SPOILER ALERT: the following article contains massive spoilers, including the ending. If you have not yet seen the movie, proceed at your own risk, or better, come back to this article later!
Originally a collection of clips from the Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series, Death was created as a precursor to the re-worked ending of the series. Rebirth was intended as that re-worked ending, but after production overruns Rebirth became only the first half of the first part of The End of Evangelion, with some minor differences.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth Plot Summary and Synopsis
The first part, Evangelion: Death, is a ‘re-cap’ editing together scenes from the first 24 episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion in the form of a clip show, along with additional animation created after the show’s original broadcast. This includes scenes from the original show re-drawn shot-for-shot, entirely new shots augmenting existing sequences, and linking segments based around the premise of the four main characters playing Pachelbel’s Canon as a string quartet.
Some of the additional shots and re-drawn animation would later be re-edited into the new extended cuts of Episodes 21-24 included on the Japanese Laserdisc and American and European Platinum Collection releases of the TV series, commonly known as the “Director’s Cut” versions in the West.
The part ends with credits accompanied by a double string quartet arrangement of Pachelbel’s Canon.
The second part, Evangelion: Rebirth, consists of approximately 24 minutes of entirely new animation that would eventually form the first third of the film The End of Evangelion, released four months later. Serving as a preview while the film was still in production, Rebirth only covers the initial preparations of the Human Instrumentality Project and the invasion of the Geofront by the JSSDF, ending with the arrival of the Mass Production Evas.
Because of its unfinished state, there are differences between Rebirth and the portion it covers of the finished Episode 25′ that makes up the first half of The End Of Evangelion. These differences include editing, shots that were later re-drawn entirely, and soundtrack cues that were replaced or further edited.
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth Ending
The part ends with credits accompanied by the song Tamashii No Refrain by Yoko Takahashi.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0).