Even if it leads to The End of the World as We Know It, they deserve this moment of happiness.
As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
open/close all folders
1.0, 2.0 and 3.0
- Shinji getting Rei to smile in the last few minutes of the first film. It gets exactly the impact intended this time. Now you see why Shinji was willing to go to war against the world for this.
◊ - Their hug at the climax of the second movie is definitely one, too... even if it means the world is ending is the result.
- There's also the beginning of Shinji's whole Eva restart sequence.Shinji: "I don't care about the world... I don't care about anything. I. Want. Ayanami. GIVE HER BACK!"
- Made even better by the fact that earlier in the movie, Asuka sort-of confirmed that Rei reciprocates Shinji's feelings even though she doesn't know it yet.
- It's a testament to the strength of the scene that you don't care that Shinji has effectively brought about The End of the World as We Know It, because after everything he's gone through, he finally had a triumph.Rei: It's alright, Ikari-kun. If I die, I can be replaced.
Shinji: No! You're the only you that exists! That's why I'll definitely save you! - Asuka and Shinji managing to get one genuine heart to heart (for them anyway) following the Sahaqiel battle. Asuka seeks comfort and company in Shinji's room and though things are tense at first, both she and Shinji allow their barriers to drop and speak to each other openly about their reasons for why they pilot. By the end, Asuka has granted Shinji the 'illustrious privilege' of just calling her Asuka instead of Captain- signifying her desire to place her trust in him, which is VERY difficult for her to do with others.
- Speaking of Asuka, she had gone somewhat Out of Character by volunteering to test Unit-03 so that Rei can spend time with Shinji, getting almost killed as a result. And that smile on Asuka's face when Rei thanks her via voicemail. Keep in mind: Rei never thanks anyone except Shinji and Asuka, not even Gendo.
- Following the disaster, Shinji goes crazy over Gendo using the Dummy Plug system to kill Asuka. He's so angry that he's ready to stomp the Geofront into a crater in the ground just to make sure his father pays for what he did. In this very somber way, we get an inkling of how much Asuka matters in Shinji's life, even though they only had a short time together, what was there meant a LOT to him. Enough to feasibly posit that his feelings for her were deeper than either one of them suspected.
- In the series, Rei was just ready to blow up herself because she considers herself to be worthless. This time, she does it so Shinji never has to get into an Evangelion ever again. Yep, he left her to basically mope in a corner, and she's still willing to die for him.
- She also thanks Mari for helping her nuke the Angel, before ordering her to get out of dodge. Remembering that thanking someone is something that shook Rei to her very core not long before this is a big deal.
- Asuka's confession to Misato that although she doesn't want to depend on others, she actually likes the feeling of being nice for a change.
- There's also the beginning of Shinji's whole Eva restart sequence.
- Gendo, of all people, deciding to Pet the Dog and actually go along with Rei's plan to hold a dinner party for everyone, after seeing Yui's face reflected in Rei's. Sure, he goes back to being a total bastard sometime afterwards, but for a fleeting moment, he was content with doing something good.
- The moment when Asuka sees the bandages on Rei's hand and then looks at the ones on her own hand. What was about to degenerate into a fight instead becomes a moment showing how they're not so different.
- There is something just adorable about hearing Rei try to describe her feelings.Rei: "When I'm with Ikari, I feel warm and content. I want Ikari to feel warm and content too."
- In 2.22 the moment when Asuka smiles sincerely after a conversation with Misato.
- A blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment from 2.22: During the final battle, in the evacuation bunker, you can see Toji protecting Hikari from the impact of the fight going on above.
- More than ten years after she was first mentioned, we FINALLY get to see Toji's little sister◊. And she's all better!
- It gets better in 3.0, as she's shown to be kind to Shinji.
- If Sakura Nagashi is anything to go by, the series will end on a high note. And it does."Everybody finds love...in the end"
- "We will meet again, Shinji-kun".
- In 3.0., Shinji breaking into a smile of joy amidst all the chaos of his awakening upon realizing that Asuka survived, and his delight when he sees her again in person (even if the mood is soured by Asuka punching the glass in front of his cell a few moments later).
- Depending how you look at it, the moment when Eva-01 saved Asuka when she screamed for Shinji is in a way too. While its debatable that Shinji actually had anything to do with that, the look on Asuka's face afterwards was quite memorable.
- It's somewhat stated that he unconsciously did that which is why WILLE puts him a bomb collar for security measures.
- Continuing from above, Shinji volunteering to pilot Eva-01 to help Asuka out in 3.0 in the middle of his confusion.
- Asuka calling Shinji by his name, instead of simply calling him Test Subject BM-03 like the rest of WILLE does.
- Misato calls him "Ikari Shinji-kun" and later just "Shinji-kun" before getting confirmation that he even was Shinji! The only person to call him BM-03 is Sakura.
- The moment where Kaworu is trying to convince Shinji to pilot Eva-13, Shinji is in the middle of a Heroic BSoD from the truth about the Evangelions and Rei. And then Kaworu removes Shinji's bomb choker off of him and puts it on his own neck, telling him that he'll shoulder the blame instead of Shinji, so he doesn't have to worry. It just shows what kind of person Kaworu is to willingly do this for Shinji.
- Kaworu and Shinji bonding in 3.0. Shinji has just been thrust into a strange new world where everyone he knew now hates him while it is highly implied that Kaworu is shunned and feared by the rest of NERV due to being an Angel. Watching the two boys find a friend in each other, enjoying themselves and just being happy in what's probably been the first time in a while really makes you smile.Shinji: "Kaworu-kun, you seem to know everything!"Kaworu: (smiling) "That's because I'm always thinking about you."
- Crossing with CMOA, when Mari is getting Shinji's plug out of the Unit 13, instead of telling him anything cruel like anyone would expect, she essentially tells him to redeem himself.Mari: I'm almost done here, Hold on Puppy boy!.Cut to Shinji in the middle of a Heroic BSoD.Mari: Stop acting like a baby!, at least help the princess outnote , you are a man aren't you? and while you are it, try to learn how the world works!
- Asuka saves Rei-Q's life by getting her to snap out of her identity crisis.Rei-Q: What would Rei Ayanami do?Asuka: Like I'd know, what would YOU do?Cut to Rei-Q ejecting from the Mark-09
- Also, as cruel as the ending of 3.0 is for Shinji, Asuka is shown to finally start forgiving him (granted, she can't show that in a healthy way, but it's the thought that counts, damn it!), and the new Rei is beginning to develop feelings. If you watch closely in the ending scene, you can note that Asuka was panting and had to catch her breath when she reached Shinji's plug, which means in turn that she ran to check on him.l
- The fact that Shinji doesn't care about the fact that Rei is a clone of his mother so much as that Rei Q isn't the one he saved. Doubles as a Tear Jerker.
- The whole movie is filled with moments that evidence Shinji's love and loyalty to Rei, but they're all invariably of the bittersweet sort, because she's dead or worse, trapped within EVA-01. Apparently, he's been paying attention to what she reads. And keeps bringing her tokens of affections throughout the movie. And meant business when he said she was irreplaceable to him. And complements how she looks in her new suit. Too bad it was the wrong Rei...
- In the original series, Asuka felt abandoned by Misato, ran away from home, and fell into a suicidal state. In 3.0 she, Misato, and Mari have all been together for fourteen years.
3.0+1.0
- Toji, Hikari, and Kensuke are alive and grown-up. Not only that, but Toji and Hikari married and have a baby girl named Tsubame.
- There's also the fact that unlike most of the people Shinji came across since awakening in the previous film, they aren't cold around him, and all three are happy to learn he survived.
- In a way, Toji, Hikari, and Kensuke and the community they've built together are all the real heroes of 3.0+1.0. It's their welcoming of Rei that allows her to grow beyond Gendo's control. It's their support, and Rei leading by their example, that allows Shinji to forgive himself and bond with others again. And it's a recovered Shinji and a caring Kensuke that show Asuka she has value beyond being an Eva pilot.
- The old ladies being fond of Rei-Q, no matter how weird and out of touch she is, to the point they start prompting her to choose a proper name for herself already instead of having them call her Mrs.Look-alike all the time. One even says she'd love to have Rei-Q as a daughter-in-law.
- Rei-Q slowly learns to become more human during her time living with the Suzuhara family, and becomes close to both Hikari and baby Tsubame. Hikari even suggests that Rei-Q live with them permanently.
- Rei-Q plainly admits to irritable Asuka that she is fine being Rei Ayanami, even though she is fully aware that it is only because her programming as a clone.
- Sakura Suzuhara's conflicted treatment of Shinji. She's struggling with his role in all of this, by unlike a lot of WILLE she seems to genuinely want to support him. It's rare for anyone to cry over Shinji, but she does so openly, in front of others, twice!
- The film's Troubled Production might have contribute to original supporting casts having much less screen-time but they aren't entirely forgotten either. Toji and Kensuke changed from those two idiots to the most reliable men of their village. Maya starts the flim bitching at 'useless' men, but instead of blaming the world to the very end like in The End of Evangelion, this time she decides to put her faith in these people one more time when it mattered the most. Ritsuko staying loyal to Misato all the way ever since 3.0 despite the latter's increasingly ruthless tendencies. Misato ends up having a child with Kaji! Even Hyuga and Aoba shares a fist bump prior to the final operation. Everyone in WILLE gets their moment, no matter how trivial.
- Commander Nagisa -ahem- Kaworu, the First Angel, had been in touch with Kaji and helped engineered the plot to stop Instrumentality Plan even at the stakes of both their lives. Instead of destroying humanity like all other Angels, it is implied that Kaji the human helped instill the love for humanity into Kaworu. This love is enough to compel the guy to move time itself to help Shinji pull through and find that one happiness again and again despite repeated failures to avert the worst that befell the humanity (in all the past releases of Evangelion from TV series to present)
- When she's absorbed into Unit-13, Asuka is forced to relive her past and laments that all she really wanted was to have someone in her life who would accept her and "pat [her] on [her] head". Then she has a vision of Kensuke, who ever since N3I has been acting as a surrogate father to her. Kensuke fulfills her wish by patting her head and reassuring her that she is fine as she is.
- When Instrumentality starts up, Toji says that he and Hikari survived the end of the world before, and that he has faith that due to Misato and WILLE, they'll do it again.
- The ending. It can essentially be summed up as "End of Evangelion but in reverse" or "End of Evangelion and the original anime's ending combined".
- After an entire movie and a half of tension between Shinji and Misato (mainly on the latter's part), the two finally cross paths again. After Misato takes a bullet for him, clarifies to everyone present that she only ever blamed herself for Third Impact, and grants Shinji permission to pilot the Eva, the two have one more pleasant conversation about how her son is doing (all while Misato is smiling for possibly the first time in a decade). Afterwards, they take a minute to hug each other, ending their incredibly complicated relationship on a warm note.
- Shinji and Gendo make amends, and with that, it's why Yui doesn't kill him and lets him die with her this time when Shinji rejects Instrumentality. Just Gendo's reaction to finally finding Yui again as the previously scratchy and faded picture of her becomes clear and Gendo sounds more human than ever before is almost overwhelmingly beautiful.Gendo: So that's where you were, Yui...
- Early on, Kensuke, who is mourning the loss of his own father, encourages Shinji to try and reach out to Gendo and mend their damaged relationship before it's too late. Asuka understandably scoffs at this notion, but Kensuke's urging proves to be pivotal to the film's resolution, as it's Shinji's reconciliation with his father that ultimately saves the world.
- Also a subtle but unexplainably important change, in End of Evangelion, even in Gendo’s final moment of genuine guilt and grief his final words, while still an apology, were also still a command, one final order of "Forgive me" to an absent Shinji. This time, Gendo gets on his knees and hugs a child version of Shinji and outright says in the most genuine tone possible "I'm sorry."
- Rather than disappearing into the depths of space to serve as proof humanity existed presumably out of her god complex, Yui allows Gendo to embrace her and lets Shinji kill them to end Instrumentality.
- Shinji making amends with Asuka on a beach that's reminiscent of the final scene of End of Evangelion, For the first time, Shinji confesses that he returns Asuka's supposedly former feelings, which causes her to blush and be overwhelmed with emotion. However, this may also go into Ship Tease territory as Asuka's flustered reaction towards Shinji's admission indicates that she hasn't really moved on as much as she would like Shinji to believe.
- At another level this gives both characters something they've always wanted. Shinji makes it clear after dealing with the immediate threat of Gendo that his first priority is to save Asuka. With his new resolve he is finally able to be the hero he always dreamed of being for her in the original story. For Asuka's part she's used to being abandoned and discarded once she is no longer necessary. Her greatest fear in the original series was only ever being Shinji's 'side dish' when no one else was there to give him comfort. Here she is finally saved by her knight in shining armor, as opposed to being left to die or be discarded. Shinji made absolutely sure she would be safe before he moved forward in his plan to sacrifice himself to break the time loop of this universe.
- In this scene, Asuka finally appears as a grown woman. Especially considering she lamented being unable to grow up due to the Curse of EVA in 3.0 and her issues with growing up in the original series.
- When Shinji enters the Eva-01, he encounters the soul of the original Rei Ayanami in the pilot seat. Turns out, she's been residing the cockpit for 14 years just to ensure that Shinji will never have to pilot again. She even apologizes that she failed to keep that wish true rather than resenting Shinji for nearly ending the world for her. Shinji tells her it's alright and promises her that he'll take care of the rest, no longer weighed down by the guilt of failing to save her.
- Later, before Shinji is about to create a world without Eva, the last person he meets for closure is Rei. Shinji mentions how Rei-Q enjoyed a life without Eva in her limited lifespan and that Rei should be given a chance to. Rei accepts this, even holding the doll that represents Rei-Q's love for Tsubame and leaves on good terms with Shinji. While other Evangelion-related stories usually ends with Rei dying as a martyr for Shinji, this Rei is spared that fate and actually gets to live as a person.
- Especially consider this in the context of Anno's life and career, as he's repeatedly stated that the Rebuild films are based on points of his life and career, much like how the original Evangelion was. Mari is likely a stand-in for his wife Moyoco, who he met after working on Evangelion, the Earn Your Happy Ending is representative of Anno finally finding happiness after years of depression and struggle, and Shinji erasing the Angels and Evangelions from reality to create a better world represents Anno finally moving on his life from both his depression and Evangelion. Congratulations, Anno, and bye-bye to all of Evangelion, indeed.
- In keeping with the "End of Evangelion, but in reverse" theme, the song played over this segment is "VOYAGER ~ Hizuke no Nai Bohyou," from the movie Bye-Bye Jupter. While "Komm, süsser Tod" from End was a bleak song about failure and suicide played over a literal apocalypse, "VOYAGER" is an upbeat, if bittersweet song about saying goodbye to someone you love and how lucky you were to know them, and plays when Shinji undoes the damage of Instrumentality and restores the world. In other words, a perfect fit for Shinji bidding farewell to his friends and loved ones as he finally lets go of his pain and moves on with his life.
- The ending in general finally gives something fans have wanted for so long: A happy ending: As mentioned above, Shinji ends Instrumentality and creates a new world without the Angels or EVAS, leading to a much stable world like our own, with the cast now living happier and stable lives. Shinji himself even gets one with being with Mari, and they go off to finally live, with showcasing Shinji no longer being the broken wreck that he once was and now a much healthier young man.
- A small one, but Utada's "One Last Kiss" starts up during the last moments of the movie, leaving these as the final words heard onscreen the credits roll:I love you more than you'll ever know.
