Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021): Synopsis and Character Interpretations

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time(Official) is the 2021 conclusion to the Evangelion series, overseen by chief director Hideaki Anno.

How does this film bring a quarter-century-long story to its conclusion?

Here I will revisit the story through its ending, then offer three readings: the characters as “alter egos” of their creator, Village-3 as the Irontown of Princess Mononoke, and Mari Makinami as an “outsider” who breaks the closed circle.

First, let us look at the basic information.

*This is a translated version. The original (Japanese) is available here.

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Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Basic Film Information

Film Overview

Main Characters and Cast List

Character Map

02

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Synopsis Without Ending Spoilers

03

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Full Synopsis, Including the Ending

Part 1: Paris, Village-3, and Rei’s New Life

Part 2: Misato’s Burden and Rei’s Disappearance

Part 3: Operation Yamato and the Father-Son Fight

The Ending: Shinji’s Neon Genesis

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Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Interpretation and Analysis

Reading the Characters as Alter Egos

Village-3 as Irontown: Living Despite Everything

Mari Makinami Illustrious: The “Unknown Star” Outside the Loop

Asuka and Kensuke: Two People Who Wanted Shinji to Be a Hero

One More Thought: Matching Names and a Parachute Entrance

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Basic Film Information

Film Overview

Main Characters and Cast List

Character Map

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Synopsis Without Ending Spoilers

The story begins in a Paris stained red. The crew of WILLE, the anti-NERV organization led by Colonel Katsuragi, attempts to reactivate the deserted NERV Euro Branch. Mari Makinami Illustrious, piloting Unit-08, helps repel NERV’s Eva forces. Despite the opposition, WILLE secures supplies and restores the city.

After the disastrous events of Evangelion: 3.0, Shinji has become an empty shell. Asuka leads him by the hand across the red landscape, with Rei Ayanami (provisional name) accompanying them. They eventually reach Village-3, a settlement of survivors of Near Third Impact.

There they find old classmates Touji Suzuhara, Kensuke Aida, and Hikari Horaki, now adults. Food is strictly rationed and life is precarious, but the villagers help one another and raise new children as they work to keep everyday life going.

Outside NERV’s facilities, Rei encounters everyday human life for the first time. The villagers call her “the lookalike,” and she absorbs emotions like a sponge through farm work and time with a baby. Shinji, by contrast, cannot recover from Kaworu’s death. Seeing the DSS Choker around Asuka’s neck brings back his panic, and he continues to reject communication with others.

Even his old friends’ unconditional kindness only deepens his sense of guilt. Asuka, who has lived through the harsh reality around them, grows frustrated with his withdrawal and sharply scolds him.

As the villagers struggle to keep life going, Shinji retreats to a lonely ruin. They try to face the future; he remains bound to the past, almost refusing to breathe. Against the warmth and beauty of Village-3, can he find the strength to look up again?

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Full Synopsis, Including the Ending

(*Warning: We are entering heavy spoiler territory. The following section breaks down the entire plot, including the ultimate conclusion of the Evangelion saga. Read at your own risk.)

Part 1: Paris, Village-3, and Rei’s New Life

WILLE visits Paris to secure supplies and reactivate the deserted NERV Euro Branch. Despite interference from NERV’s Evas, the operation succeeds.

Meanwhile, Asuka brings Shinji and Rei to Village-3. They meet the now-married Touji and Hikari, and Kensuke. The village is not prosperous, and food is rationed, but its people support one another and work hard to live.

Called “the lookalike,” Rei develops human feelings through village life. Shinji stays with Asuka at Kensuke’s house, but remains closed off after Kaworu’s death. The DSS Choker on Asuka’s neck triggers painful memories. Asuka becomes increasingly irritated with his refusal to do anything.

After Asuka scolds him, Shinji leaves Kensuke’s house and lives alone in the ruins of NERV’s Second Branch. Rei visits almost every day, bringing food and trying to communicate. Asuka watches over him from a distance.

One day Shinji finally tells Rei what he has been holding inside: everything is his fault, and he wants to be left alone, so why is everyone kind to him? Rei answers, “Because everyone likes you, Ikari-kun.” After crying, Shinji returns to Kensuke’s house. Asuka is brusque but accepts him back, telling him to help Kenken now that he can move.

Helping Kensuke with his work as a handyman, Shinji learns how precariously Village-3 keeps itself going.

Part 2: Misato’s Burden and Rei’s Disappearance

Rei grows attached to Village-3 and wants to remain there. She thinks she needs a name rather than “the lookalike” and asks Shinji to give her one, leaving him at a loss. Meanwhile, her body begins to fail: she cannot survive without NERV’s support.

While helping Kensuke, Shinji meets a fourteen-year-old called Ryoji Kaji, a member of WILLE’s support organization, KREDIT. He is the son of Misato and the late Ryoji Kaji, but does not know his parents’ identities. His father died stopping Third Impact. Misato decided to protect her son by leading WILLE. Knowing she could not be a mother to him, she resolved to fulfill her responsibility without ever meeting him. Those who know respect her wishes and do not tell the boy. Shinji learns that Misato, too, carries pain.

On the night before the Wunder arrives, Rei’s body reaches its limit. She visits Shinji the next morning. He tells her “Ayanami is Ayanami,” giving her the name Rei Ayanami. Immediately afterward, she speaks of what she still wanted to do, says goodbye, and dissolves into L.C.L.

Seeing Rei disappear despite her attachment to the village, Shinji decides to return to the battlefield. He boards the Wunder with Asuka and is confined there again.

Part 3: Operation Yamato and the Father-Son Fight

Before WILLE’s final operation against NERV, Asuka visits Shinji. She is sharp-tongued as usual, but her last words are, “Back then, I think I liked you, Shinji. But I grew up first.” Then she leaves for battle.

WILLE launches Operation Yamato, attacking NERV Headquarters with the Wunder from above the atmosphere. Fuyutsuki responds from NERV’s second Wunder-type ship, while the Eva 7 series attacks. WILLE counters with Asuka in New Unit-02 and Mari in Unit-08.

Unit-02 reaches the dormant Unit-13, the trigger for Gendo’s Additional Impact. Asuka tries to insert a forced-shutdown plug, but fails. She releases the Ninth Angel sealed in her left eye. Unit-13 awakens, destroys New Unit-02, and takes Asuka along with her entry plug.

The newly built Mark.09 attacks and takes control of the Wunder. Shinji’s confinement is automatically lifted. Gendo appears on the deck, uses his extraordinary powers to take Unit-01, and goes with Unit-13 into the Minus Universe.

Shinji resolves to confront Gendo. After receiving the DSS Choker from Misato again, he enters the Minus Universe with Mari in Unit-08. It is a realm governed by principles unlike those of ordinary space.

To reach Unit-01, Shinji speaks to the Rei inside it—the one he tried to save in Evangelion: 2.0. A gate opens. As he prepares to enter, Mari promises to find him wherever he is and tells him to wait. He answers, “Thank you. I’ll wait.”

Shinji enters Unit-01’s entry plug and reunites with Rei, whose hair has grown long. She apologizes for not keeping him from having to pilot an Eva. He firmly tells her, “I’ll take it from here,” then pilots Unit-01 against Gendo in Unit-13.

During the fight, they reach the Golgotha Object and enter what seems to be a world of Shinji’s memories. Gendo explains that they cannot perceive the Minus Universe directly, so the L.C.L. forms a virtual world. Their fight continues there, strangely amid scenery resembling a flimsy tokusatsu set.

Their evenly matched battle reaches no conclusion. When Gendo says force will not settle it, Shinji tries talking to him. Gendo describes the world he wants: no A.T. Fields separating people, no differences, poverty, discrimination, conflict, abuse, pain, or sorrow—only purified souls, and peace in which he can meet Yui again.

The scene shifts to a train at dusk. Through their conversation, Shinji learns that Gendo suffered much as he did: shutting out the world with headphones, living in loneliness, then finding that everything changed when he met Yui. Losing her meant despair. He was acting simply to cry in her arms. Shinji sees the root of that suffering as Gendo’s refusal to acknowledge his own weakness.

The Ending: Shinji’s Neon Genesis

Mari reaches Fuyutsuki and reunites with him after a long separation. His role is over. He asks her to handle what remains, then dissolves into L.C.L.

The Wunder’s intervention shakes the Minus Universe. Misato and her crew have prepared a way to help Shinji, but because the final operation is so dangerous, everyone evacuates except Misato. She dies carrying it out, thinking of her son Ryoji. Shinji receives her feelings and the final spear.

Seeing Shinji accept another person’s death and wishes, Gendo realizes that his son has grown. He also sees that the Wunder’s intervention prevents his own goal. He admits that he had treated staying away from his child as atonement, telling himself it was for the child’s sake. Then he leaves the train.

Kaworu appears in Gendo’s place and says he will take over. Shinji, wanting to save everyone rather than himself, first speaks to Asuka on the red beach. He tells her, “I liked you too, Asuka,” then says goodbye. Unit-13’s entry plug carrying Asuka is ejected.

Shinji then talks with Kaworu, who has repeatedly tried to save him in the looping world. Kaworu realizes that he was acting for his own happiness. He entrusts what comes next to Shinji and leaves.

Shinji tells Rei he will rewrite the world into a new one without Evangelions, where people can live: a Neon Genesis. Rei accepts this and leaves.

Shinji prepares to pierce himself with the spear Misato entrusted to him at the cost of her life. Yui appears, embraces him, and sends him back. Unit-01 with Yui and Unit-13 with Gendo pierce themselves with the spear, followed by the other Evas. Living beings transformed into Infinities begin to recover their original forms.

Shinji sits alone on a beach beside a blue sea. Mari arrives in Unit-08+09+10+11+12. When she jumps into the sea, the last Eva disappears too.

The scene changes to Ube-Shinkawa Station. An adult Shinji sits on a bench. Across the tracks, Rei and Kaworu talk while Asuka sits nearby.

Mari appears, removes Shinji’s DSS Choker, and reaches out: “Come on, let’s go, Shinji-kun.” He takes her hand, answers, “Yeah, let’s go!” and runs out of the station with her.

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Interpretation and Analysis

Reading the Characters as Alter Egos

Let us start with Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 as a story of alter egos. My first subject is Rei Ayanami (provisional name), who suddenly appeared in Evangelion: 3.0.

Rei Ayanami (Provisional Name): An Emotional Counterpart

In Village-3, Shinji takes no initiative, while Rei absorbs human feelings remarkably quickly. This can be enjoyed simply as a warm portrayal of her encounters. But why did the story need it?

Perhaps Rei accumulates the joy of living on behalf of Shinji, who has closed himself off and rejected new experiences. What she experiences may be what he wanted to experience.

Her line “I can’t live here, but I like it here” is especially revealing. It describes her inability to survive without NERV, but to me it also speaks for Shinji’s hidden feeling: consumed by guilt, he cannot remain within the village’s happiness.

Through the painful loss of Rei, I see the attachment to life she has accumulated becoming part of Shinji again.

Asuka: A Counterpart in Thought

Perhaps even more revealing than Rei’s line is Asuka’s remarkably precise assessment:

“You’re doing nothing because you don’t want to get hurt again, aren’t you? If you’ve got so much free time, at least think about why I wanted to punch you then! You’re too mentally weak. Everything you do backfires, things become irreparable, and you decide it’s all your fault, so now you don’t want to do anything. Even if you were following your parent’s orders, with that little mental strength, I wish you’d never piloted an Eva in the first place.”

「そうやって何もしないのも、自分がまた傷つくのがイヤってだけでしょ！どうせ暇ならせめて、あの時、なんで私があんたを殴りたかったのかぐらい考えてみろ！あんたメンタル弱すぎ。どうせやることなすこと裏目に出て、取り返しがつかなくなって全部自分のせいだからもう何もしたくないってだけでしょ。親の言いつけとは、その程度の精神強度だったら、そもそもエヴァに乗らないでほしかったわ。」

Her concise summary and ability to put things into words make me laugh. But Shinji really is in that state. How does Asuka know what he is thinking?

Perhaps because Asuka is depicted as a counterpart to Shinji’s thoughts. She puts into words what he is thinking.

Her pre-battle “Back then, I think I liked you, Shinji” is another example. We knew that already. Shinji answers on the beach with “I liked you too, Asuka.” We knew that too.

Perhaps they are counterparts in thought and oil and water in action. At least in this film, that kind of relationship appears in many places.

I discuss Asuka’s demand to “think about why I wanted to punch you back then!” separately below, using Moro and Okkoto in Princess Mononoke as a guide. In short, I read it as disappointment with someone she once liked, mixed with an attachment she cannot abandon. It mattered because it was the boy she had liked.

That article also considers Shinji’s confession on the beach. Like Zenigata’s words in Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, perhaps it lifts a curse: a resolution to unfinished feelings from youth. Asuka and the audience sense that Shinji liked her, but saying it lets her settle that unfinished business and move on with Kensuke. A good scene, wasn’t it? Here I will also approach the words from another angle.

Misato and Kaworu: Different Counterparts to Gendo

The Shinji–Asuka relationship has a parallel in Gendo and Misato. Both refuse to live with their children for the sake of their own aims. On the surface, at least, their lives follow the same path.

Kensuke’s account of Misato’s feelings also resembles what Gendo finally admits to Shinji. Since Misato told Kensuke, they are effectively her words. Perhaps Misato is Gendo’s counterpart in thought, as Asuka is Shinji’s.

And, as a counterpart to Rei, perhaps Gendo’s emotional side is expressed by Kaworu Nagisa.

Several details suggest this connection:

These details strongly suggest a link between Gendo and Kaworu. Most important is finding one’s own happiness in Shinji’s: that is a parent’s love. Perhaps Kaworu’s presence and words reveal Gendo’s suppressed wish to make Shinji happy.

The Characters as Anno’s Alter Egos: Eva’s Approach

Why express the story through these counterparts? It is a familiar dramatic technique, but the ending may give us a clue.

From Shinji’s conversation with Gendo through his farewell to Rei, the carefully constructed world is dismantled and exposed as fiction. Because it was made, it can be made again.

If it is fiction, someone made it. That someone is Hideaki Anno.

Perhaps the structure in which one character speaks for another’s thoughts or feelings suggests that the people in Evangelion are all counterparts to Anno himself.

Looking at anime and expression from the outside has long been part of Evangelion‘s approach, in the TV ending and perhaps The End of Evangelion too. That approach is present early in Evangelion: 3.0+1.0. Since the new Rei appeared in 3.0, perhaps preparations were already underway then. This is not simply repeating earlier ideas: I read the film as the creative process itself, repeated in the Minus Universe of Anno’s mind, with most of those ideas never reaching the screen. It resembles the structure of Miyazaki’s On Your Mark. Perhaps that is why the characters as alter egos are so clear here.

For another approach to the dismantling of fiction, see the article below. Here, let us turn to a different aspect.

Village-3 as Irontown: Living Despite Everything

Perhaps Village-3 is the most distinctive part of Evangelion: 3.0+1.0. On the surface, it provides time for Shinji to recover. But why did that recovery need this setting rather than another?

Perhaps because its residents are people determined to live despite everything, shown with an explicitness new to Evangelion. Of course, people in the earlier series also worked hard to live; I do not think it had been portrayed this directly.

Personally, I see a resemblance to Irontown in Princess Mononoke, where people live determinedly without displaying their pain. More than twenty years after that film and The End of Evangelion in 1997, perhaps Anno finally depicted an Irontown of his own.

The review below collects my opening-day thoughts, including Village-3 as Irontown and a comparison with the Zeta Gundam films:

Mari Makinami Illustrious: The “Unknown Star” Outside the Loop

We also need to talk about Mari Makinami, who puzzled us for so long.

She arrives by parachute, seems to know everything, and finally wins Shinji as the main heroine. I doubt I was the only person wondering who she was and why a new character was needed.

The idea of dismantling fiction may offer a way to understand her.

The father-son fight on a flimsy tokusatsu set exposes Eva as a fiction made within its creator’s mind, or in an animation studio. That is my reading of the scene. Kaworu also tells us that this fictional world has repeated again and again.

To bring Eva to an end, perhaps it needed a previously absent “Factor X”: Mari as the outside presence in a universe of closed loops.

In this reading, Mari is an unknown singularity—good news arriving from outside the carefully calculated circle of Anno’s alter egos. To break a seemingly endless chain of self-love, Shinji takes the hand of someone outside himself. Perhaps that encounter holds the enormous energy he needs to escape into reality.

I hear that some people are still dissatisfied with Shinji and Mari as a pair. But running with this outsider, as puzzling to us as she was, let me feel that they had stepped outside the repeated circle of Evangelion, and that the story really had ended. Opinions will differ, but I think Mari may be the Rebuild series’ biggest narrative device.

The article below compares Mari with San in Princess Mononoke:

Asuka and Kensuke: Two People Who Wanted Shinji to Be a Hero

The alter-ego reading may also offer a reason for the pairings that leave some viewers dissatisfied.

One clue is Asuka’s anger, which begins in the TV series, continues in 3.0, and peaks in the finale. Another is Kensuke’s expression after Touji says he hopes Shinji will settle into the village. I read that silence as meaning Kensuke does not share that hope. Perhaps he wants Shinji to fight heroically. In fact, I think he does.

At least in the progression from Evangelion: 3.0 to 3.0+1.0, Asuka’s frustration is with Shinji’s failure to act. Turn that around, and she, too, is asking for heroic action.

If we treat the film as a story of alter egos, perhaps Asuka and Kensuke being close expresses their shared feelings about Shinji.

One More Thought: Matching Names and a Parachute Entrance

When the Rebuild series was announced, there was much discussion of Asuka Soryu becoming Asuka Shikinami and of Mari Makinami’s arrival. Some points may now be explained by official settings, and there have been many good interpretations.

Looking back from the ending, perhaps the reason was as simple as “Mari is the main heroine!” Her name matches Ayanami and Shikinami, women Shinji falls for, so perhaps that is where it was always going. Put that way, it makes sense. Their first meeting also follows the time-honored pattern of a girl falling from the sky.

Perhaps the matching names and the first encounter were meant to make the connection clear. But a parachute jump is a hard clue to read!

In a case like this, I would appreciate a hint that says “heroine”: floating slowly down through some mysterious power, say, or feeling weightless because a supernatural crab has possessed her. Yet Rebuild uses a parachute jump.

Some people may have predicted it, but I was too slow on the uptake to notice until Ryunosuke Kamiki appeared as adult Shinji.

How many people predicted that ending before seeing the film? I really would like to know.

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

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Including the linked pieces, that is everything I currently have to say about Evangelion: 3.0+1.0. There are still things I would not quite call thoughts, but I doubt I will ever put them into writing.

I still remember the strange feeling I had after seeing Evangelion that day. It made me realize the work had meant more to me than I had thought. You notice these things when you lose them!

What did Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 mean to you?

About the author

Sifr

Independent film writer based in Japan

Sifr writes in-depth film analysis for SifrInsight, focusing on character motivations, themes, symbolism, memorable scenes, and the details that are easy to miss on a first viewing.

The aim is to go beyond simple plot summaries and explain how a film’s characters, themes, and story choices fit together.

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