Rebuild of Evangelion/YMMV

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The following are Subjective Tropes to Rebuild of Evangelion.


  • Adaptation Distillation: If you've never seen the original series or didn't like it for being too angsty, you'll probably like Rebuild more due to Visual Effects of Awesome and much more relateable characters.
  • And the Fandom Rejoiced: The August 2011 teaser for 3.0, which ended with the release date of "Autumn 2012". Of course, it was expected to cause this kind of reaction - the only view of 3.0 up until then was a little trailer at the end of 2.0...which was released in 2009.
  • Angst? What Angst?: Mari fits this trope. The other kids pilot because of various issues they have. As far as we can tell, Mari does it because fighting monsters in a giant robot is awesome.
  • Ass Pull: Shinji saving Rei and almost ending the world only with sheer willpower in the end of 2.0 MAY qualify for one of the most awesome Ass Pull in the history of anime. Of course, Your Mileage May Vary, and 3.0 and 4.0 may be able to explain this.
  • Base Breaker: Mari. Either she's awesome, badass and hot, to others she's unnecessary, lame and unfitting.
  • Better on DVD: Some footage has been added, along with some general touching up and redrawing, for both movies' video releases so far. To reflect this, the films' numbers were changed: 1.01 for You Are (Not) Alone's initial DVD release and 1.11 for the further improved Blu-Ray, and 2.22 for the You Can (Not) Advance DVD/Blu-Ray.
  • Covered Up -- This doesn't apply to any Japanese person since it's a classic pop standard and children's song, but face it--the only reason you know about "Tsubasa o Kudasai" is either because of 2.0, or K-On!.
  • Crowning Moment of Awesome: Berserker! Shinji's fight versus Zeurel: "...I promise I'll save you, Rei... EVEN IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!!!.
  • Crowning Music of Awesome: Rebuild is just loaded with these, particularly any song with lyrics. Special mention goes to The Final Decision We All Must Take.
    • Also Angel of Doom from 1.0, played during the fight with Ramiel. Fantastically epic, and can also be found on the second disc of the 1.11 DVD release as a music video.
    • From the ones without lyrics, Yamashita in Rebuild 2.22. Especially striking with the animation to go with it.
    • How has nobody mentioned Beautiful World? Intense, emotional, and sung by Utada Hikaru, among other things. There's even two versions: the original one, which played at the end of 1.0, and a remix at the end of 2.0. Both are great in their own regard.
  • Epileptic Trees: As expected, but one in particular has to be mentioned: Kaworu's cryptic comments and the various Mythology Gags have made several fans hypothesize Rebuild is a Stealth Sequel via a Cosmic Retcon or Groundhog Day Loop.
  • Fan Nickname: The formal names each Angel (well, what Seele calls them: "Sachiel", "Ramiel", etc.) were only revealed towards the end of the original series, during a quick review scene. As this hasn't happened yet, the two new entirely new Angels don't have formal "Angel names", so have been often referred to be fan nicknames: #3 has "Tunneliel", and #7 has been variously referred to as "Clock Angel", "Clockliel", etc.
    • Mari's battle with Zeruel is often just referred to as "ZA BEASTO", after the password used to trigger Unit-02's "beast mode".
    • Technically, the title itself, Rebuild of Evangelion, is a nickname that just got stuck very hard because Anno and other official sources used the term a lot in the beginning referring to remaking the series, not movie titles. The Evageeks forums tried to get rid of it by renaming the sub-forums from Rebuild of Evangelion to Evangelion New Movie Version, but then changed it back.
      • "Weva", short for "Wevangelion" has been used to refer the movie occasionally; see Xtreme Kool Letterz on the main page for why.
    • Shinji is a sad panda.
    • Captain Asuka or Asuka the Pirate. With the new trailer, probably her new nickname will be Space Pirate Asuka.
  • Fridge Horror: If Evageeks can be trusted, Kaworu's line at the end of Rebuild 2.0 is actually: "This time, only you will find happiness". You, of course, refering to Shinji...fans, begin screaming.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: At the end of Episode 25, Asuka says that "This is the end. One of many possible endings."
  • Harsher in Hindsight: Shinji's "I think you need to lose someone important to you too, Father! Then you'll understand!" after the Eva-03/Bardiel incident comes off as this once we recall from the original series that Gendo truly loved Yui. This is not to excuse Gendo's actions and objectives, though.
  • Hell Is That Noise: Ramiel now shrieks whenever it powers up its energy weapons, only adding to its overall alien freakiness.
  • Holy Shit Quotient: Off the fucking charts, particularly in 2. Pretty much everything in the fight against Zeruel, from Unit 2's shiny new Beast Mode to Unit 00's attack, to Zeruel lopping off limbs with ridiculous ease... And then it eats Unit 00, and Unit 01 eats him turns into a god or something...
  • Hope Spot: Kaworu's "I'll make you happy this time Shinji" has quite a few fans believing (well, hoping) that he'll be spared and live thru the end of Rebuild. This being Evangelion though...
  • Ho Yay:
    • In Rebuild 1.0, Kaworu awakens on the moon to promptly say "I'm looking forward to meeting you, Shinji Ikari." And at the end of 2.0, he says he's gonna make Shinji "happy" this time... oh, lordy.
    • The latest preview for 3.0 has Misato say that Shinji wakes up next to a mysterious boy.
    • In 2.0, at one point Kaji exhibits No Sense of Personal Space towards Shinji and pretends (?) to try to kiss him.
  • Irelander's Love Gendo Ikari: John Swasey, Gendo's VA, comments how surprised he was at a convention in Ireland to find how popular Gendo was. Who knew?
  • It's the Same, Now It Sucks: Some fans and reviewers have leveled this complaint against 1.0, since it's a near-exact copy of the first 6 episodes, with a handful of new scenes and updated animation.
  • Like You Would Really Do It: Genre Savvy audience members know Shinji won't really set off Third Impact at the end of 2.0, since there are still two more movies to go.
  • Memetic Molester: Just try to do an image search for Mari without finding at least one fanart of her molesting Asuka. Or Rei. Or both.
  • Memetic Mutation: Captain Asuka or Asuka the pirate from her eyepatch in the 3.0 tralier is already becoming a meme.
  • Moe: The cuteness quotient of the boys and girls get turned up a lot in this retelling, and it helps that by 2.0, they spend more time actually being happy children rather than psychotic emotional wastelands.
    • Just watch the scene where Rei actually greets her classmates: when Shinji engages her in conversation, she's smiling the whole time. Rei, smiling for a consecutive eleven seconds. Did Third Impact happen while we weren't watching?
    • Or to a smaller extent: the 3.0 trailer. Rei in her ep26 AU uniform with three little Reis hiding behind her, shyly clutching her arms.
  • Narm: The supposedly cool introduction of Kaji... Ryoji Kaji in 2.0 is turned into a hysterical laugh-fest when his seiyuu attempts to recite some English lines that are well out of his grasp. The effect is only compounded by the "What the hell?" face made by the person whom Kaji addresses, leaving one with the lingering suspicion that this was intentional on the creators' part.
    • Parts of the soundtrack border on this due to rather odd English lyrics.
    • The happy music and Shinji's screaming when he tries to save Rei, will either scare you to death or send you into a laughing fit.
  • Replacement Scrappy: In particular, some of the fanbase considers Asuka Shikinami to be a much-inferior character than Asuka Soryu, mostly due to changes in her goals and personality.
    • All the Soundtrack Dissonance thing, expecially in the fight against EVA 03. Come on guys! Anyone has liked that?
      • In fairness, said music is kind of meant to sound out-of-place, unsettling, and just plain wrong. The reason we like it is because it sets us into a genuinely freaked-out atmosphere, contrasting to the original music, which is pretty conventional. The new music arguably feels like it belongs in the series - after all, this is Evan'gelion we're talking about here.
  • Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Shinji and Asuka, depending on whether you found them The Scrappy to start with.
  • Superlative Dubbing: The dubs for both movies, particularly the second one, have been heaped with praise, even from people who hated the dub of the original series.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks: Inevitable, considering that the original series has been analyzed and overanalyzed for every day of the decade since its release.
    • Asuka's English VA, in the commentary, noted that she was sorta disappointed with the fact that, 1) Asuka is not obsessed with Kaji in 2.0 (in fact, she barely notices he exists) and 2) never got to speak German. She subverts this, though, as she still loves being Asuka, and is glad Asuka survived getting smashed during the Bardiel battle.
  • Uncanny Valley: In spite of the character being more sympathetic overall, Rebuild of Evangelion manages to have Rei be even further in the Uncanny Valley. The ominous BGM that always plays in her presence (at least in the beginning) made it quite clear that Shinji definitely senses something very unsettling in her.
    • Zeruel after it absorbed Rei definitely qualifies. The bottom of a woman body topped with an angel? Augh.
  • What an Idiot!: Mari Illustrious Makinami, and her brilliant, brilliant strategy in Unit-02: attack it head on, and if that doesn't work...attack it head on! Without paying any attention to the fact that the angel has dozens of dangerous tentacle-blade-things!
    • Probably justified, since Mari had activated the Berserk mode of Unit-02; with the EVA set free and awakened, and considering the empathic link between the pilot and the Unit, all that crossed Mari's mind probably was "KILL, MAIM, DESTROY, BURN, RIP APART, EVISCERATE, etc.", thus tossing all tactical thoughts through the window. More of "What a Nut" than "What an Idiot" here.