Neon Genesis Evangelion is a totemic anime title that set impossibly high standards for sci-fi series, mecha titles, and apocalyptic dramas. This is an anime that firmly plays by its own rules and its success is difficult to replicate since so much of its magic came from Hideaki Anno’s own fragile mental state at the time of the anime’s production. Evangelion’s raw and relentless storytelling is a major reason that the series is still popular three decades later and continues to be anime’s benchmark for moving mecha series.
This isn’t a series that runs for hundreds of episodes, like Dragon Ball or One Piece, yet the audience has still fallen in love with Neon Genesis Evangelion’s characters. Fans have many opinions on what these characters deserve, especially when some individuals in Neon Genesis Evangelion suffer disappointing and frustrating endings.
Misato Leads A Messy Life & Leaves The World Feeling Like A Failure
Misato Katsuragi is put in a nearly impossible situation as NERV’s operations director. In addition to acting as field commander for all the EVA battles, she becomes Shinji’s de facto guardian and sounding board as he’s indoctrinated into NERV. Misato does instrumental work with NERV, but she can’t help but view Shinji and Asuka’s frayed mental states as a symptom of her own failures.
Some of Evangelion’s most light-hearted and playful moments involve Misato, but the inverse of that is also true. Misato watches many of the people she cares about die and feels useless to stop any of this pain. Misato’s final action — a “grown-up kiss” with Shinji — is meant to wake up the listless teen and get him to fight when it’s needed the most.
Shinji steps back into the battlefield and proceeds to reject Instrumentality. It’s just unfortunate that Misato’s inspirational message is steeped in such an uncomfortable moment that blurs the lines between guardian and romantic partner. Misato’s legacy and everything that she accomplishes gets swallowed up in her complicated and toxic relationships.
Ryoji Kaji Is Robbed Of A Happy Ending Or Redemption
Kaji takes a shot in Rebuild of Evangelion films.Image via Studio Khara
Neon Genesis Evangelion does a great job at highlighting the eclectic people who have aligned themselves with NERV, not all of whom are heartless and corrupt individuals. Ryoji Kaji operates as a triple agent who tries to use privileged intel against all the different parties. Kaji has an emotional past with Misato and these healing wounds are reopened when they’re back in each other’s orbit.
Tragically, Kaji pays the ultimate price and understands that he’s on borrowed time after he defies orders and provides Misato with vital information regarding the Human Instrumentality Project. It’s crushing that Kaji is taken out by an unknown assassin, with the weight of his death throwing Misato, Shinji, and Asuka into respective tailspins. Neon Genesis Evangelion treats Kaji like a source of light and a positive father figure for both Shinji and Asuka.
Kaji is a kind-hearted counterpart to Gendo Ikari and the best-case scenario of what Shinji could become in life. The Rebuild of Evangelion films give Kaji an equally brutal fate, albeit one that’s more monumental in nature. Kaji sacrifices himself to stop Third Impact, while he’s survived by Misato and their child. Kaji is more of a hero in this timeline, but his selfless actions happen off-screen.
Asuka Gives Her Entire Life To NERV & Is Left With Pain & Suffering
Neon Genesis Evangelion is full of manipulated individuals who have suffered endless emotional abuse, yet Asuka’s story is perhaps even sadder than what Shinji experiences. Asuka is exposed to tragedy from a very young age as she witnesses her mother’s mental dissolution and death, leading her to put all her value and worth into her ability as an Evangelion pilot.
Asuka’s dwindling sync ratio gives her trouble controlling her EVA, which brings forward deep feelings of depression and uselessness. It’s bittersweet that Asuka is briefly able to connect with her mother’s soul and bring EVA Unit-02 back into action, only for her to be viciously killed by SEELE’s Mass Produced Evas. Asuka’s rebirth following Shinji’s rejection of Instrumentality is equally melancholy and despondent.
The Rebuild of Evangelion timeline isn’t necessarily any kinder to Asuka. She still becomes collateral damage and fundamental in Fourth Impact. Asuka, along with the other Children, are given a chance at a new future when Thrice Upon A Time ends. The upcoming EVANGELION:30+ anniversary short is focused on Rebuild‘s Asuka, which means that this tortured character could finally be given the happily ever after that she deserves.
Toji Suzuhara’s Potential As Unit-3’s Pilot Gets Cut Tragically Short
Toji gets rescued from his entry plug in Neon Genesis Evangelion.Image via Gainax
Toji Suzuhara is a cautionary tale, and a character who gets caught at the inverse of Evangelion‘s two extremes. Toji is one of Shinji’s friends in school, and it initially seems rather convenient that he’d be revealed as the Fourth Child, and the pilot of EVA Unit-03. Toji’s development as an EVA pilot, alongside Shinji, Asuka, and Rei, could have gone in many different directions. However, Evangelion turns Toji into a preview of the bleak despair that eventually becomes so commonplace in the series.
EVA Unit-03 is taken over by the Angel, Bardiel. Shinji refuses to destroy Unit-03, which prompts Gendo to trigger Unit-01’s Dummy Plug system. Shinji is horrified to be forced into destroying Unit-3 and the pilot’s entry plug, but this sadness mounts when he discovers that Toji was the pilot. Miraculously, Toji survives, but he loses a leg and becomes a morose individual who is pushed to the sidelines as Evangelion‘s story intensifies. Toji and his trauma are turned into fuel to further motivate Shinji, which isn’t fair to Toji.
The Rebuild of Evangelion films give Toji a happier ending where his injuries are less extreme, and he actually marries Hikari. Yet, it still feels like an afterthought for someone with the potential to become one of Evangelion‘s deepest characters. The whole Fourth Child and Unit-03 storyline never reaches a satisfying, complete place.
Yui Ikari’s Soul Gets Coopted Into A Controversial Clone
Yui Ikari, Shinji’s mother and Gendo’s wife, is the impetus for nearly everything that happens in Neon Genesis Evangelion. Yui was a brilliant bioengineer and the true mastermind behind the “Adam Revival Project.” However, when her experiments go wrong, her soul is left trapped inside EVA Unit-01. Yui’s death and a desire to recreate her body and return her soul to it becomes Gendo’s driving force in Evangelion.
Yui’s soul empowers Shinji, through his Evangelion, and keeps him safe. Meanwhile, Rei Ayanami becomes Gendo’s messy attempt to regain his lost wife. These dramatic acts strip Yui of her agency and turn her into the face of the apocalypse. Yui’s role and fate in the Rebuild timeline are largely the same. That being said, Yui’s soul manages to fulfill Shinji’s wish of destroying the Evangelions, once and for all.
This may be viewed as a happy ending, yet it’s a conclusion that continues to treat Yui like a concept, rather than her own individual. The best fate possible for Yui would be her own rebirth following the world’s reconstitution and a close relationship with her son. So much of Evangelion desecrates Yui’s memory through Gendo’s destructive actions.
