"Thank you all!"
It is the year 2016, and the story reaches its conclusion as Shinji must decide whether to accept or reject Instrumentality.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Affectionate Parody: The Alternate Universe segment is basically an extended parody of typical high school comedy tropes in anime.
- Alternate Universe: Shinji is shown a potentially different life in a universe where the Evangelions and the Angels doesn't exist, to teach him that life always offers lots of possibilities and that finding happiness might be hard, but it isn't an impossible task for him. This universe takes the form of a parody of high school comedies, where Shinji is a more typical teenage protagonist who lives with both his parents, Misato is his Hot Teacher, Asuka is his snarky childhood friend, and Rei is an energetic exchange student (and completely unlike the main universe Rei in personality).
- Curtain Call: After Shinji achieves his epiphany at the end, all of the named characters of the show appear and congratulate him, and then congratulate you, dear viewer.
- Ends with a Smile: The final shot of the episode, and thus the show, is Shinji smiling brightly as he thanks everyone.
- Gainax Ending: This episode or, more specifically, its ending is pretty much the Trope Maker for this.
- Genki Girl: The Rei of the Alternate Universe.
- Good Morning, Crono: The high school universe segment opens with Shinji being rudely awakened by Asuka, who is his old childhood friend in this universe, as she doesn't want him to be Late for School.
- Henpecked Husband:
- Half of Gendo's lines in the Alternate Universe is "Yes, dear."
- Amusingly, Shinji predicts that Toji is going to become one in the future as he always obediently follows Hikari's lead. Asuka quietly snarks that Shinji isn't so different himself.
- I Am What I Am: Shinji's epiphany at the end essentially comes down to this:Shinji: I hate myself...
Shinji, Asuka, and Misato: ...But maybe I can learn to love myself.
Shinji: Maybe it's okay for me to be here! That's right! I'm me, nothing more, nothing less! I'm me. I want to be me! I want to be here! And it's okay for me to be here! - Limited Animation: This episode is a clear indication that Gainax was really running out of time and money for the show by this point, as there are a lot of cut corners animation-wise, especially in the high school universe segment; there's some Recycled Animation (like the part where Misato flashes a peace sign at Shinji from the parking lot), the scene with Gendo and Yui hides their mouths so they don't have to animate mouth flaps, and some shots of characters aren't even completely finished and are simply sketches. To the episode's credit, it plays a bit around with this, with showing the animation gradually breaking down, and replaced with increasingly rough sketches, before turning into a still image of the script. Shinji is then shown holding that script in his hand, as if the whole thing was an extended Imagine Spot for him.
- "Not So Different" Remark: In the Alternate Universe, Yui remarks that Gendo is "just like Shinji."
- Out of Character: The Rei of the high school universe is absolutely nothing like Rei. It is, of course, Played for Laughs.
- Pet the Dog: Gendo actually steps in and helps Shinji for once. When Shinji loses his physical form and floats around in a white void that represents "perfect freedom", Shinji notices that he doesn't like that kind of freedom, because he cannot orient himself in such a world. Gendo offers him a way out by drawing a floor across the void, giving Shinji a clearly defined horizon and a ground he can walk on.
- Raging Stiffie: In the high school universe, when Asuka comes around to drag an unwilling Shinji out of bed in the morning, she gets flustered and slaps him when she pulls off his blanket and notices that something's already up. Shinji meekly complains at her reaction, that he can't help it because its morning.
- Shout-Out: The episode's second title is a pun upon and a reference to Harlan Ellison's book and short story The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World. The word used for "I" (a borrowing of the English word) is a homophone of the Japanese for "love" ("ai").
- Toast of Tardiness: The Alternate Universe Rei is Late for School, so she's running to school with toast in her mouth before she bumps into Shinji. Naturally, this trope is all part of the segment's poking fun at many typical high school anime rom-com tropes.
- Tsundere: Asuka from the Alternate Universe, but in more balanced fashion. She constantly berates, or even slaps Shinji, but also openly calls him "childhood friend", and when Rei accuses him of being a pervert, Asuka immediately defends him, before anyone else can even utter a word.
