As far as grandiose projections of one man’s psyche go, Hideaki Anno’s Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise must be near the top. Not only did he spin this iconic 90s anime series about a messianic mech-fighter blowout from his own clinical depression, but he’s also recently managed to chew over the material a second time, reworking it as a series of four films: the so-called Rebuild of Evangelion. Production on this final one – which roughly retreads the same story material as the highly rated 1997 cinema release End of Evangelion – was apparently slowed by another bout of Anno’s mental illness.
Part of what was reportedly blocking Anno creatively was that he struggled to identify with the protagonist Shinji Ikari, who has a more hopeful perspective on mankind, and instead feels closer these days to Shinji’s father Gendo, the megalomaniacal leader of the Nerv cabal who wants to salve his existential pain by fusing all of humanity into some kind of post-apocalyptic godhead. (Hey, we’ve all been there.) At the start of this film, however, Shinji is himself pulling out of a serious funk following his role in the Third Impact, a cataclysmic event that occurred during previous instalments and that the initial plot-vomit recap is no help whatsoever in elucidating.
Evangelion 3.0+1.01 is predictably packed to the rafters with shrill philosophical loudhailing involving a peculiar fusion of Christian reference points and tech-speak that often feels – in the midst of interminable aerial battles – like a pentecostalist preacher screaming the contents of a programming manual at you. Luckily the film displays a surreal visual brilliance, augmenting the painterly romanticism of the original series into a gyroscopic wildness worthy of the digital age. Some of the marvels on offer include a giant Eva cyborg using the Eiffel Tower as a lance, a pulsating interdimensional cloaca, and more Evas scrapping it out knee-high in buildings, making cityscapes look like a model village.
As Shinji slowly mans up, with the coterie of anime babes who inexplicably hang on to him and afford a few opportunities for dubious sexualisation, the story moves towards the inevitable Freudian showdown. As he puts it: “The only thing a son can do for his father is pat him on his shoulder, or kill him.” Anno obviously isn’t one for locating the middle ground, but he conducts this confrontation in surprisingly discreet, internalised style. As important as the franchise’s lauded religiosity, it’s this honest emotional core that gives it resonance beyond endless concussive destruction.
• Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time is released on 6 October in UK cinemas.
