Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone

Rebuild of Evangelion
Title 1: ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版:序 Evangelion Shin Gekijōban: Jo Evangelion New Theatrical Edition: Prelude Title 2: Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone
Written By	Hideaki Anno
Directed By	Hideaki Anno (general director), Kazuya Tsurumaki, Masayuki
Theatrical Release	September 1, 2007 (Japan)
Streaming Release	August 13, 2021 (Amazon Prime Video)
Video Release Date	1.01: April 25, 2008 1.11: May 27, 2009
Angel Appearances	Fourth Angel, Fifth Angel, Sixth Angel, Second Angel (Lilith)
Eva Sorties	Eva-00, Eva-01
Movie chronology
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–	"Evangelion 2.0"

Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版: 序, lit. Evangerion Shin Gekijōban: Jo) is the first of four films released in the Rebuild of Evangelion series, based on the original anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, which premiered in Japan on September 1 2007. It was produced and co-distributed by Anno's Studio Khara in partnership with Gainax. Yoshiyuki Sadamoto provided character designs for the film, while Ikuto Yamashita provided mechanical designs. Both Shinji Higuchi and Tomoki Kyoda provided the film's storyboards.

The film focuses on a young teenager named Shinji Ikari, who is asked to pilot a giant mecha known as "Evangelion Unit-01" to protect the world from mysterious creatures known as Angels. The plot is largely a point-for-point adaptation of episode 01 up to episode 06 of the original anime. While most scenes and events are replications of the original series, some unfold differently with new or omitted scenes.

Evangelion 1.0 poster.

Plot

Shinji on the telephone after arriving in Tokyo 3.

Remaining battery power timer running down.

Misato at a bar with Ritsuko (not shown).

Ramiel heading toward Tokyo 3.

The film begins in 2015, fifteen years after Second Impact, when fourteen-year-old Shinji Ikari receives a phone call, summoning him to Tokyo-3, by his estranged father, Gendo Ikari. While caught in a crossfire between UN forces and a strange creature, known as the Fourth Angel Sachiel, Shinji is picked up by Lt. Colonel Misato Katsuragi, and taken to the headquarters of his father's organization, Nerv. At Nerv HQ, Shinji is shown what his father has been working on: A giant "robot," known as Evangelion Unit-01. Shinji's father, forces him to pilot it, saying he is the only one who able to do so. Shinji initially refuses, but then reluctantly agrees when Gendo threatens to send Rei Ayanami, a heavily bandaged Evangelion pilot, into battle. He initially fails to defeat the Angel, and blacks out in pain, but the Evangelion goes berserk and defeats the Angel on its without the pilot.

Soon afterwards, Shinji wakes up in the hospital and is officially instated as the pilot of Eva-01, the Third Child. Shinji is taken in by Misato as her new housemate and enrolled in the local middle school. Here he runs into problems with classmates Toji Suzuhara, whose sister was injured in the battle and beats Shinji up in retaliation, and his friend Kensuke Aida. The Fifth Angel, Shamshel, attacks Tokyo-3, and Shinji is forced to battle again.

Toji and Kensuke sneak out of the emergency shelters to see the action, while Shinji enters the battle. The Angel slams Unit-01 into a mountainside, nearly crushing Toji and Kensuke. Misato has the two take cover in Unit-01's cockpit before ordering Shinji to retreat, but he disobeys and destroys the Fifth Angel with the equipped knife. Misato later reprimands Shinji for disobeying her.

After the ordeal with the Fith Angel, Shinji decides to run away. After making his way to an under-construction bridge he is brought back by Nerv employees. At school, Toji decides that Shinji isn't a bad person, and they become friends after he insists that Shinji punch him in return. Following this, Shinji interacts with his fellow pilot, the mysterious Rei Ayanami for the first time.

The Sixth Angel, Ramiel, appears and tries to drill into the Geofront. Shinji is ordered to deploy Unit-01 against it, but the Angel fires a particle beam at the Eva, critically injuring Shinji.

Another incredibly powerful Angel appears, Ramiel, and tries to drill into the Geofront. Shinji is ordered to deploy in Eva-01, but the angel fires a particle beam at the Eva which nearly kills Shinji with. It continues to drill down into the Geo-Front cavern below. Shinji wakes up from a coma sometime later and is expresses fear of piloting again. Seeing that, Rei tells him she will take his place and leaves for the mission alone.

When he recovers, Misato takes the despondent Shinji down to Central Dogma, where she shows him the Second Angel Lilith: a white giant suspended on a cross. She explains that if an Angel were to unite with Lilith, then it would cause Third Impact. An event that would mean the end of all life, and that this is the Angel's goal. This encourages Shinji to pilot Eva-01 again. A plan is developed to defeat Ramiel by using all of the electrical power of Japan to power an experimental positron rifle which Eva-01 will use to snipe Ramiel while Rei, in Eva-00, supports by blocking its attack. After his first shot fails to kill the Angel, Shinji is successfully able to fire a second shot and destroy the Angel. Rei is nearly killed defending Shinji from the Angel's return fire, but he is able to save her by dunking the damaged Unit-00 into water to cool it off and prying her cockpit out using Unit-01's knife. Shinji cries out of fear of nearly losing her, and Rei, normally cold and emotionless, eventually shares a smile with him.

Meanwhile, in the final scene, the camera pans up from the end of the battle with Ramiel and zooms in on Earth's Moon. On the Moon, a line of what appears to be nine coffin-like boxes is on the lunar surface, with a giant stain of blood intersecting the landscape. Out of one of these rises a naked Kaworu Nagisa, who begins having a cryptic conversation with Chairman Keele's Seele 01 "sound only" monolith communicator. Behind them on the Moon appears to be a secret Seele base, with an unidentified giant, wearing a purple seven-eyed mask and wrapped in white bandages--an overall appearance very similar to the Second Angel Lilith--restrained behind them in a pit covered with scaffolding. Kaworu says that the "Third" hasn't changed, referring to Shinji, and that he looks forward to meeting him.

The Final Scene

A brief shot of Kaworu.

While most of the movie was a very close (at some points, shot by shot) recreation of the original story, the last scene is not only entirely new but also unlike anything seen in the original series, and has resulted in a great deal of fan speculation concerning the nature of the remaining three Rebuild movies.

The movie cuts from the end of the Ramiel battle to a site on Earth's moon. A line of what appear to be coffin-like boxes is on the lunar surface, with a giant stain of blood intersecting the landscape through the middle of the row of boxes. Out of one of these rises a naked Kaworu Nagisa, who begins talking to the Seele-01, represented by his monolith. Behind them on the Moon appears to be some sort of a moonbase, with a giant restrained behind them in a pit covered with scaffolding. This giant has a purple mask held on to its face with massive, visible stitches, and barely visible on the lower half of the mask is the crest of Seele - the same symbol seen on the original Lilith's mask.

Some of the questions raised by this scene would be answered in subsequent films, while others remain unanswered.

Different Versions

1.01

1.01 was released on DVD in Japan on April 25, 2008 in a Two-Disc Box. The first disc includes the original movie with some enhancements and the second includes Explanation of Evangelion 1.01. The enhancements of this versions include 266 shots redone, tunings in picture, editing, and sound quality.

Monstrous kanji lineup typical of Explanation's captions.

Explanation of Evangelion 1.01 is a feature included on the second disc of the "special edition" 1.01 DVD release of Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone. This is identical to the regular movie, save for the inclusion of large captions displayed throughout the film which provide the "official designations" of people, locations, weapons, technology, and so forth (a la Episode 06 of the original series).

1.11

On May 27, 2009, 1.11 was released in Blu-Ray and DVD. The film was given a re-transfer to fix some darkness issues in the previous DVD release and roughly 3 minutes of new animation was added to the first 15 minutes of the original film.

See: Guides:Evangelion 1.01 vs. Evangelion 1.11 for some shot by shot comparison

Evangelion 2.0: Next Time Preview

The "ADAMS" during the Second Impact flashback.

Mari looks at an array of glowing crosses (altered in the actual film).

A preview following the credits, structured the same as the "Next Episode Previews" in Neon Genesis Evangelion, complete with the same musical theme, voice-over by Misato, and promises of more fan service.

It opens with an introduction to the Evas scheduled to appear: The "provisional" Eva-05 on an underground rail, Eva-02 being air-dropped (outfitted with the new "S-type Equipment"), Eva-04's explosion, Eva-03 (infected by Bardiel), and Eva-06 descending from the Moon. The text "ADAMS" and a cryptic image of several ghostly, vaguely humanoid figures are flashed on the screen. The text "LILIN+?" then appears, followed by several shots of the "human" cast: Kaji and Gendo (as seen at the end of Episode 08); Misato slapping Ritsuko (recycled from Episode 16); Asuka, Rei, and Shinji (from the Zeruel battle in 19); and Kaworu (smiling against a dusky sky). Finally, the new character Mari is seen from behind, looking up at multiple giant glowing pink crucifixes, followed by a close-up of her face.

Trailer Summaries

Shamshel's revised design.

Theatrical Trailer #1

Released in on July 13, 2007, set to "FLY ME TO THE MOON (IN OTHER WORDS) 2007 MIX" by Hikaru Utada. Beyond the newer, more impressive visuals, the trailer does little in terms of showing any new content that wasn't present in the original series. Though it does show Shamshel's heavily revised design, and include a previously unseen scene of someone tightly holding hands; later revealed to be Misato and Shinji. The text at the end of the trailer reveals the release date for September 2007.

Theatrical Trailer #2

The second trailer was set to "Beautiful World" by Hikaru Utada. Like the first trailer, and keeping with the tone of the first film, the trailer does little in terms of introducing any content previously unseen, barring reframed shots and more impressive visuals. It does include a glimpse of Misato and Shinji descending in an elevator, which turns out to be to Central Dogma, and the first glimpse of Kaworu as he awakens (on the moon).

Development History

In September 2006, the October edition of the Japanese anime magazine Newtype announced the first film of the Rebuild of Evangelion series to be released in the summer of 2007 with an expected running time of 90 minutes.

During pre-production, Toshimichi Ohtsuki stated that director Hideaki Anno rewatched the entire original television series back to back. It was revealed the success of the series had caused misunderstanding and disarray amongst fans and the new films would clear up any confusion. In the December 2006 issue of Newtype, Anno revealed he was happy to finally recreate Eva "as he wanted it to be" in the beginning and that he was no longer constrained by technological and budget limitations.

In September 2006, it was revealed that most of the staff from the original TV series had returned to work on the movie, along with the entire Japanese voice cast of the original series. The film's climax, Operation Yashima, was created as per Anno's original concept for the sequence, with collaboration from the famed storyboarder Shinji Higuchi.

In interviews in 2007 available on Evangelion 1.0 Complete Records Collection, Tsurumaki reveals that the initial plans were for a new series, an "Evangelion 2" or "Evangelion G" (in references to the Gundam series). During the planning, however, Rebuild became something different, with greater links to the original series. The first movie becomes more of a compilation of the first story arc, from Episode 1 to Episode 6. Masayuki directed Part A (first half) and Tsurumaki directed Part B (second half).

A particular challenge was the addition of greater 3D technology to the film. Tsurumaki described how the CGI became more prominent from the second half and the difficulty in dealing with "natural movements". Eva-01, for example, is purely made in 3D. Tsurumaki said that, as he became more used to the technology, he had a preference to leave more and more scenes for it.

"I'd like to develop the use of digital more, and the fact that I was able to get quite into making the TOKYO-3 building in 3D was a great achievement, so I have a desire to try to fill in that direction. Anno's concept is to "use 3DCG like a miniature", but I think there are more possibilities there. If you try to pursue something more realistic, the difficulty level rises considerably, but if you can do it in a "model special effects-like" way, you can do something more interesting. It was a valuable discovery to me that 3DCG in this direction was a good match for Anno's direction."

Director Hideaki Anno was also interviewed the same year and his interview is also available on 1.0 CRC. He describes that the decision to make Rebuild of Evangelion started in 2005, getting inspired by Gundam series format. For his motivations, Anno says his goal is to turn Eva into something that sustains the anime industry:

"I hope that Eva can help as one of the contents that support the entire anime industry. If there was anything else, anything would have been fine, but objectively speaking, "Evangelion" has the highest potential."

Notes

• On its opening weekend in Japan, Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone took the #1 place at the box office: 236,158 people spent 280 million yen (about US $2.4 million). Unusually, it earned this much money despite playing at only 84 theaters, though many of them were packed to capacity [1]
• After the credits finish, a trailer plays for the next movie in the Rebuild series, "Evangelion 2.0". Amusingly, its structured exactly like the "next episode on Evangelion" segments that ended each episode of the original series, including the same musical theme and a voice-over by Misato.
• A spelling error: when Misato and Shinji are in the elevator, right before it opens and they meet Ritsuko for the first time, the instructions printed next to the level display clearly say "Emargency" instead of "Emergency". Another spelling error is seen briefly during Operation Yashima, where "Storage" is misspelled "Strage"(The "o" is missing). These errors have been rectified in the video release.
• Bizarrely, Kaworu speaks to Seele-01 on the moon, although there is no air on the moon and so no sound can propagate. Even if Kaworu didn't need to breathe and could survive in a vacuumed, extreme-temperature environment, to speak normally as on Earth (or in any atmosphere) would be impossible.

Guides

• Many scenes were recreated almost shot-for-shot. See: "Guides:Neon Genesis Evangelion vs. Evangelion 1.0"
• For a thorough list of differences between the first Rebuild movie and the original series, see: "Differences between Rebuild of Evangelion 1.0 and Original Series"
• For translations of some the "official designations" of people, locations, weapons, technology, and so forth, see: Resources:Explanation of Evangelion 1.01
• For interviews of the staff about movie and Rebuild's production and ideas, see: Evangelion 1.0 Complete Records Collection
• For major plot questions, see: Guides: Evangelion 1.11 FAQ

References

Episodes & Films
Television Series	Episode 01 | Episode 02 | Episode 03 | Episode 04 | Episode 05 | Episode 06 Episode 07 | Episode 08 | Episode 09 | Episode 10 | Episode 11 | Episode 12 | Episode 13 Episode 14 | Episode 15 | Episode 16 | Episode 17 | Episode 18 | Episode 19 | Episode 20 Episode 21 | Episode 22 | Episode 23 | Episode 24 | Episode 25 | Episode 26
Movies	Death | Rebirth The End of Evangelion: Episode 25' | Episode 26'
Rebuild of Evangelion	Evangelion 1.0 | Evangelion 2.0 | Evangelion 3.0 | (-46h) | (-120min) | Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0