In the deadly calm of the aftermath, the sudden and unexpected arrival of the Fifth Child hits like a hurricane, leaving Shinji at the eye of a whirlwind of activity as he finds a kindred soul in the unearthly Nagisa Kaoru... more »^E but does Kaoru really have a soul at all? Prepare for the shocking conclusion to the most controversial animated series ever produced. Where Angels fear to tread, Shinji must go alone. At last, the circle of life will be completed. He is The Beast That Shouted I at the Heart of the World. It is Final Genesis.« less
"Evangelion Returns in this climax. Episodes 24-26 chronicle the end of this controversial Anime series. Though the actual EVANGELION MOVIES, are NOT included on this DVD, due to "End Of Evangelion" and "Evangelion: Death & Rebirth" being licensed to Manga, and not ADV Films. This is a must buy for any fan of the series, and any fan of Anime in general. Keep an eye out in October for the movies on DVD from Manga. - Enygma077"
The Controversial yet Spectacular Ending
06/10/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The last disc of this series brings everything to a climax...and then breaks it down into total chaos. All of the characters go into a retrospective about themselves, which takes two episodes. It can be rather confusing...but at the same time, it is meant to be.As for the movies...one of the reviews posted here is a bit misled. There will be no third movie; the poster that he refers to has been acknowledged by both Studio Gainax and the fan community as a fake. There are two movies, one of which replaces the last two episodes of the series, while the other goes on to provide a new ending to the series all together. For more information on the movies, do a search for End of Evangelion or Evangelion: Death & Rebirth on your favorite search engine.Both of these movies are currently liscensed by Manga Entertainment, and are (tentatively) scheduled to be released in October, 2001."
"Rise up young boy to the heavens as a legend"
Marc Ruby? | Warren, MI USA | 12/05/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"With this DVD, the main stream of the Evangelion series is brought to an end. The viewer has been exposed to almost every possible variation of anime's favorite themes. We have had giant monsters, young children battling insurmountable odds, and secret agencies pursuing their own ends. On top of the extraterrestrial threat of the Angels, mysterious committees and secretive leaders plan maneuvers that have one foot in the Kabala, and another in the Dead Sea scrolls. Every one of us has thrown up our hands at one time or another to demand some explanation of events, but none of us have given up being entranced by a story that invites multiple interpretations.'The Final Messenger'With Asuka completely disabled. NERV activates Kaworu Nagisa, the Fifth Child. Kaworu seems to bond with Shinji immediately, and his kindness and affection begin to pull the Ikari boy out of his angry shell. But peace is not to be. Kaworu is actually the Seventeenth Angel, Tabris, and Shinji must not only bear his betrayal, but must attempt to kill Tabris even as the Angel admits his love. The Instrumentality begins.With the end of episode 24, the exterior action of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' comes to an end. The next two episodes take us to a new dimension. For the first time we see past the symbols and mysterious. Many times Hideaki Anno has hinted that the real action of this series takes place on an interior stage, and that is where we find ourselves.'The Ending World'Episode 25 gives us a last look into the interior of all the key players. We see their feelings and needs in the light of common human experience. Kaworu's message was the need to break past the shells of our egos and experience the inner oneness of human experience.'The Beast that Shouted "I" at the Heart of the World'Episode 26 is Shinji's. This time the focus is on his need for affection and respect, and his belief that he is worthless without them. He has allowed himself to think as a victim, and has given up his internal sense of identity.And so, as Hideaki Anno has carefully made clear from the beginning, the story isn't an apocalypse, but a tale of transfiguration. The Angels are less like villains than attempts to break down the walls of false defenses that keep us from developing beyond our childlike fears and immaturity. It is no surprise that many fans, expecting some form of tumultuous ending, were quite taken aback by the soft edge and positive message that Anno actually intended. In response to this dissatisfaction Anno went on to create the theater release with its much more spectacular conclusion. Yet the message remained the same in the end. The kingdom of Heaven is within you."
The End of an Epic
thebigchicken | NY United States | 08/19/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In what I consider to be pieces of art, the final episodes of Evangelion live up to the quality of the series and, in my mind, far surpass it. However, many people have brought up the quite valid fact that they fail to answer questions raised during the course of the story and are an unforgivable departure from the artistic style of the rest of the series. Although it is hard to address these issues with most of the general viewing group not having seen the Evangelion movies, I feel that the best overall understanding of this series comes from watching both endings. While some would argue that they cannot or should not be viewed as co-existing entities, this is the only way I feel that you can get the complete picture of the series. The last two episodes contained on the 8th disc are more of the mental ending to the series, with the physical ending being left for the movie(which by the way will be released on Oct. 29th give or take a day). I gave this DVD 5 stars because I feel it is an important one for all fans to see, BEFORE seeing the movies. While some will not find them the most enjoyable of episodes they provide a very interesting look at the world of the Evangelion from the perspecitve of a character within its boarders. Shinji is without a doubt the most human-like character ever to exist within an animated world because of these last to episodes, and I feel that this fact made the series overall, but more importantly the two movies, much more enjoyable. As for the quality of the animation, while many would disagree with my views, I thought it was intersting that it shared the same disassembled and broken look as did the Shinji and the other characters. The one aspect of this DVD that I will speak against is the quality of ADV's work. The lack of extras and the "jumpyness" of the film do detract from the quality of the DVD, but I still gave the DVD 5 stars because these errors do not detract from the quality of the story contained on the DVD."
Absoultly Amazing!
gibbons11 | somewhere | 11/05/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"These last few episodes are constantly debated among Evangelion fans, between those who think they sucked and those who think they were one of the best things they have ever seen. It really depends on what you enjoyed about the series, either the action or the deep emotional problems. Episode 24 will easily appeal to either side of the argument (they were just really cool), episode 25 and 26 is where the division arises. That's because it is nothing at all like the rest of the series. Everything becomes stream of conciousness in the last two epsiodes and serious philosophical questions are confronted head on. There is also a complete lack of action, by this time the series had pretty much run out of money so the animation is "cheap." However, the way in which the last episodes were done were amzingly artistic, Anno did a great job directing with limited recources. I personally loved the whole part about gaining freedom by adding restrictions. And there's also this lovely little alternate reality scene with Shinji, Asuka, and Rei as normal school children (it makes sense in light of what is going on in the episode and the final conclusion)I personally loved theses last 3 episodes. There is deep insight to humanity, and it leaves off with a very positive message. Yes, you heard me, a POSITIVE message, that I thought was quite uplifting. I seriously don't see how people got depressed from the end of the series. The biggest problem people seem to have is that very little plot is explained. That's a valid complaint, but the "movie" End of Evangelion, gives a whole lot more backround to what happened, a good amount is explained, just not directly (you have to think really critically). End of Evangelion is not an alternate ending to the series, but rather a more explained ending. EoE explains what happend during the human instrumentality program, and how it really came about (in the last eps of the series, scenes from EoE flash across right before everything becomes stream of conciousness). It is important to remember that although EoE is rather depressing, it still has the same message as the series did."