Evangelion 3.33 Review

[LavarosVA]

The biggest mystery is still, what kind of person Yui must have been, to have a relation and child with someone like Gendo.

Gendo might of been a bit manipulative before Yui was sucked into Unit 01, but he was ultimately a guy trying to save mankind. After he became the evil asshole who doesn't mind using his son to end the world by traumatizing him.

[Mecha82]

Yui was pretty much shown to be kind, optimistic, and motherly as well as being talented scientist working for SEELE. IIRC it was pretty much made clear that Gendo become like that after Yui had caught in that accident and become one with EVA. So really way Gendo (who by the way had taken his wife's family name) acted during anime was result of him becoming obsessed with reuniting with his wife. This includes him pretty much using people like Ritsuko and her mom as well as his own son for his own ends.

[Madner Kami]

You don't just become such a collosal asshole due to one single traumatic event. He always must have had that in him. He uses and abuses his own child...

[Yalida]

All this talk about themes and characterization while I'm trying to figure out the basics of the plot.

Why does everyone say Shinji caused the third impact? 14 years have passed but no one seems to have aged? What happened in the interim? Weren't Shinji and Rei stuck together in an Eva at the end of the last movie?

[Utritum]

IIRC it was pretty much made clear that Gendo become like that after Yui had caught in that accident and become one with EVA.

MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR THE ORIGINAL SHOW FOLLOWS:

That's pretty much it. Yui made Gendo a better person through love, but he backslid completely and turned a Machiavellian bastard when she "died".

But it was not an accident though. Yui had planned to become one with the EVA from the very beginning. One of the ultimate reveals of the original series was that she actually completely outclassed both Gendo and SEELE in playing 5D Chess.

But again, that is the original series. It is rather unclear what direction Rebuild is heading in.

[Formless One]

I never saw an answer for unit 03's soul. Because as far as I knew the pilots parents were just fine.

No, in the subplot where Misato's former boyfriend spies on NERV for the Japanese government, he explicitly says that every last one of Shinji's classmates have a dead mother. He even deduces onscreen that all of them must be potential Eva pilots based on that and other evidence he's dug up. And since its one of Shinji's friends from class who ends up piloting Unit 03, that confirms his mother is indeed the soul of Unit 03.

The problem from what I've seen is an old but ultimately nonsensical fan theory that, because his sister was hospitalized by Shinji's carelessness earlier in the series, it must be his sister inside the Eva. This of course ignores what the show explicitly told us about Shinji's class, as well as the thematic (Freudian) aspects of the Eva's having the soul of the mother in it, and lastly lacks evidence that his sister actually died. Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole reason we meet her in Rebuild 3.33 as one of Misato's lieutenants was to prove she was always intended to be a survivor, despite the long running theory.

[LavarosVA]

I never saw an answer for unit 03's soul. Because as far as I knew the pilots parents were just fine.

No, in the subplot where Misato's former boyfriend spies on NERV for the Japanese government, he explicitly says that every last one of Shinji's classmates have a dead mother. He even deduces onscreen that all of them must be potential Eva pilots based on that and other evidence he's dug up. And since its one of Shinji's friends from class who ends up piloting Unit 03, that confirms his mother is indeed the soul of Unit 03.

The problem from what I've seen is an old but ultimately nonsensical fan theory that, because his sister was hospitalized by Shinji's carelessness earlier in the series, it must be his sister inside the Eva. This of course ignores what the show explicitly told us about Shinji's class, as well as the thematic (Freudian) aspects of the Eva's having the soul of the mother in it, and lastly lacks evidence that his sister actually died. Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole reason we meet her in Rebuild 3.33 as one of Misato's lieutenants was to prove she was always intended to be a survivor, despite the long running theory.

I suppose so, but that means rebuild is definitely doing something different. Unless Asuka's mothers soul was split into thirds.

[K.E. Schwartze]

The problem with starting with the movies vice the TV show is simple. The TV show is the story of the pilots (with multiple layers of conspiracy and plot swirling around). The movies are much more about the plot (and 2 and 3 are built on swerves to a greater or lesser degree), and that detracts from the through line. 2 and 3 both have Shinji trying to upend the PLOT, problem is that the STORY is about him and until he is comfortable with himself he's just treading water. "Saving" Rei, or any other heroic action, isn't the point, he has to make a personal breakthrough. The show makes this explicit, the movies, because of movie plotting (and spectacle) confuse this.

The show has the rhythms of the TV shows that came before it. Each story builds to a battle in the last 5 minutes (with a few exceptions) and "resets" to a rest condition. The main cast is only vaguely aware of all the "plot" going on, we are seeing them trying to find their footing in a world where they have great importance but little agency and the "baseline" in constantly shifting. This is what makes the characters recognizable and relatable, even when they make it hard to find them likable. Shinji doesn't want to fight for Earth for pretty "good" reasons, Asuka wants to fight for rather "bad" (definataly selfish) ones. And Rei is really just a tool (as one podcast remarked, just ask Asuka).

Remember that crazy bit in episode 26 when Shinji is drifting in space until Gendo draws a line under him? That's the point, all three characters (and especially Shinji) need a healthy base (that THEY choose), before they can move on. They plots within plots mean that there is never going to be a "right" action, until they decide what is right for them switching the plot around (1-3 movies) doesn't change that.

[Mecha82]

And Rei is really just a tool (as one podcast remarked, just ask Asuka).

She really is tool in literal sense since she barely has her own will and she pretty much does what Gendo tells her to do and she can be replaced with new copy. But Rei has been some what savage in past like when she told Ritsuko's mother what Gendo actually thinks about Ritsuko's mother.

[MyUserName]

The biggest mystery is still, what kind of person Yui must have been, to have a relation and child with someone like Gendo.

Gendo might of been a bit manipulative before Yui was sucked into Unit 01, but he was ultimately a guy trying to save mankind. After he became the evil asshole who doesn't mind using his son to end the world by traumatizing him.

In the Manga, Gendo was shown to be rough around the edges, but genuinely in love with Yui. In End of Evangelion he ruminates that his desire to be reunited with Yui caused him to become corrupt and use Shinji unfairly. In the Manga he has a few moments where he almost acts fatherly to Shinji like the moment where they visit her grave and he tells shinji he shouldn't follow him or seek his approval.

Then there's spin off books like Summer days and Shinji Ikari Raising. The first is a teen romance manga with some of the science fiction elements and the latter is a harem manga where gendo is still intelligent, but Yui is totally the one wearing the pants 90% of the time save for the few occasions when he drops the goofball act.