Alright, almost a year later...<br /><br />First, I have most of the DVDs, acquired at a used DVD store in Nebraska. Subtitled goodness!<br /><br />The original epps. 25 and 26 involve a lot of soul-searching with the characters, particularly Shinji. I have not yet seen the two remakes. Anyway, Shinji is having a difficult time accepting that he just killed his friend, the last Angel, Kaworu. The format is a little odd--mostly monologue with black frames with questions on them interspersed. We hear a lot about their thoughts and quite a bit about the characters' self-loathing. They are confronted by the other characters as they exist in their minds.<br /><br />Shinji questions his identity outside piloting the Eva. Asuka questions her worth since she is having problems piloting, and memories of her mother's suicide resurface. Rei questions her humanity, and the existence of her soul. Misato has problems with unhealthy relationships, and wanting to defile herself. Etc, etc. <br /><br />That was ep. 25. Quite the head trip.<br /><br />Ep. 26 begins similarly...and progresses similarly, questioning the "self", until Shinji escapes to a world of his mind's creation, eventually rejecting the false reality and coming to terms with his identity outside being an Eva pilot. The final message is the congratulation of himself and the other pilots. It's up to the viewer to figure out why.<br /><br />We don't ever see what happens to any of them after the last Angel is killed, and the Rei clones are found. Which is probably why so many viewers were upset.<br /><br />So, in short, 25 and 26: forty-six minutes of existentialism, zero action.