What is Death about ?
Death is the first part of the D&R Movie and is a flashback to the TV-Series, showing the most important events once again. Significant characters-relationships and discoveries by NERV are made clear to make one understand the following events better.

What is Rebirth about ?
Rebirth continues where Death ended - when Shinji falls into depressions after he has killed his only real friend Kaworu, who turned out to be an Angel. He seeks out Asuka, but she can't help him as she is still lying unconscious in the hospital.

Rebirth synopsis

In the meanwhile Misato engages in some research on the Second Impact on her own. She finds out that Mankind had reached a deadlock of evolution and the Third Impact is needed to initiate the next step of evolution. She gets to know that mankind is the 18th Angel and that all life originates from Lilith.

Now with the Angel-threat gone Seele wants NERV back and tries to get hold of the magi system. The virus-attack however is successfully deflected by Dr. Akagi Ritsuko's 666 protector code. Seele decides to mount an physical attack - traitor Gendou and his people have to be destroyed at all costs. They send in a special military unit to penetrate the NERV HQ.

A mercyless combat starts as the elite military force engage their attack. The NERV security is more than unable to hold off the military forces. People at NERV are slaughtered without remorse or expection - women, children, just everyone is killed at sight - no prisoners whatsoever. Leaving a bloodshed trail the military head for the 3 children, who are their main target.

Soon the military even drops a N2 bomb and breaches the central command room, where Makoto, Shigeru and Maya have to fight for their lives. Asuka, who is still unconscious is put inside EVA-02 and the Evangelion dropped into the sea at Geofront - the most secure place at the moment.

Shinji in the meanwhile sits below a staircase, without any motivation to flee or fight for his live - he doesn't care about anything anymore. Misato can barely rescue him from the elite soldiers. She drags Shinji into her car to take him to the EVA cage. Shinji maintains that he wants to die but Misato just replies: "You're still alive aren't you! Fight and live first, you can still die if you want after everything here is over!"

In the meanwhile Gendou and Fuyusuki discuss Seele's intentions. They come to the conclusion that the Third Impact, which Seele wants to provoke will end in the death of mankind - and as already Yui once said: "nothing can be gained from death". In the meanwhile Asuka, lost in her unconsciousness fights a battle of her own. Memories of her past, her mother's suicide, her father's neglect torture her soul - eventually she realizes that she still can't go to her mother, as the place where her mother waits for her is death. A single thought manifests in her heart: "I do not want to die yet!" Asuka becomes obsessed by this thought and keeps repeating these words to herself, louder and louder until she screams it out at the top of her voice. That's the moment she awakens from her coma, full of energy to fight for her life.

Asuka being informed of the situation at NERV immediately rises from the sea and wrecks the military with all her power. The only thing the milary is able to to is to destroy EVA-02's umbilical cable, which leaves Asuka with 5 more minutes to fight. Seele was expecting opposition by EVAs issues the launch of their own EVA-Units: the mass-produced Evangelions 05 to 13. Gendou is surprised that these series were already complete - they have S2 organs (no need for an external power supply), have wings to fly and require no pilots (dummy plugs control these units)

At this point, Asuka with barely 5 minutes left to fight and 9 hostile Evangelions arriving, the movie ends. The plot continues in the second movie "The End of Evangelion".