OK so I'm going to stick my neck out and say that episodes 25 and 26 (yes That's the final TV episodes). Is by far and away the most intelligent thought provoking ends to any animated series ever, and perhaps even live action. A bold statement, but one I believe rings true. (It is of course only my opinion). Evangelion could so easily have ended the same as many of it's great ancestors by simply upping the action and billing it as the ultimate fight for survival. I mean are we not told from a young age that finishing things with our fists is wrong and that we must seek some form of reconciliation or compromise. As all of the conflicts that Evangelion truly focuses on are within each of the characters then a compromise within the psyche of the major players is surely a natural step. This is what these episodes strive for, a compromise within the characters in a bid to understand themselves completely. This makes for refreshing viewing considering that the typical problems of a robot pilot usually involve deciding what to wear, or trying to keep their parents and friends from finding out what they do as their lives change around them. This usual approach gives the characters a 2D gloss unlike those in NGE.

But how can it ignore so many subjects touched upon throughout the series when it comes to its conclusion and fail to explain everything truly. To that I say it's not really the main point of the series (but to expand, initially referring to the heavy amounts of Christian symbolism). Do we know everything about religion namely Christianity that we are inclined to except it and predict an end or goal. No, there are so many unanswered questions which mirror NGE's religious references and questions and as a result reflect on what we truly know about the heavens and beyond, besides who would Hideaki Anno be to comment about the Christian Religion. Surely if he had looked deeper into the reasons behind the angels descension to earth he would have reached a point of conflict with the very religious groups he had set out to reference. Besides, Anno has gone on record as saying that NGE was purely for a Japanese audience. The Christian symbolism was not used completely indifferently than that we would see in the West as evil ninja clans praise Buddhist style statues before going to do battle with the Christian western bad guys. With all this in mind I ask you if it would be wise to predict a fully conclusive reasoning behind the angels actions. To understand the motives behind them would be for Anno to predict something he (and no one else) would beable to comprehend.

About the many conspiracy plots and relationships we find absolutely nothing about. Initially and after the close of the TV ending I was disappointed with the complete lack of explanation concerning them. I can only pose a couple of explanations for this. When thrown into the world of the future that is obviously so much different than our own it may come across as being a touch scandalous to reveal everything about it. As the future is only speculatively viewed by each individual in it's unique singulative way then we must firstly remember that this is Anno's personal future view (not our own). To elaborate, NGE is Anno's therapeutic work, which enabled him to exorcise his personal negative and harmful traits. He, after disappearing for a significant level of time was said to be on the verge of suicide. This outwards going physical anger and pain Anno may have felt (the conflict) was not completely understood in it's entirety but a personal compromise within the self was sought for. This compromise was the work on NGE. To bring this back to the main purpose of Evangelion, the majority of players know nothing or little about the major conspiracy or blurred factual revelations and details. The viewer as it seems is purposely thrown into a world they don't understand (rather like Shinji Ikari), and as we see the series through his eyes then isn't it only natural that to explore every depth of the character we have to know what he only knows, and learn what he only learns, not only about himself, but about the world he lives in. The story is of course (in this writers view, and it is only a view) purely about understanding Shinji Ikari, his needs, his psyche and his purpose of being. I point out further that as conspiracy and mystery surrounds the finer points of the various experiments and things going on in the future. Then the main thing to think about is conspiracy and intrigue, and remember a good conspiracy is one that cannot be found out (to badly quote Mel Gibson from Conspiracy Theory). Considering the levels of importance that the network of lies run then we could imagine knowing little or nothing about it even if we were there.

To conclude with this point then surely the words conspiracy and intrigue, can only come to the conclusion of speculation, (speculated information gathering about them). Also bring into mind that Gainax is a fan run studio by fans for fans, Anno and co (co comes across as derogatory but I'm not going to list everyone's names am I) would love to sit around and debate the many unresolved points in NGE. As they have no specific answer then difference of opinion arise which of course births argument. Which of course is the quintessential factor required by debate. Even though we (the fans) will get raised blood pressure over trying to make everyone to see our view, I pose to you that surely instead of just conflicting with another person's viewpoint that a compromise is a better solution, a compromise with your own views and those of others.