Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版：Ｑ) is the third film in Rebuild of Evangelion, directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki, Masayuki and Hideaki Anno. Initial press releases for the new film series announced that the third and fourth installments would be half-length and shown together. On January 1, 2012, the official Evangelion website revealed the movies would be released separately. On May

Plot
Asuka, in Evangelion Unit-02' and Mari in Evangelion Unit-08 are deployed into Earth's orbit by Misato to recover Evangelion Unit-01 from the Tesseract-like coffin it was sealed in after the end of Evangelion 2.0. Before launch, Asuka is convinced by Mari to wear her old plugsuit, improvising a repair, in an attempt to make it easier for Shinji to recognize them, even though they're unsure of being able to recover him, and to lead the operation instead of her as originally intended. During the operation, the two are ambushed by the Nemesis Series. Mari loses altitude, leaving Asuka to face the Nemesis alone. She cries out for Shinji to do something, and an eye-beam shoots from inside the coffin, destroying the Nemesis. Unit-01 goes back to sleep as Asuka descends to Earth with it. Kaworu watches from Earth, commenting that he is excited to meet Shinji.

Shinji is salvaged from within Unit-01's Core, and restored to physical form by WILLE, an organization led by Misato to defeat NERV and destroy the Evangelions. He is given a physical exam by Sakura Suzuhara, Toji's sister, and given a cold reception from everyone else, including Misato. Unit-01 is no longer able to be piloted, as it has been refitted to act as the power source for the AAA Wunder, a flying base for WILLE.

During a later exam, Shinji notices the collar he is wearing while asking where Rei is, and Ritsuko explains that not only can he no longer pilot an Eva, but in the event that he triggers an Evangelion's awakening again, a bomb in the collar (known as the DSS choker) will detonate to stop him. Ritsuko then returns the only other thing to be recovered, his SDAT player. Sakura introduces herself as Toji's sister, to Shinji's confusion. Asuka, who now has an eyepatch, tells him that fourteen years have passed while he was trapped in Unit-01.

After a brief confrontation with Asuka, who has not aged due to the "Curse of Eva", Evangelion Mark.09, piloted by Rei, breaks into the Wunder and asks Shinji to come with her. Misato begs him to stop and reveals the existence of WILLE. Overwhelmed and feeling betrayed, Shinji leaves with Rei, as Sakura begs him not to try to pilot an Eva.

Rei leads Shinji through the ruins of the Geofront into Terminal Dogma. Gendo, who now wears a visor over his eyes openly welcomes his son and still plans to enact the Human Instrumentality Project, despite SEELE's silence, tells Shinji that he is there to pilot the new Evangelion, Evangelion 13, alongside Kaworu. While exploring Central Dogma, Shinji finds that Rei has no memory of Shinji, little understanding of the world, and only does what she is ordered. Shinji concludes that she is not "his" Rei.

Shinji realizes the SDAT player is broken, and sits in his room, alone, until Kaworu takes him to play a piano duet, during which the two bond. Shinji gives Kaworu the SDAT player, and Kaworu promises to fix it. The following day, Shinji receives Touji's school shirt. He is distressed by the thought of what happened to his friends, and then Kaworu takes Shinji to the ruins of Tokyo-3, where the moon and earth's surface are both covered with red crosses, and the terrain is overrun by red crystals shaped like Evangelions. Unit 01's awakening triggered Near Third Impact. Kaworu explains the nature of the NERV's Human Instrumentality Project, to Shinji's horror: By killing all life on Earth, new life that bears the "Fruit of Life" can be created. Rei, meanwhile, rests in a tank of LCL, where she sees the same vision of Rei that Shinji saw when he first came to Tokyo-3. Kaworu tells Shinji he was "the catalyst" to all of it, but Shinji replies he only wanted to save Rei. Kaworu replies humanity does not see it that way. Gendo and Fuyutsuki keep observing Kaworu and Shinji attently, calling the former "SEELE's Boy".

Fuyutsuki invites Shinji to play with him, which he uses as a pretext to discuss his mother, Yui Ikari; maiden name Yui Ayanami. He shows her a picture of Yui holding Shinji, causing him to note his mother's resemblance to Rei. Fuyutsuki reveals that she is not dead; she is in fact sealed inside Unit-01's core as the control system. Gendo attempted to clone her, creating Rei. The "new" Rei is just another clone in the Ayanami Series. The revelation drives Shinji to a mental breakdown, when Kaworu intervenes. He takes the collar from Shinji, telling him it was originally meant for him, and puts it on himself. He says that way NERV cannot start a Fourth Impact, however he never mentions SEELE. The two of them must pilot Eva 13 into Terminal Dogma and use the two Spears within, the Spear of Cassius and the Spear of Longinus. Kaworu, however, claims the two can use the spears to undo the damage Shinji has done to the world. Shinji agrees.

The two enter the double-cockpit Eva 13 and descend into Terminal Dogma with Rei following in the Mark.09. Aboard the Wunder, Misato notes the activation of Eva 13, and dispatches Asuka and Mari. Asuka is surprised to see Shinji piloting an Eva again, and asks him if he is trying to start another Impact, to which Shinji replies he can save the world. Asuka is flabbergast and calls him a brat yet again. Shinji and Kaworu reach Second Angel Lilith's decaying, headless corpse, where the spears rest, and the abandoned Evangelion Mark.06. Kaworu believes something is wrong, but Shinji is distracted by Asuka and Mari's entry and Mark.06 releasing the Twelfth Angel. Kaworu insists they stop, enraging Shinji. His rage causes Eva 13 to awaken, and unseal its other set of arms. Kaworu's controls are shut off as he realizes that the Spear of Cassius is actually a second Spear of Longinus, and he and Asuka both beg Shinji not to pull the spears, but he ignores them. When the Spears are released, Eva 13 fully awakens, becoming a giant of light with two Halos. The "doors of Guf" open and Fourth Impact begins.

Gendo begins deactivating the SEELE monoliths in preparation for Fourth Impact, and discusses the fact that SEELE are not human, as they wish him luck and show approval of his plans. Eva 13 rises into the sky, and Kaworu reveals himself as the first Angel, casting himself down to the Thirteenth in an attempt to reverse Fourth Impact. The Choker senses Kaworu's power and primes itself. The headless Mark.09 becomes an "Adams' Vessel" and tries to retake the Wunder for SEELE, while Rei sits helpless in the Entry Plug. Asuka manages to destroy the Mark.09 and release the entry plug.

Kaworu sacrifices his life to halt the Impact. This is only accomplished, however, when Mari, realizing SEELE were still using Shinji, releases Shinji's entry plug, and Eva 13 drops to the ground, destroyed. Misato and Gendo both retreat. An unspecified amount of time later, Asuka finds Shinji's entry plug and drags him through a red desert, with Rei following, to "where the Lilin are", probably referring to Misato and the other members of WILLE.

NERV

 * Gendo Ikari (Rebuild)
 * Kōzō Fuyutsuki (Rebuild)
 * Kaworu Nagisa (Rebuild)
 * Shinji Ikari (Rebuild)
 * Rei Ayanami (Rebuild)

WILLE

 * Misato Katsuragi (Rebuild)
 * Ritsuko Akagi (Rebuild)
 * Ryoji Kaji (Rebuild)
 * Makoto Hyuga (Rebuild)
 * Shigeru Aoba (Rebuild)
 * Maya Ibuki (Rebuild)
 * Koji Takao
 * Sumire Nagara
 * Hideki Tama
 * Midori Kitakami
 * Sakura Suzuhara
 * Mari Makinami Illustrious
 * Asuka Shikinami Langley

Evangelions

 * Evangelion Unit-01
 * Evangelion Unit-02'β
 * Evangelion Unit-02'γ
 * Evangelion Unit-08α
 * Evangelion Unit-08β
 * Evangelion 13
 * Evangelion Mark.04A
 * Evangelion Mark.04B
 * Evangelion Mark.04C
 * Evangelion Mark.06
 * Evangelion Mark.09

Angels

 * Adams
 * First Angel
 * Second Angel Lilith
 * Twelfth Angel

Production
In September 2006, the film was announced as part of the Rebuild of Evangelion series, with a tentative release date in the summer of 2008 alongside Evangelion: Final.

Only a few updates were made before August 2011, such as a picture posted by Shuichi Heishi, a director of photography and computer-graphics supervisor at Studio Khara, of "the world's earliest revealed logo of 3.0 and (Evangelion) Unit-02 by Anno" and Anno responding to questions in the June 2011 issue of Newtype about the progress on the film by saying "Just be patient.".

The working Japanese title was Evangelion Shin Gekijōban: Kyū (ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版:急). With the preview included in 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). The full international title "You Can (Not) Redo" was announced on January 1, 2012. On March 7, it was announced that the film would be distributed in Japan by T-Joy instead of KlockWork. At EVA-EXTRA live screening in Japan and Evangelion's official website, it was confirmed that the film's release date would be November 17, 2012. On October 15, 2012, it was revealed that the first 6 minutes and 38 seconds of the movie would be shown on Nihon TV one day before the official airing of the full version: November 16, Friday (Japanese time.) On November 11, it was confirmed that the movies' runtime would be 106 minutes.

Release
Evangelion: 3.0 was released to 223 screens in Japan on November 17, 2012. The day prior, an edited cut of the film's first 6 minutes was shown after Evangelion: 2.0 on Nihon TV. The Blu-ray release of Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo, was on April 24th of 2013. Evangelion: 3.33 premiered in America on October 11, 2013 with a theatrical release set in select theatres on January 10, 2014. The Blu-ray and DVD release has since been delayed from the initial release of February 18, 2014 due to overwhelming theatrical demand for the movie.

Funimation has since revealed that the DVD and Blu-Ray version of the film will be released on February 2nd, 2016.

In December 23, 2020, it was revealed a new IMAX screening of an updated version of the movie, named Evangelion: 3.333 You Can (Not) Redo, now mastered in 2K with some new retakes and reshoots. The new version was exhibited in cinemas starting in January 8 to January 22.

Evangelion: 3.333 You Can (Not) Redo was released as 4K Ultra HD. It was released as HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray on August 25, 2021 in two versions, the Limited Edition and the normal edition.

Reception
Japanese reaction has been polarized, with many film goers expressing opposite views about the film. The movie currently has a 3.12 out of 5 stars on Yahoo! Movies Japan. On its first weekend, Evangelion 3.0 grossed an equivalent of $14,147,695 at the box office, beating the records set by the previous two installments and taking the number one spot. It went on to earn over $50 million in total ticket sales.

Music
The music of Evangelion 3.0 was composed by Shiro Sagisu and performed by the London Studio Orchestra. A two disc soundtrack was released on November 28, 2012, containing full arrangements of the songs used in the film, as well as several bonus tracks. For the theme song, Japanese artist Hikaru Utada broke her hiatus to perform Sakura Nagashi, which plays during the credits. A digital single of the theme song was released on November 17, 2012.

Sequel and prequel
The film contains a preview for the next installment in the Rebuild of Evangelion series - Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Time.

"When Director Anno spoke about the 14-year timeskip at the final stage greeting, he addressed why Kaworu was wearing a commander's uniform. Fuyutsuki and Gendo were removed from power at Nerv, following the end of Ha. Kaworu became commander, and Kaji became Vice-Commander. Anno said Q was originally supposed to be a film about how this happened.

''Q (Evangelion 3.0) was originally meant to be about the 14-year timeskip, and Anno planned to not have Shinji in the entire film. Shinji's voice actor, Ogata Megumi, was surprised at this. In the end, that idea was set aside, and Q became the film we got.''

''There are no details for the lost 14 years but a scenario for them exists. Preview at the end of Ha is from that story. - July 11 stage greeting for 3.0+1.0''

Later, Anno detailed he might come back to the franchise to work on that scenario or others: 'Evangelion' Creator Hideaki Anno Reveals 'Evangelion 3.0+1.0' Might Not be the End

Please see List of Common Misconceptions for an extended explanation of this and Anno's projects.

The audience of the re-release of the sequel,Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon A Time, also received a manga detailing the events immediately prior to the beginning of this film, see EVANGELION 3.0 (-120 min.).

Trivia

 * Following the same pattern as Evangelion 2.0, Shinji's SDAT music player now plays only the track 28, which was never played in the original series. This shows that this movie is now completely made from scratch instead of telling an alternate version of the original series.
 * When Mari suggests to Rei to pull back and Rei refuses, Mari says that Rei is not as friendly as her original. Mari had never met Rei in person, so this may be hinting at a previous relationship to Yui (the final chapter of the manga has a version of Mari who is younger than Yui, and is a friend, but the events are relevant only to the manga version).
 * This movie is the first movie to introduce Evangelion-Evangelion combat, while the Evangelions fight against Angels in older movies

Trailers

 * Evangelion 3.0 / Q: Quickening! Preview
 * Evangelion 3.0 / Q: Quickening! Second Preview (Japanese, no subtitles.)
 * EVA-EXTRA screening, showing scenes from the three films.
 * Evangelion 3.0 "Piano Trailer" extended version
 * Evangelion 3.0 Theatrical Trailer
 * Evangelion 3.0 Short Trailer with God Warrior promo