Spoilers for Rebuild of Evangelion will be unmarked. You Have Been Warned.
Neon Genesis IMPACTS ("Shin Seiki Impacts") is animated short taking place during the events of Rebuild of Evangelion, released at Animator Expo 2015 alongside "until You come to me" and "evangelion: Another Impact - Confidential", created by franchise creator Hideaki Anno and Rebuild producer Nobuo Kawakami.
In the year 2015 AD, living conditions in Tokyo-3 worsen as Angel attacks become more frequent and ferocious. Three young girls, Haruka Ishii, Izumi Taniguchi, and Ayako Matsuzawa, are juniors at Tokyo-3's private Municipal Junior High, and are also a band called Impacts on Nico Nico Douga. But with Ayako moving away from the city to avoid further onslaught from the Angels, the group broke up and released their final song, "A Sentimental Hunch", on Nico Nama (NND's livestreaming service).
Realizing that Izumi would also leave at some point as well, Haruka makes a proposition to Izumi.
And now, another angel is about to wreak havoc on Tokyo-3...
Tropes in this short:
- Crapsaccharine World: It looks like a happy
Moe Slice of Life anime about a high school music band, but of course, this being Evangelion, that's not quite the case. - Despair Event Horizon: After losing her friends and living under constant Angel attacks (and who knows what else has happened...), Haruka falls into a depression and doesn't care when an Angel fight above her shelter causes her to be crushed to death by the building's debris.
- Downer Ending: Izumi and Ayako are gone, and Haruka is left alone and dies during an Angel attack. Even worse, the final scene takes place during the Zeruel fight, which means in a few moments Shinji will go full god-mode and exterminate most of the human race.Her friends are most likely dead as well.
- Dying Alone: Haruka falls past the Despair Event Horizon after her friends exit from her life and the Angels continue attacking Tokyo-3, eventually leading to her dying alone in a shelter as it caves in during an Angel attack.
- Genre Shift: Instead of depicting the military science and psychological things going on in the main Evangelion entries, this short depicts girls in a rock band that are all good and happy until things start going downhill in Rebuild, which translate to the end of the joy in Impacts.
- Interquel: The ending where Haruka is alone is heavily suggested to take place during the Zeruel battle, judging by the sound effects.
- Irony: Assuming that the Angel at the end of the short is Zeruel, that means Haruka is saving a Despair Event Horizon that ultimately contributes to her letting herself die while Shinji is able to pull himself out of one to commit to a Heroic Resolve at the same time.
- Lower-Deck Episode: This short shows a glimpse of civilian life during the events of Rebuild. Heck, the girls even go to the same school as the pilots.
- Lyrical Dissonance: Downplayed. Though "Sentimental no Yokan" is a happy pop rock song, the lyrics talk about being nostalgic for the old days that they can't go back to and how it leaves them feeling empty in the present. It isn't uncommon for songs of this genre to have these type of lyrics, although when used to show what's going on in the short... it fits like a glove.
- Meaningful Name: One can interpret the title being "Neon Genesis Impacts" for being how the events of the main series impact the lives of others.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: "Sentimental no Yokan" is a cheery pop rock song (heck, it was even produced by Vocaloid producer buzzG!), but towards the end of the song and short, it contrasts with the imagery of Haruka getting caught in the chaos of an Angel attack on Tokyo-3, Izumi and Ayako suddenly disappearing from her life, and her being too depressed to care when the shelter she's in caves in on her during another Angel attack.
