Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo

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.

Rebuild of Evangelion
Title 1: ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版:Q   Quickening Evangelion Shin Gekijōban: Q   Quickening Evangelion New Movie Edition: Q    Quickening Title 2: Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo
Written By	TBA
Directed By	TBA
Theatrical Release	November 17, 2012
Streaming Release	{{{streaming_release}}}
Video Release Date	April 24th in Japan, International release TBA
Angel Appearances	11th, 12th, 13th
Eva Sorties	Eva-02, Mark-06, Eva-08, Mark-09, Eva-13
Movie chronology
← Previous	Next →
"Evangelion 2.0"	"Evangelion: Final"

Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo (Japanese title: Evangelion New Movie Edition: Q   Quickening) is the third film in the Rebuild of Evangelion movie series, released to Japanese cinemas on November 17, 2012. Initial press releases for the new film series announced that the third and fourth installments would be half-length and shown together^{[Source needed]}. On January 1st 2012, the official Evangelion website revealed the movies would be released separately.

The working Japanese title was ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版:急 (Evangelion Shin Gekijōban: Kyū, Evangelion New Movie Edition: Rush). With the preview included in Eva 2.0, the Kyū was replaced with the identically-pronounced letter "Q" followed by the subtitle "Quickening", which has the same basic meaning as "Rush" with the added nuance of an unborn child's first movements. (Additionally, in Japan, the stylistic choice to substitute "Q" for the kanji 急 is not uncommon.^{[Source needed]}) The full international title You Can (Not) Redo was announced on January 1st 2012.

Plot

The storyline departs markedly from where Evangelion 2.0 had ended. Very few of the story elements hinted at in the original preview from 2.0 remain in the final work. However, it is now under speculation if at least some of these events actually occurred prior to 3.0

SPOILERS BEGIN HERE

Operation US Captain Misato Shinji wearing DSS Choker AAA Wunder in flight

The story begins 14 years after the events of the previous film. Most of Nerv's original adult staff, sans Gendo and Fuyutsuki, now belong to an organization called Wille (German for "will"), led by Captain Misato Katsuragi, and including Eva pilots Asuka (in Eva-02) and Mari (in the new Eva-08), Toji's sister Sakura, and several new characters. The Evas are used for the orbital mission Operation US in order to retrieve a giant tesseract-shaped "coffin" containing Eva-01, within whom Shinji has been absorbed all this time. Evangelion Mark.04 units, a collection of autonomous orbital drones, go on the offensive, with one ultimately revealing itself camouflaged on the tesseract. When measures against it fail, Asuka pleads for Shinji to do something, and Eva-01 rouses briefly to destroy the Angel through a crack in its container. Eva-02 and the tesseract fall to Earth, as Kaworu watches and says, "Welcome home, Shinji Ikari. I've been waiting for you."

Events skip ahead to the AAA Wunder (Wille's giant battleship) and her fleet of warships and aircraft carriers, currently positioned in polar waters. The crew salvages Shinji from Eva-01 and equips him with the DSS Choker, a collar device meant to monitor his activities and prevent him from piloting an Evangelion, specifically by terminating him if anything goes amiss. Once his identity and memories are confirmed, he is brought before Misato, Ritsuko, and the bridge crew of Wunder. Shinji is distraught over both the cold treatment he receives from everyone except Sakura, and the strange device on his neck.

Before he can be debriefed any further, the Nemesis Series attack the Wille fleet from all sides. Misato launches an initiative to activate the Wunder's main engine -- with Eva-01 serving as the power core -- that is carried out through via a cooperative effort between Eva-02, who prepares the engine and manually ignites it, and the bridge crew. The Wunder becomes airborne, and its main weapons destroy the Nemesis Series' four core blocks.

After the battle, Shinji is given a formal debriefing, where he learns the purpose of the DSS Choker, along with the fact that fourteen years have passed since he initially merged with Eva-01. Shinji demands repeatedly to know Rei's whereabouts, firm in his conviction that he saved her, but Ritsuko claims that Eva-01 yielded no trace of her, and only produced Shinji and the SDAT player. Ritsuko returns the player to Shinji at this time.

Soon after, Evangelion Mark.09 breaks through the hull of Shinji's cell in an attempt to retrieve him. Believing the Eva is the destroyed Eva-00, and hearing Rei's voice over its loudspeakers, Shinji readily steps into Mark.09's hand. Eva-08 engages the unit and manages to decapitate it with gunfire, but fails to prevent its escape. Misato cannot bring herself to detonate the DSS Choker before Shinji is out of range.

Shinji wakes up in a hospital bed with Rei standing by silently. She takes him to New Nerv HQ, and Shinji catches a brief glimpse of the ruined pyramid. They walk for a time, passing familiar landmarks, including an Eva cage (apparently Eva-01's) now open to the sky. On the floor of the cage, Kaworu Nagisa plays on a Yamaha piano, and looks up at Shinji on the umbilical bridge when finished. Startled, Shinji continues following Rei, and they reach a giant area housing a biomechanical "womb" containing the under-construction Evangelion 13. Here, Gendo orders Shinji to pilot the Eva with Kaworu when the time comes, and just as quickly vanishes.

Shinji is given quarters at New Nerv HQ and is left to freely bide his time. Food and clothes are provided automatically through a portal in the wall. He wanders the grounds looking for Rei, and finds no traces of human life, although there are abundant signs of past conflict and that Evas are being mass-produced. Eventually, he reaches Rei's special LCL-immersion facility, where she lives in a makeshift room containing little more than a sleeping bag and a lamp. Shinji attempts to engage Rei in conversation, but finds that she has no memory of their time together or even of her identity, name excluded. She is similarly ignorant of what is occurring at the base, and does nothing but wait for orders.

Shinji attempts to pass time using the SDAT, but discovers that it's broken. He ruminates upon words he's recently heard from others -- Misato, Asuka, Sakura, Gendo, Rei -- which produces visible distress, due to his current state of ignorance and alienation. Hoping to assist Rei's memory, Shinji tries to encourage her to do something Rei once enjoyed: read. He selects books from Nerv's disheveled library and stacks them neatly outside Rei's room. But with nothing else to do, he loiters around the Eva-01 cage.

At this time, Kaworu invites him for a chat at the piano and encourages Shinji to attempt playing piano, because trying new things is an important part of living. Despite initial hesitations, Shinji quickly shows talent, and he and Kaworu play a duet. Afterward, the two exchange names for the first time. Shinji checks in on Rei with more books, but finds that she is absent from the facility, and the original pile of books remains untouched. He then returns to the Eva cage for more piano training with Kaworu. Over the course of a montage, Kaworu shares various kernels of wisdom, and Shinji learns to duet with him skillfully.

The next time they talk, Shinji asks Kaworu if he can fix the SDAT player, to which Kaworu obliges. The two end up staying at the cage until nightfall and watching the stars. Here, Shinji shares that he finds the starry sky reassuring because it's the only thing in his world that's remained constant, from which Kaworu deduces Shinji's fear of change. Kaworu eventually tells Shinji, "I really was born to meet you." The day after, the automatic dispenser gives Shinji a shirt that he notices is too large, only to find Toji's nametag sewn to the inside; this comes as an enormous shock.

(more to come)

Updated Next Time Preview

The TV edition of Eva 2.0 which aired in Japan on August 26th 2011 revealed an updated Next Time Preview for Q, which gave a tentative theatrical release for Fall 2012. The updated (16 second) Next Time Preview included images of a bandaged and eye patch wearing Asuka flying through space in her slightly altered Eva-02. During this preview, Misato says: "Shinji Ikari awakens. Beside him stands a mysterious boy. And then, a new world waits for him."

Asuka in the 2.0 TV Next Time Preview.

Q posters

After the piano motif theme revealed on the Evangelion website in August 2012, October 2012 saw the release of new posters for 3.0.

Shinji and Kaworu in a 3.0 Poster.

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