva(original series ,rebuild, end of eva). Once again thank you all of evangelion!

That was actually amazing. I didn’t expect this from a 14-minute special episode. First of all, when we rate something, we must take context into account; we’re currently looking at a 14-minute special episode, so our approach to it should reflect that. For this kind of content, it’s absolutely brilliant. * * * SPOILERS AHEAD * * * It all begins with Asuka Langley Soryu and Asuka Langley Shikinami standing on stage, apparently somewhere beyond the boundaries of reality, outside of time and space, discussing past events from their respective universes. At this point, I got the impression that the fourth wall was kinda broken, given the set design showing them standing on stage celebrating the franchise’s 30th anniversary. But I would interpret this to mean that, from the characters perspective, 30 years have passed since the beginning of the Evangelion story, given that Asuka says she hasn’t been on stage for "29 years", confirming that how many years have passed, while for us as viewers, the same amount of time has passed as for an outside observer. So, this is an objective reality: 30 years have passed since the beginning of their story. What follows is that Asuka is trying to find a happy reality for herself, to get her own happy ending. And from that point on, we begin to understand certain things. Yes, Asuka loves Shinji. Any Asuka. From any universe. And she still loves him. Yet she rejects that ideal world where they are together, that world that seems so artificial, saying that she doesn’t want to depend on "fantasy," and that she wants to "find happiness in the real world". Indeed, this world wasn’t based on real experience, and it wasn’t the world she built for herself, so this happiness is truly artificial. Of course, I didn’t expect further revelation of this character’s reality in such a short special, so I’m really surprised we got this. I want to point out that at the end, the song "Komm, süsser Tod" begins to play - the same melody that played during the third impact in "The End of Evangelion", the saddest composition associated with the loss of everything, and just as one is about to perform the lyrics, Asuka stops her, after which the music cuts off, and Asuka Langley Soryu’s motivating, self-inspiring speech begins. It is precisely the stopping of this music that strongly demonstrates and symbolically confirms that this is not the reality Asuka wants; she does not want to run away from reality and wants to build a real, happy world for herself. The animation quality isn’t anything spectacular, but that’s easy to overlook when we’re talking about a 14-minute special episode. That said, I like the detail that when we see Asuka Langley Soryu’s world, we see it in the old 90s-style animation, which is a nice touch. A truly wonderful special episode.

Shinji and Asuka have been my favorite couple in all of fiction. I have always loved their interactions, their dynamic and their complexity. The greatness of their relationship has never come from them becoming a couple and being happy but rather from what it says about the story and about each other. The original anime ends with Shinji and Asuka returning to the world and trying to make their dysfunctional relationship work despite knowing how they have hurt each other. As humans if we do not open ourselves up even though the possibility of hurt is present, we can never grow. The manga and the Rebuild also handle their relationship magnificently. The manga resets everything with them trying to form a relationship with each other while the Rebuild acknowledges that despite their feelings for each other the timing might already be gone. There is a strong sense of melancholy in it as well as a sense of relief in finally letting their feelings be known. I love the ending of the short because it is consistent with the message of the story. Asuka rejecting the temptation of instrumentality has always been the message of Evangelion. No matter how beautiful a reality is if we are not open to hurt and to connecting with each other despite the pain it can cause, it can never be authentic.

For Evangelion's 30th anniversary, they released a short animation that’s about 14 minutes long—and it was genuinely beautiful. Story: It mostly features Asuka’s inner monologue/inner voice, with things like her wishing for a happy life with Shinji. Personally, I really liked it. Ratings Story: 8.5/10 Animation/Art: 9/10 (it could’ve been even better, but I still loved it) Overall enjoyment: 9/10 Conclusion: But seriously—watch the series, watch the final movie (End of Evangelion), and then watch this one last. The other extra contents aren’t really that connected to the main story. I’ve seen some of them already, and I’ll watch the rest soon too.

The best thing coming out of Eva since EoE. A reinvigorating appreciation for who Asuka is, not a proxy for anyone, she doesn't need to long for a world without Eva, and I don't need to stomach any more nauseating rebuild shenanigans desperately trying to sell characters that are not those I fell in love with back when I watched Evangelion and EoE for the first time. She accepts the debt she has to her ideals without any ounce of remorse or disquiet towards the future, because she is not Shikinami, she is Soryu. Leaving her pride behind might as well mean ego death, and her pride lies in the cockpit of the Eva. Have you ever thought about your entire experience of the universe and infinity being just a few seconds? Coming out of a hole covered in blood and cunt mucus, until mere second laters, feeling an excruciating pain despite your incapability of sensing what's surrounding you, being torn limb from limb. What is a character who leaves every part that makes it that character behind? That's the infinity rebuilds sold, an infinity not fit for complex characters because it would deny them the right to exist. Man, I'm writing too much, and I feel like I could write even more. Anyway, great short, it's silly and fun, full of fanservice but at the same time it was also really important to me.

NGE does comedy???? It really isn't that deep of a piece, but it is honestly quite comedic, and includes plenty of story beats, references, and of course new memes, for our fanbase to enjoy. I like how it finally shows us what Auska's perfect world view is, and also shows how she better understands and accepts her role in reality than Shinji. For me, it would have been a 7 just for existing because of my love of Evangelion, but the fact it was entertaining, came from new perspectives, managed to stay truthful to characters, and still found some depth of emotion, shows just how timeless the story of Evangelion is, and will continue to be.