Evangelion RE-TAKE ("true"conclusion to the story)

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Evangelion RE-TAKE ("true"conclusion to the story)

Has anybody else read/heard about this?

Wow. I just went through this doujinshi manga yesterday, and WOW I'm in love. I've heard this from plenty of other people who've read this, but I have to ask "Is this really just a doujinshi?" This is, like, incredibly good. Exactly the kind of conclusion that any Evangelion veiwer, whethher it be fan or just casual viewer, needs. I can't believe how good this manga is. I've been reading it over and over and over all day. UNfortunately, being a doujinshi, it doesn't really get publicity, but I hear and see nothing but high praise from the people who have read it.

The manga is actually a direct sequel to End of Evangelion, taking place right where the movie ends. Shinji wakes up to find himself in a hospital bed, just after he was "swallowed up" by the 12th Angel in the TV series. The events that came to pass remain in his memory as what he believes to be a dream, giving him a chance to rewrite history.

I really don't know where to begin here. This is one of those rare gems where I wouldn't hesitate to slap the word "Perfect" all over the front cover. There's just so little you could expect more out of it. And I mean that very conservatively, as in the only things you could expect more are things like seeing conclusion for support and backstage characters like Kensuke. Heck, even Touji gets a little spotlight in the final battle. This is easily my Number 1 anime/manga production above anything and everything else, Gundam, Macross, you name it.

I suppose I could begin with a warning: This is a doujinshi, and like some other doujinshis, it has hentai in it. Actual hentai, not inferred scenes or offscreen or such. However, it's not done out of bad taste like the blind hentai-fest doujinshis that are clearly meant to be little more than fap material, these scenes are actually done well in tandem with the story and plot, and despite what the cover art for the chapters suggest, they don't dominate the material at all. Right from the beginning there isn't much of it, and towards the end it's hardly there anymore, just one 4-panel scene in After, barely a page's worth. And besides which, it's not like sex is anything new to Evangelion anyway. The fact that they slept together alone is a crucial point that takes full effect only in the later chapters of the story. However, there is currently a de-hentai-ized version in the works (not completed yet), although I only know of it from word of mouth. I haven't seen or otherwise heard of the de-hentai-ized version.

I absolutely love how deep this manga goes. The flow of and focus on the characters makes it feel like you'e really reading official material from the original series, and yet it's really clear and upfront with its revelations and twists unlike some of the more cryptic stuff from the series and movie. Nor does it really go into the wierding-you-out stuff, all while still holding true to Evangelion with its focus on the minds of the cast and their character right up until the heartwarming conclusions on all fronts. This is Evangelion as it was meant to end. Heck, they even made an OST for this manga. I got it in although I haven't listened to it yet, but I hear it's good music.

Being a dounjinshi, this is in no way a US-licensed title, although I'm not sure of this forum's rules on doujinshi links and downloads. So at least for the time being, if you want a link send me a PM and I'll reply with the link for where I got it (scanlated). If the mods say posting the link is okay, I'll do that.

For those who read it, know that despite the chapter numbering, the chrological order of the chapters goes like this:

Re-Take 1
Re-Take 2
Re-Take 3
Re-Take 0 (should really be called 3.5 for clarity, imo)
Re-Take 4
Re-Take After

My one, single, only beef is that it isn't longer. But not being an official, canon, big project, I guess it can't be helped.

Here's the spoilers discussion now, so be warned. Only read on if you want a peak into the major spoilers of the story and plot.




I still don't really know where to begin. This manga was just too full of win and cool. I could probably go on and on forever about the story and plot, but that would be too long lol, so here are just a few highlights.
I really liked how they kept alive the link between the two worlds, the original world where the original Evangelion story story took place and this new world that Shinji created where the original-world Shinji has gone. "Evil Asuka," as I call the original-world Asuka, was probably the crux of the link, being there to keep original-world Shinji in connection with the events of the final quarter of the series and of EoE.

Being a ShinjixAsuka fan, I absolutely loved the romance of course, and it certainly helped that it was very well-done. At first it may have seemed a bit fast in comparison to the pacing of the story and plot after chapter 1, but that's only because it didn't recap everything before the 12th Angel's attack. Shinji and Asuka always had a love/hate relationship going, which only turned dark with later ugly events such as Asuka's total defeat at the hands of the 13th and 14th Angels. Because Shinji knows exactly what's going to happen (since he retained his memories of his world), he was able to keep things from falling apart like they originally did, and he knew how to properly relate with Asuka. (such as losing to her on purpose in the Synchronization tests)

But no relationship is without its hurdles. Growing closer to Asuka and having retained his Memories of EoE, Shinji ends up distancing himself from Rei, to the point where she's driven to suicide after Shinji's announcement that he loves Asuka.I don't mean it in the wrong way, but the drama around Rei's involvement in Shinji and Asuka's relationship was another well-done high point of the story, and it kept Rei in the spotlight rather than casting her aside for ShinjixAsuka.

And let's not forget probably the biggest twist of it all; that Kaworu Nagisa isn't the final Angel. Shinji is, having crossed worlds to this alternate world. The final bombshell dropped by original-world Asuka to send Shinji into a final and permamnent spiral of despair. He can't live in the alternate world at all, let alone with alternate-world Asuka, or he would be dooming everyone to death.

Finally, everything comes full-circle with chapter 4 and After. Original-world Asuka isn't just a plot device for keeping Shinji in torment and despair. In the end, after experiencing what life he could live in this alternate world, he goes back to his own original world with his own Asuka (original-world Asuka), the one he truly came to love, to the world of End of Evangelion. But the alternate world isn't just a plot device for original-world Shinji's development either. With original-world Shinji gone, alternate-world Shinji returns. (up until then, his body was "possesed" by original-world Shinji's personality and memories) Asuka's mind also recovers, although her memory of everything that has happened since the beginning of the manga has been sealed off. Alternate-world Shinji, having been posessed by original-world Shinji until his departure, has had no memory of any of the events at all. Which is where After comes in. Confronted with what happened over the story by their friends, the alternate world Shinji and Asuka have one last hurdle before they can come to terms with their relationship.
Last edited by Shinji103 on Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:11 am, edited 2 times in total.
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I've also read and enjoyed every single bit of this. Out of all of Studio Kimigabuchi's works, this is easily the best, and holds my number 1 spot when it comes to manga and doujins. Those who watch my avatar changer can tell that this is where I came to love Asuka.

What really made this for me was the characters. They were faithful to the official characters and each grew into their own great entities. Major character, minor character, everyone goes through quite a lot of character development. They even had Gendo turn into one awesome guy who even admits that hes sorry.

Everytime I reread it, it's always fresh and I find myself going through the rollercoaster of emotions that practically leap off the pages. My only wish was it to become official (and knowing me, I'd buy 10 copies as soon as they were availible).

And of course, those who have read it can really appreciate this.
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Re: Evangelion RE-TAKE ("true"conclusion to the or

And here I thought I'd written off Evangelion altogether for messing with my head for so long... One can only take so much Freud, Nietzsche, and Judeo-Christian symbolism/mysticism before the mind eventually has an identity crisis.

But darn you, now you have me intrigued!

Although I loved End of Evangelion (a lot) it left a great many questions that I wish would have been answered -- which I guess is the point, but nonetheless bugs the hell out of me. Most of these loose ends naturally settle around Shinji and Asuka, their relationship, and perhaps the "Adam and Eve" parallel that pops up if they truly are... well, y'know. Doujinshi or not, if this manga can provide me with some sort of closure, I want to get my hands on it. Now. :wink:
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Meh, I can't help but think this doujinshi is pretty overrated. Sure, it's good, I guess. It's a high quality work. But I think people saying that it completes the series or makes it better is ridiculous. Since this is a fan work after all, you can't apply it to the official timeline.

The whole premise is flawed to begin with. The point of EoE was Shinji deciding that reality is better than fantasy, even if reality sucks. Therefore, there's no reason he'd go into this alternate world and redo everything.

I'm certainly no fan of Asuka either, so I can't help but go "Oh great, even more Shinji/Asuka!" Seems most side stories all have this pairing... Oh well, at least the official manga, Shinji Raising Project, and Gakuen Datenroku feature the better pairing.

Anywho, Retake is certainly a good read and I'd recomend it. I just don't think it should be put up on a pedistal.
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Destiny_Gundam wrote:The whole premise is flawed to begin with. The point of EoE was Shinji deciding that reality is better than fantasy, even if reality sucks. Therefore, there's no reason he'd go into this alternate world and redo everything.
Good point. Shinji had a choice, and he chose to keep on living as an individual, even though reality sucked... hard.

That said, after beginning to read the manga (which I'm thoroughly enjoying, by the way), it seems to operate under the assumption that Shinji still has a part of him that doesn't want to face reality, and thus he creates this fantasy world that he can change. Perhaps this presumption is flawed, but in terms of attempting to provide closure -- which, ironically, the ending of the movie was not supposed to do; not entirely -- it's doing a good job. Some people wanted a more gift-wrapped ending and this is a pretty good step towards that, even though it's fan-made. Yours truly still has a part of him that's one of those people.
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That's another thing, I suppose. While the movie does end on an ambiguous note, I think it provides enough closure. The bad guys win, but things don't turn out the way they intended. Humanity was turned into tang, but because of Shinji's choice, people are able to retrieve their individuality if they so desire.

As such, Retake doesn't add anything that we really needed. But like all fan works, it's just for pointless entertainment anyways. Retake does a good job in that regard.
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Alright, just got finished with volume one. I'm enjoying it all... except for the sex, which I feel goes a stretch beyond tastefulness into the realm of pure porn for porn's sake.

Things are certainly different this time around, though, and I'm starting to get the feeling that, once again, reality is going to confront Shinji soon enough, or at least that he'll once again have to deal with the consequences of his actions. Especially considering what just happened to Rei...

Volume 2 complete. I'm kinda having mixed feelings about this manga at this point. While it's certainly well-conceived and executed as a sappier take on Evangelion, a lot of it just feels like fanservice to ShinjixAsuka fans. Still, I think I'll keep on truckin'.

Some of the things that I do like so far:

1. Bitter, wrathful real-world Asuka is acting as a foil for happy, enamored alternate-reality Asuka, as well as acting as Shinji's guilty conscience.

2. That even though this seems to be a reality of Shinji's making, not everything is coming up roses. Especially not this chapter's ending. A little over-sentimental, but still... wow.

3. Gendo is still a total bastard.

4. Ritsuko and Misato are watching Shinji like a hawk.

5. They haven't played Rei off as an omni-suicidal punching bag for the relationship between Shinji and Asuka. We still get some resolution between her and Shinji, and I can only imagine what might happen now considering what just transpired.

6. Shinji attempted to learn from his father's mistakes. Those who have read this chapter will get what I'm saying. :wink:
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Destiny_Gundam wrote:Meh, I can't help but think this doujinshi is pretty overrated. Sure, it's good, I guess. It's a high quality work. But I think people saying that it completes the series or makes it better is ridiculous. Since this is a fan work after all, you can't apply it to the official timeline.
Just because we can't say "This is an official piece of work" doesn't mean we can't relate it to the official timeline, as it actually fits with it despite it being a fanwork, and it doesn't mean it can't make the series better either.
The whole premise is flawed to begin with. The point of EoE was Shinji deciding that reality is better than fantasy, even if reality sucks. Therefore, there's no reason he'd go into this alternate world and redo everything.
You're assuming that he actually came to this new world of his own conscious will. The very beginning strongly suggests that he came here subconsciously. (he thinks all his memories of his original world were a dream) By the time he realizes that he's really from a different world, he's already strongly attached to this new one, at which point he has to make a clear, conscious decision to go back. Plus, judging from him on the verge of choking Asuka to death at the end of EoE, I'd say he still had some problems to work out anyway. Which he did in this manga. (the main remaining problem being his relationship with Asuka)
I'm certainly no fan of Asuka either, so I can't help but go "Oh great, even more Shinji/Asuka!" Seems most side stories all have this pairing... Oh well, at least the official manga, Shinji Raising Project, and Gakuen Datenroku feature the better pairing.
Lol, for the record, I wouldn't count on the Shinji Raising Project being ShinjixRei for certain yet. Lately, Asuka's becoming an even bigger player in it, especially after the end of volume 4, and even Misato takes notice at the beginning of volume 5. :lol:

Nowhere Man wrote:Alright, just got finished with volume one. I'm enjoying it all... except for the sex, which I feel goes a stretch beyond tastefulness into the realm of pure porn for porn's sake.
Mmmm, I'd say we'd have to agree to disagree slightly on that regard, as we don't want to turn this into a deep discussion on sex, lol. But I'll say that since you think that, you should read RE-TAKE 1.5, not for the sex, but to see the difference between Studio Kimigabuchi when it's trying to draw sex in a story, and when it's trying to draw sex for porn's sake. (and yes, RE-TAKE 1.5 is an entirely porn production, but it really has nothing to do with the main RE-TAKE storyline or plot, it's just there for the fap material)
Volume 2 complete. I'm kinda having mixed feelings about this manga at this point. While it's certainly well-conceived and executed as a sappier take on Evangelion, a lot of it just feels like fanservice to ShinjixAsuka fans. Still, I think I'll keep on truckin'.
Well, seeing as how ShinjixAsuka is the centerpiece of the story, it would naturally be prominent. Pretty much the whole story and plot centers around it, from Shinji's relationship with the new world Asuka, to his dealings with the Asuka from his world. Volume 3 really kicks the plot and story into overdrive though. :)
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Shinji103 wrote:Well, seeing as how ShinjixAsuka is the centerpiece of the story, it would naturally be prominent. Pretty much the whole story and plot centers around it, from Shinji's relationship with the new world Asuka, to his dealings with the Asuka from his world. Volume 3 really kicks the plot and story into overdrive though. :)
That's just it, though: the series and End of Evangelion dealt with all of Shinji's relationships in sum, with his interactions with others and vice versa serving to comment on human identity and sexuality. While this manga is a nice study of how Shinji's relationship with Asuka might have been different, as well as for the buried feelings both have for each other, his other connections are given only shadow treatment at best. If this new world is all about him correcting his mistakes, why not show a little more interest in how his other relationships have changed through his actions? Rei gets some attention (as I said), but Misato, his father, his school friends, etc. are all mostly left out of the loop. I wish they would have delved a bit deeper than just Shinji and Asuka, in short.

However, after reading volumes 3 and "0," I'm into this work again. I've got to say that the major twist regarding Shinji's identity was a shock to me, and real-world Asuka's revelations about her true feelings were also quite nice. As Shinji continues to change, we see more and more how he's applying his past lessons, which is nice.
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Nowhere Man wrote:That's just it, though: the series and End of Evangelion dealt with all of Shinji's relationships in sum, with his interactions with others and vice versa serving to comment on human identity and sexuality. While this manga is a nice study of how Shinji's relationship with Asuka might have been different, as well as for the buried feelings both have for each other, his other connections are given only shadow treatment at best. If this new world is all about him correcting his mistakes, why not show a little more interest in how his other relationships have changed through his actions? Rei gets some attention (as I said), but Misato, his father, his school friends, etc. are all mostly left out of the loop. I wish they would have delved a bit deeper than just Shinji and Asuka, in short.
Well, I did just say it's based on ShinjixAsuka, lol. But really, there wasn't much, if anything, in his other relationships to fix or change. The only other relationship problem was with Rei after Shinji and Asuka got together, and he managed to resolve that. Aside from that, there wasn't anything else to delve into relationship-wise. And still the other characters got into the mix, providing in-depth help and support for Shinji and Asuka.

But since you haven't read chapters 4 and After, you'd actually not know about a few other relationships that are actually resolved, two not directly related to Shinji and Asuka, and actually one related to Shinji. Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled:

MisatoxKaji, Ritusko's feelings for Gendou, and Gendou acting a bit like a father again. We get the wrap-up to the main stake driving Misato and Kaji apart; their survivor's guilt. Ritsuko and Gendou have their moment as the bombs go off in volume 4 as well. And Shinji sees more of his father acting like an actual father in his talk with Ristuko at his Gendou's grave.
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Shinji103 wrote:Just because we can't say "This is an official piece of work" doesn't mean we can't relate it to the official timeline, as it actually fits with it despite it being a fanwork, and it doesn't mean it can't make the series better either.
Well, that's fine I guess, but I avoid such thoughts because it just builds a house of cards. This happens in the fanfiction community a lot. For example, sometimes a fic is written explaining Character A's relationship with Character B. The community welcomes it completely, others write based on it and eventually accept it as fact. Then the canon comes along and explains Character A's relationship with Character B, the house of cards comes crumbling down and the fandom goes balistic.

So if you base your understanding on Evangelion's ending on what happens in Retake, what will you do when the Rebuild movies turn out to be a sequel? Will the series still be as good to you?

So yeah, that's why I'm against such a mind set.
Shinji103 wrote:You're assuming that he actually came to this new world of his own conscious will. The very beginning strongly suggests that he came here subconsciously. (he thinks all his memories of his original world were a dream) By the time he realizes that he's really from a different world, he's already strongly attached to this new one, at which point he has to make a clear, conscious decision to go back. Plus, judging from him on the verge of choking Asuka to death at the end of EoE, I'd say he still had some problems to work out anyway. Which he did in this manga. (the main remaining problem being his relationship with Asuka)
The question is then, how did Shinji end up in that world, willingly or otherwise? Only way I can think of is the Lillith/Rei/Kaworu thing, but it/she/him already finished their business with Shinji.

It's flawed, but it's fine. This is only a fan work, after all.

Shinji choking out Asuka at the end of the movie, I think, is for obvious reasons. The general mean spirited things she did in the series, coupled with the whole "No" scene in the movie, of course Shinji is going to resent her to the point of choking her. However, when her arm brushes his face, he lets go of that rage and stops choking her.
Shinji103 wrote:Lol, for the record, I wouldn't count on the Shinji Raising Project being ShinjixRei for certain yet. Lately, Asuka's becoming an even bigger player in it, especially after the end of volume 4, and even Misato takes notice at the beginning of volume 5.
Oh lord, I hope not. Asuka had that Angelic Days manga. We need some more Rei.

Well, atleast Asuka is getting shafted in the Rebuild movies. Shinji and Rei had all of movie 1 together, while Asuka has to share movie 2 with Kaworu and the new girl.

But I'm not trying to start a ship war, here. Shinji/Asuka is fine, but only if she stops treating him like garbage at some point.
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Destiny_Gundam wrote:Well, that's fine I guess, but I avoid such thoughts because it just builds a house of cards. This happens in the fanfiction community a lot. For example, sometimes a fic is written explaining Character A's relationship with Character B. The community welcomes it completely, others write based on it and eventually accept it as fact. Then the canon comes along and explains Character A's relationship with Character B, the house of cards comes crumbling down and the fandom goes balistic.

So if you base your understanding on Evangelion's ending on what happens in Retake, what will you do when the Rebuild movies turn out to be a sequel? Will the series still be as good to you?

So yeah, that's why I'm against such a mind set.
That's good logic and all, but I'm of the mindset where I still diffetrentiate between the canon and non-canon. RE-TAKE will always be good for me as a way Eva can/could have ended. The Rbuild movies will be good (or bad) for me based on what they are, not RE-TAKE. As for the fandom, there are lots of idiots out there, and that's their fault for being idiots. Don't let it cripple your enjoyment of something just because you hate to see other people whine and moan about canon, non-canon, and whatnot. I'd be driven insane if I actually let all the basless fandom for GSD bother me. I still speak out about it from time to time, but more as a hobby or a way to kill time than a mindest.
Destiny_Gundam wrote:The question is then, how did Shinji end up in that world, willingly or otherwise? Only way I can think of is the Lillith/Rei/Kaworu thing, but it/she/him already finished their business with Shinji.

It's flawed, but it's fine. This is only a fan work, after all.
Then you forgot how Shinji was the crux of the Third Impact. How the world turned out and what happened after, all the people in it, everything was left for him to decide. He was pretty much God. So he used the power he gained to create an infinite number of worlds, one of them being where RE-TAKE takes place.
Shinji choking out Asuka at the end of the movie, I think, is for obvious reasons. The general mean spirited things she did in the series, coupled with the whole "No" scene in the movie, of course Shinji is going to resent her to the point of choking her. However, when her arm brushes his face, he lets go of that rage and stops choking her.
That's what RE-TAKE picks up on. All of RE-TAKE happens right in that moment, as Shinji breaks down in tears there. Then at the end of RE-TAKE chapter 4. Shinji and Asuka return to that world at that moment.
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Shinji103 wrote:
Lol, for the record, I wouldn't count on the Shinji Raising Project being ShinjixRei for certain yet. Lately, Asuka's becoming an even bigger player in it, especially after the end of volume 4, and even Misato takes notice at the beginning of volume 5.


Oh lord, I hope not. Asuka had that Angelic Days manga. We need some more Rei.
Not to build up this pairings thing, but Rei and Shinji are pretty close in the official manga by Eva character designer, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. Asuka and Shinji are close, just not as close as Rei and Shinji.

I've heard a lot about Re-Take and some people like it so much that they'll be making a fan video of the entire saga. I'm not a A/S fan, but if its a good story I'll check it out.
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Shinji103 wrote:Then you forgot how Shinji was the crux of the Third Impact. How the world turned out and what happened after, all the people in it, everything was left for him to decide. He was pretty much God. So he used the power he gained to create an infinite number of worlds, one of them being where RE-TAKE takes place.
Shinji was only in the seat of God because of Eva 01/Yui and Lillith/Rei/Kaworu. They were the ones with the power, they simply asked Shinji what he wanted them to do with it. He chose, Yui went into deep space and Lillith/Rei/Kaworu died, releasing all the souls back onto Earth. Shinji doesn't have any God powers.

At any rate, Retake is a good read. It simply doesn't affect my view on the canon. If it affects your, that's fine too.
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I liked Re-Take for the most part, but Destiny makes some good points.

It reads like a more polished version of your typical Eva fanfic. Shinji uses the magic of Third Impact to go back in time and correct all that went wrong. It's a nice thought, but it's really contradictory to the original and its theme of accepting the world for what it is. Shinji learned to move forward by coming to terms with the person he was. The wish-fulfillment second-chance-at-life bit cleaves rather close to Instrumentality.

Granted, I realize it's not an official work so it doesn't have to be behold to the original and its ideas. Even so, it carries almost a pretentious air, as if to say this is how things should have gone and that Studio Kimigabuchi can do so much better. Admittedly, Studio K does a great job of complicating matters and telling a compelling story, but it's not the "improved" Evangelion so many claim it to be.
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'Fraid I'm gonna have to agree with Imperial and Destiny on all counts.

I read RE-TAKE maybe two years ago, and it was a rather surprising experience because the suggestion came from a guy who normally looks down on any/all kinds of pornography. It was one of those moments where I read the first hentai encounter and had a massive double-take. :lol:

I honestly don't understand why some sections of the Eva fanbase go bonkers over how great this is. I mean, the art's quite good and the story's above and beyond the efforts of most H-doujin, but I never really thought it was that special. In fact, soon as I get back to my own PC, I'm gonna have to re-read it because I've forgotten much of the particulars, which speaks volumes for how much of an impression it made on me (maybe not so much "volumes" as "a phrase scribbled on a napkin").

That's all fine and good, by my book. Decent story, great artwork, and some good H-action in the mix really make it something enjoyable... even if it does entirely miss the point of Evangelion. This is why, at the end of the day, I roll my eyes a bit at the people who claim this should've been the ending and not End of Evangelion. It's the hype of its own fanbase and, as Imperial noted, the implicit pretension of Kimigabuchi that sours the taste.

That all said, I think it's worth reading, but I would rather people not make it out to be more than it is... not that anybody here really has.
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Shinji103
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Destiny_Gundam wrote:Shinji was only in the seat of God because of Eva 01/Yui and Lillith/Rei/Kaworu. They were the ones with the power, they simply asked Shinji what he wanted them to do with it. He chose, Yui went into deep space and Lillith/Rei/Kaworu died, releasing all the souls back onto Earth. Shinji doesn't have any God powers.
Well, I'll certainly admit that this is one of the weakest points of RE-TAKE, how exactly he managed to travel between worlds and stuff. But it's not necessarily impossible that maybe Shinji retained some of those "powers" from the Third Impact? Or (more likely), the little girl, aka Shinji and Asuka's daughter had something to do with it. That's definitely the part of RE-TAKE that could have used some more explaining though.

Imperial wrote:It reads like a more polished version of your typical Eva fanfic. Shinji uses the magic of Third Impact to go back in time and correct all that went wrong. It's a nice thought, but it's really contradictory to the original and its theme of accepting the world for what it is. Shinji learned to move forward by coming to terms with the person he was. The wish-fulfillment second-chance-at-life bit cleaves rather close to Instrumentality.
I'd have to disagree with this. The "accept the world as it is" theme is still present here, as Shinji decided to go back to his original world, as messed up as it still was, even though he could've lived out his perfect life with Asuka and their child in the other world.


@Kenji: I believe one of the reasons some people think RE-TAKE is "what Eva should have been" is because of how clear and definitive it is in its conclusion. In EoE, there was so much "weirding" and stuff going on (not to mention lots and lots of philosphical stuff), that the message got lost to some people. (the "weirding" is the biggest complaint by most people who watched the movie, after all) Heck, even I had problems keeping up with the dialogue. Here in RE-TAKE, the answers and resolutions we get are clear, without floating giants and lakes of "blood" around.
Imperial
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I'd have to disagree with this. The "accept the world as it is" theme is still present here, as Shinji decided to go back to his original world, as messed up as it still was, even though he could've lived out his perfect life with Asuka and their child in the other world.
Perhaps, but the crux of the story is still Shinji's time-travelling shenanigans

He couldn't leave well enough alone. I understand the sentiment. Who hasn't dreamt of turning back the clock at some point? However, the entire Third Impact came across as a giant exercise of the futility of escapsism. Shinji could have drowned in a sea of shallow delusions and useless emotions, but he opted to move forward as a member of the imperfect human race.

For him to go back and do it all again is to say that good enough just isn't good enough. And, really, isn't that the theme of most time travel stories? You go back to make it better and you wind up making it worse. (It's a theme that shows up in everything from the classic short story A Sound of Thunder to the considerably more recent feature film The Butterfly Effect.) Granted, time travel wasn't an issue that Evangelion tackled, but all the baggage that comes along with it is eerily relevant.

The message I took away from the show was that we can't afford to let what-ifs and could-have-beens become the anchor that weighs us down. Don't make excuses. Make something of yourself. For Shinji to go back at all, even with the noblest intentions, is to indulge in those fantasies of a world made better by things that have already passed.
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Shinji103
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@Imperial: I kind of lost what your "complaint," for lack of a more polite and accurate word, was with that last one, although I think I've still got it. Are you saying that RE-TAKE conflicts with the series and movie's theme by going "back in time"? (it's actually another world rather than time travel, but "tomato, tomahto" I guess)

The idea I got from RE-TAKE was that it had a message about forgiveness. After seeing Shinji develop and seeing how much better he has become after everything, as well as her talk with the little girl, original-world Asuka forgave Shinji and gave up on her hatred of him. Later, Shinji passes on those words to Misato, which allows her to get over her survivor's guilt and get together with Kaji.

As I stated before to Destiny, it's strongly suggested that Shinji never truly intended to travel to this new world. From the beginning, he believed his memories of his real world to be nothing more than a dream, and it was only until much later that he realized the truth. More likely it was unintentionally, something he only wished for subconsciously, or maybe it wasn't anything he did at all. (the little girl in chapter 4 comes to mind as a possibility) So I don't see this as him wanting to indulge in any fantasies in the first place; as I pointed out, he decided to go back his own world.
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"True" conclusion to the story!

Sigh*

This showed that even a portion of Eva fans are craving to “happily ever after’ endings.

EVA: Retake solves the problem. but to me, it’s just a sugar coating.
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