As the age of streaming services becomes the normal use for entertainment, Amazon Prime Video debuted the Evangelion 4.0 for the Western market to see. To this day Evangelion 4.0 remains the most-watched movie on Prime Video since August 2021.

There are many stories that affect a person emotionally just by how powerful it is to display a sense of importance.

As the director Hideaki Anno (hee-day-aa-kee-a-now), who had suffered from depression over the years, put together this beautiful world through its endpoint. Since he did start this franchise back in 1995, it’s only right for him to end it.

From the first act the movie is able to display what I call a beautiful disaster in a conclusive way when it comes to its stunning visuals making it seem like the animation would be real life. Its story displays an efficient level of destruction that has been caused over the years of a deadly angel invasion that mixes perfectly with the imagery being shown.

We follow our main character Shinji (Sheen-jee) who becomes the embodiment of shallowness personified. Throughout the first three movies he is seen as an impudent child with zero redeeming qualities. But as he loses the people close to him time and time again, it begins to take a toll on him both physically and mentally.

As someone who has been at that point in life it would resonate with me quite heavily in my first watch of 4.0.

In an interview with Amazon SDCC, Hideaki Anno was asked what attracts his fans towards his work. 

“Maybe there was something in Evangelion that people around the world empathized with,” he said. “It might be the emotions or the structure that could be taken as their own stories.” 

By the second act, Shinji with many snowballing emotions has the courage to stop the fourth impact, a world-ending circumstance he has to overcome to keep everyone he cares about unscathed.

During the second act, it doesn’t take an action approach as you expect but you are put into this village being one of the last safe havens from any preceding danger that may have arisen.

At this village, Shinji remains reserved to himself, seeing no point in interacting with the locals. But as the days would go on he would begin to appreciate just how lovely everyone is trying to open his heart in any way possible.

To be able to display such shallowness onto a person and for him to grow over time meeting new people and finally apologizing to those he had wronged before was nothing short but fascinating.

With Act 3 approaching Shinji remains on the sideline but as everyone encourages him, to finally stand up. For once, he eventually saves the day.

Though it may or may not be a franchise for you, it gave me something no media had given me: fulfillment.

In an interview with the New York Times, Anno said he was “a wreck, unable to do anything, as my story has not ended in my mind.”

During his earliest time, he would suffer from severe depression over his work making him step away from any project regarding it.

After two decades of his ongoing depression since he created the Evangelion franchise, he finally had gratification in the year 2021 by completing what he started 13 years ago.

I would give Evangelion 4.0 a 9.5/10 as it was able to surprise me and enlighten me from beginning to end.