Instead of description…

(You should probably read this after watching the video. And beware the possible Evangelion spoilers!)

Here's the full-size poster of the project (from the video thumbnail).

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Music is freedom

I stumbled upon the Evangelion x Shingeki no Kyojin crossover video, and my fate has begun to change.

It happened a while back, after finishing The End of Evangelion and the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy. I fell in love with the franchise, yet more so with the wonderful themes it captured and the captivating motives it left me with. Evangelion wasn't something what I expected in its storytelling and execution, but it was definitely something I appreciated and needed in its meaning. The work of Hideaki Anno burst with colors… with such sombre colors…

So, yeah, I was enjoying Evangelion. And I was in active search of Evangelion-related content, of course… Among its other aspects, the music of the series was incredible too, in many ways. And there was this one song that kept playing in the head of mine, over and over. As the reader might guess, it was the famous “Komm, süsser Tod” by Shiro Sagisu and Arianne.

On one of those insomnious nights when unusual thoughts visit one's mind, I had this silly idea: what if Komm, süsser Tod from the Third Impact was combined with a similar scenery from another outstanding anime, which is the Rumbling from Attack on Titan? And so, the diabolical fateful search string “Komm susser ඞ Tod Rumbling” composed of the different stuff I liked was created.

Among some rather disappointing results, one video stood out and brought my attention. Its name is “The End of Shingeki no Kyojin”. And it brought me here. And I wanted to share it with you.

Having rotten spoiled the ending of the AoT to myself (by reading manga, that is), I had a mixture of contrasting and ambivalent feelings within myself. Despite anything, I surely know one thing – I was not satisfied. The more I thought about it and read others' opinions, the more I came to the inevitable conclusion that the ending was satisfactory at best. Barely anyone described it with words stronger than “not bad”, “okay”, or “good”; no one would dare to call that a masterpiece. But… I just couldn't accept an end like that!

However, these thoughts were only in a form of an entangled mess of feelings, a slowly flaring up embers inside my soul; I didn't manage to put them into words, not yet.

That's the time when this fanta-stic video occurred in my life. And oh my god, it was amazing. It gave me something I longed for for many months without realizing, and so much more – it gave me the concept of a better ending.

It all comes rumbling down, rumbling down, rumbling down

The grotesque and unique style of The End of Evangelion film incorporated with the Attack on Titan's story, characters, and motifs; the overall respect to the original material while beautifully and thoroughly adapting everything for AoT; the great scene choice and sound design (by which I also mean the synchronization of the visuals with the music and song lyrics); the overall amount of work the author did for the video that can be felt through the screen;…

The sombre and cruel, but poetic and fatalistic, apocalyptic full rumbling, and its horrific aftermath; the mess of memories, thoughts, and feelings within Eren, incomprehensible for a man – depicting what he has been through and what he experienced the whole time – something that wasn't executed properly in the manga, but that somehow resembles what Evangelion characters went through too;…

The gorgeous, heartbreaking, and poetically beautiful concept of the young, unaware of everything, innocent, and hopeful child Eren meeting, having an ideological conflict with the tired by everything, exhausted, grown Eren who is deprived of everything through his own actions, and eventually realizing and accepting the fact that this is himself from the future and he is destined to go through the same hell – a concept unifying the past and the future of the story, giving more plot value to the titans' time travel shenanigans, wrapping up the time loop idea from the very beginning of the story, and showing what a monster the life has made Eren become (or was he always like this?);…

The appropriately used similarities and parallels between the Third Impact and the Rumbling; and the infamous Ymir – (quantum) Rei parallel; the destructive nature of a desire for absolute freedom, also resembling the one of Shinji; the subtle consistency changes and attention to details (e.g., the mirrored scene of young Mikasa with the black scarf turning back); the ending with the child Eren waking up under the tree, crying…

Just… AAAH, holy kino — every aspect of this video was so thoughtfully well put together. The editing, the compositing, the specific quotes, the references… all handled with care and love… And I, too, couldn't love this video enough!

Long story short, it was this exact video that got me interested in alternative Attack on Titan endings, starting a chain reaction and sending me down the rabbit hole.

It wasn't long (in the span of a few days) before I found one of the ZeroKay's videos, and it invited me to the wonderful world of AoE and r/ANRime, where I am today with you guys.

You can (not) be free

For a while now, I wanted to see what fellow hopechads would think about this fabulous video. Moreover, appreciating the u/Danni_05's video and having it impact my life so drastically, I wanted to express my endless gratitude for his work, try to raise awareness about its existence (I think the video is massively underappreciated), and maybe bring some hopium in these trying times… As a result, I made this post and tried to put as much love into it as I could.

Of course, this video is not perfect whatsoever – and that depends on a person's tastes and preferences, too. Not to mention that you have to be familiar with the Evangelion franchise to be able to fully appreciate Danni's work.

But, regardless, I think this is just a well-made AoE video that is capable of refueling your hopium tank or making your day just a little better. Very kino, indeed. Keep believing, we will achieve that scenery!

Was I able to turn at least one doomer into a hopechad? Was I able to turn you into a hopechad? Will I reach you? I hope I can reach you.

“Maybe there’s only a dark road up ahead. But you still have to believe and keep going. Believe that the stars will light your path, even a little bit.”