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Asuka does in her usual way tsundere way express feelings for Shinji, for example feeling lonely and coming to sleep in his room (this is not sleep walking as in the TV series) and confronting Ayanami about her feelings for him (this is after she calls Ayanami a doll in the infamous elevator scene, and it is masterfully played here). She is a compelling character here, maybe even more so than in the original series, and her drive to excel, lack of social skills and loneliness really shine through. She also has some great fan service moments in shimapan and bursting naked from the shower. But instead of pursuing Shinji, she volunteers to test pilot Eva Unit 04 from the United States. Yes, Asuka, not Toji. It is infected by an Angel, Shinji refuses to fight and the dummy plug system takes control of Eva Unit 01, which horribly destroys Unit 04 – and crushes the entry plug containing Asuka in its mouth. Thankfully, the dummy plug system in this theatrical version does not make Shinji watch this.

In that same Angel battle, Ayanami does her suicide attack with the N2 bomb. It fails, and the badass Zeruel bites her Eva in half and swallows it, including her. Shinji quit NERV after the death of Asuka, but snaps out of his funk after seeing the heroics of Mari and the death of Ayanami. He flips out, and goes berserk (very “Gurren Lagann” here). He gains so much power that Eva 01 becomes a god able to rip a hole in the Angel and extract Ayanami. Shinji insists on doing this, even though Ayanami tells him she “has spares,” because he says there is only one Ayanami.

The reborn Ayanami merges with Unit 01 and sets into motion Third Impact. Luckily Kaworu, who has been waiting shirtless on the face of the moon, descends and impales Unit 01, stopping the process. He says he will make “only Shinji find happiness.”

Source: http://www.otaku2.com/articleView.php?item=427

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