Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth

新世紀エヴァンゲリオン劇場版 シト新生

Shinji Ikari, Asuka Langley Soryu, Rei Ayanami and Kaworu Nagisa frame this 1997 feature, the first theatrical entry in the Evangelion film project. Its first hour, Death, recaps the original TV series' Angel war and Nerv's command room through interludes of the four pilots playing a string quartet, condensing twenty-four episodes into a single overview. The second half, Rebirth, is new animation that picks up where the TV broadcast was cut short and would later be folded into the opening act of The End of Evangelion.