Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth

新世紀エヴァンゲリオン劇場版 シト新生 (Shinseiki Evangelion Movie: Shi to Shinsei)

7.5(155,411)
MAL Score
Ranked #2191
Popularity #1007
  • Drama
  • Sci-Fi
  • Suspense
  • Mecha
  • Psychological
Episodes
1
Duration
1 hr 44 min
Aired
Mar 15, 1997
Status
Finished Airing

Synopsis

In 2015, humanity is still rebuilding more than a decade after the catastrophe known as Second Impact. Behind the fragile calm lies a dire secret: enormous hostile beings called Angels are emerging, intent on initiating a Third Impact that would eradicate what remains of mankind.

Summoned to the fortified city of Tokyo-3 by his estranged father, Gendou Ikari, teenager Shinji Ikari arrives hoping for some form of reconciliation after his mother’s death. Instead, he is pressed into service as the pilot of Evangelion Unit-01, a towering weapon built to confront the Angels. As the battles escalate, Shinji is drawn deeper into a conflict—and a larger design—that could determine humanity’s future.

Otaku Consensus

Death & Rebirth is strongest as a theatrical reconfiguration of Evangelion: Hideaki Anno’s direction, Masayuki’s storyboarding, and Shirou Sagisu’s music turn the first 24 episodes into a sharper, more abstract psychological dossier before Rebirth shifts into true cinema-scale escalation. Its most praised element is the leap in visual intensity once Rebirth begins, while the persistent criticism is structural redundancy: Death is still a recap, and Rebirth is effectively the opening movement of The End of Evangelion rather than a fully self-contained continuation.

Why You Should Watch

Watch Death & Rebirth if you want Evangelion as an editorial object: a compressed, achronological psychological reading of the TV series followed by the first theatrical plunge into its aftermath. It is best for viewers who already know episodes 1-24 and want to study how Gainax reshaped the material for cinema, not for newcomers seeking the cleanest first experience. The Death portion scratches the same cerebral itch as Serial Experiments Lain in the way it privileges mental fracture and thematic association over conventional recap flow, while Rebirth delivers the militarized mecha dread that made Eva stand apart from standard super robot spectacle. If you plan to watch The End of Evangelion, this film is most valuable as a historical bridge and a tonal warm-up.

Key Characters

  • R
    Rei Ayanami(VA: Megumi Hayashibara)

    Rei remains one of Eva’s most analyzed figures because her quiet delivery and emotional minimalism invite viewers to read every pause as character information.

  • S
    Shinji Ikari(VA: Megumi Ogata)

    Shinji’s appeal lies in how openly the film frames him as a teen protagonist defined by hesitation, dependency, and self-scrutiny rather than heroic certainty.

  • M
    Misato Katsuragi(VA: Kotono Mitsuishi)

    Misato gives the cast its sharpest adult contradiction, balancing military command presence with a private instability that keeps her from becoming a simple mentor figure.

  • A
    Asuka Langley Souryuu(VA: Yuuko Miyamura)

    Asuka’s intensity makes her a fan touchstone for Eva’s coming-of-age brutality, where confidence reads less like armor than a performance under pressure.

What Makes It Stand Out

  • 1

    Death condenses the first 24 television episodes into roughly 75 minutes while deliberately excluding episodes 25 and 26, making it less a conventional recap than a curated thematic reconstruction.

  • 2

    Rebirth is new post-episode-24 material and was later reflected in The End of Evangelion, which is why many fans treat this film as a transitional release rather than the definitive endpoint.

  • 3

    The production combines Gainax with Production I.G and Tatsunoko Production, giving the theatrical version a pedigree beyond the original TV broadcast pipeline.

  • 4

    Shirou Sagisu’s music is central to the film’s identity, reinforcing the shift from TV-era psychological compression in Death to the more cinematic force of Rebirth.

  • 5

    The film’s structure aligns with AniList’s high achronological-order tag, using rearrangement and juxtaposition to make familiar footage feel analytical rather than purely chronological.

Fun Facts & Trivia

Fun fact 1
Death & Rebirth opened in Japan on March 15, 1997 as a single theatrical release, positioned between the TV series and the later feature-length resolution of The End of Evangelion.
Fun fact 2
Yoshiyuki Sadamoto is credited twice in key creative roles here: character design and animation director, linking the film’s character identity directly to one of Evangelion’s defining visual architects.
Fun fact 3
Ikuto Yamashita handled mechanical design, while Takeshi Honda served as assistant animation director; that pairing helps explain why the film’s mecha presence and character animation both receive close visual attention.
Fun fact 4
Youko Takahashi, strongly associated with Evangelion’s musical identity, is credited for theme song performance on this release, while Shirou Sagisu provides the score.
Fun fact 5
Its database profile reflects a split legacy: a 7.5 MAL score from over 155,000 votes signals broad respect, but the #2191 rank and fan criticism of recap redundancy show why it sits below the series and The End of Evangelion in reputation.

Studios

  • Gainax
  • Production I.G
  • Tatsunoko Production

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