Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0 Thrice Upon a Time

Rebuild of Evangelion
Title 1: シン・エヴァンゲリオン劇場版:|| Shin Evangelion Gekijōban: || New Evangelion Theatrical Edition: || Title 2: Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0 Thrice Upon a Time
Written By	Hideaki Anno
Directed By	Kazuya Tsurumaki, Katsuichi Nakayama
Theatrical Release	March 8, 2021
Streaming Release	{{{streaming_release}}}
Video Release Date	TBA
Movie chronology
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"Evangelion 3.0"	–

Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0: Thrice Upon a Time is the title for the fourth and final film in the Rebuild of Evangelion movie series, formerly known by the working title Evangelion: Final. Upon its initial announcement, It was believed to be released in Japan alongside the third film, Evangelion 3.0, at an unspecified date. Previously, the name had been changed to what could be interpreted as either the symbol for "End" or "Repeat" in sheet music..

Unlike the three previous movies, the title is rendered in Katakana as "Evangelion" in the same manner as the TV series. The previous three movies had Katakana that spelled "Wevangeliwon". Speculation by fans based on the Jo-Ha-Kyu structure of Japanese drama suggests that Final will incorporate the fourth and fifth acts of the Japanese drama cycle, depicting a long journey and coming to a quick conclusion. Alternatively, the series may be following the Kishotenketsu narrative pattern which concludes in the fourth arc. Whether or not the movie actually follows either pattern of Japanese drama remains for further analysis once the movie is released outside of Japan.

In September 2014, the title of the final film was revealed to be "Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0", based on a title card shown at the end of the TV screening of Evangelion 3.0, followed by the subsequent update of the main Evangelion site with the new title. The final title was revealed on December 27, 2019, along with the initial release date of June 27, 2020.

Release Date

With the release of Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0 Thrice Upon A Time on March 8, 2021, the section below has been largely left as it is to show timeline information from past years, and chronicle the release of said timeline information to fans.

On December 31st, 2011 the Japanese website was updated to show a 2013 release date, but that has been removed when the site was updated after Evangelion 3.0's release . The website no longer features any tentative date and none have been announced.

At the 2014 Tokyo Film Festival Anno joked that the final film might be released 4-6 years after Evangelion 3.0.

Actual news on the film's production had been hard to come by during the period between 2012 and 2019. Various miscellaneous projects had been done, including two animated shorts that may or may not have been pertinent to the film's own details as well as the end of Sadamoto's manga adaption. However, during this period, the film itself saw no details except for the news that Utada Hikaru, who has been the musical artist for Rebuild's credit themes, would be returning in 2015 from her hiatus to write the final film's credits theme. The source also indicated that the film would release in autumn/winter 2015, but this claim was then refuted by the source, who then stated that no official announcement had been made. Prior to the new title announcement, this was the only solid news (or any news at all) that had been released.

On July 19th, 2016 Anno directly apologized to the fans of Evangelion. He stated "To all the Evangelion fans, I’m really, really keeping you all waiting, I am truly sorry." Anno then went on to say he felt "trapped" while making Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, saying he couldn't recharge. “Up until then, after doing the third entry Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, I thought I wasn’t going to make any more,” After being offered the job to work on Godzilla Resurgence, he stated “At that time, I went into talks with Toho, and it saved me. I think this is how I’m able to keep making Evangelion. However, since it is a fact that I’m making everyone wait, I deeply apologize for that.”

On July 20th 2018, the official Evangelion website was updated to reflect a 2020 theatrical release.

On July 18th 2019, during showings of Makoto Shinkai's new film "Weathering with You", a new trailer was shown for 3.0 + 1.0 featuring a new June 2020 release. The trailer was later shared officially online.

On December 27th 2019, the final release date was revealed to be June 27th, 2020 on official Evangelion social media accounts.

On April 17th 2020, the official Evangelion website was updated to announced that the release date was being delayed by an unspecified amount of time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement of the delay was accompanied by an updated staff/credits list, the release of the official poster in both Japanese and English and the reveal of the English title "Thrice Upon a Time" and the additional message "Bye-bye, all of EVANGELION". Hideaki Anno posted a letter to healthcare workers expressing gratitude for fighting the disease, apologizing to fans for the added delay due to the unprecedented situation and encouraging all readers to persevere.

On October 15, 2020, Studio Khara sent out a tweet announcing that January 23, 2021 would be the new release date. The tweet contained a link to a new trailer for the movie.

On December 17, 2020, it was announced that all shooting and editing work for the movie was complete. This was followed by tweets from Studio Khara announcing that the movie had been screened to staff as well as select non-staff members, with the warning that spoilers on social media were a possibility by this point.

Another trailer was released on December 24, 2020, featuring the "One Last Kiss" theme song.

On January 14, 2021, Studio Khara announced that the movie was to be indefinitely delayed again due to the worsening COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, and that the scheduled release of the soundtrack on February 10 would not take place.

On 26 February, 2021, it was announced that the film would be released on March 8, 2021. This became the actual, finalized date of release for the movie.

Publicity

Final promotional image (Japanese)

On July 6, 2019, the event Operation 0706 took place, the film's opening scene (having the production code "Avant 1") was simulcast on screens in Paris, France (Japan Expo) and throughout Japan, following a live event in Paris with Yoko Takahashi and Megumi Ogata. This was followed up later at other locations such as Los Angeles, CA's Anime Expo. A phone application was made available days before to drum up hype for the event, wherein the user was asked to choose between Team Nerv or Team Wille. After the event, their choice affected when they would have access to limited-access freebies: the four Shiro Sagisu pieces that debuted during Op0706, and the first three New Theatrical films.

On April 17, 2020, the announcement of the delay in the release date was accompanied by the revelation of the movie poster and the English title "Thrice Upon a Time". The poster features an image of Shinji in the distant background, walking down branching train tracks in bright sunlight. The location appears to be Ube-Shinkawa station, the main train station in the city of Ube, Yamaguchi Province, where Hideaki Anno was born.

On October 15, 2020, the announcement of the new release date was accompanied by the revelation of a new trailer, showing additional imagery of the characters, locations and Evangelions.

On December 9, 2020, the official Evangelion website announced that the theme song for the movie would be "One Last Kiss", performed by Hikaru Utada .

On December 23, 2020, the official Twitter announced that 3.0 + 1.0 would be screened simultaneously with Evangelion 3.333 in back-to-back midnight IMAX screenings in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sapporo, with the official website having a list of double-screenings for both movies. However, this double-screening did not materialize due to the delay caused in the movie's release date.

On February 16, 2021, Eirin (the Film Classification and Rating Organization) revealed the film's runtime to be 154 minutes.

It was later clarified that the official runtime would instead be 155 minutes.

On June 6, 2021, an updated release of Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0 with minor updates and corrections to the cuts called Evangelion 3.0 + 1.01 was announced. as part of a campaign called "The Last Run"

On June 21, 2021, Shin Eva became the 49th highest grossing Japanese film, marking its entry into the top 50.

Plot

SPOILER WARNING! This article or section contains spoiler information from Evangelion media that has been recently released and/or is of limited distribution. Do not read any further if you do not want to spoil your experience of said media.

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Eva-08 attacking Eva 44A

Assault on Paris

The film begins with Wille stopping in Paris, France, which much like the outskirts of former Tokyo-3 has been converted into core material. A team descends from the Wunder -- comprised of Ritsuko, Maya, three of Maya's male underlings, and Mari in Eva-08 -- and lands on top of a mysterious black pillar. Ritsuko acts as a look-out while Maya and her men connect to the black pillar via laptop to resume the activation of an "Anti-L System" -- something a team of Europeans had previously died while attempting. As the operation begins, large numbers of a never-before-seen Eva type, the aerial 44As, appear in four waves, and Mari holds them off, assisted by helmsman Sumire Nagara utilizing the Wunder's intricate "cable flight" capabilities. Once the Evas have all been defeated, two more new enemy Eva types appear from a camouflaged cocoon: a 4444C unit with a Positron Cannon and the small army of generator-equipped Eva 44Bs that supply power to it. While cable-suspended warships equipped with ESVs are used to block the first shot, the team is left defenseless for the immediate second shot, as all the ships have been destroyed by the first shot. With Nagara's assist, Eva-08 charges the 4444C with the felled Eiffel Tower and before it can charge up fully, Mari is able to twist the tower down the 4444C's gun barrel, destroying both it and the 44Bs, at the cost of minor damage to Eva-08's legs.

Maya and the others successfully activate the pillar, which was actually a giant version of the sealing pillars seen in the two previous films. A radius of effect is created that pushes back the core-conversion, restoring part of the city. A large collection of E.U. Nerv storage lockers emerges from underground, filled with Eva spare parts, munitions, and components for what appears to be an upgraded model of Jet Alone. The Wunder and its support fleet descends, with two teams being dispatched to retrieve the parts and spares, and Mari muses that Eva-02 can be repaired and Eva-08 will be modified for "Overlap" compatibility. The scene ends with Mari promising to come back for Shinji .

Wandering, and Village-3

The opening credits play over a montage of the red Earth, showing locations that have been turned to core. Failures of Infinity litter the landscape, with an anti-gravity effect manifesting in small areas, causing objects around them to float. Shinji, Rei Q and Asuka walk together across its surface, with Asuka using the device in her hand as a compass to find their way. They are picked up by an adult in an SUV and wearing a protective suit.

Shinji wakes up to the sight of a child and a dog. He is examined by an adult Toji, who is highly surprised to see him, and with Hikari, who has since married him. The child is Toji and Hikari's daughter Tsubame, and the dog is Toji's pet. Toji as the settlement's doctor and Kensuke as a technician/handyman who apparently is close friends with Asuka. Toji and Hikari greet Rei Q warmly, but she lacks of memory of either of them and is openly confused over the state of the world. Both of them realize that she is not the same Rei they knew, and they nickname her "lookalike". Neither Toji nor Kensuke show Shinji any hatred over Third Impact, and try to help him recover from his trauma. They are at a living settlement that has been kept free of the coreification process, with Toji's home being inside a shed in an abandoned railway yard that also serves as his clinic. Shinji is catatonic and is starting to feel physically sick, not talking to anyone and not eating anything, much to the annoyance of Hikari's father Bunzaemon, who lives with Toji and Hikari. Tsubame is the cause of much curiosity for Rei Q, who goes out and explores the world within the settlement with an almost childlike sense of curiosity, looking at such things as stray cats and books.

Asuka lives with Kensuke, and it is revealed that she has a DSS Choker of her own. Kensuke offers to take the catatonic Shinji to his place, so that he might have some time to recover on his own. Leaving the shower naked, Shinji sees Asuka, and she expresses irritation at Shinji's inaction. Shinji realizes Asuka has a DSS choker fitted on her as well, the sight of it causing Shinji to vomit due to traumatic memories of Kaworu's death. Shikinami has no option but to force-feed him protein bars due to his refusal to eat, and references her own inability to consume anything other than water. While doing so, she says that Shinji, as a fellow Pseudo-Lilin, may eventually join her and neither eat nor grow any longer.

Asuka speaks to Kensuke about Shinji's condition, calling Kensuke "kenken". Rei Q begins to learn more about her world, expressing continued confusion over the existence of a pregnant cat, baby Tsubame, and greetings such as "good morning" and "good night". She eventually settles down into village life, learning to farm alongside the older ladies of the village, working in the village rice paddies. The village is being supported by an organization named Kredit, which works together with Wille to provide supplies. Kensuke takes Shinji to the grave of his father, Hajime Aida, and advises him to try to talk to his own father so he has no regrets about not understanding him. Shinji, now wearing Toji's old tracksuit, goes out and spends his entire day silently the ruins of Nerv-02, which is inhabited by a number of hot spring penguins, including a backpack-less Pen-Pen. Rei Q visits him repeatedly and attempts to return his SDAT to him, and Asuka keeps a watch on him as well.

Rei Q eventually asks Shinji to help give her a proper name rather than "lookalike", and Shinji decides to call her "Ayanami". Kensuke takes a slowly recovering Shinji out fishing and on an infrastructure check and introduces him to "Ryoji Kaji", who is Misato's son with the original Ryoji Kaji. The younger Kaji works at repairing the Wille-built machines keeping the village free from being turned to core. Beyond the village are scores of roaming headless Evas. Toji and Kensuke later talk to Shinji and explain the situation with the elder Kaji's death and Misato's current state. Rei Q is revealed to require constant exposure to LCL to maintain her condition, and thanks Shinji for helping her find happiness before turning into LCL before his eyes. Shinji is shocked but Rei's experience is implied to help Shinji recover from his previous trauma.

AAA Wunder arrives to unload non-essential personnel. Kensuke and Toji ask Shinji to stay in the village, but Shinji decides to go aboard the Wunder with Asuka. Sakura appears and fires a gun to prevent Shinji from boarding, infuriated at getting into Eva-13 in the previous movie. She is forced to give in and Asuka takes back aboard the Wunder. Shinji is placed in isolation and under surveillance again, and both Asuka and Sakura express puzzlement at his return after discovering Kaworu's demise from the DSS Choker operational records. The bridge crew discusses the ongoing situation. Mari greets Asuka, who expresses the sentiment that Shinji "needs a mother, not a girlfriend". Ritsuko and Misato discuss their intentions in a space aboard Wunder dedicated to preserving seeds of life for all species, which is mentioned to be the original purpose of the vessel. Elsewhere, Fuyutsuki monologues about the Black Moon and Fourth Impact as well as Shinji and the fate of "Ayanami-type 6", wondering if Gendo deliberately made Shinji experience the same loss as him.

Wille vs Nerv: Final

Gendo and Fuyutsuki steer the Black Moon towards the epicenter of Second Impact, at Nerv's former Calvary Base in Antarctica, intending to restart Eva-13. Misato and Ritsuko discover this and have completed a "signal suspension plug" to stop this event. Misato and the bridge crew reminisce about Kaji's death and their determination to fight Nerv and restore the world to its original state. The Wunder takes off and heads into the upper atmosphere in order to launch a number of seeds containing Earth's plant life into outer space. Misato and Ritsuko have a conversation about Wunder's purpose as an ark and it is revealed that the seed vault on the Wunder includes seeds of the watermelons planted in Tokyo-3 by Ryoji Kaji. Mari and Asuka get their new plugsuits, and Mari reintroduces herself to Shinji. Asuka and Shinji talk and Shinji reveals that he understands Asuka's anger at his inaction in the previous movie. Asuka says that she appreciated Shinji's bento and used to like him in the past, but she has now grown up. Mari and Asuka, satisfied, get into their Evas. A vision of Kaworu appears to Shinji saying that they will meet again, and Shinji agrees. AAA Wunder descends from orbit towards Antarctica with the objective being the neutralization of Eva-13, in what Misato calls "Operation Yamato". The Wunder breaks through a hexagonal barrier that encloses an area of "high L density".

As it nears Antarctica, Wunder is attacked by two Nerv ships of the Erlösung type, the same as the Wunder - Erbsünde (Original Sin) and Erlösung (Salvation), apparently under Fuyutsuki's control, and with different turret arrangements. The Wunder is also approached by a swarm of Eva Series 7. During the battle, the Wunder resorts to using the guided-missile destroyers in its support fleet as giant guided missiles. Asuka and Mari sortie and battle their way through the swarm of Nerv Evas towards Eva-13. Asuka attacks Eva-13 with the stop signal plug, but Eva-02 is afraid of Eva-13 and puts up an entirely unexpected A.T. Field of its own will. Wunder is ambushed by the fourth Nerv warship, Gebet (Prayer), with Fuyutsuki on board, and reverts to its original state as the first Nerv warship, the Buße(Penance or atonement). Wings of light appear from the four Nerv warships in a manner much like the Adams at Second Impact, indicating an attempted Impact, not in Seele's scenario. Asuka removes her eyepatch and removes a restraint within her eye that keeps the Ninth Angel under control, transforming into a new Ninth Angel and converting Eva-02 into a previously unseen radiant giant state. However, she plays into Gendo's plan in the process as Eva-13 awakens and destroys Eva-02 in much the same manner as Eva-01 destroying Eva-03. During the process, Asuka is approached by "her original", revealing that she is a clone of the Shikinami series, and is absorbed by Eva-13. Wunder is taken over by a new Eva Mark.09, which Fuyutsuki is implied to have been responsible for .

Gendo floats down to the Wunder himself, and Misato and Ritsuko confront him. Ritsuko shoots Gendo through his visor, however, her bullets are entirely ineffective and he simply scoops his blown-out brains and puts them into the hole in the back of his head. It is revealed that Gendo has used the Key of Nebuchadnezzar and has thrown away his humanity by adding "information that surpassed the logic of the world" to his body. There is a cross-shaped glowing void where his eyes used to be. Gendo monologues about the purpose of the impacts and about the Human Instrumentality Project, before hitting the Wunder's engine with an Angel-like optical blast to retrieve Unit-01, and entering Eva-13 through its mouth.

Human Instrumentality: Father and Son

Shinji turns to Misato and asks to enter Eva-01 to stop Gendo. Midori Kitakami and Sakura are appalled at the prospect of Shinji entering the Eva and fire at him, but Misato blocks Sakura's bullet with her own body. Misato thanks Shinji for saving them all from destruction using Eva-01 fourteen years previously, and explains that as his superior, the responsibility for his actions was ultimately hers, and since Shinji is still her subordinate, she will take responsibility for his actions. Misato and Shinji have a conversation in which Misato asks Shinji to take care of her son. Shinji summons Eva-01 out of nowhere and begins to strangle Eva-13. While Shinji enters Eva-01, the original Rei Ayanami appears to him inside, with her hair grown very long. She apologizes to him for not being able to make it so that he wouldn't have to get into an Eva, but Shinji thanks her and says he will take care of the rest. Ritsuko and Maya are shocked to discover that Shinji, rather than having a zero percent synchro rate with Eva-01 like they previously thought, has in fact attained a previously impossible infinite synchro-rate with Eva-01.

Gendo shows Shinji an "imaginary Evangelion" that takes the form of a Black Lilith due to Shinji's memories. This being was predicted by the theories of Dr. Katsuragi. The twin spears of Longinus and Cassius enter the imaginary Evangelion and transform it into a giant Rei with a floating decapitated head. Fuyutsuki recognizes Mari and addresses her as "Maria of Iscariot", and Mari refers to him as "Fuyutsuki-sensei" and adds that it has been a long time since anyone called her by that name. He tells Mari that he has given her what she requested, and addresses Yui with his last words before turning to LCL. Mari takes Eva-08 into an "overlapping" state where it merges with Eva-09, 10, 11, and 12 after partially consuming them.

Gendo and Shinji fight in an "alternate universe" where LCL gives shape to perception, entering a surreal fight where they clash in multiple different locations across space and time that take form from Shinji's memories, but the rest of the world is revealed to be little more than a tokusatsu movie set complete model warships and Evangelion costumes for suit actors. Eva-01 and Eva-13 are in synch with each other, and Shinji fails to prevail over Gendo during the entire surreal fight. When they reach a location that is based on Shinji's memories of the village, he remembers the conversations he had with Toji and Kensuke and appeals to Gendo to stop and talk. Gendo is revealed to be afraid of Shinji as he puts up an A.T. Field of his own, but Shinji breaks through by handing over Gendo's old SDAT.

Gendo reveals his past; he was a lonely individual who grew up without parents, and the only loves in his life were books and the piano. A slightly older Mari - who is revealed to be a friend of Gendo's - introduces him to Fuyutsuki as well as Yui, whom he falls in love with. Shinji sees a vision of Gendo's past experiences and life, and learns how Yui's loss traumatized him. The setting is now on the KuMoHa42 rail car. Misato prepares to turn the AAA Wunder into another Spear to hurl at a giant Red Rei, using Ritsuko's knowledge to transform Wunder's spinal linkage system. Mari in the overlapping Eva-08 scuttles the other three Nerv warships and bids goodbye to them, referring to them as "Adams". Eva-08 boards the spinal system as Misato uses the Wunder to ram the eye of the giant Rei-being. Misato sacrifices herself to hold back Gendo's "Additional Impact" and manifest the Spear of Gaius, representing humanity's will. The Gaius materializes in miniature form between Shinji's hands as Misato completes her sacrifice.

Shinji helps Gendo find closure, and similarly for a now-adult Asuka, helping her find closure as well We learn the backstory behind Asuka Shikinami, that she is the last surviving clone of the Shikinami series, having survived past all the combat training that the other clones failed and were eliminated for. Asuka is old enough to remember seeing Gendo, Yui and a little Shinji visit the Euro-Nerv facilities. Shinji tells the now-adult Asuka that he used to like her - making it clear, that like Asuka, any romantic or sexual feelings between them are in the past, and asks Asuka to say hi to Kensuke for him. Shinji talks to Kaworu and gives Kaworu the closure he seeks; In a scene that is indicative of what happened during the 14-year timeskip, Kaworu and the elder Kaji speak to each other. Kaworu is dressed in the same Nerv commander uniform as Gendo and the Bethany base commander, with Kaji in the same vice-commander uniform as Fuyutsuki and the Bethany base vice-commander. Kaworu, whom the elder Kaji calls "Commander Nagisa", agrees to go to the settlement where the younger Kaji farms. Shinji eventually settles upon a complete reset of the world, a "Neon Genesis", a world without Evangelions. Shinji prepares to stab himself with the Spear of Gaius. Shinji is then pushed out of Eva-01 by his mother Yui, who is revealed to have been with him the entire time, and they are embraced from behind by Gendo in Eva-13. Gendo and Yui, Eva-01 and Eva-13 together sacrifice themselves to finish what Shinji began, spearing all Evangelions that ever were created at once. Their actions return all Evangelions and Failures of Infinity back into human and animal forms, restoring the world to its original state before the impacts.

In the final sequence, Asuka, Rei and Kaworu are seen on the platform of a train station with the KuMoHa42 approaching, and an older Shinji is approached by Mari from behind. Mari closes his eyes and asks him to guess who she is, referring to her initial meeting with him and her meeting with him on the Wunder. The grown-up Shinji (voiced by Ryunosuke Kamiki) answers correctly, and Mari takes the DSS Choker that adult Shinji wears off his neck. Shinji holds Mari's hands and both of them head out of the train station together, and the sequence transitions into both Shinji and Mari escaping into a live-action sequence of Anno's hometown of Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, implying that all the Children have found closure in our reality.

See Also

• English Translation of "Avant 1" Sequence
• FAQ for Evangelion:3.0+1.0

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 | Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0