Neon Genesis Evangelion

Neon Genesis Evangelion (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン) is a 1995 anime series produced by Studio Gainax and directed by Hideaki Anno. It spawned a manga series, two movies, Evangelion: Death and Rebirth, and The End of Evangelion, and several video games, among others. A tetralogy of films which are collectively known as Rebuild of Evangelion is currently being released by Gainax presenting a retelling of the story and an alternate ending.

Series

Angel Attack [1.1]

Shinji Ikari: [repeated line] I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away...

The Beast [1.2]

A Transfer [1.3]

Ritsuko Akagi: "Even though a hedgehog may wish to get close to another hedgehog, the closer they get the more they injure each other with their spines."

Hedgehog's Dilemma [1.4]

Rei I [1.5]

[Shinji is staring at Rei in the distance, who is wearing a bathing suit]
Toji: Hey, big shot! What are you staring at so intently?"
Shinji: Um, nothing!
Kensuke: He's ogling Rei!
Shinji: I-I-I am not!
Kensuke: Ah, come on! [singsong voice] we saw you looking!
Toji: Yeah, at Rei's mammaries! Rei's silky thighs!
Kensuke: Yeah!
Toji: Her calves! Her...
Toji and Kensuke: [in unison] ...naughty bits!

Rei II [1.6]

A Human Work [1.7]

Asuka Strikes! [1.8]

Asuka: [starting up Eva Unit 02] LCL Einlass. Anfang der Bewegung, bestätigt. Anfang des Nervenanschlusses, bestätigt. Anfang nächster die Herzmonitor, bestätigt. Synchro-start, nun! ("Input LCL. Start sequence: nerve connection, confirmed; heart monitor, confirmed. Start synchronisation!")

[A message displays indicating that synchronisation has failed.]

Shinji: It's...a programming error?
Asuka: It's thought-noise. I told you not to disturb me!
Shinji: What do you mean?
Asuka: Aggh! You're thinking in Japanese, aren't you? If you must think, do it in German!
Shinji: Well, I'll try...strudel...bratwurst...
Asuka: Dummkopf! ("Idiot!") Nevermind...we'll start over again, switch language to Japanese. Evangelion unit 02, start!

[When a gust of wind blows up Asuka's skirt, Toji peeks up her skirt. Asuka slaps him.]

Toji: What'd you do that for?!
Asuka: That's the viewing fee. Quite a bargain, nicht?
Toji: It's overpriced. But that's okay, here's your change! [laughs]

[Toji pulls down his pants and boxers, exposing himself to Asuka.]

Asuka: [slapping Toji a second time] Ahh! Unverschämter idiot! ("Impudent idiot!") So, which one is the famous Third Child? [glances at a dejected Toji] Ach, nein...
Misato: [indicating Shinji] Don't worry, Asuka, it's him.
Asuka: [examining Shinji] Hmmm... Not much to look at.

"Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win! [1.9]

Asuka: [threatening Shinji through the dividing wall between her room and his] This is the "unbreakable Wall of Jericho", Third Child.
Shinji: What...?
Asuka: Take one step over this wall and you'll be a dead man!

Magmadiver [1.10]

Asuka: Y'know, this Type-D heat resistant entry plug suit doesn't seem that much different from our regular ones.
Ritsuko: Press the switch on your right arm.
Asuka: Okay. [She does and the suit ends up making her and her unit look fat] Wah!? AAAAGGGHHHH!!! Liebe Gott im Himmel!! (Oh, God in Heaven!!)
Ritsuko: Unit 2 should be ready now.
Asuka: (finds Unit 2 in a fatsuit as well) NOOOOOO!!!! HOW COULD YOU!!
Ritsuko: The suit is designed to protect you. Type-D equipment is designed for combat under extreme high-environmental duress, not high fashion.
Asuka: And my Unit Two? The poor thing... Forget it! I won't do it! I'm not appearing in public in this stupid thing! This is the sort of thing you have Shinji for!

The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still [1.11]

She said, "Don't make others suffer for your personal hatred." [1.12]

Lilliputian Hitcher [1.13]

Weaving a Story [1.14]

Rei gives a poem-like monologue in this episode. It is not necessarily an actual poem, and may simply be Rei's comments on random images that Unit 01 is showing her.

"Mountain. Heavy are the mountains, something that changes through the ages. Sky. Blue sky. Something visible, something invisible. Sun. Something unique. Water. Something agreeable. Commander Ikari. Flowers. Many of them alike, many of them useless. Sky. Red, red sky. Red color. Red color that I hate. Water flow. Blood. The smell of blood. A woman that does not bleed. Made from the red soil are humans. Made by Man and Woman are humans. Town. Something that humans made. Eva. Something that humans made. Humans are what? Something that God made. Humans are things which humans made. The things I possess are my life and mind. The vessel of a mind. Entry plug, the throne of a soul. Who is this? This is me. Who am I? What am I? What am I? What am I? What am I? I am myself. This object is me, the figure which forms me. This is the me that is visible, though it feels as if this is not me. A strange feeling. My body seems as if it is melting. I cannot see myself. My figure is fading away. I am aware of someone else. Who is there before me? Ikari-kun. I know this person. Major Katsuragi. Dr. Akagi. People, my classmates. The pilot of Unit Two. Commander Ikari. Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?"

Those women longed for the touch of others' lips, and thus invited their kisses. [1.15]

Splitting of the Breast [1.16]

Makoto Hyuga: You look pretty worn to the bone, Major Katsuragi.
Misato Katsuragi: I have reasons for being worn. Private ones.
Ritsuko Akagi: Kaji's bone?
Misato Katsuragi: Shut your face!
Leliel: Will you spend your life regurgitating and re-digesting those few pleasant moments?
Shinji: If I trust their words, it’s enough to keep me alive.
Leliel: Even though you’re deceiving yourself?
Shinji: Everybody does it! That’s how everyone survives.
Leliel: If you will not believe that you can change yourself, you will be unable to continue.
Shinji: This world is filled with too much pain and suffering to keep going.
Leliel: For example, you can’t swim?
Shinji: Humans aren’t made to float!
Leliel: That’s self-deception.
Shinji: I don’t care what you want to call it!
Leliel: You’ve been shutting your eyes to that which you wished to avoid.
(Flashes of painful moments)
Shinji: No, I don’t want to hear this!
Leliel: See? You’re running from reality again. No one can justify life by linking happy moments into a rosary. In particular, I cannot.
Shinji: I’ve found something I can do to feel good. Something I want to do! What’s wrong with that?!

Fourth Children [1.17]

Ambivalence [1.18]

Introjection [1.19]

Weaving a Story 2: Oral Stage [1.20]

[Shinji is hallucinating in Eva-01]
Asuka: [naked and smiling at Shinji] Hey Shinji, you idiot! Want to become of one mind and one body?

He was aware that he was still a child. [1.21]

Chairman Keel: Discovery may be joy, but knowledge is power.

Don't Be. [1.22]

Asuka: I won't take a bath in the same water that Misato and stupid Shinji have used... And I won't use a washer that Misato and Shinji the dork have used, for washing underwear... And I don't want to use a toilet that's been used, not by the two of them... I don't even want to breathe the same air they do, not the two of them. I hate Misato, and I hate Shinji, and I hate that First Child bitch Rei! I hate my dad, I hate my mom! But mostly, most of all, I hate myself! I hate this! I can't stand it anymore! Why do I have to do this! Why me?!
[As Asuka is being mentally tortured by Arael]:
[Voice-over overlaying repeated footage of a door opening, followed by the German words for phrases such as "insanity", "strangled", "No!", "death", "suicide", "hatred", and "shame"]
Asuka: Please look at me, I'm begging you, mama! Just don't stop being my mother!
[Asuka's mother, Kyoko, repeatedly giggles as she holds a doll she believes is Asuka in her arms]
Kyoko Soryu: Asuka? Come to heaven with me.
Asuka: Mama? No, mama, please don't kill me! No, I'm not mama's doll, I'll think for myself and I'll live for myself!
[Voice-over overlaying a doll hanging from a noose]
Kyoko: Please, Asuka, die with me.
Asuka: If that's what you want, I'll die with you, mama. Just don't stop being my mama! Mama! Mama!
Kyoko: Mama? Who are you?
[repeatedly, quoting previous episodes]
Asuka #1: I'm Asuka! Asuka Langley Soryu! Charmed, huh?
Asuka #2: What are you, stupid?
Asuka #3: And now's my chance!
Asuka #4: [ripping her blouse open] Look at me, dammit, look at me!
[A sound effect of glass breaking]
Asuka: No, none of this is the real me!
Asuka: Help me! Help me, Kaji, help me!
Kaji: Asuka... you're still a child. [still of Shinji besides Kaji. A sound effect of a train approaching and passing plays.]
Asuka: Why are you there, damn you?! You don't do anything! You won't help me! You won't even hold me! You're no one! No one! No one!
Young Asuka: Why won't you look at me?
[Asuka is curled up in the fetal position]
Doll-Asuka: Are you lonely? Are you alone?
Asuka: No! [the Doll-Asuka disintegrates] Stay away from me! I'm going to live by my own!
Doll-Asuka: But do you love me?
Asuka: I won't rely on anyone!
Doll-Asuka: But do you really love me?
Asuka: I can live by my own!
Doll-Asuka: But you're lying.
[Asuka screams. The screen flashes the phrases for one frame each: "Rejection", "Father", "Lack", "Anxiety", "Separation", "Evasion", "Attachment behaviour", "Dependence", "Pity", "I am not a doll!", "Mental contamination", "Don't violate me!", "Stop!", "Die with me!, "No!, "I hate you!, "Presumptuousness", "Latency", "Don't be.", "Manifest", "Reaction formation", "Don't be.", "Opposing will", "Compensation", "Don't be" "Rationalisation", "Oblivion", "Deception", "Raison d'etre", "Infantile experience", "Sense of loss", "Compensation", "Symbiosis", "Repression", "Death", "I hate you!!"]"
[After Asuka's torture, she curls up in her Eva Unit]
Asuka: My mind is being eaten away... Kaji-san, it's unravelling my mind! What do I do? It's defiling my mind!

Rei III [1.23]

[The Angel Armisael is merging with Unit 00 while Rei is synchronized with it, and telepathically makes contact with Rei's mind, appearing as an image of Rei]
Rei: Who is this? You? Myself and an EVA. No, I sense somebody other than myself. Who are you? An Angel? Are you one of the beings we call the Angels?
Armisael: Don't you want to become one with me?
Rei: No. I am me. Not you.
Armisael: Hmm, but you shall. It's too late. I will share part of my mind with you. Let me share with you these emotions. This is pain. Do you feel this pain?
Rei: This pain? No, it's different. Loneliness. Yes. Loneliness.
Armisael: Loneliness? I don't understand.
Rei: You don't want to be by yourself, correct? We are many but you are alone. You hate it don't you?
Armisael: That is what it is to be lonely? That is what your mind is. It is what fills your soul. You are that sorrow.

The Beginning and the End, or "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" [1.24]

Kaworu Nagisa: "Songs are good. Singing brings us joy. It is the highest point in the culture that Lilims have created.
Kaworu: You know pain is something man must endure in his heart, and since the heart feels pain so easily some believe life is pain. You are delicate like glass, especially your heart.
Shinji: I am?
Kaworu: Yes, and worth earning my empathy.
Shinji: Empathy?
Kaworu: I'm saying I love you.
Kaworu: It is my destiny to live forever, though my survival will bring final destruction to the human race. However, it is possible for me to be killed, and whether I live or die makes no great difference. In truth, death may be the only absolute freedom there is.
Shinji: What are you? Kaworu, I don't understand what you are talking about, Kaworu.
Kaworu: This is my wish: please, destroy me. Otherwise, you will be destroyed. Only one life-form can be chosen to evade the destruction and seize the future! And yours is not the existence which should die. You need the future, it is what you live for!

Do You Love Me? [1.25]

Take Care of Yourself [1.26]

Misato: If you take that into consideration, then perhaps this world isn't that bad.
Shinji: Still, the reality itself might not be bad, but I could still hate myself.
Hyuga:: But it's your mind which takes reality and separates it into what's bad and hateful.
Aoba: It's only the mind which separates reality from truth.
Maya: Any new position from which you view your reality will change your perception of its nature. It's all literally a matter of perspective.
Kaji: There are as many truths as there are people.
Kensuke: But there is only one truth that is your truth. That's the one that's formed by whatever point of view that you chose to view it from. It's a revised perception that protects you.
Toji: That's true. And one can have a perspective that's far too small.
Hikari: However, a person can only see things from the perspective that they chose to see them from.
Asuka: One must learn to judge things via the perceived truths that one receives from others.
Misato: For example, sunny days make you feel good.
Rei: Rainy days make you feel gloomy.
Asuka: If you are told this is so, then that is what you believe is so.
Ritsuko: But you can have fun on a rainy day as well!
Fuyutsuki: Your truth can be changed simply by the way you accept it. That's how fragile the truth for a human is.
Kaji: A person's truth is so simple, that most ignore it to concentrate on what they think are deeper truths.
Gendo: You, for example, are simply unused to what it is to be liked by others.
Misato: You've never learned how to deal with fearing what others feel about you and so you avoid it.
Shinji: But, don't the others hate me?
Asuka: What are you, stupid? Haven't you realized it's all in your imagination, you megadork!
Shinji: But, I hate myself.
Rei: One who truly hates himself cannot love, he cannot place his trust in another.
Shinji: I'm a coward. I'm cowardly, sneaky and weak.
Misato: No, only if you think you are, but if you know yourself, you can take care of yourself.
Shinji: [introspectively] I hate myself. But, maybe, maybe I could love myself. Maybe, my life can have a greater value. That's right!. I am no more or less than myself. I am me! I want to be myself! I want to continue existing in this world! My life is worth living here!
[Shinji's room cracks open and he finds himself on a small blue globe with the cast of the series]
Everyone: [applauding] Congratulations!
Shinji: Thank you all!
[last line of the series]
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The End of Evangelion (1997)

Shinji: [after masturbating over Asuka's comatose body] I'm so fucked up.
Russian SEELE member: The fate of destruction is also the joy of rebirth.
Misato: Shinji, listen to me. From now on you’re on your own. You’ll have to make your own decisions; no one can do it for you.
Shinji: I... I can’t. I’m no good. I can’t pilot Eva if all I do is hurt and kill people. I thought I had no choice but to pilot Eva, but I was just lying to myself. I’m not worthy of piloting an Eva because I don’t understand anything! I’m incapable of doing anything good for anybody else. I did something terrible to Asuka. I killed Kaworu. I’m a horrible person. I'm dishonest and a coward. All I ever do is hurt other people, so I’d rather do nothing at all!
Misato: I’m not going to feel sorry for you. If you don’t like feeling pain, then you can just sit here and let them kill you!
[Shinji begins to cry]
Misato: Crying isn’t going to solve anything, either! [pauses] You hate yourself, don’t you? That’s why you hurt others. Deep down you know that you suffer more when you cause someone else pain, than if you just let yourself get hurt. But, Shinji, that was your decision, so that makes it a valid choice. That was what you wanted, so that makes it worthwhile. Stop lying to yourself, and realize that you do have options. Then accept the choices you’ve made.
Shinji: But you're not me. You don’t know what I have to go through. You don’t understand!
Misato: So fucking what if I’m not you?! That doesn’t mean its okay for you to give up! If you do, I’ll never forgive you as long as I live. God knows I’m not perfect either. I’ve made tons of stupid mistakes and later I regretted them. And I’ve done it over and over again, thousands of times. A cycle of hollow joy and vicious self-hatred. But even so, every time I learned something about myself. Please, Shinji. You’ve got to pilot Eva and settle this once and for all. For your own sake. Find out why you came here. Why you exist at all. Answer your own questions. And when you’ve found your answers, come back to me. I’ll be waiting for you. Promise me.
Shinji: Yes.
Misato: See you soon.
[Misato tongue-kisses Shinji to try to motivate him out of his near-catatonic depression]
Misato: That was a grown-up kiss. We'll do the rest when you get back. [shoves Shinji into an elevator and collapses in a pool of blood] If I'd known it'd end like this... I would have... changed the carpet like Asuka suggested...Right, Pen Pen?... Kaji, my love... I did do the right thing... didn't I?
[Asuka's Eva is sitting in wait at the bottom of the lake. Asuka is still near-catatonic from her experiences in "Don't be."]
Asuka: [repeatedly] I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die... [Asuka's mantra becomes louder until she finally screams it over an image of her rotting corpse]
Ritsuko: I've been waiting for you. I'm sorry, but when I installed the firewall, I changed the MAGI's programming without telling you. A loving daughter's final request; mother, let's end it together. [presses a button, expecting an explosion.] It's not working?! Why?! CASPER betrayed me?! Mother, how could you chose your lover over me?!
Gendo: Ritsuko Akagi, the truth is... [the voice is dubbed out]
Ritsuko: Liar.
[Gendo shoots her]
Gendo's line in this scene is highly debated. Anno wanted the line muted at first with an explosion, but he still wanted the line cut. When the scene was being recorded, Anno gave Ritsuko's voice actress Yuriko Yamaguchi a hint as to what Gendo was telling her. To this day, only Anno and Yamaguchi know the hint. The line is probably "I needed you", as when the Rei clones take away Hyuga, Ibuki, Fuyutsuki and Aoba, they appear as the person the victim trusted the most, and then kill the victim in a similar manner to the apparition's death. When Ritsuko takes away Ibuki (who was in love with her), Ibuki's computer reads "I NEED YOU". However, the line must be in the past tense, as Gendo cannot need Ritsuko if he is shooting her. Ritsuko calls him a liar because Gendo handed her over to SEELE previously in the series; when Ritsuko seems stunned and then becomes more composed, she is remembering Gendo's betrayal.
Shinji: Nobody understands me.
Rei: You never understood anything.
Shinji: I thought this was supposed to be a world without pain, and without uncertainty.
Rei: That's because you thought that everyone else felt the same as you do.
Shinji: You betrayed me! You betrayed my feelings!
Rei: You misunderstood from the very beginning. You just believed what you wanted to believe.
Shinji: Nobody wants me, so they can all just die.
Rei: Then what is your hand for?
Shinji: Nobody cares whether or not I exist. Nothing ever changes, so they can all just die.
Rei: Then tell me, what is your heart for?
Shinji: It would be better if I never existed. I should just die, too.
Rei: Then why are you here?
[Flashback image of Shinji as a child, abandoned and crying]
Shinji: I-is it okay for me to be here?
[White text on black: "Silence". Shinji screams]
Gendo: I've waited so long for this moment to arrive. I will finally be with you again, Yui. When Shinji is near me, all I ever do is cause him pain. I thought it was better when I did nothing at all.
Yui: Were you afraid of Shinji?
Gendo: I didn't believe that anyone could love me. I never deserved to be loved.
Kaworu: So, you were running away. And you rejected the others around you, so there was no chance that you would ever be hurt.
Yui: And you were terrified by the invisible bonds that people form.
Rei: You were afraid and so you closed off your heart.
[Gendo is being held by Eva Unit-1]
Gendo: And so, this is my retribution. Forgive me, Shinji.
[Unit-1 bites Gendo in half]
[Shinji is inside of Lilith and is experiencing a mental journey]
Voices: Don’t call me anymore. I hate you. God, you’re persistent. I wouldn’t be caught dead with you. You’re bothering me. There’s no way we can start over again, you jerk! Goodbye. I wish you’d think. Are you being serious? I have no interest in getting back together with you. Look at you. Let’s just be friends. This all was just a cheap thing. Do I even know you? You’re getting me nervous. Why don’t you do the world a favor and just die? Who the hell are you? I don’t love you that way. Who the hell are you? I couldn’t care less whether you lived or died. I don’t want you in my life. None of your business. To be honest, you get on my nerves. I don’t need you anymore. Stop following me around! I can’t do this anymore. Don’t get me wrong. Why won’t you take “no” for an answer? Who would want to go out with you? You’re bothering me. Let’s break up! Go away. Please stop. I don’t need you. Are you still here? I never did. I can’t stand the sight of you. Why won’t you leave? Let’s just be friends. I thought I asked you to leave. You don’t own me. Get out. Grow up, would you?! I don’t want you around anymore, you wimp!
Misato: If it’s too painful, you can always make it stop.
Rei: If you don’t like it, you can just run away.
Voice: Do you want to be at ease? Do you want to feel peace of mind? Do you want to become one with me? To have our bodies and souls join as one?
Other voice: I’d rather die than do it with you!
Shinji: Hey.
Rei: What is it?
Shinji: What are dreams?
Asuka: Dreams?
Rei: Yes, dreams.
[A shot of people in a movie theatre. After a few seconds, a white text, reading "Does it feel good?", appears. Afterwards, a shot of the three voice actresses for Rei, Asuka, and Misato (from left to right, respectively: Megumi Hayashibara, Yuko Miyamura, and Kotono Mitsuishi) is shown]
Shinji: I don't understand. I don't understand what reality is.
Rei: You can't bridge the gap between your own truth and the reality of others.
Shinji: I don't know where to find happiness.
Rei: So you only find happiness in your dreams.
Shinji: Then... this is not reality? This world where no one exists?
Rei: No. It is only a dream.
Shinji: Then I don't exist here either.
Rei: This convenient fabrication is your attempt to change reality.
Shinji: Is that wrong?
Rei: You were using fantasy to escape reality.
Shinji: Why can't I dream that I'm alone?
Rei: That is not a dream. That is a substitute for reality.
[Another shot of the theatre. A few seconds later, the scene dissolves into a shot of the same theatre, now empty]
Shinji: So where is my dream?
Rei: It is a continuation of reality.
Shinji: But where is my reality.
Rei: It is at the end of your dream.
Kouzou Fuyutsuki: When Man created Evangelion, were we trying to create a clone of God?
Yui Ikari: Of course. Humans can only exist on this Earth. But the Evangelion will be able to exist forever, along with the human soul that dwells within it. When the Earth, the Moon and the Sun are all gone, EVA will exist, so long as one person remains. It'll be lonely, but as long as one person still lives...
Kouzou Fuyutsuki: ...it will be eternal proof that Mankind ever existed.
Asuka: 気持ち 悪い. ("Kimochi warui"; English dub: "How disgusting".)
Last line of the movie. Could be translated as "I don't feel well," "I feel sick," "This sucks," "what a disgusting feeling," "I feel bad," etc. This line could have several different implications depending on context, so the proper translation is debated; no interpretation has been offered by Gainax. Even the identity of the speaker is often disputed, with many fans claiming she is an amalgam of Asuka, Rei and Misato, rather than simply Asuka. One of the last lines that were originally suggested was — in Japanese — "No way I'll let you kill me!", but Anno wanted to find a better one. "Kimochi warui" was eventually chosen by Asuka's seiyuu Yuko Miyamura after Anno asked her what she would say if she found out a stranger had masturbated to her sleeping body. The official English version renders the line as "How disgusting".
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On NGE

  • "I don't know why everyone loves this show so much, the characters are so sick!"
  • "You're an idiot. Study harder."
  • "This show really is interesting, isn't it? I never realized how interesting it was."
  • "Oh this is... this is nice, this is the end, okay. Where exactly am I? Oh grea… here's the song, oh good. Um, there's some things that are still unresolved here, guys! How do I get home? What do I eat? Was Rei my-my mom? Or a clone? Or, hell, was this all in my mind? Wha-what's an EVA? Is that sort of a Freudian thing? Er… um Am I real? Oh, hell, does a bus run through here? I mean, I'd like to go home now but um… Oh God… Where's home? Okay, okay, okay. I mustn't run away, I mustn't run... Okay I got that, good, okay. Now, if I were to run away, let's analyze that: Where the fuck would I go? I'm on a big blue ball! Uhh, is this how you end the series? I mean, is this where we go from here? Okay, the movie better sure as Hell make up for this, I'm telling you right now, 'cause I'm stuck in Nowhereland! You ran outta ink too, didn't you, ya bastards?"
    • Spike Spencer as Shinji, in a parody commentary track on the final Neon Genesis Evangelion DVD.
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Last modified on 28 April 2013, at 19:07