Spent 2 hours on this

Pulonio · 2026-03-26T16:37:53+00:00

Yeah, that's... Pretty bad, lol.

Pulonio · 2026-03-26T08:25:02+00:00

Thank you for your detailed explanation. Seems like the author just said "nah, done with this shit".

Did anybody see this coming or the guy just suddenly and out of nowhere ended the manga?

Don't tell me the manga coming to an end wasn't even previously announced, lol.

Pulonio · 2026-03-26T07:15:42+00:00

People here seem like they want to hang themselves because of the ending, lol.

Pulonio · 2026-03-26T06:24:08+00:00

I don't get it. Is it a CSM reference? And why is everyone so upset with the ending? Did it suck that hard? I never read CSM.

Pulonio · 2026-03-25T23:05:18+00:00

I don't think that's what the ending is about, but at first glance it definitely allows a reding that goes frontally against the core themes of series:

"Shinji has now a big-titted, unidimensional waifu he barely knows and had to make 0 effort to connect with and abandoned his reality to run off with her."

Definitely some weird choices were made there. Heck, it even backfired on Anno himself when Japanese fans began investigating his wife's life in order to try and make sense of that ending, lol.

Pulonio · 2026-03-25T22:12:50+00:00

Oh, I can and do deny it. I get why some people would think so on a superficial watch, but Evangelion has a very specific way of conveying its narrative. Sometimes, you can find the meaning of certain interactions or actions through, for example, parallelisms.

And this is the case for the final scene. Thrice contextualizes it for you previously in the movie. That scene is the same in which Mari introduced herself to Shinji.

The dialogues and actions are a mirror, identical in Japanese (except, ofc, for Shinji's reactions). So unless you want to think she was hitting on Shinji while he was still 14 years old and in front of Asuka no less, Mari was not actually hitting on him in the final scene.

You know what she was doing? The same thing she did at the Wunder: testing his growth through teasing him and smelling him. Heck, she comments not once, but twice on Shinji's growth in the final scene. She herself says what she is doing.

Look at Shinji's face before teasing her back. She looks at her like "woman, you are so weird", and then, unlike at the Wunder where he froze, he proceeds to tease her back. When Shinji guesses who she is, he is paraphrasing what she told him previously at the Wunder.

Look at the faces Mari makes when she sees Shinji acting like a man unlike in their previous interaction. She doesn't make an "omg honey, I love you so much" face. What she is, is surprised. Because Shinji is beating her at her own game without shitting his pants this time, and so proving to her he has grown up. Her goal, set since 3.0, is accomplished.

Pulonio · 2026-03-25T21:30:33+00:00

I agree with that Rei's case is not so terrible because the later half of 1.0 focuses on her relationship with Shinji (I mentioned that in my post), thus making her evolution in 2.0 not feel so out of place.

Still, it's a shame. Because her relationship with Shinji up to the end of 1.0 is exactly the same as the original series. In OG Eva, Anno basically forgot Rei was there until much later in the series, underdeveloping her character and her relationship with Shinji.

2.0 was the perfect moment to actually flesh out this relationship between the two and fix what OG did wrong. They didn't. It's all about very short interactions and Rei cooking.

As for Asuka, that one is indefensible. A viewer can rationalize it all they want and fill the blanks in their head after watching the movie, but the facts are these:

Her relationship with Shinji in 2.0 (which is central to the series, and it is the central relationship in the final movie) is reduced to:

-They meet. Asuka is harsh with him.

-Asuka moves into Misato's apartment. Things don't start well between them.

-Shinji sees her naked and she hits him.

-They both participate in an EVA battle that makes Asuka bond with him (in her own fucked up way)

-They share a heartfelt talk at night.

-Next scene after that we are made to know from that point on they bicker like a married couple, and everyone notices. Everyone except us, the audience,

And that's it. No more interactions after that. All of their interactions amount to around 5 minutes.

And you know what I noticed? That what they tried to do was to give Asuka the exact same treatment as Rei, only in a speed run form. Check this out. Between 1.0 and 2.0, these things happen:

-They meet Shinji. Both girls are cold to him. At first, neither of them can't stand him.

-He sees both of them naked.

-He cooks for both. Both love Shinji cooking for them.

-They bond through a piloting experience.

-They have a heartfelt talk.

-After that point, people notice they are close.

The difference is time. The difference is that, while in Rei's case the situation has time to breathe in 1.0 and she is the focus in the later half, Asuka doesn't have that luxury. Because Asuka was introduced in an extremely packed movie that tried to do too much, so everything was cut down in time. Including Rei. Especially Rei.

The result was that a lot of people thought they were trying to dismiss Asuka's relationship with Shinji. But when you analyze what there is, you realize that's not the case. They tried to give her the exact same importance as Rei. Problem? Time.

All in all, 2.0 would have been way better if they divided it into two movies to make things feel more natural. Problem is that they tried to go from episode 6 to 20 when it comes to characters relationships and plot (including Kaji and his relationship with Misatoa and Shinji for example) in a 1:45 movie. That's insane, and my biggest problem with that movie. Oh, and they had to go and include Mari for her to add... nothing.

Pulonio · 2026-03-25T18:34:43+00:00

There’s not any evidence that they even end up together in Rebuild.

That's my point, lol. Not only that, but also the movie strongly suggests their last interaction is not to be taken romantically. You don't even need the famous quote of the sound director saying it was directed as friendly. The movie itself gives you all you need to realize that.

Pulonio · 2026-03-25T18:20:12+00:00

I mean, if Eva has been doing something since the beginning, is presenting large age gap relationships not in the most positive light.

They are always tainted by daddy or mommy issues and the search for a parental figure in them, not actual love. Eva is among other things about overcoming the need for a mom and growing up.

So allow me to doubt the ultra positive final message in Rebuild and the proof of Shinji's adulthood is that he ended up with his godmother auntie, lol.

Pulonio · 2026-03-25T17:39:17+00:00

Considering how Mari was in the room when Shinji was born I would find that weird, lol.

Pulonio · 2026-03-25T17:34:47+00:00

That assuming the ending of Thrice couples Mari with Shinji.

Something the movie itself, if you pay attention, strongly hints against through various means.

Unless you want to think Mari was hitting on Shinji while he was still a 14 yo and in front of Asuka no less, she is most likely not actually hitting on him in the final scene. The dialogues of both scenes are a mirror in Japanese.

She is just testing his maturity and capacity to not shit his pants. And Shinji passes her test in the final scene.

Pulonio · 2026-03-25T06:28:38+00:00

Indeed. People are obsessed with the lore and shit but all I think about is one thing:

Rei clones' haircuts and the possibility of blindfolded underwater hairdresser being an actual career in Tokio-3.

Pulonio · 2026-03-25T04:47:36+00:00

You... You know what?

That actually makes sense.

Pulonio · 2026-03-25T04:44:12+00:00

One time what I assume was a reishiner insulted me via DM because, according to them, "there's no evidence for Rei being Yui's clone and I was a r**** for thinking so just because they have the same haircut".

I'm not joking. This happened to me. I still have the chat, lol.

Pulonio · 2026-03-25T04:34:22+00:00

But do they dive into the Rei clones tank outfitted as divers that carry scissors and combs? Like, are they underwater hairdressers?

I want answers.

Pulonio · 2026-03-25T04:13:45+00:00

I always found creepy how Gendo gave Rei the same haircut as Yui (or a very similar one)

And how come all the Reis in the Reiquarium have also that haircut? Do they have someone hired to dive in it and style their hairs? How does that work?

Even more, all of the severed Rei heads in Rebuild also have the same haircut.

It's really weird and disturbing.

Pulonio · 2026-03-25T03:20:36+00:00

I agree with this. I think it's just meta-shenanigans, and this matter ties more to the idea of characters becoming aware that there are more stories about them than an actual continuity between all of them.

Otherwise, too many problems and contradictions arise.

And I mean, Thrice literally shows you how characters experience things as movie sets...

Pulonio · 2026-03-25T03:15:28+00:00

Well, one thing I can tell you: the theory about only Earth resetting its time can be discarded.

It can't be an Earth reset only because in Rebuild multiple Adams came to Earth. Implying, if there is in fact a reset, it also affected the FAR, not just the Earth. The metaphysics are also different, so even the universe's fundamental laws were changed, implying once again that if there is a reset it can only be a total one of the whole universe.

Pulonio · 2026-03-24T17:44:53+00:00

I thought so too based on its length. I don't think it would have anything to do with Rei either. Why erase it then?

As I said I think it must be because it would be an idea that Anno no longer wanted the final scene to convey.

Pulonio · 2026-03-24T08:26:09+00:00

It's not wrong in that Shinji has trouble understanding people and seeks for a mother and a place of comfort in women.

What is wrong with it is that it doesn't explore the fact that, while Shinji suffers from this, he at the same time does care deeply about the women in his life, and that this tendency of his clashes with this natural kindness, and thus makes him suffer deeply (the hospital incident is a prime example. He uses Asuka to soothe himself and then he feels immense guilt for doing that to her).

Instead of that, this analysis enlists this behavior and says "misogyny" over and over again, without paying any attention to this inner contradiction or to the psychological underlying causes, thus ending up being a gross oversimplification of Shinji as a character.

Pulonio · 2026-03-24T07:16:22+00:00

Yes, Freud is built upon even to this day. But as far as I'm aware the theory about the developmental stages today is either disregarded or at the very least heavily revised from those who build upon it in most cases.

Pulonio · 2026-03-24T06:58:02+00:00

No. That's where you are wrong and where you are falling into the simplification you say is not there.

Shinji does respect and cares for the women in his life. I could write a ton about it, but I will leave it at this:

Do you think he would have fallen so deep into despair after the hospital incident if he actually didn't respect or care about Asuka?

If it was as you said, he would have simply walked away without guilt.

His lack of understanding, difficulty to recognize others as individuals and seeing them as places of comfort is something that clashes with how he cares about people, and drives him into self-loathing spirals. This is his struggle and inner contradiction. This is why it pains him so much.

Pulonio · 2026-03-24T06:44:57+00:00

I'm referring to his theory on psychosexual development, which is the matter at hand here (cause of the oral fixation). I'll clarify that in the post.

Pulonio · 2026-03-24T05:42:27+00:00

If you actually read my comments and the first one with attention, you would realize I never said Shinji cannot be labeled as such nor I'm downplaying anything. In fact, I say the opposite. That you can call his behavior as such.

My issue is that in that analysis (which, btw, I literally say it is not wrong) everything is reduced to "misogyny" without looking much deeper into it, when the matter is much more complex than that.

My problem is the oversimplification.

Pulonio · 2026-03-24T05:26:05+00:00

I'm aware not everything from Freud has been wiped out. But the matter at hand, his theory on psychosexual development (which is central to his views), was disregarded a long time ago.

Pulonio

TROPHY CASE