My thesis aims to examine how the anime film The End of Evangelion acts as a vehicle for processing collective trauma. It uses Freudian psychoanalysis, postmodern uses of religious imagery, and an apocalypse setting in order to help its audience of otaku (those with an interest in anime, manga, and other such paraphernalia) come to terms with traumas experienced in the decade leading to the film’s release. Protagonist Shinji Ikari acts as an analog for the traumatized otaku and his ultimate choice to reject an escape from his identity represents an attempt to help The End of Evangelion’s audience to work through collective traumas of their own.
