To commemorate the rescreening of the Rebuild of Evangelion movie series in Japanese theatres, the official Studio Khara X account revealed that director Hideaki Anno’s original concept for the story’s ending differed greatly from the events of the final film, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time.
Note that major spoilers follow for the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy.
The image below shows Hideaki Anno’s original idea for the ending of Rebuild of Evangelion, which was drafted during the planning and production stages for the movie series. This document, titled “Notes for the EVA Theatrical Edit Version,” was written 20 years ago, on November 20, 2005.
In the statement, Anno explains “In the beginning, I envisioned Rebuild of Evangelion as a compilation that would feature an alternate ending. Episodes 20 and onwards of the anime would be re-edited to account for the new finale. The finale in the very early rough plot involves a confrontation between Kaworu’s and Shinji’s EVAs. This culminates in Shinji forgiving Kaworu after the latter killed Gendo Ikari, who had fused with Asuka and the Adams, along with Eva Unit-02. After many twists and turns, I never imagined until September 2018 that the finale would be set at Ube-Shinkawa Station.”
Whereas the theatrical release of Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time ends with Shinji Ikari resetting the world and Kaworu dying, the earliest version of the finale had Gendo Ikari, Shinji’s father, assimilate with Asuka and the Adams inside Evangelion Unit-02. Gendo’s actions lead Kaworu Nagisa to kill him, which ultimately leads to a confrontation between Shinji and Kaworu in their respective EVAs. The original ending sees Shinji forgiving Kaworu.
The early ending concept features a different take on the franchise’s dark tone – with a stronger focus on the relationship between Shinji and Kaworu – and doesn’t feature the unexpected reset from the theatrical release. While reception for Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 was positive, there are fans who were divided on how the ending was handled and the resolution of some plot lines.
Reactions to the revelation by Anno include fans expressing their desire to see the original concept be brought to life. Some can’t believe how close they were to seeing a Kaworu-Shinji EVA fight on the big screen. Others just want to see more Kaworu in the films. Given the popularity of the franchise and the success of the remake films, there’s always a chance for more Evangelion.
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