Evangelion recap: the story so far

No. 01 · 1995 · Series

Neon Genesis Evangelion recap

In 2015, fourteen-year-old Shinji Ikari is summoned to Tokyo-3 by his father Gendo, commander of NERV, after years of neglect, and is told to pilot Evangelion Unit-01 against an Angel. He reluctantly agrees, and moves in with his commanding officer, Misato Katsuragi. He fights alongside Rei Ayanami, a quiet girl who seems close to Gendo, and later Asuka Langley Soryu, a proud pilot from Germany. Early episodes are a monster-of-the-week story with school life, friends Toji and Kensuke, and the slow building of a strange family in Misato's flat. In the second half, things fall apart. Toji is crippled when the Angel-infected Unit-03 is destroyed by Unit-01 under Gendo's Dummy Plug while Shinji screams. Unit-01 absorbs Shinji for a month. Misato's former lover Kaji is killed while digging into NERV's secrets. Asuka is broken by an Angel's mental attack. Rei dies and returns, and Shinji learns she is one of many clones grown from his mother Yui. The last Angel, Kaworu Nagisa, befriends Shinji, who is forced to kill him. SEELE's plan, the Human Instrumentality Project, will merge all human souls into one.

How Neon Genesis Evangelion ends

The last two episodes take place inside Shinji's mind during Instrumentality: an abstract series of questions and memories, with the other characters examining why he hates himself. Shinji realises he can choose to value himself, and the cast surround him, applauding and congratulating him. What happens in the physical world is shown in the film The End of Evangelion, which replaces these episodes; the Rebuild films later retell the story.

No. 02 · 1997 · Film

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion recap

This film replaces the final two episodes of the series. After Kaworu's death, Shinji is catatonic, and Asuka lies comatose in hospital, where Shinji, desperate for help, commits a shameful act over her unconscious body. SEELE orders the Japanese army to seize NERV headquarters, and soldiers slaughter the staff. Misato rescues Shinji and is fatally shot while sending him to Unit-01, kissing him goodbye. Asuka, trapped in Unit-02 at the bottom of a lake, realises her mother's soul is inside her Eva, wakes and destroys the army's forces. Then nine white mass-production Evas descend and tear Unit-02 apart while Shinji watches, too late.

How Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion ends

Rei rejects Gendo, merges with Lilith and becomes a giant, and Unit-01, with Shinji inside, is used to begin Third Impact. Humanity dissolves into orange liquid. Inside Instrumentality, Shinji decides he would rather live with the pain of other people than lose himself, and undoes it. He wakes on a red beach beside Asuka, chokes her, then breaks down when she touches his face. She says, "How disgusting." The original story ends there.

Post-credits scenes

No. There is no post-credits scene; the credits play partway through the film, before the final act.

No. 03 · 2007 · Film

Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone recap

This retells the first six episodes of the series. Shinji Ikari arrives in Tokyo-3 as an Angel attacks, and his father Gendo orders him into Evangelion Unit-01. Shinji agrees only when the injured pilot Rei Ayanami is wheeled in, and Unit-01 goes berserk to destroy the Angel. Shinji moves in with Misato Katsuragi, starts school, and clashes with his classmate Toji, whose sister was hurt in the battle, before they become friends. After defeating a second Angel and running away for a while, Shinji returns to NERV. Misato shows him Lilith, a giant crucified being in NERV's depths, the thing the Angels are trying to reach. A crystalline Angel, Ramiel, drills toward NERV, and Misato plans Operation Yashima: firing a positron rifle charged with all of Japan's electricity.

How Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone ends

Shinji fires the rifle while Rei shields him with Unit-00. The first shot misses, and Rei takes the Angel's blast until Shinji's second shot destroys it. Shinji pulls Rei from her cockpit, crying, and tells her to smile, and she does. The film sets up 2.0.

Post-credits scenes

Yes. After the credits, a boy named Kaworu wakes on the Moon among coffins and says he looks forward to seeing the Third Child, Shinji, again. A preview for 2.0 follows.

No. 04 · 2009 · Film

Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance recap

A new pilot, Mari Illustrious Makinami, destroys an Angel in the Arctic. Asuka Shikinami Langley arrives in Japan with Unit-02 and moves in with Misato and Shinji. Rei begins trying to bring Shinji and Gendo together and plans a dinner for them. Asuka volunteers to test Unit-03 in Rei's place, but an Angel possesses it. When Shinji refuses to fight, Gendo uses the Dummy System to take over Unit-01, which tears Unit-03 apart with Asuka inside. Shinji quits NERV in fury. Then a powerful Angel, Zeruel, attacks, defeating Mari in Unit-02 and swallowing Rei and Unit-00.

How Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance ends

Shinji returns and demands to pilot. Unit-01 runs out of power, then awakens beyond control, and Shinji reaches into the Angel to pull Rei out. Unit-01 becomes a god-like being and starts Third Impact. After the credits it is stopped.

Post-credits scenes

Yes. After the credits, a spear falls from the Moon and pierces Unit-01, halting Third Impact. Kaworu descends in Evangelion Mark.06 and promises to make Shinji happy this time. A preview for 3.0 follows, showing scenes the real film did not use.

No. 05 · 2012 · Film

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo recap

Asuka and Mari recover Unit-01 from orbit. Shinji wakes aboard the warship Wunder, run by WILLE, an organisation led by Misato that fights NERV. Fourteen years have passed, Asuka wears an eyepatch, and Shinji's former friends treat him coldly; a collar is locked on his neck that will kill him if he awakens Unit-01 again. A NERV Eva attacks the ship with Rei's voice calling to him, and Shinji goes with her to NERV's ruined headquarters. There he meets Kaworu, who plays piano duets with him. Shinji learns that his awakening in 2.0 caused the Near Third Impact that devastated the Earth, and that this Rei is a clone without his memories. Kaworu takes the collar on himself and convinces Shinji that they can fix the world using two spears in Terminal Dogma.

How Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo ends

Shinji and Kaworu pilot Unit-13 down to Lilith's remains, but Kaworu realises the spears are wrong. Shinji pulls them out anyway, and Mark.06 turns out to be an Angel, beginning Fourth Impact. Kaworu triggers the collar and dies to stop it. Mari ejects Shinji, and Asuka drags him and Rei across the red wasteland toward the Wunder.

Post-credits scenes

Yes. After the credits, a preview of the next film plays, showing WILLE fighting in Paris.

No. 06 · 2021 · Film

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time recap

WILLE and Mari restore part of Paris and recover parts for the Wunder. Asuka, Shinji and Rei walk to Village 3, a survivor settlement near Tokyo-3, where Shinji's old classmates Toji, now a doctor married to Hikari, and Kensuke, now a technician, take them in. Shinji withdraws in grief but slowly recovers. Rei learns to farm and finds a life there, until she dissolves because she cannot survive outside NERV's influence. Shinji rejoins the Wunder, where he is confined. Gendo, now beyond human, revives Unit-13 to start an Additional Impact to reunite with Shinji's mother Yui. In Antarctica, Asuka sacrifices Unit-02 and is absorbed by Unit-13, and Misato lets Shinji pilot Unit-01 one last time.

How Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time ends

Shinji faces Gendo in a surreal space and comes to understand him, and Gendo finally lets go. Misato sacrifices herself and the Wunder to give Shinji a new spear. Shinji uses it to remake the world without Evangelions, freeing Asuka, Rei and Kaworu. Shinji, now an adult, meets Mari on a train station platform, and they run out into a real, live-action town. Evangelion ends there.

Post-credits scenes

No. There is no post-credits scene.