What is the difference between the ending in the anime and in The End of Evangelion?


Are the endings shown in the anime series and shown in _The End of Evangelion_
different/alternate or are they same but in different places?




First the history of the endings.

Gainax studio went through a huge financial crisis near the ending of
evangelion. They decided to end the series anyway, and went for a low-budget
ending (the episodes 24-25).

> The television series takes a very avant-garde approach and focuses on a
> first-person psychological account of the instrumentality process from the
> perspective of its main characters (primarily Shinji Ikari).
> [ref](http://www.nervarchives.com/analysis.altendings.php)

The fanbase reaction was brutal. From death threats to graffiti, hatemail and
the likes. Anno's take on that:

> [On Evangelion's last two episodes , which upset many
> fans...](http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20020606012703/http://masterwork.animemedia.com/Evangelion/anno.html)
> ANNO: I have no problem with them. If there's a problem, it's all with you
> guys. **Too bad.**  
>  (emphasis given because of verbal cue given by Anno himself during the
> interview

Later they decided to do the feature animation "The end of evangelion",
retelling the ending.

You have to take in mind that Anno's style of storytelling is very fluid. He
would only work on a new episode when the previous was finished:

> **Toshio Okada:** _But--the last scenes were never fixed. When I talked to
> Mr. Anno a month ago, he said he couldn't decide the ending until the time
> came._ [ref](http://wiki.evageeks.org/Statements_by_Evangelion_Staff)

Anno comments on the development of the series:

> **Hideaki Anno** : “The development of Evangelion gives me the feeling of a
> ‘Live’ concert. Whatever the story or the development of the characters, I
> made them without a plan. During the production, whether listening to
> various opinions or analysing my own state of mind, I kept questioning
> myself. I got the concepts from this personal stocktaking [self-assessment].
> At first I had intended to make a simple work featuring robots.
>
> But even when the main scene became a high school, it did not differ
> compared to other productions in the same style. At this point, I did not
> really think of creating a character with two faces, two identities: one
> shown at school, and the other inside the organization he belongs to [Nerv].
> The impression of ‘Live’ concert that gives me the birth of Eva, was the
> team joining me in developing it, in the manner of an improvisation: someone
> plays the guitar and, in response, the drums and bass are added. The
> performance ended with the TV broadcasting ending. We only started working
> on the next script once the previous one was done.
> [ref](http://www.gwern.net/docs/eva/1996-newtype-anno-interview)

So they made the film with the new ending, re-telling the story from another
perspective. Some classify the first ending as the personal instrumentality
inside Shinji's mind, the other as the external instrumentality.

Anno, in the best "death of the author fashion", said (and I am sorry I
couldn't find the source) that the "true" ending lies with the viewer. When he
started to make the new movies ([the rebuild of
evangelion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebuild_of_Evangelion)), he is simply
telling another evangelion story. Like folklore, the true story is nowhere to
be found, all of them are true, depending only on the viewer's impression.

> **Hideaki Anno:** ”Eva" is a story that repeats.  
>  It is a story where the main character witnesses many horrors with his own
> eyes, but still tries to stand up again.  
>  It is a story of will; a story of moving forward, if only just a little.  
>  It is a story of fear, where someone who must face indefinite solitude
> fears reaching out to others, but still wants to try.  
>  We hope that you look forward to the 4 new retellings of this
> story.[ref](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-02-20/hideaki-anno-
> releases-statement-about-new-evangelion-movies)

* * *

So the truth is that the real ending is all / any of them. The interpretation
of what you saw on the screen is **intentionally left open.**




First the history of the endings.

Gainax studio went through a huge financial crisis near the ending of
evangelion. They decided to end the series anyway, and went for a low-budget
ending (the episodes 24-25).

> The television series takes a very avant-garde approach and focuses on a
> first-person psychological account of the instrumentality process from the
> perspective of its main characters (primarily Shinji Ikari).
> [ref](http://www.nervarchives.com/analysis.altendings.php)

The fanbase reaction was brutal. From death threats to graffiti, hatemail and
the likes. Anno's take on that:

> [On Evangelion's last two episodes , which upset many
> fans...](http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20020606012703/http://masterwork.animemedia.com/Evangelion/anno.html)
> ANNO: I have no problem with them. If there's a problem, it's all with you
> guys. **Too bad.**  
>  (emphasis given because of verbal cue given by Anno himself during the
> interview

Later they decided to do the feature animation "The end of evangelion",
retelling the ending.

You have to take in mind that Anno's style of storytelling is very fluid. He
would only work on a new episode when the previous was finished:

> **Toshio Okada:** _But--the last scenes were never fixed. When I talked to
> Mr. Anno a month ago, he said he couldn't decide the ending until the time
> came._ [ref](http://wiki.evageeks.org/Statements_by_Evangelion_Staff)

Anno comments on the development of the series:

> **Hideaki Anno** : “The development of Evangelion gives me the feeling of a
> ‘Live’ concert. Whatever the story or the development of the characters, I
> made them without a plan. During the production, whether listening to
> various opinions or analysing my own state of mind, I kept questioning
> myself. I got the concepts from this personal stocktaking [self-assessment].
> At first I had intended to make a simple work featuring robots.
>
> But even when the main scene became a high school, it did not differ
> compared to other productions in the same style. At this point, I did not
> really think of creating a character with two faces, two identities: one
> shown at school, and the other inside the organization he belongs to [Nerv].
> The impression of ‘Live’ concert that gives me the birth of Eva, was the
> team joining me in developing it, in the manner of an improvisation: someone
> plays the guitar and, in response, the drums and bass are added. The
> performance ended with the TV broadcasting ending. We only started working
> on the next script once the previous one was done.
> [ref](http://www.gwern.net/docs/eva/1996-newtype-anno-interview)

So they made the film with the new ending, re-telling the story from another
perspective. Some classify the first ending as the personal instrumentality
inside Shinji's mind, the other as the external instrumentality.

Anno, in the best "death of the author fashion", said (and I am sorry I
couldn't find the source) that the "true" ending lies with the viewer. When he
started to make the new movies ([the rebuild of
evangelion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebuild_of_Evangelion)), he is simply
telling another evangelion story. Like folklore, the true story is nowhere to
be found, all of them are true, depending only on the viewer's impression.

> **Hideaki Anno:** ”Eva" is a story that repeats.  
>  It is a story where the main character witnesses many horrors with his own
> eyes, but still tries to stand up again.  
>  It is a story of will; a story of moving forward, if only just a little.  
>  It is a story of fear, where someone who must face indefinite solitude
> fears reaching out to others, but still wants to try.  
>  We hope that you look forward to the 4 new retellings of this
> story.[ref](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-02-20/hideaki-anno-
> releases-statement-about-new-evangelion-movies)

* * *

So the truth is that the real ending is all / any of them. The interpretation
of what you saw on the screen is **intentionally left open.**

