I definitely remember it the other way around, where the smile at the end of the fight is so big it gets into uncanny territory, and this earlier one is relatively subdued though all on her own. I'll admit it has been ages since I watched the series myself though.
One More Final - A NGE + EOE + NTE Let's Watch and Review
- Thread starter The Red Prince
- Start date
- Review
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- Tags
- anime let's watch
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode Six: Decisive Battle in Tokyo-3/Rei II
The Red Prince
000:00:00:00
- Location
- Everywhere, at the end of time.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode Six: Decisive Battle in Tokyo-3/Rei II
Last episode: After suddenly going berserk a few days before Shinji's arrival in Tokyo-3, Unit-00 and its pilot are finally back online. Shinji tried to befriend the mysterious Rei Ayanami, the strange blue-haired girl who is closer to his own father than he is. But she's even more isolated than he is, and his attempts to befriend her are cut short by the sudden arrival of the Angel Ramiel, who we last saw boiling Shinji alive in 01's cockpit.
This episode: It's been two episodes without a fight and the nerds are starting to get bored. Time to give them some action (and also conclude this mini-arc with Rei)!
After a brief recap of the Ramiel "fight" so far, Misato screams to recall the lift. The Angel doesn't stop firing until Shinji's been pulled back underground and quickly moved back to the Eva cage. Misato gets to use Gendo's little bridge elevator for once as she scrambles to the cage, while Ritsuko gives the order to use the plug suit's defibrillator so he doesn't enter cardiac arrest. The plug is immediately pulled out of 01, the LCL is forcefully ejected through vents on its sides. A special crane to pull out just the pilot and the control apparatus pans by Misato - he's still unconscious and has a bad nosebleed.
Ramiel hums again, stops in place over a random intersection, and then deploys a purple boring drill with a hard light tip and begins to dig into the Geofront.
Shinji's quickly wheeled to NERV HQ's hospital with Misato following him until they reach the operating room, after which the automatic doors shut in front of her and the emergency light comes on. Shinji's placed inside some sort of futuristic medical machine, diodes stuck all over his body as it closes. Another quick shot of the Angel drilling, and then the Japanese title card.
The next thing we see is a 1:1 scale balloon dummy of 01 NERV just... happens to have lying around, I guess. The moment it raises a mock pistol in Ramiel's direction, it and the small tugboat pulling it are immediately vaporized. Cut to the bridge, where it's confirmed that this is Misato running varying tests on the Angel to gauge its range and response time. Next, a train hauls a UN particle beam mortar in to fire at the Angel. The beam bounces off Ramiel's AT Field (briefly visible as two purple hexagons) and the train is immediately reduced to a pile of glowing slag. This post is dedicated to the brave JSSDF soldiers in Tokyo-3 that just became puddles.
Sachiel's behavior was rather robotic - it ignored anything that wasn't its objective or an immediate threat, and only really seemed to panic once its self-preservation instinct kicked in against a berserk 01. Shamshel was more aggressive but still waited for 01 to go on the offensive before suddenly turning the tables and putting it on the backfoot. But Ramiel immediately annihilates anything designated as a threat that comes even a little bit too close to the Angel. It never misses, and even attempting to engage it in close combat would end about as you'd expect. On top of that, the Angel's AT Field is strong enough to be seen by the naked eye, so even if they were stupid enough to drop an N2 on the thing, it would just make Ramiel's job easier. Misato is not wrong when she describes it as a "flying fortress." By 12:06 AM the next day (Misato helpfully informs us that's just ten hours from now) it will have bored through all 22 layers of armor surrounding the Geofront. In fact, right as they speak it's reached the first armored plate.
Sudden cut to Ritsuko, who says that Ramiel's particle beam melted through three layers of armor on the Eva's chest, but the actual control mechanism is fine and it'll be just three hours to replace the warped plating. But had it remained in the beam for three more seconds, Shinji and Unit 01 would have been completely obliterated. Unit 00 can be activated, but an unknown feedback error means it can only serve in a support role. Shinji's fine, but his brain's still a bit scrambled from taking a laser beam to the chest - nothing that will leave any permanent damage, though. Rei's sitting in the room with Gendo's glasses in her lap, and a weirdly angry expression on her face.
Misato suggests to Gendo and Fuyutsuki to equip 01 with a sniper rifle outside of Ramiel's range. It's impossible to neutralize Ramiel's AT Field to allow for close combat, so better to hit Ramiel with a beam just powerful enough to punch through it and OKO the Angel before it can return fire. Fuyutsuki asks the opinion of the three MAGI supercomputers NERV uses to assess strategies - two yeses, one conditional yes. Fuyutsuki replies that there's only an 8.7% chance of success, but since that's the highest number they can get, Gendo greenlights the plan.
There's a clever camera cut where the camera zooms in on Misato saying "yes sir!" to Gendo and then pulls back with the same expression on her face while Ritsuko chides her plan for being incredibly irresponsible. Of course, they need a gun - NERV's own positron rifle prototype isn't capable of such firepower. So Misato waltzes into the JSSDFs HQ and uses her authority as a representative of NERV to requisition its own positron rifle, no questions asked, no objections allowed. Before they can really protest, Misato's already ordered Rei in Unit 00 to rip off the hangars' roof and walk off with the rifle.
(There's a bit of lore here I don't think is actually explained in the series proper - Article 9 was deleted from the Japanese constitution after Second Impact, which means the Japan Strategic Self Defence Force is now a proper military. It's still rather small and focused on quality over quantity, due to the various treaties that empowered the United Nations after the Impact. They'll be important later.)
The next question is power - it would take at least 180 million kilowatts to power a beam powerful enough to pierce Ramiels' AT Field. Misato confidently replies she'll just use the entire Japanese power grid. So we get a series of television announcements announcing a sudden, archipelago-wide blackout from 11:30 PM to tomorrow morning. Kensuke and Toji were playing video games when the emergency broadcast interrupted them, Hikari was doing something on a personal computer, and we even see glimpses of Tokyo-2 and the ruins of Old Tokyo.
The sun's setting now, and the Angel's drill has pierced through the seventh layer of armor plating. The process of hooking up Japan's energy grid to the rifle is slightly behind schedule, but it'll be done before 23:10. The rifle itself will be assembled in three hours. Ritsuko's appropriated a heat shield from what she says is an SSTO rocket but looks like a space shuttle. If Ramiel notices and fires on their position, the shield will hold for 17 seconds. The sniper will be positioned on Mount Futago, and Operation Yashima will begin at midnight the next day - the name is a reference to a battle in the Genpei War, where a Minamoto archer famously sniped a fan off of the tallest mast of the Taira fleet at a great distance.
There's just one issue left: who's going to pilot?
Shinji's apparently healthy enough that the machine he was placed in opens up again, and he's soon groggily waking up. So he'll be the sniper. Ritsuko wonders if he's going to be willing to Get In The Robot again after an experience like that. Misato doesn't even entertain the possibility. I'd like to think she's confident Shinji will be up to the task again, but who knows.
They've put him in the same hospital room again - and this won't be the last time either. This time, he has an unexpected guest - Rei's rolling in a tray of food, looking at him with an expression I can't really read.
Rei's here to brief him on the timetable of the operation. She's short and to the point, just like Gendo: Shinji and Rei will arrive at the cage at 17:30. 00 and 01 will activate at 18:00, they launch at 18:05, they are to arrive at Mount Futago at 18:30, and then await further orders. The operation itself will begin at midnight. She's also brought him a new plugsuit since they cut him out of his old one and the only thing he's wearing at the moment is the hospital bed's sheets. He only notices when sitting up and he almost shows Rei something he'd rather she didn't see. Shinji then starts verbally berating himself again - all he's been doing is apologizing to her since yesterday, and then he turns and asks if he really has to get in the robot again. She just tells him "yes" with neither malice nor gentleness, and he whines that she hasn't been through the things he has, apparently forgetting about the horrific accident that had her in bandages just a few weeks ago. She just flatly tells him that if he won't do it, she will, and then says goodbye. Shinji almost calls for her to wait, but stops himself. Cue English title card.
The next scene has Kensuke, Toji, and a bunch of other male classmates on the roof of a closed middle school. Kensuke obtained the timetable for Operation Yashima by hacking into his dad's computer (that's probably fine) and convinced his peers to wait to see the Evas launch before they go hide in the shelters. Right as Toji starts to complain, the side of a nearby hill slides away to reveal 01 and 00. The boys cheer as the Evangelions march into battle underneath the setting sun.
Just past 20:00. Ramiel's pierced the 17th layer of armor plating. The power grid is all hooked up, they're running preliminary tests on the cooling systems, and the reconfigured Positron Sniper Rifle is delicately placed in its proper spot by 01. They don't even know if it will fire properly, but they're all out of options, so might as well give it a shot, right? Misato fills Shinji and Rei in on the plan: Shinji will be the sniper in Unit 01. Rei will defend him in 00. Shinji's sync rate with 01 is higher, and while the Angel never misses, human beings certainly can, so they'll take every bit of precision they can get. Ritsuko reminds Shinji to adjust his aim for the Earth's rotation and to aim dead center. He has to do this in one shot - it takes time to reload the rifle, and if Rei's shield doesn't hold... Ritsuko tells him not to think about that. Rei asks if her goal is just to defend 01, and Ritsuko says yes, misunderstanding the question Rei is asking.
As Rei and Shinji change into their plugsuits, he tries to converse with her again:
She says that last bit with a surprisingly firm voice and determined expression.
The lights go out all over Japan as Pen-Pen looks up at the night sky. The two pilots sit by their Evangelions, waiting for the call to launch, and they're still talking. Good for them!
Shinji asks Rei why she pilots. She looks down and frowns slightly, and says that she's bound to it - she has a bond with all people, and they're all counting on her. Shinji says that she's really strong to think of it like that... but then Rei says that she has nothing else. He asks her what she means, but she doesn't answer and stands up. It's go time - and iconic shot time:
(Something worth mentioning: every time Rei says goodbye, she uses the word "sayonara" - fairly casual in English usage, but in Japan, it's formal and either indefinite or permanent. There's a lot of hinting here at something that won't be fully clear for a while into the series.)
Midnight. Misato and Ritsuko are watching from a nearby command trailer, while Gendo and Fuyutsuki watch the operation from HQ. They start the steady concentration of power into the rifle and bring the coolant system online so none of the transformers blow. Hyuga and Maya are here, but most of the technobabble narration comes from an unnamed female coworker of theirs. Shinji cocks the rifle, the targeting system begins to focus on the Angel, the wires are visibly smoking but never melt, and the final countdown starts. Misato licks her lips in anticipation...
And the Angel immediately begins to whirr to life at the 7-second mark. Maya informs Ritsuko, Ritsuko freaks out - and Shinji and Ramiel fire at the same time. The beams graze each other and cause both shots to be diverted. Ramiel's beam lands close enough to shatter the windows of the command trailer without killing everyone inside, though they're thrown around a bit by the sheer force of the explosion. Shinji's beam completely misses the Angel. Right at that moment, the Angel punches through the final layer of armor and pierces the Geofront. Shinji frantically begins to reload, but Ramiel is faster and fires again. Rei leaps into action, shielding Shinji from the blow. But the heat shield almost immediately begins to liquefy under sustained fire. Ten agonizing seconds before the next shot can be fired.
The moment the target lines up in the center again, Shinji immediately pulls the trigger. The Angel is completely unprepared and the beam passes straight through it, exploding as it passes through Ramiel's other side. The Angel trails bright orange flames and smoke as it slowly crashes to the ground and its drill comes to a halt. 00 collapses to the ground just after, its armor plating warped and starting to melt from the heat. 01 pulls off the protective cap around Rei's entry plug, which auto ejects and empties. He delicately cradles it with 01's arm, and then we see a repeat of the sequence with Gendo - he runs over, grabs the superheated handle (at least he has actual protection) but has much more difficulty opening it since he is a scrawny teenager. When he finally gets it open, Shinji frantically asks if she's alright. She slowly sits up and looks at Shinji while her theme (a variation of a later track, Thanatos: If I Can't Be Yours) swells:
She suddenly remembers Gendo's smile when she was alright, recognizes it in his son... and smiles back.
TO BE CONTINUED
Either way, whether you end the "Introduction" arc at episode 4 or 6, we are now approaching the "Action" arc of the series. This is the most "normal" Evangelion gets - most of the plot points have more in common with the 90s cliches the show was riffing on than what it became famous for. Action-packed monster-of-the-week episodes, with some romantic comedy to spice things up a bit. And fanservice. Lots and lots of questionable fanservice. This new arc will add a new pilot, and when it does focus on characters, it mainly focuses on them learning to work together as a team and the solidification of already existing connections. At the end of the Action Arc, the pilots are their happiest, and the future seems bright.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
Until next time, ciao.
Last episode: After suddenly going berserk a few days before Shinji's arrival in Tokyo-3, Unit-00 and its pilot are finally back online. Shinji tried to befriend the mysterious Rei Ayanami, the strange blue-haired girl who is closer to his own father than he is. But she's even more isolated than he is, and his attempts to befriend her are cut short by the sudden arrival of the Angel Ramiel, who we last saw boiling Shinji alive in 01's cockpit.
This episode: It's been two episodes without a fight and the nerds are starting to get bored. Time to give them some action (and also conclude this mini-arc with Rei)!
After a brief recap of the Ramiel "fight" so far, Misato screams to recall the lift. The Angel doesn't stop firing until Shinji's been pulled back underground and quickly moved back to the Eva cage. Misato gets to use Gendo's little bridge elevator for once as she scrambles to the cage, while Ritsuko gives the order to use the plug suit's defibrillator so he doesn't enter cardiac arrest. The plug is immediately pulled out of 01, the LCL is forcefully ejected through vents on its sides. A special crane to pull out just the pilot and the control apparatus pans by Misato - he's still unconscious and has a bad nosebleed.
Ramiel hums again, stops in place over a random intersection, and then deploys a purple boring drill with a hard light tip and begins to dig into the Geofront.
Shinji's quickly wheeled to NERV HQ's hospital with Misato following him until they reach the operating room, after which the automatic doors shut in front of her and the emergency light comes on. Shinji's placed inside some sort of futuristic medical machine, diodes stuck all over his body as it closes. Another quick shot of the Angel drilling, and then the Japanese title card.
Sachiel's behavior was rather robotic - it ignored anything that wasn't its objective or an immediate threat, and only really seemed to panic once its self-preservation instinct kicked in against a berserk 01. Shamshel was more aggressive but still waited for 01 to go on the offensive before suddenly turning the tables and putting it on the backfoot. But Ramiel immediately annihilates anything designated as a threat that comes even a little bit too close to the Angel. It never misses, and even attempting to engage it in close combat would end about as you'd expect. On top of that, the Angel's AT Field is strong enough to be seen by the naked eye, so even if they were stupid enough to drop an N2 on the thing, it would just make Ramiel's job easier. Misato is not wrong when she describes it as a "flying fortress." By 12:06 AM the next day (Misato helpfully informs us that's just ten hours from now) it will have bored through all 22 layers of armor surrounding the Geofront. In fact, right as they speak it's reached the first armored plate.
Sudden cut to Ritsuko, who says that Ramiel's particle beam melted through three layers of armor on the Eva's chest, but the actual control mechanism is fine and it'll be just three hours to replace the warped plating. But had it remained in the beam for three more seconds, Shinji and Unit 01 would have been completely obliterated. Unit 00 can be activated, but an unknown feedback error means it can only serve in a support role. Shinji's fine, but his brain's still a bit scrambled from taking a laser beam to the chest - nothing that will leave any permanent damage, though. Rei's sitting in the room with Gendo's glasses in her lap, and a weirdly angry expression on her face.
Misato suggests to Gendo and Fuyutsuki to equip 01 with a sniper rifle outside of Ramiel's range. It's impossible to neutralize Ramiel's AT Field to allow for close combat, so better to hit Ramiel with a beam just powerful enough to punch through it and OKO the Angel before it can return fire. Fuyutsuki asks the opinion of the three MAGI supercomputers NERV uses to assess strategies - two yeses, one conditional yes. Fuyutsuki replies that there's only an 8.7% chance of success, but since that's the highest number they can get, Gendo greenlights the plan.
There's a clever camera cut where the camera zooms in on Misato saying "yes sir!" to Gendo and then pulls back with the same expression on her face while Ritsuko chides her plan for being incredibly irresponsible. Of course, they need a gun - NERV's own positron rifle prototype isn't capable of such firepower. So Misato waltzes into the JSSDFs HQ and uses her authority as a representative of NERV to requisition its own positron rifle, no questions asked, no objections allowed. Before they can really protest, Misato's already ordered Rei in Unit 00 to rip off the hangars' roof and walk off with the rifle.
(There's a bit of lore here I don't think is actually explained in the series proper - Article 9 was deleted from the Japanese constitution after Second Impact, which means the Japan Strategic Self Defence Force is now a proper military. It's still rather small and focused on quality over quantity, due to the various treaties that empowered the United Nations after the Impact. They'll be important later.)
The next question is power - it would take at least 180 million kilowatts to power a beam powerful enough to pierce Ramiels' AT Field. Misato confidently replies she'll just use the entire Japanese power grid. So we get a series of television announcements announcing a sudden, archipelago-wide blackout from 11:30 PM to tomorrow morning. Kensuke and Toji were playing video games when the emergency broadcast interrupted them, Hikari was doing something on a personal computer, and we even see glimpses of Tokyo-2 and the ruins of Old Tokyo.
The sun's setting now, and the Angel's drill has pierced through the seventh layer of armor plating. The process of hooking up Japan's energy grid to the rifle is slightly behind schedule, but it'll be done before 23:10. The rifle itself will be assembled in three hours. Ritsuko's appropriated a heat shield from what she says is an SSTO rocket but looks like a space shuttle. If Ramiel notices and fires on their position, the shield will hold for 17 seconds. The sniper will be positioned on Mount Futago, and Operation Yashima will begin at midnight the next day - the name is a reference to a battle in the Genpei War, where a Minamoto archer famously sniped a fan off of the tallest mast of the Taira fleet at a great distance.
There's just one issue left: who's going to pilot?
Shinji's apparently healthy enough that the machine he was placed in opens up again, and he's soon groggily waking up. So he'll be the sniper. Ritsuko wonders if he's going to be willing to Get In The Robot again after an experience like that. Misato doesn't even entertain the possibility. I'd like to think she's confident Shinji will be up to the task again, but who knows.
They've put him in the same hospital room again - and this won't be the last time either. This time, he has an unexpected guest - Rei's rolling in a tray of food, looking at him with an expression I can't really read.
The next scene has Kensuke, Toji, and a bunch of other male classmates on the roof of a closed middle school. Kensuke obtained the timetable for Operation Yashima by hacking into his dad's computer (that's probably fine) and convinced his peers to wait to see the Evas launch before they go hide in the shelters. Right as Toji starts to complain, the side of a nearby hill slides away to reveal 01 and 00. The boys cheer as the Evangelions march into battle underneath the setting sun.
Just past 20:00. Ramiel's pierced the 17th layer of armor plating. The power grid is all hooked up, they're running preliminary tests on the cooling systems, and the reconfigured Positron Sniper Rifle is delicately placed in its proper spot by 01. They don't even know if it will fire properly, but they're all out of options, so might as well give it a shot, right? Misato fills Shinji and Rei in on the plan: Shinji will be the sniper in Unit 01. Rei will defend him in 00. Shinji's sync rate with 01 is higher, and while the Angel never misses, human beings certainly can, so they'll take every bit of precision they can get. Ritsuko reminds Shinji to adjust his aim for the Earth's rotation and to aim dead center. He has to do this in one shot - it takes time to reload the rifle, and if Rei's shield doesn't hold... Ritsuko tells him not to think about that. Rei asks if her goal is just to defend 01, and Ritsuko says yes, misunderstanding the question Rei is asking.
As Rei and Shinji change into their plugsuits, he tries to converse with her again:
She says that last bit with a surprisingly firm voice and determined expression.
The lights go out all over Japan as Pen-Pen looks up at the night sky. The two pilots sit by their Evangelions, waiting for the call to launch, and they're still talking. Good for them!
Shinji asks Rei why she pilots. She looks down and frowns slightly, and says that she's bound to it - she has a bond with all people, and they're all counting on her. Shinji says that she's really strong to think of it like that... but then Rei says that she has nothing else. He asks her what she means, but she doesn't answer and stands up. It's go time - and iconic shot time:
Midnight. Misato and Ritsuko are watching from a nearby command trailer, while Gendo and Fuyutsuki watch the operation from HQ. They start the steady concentration of power into the rifle and bring the coolant system online so none of the transformers blow. Hyuga and Maya are here, but most of the technobabble narration comes from an unnamed female coworker of theirs. Shinji cocks the rifle, the targeting system begins to focus on the Angel, the wires are visibly smoking but never melt, and the final countdown starts. Misato licks her lips in anticipation...
And the Angel immediately begins to whirr to life at the 7-second mark. Maya informs Ritsuko, Ritsuko freaks out - and Shinji and Ramiel fire at the same time. The beams graze each other and cause both shots to be diverted. Ramiel's beam lands close enough to shatter the windows of the command trailer without killing everyone inside, though they're thrown around a bit by the sheer force of the explosion. Shinji's beam completely misses the Angel. Right at that moment, the Angel punches through the final layer of armor and pierces the Geofront. Shinji frantically begins to reload, but Ramiel is faster and fires again. Rei leaps into action, shielding Shinji from the blow. But the heat shield almost immediately begins to liquefy under sustained fire. Ten agonizing seconds before the next shot can be fired.
The moment the target lines up in the center again, Shinji immediately pulls the trigger. The Angel is completely unprepared and the beam passes straight through it, exploding as it passes through Ramiel's other side. The Angel trails bright orange flames and smoke as it slowly crashes to the ground and its drill comes to a halt. 00 collapses to the ground just after, its armor plating warped and starting to melt from the heat. 01 pulls off the protective cap around Rei's entry plug, which auto ejects and empties. He delicately cradles it with 01's arm, and then we see a repeat of the sequence with Gendo - he runs over, grabs the superheated handle (at least he has actual protection) but has much more difficulty opening it since he is a scrawny teenager. When he finally gets it open, Shinji frantically asks if she's alright. She slowly sits up and looks at Shinji while her theme (a variation of a later track, Thanatos: If I Can't Be Yours) swells:
She suddenly remembers Gendo's smile when she was alright, recognizes it in his son... and smiles back.
TO BE CONTINUED
...
Next episode preview: This next episode will be Misato-centric. A potential rival to the Evangelions goes out of control, and it's up to Misato to be cool as hell and save the day!
This is the moment I was referring to earlier that people commonly use to mark the end of the initial arc that's mainly focused on the characters. I can easily see why - just rewatching it got me a little emotional. But I maintain that this successful connection with Rei wouldn't be possible without the previous one with Misato. And this episode is pretty actiony, even if the last one really isn't.Either way, whether you end the "Introduction" arc at episode 4 or 6, we are now approaching the "Action" arc of the series. This is the most "normal" Evangelion gets - most of the plot points have more in common with the 90s cliches the show was riffing on than what it became famous for. Action-packed monster-of-the-week episodes, with some romantic comedy to spice things up a bit. And fanservice. Lots and lots of questionable fanservice. This new arc will add a new pilot, and when it does focus on characters, it mainly focuses on them learning to work together as a team and the solidification of already existing connections. At the end of the Action Arc, the pilots are their happiest, and the future seems bright.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
Until next time, ciao.
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Geckonator
Occult Materialist
It's interesting that this is the point Anno himself, if I remember correctly, has said Rei's character arc is really over. Aside from some later developments around her learning her true nature and committing (at least two off the top of my head) major acts of self-sacrifice for Shinji before EoE has her doing really crazy shit, this is where she is set for the rest of the series. She and Shinji have vaguely bonded, she's learning to define herself through the emotions of that relationship rather than merely dutifully obeying Gendo (not going to get into some of the more horrible implications about Gendo and Rei that were way clearer in early scripts and proposals you can find online). It's just interesting to me that one of your three major Pilots/protagonists gets such an early and simple peak to her arc. In this way I almost feel Rei's both over-appreciated for her relative lack of screentime and under-appreciated from how much you can read into her brief appearances before she comes back into prominence in the final arc.
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- Pronouns
- She/Her
Rewatching the early episodes has been nice. Even if I still enjoy 1.0's version of the early episodes a lot more, it's interesting to compare them.
Rei did get very sidelined after ep 6 (and thus Unit 00 too, which sucks because it's a great design). I think it harmed the later developments related to her a lot, especially Rei III who never got enough screentime to become an actual character and whose motivations are rather vague. Again, something the Rebuilds drastically improved upon.
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode Seven: That Which Is Manmade/A Human Work
The Red Prince
000:00:00:00
- Location
- Everywhere, at the end of time.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode Seven: That Which Is Manmade/A Human Work
Last episode: After almost reducing Shinji and 01 to a pile of glowing slag, the Angel Ramiel began to bore its way into the depths of the Geofront with a hard light drill. Since Ramiel's AT Field is too strong to neutralize and its beam attack too quick and accurate to counter, a direct assault by an Evangelion is ruled out. Misato thus devised "Operation Yashima" - a plan to have 01 kill Ramiel via a positron sniper rifle hooked up to the entire Japanese power grid, with 00 acting as support should worst come to worst. This is Evangelion, so things almost immediately go wrong and Shinji only manages to kill the Angel a few seconds before Rei's shield gives way. Shinji rescued Rei from the wreckage of her Eva just as his father did, and the two pilots reached something of a shared understanding with each other. Yayyyy!
This episode: Misato Saves The Day! Well, not really.
(Apologies for the wait: Right as I was ready to work on this again, Deltarune Chapter 2 came out and I spent the next few days replaying Chapter 1 and playing Chapter 2.)
Another morning with Misato and Shinji. Shinji's munching on toast, Pen-Pen's gulping down fish, and Misato stumbles into the kitchen half-asleep and in her PJs as she cracks open a can of beer. She immediately perks up, and Shinji asks why she doesn't try coffee instead. She scoffs and says that rice, miso, and sake is a traditional Japanese breakfast, and he snarks that maybe for her it is. (I've been reading the manga concurrent with this to do a one-off post between End of Evangelion and the Rebuilds, and I've been a bit put off by how snarky Shinji is in comparison, but he definitely has his moments in the series.) He then starts chiding her that it was her turn to cook today and that this is why she's still single at her age, which strikes a nerve - her eye starts to twitch, and when Shinji calls her sloppy she looks away and pouts like a child.
When Shinji finishes, he does the dishes and asks Misato if she's coming to school today - parent-teacher conferences have rolled around. Misato tries to reassure him by saying this is a part of her job too, and he winces slightly - like it's an obligation on her part and not something she wants to do. To her credit, she realizes her mistake almost immediately and frowns. To needle him a bit in turn, she buzzes Kensuke and Toji in while still wearing her PJs to Shinji's annoyance, and he hurries them out the door before they can ogle her for too long. She showers after he's gone and then cracks open her second can of the day, happy he's loosened himself up a bit and actually has friends now - but he's still an important military asset, so she soon phones up the NERV agents undoubtedly tailing him and tells them that it's their time to shine.
Work has started on the steady demolition of Ramiel's corpse - the only indication it was alive at all being the red blood leaking out from its otherwise inorganic body:
Shinji's staring out at his handiwork (guess it's impossible to cover up a corpse of that scale) when he sees a red sports car screeching into the school parking lot. Misato climbs out and is dressed to impress - and all the boys in Shinji's school immediately start to ogle her. Shinji's female classmates are watching too, but more out of curiosity than anything else - except for Rei, who feigns disinterests and is unconsciously doing the Gendo Pose. She really is her "father's" "daughter." Kensuke and Toji continue to fantasize about her while Shinji tries to pour cold water on their fantasies by mentioning they don't know what it's like to live with her, but teen boys do as teen boys do and ignore him.
Back to the Eva cage: Shinji's thinking about what Toji and Kensuke said - the protecting the Earth bit, anyway. He remembers the green eye that stared into his soul after his first fight and asks himself just what the Evas are anyway. The entry plugs reek of blood, but are simultaneously unnaturally comforting for reasons Shinji just doesn't understand. Why? He doesn't know, so once they've pulled him out of 01, he feigns to read the manual while trying to glean important information from a conversation between Misato, Ritsuko, and Maya + Hyuga.
By "plane" Ritsuko meant spaceplane, though one with the inside one would expect of a commercial airliner. You know, maybe this is why NERV doesn't have any spare cash. No one else is in the cabin - except for the representative of the Chinese government, who cracks a joke by asking if the seat next to Gendo is free. NERV has been given a bit more money for sample collection by the Human Instrumentality Committee since it's become clear that the Angel attacks won't stop anytime soon.
The Ambassador looks outside, and we see a glance of what used to be Antarctica: a small blood red sea that looks like a gash carved into the planet itself:
We then directly segway into an escalator conversation between Shinji, Misato, and Ritsuko:
The First Angel has been accounted for, finally. The Second Angel won't be for a long while.
A new day has arrived, but this time Misato's wide awake and dressed in NERV's dress uniform: a mostly black dress with a dark red collar and cuffs and silver buttons. Shinji and Pen-Pen are just as caught off guard. She says she's going to Old Tokyo on "business" and is going to be home late, so feel free to just throw something in the microwave for dinner. Shinji barely has time to process this before she shuts the door and the English title card displays.
We see a shot of the flooded ruins of Old Tokyo - I don't believe it's ever explicitly stated in this episode, but Old Tokyo was nuked shortly after Second Impact, and the Japanese government decided to cut their losses and build a new capital in Matsumoto City. And then they built a third Tokyo in Hakone because they felt like it. Probably. Misato overlooks the ruined city in a UN VTOL transporting her to her destination, a complex built on the city's outskirts. Ritsuko's coming with, and Misato asks her if the JSSDF has thrown any resources behind this new competitor. Ritsuko says no, they're not allowed to. The VTOL lands on a launchpad next to a swarm of private helicopters.
The event is a "completion commemoration" being held by Japan Heavy Chemical Industries, which has designed its own rival mech to the Evangelions named Jet Alone. Plenty of generals, politicians, and lobbyists are attending - while NERV has sent a token delegation to assess this new rival. The first half of the celebration is a dinner and Q&A session hosted by JHCI, and the second half is a public demonstration of the new machine - and unlike the Evas, it is well and truly a machine. As soon as the floor opens up, Ritsuko immediately seizes the mic and begins to tear the whole concept into a new one: Jet Alone is powered by an internal nuclear reactor (which can power the mech for 150 days, the spokesman boasts!) which is a walking Chernobyl waiting to happen. Jet Alone is piloted remotely by radio which runs the risk of being unable to stop the thing should something go wrong, to which the spokesman counters that it's more humane than traumatizing teenagers.
Misato mutters that this is childish, unaware that there is a purpose to Ritsuko's questions. The company spokesman holds up a photograph of Unit-01 going berserk he absolutely should not have access to - and then immediately compares it to a hysterical woman because he's a douchebag. Ritsuko keeps her cool even as the equally misogynistic generals laugh at his joke, and says that that's what NERV's science and pilots are for, to which the spokesman scoffs at the notion of "science and the human heart taming that beast." He then goes straight for the throat - it's because of NERV's callous mistakes that the UN had to give them such a large budget, and because of that over 20,000 people in several countries have been deprived of UN relief funds (nevermind the fact they would also be happy to snap up that funding) and it's such a shame that NERV can't be investigated for its errors because of its super-legal status.
Ritsuko counters that NERV's weapons are the only ones that actually work against the Angels - Jet Alone doesn't have an AT Field. Of course, the spokesman waives off this concern: It's only a matter of time until their scientists figure it out, etc., etc.
Between the Q&A and test, Misato and Ritsuko wait in a locker room. Misato kicks the shit out of a locker door with enough force to make it warp and bend under her assault, while Ritsuko chides her for throwing a fit like a child - even as she burns the information packet provided to all attendees with her lighter. Ritsuko says that there's been a massive leak of information that's supposed to be classified, and Misato wonders what the hell is Intelligence even doing if information like the AT Field is getting leaked to the public? Ritsuko says nothing.
There's a brief five-second shot of someone hacking into a computer and deleting information before the camera cuts to the Jet Alone launch. It does vaguely resemble an Evangelion, particularly the abdomen, but its chest and shoulders are instead one massive nuclear reactor topped by a small bridge-like "head."
Misato, Ritsuko, Company Spokesman, and the audience watch the launch from the control room. Everything goes as it should - the control rods are removed from the reactor and jut out of JA's back like black spines, and it takes a step forward without any issues. Misato is actually impressed and gives them credit where credit is due. But Ritsuko is silent, and almost immediately a small error notification begins to flash - the pressure inside the reactor is increasing, and the coolant system is malfunctioning. Nothing to be too alarmed about, the technicians immediately work on a routine fix - but it isn't working and the mech isn't stopping. The Spokesman gives the order to flip the kill switch, but the signal doesn't go through either. Jet Alone is out of control - who could have possibly seen this coming?
The Spokesman is frozen to the spot in shock as JA comes dangerously close to the control room and then walks straight through it without stopping. Misato jokes that the robot is just as badly behaved as the spokesman overseeing it - and then things really start to go bad. The control rods aren't working, and it's possible that Jet Alone could very well meltdown without warning. The Spokesman mutters that this isn't right, JA was programmed to have countless failsafe for something like this, but Misato immediately takes charge of the situation (while Ritsuko has disappeared) - The Spokesman weakly replies that their only hope is for Jet Alone to come to an automatic stop, and she asks the probability of that actually happening. It's so low it's practically a rounding error (0.00002%) and they might as well pray for a miracle if they're waiting for that to happen.
Misato asks the Spokesman how to stop the robot, and he says that they've tried everything, but Misato isn't convinced and asks for the password to completely brick Jet Alone. The spokesman says that that's classified information, he can't just tell her that. She immediately gives the order to give her the clearance, and he's intimidated enough that he actually does it. He calls up the Director of Internal Affairs (who says that's someone else's job), then calls up the other person (who is golfing and says he can't just give that authorization over the phone)... and so on. Misato shoots him a look of sympathy - she's very familiar with the fresh hell that is bureaucratic red tape... so she firmly tells him that she'll stop it herself if he can't do anything, as the PA system announces that Jet Alone is marching towards the city of Atsugi.
She calls up Hyuga and tells him to prepare to deploy Shinji in 01 while changing into one of JHCI's radiation suits, all while Ritsuko weakly protests. She plans to input the kill command into a terminal built into Jet Alone's core, all while 01 is transported in a truly massive carrier plane. One of the technicians cuts off the control signal so Misato can actually open the hatch inside... before the Spokesman reluctantly tells her the password to brick JA - "Hope." The carrier lands to pick up Misato and she explains to Shinji (and the audience by proxy) her plan. Jet Alone has a high risk of melting down in the next five minutes. Hyuga (who is piloting the carrier) is to drop them directly behind it, after which Shinji will carry her in the palm of 01's hand to the entry hatch and then try to restrain JA the best he can without actually damaging it. Shinji protests that it's too dangerous, but they don't have any other shot so Misato's going to do it anyway. Besides, Shinji will be fine if JA explodes, and that's more important in her eyes. She couldn't live with herself if she just sat by and did nothing, she tells the kid... and he nods and steels himself.
The drop goes well, and Shinji sprints for the target while delicately cradling Misato in the palm of his left hand. Shinji grabs JA by a conveniently placed handle on it's back and drops her onto its back. But Jet Alone is still trying to walk, and Misato is briefly thrown off it and rolls down its side before she grabs onto one of the side ladders and holds on for dear life as she climbs up and opens the hatch. The inside is incredibly hot, but her suit protects her from the worst of it. Shinji moves to Jet Alone's front and notices steam escaping from one of the emergency pressure release valves and assumes it's a "leak" and tries to cover it up while Misato finds the emergency control room, scans the authorization card, and types in the password... and immediately gets an ERROR. Confused, she hits the enter button once, then again and again, but the mech refuses to stop. Misato suspects that someone sabotaged the code, and tries one desperate gambit as the reactor is about to go critical - trying to push by hand the massive control rods back into the reactor. But Misato's not exactly a bulky woman, and even if she was they weigh far too much for this to actually do anything. She's only able to get one to budge slightly before steam starts to spray from all the valves, and Shinji screams at her to get out and run...
And then, right at the last second the computer suddenly accepts the password and the reactor shuts down as it should. Misato is thrown off her feet and looks up in shock - she didn't do anything. Finally, Jet Alone comes to a halt and its legs go slack. The JCHI techs cheer, the Spokesman smiles, and Ritsuko just mutters about Misato being an "idiot." Shinji is overjoyed to know that Misato's alive, and praises her as she sits down to catch her breath.
Cut to Gendo. He's being briefed by Ritsuko and a member of NERV Intelligence. Apart from Misato trying to Save The Day, everything went according to plan. NERV sabotaged Jet Alone's launch and made sure they would take the credit for stopping it from irradiating all of Kanto - god knows they need the extra PR. Can't have any competitors getting in the way of Gendo's plans, after all... not that Jet Alone would have ever been able to kill Angels, anyway, though the reason why won't be explained for a while.
Another day, and Misato's back to shuffling into the kitchen half-asleep and in her PJs. She cracks open a beer and says she's going to take her morning shower while asking Shinji where her bra and panties are - and he immediately scowls and storms off as soon as Toji and Kensuke are at his door. As they walk to school, they start to praise Misato again:
Aww.
TO BE CONTINUED
Next episode preview: Unit-02 and its pilot (a certain redheaded girl you may or may not be familiar with) have arrived from Wilhelmshaven, Germany, and sees her first sortie against an actual Angel when it assaults the ship convoy transporting them both to Japan. Her name's Asuka.
I had forgotten how much lore and politicking was packed into this episode, huh. The true cause of the Second Impact, one of the series's brief nods to the geopolitics of the world after Impact, and of course Gendo and Ritsuko's plot to sabotage Jet Alone. Though the plot of this episode is in a way fairly typical of a mecha anime, in one aspect it's fairly atypical. Plenty of mecha (and anime in general) have the Power of Love and Friendship triumph over all else, but Evangelion is not one of them. Evangelion is an anime about the Power of Logistics and Tactics (TM), and more often than not the Angel kills are the pilots dutifully following the plans of their adult commanders rather than killing them on their own initiative.
Unless their Evas go berserk, that is. I suppose you could call that the Power of Love, in a sense...
Until next time, ciao.
Last episode: After almost reducing Shinji and 01 to a pile of glowing slag, the Angel Ramiel began to bore its way into the depths of the Geofront with a hard light drill. Since Ramiel's AT Field is too strong to neutralize and its beam attack too quick and accurate to counter, a direct assault by an Evangelion is ruled out. Misato thus devised "Operation Yashima" - a plan to have 01 kill Ramiel via a positron sniper rifle hooked up to the entire Japanese power grid, with 00 acting as support should worst come to worst. This is Evangelion, so things almost immediately go wrong and Shinji only manages to kill the Angel a few seconds before Rei's shield gives way. Shinji rescued Rei from the wreckage of her Eva just as his father did, and the two pilots reached something of a shared understanding with each other. Yayyyy!
This episode: Misato Saves The Day! Well, not really.
(Apologies for the wait: Right as I was ready to work on this again, Deltarune Chapter 2 came out and I spent the next few days replaying Chapter 1 and playing Chapter 2.)
...
We start with immediate cloak-and-dagger shenanigans - Gendo's on the phone with a man we won't meet for another episode, but I'll give his name right now - Ryoji Kaji. The Japanese government has apparently requested NERV documents under the "Freedom of Information Act" and Kaji helped feed them some false data. The government still wants to investigate NERV, but Kaji is confident that it "will be blocked any day now." He then asks Gendo if he should do something about "that project" as well, but Gendo assures him that everything is under control as a grainy black and white photo of another giant mech displays. Cue Japanese title card.
Another morning with Misato and Shinji. Shinji's munching on toast, Pen-Pen's gulping down fish, and Misato stumbles into the kitchen half-asleep and in her PJs as she cracks open a can of beer. She immediately perks up, and Shinji asks why she doesn't try coffee instead. She scoffs and says that rice, miso, and sake is a traditional Japanese breakfast, and he snarks that maybe for her it is. (I've been reading the manga concurrent with this to do a one-off post between End of Evangelion and the Rebuilds, and I've been a bit put off by how snarky Shinji is in comparison, but he definitely has his moments in the series.) He then starts chiding her that it was her turn to cook today and that this is why she's still single at her age, which strikes a nerve - her eye starts to twitch, and when Shinji calls her sloppy she looks away and pouts like a child.
When Shinji finishes, he does the dishes and asks Misato if she's coming to school today - parent-teacher conferences have rolled around. Misato tries to reassure him by saying this is a part of her job too, and he winces slightly - like it's an obligation on her part and not something she wants to do. To her credit, she realizes her mistake almost immediately and frowns. To needle him a bit in turn, she buzzes Kensuke and Toji in while still wearing her PJs to Shinji's annoyance, and he hurries them out the door before they can ogle her for too long. She showers after he's gone and then cracks open her second can of the day, happy he's loosened himself up a bit and actually has friends now - but he's still an important military asset, so she soon phones up the NERV agents undoubtedly tailing him and tells them that it's their time to shine.
Work has started on the steady demolition of Ramiel's corpse - the only indication it was alive at all being the red blood leaking out from its otherwise inorganic body:
Back to the Eva cage: Shinji's thinking about what Toji and Kensuke said - the protecting the Earth bit, anyway. He remembers the green eye that stared into his soul after his first fight and asks himself just what the Evas are anyway. The entry plugs reek of blood, but are simultaneously unnaturally comforting for reasons Shinji just doesn't understand. Why? He doesn't know, so once they've pulled him out of 01, he feigns to read the manual while trying to glean important information from a conversation between Misato, Ritsuko, and Maya + Hyuga.
By "plane" Ritsuko meant spaceplane, though one with the inside one would expect of a commercial airliner. You know, maybe this is why NERV doesn't have any spare cash. No one else is in the cabin - except for the representative of the Chinese government, who cracks a joke by asking if the seat next to Gendo is free. NERV has been given a bit more money for sample collection by the Human Instrumentality Committee since it's become clear that the Angel attacks won't stop anytime soon.
The Ambassador looks outside, and we see a glance of what used to be Antarctica: a small blood red sea that looks like a gash carved into the planet itself:
The First Angel has been accounted for, finally. The Second Angel won't be for a long while.
A new day has arrived, but this time Misato's wide awake and dressed in NERV's dress uniform: a mostly black dress with a dark red collar and cuffs and silver buttons. Shinji and Pen-Pen are just as caught off guard. She says she's going to Old Tokyo on "business" and is going to be home late, so feel free to just throw something in the microwave for dinner. Shinji barely has time to process this before she shuts the door and the English title card displays.
We see a shot of the flooded ruins of Old Tokyo - I don't believe it's ever explicitly stated in this episode, but Old Tokyo was nuked shortly after Second Impact, and the Japanese government decided to cut their losses and build a new capital in Matsumoto City. And then they built a third Tokyo in Hakone because they felt like it. Probably. Misato overlooks the ruined city in a UN VTOL transporting her to her destination, a complex built on the city's outskirts. Ritsuko's coming with, and Misato asks her if the JSSDF has thrown any resources behind this new competitor. Ritsuko says no, they're not allowed to. The VTOL lands on a launchpad next to a swarm of private helicopters.
The event is a "completion commemoration" being held by Japan Heavy Chemical Industries, which has designed its own rival mech to the Evangelions named Jet Alone. Plenty of generals, politicians, and lobbyists are attending - while NERV has sent a token delegation to assess this new rival. The first half of the celebration is a dinner and Q&A session hosted by JHCI, and the second half is a public demonstration of the new machine - and unlike the Evas, it is well and truly a machine. As soon as the floor opens up, Ritsuko immediately seizes the mic and begins to tear the whole concept into a new one: Jet Alone is powered by an internal nuclear reactor (which can power the mech for 150 days, the spokesman boasts!) which is a walking Chernobyl waiting to happen. Jet Alone is piloted remotely by radio which runs the risk of being unable to stop the thing should something go wrong, to which the spokesman counters that it's more humane than traumatizing teenagers.
Misato mutters that this is childish, unaware that there is a purpose to Ritsuko's questions. The company spokesman holds up a photograph of Unit-01 going berserk he absolutely should not have access to - and then immediately compares it to a hysterical woman because he's a douchebag. Ritsuko keeps her cool even as the equally misogynistic generals laugh at his joke, and says that that's what NERV's science and pilots are for, to which the spokesman scoffs at the notion of "science and the human heart taming that beast." He then goes straight for the throat - it's because of NERV's callous mistakes that the UN had to give them such a large budget, and because of that over 20,000 people in several countries have been deprived of UN relief funds (nevermind the fact they would also be happy to snap up that funding) and it's such a shame that NERV can't be investigated for its errors because of its super-legal status.
Ritsuko counters that NERV's weapons are the only ones that actually work against the Angels - Jet Alone doesn't have an AT Field. Of course, the spokesman waives off this concern: It's only a matter of time until their scientists figure it out, etc., etc.
Between the Q&A and test, Misato and Ritsuko wait in a locker room. Misato kicks the shit out of a locker door with enough force to make it warp and bend under her assault, while Ritsuko chides her for throwing a fit like a child - even as she burns the information packet provided to all attendees with her lighter. Ritsuko says that there's been a massive leak of information that's supposed to be classified, and Misato wonders what the hell is Intelligence even doing if information like the AT Field is getting leaked to the public? Ritsuko says nothing.
There's a brief five-second shot of someone hacking into a computer and deleting information before the camera cuts to the Jet Alone launch. It does vaguely resemble an Evangelion, particularly the abdomen, but its chest and shoulders are instead one massive nuclear reactor topped by a small bridge-like "head."
The Spokesman is frozen to the spot in shock as JA comes dangerously close to the control room and then walks straight through it without stopping. Misato jokes that the robot is just as badly behaved as the spokesman overseeing it - and then things really start to go bad. The control rods aren't working, and it's possible that Jet Alone could very well meltdown without warning. The Spokesman mutters that this isn't right, JA was programmed to have countless failsafe for something like this, but Misato immediately takes charge of the situation (while Ritsuko has disappeared) - The Spokesman weakly replies that their only hope is for Jet Alone to come to an automatic stop, and she asks the probability of that actually happening. It's so low it's practically a rounding error (0.00002%) and they might as well pray for a miracle if they're waiting for that to happen.
Misato asks the Spokesman how to stop the robot, and he says that they've tried everything, but Misato isn't convinced and asks for the password to completely brick Jet Alone. The spokesman says that that's classified information, he can't just tell her that. She immediately gives the order to give her the clearance, and he's intimidated enough that he actually does it. He calls up the Director of Internal Affairs (who says that's someone else's job), then calls up the other person (who is golfing and says he can't just give that authorization over the phone)... and so on. Misato shoots him a look of sympathy - she's very familiar with the fresh hell that is bureaucratic red tape... so she firmly tells him that she'll stop it herself if he can't do anything, as the PA system announces that Jet Alone is marching towards the city of Atsugi.
She calls up Hyuga and tells him to prepare to deploy Shinji in 01 while changing into one of JHCI's radiation suits, all while Ritsuko weakly protests. She plans to input the kill command into a terminal built into Jet Alone's core, all while 01 is transported in a truly massive carrier plane. One of the technicians cuts off the control signal so Misato can actually open the hatch inside... before the Spokesman reluctantly tells her the password to brick JA - "Hope." The carrier lands to pick up Misato and she explains to Shinji (and the audience by proxy) her plan. Jet Alone has a high risk of melting down in the next five minutes. Hyuga (who is piloting the carrier) is to drop them directly behind it, after which Shinji will carry her in the palm of 01's hand to the entry hatch and then try to restrain JA the best he can without actually damaging it. Shinji protests that it's too dangerous, but they don't have any other shot so Misato's going to do it anyway. Besides, Shinji will be fine if JA explodes, and that's more important in her eyes. She couldn't live with herself if she just sat by and did nothing, she tells the kid... and he nods and steels himself.
The drop goes well, and Shinji sprints for the target while delicately cradling Misato in the palm of his left hand. Shinji grabs JA by a conveniently placed handle on it's back and drops her onto its back. But Jet Alone is still trying to walk, and Misato is briefly thrown off it and rolls down its side before she grabs onto one of the side ladders and holds on for dear life as she climbs up and opens the hatch. The inside is incredibly hot, but her suit protects her from the worst of it. Shinji moves to Jet Alone's front and notices steam escaping from one of the emergency pressure release valves and assumes it's a "leak" and tries to cover it up while Misato finds the emergency control room, scans the authorization card, and types in the password... and immediately gets an ERROR. Confused, she hits the enter button once, then again and again, but the mech refuses to stop. Misato suspects that someone sabotaged the code, and tries one desperate gambit as the reactor is about to go critical - trying to push by hand the massive control rods back into the reactor. But Misato's not exactly a bulky woman, and even if she was they weigh far too much for this to actually do anything. She's only able to get one to budge slightly before steam starts to spray from all the valves, and Shinji screams at her to get out and run...
Cut to Gendo. He's being briefed by Ritsuko and a member of NERV Intelligence. Apart from Misato trying to Save The Day, everything went according to plan. NERV sabotaged Jet Alone's launch and made sure they would take the credit for stopping it from irradiating all of Kanto - god knows they need the extra PR. Can't have any competitors getting in the way of Gendo's plans, after all... not that Jet Alone would have ever been able to kill Angels, anyway, though the reason why won't be explained for a while.
Another day, and Misato's back to shuffling into the kitchen half-asleep and in her PJs. She cracks open a beer and says she's going to take her morning shower while asking Shinji where her bra and panties are - and he immediately scowls and storms off as soon as Toji and Kensuke are at his door. As they walk to school, they start to praise Misato again:
Aww.
TO BE CONTINUED
...
This time it's Misato's seiyuu singing Fly Me to the Moon.
Next episode preview: Unit-02 and its pilot (a certain redheaded girl you may or may not be familiar with) have arrived from Wilhelmshaven, Germany, and sees her first sortie against an actual Angel when it assaults the ship convoy transporting them both to Japan. Her name's Asuka.
I had forgotten how much lore and politicking was packed into this episode, huh. The true cause of the Second Impact, one of the series's brief nods to the geopolitics of the world after Impact, and of course Gendo and Ritsuko's plot to sabotage Jet Alone. Though the plot of this episode is in a way fairly typical of a mecha anime, in one aspect it's fairly atypical. Plenty of mecha (and anime in general) have the Power of Love and Friendship triumph over all else, but Evangelion is not one of them. Evangelion is an anime about the Power of Logistics and Tactics (TM), and more often than not the Angel kills are the pilots dutifully following the plans of their adult commanders rather than killing them on their own initiative.
Unless their Evas go berserk, that is. I suppose you could call that the Power of Love, in a sense...
Until next time, ciao.
Last edited:
The Red Prince
000:00:00:00
- Location
- Everywhere, at the end of time.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Gah, this is what happens when I don't preview things. Sorry for the format issues, I fixed it now.
- Pronouns
- He
I do have to wonder why they included this, since the longest fight on record lasted less then a day. Maybe getting a big enough reactor to power this thing also means that you have a big enough reactor to last a long, long time?
Geckonator
Occult Materialist
I imagine that's 150 days between refueling, which is important for the logistics of deployments and being on standby and so on.
Which, mind you, is actually kind of terrible for a military nuclear deployment? Nuclear carriers and submarines go decades between refueling, making me wonder just from an engineering perspective what the stats on Jet Alone's reactor are.
Which, mind you, is actually kind of terrible for a military nuclear deployment? Nuclear carriers and submarines go decades between refueling, making me wonder just from an engineering perspective what the stats on Jet Alone's reactor are.
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode Eight: Asuka Arrives In Japan/Asuka Strikes!
The Red Prince
000:00:00:00
- Location
- Everywhere, at the end of time.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode Eight: Asuka Arrives In Japan/Asuka Strikes!
Last episode: Shinji learned the true nature of Second Impact - the sudden self-destruction of the First Angel discovered by an expedition in Antarctica. NERV is working to prevent the other Angels from triggering a Third Impact, which would result in the complete annihilation of the human race. A lot of the episode also focused on Misato unknowingly being dragged into Ritsuko's and Gendo's plan to discredit Jet Alone, a rival mech created by Japan Heavy Chemical Industries. A nuclear disaster caused by NERV intelligence sabotaging Jet Alone's code was "averted" at the last minute, and Misato and Shinji ultimately ended up solidifying their relationship.
This episode: ANTA BAKA?
Five aircraft carriers and four battleships are conveying this cargo. It must be awfully important. The UN Fleet is mainly composed of ex-Soviet and American ships seized by the UN after Second Impact - the lead carrier that the helicopter is flying for, Over the Rainbow, is a rechristened USS Harry S. Truman. Remember what I said before about Anno being a naval otaku? Misato is surprised that it's still afloat, and Kensuke waves her off - it's a pre-Impact relic, and the pride and joy of the Pacific Fleet. The ship's captain is very displeased that such incredible symbols of the old world's naval power have been reduced to... running errands for NERV and the UN. They're not the only ones watching the helicopter come in - a redhead girl with a yellow dress whose face is blotted out by the sun shining behind her looks down as the heli finds its place and comes to a stop.
Kensuke is having the time of his life seeing all of this up close - and the ship's crew smile and chuckle as he geeks out, Toji is chasing after his hat which was violently snatched up by the wind, and Shinji just stretches and yawns. He's doing well getting used to all this, at least. Toji's hat comes to a stop at the feet of the redhead girl, who immediately grinds it under her heel. She gives Misato a friendly greeting - the two already know each other from some time Misato spent in Germany (which might even be where she came to Tokyo-3 from?) and happily reports that she's grown up (and filled out) quite a bit since she last saw her. Misato introduces her as Asuka Langely Soryuu, the Second Child and pilot of Unit-02.
(Note the diodes stuck to her head - Asuka is the only one of the three pilots who wears these 24/7. It's not just a weird quirk or animation error.)
The wind kicks up again, blowing Asuka's dress up to expose her figure. Unfortunately for the three boys, Asuka's not the kind of girl to let accidental peeping slide. I honestly hate this cliche (especially when it's applied to minors), but I do find it funny that the sounds of her slapping the three are incorporated into the title card - a word comes on screen with each slap. This just pisses off Toji more, and when she calls this the "viewing fee" he immediately drops his pants and earns himself another slap. Can't say you didn't deserve that one, bud.
Asuka immediately perks up and asks which of them is the famous Third Child, and then scowls at the thought of it being Toji. Misato corrects her, and she immediately narrows her eyes and briefly looks Shinji up and down. Rei doesn't care what people other than Gendo (and now Shinji) think about her and possesses a sort of strange aura that makes trying to even casually chat with her difficult - but Asuka is the kind of person to immediately establish boundaries and the pecking order, and she's not sure what box to place Shinji in yet, so she just needles him a bit by calling him a "bit dull" and he predictably says nothing in response.
The camera briefly focuses on Misato's NERV ID in the hand of the Captain of the Over the Rainbow - she's scribbled over most of the more personal information - he complains about the Good Old Days and how far the ship has fallen. Misato is polite and diplomatic and hands over the specs for an emergency power socket, should Unit-02 need to be activated at sea for whatever reason, but he waives it off, consistently describes the Evas as "toys" and refuses to transfer command. His ship, his rules - the world may have changed in the years since Impact, but that rule remains ironclad. She's visibly irritated for a moment, but she takes a breath and nods, politely yet firmly reminding the Captain that in an emergency situation, NERV's authority overrules his. Toji mutters about how cool she is, and Shinji's caught off guard by how much she resembles Ritsuko at that moment.
The Captain continues to mutter about how "those kids" are really going to save the Earth, and his XO shrugs and says that times are changing. The US Congress has placed its hopes on the Evangelions, and the Captain mutters about how if they have enough cash to throw around for "toys" like Unit-02, they could at least give the Navy a bit more.
In the abyssal darkness beneath the ship, something big and only vaguely silhouetted by its own bioluminescence - small red pinpricks of light alongside its body - is tailing the fleet...
Cue one of the most cramped and awkward elevator rides in Shinji's life:
Kaji's here to both escort Asuka to Tokyo-3 and finishes up a "business trip" he started in Germany. He's always wearing a sly grin, while Misato continually avoids his gaze. They're college exes, and while Misato doesn't hate him, he brings up too many bittersweet memories for her to ever really be comfortable around him.
Kaji feels like a character who stepped straight of a James Bond movie - always a little bit unshaven and disheveled, but possessing a natural sort of charisma and misdirection. He'd probably make a good magician under different circumstances. He asks Misato if she's single while playing footsie with her under the table, and she plays into his hands by angrily asking why that matters. He then turns to Shinji and says that he's heard he lives with Misato, and then cracks a double entendre by asking if she still tosses and turns in bed. The response is about what you'd expect:
And Misato immediately slams the table and asks what the hell he's talking about while glowing beet red - but Kaji, smooth as ever, simply shrugs and says she hasn't changed at all. Shinji remains blissfully unaware and asks Kaji how he knows his name, and Kaji says of course he does, he's famous! He's the legendary Third Child, who defeated an Angel in his first battle with no training! At that, Asuka whips around and stares daggers at him. The fact he habitually downplays it (it was "just luck!") doesn't make him look any better in her eyes either, and the camera slowly zooms into her expression as Kaji complements him, saying that luck is "a part of his destiny and your talent." Then he excuses himself, having left the table in utter disarray: Kensuke and Toji are still frozen in horror, Asuka's gaze is practically burning a hole in Shinji's forehead, and Misato's this close to pulling her hair out:
Kaji and Asuka chatter on one of the ship's decks. He asks her what she thinks of the Third Child, and she says that she's very disappointed. She probably thinks he's a brown-nosing stuck up with faux modesty, and there's nothing more irritating in her eyes than someone who thinks they're hot shit but actually isn't. Kaji passes onto her that he achieved a sync ratio of over 40% in his battle against Sachiel, and she looks over in surprise. That's not possible!
Misato and the Three Stooges are riding up an escalator. Kensuke's still filming while Toji mutters about the Captain's attitude, but Misato waives it off. She's dealt with plenty of grumpy old men in her time, and this won't be the last. Shinji says that he likes Kaji, and she immediately scowls and says that he hasn't changed at all, either. Shinji remains blissfully ignorant - but Asuka calls his name and is standing atop the escalator. There's something she wants to show him.
Asuka takes him to the other ship carrying Unit-02 (not sure how she was allowed to do that, but I guess being a pilot gives you a lot of clearance and authority you wouldn't otherwise have) to show off her Evangelion. Unit-02's color scheme is red-and-orange, with a long head and white faceplate sporting four small, green eyes. Asuka wants to impress the boy while putting him in his place - she boasts that her Evangelion is the first true Eva since 00 is a Prototype and 01 is a Test Type, but hers is a Production Type. She says this with a rhetorical and literal flourish while standing atop its back, literally towering over the not-that-impressed Shinji.
Before he can say something, the ship suddenly rocks with the force of an explosion. Asuka immediately recognizes it as an undersea shockwave, and that the explosion had to be nearby. Shinji and Asuka rush atop deck just in time to watch one of the frigates escorting the main fleet explode and disappear under a column of water. The Angel responsible continues to prowl the surrounding area, the occasional column of water shooting up whenever it makes contact with the various submarines escorting the fleet. Shinji says that they have to get back to Misato, and Asuka looks in awe and wonder for a moment... before she looks back with a smug grin on her face.
After the English title card, the fleet immediately scrambles and the Captain struggles to understand the situation. The Cymbeline has been damaged and isn't responding to hails on the radio, while another ship Titus Andronicus (noticing a pattern?) can't find the target. Misato smugly leans out into the bridge and asks the Captain if he's interested in learning information and appropriate counter-measures about the unknown enemy, but he continues to remain stubborn and tells her to get off the bridge, this is a combat situation! He orders all ships to fire at will - but we already know how this song and dance goes, and the unscathed Angel pulls under another frigate without hesitating in the slightest. Misato is confused - why is the Angel here? All of them have shown up at Tokyo-3 up to this point - maybe it's after Unit-02?
Asuka drags Shinji off and then deposits him at the top of a staircase while she goes down to change into her plugsuit without actually telling him what she's doing, so he peeks around the corner to see what's so important and is immediately chewed out for being a pervert. He immediately apologizes and hangs his head in shame. This sums up most of their dynamic in the series. A minute later, she's done and presses the button that vacuum seals the plug suit, and tries to psych herself up for what's coming.
The Captain throws a fit that the Angel isn't sinking, and Toji snarks that he knew only an Eva could beat the Angel, upon which the Captain and XO look back to give him death glares. Misato says nothing.
Back in the impromptu Eva cage, Asuka gives Shinji one of her spare plug suits and he looks up at her in confusion as she declares that he's coming with her. Shinji is incredibly embarrassed once he's put it on, and asks why they're doing this. The kid really is a bit slow on the uptake, huh? Asuka gives off the first anta baka (translated as "What are you, stupid?") of many, and tells him they're getting in the Eva. He protests and asks if they have permission from Misato, and Asuka smugly replies that she can get permission "after she's beaten it." That's a very Misato thing for her to say... hm. She invites him into the cockpit so he can watch how great she is as piloting, just as long as he doesn't get in the way.
You may have noticed a certain feedback loop in Asuka's behavior at this point: Asuka does a thing without either thinking of the consequences or dismissing them entirely (such as wearing a sundress on a windy deck, changing without telling Shinji what she's doing, inviting Shinji into an Eva he's not synced with) and then when the natural consequences follow (the wind accidentally exposes her, Shinji looks around to see what she's doing, ????), she immediately lashes out at other people for it. It's a very simple but very vicious cycle, one whose effects won't become fully clear until the part of the show where things start to go horribly wrong.
As yet another ship sinks below the waves, Misato comments that it's almost as if the Angel is looking for something. The camera immediately cuts to Kaji's cabin and slowly pans up from his suspiciously large suitcase to him watching the chaos from a rolling desk chair. He's on the phone with Gendo again, saying that an Angel attack wasn't exactly part of the deal. Gendo dismisses his concerns - this is what Unit-02 is for, and he's "generously provided a second pilot as a reserve." Worst come to worst, he is to escape by himself. At that, he frowns... but doesn't protest.
Unit-02 is calibrated to respond in Asuka's native German, but Shinji doesn't know the language and it's almost immediately causing synchronization errors.
Unit-02 activates without incident, and almost immediately the Othello's captain radios for help. Misato immediately cheers her on, and the Captain of the Over the Rainbow scrambles to ground 02. Misato and the Captain fight over the microphone for a bit. Don't you love clashing chains of command? As the two continue to grapple with each other, the captain's XO points out that Unit-02 is still using the B-type (or standard) equipment. In other words, if 02 falls into the sea they'll be screwed since it can't float or swim. Misato hears from 02's internal comms that Shinji is also in the cockpit, decides this would be an interesting training exercise, shrugs, and goes "fuck it" and gives them the clearance to launch.
Unit-02 jumps off the Othello just before it is bisected by the Angel, landing on a nearby frigate. The tarp covering it just a few seconds ago is wrapped around its body like a cape, shoulder pylons and head peeking out from holes torn in it. But the two kids can't find the Angel, and the writers remembered the 1-minute timer for once! I had entirely forgotten about that, so there are three instances where the timer is one minute instead of five. Asuka asks Misato to bring out the emergency umbilical cable on deck, and she immediately passes the order to the ship's crew. Asuka then decides on a wild gambit - she's going to play the world's most dangerous and expensive game of hopscotch, hopping between ships in order to get to the Over the Rainbow, casting off the tarp, and revealing 02 in its full glory. Within a minute, the cable is brought out on the deck and the flight deck evacuated.
The ship rocks and tilts to one side as Asuka sticks the landing, with several incredibly expensive fighter jets tumbling into the sea before the ship stabilizes. Kensuke cries about this horrible display for a few moments before the Angel is sighted again making a beeline directly for the Over the Rainbow. Asuka slots the power cable into 02's back and unsheathes her prog knife - while 01's resembles a proper combat knife, 02's is designed somewhat like a long boxcutter and is sectioned so that portions of the blade can be broken off when needed while still retaining a razor-sharp edge. The Angel starts to surface - it's huge and beige, with a small Sachiel-like face on its back roughly where a whale's blowhole would be.
Did I say huge? I'm sorry, I meant massive:
The 6th Angel's name is Gaghiel. Fittingly enough, it's the Angel of Fish and its name roughly means Jaws of God. It collides with 02 with such force that the prog knife is knocked from her hands and bisects a nearby jet plane. 02 is still strong enough on its own to wrestle with the Angel, but Gaghiel is determined to drag it under the waves and into its home turf. 02 slides back slowly and agonizingly until one of it's feet lands on a flight elevator unable to hold its weight. 02 goes down, the windows in Over the Rainbow's bridge shatter with the force of impact, and the Angel dives back underwater, dragging 02 in tow.
The Fleet must have been close to its destination because the ocean floor is littered with flooded cars and buildings and sunken ships. This must have been a coastal town submerged by Second Impact. Gaghiel is incredibly fast and thrashing wildly in an attempt to throw off 02, which can only cling on for dear life and hope that they have enough spare umblical cable that they don't run out of power. All but one of what few jets haven't already been lost to the waves or been crushed under the Angel's bulk are thrown off the deck by the extension cable thrashing with them. Misato asks how much cable is left before they run out - 1.2 km before the line goes taut. A minute or two later, they've run out of extra cable, and 02 is forced to let go if it doesn't want to be violently disconnected. Gaghiel quickly swims out of range, and on top of all that, Kensuke's run out of space on his camera's memory card!
A small VTOL comes on deck. It's Kaji, and for once Misato is actually happy to see him!
The Angel's circled back around and is making a beeline straight for 02. Asuka tries to get her Eva to move, but it refuses to budge and she immediately begins to freak out. Shinji reminds her that 02 isn't currently equipped for underwater combat, so she whips around and asks what he's going to do. But he's just as screwed as she is, and they can only just look up as Gaghiel opens a massive mouth chockful of teeth, its core on the hinge of its immense jaws, and closes them shut around 02. Toji idlely remarks this is almost like fishing, and Misato suddenly gets an idea. Shinji sat on Asuka's lap without thinking and she immediately begins to yell at him for it but is interrupted by Misato telling them not to let go of the Angel no matter what.
Misato requests the Captain's assistance in her latest gambit, and for once he actually hears her out. Misato's plan is to scuttle two of the surviving battleships, have 02 pry open the Angel's mouth, and then have the two ships fire everything they have at the Angel's core, then self-destruct. After a moment's objection where he calls it absurd, and Misato fires back that it's not impossible, he reluctantly gives the order to start the preparations. Not like they have any other ideas. The ships are scuttled, and they begin to reel Gaghiel towards them by steadily reeling in the umbilical cable. Shinji keeps trying to lean over Asuka so he can use 02's controls, but Asuka continues to fuss at him for various reasons - until it becomes clear that if they don't get the Angel's mouth open, they'll be blown to bits too. Asuka swallows her pride and pulls a switch on the Eva's controls that let both pilots use them at once, and the two fight with every ounce of their strength to pry open Gaghiel's jaws. It's just barely enough - the Eva briefly comes fully online just in time for the battleships to slam into both sides of the Angel's mouth, shattering massive teeth in their wake.
The battleships empty everything they have directly onto the Angel's core, and Gaghiel promptly explodes. A massive pillar of water rises from the sea in an explosion eerily reminiscent of those old underwater nuclear tests, and 02 flips onto the Over the Rainbow's deck completely unscathed by the explosion before powering down and collapsing in a heap. Mission accomplished!
Finally, what's left of the Pacific Fleet limps into the port of New Yokosuka (or old Odawara) and everyone begins to disembark. Misato's off first, picked up in a roofless military jeep with Ritsuko riding in the passenger seat. She eyes the damage left by the struggle and idley muses that she must have gone all out. Misato chides herself for not contemplating the possibility of underwater combat. Ritsuko teases her - it's so rare for the legendary Misato Katsuragi to express remorse about anything. Misato also mentions they collected some data from the battle, and Ritsuko flips through the results, pointing something out to Misato.
02 is being lowered onto land by a crane - mostly undamaged, though the Angel's teeth have left some nasty puncture wounds in its upper chest. Asuka looks around at her new home in curiosity, while poor Shinji forgot he's still wearing one of Asuka's plug suits and is immediately relentlessly mocked by Toji and Kensuke.
Ritsuko points out that during that both Shinji and Asuka broke their previous sync rates during the battle, but Misato is dismissive. It was only for seven seconds, and can easily be chalked into adrenaline rather than saying anything about how they co-operate as a pair. Asuka runs in front of the jeep to ask where Kaji is (if you haven't taken the hint, she's got a crush on him just as Toji has a crush on Misato) and Misato mutters that "that idiot's got to be back at HQ by now."
Sure enough, he is. He jokingly describes the trip as "pretty eventful" to Gendo, and he wonders if the Angel attack was caused by the cargo he was transporting in the aforementioned suspiciously large suitcase.
Before we can fully understand the significance of this revelation, the Three Stooges are back at their school. Toji complains that Asuka might have looked cute, but she was a real bitch. Kensuke mutters how glad he is he'll never meet her again... and then the Monkey's Paw immediately curls. She's been transferred into their class, much to their utter dismay!
TO BE CONTINUED
Next episode preview: Asuka and Shinji are very much opposites, but as Eva pilots, they're going to have to learn how to work with each other, especially when their inability to communicate causes them to be utterly thrashed by the arrival of the next Angel. Misato decides to try to kill two birds with one stone - the strategy to defeat this Angel requires these two to be in perfect sync!
If Shinji is meant to deconstruct the "reluctant yet skilled hero" and Rei the "cool mysterious quiet girl," Asuka's meant to be a deconstruction of both the hot-blooded foreign girl and the tsundere archetype, though she accidentally ended up redefining the latter. Woops. She tends to be the favorite of Western fans for reasons I think are fairly obvious - if they aren't calling her a bitch, anyway. There's a reason why Asuka is the way she is, but we're quite aways from seeing it.
For the most part, our main cast has solidified. Every major character except for one has been introduced. Now we get to see how they react when placed in different situations. Will they come out stronger for it? Or will their own various neuroses claim them before the Angels can? And just what is this Human Instrumentality Project we've heard so little about? The answers to these questions... aren't coming next episode. Not even this arc. But in the meantime, enjoy the show before it completely derails and Hideki Anno's Wild Ride truly begins.
Until next time! Ciao.
Last episode: Shinji learned the true nature of Second Impact - the sudden self-destruction of the First Angel discovered by an expedition in Antarctica. NERV is working to prevent the other Angels from triggering a Third Impact, which would result in the complete annihilation of the human race. A lot of the episode also focused on Misato unknowingly being dragged into Ritsuko's and Gendo's plan to discredit Jet Alone, a rival mech created by Japan Heavy Chemical Industries. A nuclear disaster caused by NERV intelligence sabotaging Jet Alone's code was "averted" at the last minute, and Misato and Shinji ultimately ended up solidifying their relationship.
This episode: ANTA BAKA?
...
Gendo's on the phone with Kaji again, arranging the transportation of an unknown cargo with the approval of the Human Instrumentality Committee. The cargo left Sasebo Port yesterday and is making its way along the coastline to Tokyo-3. Misato, Shinji, and his two friends (but not Rei, RIP) are being flown out to the fleet transporting it on a military helicopter. Kensuke's geeking out and recording everything he sees, Toji is trying to impress Misato by wearing a backward baseball cap, and Shinji is dying inside from embarrassment and tries his best to steer the conversation away from Toji's "HEY LOOK AT ME" and towards where they're going. She jokingly replies that they're going to take a cruise across the Pacific - in actuality they're heading straight for the UN's Pacific Fleet.
Five aircraft carriers and four battleships are conveying this cargo. It must be awfully important. The UN Fleet is mainly composed of ex-Soviet and American ships seized by the UN after Second Impact - the lead carrier that the helicopter is flying for, Over the Rainbow, is a rechristened USS Harry S. Truman. Remember what I said before about Anno being a naval otaku? Misato is surprised that it's still afloat, and Kensuke waves her off - it's a pre-Impact relic, and the pride and joy of the Pacific Fleet. The ship's captain is very displeased that such incredible symbols of the old world's naval power have been reduced to... running errands for NERV and the UN. They're not the only ones watching the helicopter come in - a redhead girl with a yellow dress whose face is blotted out by the sun shining behind her looks down as the heli finds its place and comes to a stop.
Kensuke is having the time of his life seeing all of this up close - and the ship's crew smile and chuckle as he geeks out, Toji is chasing after his hat which was violently snatched up by the wind, and Shinji just stretches and yawns. He's doing well getting used to all this, at least. Toji's hat comes to a stop at the feet of the redhead girl, who immediately grinds it under her heel. She gives Misato a friendly greeting - the two already know each other from some time Misato spent in Germany (which might even be where she came to Tokyo-3 from?) and happily reports that she's grown up (and filled out) quite a bit since she last saw her. Misato introduces her as Asuka Langely Soryuu, the Second Child and pilot of Unit-02.
(Note the diodes stuck to her head - Asuka is the only one of the three pilots who wears these 24/7. It's not just a weird quirk or animation error.)
Asuka immediately perks up and asks which of them is the famous Third Child, and then scowls at the thought of it being Toji. Misato corrects her, and she immediately narrows her eyes and briefly looks Shinji up and down. Rei doesn't care what people other than Gendo (and now Shinji) think about her and possesses a sort of strange aura that makes trying to even casually chat with her difficult - but Asuka is the kind of person to immediately establish boundaries and the pecking order, and she's not sure what box to place Shinji in yet, so she just needles him a bit by calling him a "bit dull" and he predictably says nothing in response.
The camera briefly focuses on Misato's NERV ID in the hand of the Captain of the Over the Rainbow - she's scribbled over most of the more personal information - he complains about the Good Old Days and how far the ship has fallen. Misato is polite and diplomatic and hands over the specs for an emergency power socket, should Unit-02 need to be activated at sea for whatever reason, but he waives it off, consistently describes the Evas as "toys" and refuses to transfer command. His ship, his rules - the world may have changed in the years since Impact, but that rule remains ironclad. She's visibly irritated for a moment, but she takes a breath and nods, politely yet firmly reminding the Captain that in an emergency situation, NERV's authority overrules his. Toji mutters about how cool she is, and Shinji's caught off guard by how much she resembles Ritsuko at that moment.
The Captain continues to mutter about how "those kids" are really going to save the Earth, and his XO shrugs and says that times are changing. The US Congress has placed its hopes on the Evangelions, and the Captain mutters about how if they have enough cash to throw around for "toys" like Unit-02, they could at least give the Navy a bit more.
In the abyssal darkness beneath the ship, something big and only vaguely silhouetted by its own bioluminescence - small red pinpricks of light alongside its body - is tailing the fleet...
Cue one of the most cramped and awkward elevator rides in Shinji's life:
Kaji feels like a character who stepped straight of a James Bond movie - always a little bit unshaven and disheveled, but possessing a natural sort of charisma and misdirection. He'd probably make a good magician under different circumstances. He asks Misato if she's single while playing footsie with her under the table, and she plays into his hands by angrily asking why that matters. He then turns to Shinji and says that he's heard he lives with Misato, and then cracks a double entendre by asking if she still tosses and turns in bed. The response is about what you'd expect:
Kaji and Asuka chatter on one of the ship's decks. He asks her what she thinks of the Third Child, and she says that she's very disappointed. She probably thinks he's a brown-nosing stuck up with faux modesty, and there's nothing more irritating in her eyes than someone who thinks they're hot shit but actually isn't. Kaji passes onto her that he achieved a sync ratio of over 40% in his battle against Sachiel, and she looks over in surprise. That's not possible!
Misato and the Three Stooges are riding up an escalator. Kensuke's still filming while Toji mutters about the Captain's attitude, but Misato waives it off. She's dealt with plenty of grumpy old men in her time, and this won't be the last. Shinji says that he likes Kaji, and she immediately scowls and says that he hasn't changed at all, either. Shinji remains blissfully ignorant - but Asuka calls his name and is standing atop the escalator. There's something she wants to show him.
Asuka takes him to the other ship carrying Unit-02 (not sure how she was allowed to do that, but I guess being a pilot gives you a lot of clearance and authority you wouldn't otherwise have) to show off her Evangelion. Unit-02's color scheme is red-and-orange, with a long head and white faceplate sporting four small, green eyes. Asuka wants to impress the boy while putting him in his place - she boasts that her Evangelion is the first true Eva since 00 is a Prototype and 01 is a Test Type, but hers is a Production Type. She says this with a rhetorical and literal flourish while standing atop its back, literally towering over the not-that-impressed Shinji.
Before he can say something, the ship suddenly rocks with the force of an explosion. Asuka immediately recognizes it as an undersea shockwave, and that the explosion had to be nearby. Shinji and Asuka rush atop deck just in time to watch one of the frigates escorting the main fleet explode and disappear under a column of water. The Angel responsible continues to prowl the surrounding area, the occasional column of water shooting up whenever it makes contact with the various submarines escorting the fleet. Shinji says that they have to get back to Misato, and Asuka looks in awe and wonder for a moment... before she looks back with a smug grin on her face.
After the English title card, the fleet immediately scrambles and the Captain struggles to understand the situation. The Cymbeline has been damaged and isn't responding to hails on the radio, while another ship Titus Andronicus (noticing a pattern?) can't find the target. Misato smugly leans out into the bridge and asks the Captain if he's interested in learning information and appropriate counter-measures about the unknown enemy, but he continues to remain stubborn and tells her to get off the bridge, this is a combat situation! He orders all ships to fire at will - but we already know how this song and dance goes, and the unscathed Angel pulls under another frigate without hesitating in the slightest. Misato is confused - why is the Angel here? All of them have shown up at Tokyo-3 up to this point - maybe it's after Unit-02?
Asuka drags Shinji off and then deposits him at the top of a staircase while she goes down to change into her plugsuit without actually telling him what she's doing, so he peeks around the corner to see what's so important and is immediately chewed out for being a pervert. He immediately apologizes and hangs his head in shame. This sums up most of their dynamic in the series. A minute later, she's done and presses the button that vacuum seals the plug suit, and tries to psych herself up for what's coming.
The Captain throws a fit that the Angel isn't sinking, and Toji snarks that he knew only an Eva could beat the Angel, upon which the Captain and XO look back to give him death glares. Misato says nothing.
Back in the impromptu Eva cage, Asuka gives Shinji one of her spare plug suits and he looks up at her in confusion as she declares that he's coming with her. Shinji is incredibly embarrassed once he's put it on, and asks why they're doing this. The kid really is a bit slow on the uptake, huh? Asuka gives off the first anta baka (translated as "What are you, stupid?") of many, and tells him they're getting in the Eva. He protests and asks if they have permission from Misato, and Asuka smugly replies that she can get permission "after she's beaten it." That's a very Misato thing for her to say... hm. She invites him into the cockpit so he can watch how great she is as piloting, just as long as he doesn't get in the way.
You may have noticed a certain feedback loop in Asuka's behavior at this point: Asuka does a thing without either thinking of the consequences or dismissing them entirely (such as wearing a sundress on a windy deck, changing without telling Shinji what she's doing, inviting Shinji into an Eva he's not synced with) and then when the natural consequences follow (the wind accidentally exposes her, Shinji looks around to see what she's doing, ????), she immediately lashes out at other people for it. It's a very simple but very vicious cycle, one whose effects won't become fully clear until the part of the show where things start to go horribly wrong.
As yet another ship sinks below the waves, Misato comments that it's almost as if the Angel is looking for something. The camera immediately cuts to Kaji's cabin and slowly pans up from his suspiciously large suitcase to him watching the chaos from a rolling desk chair. He's on the phone with Gendo again, saying that an Angel attack wasn't exactly part of the deal. Gendo dismisses his concerns - this is what Unit-02 is for, and he's "generously provided a second pilot as a reserve." Worst come to worst, he is to escape by himself. At that, he frowns... but doesn't protest.
Unit-02 is calibrated to respond in Asuka's native German, but Shinji doesn't know the language and it's almost immediately causing synchronization errors.
Unit-02 activates without incident, and almost immediately the Othello's captain radios for help. Misato immediately cheers her on, and the Captain of the Over the Rainbow scrambles to ground 02. Misato and the Captain fight over the microphone for a bit. Don't you love clashing chains of command? As the two continue to grapple with each other, the captain's XO points out that Unit-02 is still using the B-type (or standard) equipment. In other words, if 02 falls into the sea they'll be screwed since it can't float or swim. Misato hears from 02's internal comms that Shinji is also in the cockpit, decides this would be an interesting training exercise, shrugs, and goes "fuck it" and gives them the clearance to launch.
Unit-02 jumps off the Othello just before it is bisected by the Angel, landing on a nearby frigate. The tarp covering it just a few seconds ago is wrapped around its body like a cape, shoulder pylons and head peeking out from holes torn in it. But the two kids can't find the Angel, and the writers remembered the 1-minute timer for once! I had entirely forgotten about that, so there are three instances where the timer is one minute instead of five. Asuka asks Misato to bring out the emergency umbilical cable on deck, and she immediately passes the order to the ship's crew. Asuka then decides on a wild gambit - she's going to play the world's most dangerous and expensive game of hopscotch, hopping between ships in order to get to the Over the Rainbow, casting off the tarp, and revealing 02 in its full glory. Within a minute, the cable is brought out on the deck and the flight deck evacuated.
The ship rocks and tilts to one side as Asuka sticks the landing, with several incredibly expensive fighter jets tumbling into the sea before the ship stabilizes. Kensuke cries about this horrible display for a few moments before the Angel is sighted again making a beeline directly for the Over the Rainbow. Asuka slots the power cable into 02's back and unsheathes her prog knife - while 01's resembles a proper combat knife, 02's is designed somewhat like a long boxcutter and is sectioned so that portions of the blade can be broken off when needed while still retaining a razor-sharp edge. The Angel starts to surface - it's huge and beige, with a small Sachiel-like face on its back roughly where a whale's blowhole would be.
Did I say huge? I'm sorry, I meant massive:
The Fleet must have been close to its destination because the ocean floor is littered with flooded cars and buildings and sunken ships. This must have been a coastal town submerged by Second Impact. Gaghiel is incredibly fast and thrashing wildly in an attempt to throw off 02, which can only cling on for dear life and hope that they have enough spare umblical cable that they don't run out of power. All but one of what few jets haven't already been lost to the waves or been crushed under the Angel's bulk are thrown off the deck by the extension cable thrashing with them. Misato asks how much cable is left before they run out - 1.2 km before the line goes taut. A minute or two later, they've run out of extra cable, and 02 is forced to let go if it doesn't want to be violently disconnected. Gaghiel quickly swims out of range, and on top of all that, Kensuke's run out of space on his camera's memory card!
A small VTOL comes on deck. It's Kaji, and for once Misato is actually happy to see him!
The Angel's circled back around and is making a beeline straight for 02. Asuka tries to get her Eva to move, but it refuses to budge and she immediately begins to freak out. Shinji reminds her that 02 isn't currently equipped for underwater combat, so she whips around and asks what he's going to do. But he's just as screwed as she is, and they can only just look up as Gaghiel opens a massive mouth chockful of teeth, its core on the hinge of its immense jaws, and closes them shut around 02. Toji idlely remarks this is almost like fishing, and Misato suddenly gets an idea. Shinji sat on Asuka's lap without thinking and she immediately begins to yell at him for it but is interrupted by Misato telling them not to let go of the Angel no matter what.
Misato requests the Captain's assistance in her latest gambit, and for once he actually hears her out. Misato's plan is to scuttle two of the surviving battleships, have 02 pry open the Angel's mouth, and then have the two ships fire everything they have at the Angel's core, then self-destruct. After a moment's objection where he calls it absurd, and Misato fires back that it's not impossible, he reluctantly gives the order to start the preparations. Not like they have any other ideas. The ships are scuttled, and they begin to reel Gaghiel towards them by steadily reeling in the umbilical cable. Shinji keeps trying to lean over Asuka so he can use 02's controls, but Asuka continues to fuss at him for various reasons - until it becomes clear that if they don't get the Angel's mouth open, they'll be blown to bits too. Asuka swallows her pride and pulls a switch on the Eva's controls that let both pilots use them at once, and the two fight with every ounce of their strength to pry open Gaghiel's jaws. It's just barely enough - the Eva briefly comes fully online just in time for the battleships to slam into both sides of the Angel's mouth, shattering massive teeth in their wake.
The battleships empty everything they have directly onto the Angel's core, and Gaghiel promptly explodes. A massive pillar of water rises from the sea in an explosion eerily reminiscent of those old underwater nuclear tests, and 02 flips onto the Over the Rainbow's deck completely unscathed by the explosion before powering down and collapsing in a heap. Mission accomplished!
02 is being lowered onto land by a crane - mostly undamaged, though the Angel's teeth have left some nasty puncture wounds in its upper chest. Asuka looks around at her new home in curiosity, while poor Shinji forgot he's still wearing one of Asuka's plug suits and is immediately relentlessly mocked by Toji and Kensuke.
Ritsuko points out that during that both Shinji and Asuka broke their previous sync rates during the battle, but Misato is dismissive. It was only for seven seconds, and can easily be chalked into adrenaline rather than saying anything about how they co-operate as a pair. Asuka runs in front of the jeep to ask where Kaji is (if you haven't taken the hint, she's got a crush on him just as Toji has a crush on Misato) and Misato mutters that "that idiot's got to be back at HQ by now."
Sure enough, he is. He jokingly describes the trip as "pretty eventful" to Gendo, and he wonders if the Angel attack was caused by the cargo he was transporting in the aforementioned suspiciously large suitcase.
TO BE CONTINUED
...
Today's Fly Me To The Moon is sung by Asuka's seiyuu in a cheerful remix.
Next episode preview: Asuka and Shinji are very much opposites, but as Eva pilots, they're going to have to learn how to work with each other, especially when their inability to communicate causes them to be utterly thrashed by the arrival of the next Angel. Misato decides to try to kill two birds with one stone - the strategy to defeat this Angel requires these two to be in perfect sync!
If Shinji is meant to deconstruct the "reluctant yet skilled hero" and Rei the "cool mysterious quiet girl," Asuka's meant to be a deconstruction of both the hot-blooded foreign girl and the tsundere archetype, though she accidentally ended up redefining the latter. Woops. She tends to be the favorite of Western fans for reasons I think are fairly obvious - if they aren't calling her a bitch, anyway. There's a reason why Asuka is the way she is, but we're quite aways from seeing it.
For the most part, our main cast has solidified. Every major character except for one has been introduced. Now we get to see how they react when placed in different situations. Will they come out stronger for it? Or will their own various neuroses claim them before the Angels can? And just what is this Human Instrumentality Project we've heard so little about? The answers to these questions... aren't coming next episode. Not even this arc. But in the meantime, enjoy the show before it completely derails and Hideki Anno's Wild Ride truly begins.
Until next time! Ciao.
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- Pronouns
- He
What are friends for, huh?
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode Nine: Moment and Heart Together/Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win!
The Red Prince
000:00:00:00
- Location
- Everywhere, at the end of time.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode Nine: Moment and Heart Together/Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win!
Last episode: Misato and the Three Stooges accompanied the UN Pacific Fleet on the last leg of its voyage to Japan. Its cargo is Evangelion Unit-02 and its firey pilot, Asuka Langley Soryuu. Escorting her is Ryoji Kaji, Misato's college ex who's simultaneously finishing an errand Gendo requested of him. Just as things couldn't possibly get any more awkward, the Sixth Angel, Gaghiel attacked the fleet. Asuka and Shinji co-piloted 02 and played a game of hopscotch with the Angel before it pulled them underwater. Misato once again saved the day by scuttling two battleships and having them fire directly into Gaghiel's core while 02 held its mouth open. Despite this rocky start, Asuka and Shinji both broke their previous sync rate records during this battle. Having successfully arrived in Japan only somewhat worse for wear, Asuka transfers into Shinji's class to the horror of his friends, and Kaji delivers a small embryo to Gendo cryptically referred to as "Adam..."
This episode: One of the best """filler""" episodes I've ever seen. Hell, it's one of the best Evangelion episodes I've ever seen.
In the week since she's arrived, Asuka's become popular with the boys and girls alike - some of the images depict a torrent of Valentines pouring out from her locker, and her angrily grinding them under her heel. Toji, who's helping Kensuke with his little operation, mutters that their customers should be glad that the pictures don't show her personality. But that's probably part of the appeal for a distressingly large amount of her admirers. Bleh.
Asuka says good morning to Shinji in German, much to his confusion. She tells him to perk up since she's dared to grace him with her presence, and then flicks his forehead. He winces but says nothing. Poor kid's kind of a doormat. She swivels around to look for "the other one" - Rei is in the middle of reading a book, sitting all by her lonesome on a bench. Throughout the conversation, the entire student body has suddenly turned up to eavesdrop.
The camera focuses on Rei's book for a few seconds - it's in German, and if I remember right is about physics(?) - before Asuka's shadow blocks out Rei's reading light. Having put Shinji in his place, now it's time to put Rei in hers. Rei tries to shift her book in vain, but when it's clear that Asuka intends to press the issue, she looks up at her with an annoyed glare:
Ouch. Rei doesn't have time for passive-aggressive people.
Toji asks Shinji if "only weirdos" are chosen as Eva pilots. He's... not entirely wrong.
With that out of the way, the camera cuts to Ritsuko analyzing data from the last episode's battle. The computer screen mentions that Gaghiel's "Blood Type" is Blue - it's never clear what this refers to since Sachiel is the only Angel shown to have blue blood, but this indicates that an entity is unambiguously an Angel.
In the middle of her work, Kaji comes up and embraces her from behind. She's cool with it, don't worry.
Hi Misato.
Kaji chuckles and releases her, while Ritsuko goes back to Straight Laced Scientist. Misato growls and storms off... and into the room. Ritsuko remarks that Kaji is still careless, and Misato that he's still an idiot, and asks him why he's even still here. Isn't his job done? Kaji gleefully informs her that he's on orders to stay in Tokyo-3 indefinitely. Now they can all hang out together again, just like the good old days! Wouldn't that be nice? Misato's certainly not thrilled with the idea - but she's interrupted by the Angel Alarm (TM) going off.
This time, they do have a bit of advanced warning: A patrolling battlecruiser picked up a huge submerged object moving towards the city. Hyuga confirms the wavelength pattern is Blue - it's an Angel. Fuyutsuki (Gendo is mysteriously absent again) gives the order to assume battle stations...
Ramiel's corpse is still slowly being dismantled, and in general, Tokyo-3 is still reeling from that battle. Only 26% of the usual Angel interception system is operational, several weeks later. Therefore, Misato's orders are simple: the moment the Seventh Angel steps out of the water, kill it on the spot. So the Big Eva Transportation Planes are flying them to the predicted site of surfacing, a convoy of supply trucks tailing them. 01 and 02 are to make a series of coordinated attacks together, and Asuka is not happy about it. A small little video feed from 01 pops up in her entry plug where he tries to reassure her. Orders are orders, etc. She immediately scowls and yells at him not to get in her way.
The Evas drop into position on a closed-off beach, and Asuka grumbles that 2 against 1 isn't a fair fight. Misato says that when it's survival that's at stake, they should leverage every advantage they get. Cables are slotted into 01 and 02, and they rear up and wait. 01's equipped with a "pallet rifle" that resembles an assault rifle, while 02's equipped with a long, thin spear somewhat resembling a Naginata, though the blade is smaller and shaped more like that of a knife. Soon, the Angel surfaces. Its name is Israfel, and it means "The Burning One." Israfel is the Angel of Dance and Music, and in Islamic tradition is said to be the unnamed figure in the Qur'an who blows the trumpet twice on Yawm al-Qiyamah: the first will cause all living beings to die, the second will resurrect all human beings that have ever lived and bring them forth for final Judgement. Oddly fitting for Evangelion.
Israfel is a vaguely humanoid Angel one-third taller than an Evangelion, with a similar color scheme and appearance to Sachiel - though it is silver and green instead of bone-white and green. It has three toes with bird-like feet, and three sharp claws at the end of its spindly limbs. In place of a defined head, it has a mask similar to Sachiel's that resembles a blue-red ying-yang symbol placed on its upper chest and a small core where a human's navel would be. Misato gives the order to begin the assault, and Asuka immediately charges off, telling Shinji to cover her since ladies first, after all. Shinji grumbles that she's the newbie and lays some suppressive fire on the Angel to help soften it up for her. Asuka hopscotches along the roofs of half-submerged buildings and then cleaves the Angel in half with a single strike - it merely blinks in confusion before it is bisected. Shinji's suitably impressed, and Asuka boasts that a fight should be clean and elegant, without any waste.
But the Angel's corpse quickly begins to twitch, and the ying-yang mask is retracted in favor of a dull grey one with three eye holes. Suddenly, both halves regenerate, and now there are two Israfels - each Eva-sized and with a different color scheme. One has orange highlights, while one has bone-white ones, both have the same three-eye mask and their core on their chests. Misato crushes her headset with her hand and says that's cheating, each Israfel turns to face an Evangelion...
Asuka and Shinji sulk as the review plays. Kaji, Fuyutsuki, and the Bridge Bunnies are also in the room, though they say nothing. The moment it's over, Asuka immediately chews Shinji out for screwing up her debut battle (wasn't... last time... never mind) and for once Shinji fires back that she's the one who did something stupid! The two bicker for a bit in front of the adults, and the woman from before desperately tries to restart the review: at 11:03 NERV threw in the towel and transferred command to UN forces. At 11:05, the UN chose to drop an N2 on the Angels, and Fuyutsuki mutters they'll have to redraw the map again. 28% of the Israfels' mass was burned off, and both have since stopped moving. These two are honestly kinda wimpy in comparison to Sachiel, but the two will end up regenerating eventually, so they'll have to find a different way to kill it.
Fuyutsuki stands up and asks the pilots if they know what their job is. Asuka says piloting Eva, and Fuyutsuki immediately shoots her down. Their job is to defeat the Angels, instead of making complete and utter shitshows like this one. He orders them to co-operate, and at the same time they shout "Why should we?!" See, you're already learning! Fuyutsuki then leaves on one of the apparently dozens of one-man elevators NERV has laying around. Asuka asks Kaji why everyone at NERV is so touchy, and he replies that adults don't like having their credibility challenged. Shinji then asks him where Misato is, and he says she's the one taking the fall for their disastrous sortie:
Ritsuko comes to hand-deliver the UN's bill and a few more complaints, to further rub the salt in the wound. Misato grumbles that she already knows what they're going to say, that they want the fighting to be contained to Tokyo-3, and she'll do that as soon as the topside is cleaned up - the camera pans to Ramiel's corpse, which NERV is now scrambling to dismantle and is almost halfway finished with. The camera then cuts back to Misato doing the Gendo pose and promising she will destroy the Angels without fail. Ritsuko says that Fuyutsuki is livid, and she'll probably get demoted if she embarrasses him again. They both agree that it's fortunate that Gendo wasn't here today - she'd have been fired, drawn, and then quartered. Misato cheerfully replies that Ritsuko's clearly come to help her save her job, and she's so grateful for her help. Ritsuko does produce a thumb drive but says it's not from her, it's from Kaji - the drive is labeled "To my honey" and has a pink heart scribbled on it. Misato's reaction is... interesting. She initially looks disgusted but then smiles slightly. The camera zooms in on Ritsuko's oddly neutral face...
As Shinji comes home from school the next day, a moving truck can be seen driving by, but he doesn't pay it any attention. Nor does he notice the hallway filled with boxes. It's not until he opens his room and finds it packed to the gills with boxes that he finally passes his spot check. Asuka pops up behind him in casual wear. She's moved in too! Poor Shinji can't get a break. Asuka boasts that he's been replaced by the "superior" model, though she'd rather be living with Kaji, she lovingly sighs. She then asks why Japanese rooms are so small and don't lock, and Misato pops up behind her to say that the Japanese way is to consider the needs of others before those of yourself. She then grins and says that this is part of the preparation for the next operation.
At dinner, Misato slams another beer on the table. She says that the only way to defeat Israfel is a simultaneous two-pronged assault on both of its cores. This requires perfect synchronization and coordination with the Evas - and thus, perfect synchronization and coordination with the pilots. Asuka and Shinji are going to learn to work together, or we're all going to die. No pressure. They have six days before Israfel finishes regenerating and goes on the move again. So they're going to memorize an attack pattern synchronized with a track of music. Cue English title card.
Shinji hasn't come to school for three days, so Kensuke and Toji decide to come to check up on him and see if everything is ok. They step out of the elevator to Misato and Shinji's floor, and their surprise, Hikari steps out of the other elevator. She's here to check up on Asuka, but the three don't quite put two and two together yet. This is also the first time the "Three Stooges" nickname for Shinji and his friends is used in-universe. The three of them ring the doorbell at the same time - and Shinji and Asuka both answer, wearing the same clothes. All three of them are horrified by this development:
Misato and Rei show up outside of her apartment, and Toji asks her to explain what's going on. The misunderstanding is cleared up - and Shinji and Asuka have been forced to play endless rounds of DDR together to improve their coordination. It's going... as well as you'd expect. Asuka throws her headphones across the room and screams that it's impossible to work with someone as unskilled as Shinji. Misato smirks and asks if she gives up, and Asuka snarks that they don't have anyone else who could do the job. So she tells Rei to give it a shot. To Asuka's utter horror and disbelief, Rei can perfectly mirror Shinji. Misato contemplates replacing her with Rei, but this little bit of emotional blackmail fires, triggering Asuka's as-of-yet-unseen trauma something fierce. She runs away crying and slams the door to what used to be Shinji's room behind her. Hikari tries to call out to Asuka, then whips around and chews out Shinji for making her cry (no he didn't) and tells him to go after her (yes he should).
She's huddled in front of the cold drinks section of the nearby convenience store, the fridge door open and serving as a literal barrier between the two. Asuka tells him not to say anything, so he just kind of stands there and shoots her a sympathetic glare. She mutters that she has no choice but to pilot, stands up, and closes the door as she says she'll do it. This show sure loves its symbolism. They eat on the roof of a nearby building, Asuka ranting and raving while Shinji just nods along. This is the first time we can get a glimpse at her internal life - now it's a manner of pride, and Asuka won't take a slight like that lying down. And Shinji smiles slightly - he understands.
Training montage time! It's uh, still a work in progress:
Asuka and Shinji are trained to do absolutely everything in sync and hate every single minute of it. But finally, after days and days of emotional torture to overcome the Hedgehog's Dilemma through sheer force of will, the day before the battle they finally get it. Up until this point, Shinji and Asuka have been sleeping in the same room with Misato between them as chaperone - she's not stupid enough to leave a teenage boy and a teenage girl alone in the same room. Asuka steps out of the shower wrapped up in a towel and asks Shinji where Misato is, and he replies that she's pulling an all-nighter and that they have the night off since they're as trained as they possibly can be. So Asuka moves her futon into the other room and slams the sliding door behind her... then slides it open again. In a bit of in-universe (but still creepy) male gaze, the camera focuses down Asuka's shirt as she tells Shinji that the sliding door between them is the "impenetrable wall of Jericho" and that if he peaks over it, she'll flay him alive. Shinji's confused... he wasn't thinking about that at all before, but now he certainly is. Remember what I said about feedback loops?
What follows is a microcosm of their relationship throughout the series in a nutshell: Asuka tells him she doesn't want anything to do with him, but her actions say she does. Shinji is utterly bewildered by this and is never sure what she wants of him. Maybe she's not asleep, and this is her way of telling him she wants him? Maybe he shouldn't look? Maybe... eventually Shinji decides to try a kiss and see what happens. Sweating bullets, just as he's about to press his lips against hers... she begins to mutter for her "mama" in her sleep, and tears begin to roll down her cheeks. The moment passes, and Shinji's SDAT player loudly clicks as it reaches the beginning of his playlist.
Shinji ends up letting Asuka have the futon and takes his pillow and blankets to huddle up on the other side of the room, taking care to face away from her. A swirling cocktail of emotions plays in his head - shame, anger, arousal, etc. - before he finally concludes that despite all her efforts to portray herself as "grownup," she's just as much of a child as she is, and angrily pulls the blanket over his head.
Meanwhile, at NERV HQ, Kaji surprised Misato in an elevator and is passionately kissing her. He's grabbing onto her tightly, but Misato is fully capable of fighting him off should he cross the line. Kaji's also not the kind of guy to do something like that, though that won't be clear until later. The result uncomfortably straddles the border - definitely not sexual assault, definitely not consensual - as Misato squirms awkwardly and weakly protests, but doesn't actually try to fight Kaji off and just eyes the elevator door and awkwardly backs off as soon as it opens.
I've realized upon this rewatch that the relationship between Shinji and Asuka and between Kaji and Misato are meant to mirror each other. Feels like something that should have been obvious in hindsight.
Misato goes to mope in one of the subtracted buildings hanging off the Geofront's ceiling. Ritsuko knows she'll be there and comes to bring her some coffee. Interestingly, she's not wearing her lab coat, just the purple zip-up shirt.
The camera suddenly cuts to the sound of VTOL engines. Israfel's two halves have combined again, and the Angel is on the move. It seems the UN/JSSDF have finally learned their lesson - they circle Israfel like a swarm of angry hornets, but they don't fire on it. No point, even if this Angel is a bit on the weaker side. Shinji and Asuka are ready to be deployed. They have 62 seconds and are to deploy their AT Field as soon as the music starts. Asuka still needles Shinji a bit - full power, maximum speed from the start - and Shinji glowers back, but already they're working together much better than before. Aoba reports the target is in range, Misato orders the external power cables detached, and then gives the order to launch. The timer starts with the music and the elevators.
55 seconds: 01 and 02 reach the surface and immediately leap into the air. They hover for a few seconds as the Angel looks up at them. They wheel in the air and deploy an extendable net that saws Israfel in half.
48 seconds: Israfel splits into Israfel-A and B. 01 and 02 crash to the ground. The rifles are deployed from a nearby building - Shinji sprays A with the Pallet Gun and Asuka fires the completed in-house Positron Rifle (not the sniper rifle that requires all of Japan's power) at B.
40 seconds: A and B counterattack, firing beams of light from their three eyes. 01 and 02 backflip from the beams in perfect sync with each other and the music.
33 seconds: 01 and 02 come to their designated stop, and a barrier is raised between them and the Angel that shields them from the blast. 01 and 02 peaks out from behind their cover and fire at their respective targets, but the two halves levitate closer towards them and slash apart the barrier.
26 seconds: NERV throws everything in the kitchen sink at Israfel to cover the two Evas.
22 seconds: Shinji and Asuka, 01 and 02's silhouettes are overlaid as they begin the final assault, uppercutting both Angels at the same time and then sending them flying with a whirling kick.
16 seconds: Israfel rapidly refuses, but its two cores still haven't fused into one. 01 and 02 leap into the sky, to the amazement of the entirety of the staff on the Bridge...
6 seconds: The feet of both 01 and 02 slam into the twin cores with impossible force, sending the Angel flying out of the city and quickly and utterly pulverizing the red spheres that give the Angels life.
0 seconds. The timer runs out, and the shattered cores glow an eerie white as Israfel self-destructs, leaving a massive crater and another pillar of light. Everyone looks at the two with pride...
Ok, they didn't stick the landing. Misato facepalms, Ritsuko mutters this is pathetic, and the entry plugs eject from the Evas. NERV apparently thought it would be worth installing holo-telephones right by the entry plugs, solely so we can have this gag.
TO BE CONTINUED
It's interesting how much the show really pushes Shinji and Asuka as a couple, and then spends the next two arcs showing why that would be a horrible, horrible idea. In comparison, the ship teasing with Rei, while definitely there, is pushed a lot less. Then again, Rei isn't really that present in this arc, so it could just be purely due to the fact Asuka's around more so there are more opportunities to tease her and Shinji.
Either way, I think I can pretty easily say that this is one of Evangelion's best episodes. It's solid all-around - this is the first episode where we get a peek at Asuka's issues and an examination of the relationship between her and Shinji, while the subplot with Misato, Kaji, and Ritsuko adds an interesting dimension to all three characters we haven't really seen before. And the actual action sequence is one of the best in the show, even if it has become a bit of a meme as of yet. Unfortunately, the next episode is arguably one of the worst.
Until next time! Ciao!
Last episode: Misato and the Three Stooges accompanied the UN Pacific Fleet on the last leg of its voyage to Japan. Its cargo is Evangelion Unit-02 and its firey pilot, Asuka Langley Soryuu. Escorting her is Ryoji Kaji, Misato's college ex who's simultaneously finishing an errand Gendo requested of him. Just as things couldn't possibly get any more awkward, the Sixth Angel, Gaghiel attacked the fleet. Asuka and Shinji co-piloted 02 and played a game of hopscotch with the Angel before it pulled them underwater. Misato once again saved the day by scuttling two battleships and having them fire directly into Gaghiel's core while 02 held its mouth open. Despite this rocky start, Asuka and Shinji both broke their previous sync rate records during this battle. Having successfully arrived in Japan only somewhat worse for wear, Asuka transfers into Shinji's class to the horror of his friends, and Kaji delivers a small embryo to Gendo cryptically referred to as "Adam..."
This episode: One of the best """filler""" episodes I've ever seen. Hell, it's one of the best Evangelion episodes I've ever seen.
...
This first bit of narration is overlaid over various images of Asuka taken by Kensuke and being sold for 30 yen apiece. They range from the fairly innocuous to her changing in the girl's locker room. Gross.
In the week since she's arrived, Asuka's become popular with the boys and girls alike - some of the images depict a torrent of Valentines pouring out from her locker, and her angrily grinding them under her heel. Toji, who's helping Kensuke with his little operation, mutters that their customers should be glad that the pictures don't show her personality. But that's probably part of the appeal for a distressingly large amount of her admirers. Bleh.
Asuka says good morning to Shinji in German, much to his confusion. She tells him to perk up since she's dared to grace him with her presence, and then flicks his forehead. He winces but says nothing. Poor kid's kind of a doormat. She swivels around to look for "the other one" - Rei is in the middle of reading a book, sitting all by her lonesome on a bench. Throughout the conversation, the entire student body has suddenly turned up to eavesdrop.
Ouch. Rei doesn't have time for passive-aggressive people.
Toji asks Shinji if "only weirdos" are chosen as Eva pilots. He's... not entirely wrong.
With that out of the way, the camera cuts to Ritsuko analyzing data from the last episode's battle. The computer screen mentions that Gaghiel's "Blood Type" is Blue - it's never clear what this refers to since Sachiel is the only Angel shown to have blue blood, but this indicates that an entity is unambiguously an Angel.
In the middle of her work, Kaji comes up and embraces her from behind. She's cool with it, don't worry.
Kaji chuckles and releases her, while Ritsuko goes back to Straight Laced Scientist. Misato growls and storms off... and into the room. Ritsuko remarks that Kaji is still careless, and Misato that he's still an idiot, and asks him why he's even still here. Isn't his job done? Kaji gleefully informs her that he's on orders to stay in Tokyo-3 indefinitely. Now they can all hang out together again, just like the good old days! Wouldn't that be nice? Misato's certainly not thrilled with the idea - but she's interrupted by the Angel Alarm (TM) going off.
This time, they do have a bit of advanced warning: A patrolling battlecruiser picked up a huge submerged object moving towards the city. Hyuga confirms the wavelength pattern is Blue - it's an Angel. Fuyutsuki (Gendo is mysteriously absent again) gives the order to assume battle stations...
Ramiel's corpse is still slowly being dismantled, and in general, Tokyo-3 is still reeling from that battle. Only 26% of the usual Angel interception system is operational, several weeks later. Therefore, Misato's orders are simple: the moment the Seventh Angel steps out of the water, kill it on the spot. So the Big Eva Transportation Planes are flying them to the predicted site of surfacing, a convoy of supply trucks tailing them. 01 and 02 are to make a series of coordinated attacks together, and Asuka is not happy about it. A small little video feed from 01 pops up in her entry plug where he tries to reassure her. Orders are orders, etc. She immediately scowls and yells at him not to get in her way.
The Evas drop into position on a closed-off beach, and Asuka grumbles that 2 against 1 isn't a fair fight. Misato says that when it's survival that's at stake, they should leverage every advantage they get. Cables are slotted into 01 and 02, and they rear up and wait. 01's equipped with a "pallet rifle" that resembles an assault rifle, while 02's equipped with a long, thin spear somewhat resembling a Naginata, though the blade is smaller and shaped more like that of a knife. Soon, the Angel surfaces. Its name is Israfel, and it means "The Burning One." Israfel is the Angel of Dance and Music, and in Islamic tradition is said to be the unnamed figure in the Qur'an who blows the trumpet twice on Yawm al-Qiyamah: the first will cause all living beings to die, the second will resurrect all human beings that have ever lived and bring them forth for final Judgement. Oddly fitting for Evangelion.
Israfel is a vaguely humanoid Angel one-third taller than an Evangelion, with a similar color scheme and appearance to Sachiel - though it is silver and green instead of bone-white and green. It has three toes with bird-like feet, and three sharp claws at the end of its spindly limbs. In place of a defined head, it has a mask similar to Sachiel's that resembles a blue-red ying-yang symbol placed on its upper chest and a small core where a human's navel would be. Misato gives the order to begin the assault, and Asuka immediately charges off, telling Shinji to cover her since ladies first, after all. Shinji grumbles that she's the newbie and lays some suppressive fire on the Angel to help soften it up for her. Asuka hopscotches along the roofs of half-submerged buildings and then cleaves the Angel in half with a single strike - it merely blinks in confusion before it is bisected. Shinji's suitably impressed, and Asuka boasts that a fight should be clean and elegant, without any waste.
But the Angel's corpse quickly begins to twitch, and the ying-yang mask is retracted in favor of a dull grey one with three eye holes. Suddenly, both halves regenerate, and now there are two Israfels - each Eva-sized and with a different color scheme. One has orange highlights, while one has bone-white ones, both have the same three-eye mask and their core on their chests. Misato crushes her headset with her hand and says that's cheating, each Israfel turns to face an Evangelion...
Fuyutsuki stands up and asks the pilots if they know what their job is. Asuka says piloting Eva, and Fuyutsuki immediately shoots her down. Their job is to defeat the Angels, instead of making complete and utter shitshows like this one. He orders them to co-operate, and at the same time they shout "Why should we?!" See, you're already learning! Fuyutsuki then leaves on one of the apparently dozens of one-man elevators NERV has laying around. Asuka asks Kaji why everyone at NERV is so touchy, and he replies that adults don't like having their credibility challenged. Shinji then asks him where Misato is, and he says she's the one taking the fall for their disastrous sortie:
As Shinji comes home from school the next day, a moving truck can be seen driving by, but he doesn't pay it any attention. Nor does he notice the hallway filled with boxes. It's not until he opens his room and finds it packed to the gills with boxes that he finally passes his spot check. Asuka pops up behind him in casual wear. She's moved in too! Poor Shinji can't get a break. Asuka boasts that he's been replaced by the "superior" model, though she'd rather be living with Kaji, she lovingly sighs. She then asks why Japanese rooms are so small and don't lock, and Misato pops up behind her to say that the Japanese way is to consider the needs of others before those of yourself. She then grins and says that this is part of the preparation for the next operation.
At dinner, Misato slams another beer on the table. She says that the only way to defeat Israfel is a simultaneous two-pronged assault on both of its cores. This requires perfect synchronization and coordination with the Evas - and thus, perfect synchronization and coordination with the pilots. Asuka and Shinji are going to learn to work together, or we're all going to die. No pressure. They have six days before Israfel finishes regenerating and goes on the move again. So they're going to memorize an attack pattern synchronized with a track of music. Cue English title card.
Shinji hasn't come to school for three days, so Kensuke and Toji decide to come to check up on him and see if everything is ok. They step out of the elevator to Misato and Shinji's floor, and their surprise, Hikari steps out of the other elevator. She's here to check up on Asuka, but the three don't quite put two and two together yet. This is also the first time the "Three Stooges" nickname for Shinji and his friends is used in-universe. The three of them ring the doorbell at the same time - and Shinji and Asuka both answer, wearing the same clothes. All three of them are horrified by this development:
Misato and Rei show up outside of her apartment, and Toji asks her to explain what's going on. The misunderstanding is cleared up - and Shinji and Asuka have been forced to play endless rounds of DDR together to improve their coordination. It's going... as well as you'd expect. Asuka throws her headphones across the room and screams that it's impossible to work with someone as unskilled as Shinji. Misato smirks and asks if she gives up, and Asuka snarks that they don't have anyone else who could do the job. So she tells Rei to give it a shot. To Asuka's utter horror and disbelief, Rei can perfectly mirror Shinji. Misato contemplates replacing her with Rei, but this little bit of emotional blackmail fires, triggering Asuka's as-of-yet-unseen trauma something fierce. She runs away crying and slams the door to what used to be Shinji's room behind her. Hikari tries to call out to Asuka, then whips around and chews out Shinji for making her cry (no he didn't) and tells him to go after her (yes he should).
She's huddled in front of the cold drinks section of the nearby convenience store, the fridge door open and serving as a literal barrier between the two. Asuka tells him not to say anything, so he just kind of stands there and shoots her a sympathetic glare. She mutters that she has no choice but to pilot, stands up, and closes the door as she says she'll do it. This show sure loves its symbolism. They eat on the roof of a nearby building, Asuka ranting and raving while Shinji just nods along. This is the first time we can get a glimpse at her internal life - now it's a manner of pride, and Asuka won't take a slight like that lying down. And Shinji smiles slightly - he understands.
Training montage time! It's uh, still a work in progress:
An unclear amount of time passes. Shinji's listening to music on his SDAT again, and immediately plays dead when he hears Asuka slide open the sliding door. He sighs with relief when she's not here to kick his ass, she just needs to go to the bathroom... and then she flops back asleep beside him. She might not even have done that consciously. Shinji's now wide awake, painfully aware of the pretty teenage girl right next to him in a very loose-fitting shirt, and accidentally hits the fast forward button on his SDAT player. 
Shinji ends up letting Asuka have the futon and takes his pillow and blankets to huddle up on the other side of the room, taking care to face away from her. A swirling cocktail of emotions plays in his head - shame, anger, arousal, etc. - before he finally concludes that despite all her efforts to portray herself as "grownup," she's just as much of a child as she is, and angrily pulls the blanket over his head.
Meanwhile, at NERV HQ, Kaji surprised Misato in an elevator and is passionately kissing her. He's grabbing onto her tightly, but Misato is fully capable of fighting him off should he cross the line. Kaji's also not the kind of guy to do something like that, though that won't be clear until later. The result uncomfortably straddles the border - definitely not sexual assault, definitely not consensual - as Misato squirms awkwardly and weakly protests, but doesn't actually try to fight Kaji off and just eyes the elevator door and awkwardly backs off as soon as it opens.
I've realized upon this rewatch that the relationship between Shinji and Asuka and between Kaji and Misato are meant to mirror each other. Feels like something that should have been obvious in hindsight.
Misato goes to mope in one of the subtracted buildings hanging off the Geofront's ceiling. Ritsuko knows she'll be there and comes to bring her some coffee. Interestingly, she's not wearing her lab coat, just the purple zip-up shirt.
The camera suddenly cuts to the sound of VTOL engines. Israfel's two halves have combined again, and the Angel is on the move. It seems the UN/JSSDF have finally learned their lesson - they circle Israfel like a swarm of angry hornets, but they don't fire on it. No point, even if this Angel is a bit on the weaker side. Shinji and Asuka are ready to be deployed. They have 62 seconds and are to deploy their AT Field as soon as the music starts. Asuka still needles Shinji a bit - full power, maximum speed from the start - and Shinji glowers back, but already they're working together much better than before. Aoba reports the target is in range, Misato orders the external power cables detached, and then gives the order to launch. The timer starts with the music and the elevators.
(You should watch this scene if you can, it's pretty incredible: link here)
55 seconds: 01 and 02 reach the surface and immediately leap into the air. They hover for a few seconds as the Angel looks up at them. They wheel in the air and deploy an extendable net that saws Israfel in half.
48 seconds: Israfel splits into Israfel-A and B. 01 and 02 crash to the ground. The rifles are deployed from a nearby building - Shinji sprays A with the Pallet Gun and Asuka fires the completed in-house Positron Rifle (not the sniper rifle that requires all of Japan's power) at B.
40 seconds: A and B counterattack, firing beams of light from their three eyes. 01 and 02 backflip from the beams in perfect sync with each other and the music.
33 seconds: 01 and 02 come to their designated stop, and a barrier is raised between them and the Angel that shields them from the blast. 01 and 02 peaks out from behind their cover and fire at their respective targets, but the two halves levitate closer towards them and slash apart the barrier.
26 seconds: NERV throws everything in the kitchen sink at Israfel to cover the two Evas.
22 seconds: Shinji and Asuka, 01 and 02's silhouettes are overlaid as they begin the final assault, uppercutting both Angels at the same time and then sending them flying with a whirling kick.
16 seconds: Israfel rapidly refuses, but its two cores still haven't fused into one. 01 and 02 leap into the sky, to the amazement of the entirety of the staff on the Bridge...
6 seconds: The feet of both 01 and 02 slam into the twin cores with impossible force, sending the Angel flying out of the city and quickly and utterly pulverizing the red spheres that give the Angels life.
0 seconds. The timer runs out, and the shattered cores glow an eerie white as Israfel self-destructs, leaving a massive crater and another pillar of light. Everyone looks at the two with pride...
TO BE CONTINUED
...
Next episode preview: Having found an unhatched Angel submerged underneath a volcano, NERV decides to attempt to capture an Angel for further study of the enemy. It's up to Asuka this time, and things surely won't go wrong. Just... ignore the footage of things going wrong.
It's interesting how much the show really pushes Shinji and Asuka as a couple, and then spends the next two arcs showing why that would be a horrible, horrible idea. In comparison, the ship teasing with Rei, while definitely there, is pushed a lot less. Then again, Rei isn't really that present in this arc, so it could just be purely due to the fact Asuka's around more so there are more opportunities to tease her and Shinji.
Either way, I think I can pretty easily say that this is one of Evangelion's best episodes. It's solid all-around - this is the first episode where we get a peek at Asuka's issues and an examination of the relationship between her and Shinji, while the subplot with Misato, Kaji, and Ritsuko adds an interesting dimension to all three characters we haven't really seen before. And the actual action sequence is one of the best in the show, even if it has become a bit of a meme as of yet. Unfortunately, the next episode is arguably one of the worst.
Until next time! Ciao!
Geckonator
Occult Materialist
Honestly, June, would you mind if I do some concurrent posting comparing the manga? I know that not a lot of people have read it so just digging into all the minutiae of how it's a different interpretation is interesting for people who have only watched the show.
Plus, I had a whole long conversation with a friend about this a while back, so I already know what the main points I'd point to would be.
The Red Prince
000:00:00:00
- Location
- Everywhere, at the end of time.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Go for it, sure! I don't really mind. My main focus has always been on the show and movies, I just figured I couldn't not address the manga due to the parallels with Rebuild so I was going to confine it to a single post. If you want to do a more in-depth take on it, by all means.
Hakazin
Serpent Admirer
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Okay, I'll admit I haven't seen that take before. This is going to be an interesting read, then.
Which the previously-mentioned line is an excellent demonstration of, given that the Biblical walls of Jericho are best known for falling under repeated assault.
Okay, yeah, I can see the argument. The premise is a little too goofy for my taste, but you're right about the character work.
NGE Manga - Volumes 1-2 by Geckonator
Geckonator
Occult Materialist
Okay, so, Neon Genesis Evangelion, the manga by original character designer and concept artist Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (Sadamoto Yoshiyuki? I've heard Japanese publishers are translators are trying to standardize the native name order into English but I don't know the details or how pedantic and comprehensive people want to be about it) is a work that on a lot of surface levels appears to just be a straight adaptation of Evangelion, the anime. You can pick up any given volume and open to a random page, and you have decent odds of landing on something you recognize. There are of course minor details in presentation, as Sadamoto is a manga artist and you get the somewhat strange and fascinating experience of seeing this artist basically framing and storyboarding familiar scenes from totally new angles and with different fine detail.
However, woven within what looks like a standard, to-the-point manga adaptation on the surface is a significantly altered story that focuses more on telling a cohesive, tight script of events from beginning to end. Where the anime's episodic nature and use of montage/editing theory enabled a lot of cutting between different characters and liberal use of flashbacks or imaginary sequences, the manga tends to stay far more grounded and tight. A lot of this is simply smart necessity: you can tell Sadamoto is just as smart and skilled with sequential art as Anno and the Gainax team (the hyper-focus on Anno as auteur ruling over Eva is something I've personally tried to move away from, and in many ways the manga is strong medicine for helping realize that) are with animation, and he isn't afraid to heavily redact or decompress the source material to fit the new medium.
And more fundamentally, Sadamoto, as the original character designer and one of the artists in the room in Evangelion's original conception, has his own ideas of these characters and events that perhaps clash with the show's. There are a lot of additional character moments in the manga that give more insight into personalities and relationships, and many people might actually consider them betrayals of what the original show laid out. I'm actually inclined to a less extreme view here... I like a lot of the differences, dislike some of them, but I do think they're something that should be considered when thinking of Eva on the whole big picture. After all, a fictional character is just impressions on a recorded medium, and the versions in the minds of every different creator on the project and every different audience member are all a little different but all fundamentally part of the same person. Or however the line from Instrumentality goes.
So, let's dig into some of the differences and pick things apart to understand how Sadamoto's Evangelion is different from the usual Evangelion we all know..
So, our first introduction to Shinji on the first page of volume one and... poor kid is already pretty depressed. This is putting, in literal school essay words, the sort of underlying, depressing vibe from Shinji in that he is totally aimless. I mean, one big thing that always gets me about Eva AUs and fanfic and... well, now the ending of 3.0+1.0, is that it's hard to imagine what Shinji would do after being an Eva Pilot. He's not a character with a strong life-path laid out or passions or fixations he can follow, and honestly that's part of what makes him as a character speak to a lot of people with their own issues of being unwell and aimless.
This is also one of the special pages where we get some of Sadamoto's art in the gorgeous and distinct watercolor style. If you've seen any of the original series's promotional materials you know this style and it's very distinct and definitive to Eva's very ethereal but also grounded and sad look in the mind.
So, anyways. The outset is familiar. Shinji in a new city, Sachiel attacks and fucks up the military. There's a little bit of extra detail in Shinji's monologue about his life and on the envelope of Misato's letter (specifically, we now know that Shinji was staying with his uncle and not a teacher like in the show, and specifically they lived in a suburb city of Tokyo, Musashino. Presumably it's not a great, bustling center of life post-Second Impact since Old Tokyo was nuked...)
But then, when Misato shows up to pick up Shinji, we get a big plot difference, as Sachiel almost crushes them, and then...
Eva Unit 01 appears to save them. Getting in a brief but fruitless fight with Sachiel before retreating in one of the Geofront lifts. We'll learn later that it was piloted by Rei, and the scenes from Central Dogma make it clear that she is not having a good time. The N2 attack then proceeds, but Shinji now knows that Eva Unit 01 exists without the sudden surprise of the hangar. I think I can point pretty clearly to why this change was made: from a plotting and scripting perspective, it makes the stakes and circumstances way clearer for Rei to be injured from already trying to fight the Angel rather than just being a sad, injured girl coming out of nowhere that Shinji takes pity on. It establishes right off the bat that the Angel is dangerous, that Piloting is a fucked job, and that Shinji is basically walking into a death sentence by volunteering to pilot here.
So, we continue from here, and we also get small changes becoming clear: Shinji's snark and biting humor towards Misato is more immediately apparent with him mocking some Nerv fluff slogan to her. It doesn't get in the way of the serious stuff, and in fact I'd argue it already matches what we see of Shinji in the show in the circumstances where he isn't currently being traumatized or in a serious situation where he knows not to snark too much.
The written nature of dialogue also lets them do exposition that might be clunky in a show/movie, like Misato throwing in that the Geofront gets its sunlight through fiber optics connected to the surface.
We also get some really clever doublespeak from Ritsuko when Shinji calls the Eva a robot.
"The tern 'robot' originally referred to the idea of a man created by artificial means... This indeed is a synthetic android... An adaptable human construct... And our decisive weapon."
IE: she's dancing around the Eva being a living thing without ever technically lying.
Things keep going more or less to scenario, but dialogue differences keep being noticeable. Shinji is already quite evidently depressed and... determined one might say. He specifically calls upon that opening essay monologue in the Eva to say he isn't afraid of dying, and wants to prove to Gendou that he's not a coward. Manga Shinji is then also not as awkward and immediately flailing about in the Eva. He doesn't trip and immediately get fucked up, but instead tries to stabilize himself after stumbling and even charges at Sachiel. He still gets utterly owned in the same way, it's just a difference of having a... more dignified defeat. This will be a running theme in the manga, actually: giving Shinji some more conventionally heroic moments. You can kind of tell this was written significantly behind the show and that Sadamoto was in some ways responding to fan criticisms or misconceptions about the characters.
And because, again, manga can't as easily use editing and constant flashbacks, we do get the first Unit 01 berserk as one continuous sequence from Shinji getting knocked out. We see Shinji's spirit in the Eva, at first drifting towards a distant feminine figure he recognizes as his mother, but then she gets close and...
I never said these changes were subtle.
Shinji thus gets to seemingly be awake and conscious with a thousand yard stare all throughout mommy's rampage, and we actually see him having nightmares in the hospital of the same image of a bleeding-eyed, unarmored Unit 01 appearing before him. The hospital scenes are also more compressed, with Shinji still wandering around in his hospital clothes when he spots Rei being escorted on a rolling bed by Gendou, and Misato approaches him about the living situation. Misato actually ends up getting an active, angry rise out of Shinji when she tries to nudge him towards filling out the paperwork to have to live with Gendou. She actually "adopts" him in a spell of almost... spite right in front of him after he snaps at her and insists he's better alone, calling Ritsuko on her cell phone right in front of Shinji to make the arrangements.
Then there's also some interesting bonus material included with the volumes of the manga. Little bits of lore about the Pilots synchronizing with the Evas using clusters of "A10 nerves" that are normally associated with dopamine and love (thus the Evas are, in a weird, clinical way, piloted by the power of love), a bit of a dedication/note from Anno, that sort of thing.
So again, things fall into closely matching the show, albeit maybe showing a few more things, like the conversation between Shinji and Touji in the schoolyard that led to the punch (more exposition about how all the adults in Touji's life work in Nerv, so he's already caring for his sister as the only family member regularly around), and an exchange between Misato and Ritsuko indicating that now that Shinji's out of their hair his aunt and uncle have just forgotten him completely and are out of contact. And then there are little differences in characterization, with Shinji's evident psychosis in training being less a thousand yard stare and repetition of his commands by rote and more a brief thought balloon sequence implying Shinji is increasingly dissociated and detached from life, feeling like an observer over his own feelings.
And he's fine with that, because not having to feel anything is better than the pain.
That detachment and lack of care keeps manifesting all over. In an exchange with Misato (after he finds the journal where Misato is basically recording all her observations of him, making it clear that even his new guardian is tied into a panopticon of Nerv fixations on his performance as an Eva Pilot) Shinji is again uncaring and asserts that he doesn't care about his own safety. With manga Shinji, the suicidal ideation and detachment is supposed to be less of a surprise: Sadamoto emphasizes the part of Shinji that would probably always be going that way, and honestly it fits.
Albeit, at some points it goes too far I think. Like outright goading Touji to hit him again, or do even worse and throw him off the building, if it might make him feel better before Rei steps in announcing the Shamshel attack. The fight and runaway sequence go more or less according to the show, but then there's a big difference in character motivations: Misato is the one to cut Shinji out of Nerv. She reads into his insistence, that he doesn't care about himself and doesn't think she actually cares about him either, as basically a sign that he can't handle being a Pilot and really wants to quit in his heart. She basically walks out on him going "fine, if you're going to be this insecure and detached, that's just as bad as if you were refusing. Go back to your uncle and forget about Nerv."
Oh, and in a conversation between Ritsuko and Gendou about this happening, Ritsuko casually brings up that they could just kidnap him and brainwash him to Pilot. But of course, she doesn't like the idea... who knows what problems a brainwashed Pilot would have with synchronization!
So, Misato still goes to get Shinji back from the train station after Touji and Kensuke talk to her, but here she also launches into a sob story for Pen Pen that weirdly relates to Shinji's position... all while holding Pen Pen in a panel that looks both adorable and dumb.
The manga, in its developing tradition of being blunt with things the show could imply indirectly, outright says that Shinji and Misato basically need each other because they have no other family and can't stand to be apart again.
Oh, and to top off this volume, more commentary from Sadamoto, this time...
However, woven within what looks like a standard, to-the-point manga adaptation on the surface is a significantly altered story that focuses more on telling a cohesive, tight script of events from beginning to end. Where the anime's episodic nature and use of montage/editing theory enabled a lot of cutting between different characters and liberal use of flashbacks or imaginary sequences, the manga tends to stay far more grounded and tight. A lot of this is simply smart necessity: you can tell Sadamoto is just as smart and skilled with sequential art as Anno and the Gainax team (the hyper-focus on Anno as auteur ruling over Eva is something I've personally tried to move away from, and in many ways the manga is strong medicine for helping realize that) are with animation, and he isn't afraid to heavily redact or decompress the source material to fit the new medium.
And more fundamentally, Sadamoto, as the original character designer and one of the artists in the room in Evangelion's original conception, has his own ideas of these characters and events that perhaps clash with the show's. There are a lot of additional character moments in the manga that give more insight into personalities and relationships, and many people might actually consider them betrayals of what the original show laid out. I'm actually inclined to a less extreme view here... I like a lot of the differences, dislike some of them, but I do think they're something that should be considered when thinking of Eva on the whole big picture. After all, a fictional character is just impressions on a recorded medium, and the versions in the minds of every different creator on the project and every different audience member are all a little different but all fundamentally part of the same person. Or however the line from Instrumentality goes.
So, let's dig into some of the differences and pick things apart to understand how Sadamoto's Evangelion is different from the usual Evangelion we all know..
So, our first introduction to Shinji on the first page of volume one and... poor kid is already pretty depressed. This is putting, in literal school essay words, the sort of underlying, depressing vibe from Shinji in that he is totally aimless. I mean, one big thing that always gets me about Eva AUs and fanfic and... well, now the ending of 3.0+1.0, is that it's hard to imagine what Shinji would do after being an Eva Pilot. He's not a character with a strong life-path laid out or passions or fixations he can follow, and honestly that's part of what makes him as a character speak to a lot of people with their own issues of being unwell and aimless.
This is also one of the special pages where we get some of Sadamoto's art in the gorgeous and distinct watercolor style. If you've seen any of the original series's promotional materials you know this style and it's very distinct and definitive to Eva's very ethereal but also grounded and sad look in the mind.
So, anyways. The outset is familiar. Shinji in a new city, Sachiel attacks and fucks up the military. There's a little bit of extra detail in Shinji's monologue about his life and on the envelope of Misato's letter (specifically, we now know that Shinji was staying with his uncle and not a teacher like in the show, and specifically they lived in a suburb city of Tokyo, Musashino. Presumably it's not a great, bustling center of life post-Second Impact since Old Tokyo was nuked...)
But then, when Misato shows up to pick up Shinji, we get a big plot difference, as Sachiel almost crushes them, and then...
Eva Unit 01 appears to save them. Getting in a brief but fruitless fight with Sachiel before retreating in one of the Geofront lifts. We'll learn later that it was piloted by Rei, and the scenes from Central Dogma make it clear that she is not having a good time. The N2 attack then proceeds, but Shinji now knows that Eva Unit 01 exists without the sudden surprise of the hangar. I think I can point pretty clearly to why this change was made: from a plotting and scripting perspective, it makes the stakes and circumstances way clearer for Rei to be injured from already trying to fight the Angel rather than just being a sad, injured girl coming out of nowhere that Shinji takes pity on. It establishes right off the bat that the Angel is dangerous, that Piloting is a fucked job, and that Shinji is basically walking into a death sentence by volunteering to pilot here.
So, we continue from here, and we also get small changes becoming clear: Shinji's snark and biting humor towards Misato is more immediately apparent with him mocking some Nerv fluff slogan to her. It doesn't get in the way of the serious stuff, and in fact I'd argue it already matches what we see of Shinji in the show in the circumstances where he isn't currently being traumatized or in a serious situation where he knows not to snark too much.
The written nature of dialogue also lets them do exposition that might be clunky in a show/movie, like Misato throwing in that the Geofront gets its sunlight through fiber optics connected to the surface.
We also get some really clever doublespeak from Ritsuko when Shinji calls the Eva a robot.
"The tern 'robot' originally referred to the idea of a man created by artificial means... This indeed is a synthetic android... An adaptable human construct... And our decisive weapon."
IE: she's dancing around the Eva being a living thing without ever technically lying.
Things keep going more or less to scenario, but dialogue differences keep being noticeable. Shinji is already quite evidently depressed and... determined one might say. He specifically calls upon that opening essay monologue in the Eva to say he isn't afraid of dying, and wants to prove to Gendou that he's not a coward. Manga Shinji is then also not as awkward and immediately flailing about in the Eva. He doesn't trip and immediately get fucked up, but instead tries to stabilize himself after stumbling and even charges at Sachiel. He still gets utterly owned in the same way, it's just a difference of having a... more dignified defeat. This will be a running theme in the manga, actually: giving Shinji some more conventionally heroic moments. You can kind of tell this was written significantly behind the show and that Sadamoto was in some ways responding to fan criticisms or misconceptions about the characters.
And because, again, manga can't as easily use editing and constant flashbacks, we do get the first Unit 01 berserk as one continuous sequence from Shinji getting knocked out. We see Shinji's spirit in the Eva, at first drifting towards a distant feminine figure he recognizes as his mother, but then she gets close and...
I never said these changes were subtle.
Shinji thus gets to seemingly be awake and conscious with a thousand yard stare all throughout mommy's rampage, and we actually see him having nightmares in the hospital of the same image of a bleeding-eyed, unarmored Unit 01 appearing before him. The hospital scenes are also more compressed, with Shinji still wandering around in his hospital clothes when he spots Rei being escorted on a rolling bed by Gendou, and Misato approaches him about the living situation. Misato actually ends up getting an active, angry rise out of Shinji when she tries to nudge him towards filling out the paperwork to have to live with Gendou. She actually "adopts" him in a spell of almost... spite right in front of him after he snaps at her and insists he's better alone, calling Ritsuko on her cell phone right in front of Shinji to make the arrangements.
Then there's also some interesting bonus material included with the volumes of the manga. Little bits of lore about the Pilots synchronizing with the Evas using clusters of "A10 nerves" that are normally associated with dopamine and love (thus the Evas are, in a weird, clinical way, piloted by the power of love), a bit of a dedication/note from Anno, that sort of thing.
So again, things fall into closely matching the show, albeit maybe showing a few more things, like the conversation between Shinji and Touji in the schoolyard that led to the punch (more exposition about how all the adults in Touji's life work in Nerv, so he's already caring for his sister as the only family member regularly around), and an exchange between Misato and Ritsuko indicating that now that Shinji's out of their hair his aunt and uncle have just forgotten him completely and are out of contact. And then there are little differences in characterization, with Shinji's evident psychosis in training being less a thousand yard stare and repetition of his commands by rote and more a brief thought balloon sequence implying Shinji is increasingly dissociated and detached from life, feeling like an observer over his own feelings.
And he's fine with that, because not having to feel anything is better than the pain.
That detachment and lack of care keeps manifesting all over. In an exchange with Misato (after he finds the journal where Misato is basically recording all her observations of him, making it clear that even his new guardian is tied into a panopticon of Nerv fixations on his performance as an Eva Pilot) Shinji is again uncaring and asserts that he doesn't care about his own safety. With manga Shinji, the suicidal ideation and detachment is supposed to be less of a surprise: Sadamoto emphasizes the part of Shinji that would probably always be going that way, and honestly it fits.
Albeit, at some points it goes too far I think. Like outright goading Touji to hit him again, or do even worse and throw him off the building, if it might make him feel better before Rei steps in announcing the Shamshel attack. The fight and runaway sequence go more or less according to the show, but then there's a big difference in character motivations: Misato is the one to cut Shinji out of Nerv. She reads into his insistence, that he doesn't care about himself and doesn't think she actually cares about him either, as basically a sign that he can't handle being a Pilot and really wants to quit in his heart. She basically walks out on him going "fine, if you're going to be this insecure and detached, that's just as bad as if you were refusing. Go back to your uncle and forget about Nerv."
Oh, and in a conversation between Ritsuko and Gendou about this happening, Ritsuko casually brings up that they could just kidnap him and brainwash him to Pilot. But of course, she doesn't like the idea... who knows what problems a brainwashed Pilot would have with synchronization!
So, Misato still goes to get Shinji back from the train station after Touji and Kensuke talk to her, but here she also launches into a sob story for Pen Pen that weirdly relates to Shinji's position... all while holding Pen Pen in a panel that looks both adorable and dumb.
The manga, in its developing tradition of being blunt with things the show could imply indirectly, outright says that Shinji and Misato basically need each other because they have no other family and can't stand to be apart again.
Oh, and to top off this volume, more commentary from Sadamoto, this time...
I don't know what to say to that other than various ways of saying I am screaming in my head, so I'm going to stop reading now and leave this rambling post off and pick up another time.Sadamoto said:
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Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode Ten: Magma Diver
The Red Prince
000:00:00:00
- Location
- Everywhere, at the end of time.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode Ten: Magma Diver
Last episode: Despite their brief instance of heightened synchronization during the battle with Gaghiel, Shinji and Asuka are still opposites who don't get along. This ends up costing NERV during their first battle with the Angel Israfel, which displays the previously unseen ability to duplicate itself and merge these halves at will - Shinji and Asuka are both dispatched quickly by the Angel, forcing the UN to drop an N2 bomb on the Angel to halt its advance. Kaji hatches a wild plan to force the two to get along and dispatch Israfel once it finishes regenerating in six days: they're going to live together from now on, learn to do everything in sync, and memorize a combat routine based on Dance Dance Revolution, of all things. Over the next six days, Kaji/Misato and Shinji/Asuka clash, old and new feelings surface, but ultimately the two Eva pilots can flawlessly execute the dance and dispatch the Angel, and somewhat get along? Kinda. Sorta. Not really.
This episode: Let's just get this over with.
Kaji's taking Asuka shopping (really it's the other way around) and she's having the time of her life, hanging off his arm while he just kinda... tolerates her antics. I'm sure he's aware of her little crush on him, but he never actually acknowledges it. Case in point: she's dragged him into the swimsuit section and he's mildly distressed when she shows off a bikini she wants to buy, but she just waives his objection off as him being a Boomer and not understanding the latest fashion trends. She does have reason to buy a new swimsuit: her school is taking a three-day trip to Okinawa and they'll be diving while they're there, something Asuka's particularly excited about. Kaji remarks that he hasn't gone diving for three years, and Asuka asks him what field trips he went on as a teenager, forgetting that the answer is "none" due to a little thing called Second Impact.
Later that day, Pen-Pen is lounging in the bathtub but has his blissful meditation ruined by Asuka complaining because Misato won't allow them to go. They're on standby for combat duty, and Asuka immediately begins to protest: Who decided this and when? The answer to these questions is Misato, and just now. So Asuka redirects her anger at her favorite punching bag: why the hell isn't Shinji saying anything? Well, he figured he wasn't going to be able to go anyway, so... she stands up and snarks that there's "nothing more useless than a housebroken male." Ouch. To Shinji's credit, he doesn't always ignore her jabs at him: he frowns and asks her politely not to talk about him like that. Misato sympathizes, but the Angels don't rest, and it's always possible that they could attack while the two are gone.
And on top of that:
Best hit the books, you two.
Asuka complains a bit about the Japanese grading system and school life (I have no clue how Japanese schooling compares to German schooling being neither nationality, so I don't have an insightful comment here), Misato shrugs her off, but her decision remains. The three Eva pilots are staying here, and get to watch their classmates take off on a plane to Okinawa without them. Toji even cracks an evil laugh before he gets on the plane. Asshole. Interestingly, Hikari tells Asuka she'll bring her some souvenirs - we already know they're at least somewhat friendly given that she went to check up on her last episode, but it seems that Hikari is the closest thing Asuka has to an actual friend.
Downtime at NERV HQ: Maya's reading some sort of novel, Hyuga a magazine, while Aoba's banging out some tunes on an imaginary air guitar. Misato and Ritsuko chat by the coffee pot, Ritsuko laser-focused on her work.
The three pilots are the only ones at school and have congregated by the pool. Rei's doing laps while Shinji, ever the dutiful student, is the only one not wearing a swimsuit and is tap-tap-tapping away on a school laptop. Science homework. Asuka comes over to try to impress Shinji the only way she knows how:
Teenage boys like teenage girls in bikinis, right?
Shinji's rational thought process proceeds to go out the window as Asuka bends over and asks what problem he's trying to solve, and she does it for him. And so the dance begins again: Asuka signals to Shinji that she wants him (though I don't think this is conscious romantic attraction, not yet), while Shinji's terrified that if he tries anything, she'll kill him (and she probably would) - the spines dig in deeper, leaving both unsatisfied but unable to pull apart from each other. A rather masochistic tango, though its consequences won't become clear yet until later.
Shinji.exe tries to reboot when she solves the equation for him, and he asks her if she can easily solve such a difficult problem while she's struggling in school. She replies that it's because she literally can't understand the questions: she might be fluent in spoken Japanese, but her understanding of the kanji needs some work. But Asuka's a true child prodigy: She graduated from college in Germany last year. Wonder what degree she got and in what, I don't remember if the show ever says.
The next problem Shinji has to do regards thermal expansion. To give a more complicated explanation than the show does: All matter is held together by the bonds between molecules. In solids, these bonds are rigid and the molecules can only vibrate in place, in liquids these bonds are looser and the molecules can slip and slide past each other, and in gases, these bonds are incredibly loose and there's plenty of space between the molecules. The more energy (in the form of heat) added to these substances, the quicker the molecules will vibrate (and vice versa) - add enough and a phase change will take place, but even without that a little more space between molecules will open up as the molecules try to strain against their bonds. The opposite will happen if you are removing energy. This is why running a tight jar lid under hot water loosens it, or why putting cold water in a glass straight out of the dishwater will make it shatter.
Or as Asuka puts it: "things expand when they get hot, and shrink when they get cold."
Asuka tries to entice Shinji by asking if applying heat to her breasts would make them grow bigger, and Shinji nervously stammers out that he wouldn't know the answer to that. Wrong answer: she sulks that Shinji's such a boring guy, but her eyes tell a different story.
Shinji knows it and is probably mentally kicking himself up and down, but never says anything as he just watches her leave. He looks up to see Rei bending over at a distance and immediately looks away from her, though she pays him no mind as always. He can't guess what either wants from him, but for entirely different reasons. Asuka spots him looking at Rei and immediately tries to get his attention again by doing a backflip into the pool. He sighs, but it worked. And the spines dig in deeper...
Mount Asama. UN helicopters circle overhead. One of the most active volcanos in Japanese history, its most recent eruption occurred in 2019 in real life, but its most infamous ones were in 1108 and 1783 respectively, both with a VEI index equivalent to the eruption that destroyed Pompeii. Now the mountain is potentially cradling a different kind of catastrophe. Scientists on a nearby laboratory monitoring the volcano's internal activity have noted a rather suspicious shadow that was immediately brought to NERV's attention. The MAGI triad is consulted - there's a 50/50 chance it's an Angel. Misato's already on-site, with a determined expression on her face. She's commandeered a probe the scientists were using to explore the insides of the volcano and is ordering them to bring it deeper and deeper into its cavernous depths.
One of them immediately protests that the probe is too deep at ~670 meters down, but the shadow was another ~500 beneath the probe's current location, so she firmly repeats the order to keep going deeper. 1200 meters down, and the probe immediately begins to crack and groan under the pressure. Still no sign of the shadow. Another protest, Misato says another 200 meters and that if it breaks NERV will compensate them financially (with what budget?), and soon the probe is picking something up. Misato gives the order to start the analysis, and the computer scrambles to complete it as the probe suddenly begins to compact under the pressure and promptly implodes. But the results are in: the Pattern is Blue. It's an Angel, no doubt about it, but...
(Note the resemblance to Adam. Or any human embryo, really.)
Misato immediately springs into Commander Mode - the laboratory is to be completely sealed off. No one leaves the area until the Angel is dealt with, no one so much as picks up their cellphone, and god help you if you let word of what happened here get out. Whatever phase of the Angelic life cycle this one is in, it doesn't pose any threat at the moment - so Misato immediately petitions Gendo to finally go on the offensive. The best defense is a good offense, as they say, and if this chess piece can be removed from the board without any fuss or lives lost, why shouldn't we take the opportunity?
The old men that make up the Human Instrumentality Committee protest, of course. Green immediately objects. The risk of losing one of the Evangelions is too high, have you forgotten what's at stake if one of them is lost? But Gendo agrees with Misato's train of thought, and Gendo sweetens the pot a bit: Just imagine how useful a captured, living Angel would be to the Committee and their plans? It's enough to get the go-ahead from Keel Lorenz, but he warns Gendo that failure is not an option. Fuyutsuki scoffs: "failure" would result in the complete extinction of all life on Earth, and asks Gendo if he's really sure about this. Once again, Gendo smirks under his gloves...
Ritsuko compares the embryonic Angel to a caterpillar pupating while it transforms into a butterfly. Indeed, it's not clear if there preceding stages in the life cycle of the Angels, if they're all born like this, etc. etc. But I digress. The goal is to capture the Angel alive and without causing it to do something stupid. Failing that, it is to be dispatched immediately. Asuka immediately volunteers, Shinji says to himself it will probably be him again... but to his surprise, it is Asuka. She's quite pleased with herself. Rei is to be held in reserve since 00 isn't compatible with the equipment they're going to be attaching to 02 anyway. They don't mention it here, but Shinji's to be posted on the mountaintop for similar reasons.
Asuka's given a brand new, heat-resistant plugsuit that seems identical to the other one... until she presses the other switch, which causes it to inflate with an unknown liquid like that blueberry girl from Willy Wonka. I am not making this up, I am not pulling your leg, this is an actual screenshot from this episode:
God is in his heaven, all is not right with the world.
They've also equipped Unit-02 with a somewhat goofy-looking spacesuit-ish exterior so it doesn't immediately crumple from the outstanding pressure and heat present ~1400 meters down in the throat of an active volcano, much to Asuka's utter dismay. She's immediately out - the thought of her appearing in public looking like that is quite possibly the most horrible thing that could happen to a girl like Asuka. Her reputation and image would be ruined! Not even an appearance from Kaji can dissuade her, and the moment she hears his voice she takes off running from sheer embarrassment. Shinji is about to offer to take her place before Rei suddenly puts up her hand and offers to pilot 02. No doubt she wants to feel useful - but the question is, for Gendo or Shinji?
But there are worse things in Asuka's mind than being embarrassed - being replaced by a nobody like Rei. Her ego (or well, the facade of one she puts up for others) might not like this, but considering the alternative... Fine, she'll go. She even apologizes to Unit-02 for its appearance, as if it could care about such things... Cue English title card.
The planes seemingly designed only to transport Evangelions have their day again, bringing 01 and 02 to the summit of Mount Asama. The inevitable logistics nightmare is already being sorted out ahead of time, and Misato has taken over the observation lab as NERV's on-site command post for this operation. A crane is set up over the fissure - 02 is to be lowered in with the device to capture the Angel and with coolant constantly being pumped into the suit to prevent the Eva and its occupant from completely liquefying. Asuka asks where Kaji is, and Misato says "that jerk" won't be here since he has no reason to be, much to Asuka's disappointment.
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear:
It turns out that Kaji is a triple agent - he's the Japanese government's spy on NERV but he's really NERV's spy on the Japanese government but he lets them think that so he can actually spy on NERV. A very dangerous game to play. He's meeting with what's presumably his handler or contact with his employer: a rather innocuous-looking woman complete with a puppy, in a cable car that (hopefully) isn't bugged.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Kaji!
Shinji notices some military planes circling overhead and asks what they're for. They're the UN Air Force, and they're the backup plan should things go wrong. Should 01 and 02 fail to dispatch the Angel, they'll simply nuke (well, N2) the entire area down to the bedrock and kill all the NERV personnel with it. Necessary casualties and all that. When Asuka and Shinji protest how awful that sort of order is, Ritsuko informs them that it was Gendo who gave it. Shinji goes wide-eyed in surprise for a moment before balling his fist in rage. Thanks, Dad.
But Asuka's path is clear, and everything is ready to go. Misato gives the order to launch, and 02 is lowered into the fissure. She almost immediately begins to complain about the heat... but also calls Shinji's attention over so she can show off for him again. Shinji sighs yet again at the blatant childishness of the request.
170m down, descending at 20m/s. So far so good. Asuka reports that she has zero visibility - the only thing she can see is Red - so she switches on an alternate monitor to try to peer through the magma. Even then, she can only see 120m in all directions. She's surprisingly professional when she wants to be. Down and down she goes.
The first sounds of groaning metal can be heard at 900m. The safe depth of 1020m is passed soon after, but the target is estimated to be another 300m down, so they'll have to risk it. But by the time she's lowered to that depth, she can't find it. The Angel must have been pulled deeper into the volcano by magma currents, Ritsuko says, and Hyuga mutters that their prediction of the Angel's speed and velocity was way off. Misato gives the order to keep going deeper, and Hyuga looks at her with concern.
1400 meters down. One of the six coolant pipes pumping liquid nitrogen into the Eva has cracked from the pressure. Asuka grits her teeth but says nothing. 02 is soon over the maximum allowed depth the D-type equipment can handle, but Misato repeats the order to keep going until the target is found. Asuka says that she's doing good, and she just wants to finish this up and then take a nice shower - Misato offers to take her to nearby hot springs once they're done.
+120m past the maximum depth. The Prog Knife's holster, strapped to 02's leg, suddenly breaks under the pressure and the knife flies off, to permanently become a part of the planet's mantle. +200m past the maximum depth, and Hyuga begins to protest. This time, a human life is at risk here, and he can't in good conscience let her keep doing this! But firmly and coldly, Misato reminds him who is in charge and orders her to keep going. Finally, at 1780m the Angel is found again.
Asuka deploys the electromagnetic cage to capture the Angel, Ritsuko tells her that both 02 and the Angel are being moved by convection currents, so they have only one chance to pull this off. Steadily, the two drift together, with minute adjustments in trajectory just like docking a spaceship, and contact is successfully made. An orange cage of hard light surrounds the Angel, and everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief. Now they just have to reel her back in. Asuka tells Shinji there's nothing to fear but fear itself and that she can't wait to go to the hot springs and Ritsuko and Misato banter about what would have happened if this failed. Everything's going great...
And then the alarm goes off. The distorted wailing of a human baby sounds as the Angel notices the sudden change in environment and hatches early - the embryo inside suddenly deploys an AT Field as it transforms into an Anomalocarid-esque creature with eyestalks and two fins with hand-like appendages at the end. The cage is jettisoned as one of these fins punches through the hard-light cage, and it shatters in herald of the birth of Sandalphon, the Angel of the Unborn. Its name means "Brother" - Sandalphon is often said to be the spiritual brother of Metatron, both of whom were supposedly prophets (Elijah and Enoch respectively) given angelic form.
The Angel circles around faster than they can reel Asuka out of Mount Asama, and Asuka has no weapons to defend herself with. She just dodges a collision with Sandalphon by ditching extra ballast, but the Angel is alarmingly fast and perfectly adapted to this environment, and soon disappears out of sight. Misato gives the order for Shinji to lob his knife down there and for her to catch it. Sandalphon circles back around again as it begins to descend and reaches an "arm" out towards her just in time for her to grab and unsheathe the blade, but another grabs onto 02's left leg. To add insult to injury, the Angel opens its mouth and clamps onto 02's head in a way that almost resembles a newborn nursing from their mother. Freud called, he wants his symbolism back.
More importantly, Sandalphon's carapace is built for this environment. A flimsy little vibrating knife isn't going to cut through that anytime soon. It comes dangerously close to tearing off 02's leg before Asuka quickly detaches it, joining her ballast and knife in the fiery abyss. Ritsuko and Hyuga despair over what to do, and then Shinji and Asuka both have the same epiphany - thermal expansion!
Asuka cuts one of the coolant cables open and tells the NERV personnel to transfer all of the coolant into the severed pipe which she promptly jams into the Angel. Sandalphon's carapace cracks from the sudden temperature change and Asuka jams the blade into its head and lets it do the rest. But in an act of petty revenge, the Angel reaches up and severs all but one of the coolant cables before it screams, releases Asuka, and disintegrates, knife wounds and a shattered carapace doing it in.
Not that it matters. Asuka is literally only hanging on by a thread, and without the coolant, the D-type equipment begins to collapse under the sheer pressure and heat.
She's caught by 01, its menacing visor glowing ominously in the dark even as it begins to warp from the heat. But it's the most beautiful face in the world to Asuka, right now:
I said before I didn't think Asuka's attraction to Shinji was conscious yet. I think this is when she realizes, and I honestly don't blame her. It's not very often you're saved by someone literally willing to jump into boiling lava for you.
Having saved the day once again, Misato and the two pilots retire to the hot springs, all by themselves. Well ok, they do have a bit of company: Misato signs for a package from Kaji and Shinji opens it to find Pen-Pen inside and unharmed, if a bit annoyed by this gesture. He is a hot springs penguin, after all. And so the four retire to the bath - Shinji and Pen-Pen on the male side, Asuka and Misato on the female. Pen-Pen happily splashes while Shinji gets to relax for promptly five seconds before this happens:
You get where this is going. Shinji flushes and sinks into the bath and mutters about how "it expanded." Kill me.
After... that... Misato and Asuka watch the sunset together, and Asuka notices a nasty scar right over Misato's heart. Misato notices that she noticed, and says that she got it during the Second Impact. Asuka frowns and mutters that Misato knows all about her dark and troubled past. Misato says that she does, and then sympathetically added that they should both just try to forget. The past is in the past. And there will be absolutely no repercussions for this sort of mentality. None whatsoever.
TO BE CONTINUED
Pain. Suffering. Agony, if you will.
I hate this episode. Ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. But it's absolutely one of the weakest. It is purely "ok" in an anime that is mostly good or great. It's one of (probably the only) episodes I would call filler if not for the lore implications about the Angels. And some very minor character development, I guess. But the rest of this episode fills me with incredible agony, and the less said about it the better? Ok? Ok.
Until next time. Ciao.
Last episode: Despite their brief instance of heightened synchronization during the battle with Gaghiel, Shinji and Asuka are still opposites who don't get along. This ends up costing NERV during their first battle with the Angel Israfel, which displays the previously unseen ability to duplicate itself and merge these halves at will - Shinji and Asuka are both dispatched quickly by the Angel, forcing the UN to drop an N2 bomb on the Angel to halt its advance. Kaji hatches a wild plan to force the two to get along and dispatch Israfel once it finishes regenerating in six days: they're going to live together from now on, learn to do everything in sync, and memorize a combat routine based on Dance Dance Revolution, of all things. Over the next six days, Kaji/Misato and Shinji/Asuka clash, old and new feelings surface, but ultimately the two Eva pilots can flawlessly execute the dance and dispatch the Angel, and somewhat get along? Kinda. Sorta. Not really.
This episode: Let's just get this over with.
...
The episode starts in Tokyo-3, and for once GAINAX must have had more budget than two pennies and a shoestring since the city is depicted as inhabited! I mean, it's a still image that only shows for a second, but it counts right?
Kaji's taking Asuka shopping (really it's the other way around) and she's having the time of her life, hanging off his arm while he just kinda... tolerates her antics. I'm sure he's aware of her little crush on him, but he never actually acknowledges it. Case in point: she's dragged him into the swimsuit section and he's mildly distressed when she shows off a bikini she wants to buy, but she just waives his objection off as him being a Boomer and not understanding the latest fashion trends. She does have reason to buy a new swimsuit: her school is taking a three-day trip to Okinawa and they'll be diving while they're there, something Asuka's particularly excited about. Kaji remarks that he hasn't gone diving for three years, and Asuka asks him what field trips he went on as a teenager, forgetting that the answer is "none" due to a little thing called Second Impact.
Later that day, Pen-Pen is lounging in the bathtub but has his blissful meditation ruined by Asuka complaining because Misato won't allow them to go. They're on standby for combat duty, and Asuka immediately begins to protest: Who decided this and when? The answer to these questions is Misato, and just now. So Asuka redirects her anger at her favorite punching bag: why the hell isn't Shinji saying anything? Well, he figured he wasn't going to be able to go anyway, so... she stands up and snarks that there's "nothing more useless than a housebroken male." Ouch. To Shinji's credit, he doesn't always ignore her jabs at him: he frowns and asks her politely not to talk about him like that. Misato sympathizes, but the Angels don't rest, and it's always possible that they could attack while the two are gone.
And on top of that:
Asuka complains a bit about the Japanese grading system and school life (I have no clue how Japanese schooling compares to German schooling being neither nationality, so I don't have an insightful comment here), Misato shrugs her off, but her decision remains. The three Eva pilots are staying here, and get to watch their classmates take off on a plane to Okinawa without them. Toji even cracks an evil laugh before he gets on the plane. Asshole. Interestingly, Hikari tells Asuka she'll bring her some souvenirs - we already know they're at least somewhat friendly given that she went to check up on her last episode, but it seems that Hikari is the closest thing Asuka has to an actual friend.
Downtime at NERV HQ: Maya's reading some sort of novel, Hyuga a magazine, while Aoba's banging out some tunes on an imaginary air guitar. Misato and Ritsuko chat by the coffee pot, Ritsuko laser-focused on her work.
The three pilots are the only ones at school and have congregated by the pool. Rei's doing laps while Shinji, ever the dutiful student, is the only one not wearing a swimsuit and is tap-tap-tapping away on a school laptop. Science homework. Asuka comes over to try to impress Shinji the only way she knows how:
Shinji's rational thought process proceeds to go out the window as Asuka bends over and asks what problem he's trying to solve, and she does it for him. And so the dance begins again: Asuka signals to Shinji that she wants him (though I don't think this is conscious romantic attraction, not yet), while Shinji's terrified that if he tries anything, she'll kill him (and she probably would) - the spines dig in deeper, leaving both unsatisfied but unable to pull apart from each other. A rather masochistic tango, though its consequences won't become clear yet until later.
Shinji.exe tries to reboot when she solves the equation for him, and he asks her if she can easily solve such a difficult problem while she's struggling in school. She replies that it's because she literally can't understand the questions: she might be fluent in spoken Japanese, but her understanding of the kanji needs some work. But Asuka's a true child prodigy: She graduated from college in Germany last year. Wonder what degree she got and in what, I don't remember if the show ever says.
The next problem Shinji has to do regards thermal expansion. To give a more complicated explanation than the show does: All matter is held together by the bonds between molecules. In solids, these bonds are rigid and the molecules can only vibrate in place, in liquids these bonds are looser and the molecules can slip and slide past each other, and in gases, these bonds are incredibly loose and there's plenty of space between the molecules. The more energy (in the form of heat) added to these substances, the quicker the molecules will vibrate (and vice versa) - add enough and a phase change will take place, but even without that a little more space between molecules will open up as the molecules try to strain against their bonds. The opposite will happen if you are removing energy. This is why running a tight jar lid under hot water loosens it, or why putting cold water in a glass straight out of the dishwater will make it shatter.
Or as Asuka puts it: "things expand when they get hot, and shrink when they get cold."
Asuka tries to entice Shinji by asking if applying heat to her breasts would make them grow bigger, and Shinji nervously stammers out that he wouldn't know the answer to that. Wrong answer: she sulks that Shinji's such a boring guy, but her eyes tell a different story.
Mount Asama. UN helicopters circle overhead. One of the most active volcanos in Japanese history, its most recent eruption occurred in 2019 in real life, but its most infamous ones were in 1108 and 1783 respectively, both with a VEI index equivalent to the eruption that destroyed Pompeii. Now the mountain is potentially cradling a different kind of catastrophe. Scientists on a nearby laboratory monitoring the volcano's internal activity have noted a rather suspicious shadow that was immediately brought to NERV's attention. The MAGI triad is consulted - there's a 50/50 chance it's an Angel. Misato's already on-site, with a determined expression on her face. She's commandeered a probe the scientists were using to explore the insides of the volcano and is ordering them to bring it deeper and deeper into its cavernous depths.
One of them immediately protests that the probe is too deep at ~670 meters down, but the shadow was another ~500 beneath the probe's current location, so she firmly repeats the order to keep going deeper. 1200 meters down, and the probe immediately begins to crack and groan under the pressure. Still no sign of the shadow. Another protest, Misato says another 200 meters and that if it breaks NERV will compensate them financially (with what budget?), and soon the probe is picking something up. Misato gives the order to start the analysis, and the computer scrambles to complete it as the probe suddenly begins to compact under the pressure and promptly implodes. But the results are in: the Pattern is Blue. It's an Angel, no doubt about it, but...
(Note the resemblance to Adam. Or any human embryo, really.)
The old men that make up the Human Instrumentality Committee protest, of course. Green immediately objects. The risk of losing one of the Evangelions is too high, have you forgotten what's at stake if one of them is lost? But Gendo agrees with Misato's train of thought, and Gendo sweetens the pot a bit: Just imagine how useful a captured, living Angel would be to the Committee and their plans? It's enough to get the go-ahead from Keel Lorenz, but he warns Gendo that failure is not an option. Fuyutsuki scoffs: "failure" would result in the complete extinction of all life on Earth, and asks Gendo if he's really sure about this. Once again, Gendo smirks under his gloves...
Ritsuko compares the embryonic Angel to a caterpillar pupating while it transforms into a butterfly. Indeed, it's not clear if there preceding stages in the life cycle of the Angels, if they're all born like this, etc. etc. But I digress. The goal is to capture the Angel alive and without causing it to do something stupid. Failing that, it is to be dispatched immediately. Asuka immediately volunteers, Shinji says to himself it will probably be him again... but to his surprise, it is Asuka. She's quite pleased with herself. Rei is to be held in reserve since 00 isn't compatible with the equipment they're going to be attaching to 02 anyway. They don't mention it here, but Shinji's to be posted on the mountaintop for similar reasons.
Asuka's given a brand new, heat-resistant plugsuit that seems identical to the other one... until she presses the other switch, which causes it to inflate with an unknown liquid like that blueberry girl from Willy Wonka. I am not making this up, I am not pulling your leg, this is an actual screenshot from this episode:
God is in his heaven, all is not right with the world.
They've also equipped Unit-02 with a somewhat goofy-looking spacesuit-ish exterior so it doesn't immediately crumple from the outstanding pressure and heat present ~1400 meters down in the throat of an active volcano, much to Asuka's utter dismay. She's immediately out - the thought of her appearing in public looking like that is quite possibly the most horrible thing that could happen to a girl like Asuka. Her reputation and image would be ruined! Not even an appearance from Kaji can dissuade her, and the moment she hears his voice she takes off running from sheer embarrassment. Shinji is about to offer to take her place before Rei suddenly puts up her hand and offers to pilot 02. No doubt she wants to feel useful - but the question is, for Gendo or Shinji?
But there are worse things in Asuka's mind than being embarrassed - being replaced by a nobody like Rei. Her ego (or well, the facade of one she puts up for others) might not like this, but considering the alternative... Fine, she'll go. She even apologizes to Unit-02 for its appearance, as if it could care about such things... Cue English title card.
The planes seemingly designed only to transport Evangelions have their day again, bringing 01 and 02 to the summit of Mount Asama. The inevitable logistics nightmare is already being sorted out ahead of time, and Misato has taken over the observation lab as NERV's on-site command post for this operation. A crane is set up over the fissure - 02 is to be lowered in with the device to capture the Angel and with coolant constantly being pumped into the suit to prevent the Eva and its occupant from completely liquefying. Asuka asks where Kaji is, and Misato says "that jerk" won't be here since he has no reason to be, much to Asuka's disappointment.
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear:
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Kaji!
Shinji notices some military planes circling overhead and asks what they're for. They're the UN Air Force, and they're the backup plan should things go wrong. Should 01 and 02 fail to dispatch the Angel, they'll simply nuke (well, N2) the entire area down to the bedrock and kill all the NERV personnel with it. Necessary casualties and all that. When Asuka and Shinji protest how awful that sort of order is, Ritsuko informs them that it was Gendo who gave it. Shinji goes wide-eyed in surprise for a moment before balling his fist in rage. Thanks, Dad.
But Asuka's path is clear, and everything is ready to go. Misato gives the order to launch, and 02 is lowered into the fissure. She almost immediately begins to complain about the heat... but also calls Shinji's attention over so she can show off for him again. Shinji sighs yet again at the blatant childishness of the request.
The first sounds of groaning metal can be heard at 900m. The safe depth of 1020m is passed soon after, but the target is estimated to be another 300m down, so they'll have to risk it. But by the time she's lowered to that depth, she can't find it. The Angel must have been pulled deeper into the volcano by magma currents, Ritsuko says, and Hyuga mutters that their prediction of the Angel's speed and velocity was way off. Misato gives the order to keep going deeper, and Hyuga looks at her with concern.
1400 meters down. One of the six coolant pipes pumping liquid nitrogen into the Eva has cracked from the pressure. Asuka grits her teeth but says nothing. 02 is soon over the maximum allowed depth the D-type equipment can handle, but Misato repeats the order to keep going until the target is found. Asuka says that she's doing good, and she just wants to finish this up and then take a nice shower - Misato offers to take her to nearby hot springs once they're done.
+120m past the maximum depth. The Prog Knife's holster, strapped to 02's leg, suddenly breaks under the pressure and the knife flies off, to permanently become a part of the planet's mantle. +200m past the maximum depth, and Hyuga begins to protest. This time, a human life is at risk here, and he can't in good conscience let her keep doing this! But firmly and coldly, Misato reminds him who is in charge and orders her to keep going. Finally, at 1780m the Angel is found again.
Asuka deploys the electromagnetic cage to capture the Angel, Ritsuko tells her that both 02 and the Angel are being moved by convection currents, so they have only one chance to pull this off. Steadily, the two drift together, with minute adjustments in trajectory just like docking a spaceship, and contact is successfully made. An orange cage of hard light surrounds the Angel, and everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief. Now they just have to reel her back in. Asuka tells Shinji there's nothing to fear but fear itself and that she can't wait to go to the hot springs and Ritsuko and Misato banter about what would have happened if this failed. Everything's going great...
And then the alarm goes off. The distorted wailing of a human baby sounds as the Angel notices the sudden change in environment and hatches early - the embryo inside suddenly deploys an AT Field as it transforms into an Anomalocarid-esque creature with eyestalks and two fins with hand-like appendages at the end. The cage is jettisoned as one of these fins punches through the hard-light cage, and it shatters in herald of the birth of Sandalphon, the Angel of the Unborn. Its name means "Brother" - Sandalphon is often said to be the spiritual brother of Metatron, both of whom were supposedly prophets (Elijah and Enoch respectively) given angelic form.
The Angel circles around faster than they can reel Asuka out of Mount Asama, and Asuka has no weapons to defend herself with. She just dodges a collision with Sandalphon by ditching extra ballast, but the Angel is alarmingly fast and perfectly adapted to this environment, and soon disappears out of sight. Misato gives the order for Shinji to lob his knife down there and for her to catch it. Sandalphon circles back around again as it begins to descend and reaches an "arm" out towards her just in time for her to grab and unsheathe the blade, but another grabs onto 02's left leg. To add insult to injury, the Angel opens its mouth and clamps onto 02's head in a way that almost resembles a newborn nursing from their mother. Freud called, he wants his symbolism back.
More importantly, Sandalphon's carapace is built for this environment. A flimsy little vibrating knife isn't going to cut through that anytime soon. It comes dangerously close to tearing off 02's leg before Asuka quickly detaches it, joining her ballast and knife in the fiery abyss. Ritsuko and Hyuga despair over what to do, and then Shinji and Asuka both have the same epiphany - thermal expansion!
Asuka cuts one of the coolant cables open and tells the NERV personnel to transfer all of the coolant into the severed pipe which she promptly jams into the Angel. Sandalphon's carapace cracks from the sudden temperature change and Asuka jams the blade into its head and lets it do the rest. But in an act of petty revenge, the Angel reaches up and severs all but one of the coolant cables before it screams, releases Asuka, and disintegrates, knife wounds and a shattered carapace doing it in.
Not that it matters. Asuka is literally only hanging on by a thread, and without the coolant, the D-type equipment begins to collapse under the sheer pressure and heat.
Asuka faces her imminent death with uncharacteristic quietness, unable to really process what's about to happen. What's better: slow death by crushing or fast one by melting? Neither seems particularly appealing, but such is the life of an Eva pilot. The thread strains, snaps, and... She's caught by 01, its menacing visor glowing ominously in the dark even as it begins to warp from the heat. But it's the most beautiful face in the world to Asuka, right now:
I said before I didn't think Asuka's attraction to Shinji was conscious yet. I think this is when she realizes, and I honestly don't blame her. It's not very often you're saved by someone literally willing to jump into boiling lava for you.
Having saved the day once again, Misato and the two pilots retire to the hot springs, all by themselves. Well ok, they do have a bit of company: Misato signs for a package from Kaji and Shinji opens it to find Pen-Pen inside and unharmed, if a bit annoyed by this gesture. He is a hot springs penguin, after all. And so the four retire to the bath - Shinji and Pen-Pen on the male side, Asuka and Misato on the female. Pen-Pen happily splashes while Shinji gets to relax for promptly five seconds before this happens:
You get where this is going. Shinji flushes and sinks into the bath and mutters about how "it expanded." Kill me.
After... that... Misato and Asuka watch the sunset together, and Asuka notices a nasty scar right over Misato's heart. Misato notices that she noticed, and says that she got it during the Second Impact. Asuka frowns and mutters that Misato knows all about her dark and troubled past. Misato says that she does, and then sympathetically added that they should both just try to forget. The past is in the past. And there will be absolutely no repercussions for this sort of mentality. None whatsoever.
TO BE CONTINUED
...
Next episode preview: "Those who don't think well of NERV" cut the entire power grid of Tokyo-3. Mentioned awfully casually there Misato, but alright. But by sheer coincidence, an Angel attacks that day, and it's up to the pilots and the NERV crew overall to defeat it without the usual tricks up their sleeve. And plenty of fanservice. Woooooo...
Pain. Suffering. Agony, if you will.
I hate this episode. Ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. But it's absolutely one of the weakest. It is purely "ok" in an anime that is mostly good or great. It's one of (probably the only) episodes I would call filler if not for the lore implications about the Angels. And some very minor character development, I guess. But the rest of this episode fills me with incredible agony, and the less said about it the better? Ok? Ok.
Until next time. Ciao.
NGE Manga - Volumes 3-4 by Geckonator
Geckonator
Occult Materialist
~Paaaaaaiiiiinnn and Suffering~
So, with another post from June, I figure I might as well continue digging into the differences between Neon Genesis Evangelion the anime and Neon Genesis Evangelion the manga.
Now is the time where I should also bring up the weeeeiiiirrrrddd production schedule. The manga actually made its first chapter debut in December of 1994, while the show was still in production and in fact had already encountered significant delays. Thus, Sadamoto beat the studio to market by almost a year (Evangelion premiered in October of 1995). I'm pretty sure this happens fairly regularly in the anime/manga industry, with manga adaptations often coming out earlier as a kind of wide promotion/preview, but a full ten months, and then the six it took for the 26 episode run to air, was significant. However, that imbalance rapidly switched around.
With a monthly chapter publishing schedule, which would come to slip with continual delays and hiatuses, by the end of chapter 12 (the end of volume two which we reached in my last post) we are now entering the first volume made and released entirely behind its anime equivalent. As such, here's where we can truly say that some of the differences might be responding to the series.
So how does today's first chapter start? By continuing on from the "I'm home" moment at the train station to give more of that interesting character interaction. This is where Touji offers Shinji a chance to punch him back for their first meeting... and Shinji refuses, joking that it's better for Touji to still owe him one. Afterwards, Shinji and Misato go for a walk, and Misato comments that the moment of ribbing Touji was the first time she's ever seen him smile. She also calls him cute in a way that I can't tell if it's in the creepy hitting-on-a-teenager sense or the genuine bonding sense. However, they're both shocked to see that they're passing by...
Rei, who's shocked about Shinji not leaving Nerv, and almost seems a little pissed about, it commenting that she would have been perfectly efficient at piloting Unit 01 before walking away. This is basically how Sadamoto segues cleanly from the runaway sequence to the Rei two-parter, and I actually like it a lot. For no other reason then there being some... interesting symmetry in Shinji having that genuine smile and Misato's comment on it eventually leading to the moment where Rei smiles at Shinji.
The story continues as expected from there for a bit, with the analysis of Shamshel's corpse and then the flashback to Gendou rushing in to save Rei. There's a notable little deviation in the scene where the boys at PE class are spying on the girls swimming, and Shinji basically sticks his fingers up Touji's nose to shut him up and stun him when he starts teasing about Shinji staring at Rei. Shinji, however, is more interested in the fact that the move doesn't even phase Rei, making him wonder about her emotions.
We also get to read what Gendou and Rei were talking about to make her smile.
IE: Just pleasantries. It's more about Rei having this genuine, simple, childlike trust in Gendou than anything particularly good about him.
The Ramiel battle goes pretty much as animated, with the notable addition of a dream sequence on Shinji's part when he's knocked out from the first encounter. We see a bit more of his childhood, with his aunt and uncle. Long story short? It was shit. His aunt and uncle made a shed in the garden into a "study room" for Shinji to spend his time in when he reached junior high, for one. For another, we get an extended bit of Shinji finding an abandoned, ruined bicycle in the grass and taking it home... only to be stopped and taken away by a police officer, with both the officer and his aunt refusing to believe him when he said he just found it.
There's also some change to the dialogue I'd like to note: Shinji actually gets a word in to respond to Rei saying she has nothing else but piloting the Eva. He mentions that that's how he was when he first came to Tokyo-3, that he was just going through the motions. It doesn't go any further before Rei stands up (without the iconic moon shot, unfortunately, which is a bit of a running theme where perhaps just to avoid wholesale copying Sadamoto often doesn't replicate the show's most famous shots and iconography, being less derivative but definitely losing something.)
Operation Yashima goes as in the show. Rei smiles, plus a little more monologue from Shinji about them both finding something beyond Eva in the future, if they can survive. I think now is the time where I can voice the conclusion that Sadamoto is way less interested in the fight scenes than he is the character drama. It seems like on all matters of mecha/kaiju fighting, he defers to tokusatsu otaku Anno. And, in fact, we're approaching the point where he's going to start getting brazen about disregarding whole Angel fights in favor of the character scenes...
Volume 3's author notes are very little. Just a little joke/musing about how people might relate more to animals if they could emote like people, and relating it to Rei not displaying her emotions mostly from not knowing what they are.
He also says "it's my moment of happiness to see a girl's innocent smile. But I guess there won't be any of those as long as they're reading this manga."
Hey, you said it, not me, Mr. "I felt compelled to go to conventions and perv on girls cosplaying the sexualized teenage spandex look I designed."
Anyways, Volume 4. Asuka's arrival.
Shit gets weird here.
So we start, cold open, on the UN Pacific Fleet under attack from Gaghiel. Eva Unit 02 springs into action, complete with the cape look, throwing it off for the big reveal. It draws the prog knife, then... completely bisects Gaghiel while a narrator says that two battleships fired and finished it off.
Turns out, this is Misato and Ritsuko showing Shinji and Rei the footage of Unit 02 and its pilot defeating an Angel in just 36 seconds flat. The two adults drop Asuka's name... as well as the fact that she's a full on university graduate and she's staying in a nearby hotel for now. Misato is already keen on teasing Shinji and Rei about her, but they do not give any indication of Asuka's apperance.
Returning to school, Touji and Kensuke are extremely "interested" in the fact that Shinji now seems to be spending a lot of time and walking with Rei. They proceed to heckle him on the way home from school about both living with Misato and talking to Rei. They then spot a girl on a claw machine... a redheaded girl in a sundress.
They literally start wagging their tongues at her when...
Asuka is understandably pissed when she turns around and notices the boys staring at her, and then proceeds to demand they give her cash for more tokens. She deploys a much less extreme version of the "viewing fee" exchange from the show here, since she's not stupid and knows they were trying to look up her skirt.
(Also: is that a fucking Shinji plushie in the bottom right corner?!)
Their argument leads to Asuka elbowing a... questionably drawn man playing a fighter jet game, however, which makes him lose and then get immediately angry at the kids. Asuka, however, has no chill or attempt to defuse the situation after he starts threatening her. She proceeds to fucking roundhouse kick him, knocking the dude down. He calls in backup from what I can only describe as '90s kids PSA criminals, who further surround Asuka. She distracts them, however, with the "look over there!" trick, and, uh...
Starts beating the shit out of four grown men while the boys slink away.
More thugs try to corner the boys, and Shinji literally takes a punch to the cheek for Touji, but then Asuka fucking triple handstand-backflips over to start fighting those guys. She is literally picking up a stool to beat more guys up when the arcade owner calls the cops, prompting her to lead the boys in running away before splitting off and leaving them all confused.
Later, Shinji is walking to Nerv, still visibly bruised from the fight, and is wondering just who the hell that girl was... only to find his answer when he reaches the access point to the GeoFront and finds Asuka angrily kicking the machine for not taking her ID card.
This is only the first goddamn chapter of Asuka's volume here.
Discovering that they're both Eva Pilots, Asuka and Shinji meet up with Rei, Misato, and Ritsuko for a more formal introduction. Asuka puts on her formal, happy student tone in introducing herself here. When Misato notices the bruise on Shinji's cheek, Asuka acts very concerns and explains that it was actually Shinji who saved her in that fight. She literally pinches his ass and hisses at him not to snitch on her. The implication, I suppose, is that in this version Asuka has a bit of a history with aggression and fighting and she doesn't want any more attention from Nerv on her.
We then get Kaji's introduction. First by delivering Adam to Gendou, and then by ambushing Misato while she (drinking on duty) gets lunch with Asuka and Shinji. We get the bed joke, introduction to Asuka's weird attachment to Kaji and vicious jealousy when he praises Shinji's piloting, and then directly to Asuka being introduced at school.
We actually see more of her first class. It's another Second Impact lecture where she gets bored and pranks Shinji with some gum stuck to his pen when he drops it. Then we get the conversation where she lays out how the meteor story about Second Impact is government disinformation.
Rei shows up, prompting Asuka to call her the "favorite" and try to slap her, but when Shinji stops her Asuka gets very visibly upset and barges off.
Things reconvene with the show a bit from here, starting the next chapter with Kaji hitting on Ritsuko and then Israfel's arrival and Shinji and Asuka deploying to fight it. We actually see more of the fiasco that follows: after Asuka splits them with the sonic glaive, the Angel(s) just keep regenerating from any hit Shinji or Asuka make on them, and they're simultaneously tossed into the air, ending up with the humiliating landing.
We then get a small but in my opinion kind of important divergence: Asuka doesn't move in with Shinji and Misato quite yet, here. Instead, for the dance combat program, they're taken to a special separate section of Nerv HQ...
They're given entirely separate quarters to live together in, basically making their ordeal even more isolating and forced-intimate.
Asuka immediately sets on her weird mixed signals with Shinji, by declaring that she gets the first shower, at least, and is very insistent that he not peak at her. Shinji readily complies, napping on the bed and thinking that it's at least less awkward than if it was with Rei. When Asuka comes out in a towel, however, she basically all but directly comes on to him and outright says "it hurts my pride that you're so uninterested."
She then of course removes the towel and reveals that she was fully dressed already and just wanted to fuck with him. Shinji, points out that Misato is probably watching them on hidden cameras, which freaks Asuka out.
(Also, excuse the weird flipped direction of this page and the next. The easily available scans for this chapter only, for some reason, only come in the shitty earlier release version that flipped the pages for western reading order)
He's right of course, but... Jesus woman, you left them like an hour ago tops.
We then of course get the obvious difficulties of synchronizing this dance sequence. Because they're living in the base, instead of Misato's apartment, we also get a bit where Gendou walks by and gruffly just says that he's looking forward to seeing the plan in action, refusing Shinji's request to at least have lunch. Asuka thus gets a direct exposure to just how... distant things are between father and son.
This prompts her, that night, to ask about Shinji's issues. Shinji, interestingly, sums it up as him hating Gendou but not wanting to hate him.
Asuka simply responds and explains she doesn't have a father.
She was a test tube baby, conceived through very selective in-vitro fertilization by her genius scientist mother using a sample from a genius sperm donor.
(One of Shinji's thought balloons here provides an infamous meme quote: "There's something wrong with a 14-year old girl talking about all this sperm." If you've seen that floating around, that's not a parody or a joke, that's an actual line from this official Evangelion adaptation manga.)
All of this, of course, means that Asuka in this version has an even more massive ego complex regarding how special and perfect she is and has to be. Not only is she specially selected for her high achievement, but she is the direct product, on a genetic level, of a eugenics project that makes every mistake feel like an indictment of her very reason to be. This is going to get even worse when later on we get more insights into the drama of what happened to her mother. For now, however, we have the "mama" line... only without the Wall of Jericho sexual approach. She and Shinji are sleeping in different beds, and there's no SDAT player in this version. Shinji simply hears her whisper "mama, why did you have to die" in her sleep.
Training continues in the next chapter, with Shinji and Asuka's frustration with the routine still coming to a head.
This scene, replacing one Shinji and Asuka had in a store in the show, acts as the first appearance of a weird little manga-exclusive location/motif: this oddly antique looking garden and gazebo in the GeoFront. A lot of scenes involving Rei or Asuka and their relationships with Shinji are going to happen here, so it takes on this weird familiarity as something alien to the show and distinctive to this version.
So, instead of Asuka resolving to work it out with Shinji to prove her own worth, Shinji actually... seems to understand her and try to actually help? He points out that she's ruining herself by forcing herself to be perfect to the expectations of others and it's that forced affect that's part of what's ruining her in synching here. She screams at him and forces him away, and she's absent for the whole rest of that last day of training. She returns in the night, just as Misato and Kaji watching on the spy cameras figure that they should prep Rei and Unit 00 to replace her, and she fucking kicks out the surveillance camera hidden in the room's music speakers.
Misato is obviously concerned at suddenly losing her remote-chaperone feed on the two, but Kaji flirts with her (she's still not into it at this point) and insists that they leave the two Pilots alone. On some level, it seems like he's basically just shipping Shinji and Asuka, but he actually has a serious point.
Not being watched by the adults judging her performance and behavior, only being around Shinji, seems to let her loosen up and put her all into the routine. Bit by bit, they get the routine down perfect for the last night.
Misato finds them passed out in the morning, still in their dance outfits, and drags them to the Eva cages for the operation. Despite their tiredness, however, they pull off the attack in what is basically a perfectly translated storyboard of the fight from the show. Upon landing on top of each other, however, Asuka is far less angry. She gives him some praise (with the qualifier "for a klutz" of course), which shocks Shinji.
They then fall peacefully asleep in their cockpits, leaving everyone but Kaji confused as to what happened.
While volume 3 stuck closely to the show in giving Shinji his time to connect with Rei, to the point of me having very little to say, volume 4 is different on almost every level from its equivalent in the anime. Sadamoto's understanding of the Shinji-Asuka relationship is astoundingly different from that of Anno and the other scriptwriters, significantly sanding down the edges between them and inserting more time to talk which lets them understand how similar they are. We are already laying down seismic differences as to the eventual outcome of the series: the distant, confused clashes despite mutual attraction are resolved in the manga in favor of something a little more stable. Volume 4 is basically an entire self-contained Shinji x Asuka fanfic, cutting away most of one Angel fight to give more page space to them together. This is, of course, counterbalanced by events leading very directly into each other from previous chapters. It feels like a... tighter script, so to speak, with a focus on keeping every evebt sequential and directly following end on end after each other.
And speaking of skipping Angel fights... both Sandalphon and the next episode's Angel, Matarael will not be in the manga at all. That's right, Sadamoto is just cutting out monster of the week Angels to let everyone breathe for a while.
The bonus materials aren't really anything. Just Sadamoto complaining that he has poor self management and hopes the manga is good for all the grind that went into it, which... looks at the manga for a series that concluded with a movie in 1997 ending in 2013.... yeah, checks out.
- Pronouns
- He
Shadowjack
~Paaaaaaiiiiinnn and Suffering~
So, with another post from June, I figure I might as well continue digging into the differences between Neon Genesis Evangelion the anime and Neon Genesis Evangelion the manga.
Now is the time where I should also bring up the weeeeiiiirrrrddd production schedule. The manga actually made its first chapter debut in December of 1994, while the show was still in production and in fact had already encountered significant delays. Thus, Sadamoto beat the studio to market by almost a year (Evangelion premiered in October of 1995). I'm pretty sure this happens fairly regularly in the anime/manga industry, with manga adaptations often coming out earlier as a kind of wide promotion/preview, but a full ten months, and then the six it took for the 26 episode run to air, was significant. However, that imbalance rapidly switched around.
With a monthly chapter publishing schedule, which would come to slip with continual delays and hiatuses, by the end of chapter 12 (the end of volume two which we reached in my last post) we are now entering the first volume made and released entirely behind its anime equivalent. As such, here's where we can truly say that some of the differences might be responding to the series.
So how does today's first chapter start? By continuing on from the "I'm home" moment at the train station to give more of that interesting character interaction. This is where Touji offers Shinji a chance to punch him back for their first meeting... and Shinji refuses, joking that it's better for Touji to still owe him one. Afterwards, Shinji and Misato go for a walk, and Misato comments that the moment of ribbing Touji was the first time she's ever seen him smile. She also calls him cute in a way that I can't tell if it's in the creepy hitting-on-a-teenager sense or the genuine bonding sense. However, they're both shocked to see that they're passing by...
Rei, who's shocked about Shinji not leaving Nerv, and almost seems a little pissed about, it commenting that she would have been perfectly efficient at piloting Unit 01 before walking away. This is basically how Sadamoto segues cleanly from the runaway sequence to the Rei two-parter, and I actually like it a lot. For no other reason then there being some... interesting symmetry in Shinji having that genuine smile and Misato's comment on it eventually leading to the moment where Rei smiles at Shinji.
The story continues as expected from there for a bit, with the analysis of Shamshel's corpse and then the flashback to Gendou rushing in to save Rei. There's a notable little deviation in the scene where the boys at PE class are spying on the girls swimming, and Shinji basically sticks his fingers up Touji's nose to shut him up and stun him when he starts teasing about Shinji staring at Rei. Shinji, however, is more interested in the fact that the move doesn't even phase Rei, making him wonder about her emotions.
We also get to read what Gendou and Rei were talking about to make her smile.
IE: Just pleasantries. It's more about Rei having this genuine, simple, childlike trust in Gendou than anything particularly good about him.
The Ramiel battle goes pretty much as animated, with the notable addition of a dream sequence on Shinji's part when he's knocked out from the first encounter. We see a bit more of his childhood, with his aunt and uncle. Long story short? It was shit. His aunt and uncle made a shed in the garden into a "study room" for Shinji to spend his time in when he reached junior high, for one. For another, we get an extended bit of Shinji finding an abandoned, ruined bicycle in the grass and taking it home... only to be stopped and taken away by a police officer, with both the officer and his aunt refusing to believe him when he said he just found it.
There's also some change to the dialogue I'd like to note: Shinji actually gets a word in to respond to Rei saying she has nothing else but piloting the Eva. He mentions that that's how he was when he first came to Tokyo-3, that he was just going through the motions. It doesn't go any further before Rei stands up (without the iconic moon shot, unfortunately, which is a bit of a running theme where perhaps just to avoid wholesale copying Sadamoto often doesn't replicate the show's most famous shots and iconography, being less derivative but definitely losing something.)
Operation Yashima goes as in the show. Rei smiles, plus a little more monologue from Shinji about them both finding something beyond Eva in the future, if they can survive. I think now is the time where I can voice the conclusion that Sadamoto is way less interested in the fight scenes than he is the character drama. It seems like on all matters of mecha/kaiju fighting, he defers to tokusatsu otaku Anno. And, in fact, we're approaching the point where he's going to start getting brazen about disregarding whole Angel fights in favor of the character scenes...
Volume 3's author notes are very little. Just a little joke/musing about how people might relate more to animals if they could emote like people, and relating it to Rei not displaying her emotions mostly from not knowing what they are.
He also says "it's my moment of happiness to see a girl's innocent smile. But I guess there won't be any of those as long as they're reading this manga."
Hey, you said it, not me, Mr. "I felt compelled to go to conventions and perv on girls cosplaying the sexualized teenage spandex look I designed."
Anyways, Volume 4. Asuka's arrival.
Shit gets weird here.
So we start, cold open, on the UN Pacific Fleet under attack from Gaghiel. Eva Unit 02 springs into action, complete with the cape look, throwing it off for the big reveal. It draws the prog knife, then... completely bisects Gaghiel while a narrator says that two battleships fired and finished it off.
Turns out, this is Misato and Ritsuko showing Shinji and Rei the footage of Unit 02 and its pilot defeating an Angel in just 36 seconds flat. The two adults drop Asuka's name... as well as the fact that she's a full on university graduate and she's staying in a nearby hotel for now. Misato is already keen on teasing Shinji and Rei about her, but they do not give any indication of Asuka's apperance.
Returning to school, Touji and Kensuke are extremely "interested" in the fact that Shinji now seems to be spending a lot of time and walking with Rei. They proceed to heckle him on the way home from school about both living with Misato and talking to Rei. They then spot a girl on a claw machine... a redheaded girl in a sundress.
They literally start wagging their tongues at her when...
Asuka is understandably pissed when she turns around and notices the boys staring at her, and then proceeds to demand they give her cash for more tokens. She deploys a much less extreme version of the "viewing fee" exchange from the show here, since she's not stupid and knows they were trying to look up her skirt.
(Also: is that a fucking Shinji plushie in the bottom right corner?!)
Their argument leads to Asuka elbowing a... questionably drawn man playing a fighter jet game, however, which makes him lose and then get immediately angry at the kids. Asuka, however, has no chill or attempt to defuse the situation after he starts threatening her. She proceeds to fucking roundhouse kick him, knocking the dude down. He calls in backup from what I can only describe as '90s kids PSA criminals, who further surround Asuka. She distracts them, however, with the "look over there!" trick, and, uh...
Starts beating the shit out of four grown men while the boys slink away.
More thugs try to corner the boys, and Shinji literally takes a punch to the cheek for Touji, but then Asuka fucking triple handstand-backflips over to start fighting those guys. She is literally picking up a stool to beat more guys up when the arcade owner calls the cops, prompting her to lead the boys in running away before splitting off and leaving them all confused.
Later, Shinji is walking to Nerv, still visibly bruised from the fight, and is wondering just who the hell that girl was... only to find his answer when he reaches the access point to the GeoFront and finds Asuka angrily kicking the machine for not taking her ID card.
This is only the first goddamn chapter of Asuka's volume here.
Discovering that they're both Eva Pilots, Asuka and Shinji meet up with Rei, Misato, and Ritsuko for a more formal introduction. Asuka puts on her formal, happy student tone in introducing herself here. When Misato notices the bruise on Shinji's cheek, Asuka acts very concerns and explains that it was actually Shinji who saved her in that fight. She literally pinches his ass and hisses at him not to snitch on her. The implication, I suppose, is that in this version Asuka has a bit of a history with aggression and fighting and she doesn't want any more attention from Nerv on her.
We then get Kaji's introduction. First by delivering Adam to Gendou, and then by ambushing Misato while she (drinking on duty) gets lunch with Asuka and Shinji. We get the bed joke, introduction to Asuka's weird attachment to Kaji and vicious jealousy when he praises Shinji's piloting, and then directly to Asuka being introduced at school.
We actually see more of her first class. It's another Second Impact lecture where she gets bored and pranks Shinji with some gum stuck to his pen when he drops it. Then we get the conversation where she lays out how the meteor story about Second Impact is government disinformation.
Rei shows up, prompting Asuka to call her the "favorite" and try to slap her, but when Shinji stops her Asuka gets very visibly upset and barges off.
Things reconvene with the show a bit from here, starting the next chapter with Kaji hitting on Ritsuko and then Israfel's arrival and Shinji and Asuka deploying to fight it. We actually see more of the fiasco that follows: after Asuka splits them with the sonic glaive, the Angel(s) just keep regenerating from any hit Shinji or Asuka make on them, and they're simultaneously tossed into the air, ending up with the humiliating landing.
We then get a small but in my opinion kind of important divergence: Asuka doesn't move in with Shinji and Misato quite yet, here. Instead, for the dance combat program, they're taken to a special separate section of Nerv HQ...
They're given entirely separate quarters to live together in, basically making their ordeal even more isolating and forced-intimate.
Asuka immediately sets on her weird mixed signals with Shinji, by declaring that she gets the first shower, at least, and is very insistent that he not peak at her. Shinji readily complies, napping on the bed and thinking that it's at least less awkward than if it was with Rei. When Asuka comes out in a towel, however, she basically all but directly comes on to him and outright says "it hurts my pride that you're so uninterested."
She then of course removes the towel and reveals that she was fully dressed already and just wanted to fuck with him. Shinji, points out that Misato is probably watching them on hidden cameras, which freaks Asuka out.
(Also, excuse the weird flipped direction of this page and the next. The easily available scans for this chapter only, for some reason, only come in the shitty earlier release version that flipped the pages for western reading order)
He's right of course, but... Jesus woman, you left them like an hour ago tops.
We then of course get the obvious difficulties of synchronizing this dance sequence. Because they're living in the base, instead of Misato's apartment, we also get a bit where Gendou walks by and gruffly just says that he's looking forward to seeing the plan in action, refusing Shinji's request to at least have lunch. Asuka thus gets a direct exposure to just how... distant things are between father and son.
This prompts her, that night, to ask about Shinji's issues. Shinji, interestingly, sums it up as him hating Gendou but not wanting to hate him.
Asuka simply responds and explains she doesn't have a father.
She was a test tube baby, conceived through very selective in-vitro fertilization by her genius scientist mother using a sample from a genius sperm donor.
(One of Shinji's thought balloons here provides an infamous meme quote: "There's something wrong with a 14-year old girl talking about all this sperm." If you've seen that floating around, that's not a parody or a joke, that's an actual line from this official Evangelion adaptation manga.)
All of this, of course, means that Asuka in this version has an even more massive ego complex regarding how special and perfect she is and has to be. Not only is she specially selected for her high achievement, but she is the direct product, on a genetic level, of a eugenics project that makes every mistake feel like an indictment of her very reason to be. This is going to get even worse when later on we get more insights into the drama of what happened to her mother. For now, however, we have the "mama" line... only without the Wall of Jericho sexual approach. She and Shinji are sleeping in different beds, and there's no SDAT player in this version. Shinji simply hears her whisper "mama, why did you have to die" in her sleep.
Training continues in the next chapter, with Shinji and Asuka's frustration with the routine still coming to a head.
This scene, replacing one Shinji and Asuka had in a store in the show, acts as the first appearance of a weird little manga-exclusive location/motif: this oddly antique looking garden and gazebo in the GeoFront. A lot of scenes involving Rei or Asuka and their relationships with Shinji are going to happen here, so it takes on this weird familiarity as something alien to the show and distinctive to this version.
So, instead of Asuka resolving to work it out with Shinji to prove her own worth, Shinji actually... seems to understand her and try to actually help? He points out that she's ruining herself by forcing herself to be perfect to the expectations of others and it's that forced affect that's part of what's ruining her in synching here. She screams at him and forces him away, and she's absent for the whole rest of that last day of training. She returns in the night, just as Misato and Kaji watching on the spy cameras figure that they should prep Rei and Unit 00 to replace her, and she fucking kicks out the surveillance camera hidden in the room's music speakers.
Misato is obviously concerned at suddenly losing her remote-chaperone feed on the two, but Kaji flirts with her (she's still not into it at this point) and insists that they leave the two Pilots alone. On some level, it seems like he's basically just shipping Shinji and Asuka, but he actually has a serious point.
Not being watched by the adults judging her performance and behavior, only being around Shinji, seems to let her loosen up and put her all into the routine. Bit by bit, they get the routine down perfect for the last night.
Misato finds them passed out in the morning, still in their dance outfits, and drags them to the Eva cages for the operation. Despite their tiredness, however, they pull off the attack in what is basically a perfectly translated storyboard of the fight from the show. Upon landing on top of each other, however, Asuka is far less angry. She gives him some praise (with the qualifier "for a klutz" of course), which shocks Shinji.
They then fall peacefully asleep in their cockpits, leaving everyone but Kaji confused as to what happened.
While volume 3 stuck closely to the show in giving Shinji his time to connect with Rei, to the point of me having very little to say, volume 4 is different on almost every level from its equivalent in the anime. Sadamoto's understanding of the Shinji-Asuka relationship is astoundingly different from that of Anno and the other scriptwriters, significantly sanding down the edges between them and inserting more time to talk which lets them understand how similar they are. We are already laying down seismic differences as to the eventual outcome of the series: the distant, confused clashes despite mutual attraction are resolved in the manga in favor of something a little more stable. Volume 4 is basically an entire self-contained Shinji x Asuka fanfic, cutting away most of one Angel fight to give more page space to them together. This is, of course, counterbalanced by events leading very directly into each other from previous chapters. It feels like a... tighter script, so to speak, with a focus on keeping every evebt sequential and directly following end on end after each other.
And speaking of skipping Angel fights... both Sandalphon and the next episode's Angel, Matarael will not be in the manga at all. That's right, Sadamoto is just cutting out monster of the week Angels to let everyone breathe for a while.
The bonus materials aren't really anything. Just Sadamoto complaining that he has poor self management and hopes the manga is good for all the grind that went into it, which... looks at the manga for a series that concluded with a movie in 1997 ending in 2013.... yeah, checks out.
Honestly, I'd say that Asuka comes across as a bit much here, especially with her martial arts abilities. Overselling her, you know?
Wonder if the various aquatic angels came from underwater volcanoes. Though where the space based ones originate from is an open question.
Can't risk Unit 1 in a hazardous environment like that when there's a perfectly good spare around.[/QUOTE]
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Geckonator
Occult Materialist
You are right there. I mean, Jesus, would this version of Asuka have been able to beat off the JSSDF soldiers all on her own, too?
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode Eleven: In the Still Darkness/The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still
The Red Prince
000:00:00:00
- Location
- Everywhere, at the end of time.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode Eleven: In the Still Darkness/The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still
Last episode: Asuka is excited about her upcoming class trip to Okinawa, but is upset to learn that all three pilots are being held in reserve in the event of a sudden Angel attack. The day after their classmates depart, NERV discovers the dormant Angel Sandalphon incubating in an embryonic state in the magma chamber of Mount Asama. Hoping to gain more insight as to the nature of the Angels, Asuka and a specially equipped Unit-02 are lowered into the throat of the volcano to capture the Angel alive. Unfortunately, the Angel awakens soon after and Asuka ultimately wins a pyrrhic victory against it, just barely avoiding death through the intervention of Shinji in Unit-01.
This episode: WITH ALL OUR POWER COMBINED!
We've caught them on their morning commute, and as they board a train to NERV HQ, Fuyutsuki is also on board, casually reading the newspaper. Ritsuko casually greets him, while the other two immediately SIR YES SIR once she's done. Fuyutsuki's been sent to supervise the meeting of Tokyo-3's city council meeting in place of Gendo. He mutters that this is a pointless job, and he's not just being a cynical old man - Tokyo-3 is run by the MAGI, while the city council just serves as an empty facade.
Unit-00 also has another activation test today. Hopefully, they've worked out all the kinks, but Fuyutsuki is cautiously optimistic.
OH GOD DAMN IT
Unit-00's been repainted a nice blue color, and the moment things begin to go wrong Ritsuko immediately kills the power to the area and brings it back online before Unit-00 even has time to freak out. There's still some small technical error they can't seem to fix. It doesn't seem like Rei's in the cockpit this time, which makes sense considering that they're effectively just trying to bugfix. Change some small little variable, try again, see if that fixes the issue, go back to the drawing board when it doesn't, etc.
Cut to Misato in the elevator. Kaji's sprinting for it, and as soon as she sees him, without so much as changing her facial expression, she presses the button to go up to the next floor. Ouch. But because this is Kaji, he gets his hand between the doors just in the nick of time, much to Misato's dismay.
I wonder if this is what they were like when they were a couple. It would explain a lot.
Shinji's on another green telephone again, phoning up his dad. Shinji's worked up the courage to talk to his dad about something, but not enough to avoid nervously stammering through the call. You see, there's uh, this career discussion interview at school and... Gendo is uncharacteristically irritated with his son, firmly tells him that all of these matters have been delegated to Captain Katsuragi, an-
click
The line goes dead. So does the elevator in NERV HQ, which stops in its tracks and goes dark for a second before the emergency lighting comes on. Misato immediately starts to mutter that that's not possible, while a bemused Kaji wonders if "Akagi" fucked up an accident somehow. Funnily enough, the camera immediately cuts to Ritsuko, who did happen to press a button at that moment and nervously states "I-it wasn't me..." as Maya and the small army of male technicians in the room all turn to look at her. The backup power also isn't coming online, and a meager 1.2% of NERV HQ's circuits are still operating. Fuyutsuki orders the redirection of all remaining power to keep the MAGI up and running, even at the expense of life support systems.
Hyuga is out of HQ when the power goes down. He was sent by Misato to pick up her dry cleaning, and as a sound truck drives by, Hyuga notices that the streetlights have come offline.
The air warps with the heat of Japan's eternal summer (I haven't tried to figure out the timeline for all this, but it's probably sometime in mid-September. There's plenty of timelines out there if you're that curious) as the three pilots walk from school to NERV HQ. Shinji's told the two about his phone call with his dad, and Asuka tries to cheer him up in her way by suggesting Gendo is just busy and he shouldn't let little things like that bother him. He is a man after all. Rei doesn't say anything. Sure enough, when they arrive at the ID scanners at the entrance to HQ, they're not working either.
In another funny gag, the technicians in the room overlooking the Unit-00 test manage to pry the door open with a broken pipe and immediately collapse in a pile on the floor, while Ritsuko and Maya gingerly step over them without so much as a word and march for the Bridge. It's been seven minutes without any power, and now Misato's starting to get worried. NERV was designed to be self-sufficient for this exact scenario and has three separate power grids in the event of an outage. It's incredibly unlikely that all three would fail at once, so Misato and Gendo simultaneously draw the separate conclusion that it was sabotage while Fuyutsuki lights emergency candles. Did Gendo take too many spaceplane trips for you to at least afford some glowsticks?
Fuyutsuki's mouth will be duct-taped shut for the rest of the episode.
At this point, the JSSDF is so resigned to the fact it can do nothing to the Angels that it gives the order to go on full alert and then just sits and waits for NERV to scramble to action. The camera briefly cuts to the Angel approaching the shoreline - big, spiderlike legs tower above the waves, though its body remains submerged underwater. As the Angel makes landfall, the generals begin to get a little nervous - usually, NERV would have started scrambling to action right about now...
Since all the escalators and elevators are down, Ritsuko and Maya are forced to climb to the top of the bridge on the gangway ladders on the sides of its various towers that even Ritsuko admits she never expected to actually use. Maya cheerfully replies that the best kind of prevention is preparation. Oh, you poor sweet girl.
The three pilots have tried the other doors and found that they also won't budge. Asuka begins to wonder if something happened down below, and Rei sagely concludes that that's the only logical assumption. Thanks, Rei, glad to have you on the team. Shinji suggests they try to use the phones, but Misato has the same idea and finds that they're also down, even the cell phones. Rei fishes out the emergency manual from her school case, and Asuka immediately follows suit and suggests they choose a leader before they take any action. She humbly nominates herself. There are no objections.
The trio finds their way to a manual release door, and Asuka looks at Shinji expectantly...
The Angel continues to advance, crushing a sign warning that ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT FOREST FIRES with one of its long, spindly legs. The UN is breathing down the neck of the JSSDF to do something, and the Japanese government in Tokyo-2 is running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Since someone has to do something, the JSSDF makes the executive decision to... send an airplane over Tokyo-3 and have it announced over the loudspeaker that an Angel is approaching and that everyone should duck and cover. Hyuga hears this broadcast and immediately resolves to make the arduous trek to HQ so they're not caught completely unawares. Fortunately for Hyuga, that same sound truck is still driving around...
Without AC or ventilation, the temperature of NERV HQ has begun to increase rapidly - Misato's taken off her jacket and is fanning herself with her hand. Kaji innocently (and I do think he wasn't hitting on her for once, considering the expression on his face) suggests she take off her shirt if she's so hot, and she immediately flushes, puts her jacket back on, and zips it up to the very top. On the Bridge, Ritsuko and Maya are fanning themselves with actual fans. Maya, impressed, points out that the heat isn't getting to Gendo and Fuyutsuki at all... until the camera cuts to them and shows that Fuyutsuki and Gendo have their feet in buckets of cold water.
English title card. The Angel has made it to the city, though its body remains hidden behind the city skyline. The sound truck races past, Hyuga having commandeered the vehicle to bring him to HQ. The male driver (and Hyuga) is having the time of his life putting the pedal to the metal, while the girl manning the loudspeaker nervously protests that he can't just crash through a dead end! But he can, and does.
Fuyutsuki muses that the Geofront was designed to be entirely self-sufficient if necessary, an Ark for all humankind should worst come to worst and the Third Impact begin. So sabotage has already been established, but why? Gendo thinks it's because they're assessing NERV's defenses and internal layout by seeing how fast the power can be brought back online. Ritsuko says that she'll run a dummy program through the MAGI to try to throw off whoever the perpetrator of this attack was off NERV's trail.
There's plenty of layers to that statement, funnily enough...
The pilots wander through the unlit labyrinth that is NERV HQ. Asuka's certain that it's this way and Shinji snarks that he's already heard her say that four times already. She has no clue where they're going, doesn't she? The two snark, until Rei suddenly orders the two to be quiet because she can hear something: it's Hyuga driving over them! They shout out for him, but he can't hear them - however, they can hear his warning that an Angel is approaching HQ. Rei Takes Charge and says that there's no time to waste, we have to go this way. Asuka scowls because she's the leader, and then orders Rei to show them the shortcut to save face.
Rei's shortcut is through the ventilation system, and as they crawl through pipes that probably shouldn't be able to support their weight, Shinji asks some thoughtful questions.
The two come to a duct large enough for them to stand in, and the path splits. Asuka suggests they go right, Rei left. Asuka immediately turns to Shinji... who thinks to himself a moment. He thinks Rei has the right idea, but he also doesn't have the spine to tell Asuka no... So he ultimately shrugs and ends up annoying her anyway, and they go right. But Shinji does immediately start to complain once it becomes clear that this path is leading them up, and Asuka flushes in embarrassment until they finally come up to a hatch:
Asuka confidently pulls open the hatch, which just leads back outside to Tokyo-3. Before she can say anything, she is immediately thrown off her feet by the Angel's leg landing nearby. Its body immediately comes into view. The Angel resembles a harvestman, and its body is peppered with various false-eyes as a form of camouflage - one of which peers at Asuka. She reels back and slams the door shut as the Angel continues to move towards the center of the city, and sighs with relief, before noticing Shinji and Asuka both looking at her with unamused faces...
The Eighth Angel is Matarael, whose name means "Premonition of God." It is the Angel of Rain.
Hyuga continues his joyride, almost running down two lost and confused NERV staffers before coming to a stop in the Bridge. Think about that for a minute: You can drive a van from Tokyo-3 to the Geofront, right into the very heart of NERV HQ. That does not bode well at all should something that wasn't an Angel attack the Geofront. But to focus on the more immediate threat, Gendo orders the immediate preparation of the Evas. There's an emergency diesel generator for contingencies like this, and Gendo has faith that the pilots will show up sooner rather than later...
They're lost again, and once again Rei decides which way is forward. Asuka follows, but curls her hands into fists and angrily stomps behind her. Rei pays her no mind, even as she tries to reassert her place on top of the hierarchy.
Something up, Rei?
With all the normal systems to load the Eva down, the "Terminal Plug" inserted into the Evas when they are inactive is removed and hoisted down via a pulley system being manned by dozens of NERV employees. Gendo nods and orders that all three units should have their Entry Plugs inserted into them, and Ritsuko confidently replies that they'll be here soon. As it turns out, they're stuck behind another tunnel, still damaged and only partially repaired from a previous battle. Shinji almost snarks when he says that he can't open it with his hands, so Rei says that they'll have to find another duct and try elsewhere. Asuka leans towards Shinji and whispers that Rei is "scary" and will do anything it takes to get what she wants. Not... quite. But she does take after her adoptive father: who helps his underlings hoist the Plugs and insert them into the Evas. It's scenes like these that make it understandable why Gendo's in the position he is - he can be quite the inspiring leader if he wants to be. Now all they need is the pilots.
As they crawl through yet another vent, Asuka tells Shinji that if he looks forward, she'll kill him. Shinji, who was already averting his gaze, looks up since he's being spoken to and is immediately rewarded with multiple kicks to the face. Ow. Ritsuko and Maya hear Asuka's familiar yelling, and a moment or two later all three are sent falling from the pipe. Asuka and Shinji crumple into a pile on the ground, while Rei sticks the landing. Good for her! Shinji is surprised to see everyone, including his father so hard at work - I don't think he realized that everyone else at NERV is fighting alongside him in their way.
The Entry Plugs are screwed in, the hydraulics broken by NERV technicians swinging axes, and the restraints on the Evas lifted by the awesome power of Evas themselves.
Matarael comes to a stop directly over the center of the Geofront as the Evas crawl through Eva-sized corridors to launch, and then shimmy up a vertical shaft with their hands and feet. Asuka and Rei notice an LCL-colored acid dripping from the shaft's roof just before 02 on top loses its footing and sends the other three crashing down, with Shinji ultimately bringing the three to a halt. From its sole true eye, the Angel weeps these acidic tears, hoping to simply just melt its way into HQ to... whatever its objective is, forcing the three to return to the same side shaft they were just in to avoid being dissolved into their basic molecular components. Their rifles were lost in the fall, and the Evas still don't have much in the way of internal power - 2:52 minutes until the batteries die.
Asuka, having continually fucked up over and over again this episode, finally gets a chance to be smart for once and comes up with a plan off the spot. I wonder if this is also Misato rubbing off on her. The plan is pretty basic at the end of the day: One of them will play defense by neutralizing the AT Field and protecting the other two from the acid, one of them will go to the bottom of the shaft and pick up a rifle and then hand it to the final, offensive unit which will land the killing shot. Rei instinctually offers to run defense but is surprised when Asuka says she'll do it instead since she doesn't want to stay in Shinji's shadow just because he saved her last time. Shinji will be offense, Rei will be the backup. Got it? Good, GO!
Asuka swings up towards the Angel with a smile on her face while Rei simply hops down the shaft. 02 spread eagles above them and absorbs the brunt of the falling acid, causing Asuka to writhe and grit her teeth in pain as she has no choice but to take it. 00 slows its descent with emergency rocket boosters that never show up again in the show (Anno please, control the robot otaku in you for five seconds) while 01 gets in position beneath Asuka and reaches down for the rifle as Rei tosses it up. Asuka hops out of the way right as Shinji empties the entire magazine directly into the Angel's vulnerable underbelly, upon which Matarael promptly and anticlimactically falls over dead. Shinji then proceeds to catch Asuka with his body. Smooth.
Misato pounds on the emergency door on the top of the elevator while Kaji holds her up - she's gotta pee real bad, enough for her to be willing to risk Kaji looking up her skirt, though she's still angry enough to yell at him not to do it. Suddenly, the lights come back on and the elevator begins to move again, knocking the two down in a rather compromising position as the elevator doors open to reveal Ritsuko, Hyuga, and Maya:
Ritsuko facepalms and Maya mutters disgusting under her breath.
Nighttime in Tokyo-3. With the lights of the city still down, the Milky Way is visible in the sky, and the three pilots gaze up at the stars together. Asuka mutters that she feels safer when the lights are on since it looks like the city is empty otherwise. As if to obey her divine command, the lights immediately come back on, and she smirks. See! Much better.
Actually, he's right! Kind of, anyway.
The camera pans up to the stars...
TO BE CONTINUED
Until next time! Ciao!
Last episode: Asuka is excited about her upcoming class trip to Okinawa, but is upset to learn that all three pilots are being held in reserve in the event of a sudden Angel attack. The day after their classmates depart, NERV discovers the dormant Angel Sandalphon incubating in an embryonic state in the magma chamber of Mount Asama. Hoping to gain more insight as to the nature of the Angels, Asuka and a specially equipped Unit-02 are lowered into the throat of the volcano to capture the Angel alive. Unfortunately, the Angel awakens soon after and Asuka ultimately wins a pyrrhic victory against it, just barely avoiding death through the intervention of Shinji in Unit-01.
This episode: WITH ALL OUR POWER COMBINED!
...
It's a bright, sunny day in Tokyo-3. The birds are chirping, and Aoba smiles as he sees little kids run past him, playing on their day off. He's drinking soda from a vending machine and has a guitar slung over his shoulder, while Ritsuko and Maya do their laundry in a nearby dry cleaner. The three engage in some friendly banter: Ritsuko and Maya lambast the fact that they don't have the time to wash their clothes anymore, while Aoba smirks and says that at least they get to sleep at home.
We've caught them on their morning commute, and as they board a train to NERV HQ, Fuyutsuki is also on board, casually reading the newspaper. Ritsuko casually greets him, while the other two immediately SIR YES SIR once she's done. Fuyutsuki's been sent to supervise the meeting of Tokyo-3's city council meeting in place of Gendo. He mutters that this is a pointless job, and he's not just being a cynical old man - Tokyo-3 is run by the MAGI, while the city council just serves as an empty facade.
Unit-00 also has another activation test today. Hopefully, they've worked out all the kinks, but Fuyutsuki is cautiously optimistic.
Unit-00's been repainted a nice blue color, and the moment things begin to go wrong Ritsuko immediately kills the power to the area and brings it back online before Unit-00 even has time to freak out. There's still some small technical error they can't seem to fix. It doesn't seem like Rei's in the cockpit this time, which makes sense considering that they're effectively just trying to bugfix. Change some small little variable, try again, see if that fixes the issue, go back to the drawing board when it doesn't, etc.
Cut to Misato in the elevator. Kaji's sprinting for it, and as soon as she sees him, without so much as changing her facial expression, she presses the button to go up to the next floor. Ouch. But because this is Kaji, he gets his hand between the doors just in the nick of time, much to Misato's dismay.
I wonder if this is what they were like when they were a couple. It would explain a lot.
Shinji's on another green telephone again, phoning up his dad. Shinji's worked up the courage to talk to his dad about something, but not enough to avoid nervously stammering through the call. You see, there's uh, this career discussion interview at school and... Gendo is uncharacteristically irritated with his son, firmly tells him that all of these matters have been delegated to Captain Katsuragi, an-
click
The line goes dead. So does the elevator in NERV HQ, which stops in its tracks and goes dark for a second before the emergency lighting comes on. Misato immediately starts to mutter that that's not possible, while a bemused Kaji wonders if "Akagi" fucked up an accident somehow. Funnily enough, the camera immediately cuts to Ritsuko, who did happen to press a button at that moment and nervously states "I-it wasn't me..." as Maya and the small army of male technicians in the room all turn to look at her. The backup power also isn't coming online, and a meager 1.2% of NERV HQ's circuits are still operating. Fuyutsuki orders the redirection of all remaining power to keep the MAGI up and running, even at the expense of life support systems.
Hyuga is out of HQ when the power goes down. He was sent by Misato to pick up her dry cleaning, and as a sound truck drives by, Hyuga notices that the streetlights have come offline.
The air warps with the heat of Japan's eternal summer (I haven't tried to figure out the timeline for all this, but it's probably sometime in mid-September. There's plenty of timelines out there if you're that curious) as the three pilots walk from school to NERV HQ. Shinji's told the two about his phone call with his dad, and Asuka tries to cheer him up in her way by suggesting Gendo is just busy and he shouldn't let little things like that bother him. He is a man after all. Rei doesn't say anything. Sure enough, when they arrive at the ID scanners at the entrance to HQ, they're not working either.
In another funny gag, the technicians in the room overlooking the Unit-00 test manage to pry the door open with a broken pipe and immediately collapse in a pile on the floor, while Ritsuko and Maya gingerly step over them without so much as a word and march for the Bridge. It's been seven minutes without any power, and now Misato's starting to get worried. NERV was designed to be self-sufficient for this exact scenario and has three separate power grids in the event of an outage. It's incredibly unlikely that all three would fail at once, so Misato and Gendo simultaneously draw the separate conclusion that it was sabotage while Fuyutsuki lights emergency candles. Did Gendo take too many spaceplane trips for you to at least afford some glowsticks?
Fuyutsuki's mouth will be duct-taped shut for the rest of the episode.
At this point, the JSSDF is so resigned to the fact it can do nothing to the Angels that it gives the order to go on full alert and then just sits and waits for NERV to scramble to action. The camera briefly cuts to the Angel approaching the shoreline - big, spiderlike legs tower above the waves, though its body remains submerged underwater. As the Angel makes landfall, the generals begin to get a little nervous - usually, NERV would have started scrambling to action right about now...
Since all the escalators and elevators are down, Ritsuko and Maya are forced to climb to the top of the bridge on the gangway ladders on the sides of its various towers that even Ritsuko admits she never expected to actually use. Maya cheerfully replies that the best kind of prevention is preparation. Oh, you poor sweet girl.
The three pilots have tried the other doors and found that they also won't budge. Asuka begins to wonder if something happened down below, and Rei sagely concludes that that's the only logical assumption. Thanks, Rei, glad to have you on the team. Shinji suggests they try to use the phones, but Misato has the same idea and finds that they're also down, even the cell phones. Rei fishes out the emergency manual from her school case, and Asuka immediately follows suit and suggests they choose a leader before they take any action. She humbly nominates herself. There are no objections.
The trio finds their way to a manual release door, and Asuka looks at Shinji expectantly...
Without AC or ventilation, the temperature of NERV HQ has begun to increase rapidly - Misato's taken off her jacket and is fanning herself with her hand. Kaji innocently (and I do think he wasn't hitting on her for once, considering the expression on his face) suggests she take off her shirt if she's so hot, and she immediately flushes, puts her jacket back on, and zips it up to the very top. On the Bridge, Ritsuko and Maya are fanning themselves with actual fans. Maya, impressed, points out that the heat isn't getting to Gendo and Fuyutsuki at all... until the camera cuts to them and shows that Fuyutsuki and Gendo have their feet in buckets of cold water.
English title card. The Angel has made it to the city, though its body remains hidden behind the city skyline. The sound truck races past, Hyuga having commandeered the vehicle to bring him to HQ. The male driver (and Hyuga) is having the time of his life putting the pedal to the metal, while the girl manning the loudspeaker nervously protests that he can't just crash through a dead end! But he can, and does.
Fuyutsuki muses that the Geofront was designed to be entirely self-sufficient if necessary, an Ark for all humankind should worst come to worst and the Third Impact begin. So sabotage has already been established, but why? Gendo thinks it's because they're assessing NERV's defenses and internal layout by seeing how fast the power can be brought back online. Ritsuko says that she'll run a dummy program through the MAGI to try to throw off whoever the perpetrator of this attack was off NERV's trail.
There's plenty of layers to that statement, funnily enough...
The pilots wander through the unlit labyrinth that is NERV HQ. Asuka's certain that it's this way and Shinji snarks that he's already heard her say that four times already. She has no clue where they're going, doesn't she? The two snark, until Rei suddenly orders the two to be quiet because she can hear something: it's Hyuga driving over them! They shout out for him, but he can't hear them - however, they can hear his warning that an Angel is approaching HQ. Rei Takes Charge and says that there's no time to waste, we have to go this way. Asuka scowls because she's the leader, and then orders Rei to show them the shortcut to save face.
Rei's shortcut is through the ventilation system, and as they crawl through pipes that probably shouldn't be able to support their weight, Shinji asks some thoughtful questions.
The two come to a duct large enough for them to stand in, and the path splits. Asuka suggests they go right, Rei left. Asuka immediately turns to Shinji... who thinks to himself a moment. He thinks Rei has the right idea, but he also doesn't have the spine to tell Asuka no... So he ultimately shrugs and ends up annoying her anyway, and they go right. But Shinji does immediately start to complain once it becomes clear that this path is leading them up, and Asuka flushes in embarrassment until they finally come up to a hatch:
Asuka confidently pulls open the hatch, which just leads back outside to Tokyo-3. Before she can say anything, she is immediately thrown off her feet by the Angel's leg landing nearby. Its body immediately comes into view. The Angel resembles a harvestman, and its body is peppered with various false-eyes as a form of camouflage - one of which peers at Asuka. She reels back and slams the door shut as the Angel continues to move towards the center of the city, and sighs with relief, before noticing Shinji and Asuka both looking at her with unamused faces...
The Eighth Angel is Matarael, whose name means "Premonition of God." It is the Angel of Rain.
Hyuga continues his joyride, almost running down two lost and confused NERV staffers before coming to a stop in the Bridge. Think about that for a minute: You can drive a van from Tokyo-3 to the Geofront, right into the very heart of NERV HQ. That does not bode well at all should something that wasn't an Angel attack the Geofront. But to focus on the more immediate threat, Gendo orders the immediate preparation of the Evas. There's an emergency diesel generator for contingencies like this, and Gendo has faith that the pilots will show up sooner rather than later...
They're lost again, and once again Rei decides which way is forward. Asuka follows, but curls her hands into fists and angrily stomps behind her. Rei pays her no mind, even as she tries to reassert her place on top of the hierarchy.
Something up, Rei?
With all the normal systems to load the Eva down, the "Terminal Plug" inserted into the Evas when they are inactive is removed and hoisted down via a pulley system being manned by dozens of NERV employees. Gendo nods and orders that all three units should have their Entry Plugs inserted into them, and Ritsuko confidently replies that they'll be here soon. As it turns out, they're stuck behind another tunnel, still damaged and only partially repaired from a previous battle. Shinji almost snarks when he says that he can't open it with his hands, so Rei says that they'll have to find another duct and try elsewhere. Asuka leans towards Shinji and whispers that Rei is "scary" and will do anything it takes to get what she wants. Not... quite. But she does take after her adoptive father: who helps his underlings hoist the Plugs and insert them into the Evas. It's scenes like these that make it understandable why Gendo's in the position he is - he can be quite the inspiring leader if he wants to be. Now all they need is the pilots.
As they crawl through yet another vent, Asuka tells Shinji that if he looks forward, she'll kill him. Shinji, who was already averting his gaze, looks up since he's being spoken to and is immediately rewarded with multiple kicks to the face. Ow. Ritsuko and Maya hear Asuka's familiar yelling, and a moment or two later all three are sent falling from the pipe. Asuka and Shinji crumple into a pile on the ground, while Rei sticks the landing. Good for her! Shinji is surprised to see everyone, including his father so hard at work - I don't think he realized that everyone else at NERV is fighting alongside him in their way.
Matarael comes to a stop directly over the center of the Geofront as the Evas crawl through Eva-sized corridors to launch, and then shimmy up a vertical shaft with their hands and feet. Asuka and Rei notice an LCL-colored acid dripping from the shaft's roof just before 02 on top loses its footing and sends the other three crashing down, with Shinji ultimately bringing the three to a halt. From its sole true eye, the Angel weeps these acidic tears, hoping to simply just melt its way into HQ to... whatever its objective is, forcing the three to return to the same side shaft they were just in to avoid being dissolved into their basic molecular components. Their rifles were lost in the fall, and the Evas still don't have much in the way of internal power - 2:52 minutes until the batteries die.
Asuka, having continually fucked up over and over again this episode, finally gets a chance to be smart for once and comes up with a plan off the spot. I wonder if this is also Misato rubbing off on her. The plan is pretty basic at the end of the day: One of them will play defense by neutralizing the AT Field and protecting the other two from the acid, one of them will go to the bottom of the shaft and pick up a rifle and then hand it to the final, offensive unit which will land the killing shot. Rei instinctually offers to run defense but is surprised when Asuka says she'll do it instead since she doesn't want to stay in Shinji's shadow just because he saved her last time. Shinji will be offense, Rei will be the backup. Got it? Good, GO!
Asuka swings up towards the Angel with a smile on her face while Rei simply hops down the shaft. 02 spread eagles above them and absorbs the brunt of the falling acid, causing Asuka to writhe and grit her teeth in pain as she has no choice but to take it. 00 slows its descent with emergency rocket boosters that never show up again in the show (Anno please, control the robot otaku in you for five seconds) while 01 gets in position beneath Asuka and reaches down for the rifle as Rei tosses it up. Asuka hops out of the way right as Shinji empties the entire magazine directly into the Angel's vulnerable underbelly, upon which Matarael promptly and anticlimactically falls over dead. Shinji then proceeds to catch Asuka with his body. Smooth.
Misato pounds on the emergency door on the top of the elevator while Kaji holds her up - she's gotta pee real bad, enough for her to be willing to risk Kaji looking up her skirt, though she's still angry enough to yell at him not to do it. Suddenly, the lights come back on and the elevator begins to move again, knocking the two down in a rather compromising position as the elevator doors open to reveal Ritsuko, Hyuga, and Maya:
Ritsuko facepalms and Maya mutters disgusting under her breath.
Nighttime in Tokyo-3. With the lights of the city still down, the Milky Way is visible in the sky, and the three pilots gaze up at the stars together. Asuka mutters that she feels safer when the lights are on since it looks like the city is empty otherwise. As if to obey her divine command, the lights immediately come back on, and she smirks. See! Much better.
Actually, he's right! Kind of, anyway.
The camera pans up to the stars...
TO BE CONTINUED
...
Next episode preview: Misato helpfully informs the audience that she sublimates (in the psychoanalytic sense) her frustrations into the extermination of the Angels. Her past is revealed, and the largest Angel yet descends from heaven as Unit-01 takes off running...
I think this is a pretty decent episode, honestly. Matarael is a completely forgettable Angel, but the human/comic elements of this episode, as well as the whole theme of overcoming human limitations through the power of Teamwork, is one I really like. We are Legion. I don't think I have anything else to really say about it. Until next time! Ciao!
- Pronouns
- He
You (didn't) ask and I deliver!
So this would be September 19th, according to this calender.
Yeah, ending up like that with a man?
Dream Logic
An offseason swallow
- Location
- In transit
I completely forgot Gendo and whatshisface actually pull a few moments of comedy.
This has been a joy to see all these small things that I forgot along the way.
This has been a joy to see all these small things that I forgot along the way.
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode Twelve: The Value of Miracles/'She said, "Don't make others suffer for your personal hatred."'
The Red Prince
000:00:00:00
- Location
- Everywhere, at the end of time.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode Twelve: The Value of Miracles/'She said, "Don't make others suffer for your personal hatred."'
Bit of a mouthful, that one.
Last episode: NERV HQ's power grid was sabotaged by an unknown actor, leaving the staff trapped inside and the pilots trapped outside. In what's hopefully just a coincidence, the Angel Matarael emerged from the ocean and began to assault Tokyo-3. NERV's army of technicians and engineers are forced to boot up the Evangelions manually, as the pilots made their way through the absolute labyrinth of vents and tunnels that wind throughout Central Dogma. Ultimately, the Angel is quickly and anticlimactically defeated through the extraordinary effort of NERV as a whole. Hooray!
This episode: It's Misato... Friday when I started writing this, Sunday when I finished it. Humor me and pretend it's Monday.
Earth (or well, the camera) rises over the surface of the Moon - a blue ball with little white streaks only barely visible from this distance. Our pale blue dot, our cradle and resting place. And as a faint light begins to glow from its Southern Pole, Paradise is forever Lost.
In Antarctica, the air glows a hellish orange as the polar winds are kicked up something fierce. A lone silhouette limps through the ruins of a shattered base, cradling a smaller, limp one in his arms. He is covered in blood and his flesh drips off his body like melting wax as he finds some sort of escape capsule and places the girl he's holding inside. The wind rips away a panel of the roof, briefly revealing the silhouette of an immense, glowing humanoid that uncannily resembles an Evangelion. The camera cuts to reveal that the girl is a teenage Misato, who's briefly stirred awake by the feeling of the man's blood dripping on her face.
He closes the hatch, and in vain shields the capsule with his body as an immense explosion sweeps over the entire area. The humanoid screams as it extends its immense wings into the heavens...
The capsule bobs with the waves and opens up as Misato clutches her bloodied chest as she stands up to survey the carnage, broken and battered but alive nonetheless. She opens her eyes to see twin pillars of light stretching as far as the eye can see, surrounded by an angry vortex of swirling storm clouds and debris re-entering the atmosphere as the First Angel howls in an eerie scream I can't place. Triumph? Fear? Confusion? Only the Angel knows.
In a clever bit of camera work, the scene transitions from young Misato clutching her chest wound to adult Misato putting on a bra, revealing a large scar between her breasts. She must have been struck by shrapnel from the initial explosion. She looks in the mirror with a stern expression, the iconic cross necklace she was wearing that day on her bedside table. Cue Japanese title card.
Yet another rainy day in Tokyo-3. Kensuke and Toji have sought shelter in Shinji's apartment, and the three collectively agree that since Misato must still be asleep after another all-nighter, they should do their best to be quiet. They're not total jerks, after all. Unfortunately, this effort is immediately torpedoed by Asuka, who does not have the words "indoor voice" in her vocabulary and immediately fusses that they better not peep at her. Kensuke idly wonders if she has issues with her body image. He's right. But Misato was already getting dressed for work anyway, so it's fortunately not an issue this time. Misato reminds Shinji that he's due for a "harmonics test" tonight - where all three pilots synchronize with their Evas in a perfectly controlled environment to determine their baseline sync rate and observe any concerning trends.
Kensuke, being the military otaku he is, notices that Misato's rank pin has two black bars now instead of one, which means she's been bumped up from a Captain to a Major, a rank more fitting for the commander of NERV's Ops Division - in the Rebuilds, Misato just starts as a Major instead. I'd be curious what on Earth NERV's military ranks look like. The point is: Kensuke bows respectfully, Toji immediately bows with him in turn, leaving Shinji the only confused one. Asuka calls out while drying her hair that she didn't notice either. Kensuke immediately scoffs and begins to sing Misato's praises - it's so tough for someone so young to raise two children!
The harmonics test requires the pilots to wear their plug suits, and are held in special Entry Plugs that jut out from the coolant pool the out-of-view Evas are kept in. Interestingly enough, the pilots are not referred to by their name or by their "First/Second/Third Child" designation, but by the name of their Units. Though we very rarely get actual percentages (nor are we explained what sync rate even means other than "higher better" - my guess would be how much of a delay there is in response time?), Shinji's said to be performing very well even when dangerously close to the rather ominously named "mental contamination zone" and is steadily catching up with Asuka's sync rate. Ritsuko, Maya, and a random technician are rather pleased, but Misato immediately pours a bucket of cold water over the conversation by saying she'll doubt he'll be pleased by the information, since piloting an Eva is only painful to him.
Rei and Shinji wear stoic expressions as Ritsuko gleefully informs Shinji his sync rate has increased by 8 points since the last test. Asuka smugly says that that's still 50 points below hers, but is ticked off when Ritsuko points out that such an increase in ten days is legitimately impressive.
She looks back at him with a smile laced with venom, and then scowls and storms off.
Shinji and Misato have an actual heart-to-heart conversation. They've come pretty far since the beginning of the series. In the background, one can faintly hear a radio host answering the plea for help of a caller who's struggling with relationship issues. He tries to reassure him that he has things pretty good compared to his parents - his parents are alive, he has a roof over his head, food on the table... It's meant to be reassuring but misses the mark. Rather fitting, considering the series this is in. As for Shinji and Misato:
It's not a jab at Shinji, just an accurate observation. Shinji takes it in stride.
Kensuke's spontaneously organized a party among his classmates to celebrate Misato's promotion. Shinji stays quiet, not wanting to interrupt or be a bother to anybody. I've been there, kid. Asuka invited Hikari, and surprisingly enough, Rei, who declined for whatever reason. Kaji and Ritsuko are supposed to be there, but they're late. While Asuka and Toji predictably cross blades, Misato whispers back and forth to Shinji:
She's lying, but I don't think she's lying to Shinji specifically. Just falling back on the same script she presents for everyone. Both she and Shinji seem to notice, and they both frown slightly. Before either of them can say anything else, Kaji and Ritsuko are at the door together. Asuka and Misato immediately flush and prickle with jealousy, something which Ritsuko immediately needles Misato for. But they're both polite and friendly - it helps that since both Gendo and Fuyutsuki are currently at the South Pole, Misato is now the highest-ranking NERV official and de facto head of HQ while they're gone.
The waters of the Southern Ocean are stained blood red. Not even bacteria can survive in them anymore. The entire continent of Antarctica was vaporized with the awakening of the First Angel, and now only pillars of salt rise from its death. Blue-green auroras swirl in the sky, only further adding to the rather eerie quality of this place. Otherworldy would be the most fitting term, in the most literal sense possible. This is a glimpse of an Earth in which life as we know it cannot exist. What NERV is fighting to avoid. And yet, through the Power of Humanity (TM), we're here anyway. A single carrier with a tightly secured something strapped to it plys through the waters.
This is not the first philosophical clash these two have had, and it will not be the last. But before Gendo can reply, NERV HQ telegraphs them. An Angel has been detected in orbit above the Indian Ocean.
The 10th Angel, Sahaquiel. It is the Angel of the Open Sky, and its name means Ingenuity of God. Sure enough, this Angel has plenty of tricks up its sleeve. When a NERV observation satellite comes too close to the Angel, it immediately rips it apart with its AT Field. But that's not its only trick! Sahaquiel snaps off a little piece of its flesh and allows a combination of gravity and its AT Field to do the rest. Its first shot is way off, but every two hours it's steadily correcting its aim. It's likely once it does that it will simply drop itself and nuke Tokyo-3 down to the bedrock in the process. Rocks fall, everyone dies. After NERV tried to N2 it from orbit, the Angel has since camouflaged itself. To top it all off, Sahaquiel is jamming all NERV's communications again.
It's Misato's time to shine. She orders the immediate evacuation of Tokyo-3 and everything else within a 50 km estimated blast radius, the informing of all the proper authorities, and the backing up of the MAGI triad in NERV's secondary base located in Matsushiro. Since she's sent all non-essential or combat personnel home, NERV HQ is eerily empty as Misato and Ritsuko talk in one of NERV's bathrooms. Another dispute over the chain of command. The first time around, Misato and Ritsuko were equals - but now Misato is explicitly higher ranked than Ritsuko, despite Ritsuko knowing much more than Misato does.
Ouch.
They both have a point: Ritsuko is correct about Misato's motives, but they don't have anything else they can do. The destruction of Tokyo-3 would completely decapitate NERV as an organization and would guarantee an Angelic victory in this war.
Misato's plan is incredibly simple. If there were any other options, it would also be completely insane. But drastic times call for drastic measures. All three of them are going to catch the Angel with their bare hands, and then one of them will stab it to death. Simple as!
Misato won't make them do it. But the pilots nevertheless chose to accept. They're probably dead either way, after all. Better to die standing... Misato asks the three to fill out a will (regulations, she says), but they all refuse. Asuka has no plans to die any time soon, and Shinji and Rei quite literally have nothing to lose or write down. Misato tries to cheer them up by promising them a steak dinner, but I don't think that's a promise she intends on keeping. She makes a lot of those. It doesn't work either - Shinji fakes a cheer and Asuka immediately tears into him about it.
Not even the end of the world can kill the meat industry.
Asuka immediately pulls out a tour guide and starts looking for restaurants she can get Misato to take them to. If you're going to get a free meal... She also invites Rei again, but she declines. She's a vegetarian, as it turns out.
(Considering who Rei is, you'd think there'd be some symbolic reason behind the fact that Rei is a vegetarian. Nope. She's only one because Anno is.)
Very few personnel man the Bridge as everyone prepares for what they are probably convinced is their final sortie. Since the Angel cloaked itself before entering the homestretch of its re-entry, it could come down anywhere across the city and its surroundings. Not that it matters - if it hits the ground anywhere, they're all dead. So Misato's tried her best to deploy the Evas in a way that will maximize the potential range. Call it women's intuition. She probably shouldn't have told them that - Asuka immediately despairs that their miracle is only getting farther and farther away. Shinji helpfully informs her that Misato has never won the lottery. Asuka only groans in response.
While in the elevator to the Eva cage, Asuka and Shinji talk between themselves. Rei is also there, but she predictably doesn't join the conversation.
We're then treated to one of the best shots of the show:
I'm not one to talk about visual anything, but I adore how Evangelion uses lighting. It lends the series an incredibly iconic aesthetic, one that has aged like fine wine in comparison to some other animes from the 90s.
Misato tries to get the two Bridge Bunnies present (Hyuga and Aoba) to evacuate, but they refuse since this is their fight too. She smiles. And she's honestly worried about the pilots the least - their AT Fields will at least protect them far better than any amount of concrete and rebar between them and the Angel. There are brief shots of the other two pilots waiting in their cockpits - Rei is presumably taking a nap, while Asuka for once is the one listening to some tunes. But Shinji is thinking about a conversation he had with Misato the previous day, on the outlook back from episode 2:
There is no way but through.
The Angel is sighted as it enters the atmosphere. 25 kilometers up and falling rapidly. The Evas assume positions like runners waiting for the sound of the starting gun. That is ultimately what this is, after all, a race for survival. The MAGI will help calculate the estimated trajectory until Sahaquiel is ten kilometers up, then they're on their own. When the Angel reaches the 20 km mark, the cables are ejected and the starting gun fires. The race is on.
Most sequences in the series I've noticed tend to focus on the incredible amount of logistics required to bring online and use a 100-200 meter tall weapon like an Evangelion. Each deployment of the Evas feels less like the fielding of an ultimate weapon and more like a rocket launch. I made that comparison in regards to the first episode, and I stand by it. As such, we rarely get to appreciate the full power of the Evangelions themselves. This sequence is one of the few times we get to see them cut loose.
The three Evangelions take off, 01 tearing asphalt up under its feet and clearing hills in a single bound. The ground itself buckles with every leap into the air they make. Powerlines sway as they slam down into the ground. Shinji is ultimately the closest to Sahaquiel and comes close to potentially breaking the sound barrier as he activates his AT Field and breaks for the Angel, slamming through multiple buildings in the process. He reaches the impact zone with a few moments to spare, deploying his AT Field at maximum power to keep the Angel at bay.
Shinji is forced ankle-deep into the ground by the sheer size and power of Sahaquiel. He alone cannot withstand its awesome might. But he's not alone - Asuka and Rei are close behind and immediately combine their AT Fields with his. Before the Angel can respond, Rei grabs onto the Angel's own AT Field and slashes a hole in it with its own rarely seen Prog Knife, before Asuka lands the killing blow with a sudden jab to the core, after which Sahaquiel promptly goes limp and only explodes a little bit. Okay, a lot bit. But the city is at least still in one piece this time.
After the battle, Misato and the pilots look at each other with pride. Contact with Gendo and Fuyutsuki in Antarctica has been re-established:
Misato still owes the kids steak dinner. She is already cringing at the thought of what this is going to do to her paycheck. Her apartment isn't exactly very big as it is. But to her surprise, the three kids have picked out a rather inexpensive ramen stand instead. She probably should have figured something was up when Rei agreed to come, but eh. She looks stunned for a moment but then smiles. The pilots and their commander enjoy a nice, peaceful dinner after their hard day. They deserve it.
TO BE CONTINUED.
...
Next episode preview: A routine harmonics test goes wrong. Various computer systems in NERV are corrupted by the next Angel, one after the other. Will NERV HQ be forced to self-destruct by the enemy?
To be fair, you don't pilot for a good reason either, Asuka. But that's later.
I don't think I really have strong feelings about this episode. Not bad, not great. Sums up a lot of the Action Arc, really. Not that these episodes are bad by any means. They're important for character development and what comes after. It's important for the sake of the show that we actually see the pilots and other main cast members happy and bond with each other if only to twist the knife in later and tear these fragile bonds apart. The next episode marks the halfway point of the original show, and it's a long way down from here...
Until next time. Ciao.
Bit of a mouthful, that one.
Last episode: NERV HQ's power grid was sabotaged by an unknown actor, leaving the staff trapped inside and the pilots trapped outside. In what's hopefully just a coincidence, the Angel Matarael emerged from the ocean and began to assault Tokyo-3. NERV's army of technicians and engineers are forced to boot up the Evangelions manually, as the pilots made their way through the absolute labyrinth of vents and tunnels that wind throughout Central Dogma. Ultimately, the Angel is quickly and anticlimactically defeated through the extraordinary effort of NERV as a whole. Hooray!
This episode: It's Misato... Friday when I started writing this, Sunday when I finished it. Humor me and pretend it's Monday.
...
The year is 2000 AD.
The year is 2000 AD.
Earth (or well, the camera) rises over the surface of the Moon - a blue ball with little white streaks only barely visible from this distance. Our pale blue dot, our cradle and resting place. And as a faint light begins to glow from its Southern Pole, Paradise is forever Lost.
In Antarctica, the air glows a hellish orange as the polar winds are kicked up something fierce. A lone silhouette limps through the ruins of a shattered base, cradling a smaller, limp one in his arms. He is covered in blood and his flesh drips off his body like melting wax as he finds some sort of escape capsule and places the girl he's holding inside. The wind rips away a panel of the roof, briefly revealing the silhouette of an immense, glowing humanoid that uncannily resembles an Evangelion. The camera cuts to reveal that the girl is a teenage Misato, who's briefly stirred awake by the feeling of the man's blood dripping on her face.
He closes the hatch, and in vain shields the capsule with his body as an immense explosion sweeps over the entire area. The humanoid screams as it extends its immense wings into the heavens...
In a clever bit of camera work, the scene transitions from young Misato clutching her chest wound to adult Misato putting on a bra, revealing a large scar between her breasts. She must have been struck by shrapnel from the initial explosion. She looks in the mirror with a stern expression, the iconic cross necklace she was wearing that day on her bedside table. Cue Japanese title card.
Yet another rainy day in Tokyo-3. Kensuke and Toji have sought shelter in Shinji's apartment, and the three collectively agree that since Misato must still be asleep after another all-nighter, they should do their best to be quiet. They're not total jerks, after all. Unfortunately, this effort is immediately torpedoed by Asuka, who does not have the words "indoor voice" in her vocabulary and immediately fusses that they better not peep at her. Kensuke idly wonders if she has issues with her body image. He's right. But Misato was already getting dressed for work anyway, so it's fortunately not an issue this time. Misato reminds Shinji that he's due for a "harmonics test" tonight - where all three pilots synchronize with their Evas in a perfectly controlled environment to determine their baseline sync rate and observe any concerning trends.
Kensuke, being the military otaku he is, notices that Misato's rank pin has two black bars now instead of one, which means she's been bumped up from a Captain to a Major, a rank more fitting for the commander of NERV's Ops Division - in the Rebuilds, Misato just starts as a Major instead. I'd be curious what on Earth NERV's military ranks look like. The point is: Kensuke bows respectfully, Toji immediately bows with him in turn, leaving Shinji the only confused one. Asuka calls out while drying her hair that she didn't notice either. Kensuke immediately scoffs and begins to sing Misato's praises - it's so tough for someone so young to raise two children!
The harmonics test requires the pilots to wear their plug suits, and are held in special Entry Plugs that jut out from the coolant pool the out-of-view Evas are kept in. Interestingly enough, the pilots are not referred to by their name or by their "First/Second/Third Child" designation, but by the name of their Units. Though we very rarely get actual percentages (nor are we explained what sync rate even means other than "higher better" - my guess would be how much of a delay there is in response time?), Shinji's said to be performing very well even when dangerously close to the rather ominously named "mental contamination zone" and is steadily catching up with Asuka's sync rate. Ritsuko, Maya, and a random technician are rather pleased, but Misato immediately pours a bucket of cold water over the conversation by saying she'll doubt he'll be pleased by the information, since piloting an Eva is only painful to him.
Rei and Shinji wear stoic expressions as Ritsuko gleefully informs Shinji his sync rate has increased by 8 points since the last test. Asuka smugly says that that's still 50 points below hers, but is ticked off when Ritsuko points out that such an increase in ten days is legitimately impressive.
Shinji and Misato have an actual heart-to-heart conversation. They've come pretty far since the beginning of the series. In the background, one can faintly hear a radio host answering the plea for help of a caller who's struggling with relationship issues. He tries to reassure him that he has things pretty good compared to his parents - his parents are alive, he has a roof over his head, food on the table... It's meant to be reassuring but misses the mark. Rather fitting, considering the series this is in. As for Shinji and Misato:
It's not a jab at Shinji, just an accurate observation. Shinji takes it in stride.
Kensuke's spontaneously organized a party among his classmates to celebrate Misato's promotion. Shinji stays quiet, not wanting to interrupt or be a bother to anybody. I've been there, kid. Asuka invited Hikari, and surprisingly enough, Rei, who declined for whatever reason. Kaji and Ritsuko are supposed to be there, but they're late. While Asuka and Toji predictably cross blades, Misato whispers back and forth to Shinji:
She's lying, but I don't think she's lying to Shinji specifically. Just falling back on the same script she presents for everyone. Both she and Shinji seem to notice, and they both frown slightly. Before either of them can say anything else, Kaji and Ritsuko are at the door together. Asuka and Misato immediately flush and prickle with jealousy, something which Ritsuko immediately needles Misato for. But they're both polite and friendly - it helps that since both Gendo and Fuyutsuki are currently at the South Pole, Misato is now the highest-ranking NERV official and de facto head of HQ while they're gone.
The waters of the Southern Ocean are stained blood red. Not even bacteria can survive in them anymore. The entire continent of Antarctica was vaporized with the awakening of the First Angel, and now only pillars of salt rise from its death. Blue-green auroras swirl in the sky, only further adding to the rather eerie quality of this place. Otherworldy would be the most fitting term, in the most literal sense possible. This is a glimpse of an Earth in which life as we know it cannot exist. What NERV is fighting to avoid. And yet, through the Power of Humanity (TM), we're here anyway. A single carrier with a tightly secured something strapped to it plys through the waters.
This is not the first philosophical clash these two have had, and it will not be the last. But before Gendo can reply, NERV HQ telegraphs them. An Angel has been detected in orbit above the Indian Ocean.
The 10th Angel, Sahaquiel. It is the Angel of the Open Sky, and its name means Ingenuity of God. Sure enough, this Angel has plenty of tricks up its sleeve. When a NERV observation satellite comes too close to the Angel, it immediately rips it apart with its AT Field. But that's not its only trick! Sahaquiel snaps off a little piece of its flesh and allows a combination of gravity and its AT Field to do the rest. Its first shot is way off, but every two hours it's steadily correcting its aim. It's likely once it does that it will simply drop itself and nuke Tokyo-3 down to the bedrock in the process. Rocks fall, everyone dies. After NERV tried to N2 it from orbit, the Angel has since camouflaged itself. To top it all off, Sahaquiel is jamming all NERV's communications again.
It's Misato's time to shine. She orders the immediate evacuation of Tokyo-3 and everything else within a 50 km estimated blast radius, the informing of all the proper authorities, and the backing up of the MAGI triad in NERV's secondary base located in Matsushiro. Since she's sent all non-essential or combat personnel home, NERV HQ is eerily empty as Misato and Ritsuko talk in one of NERV's bathrooms. Another dispute over the chain of command. The first time around, Misato and Ritsuko were equals - but now Misato is explicitly higher ranked than Ritsuko, despite Ritsuko knowing much more than Misato does.
They both have a point: Ritsuko is correct about Misato's motives, but they don't have anything else they can do. The destruction of Tokyo-3 would completely decapitate NERV as an organization and would guarantee an Angelic victory in this war.
Misato's plan is incredibly simple. If there were any other options, it would also be completely insane. But drastic times call for drastic measures. All three of them are going to catch the Angel with their bare hands, and then one of them will stab it to death. Simple as!
Misato won't make them do it. But the pilots nevertheless chose to accept. They're probably dead either way, after all. Better to die standing... Misato asks the three to fill out a will (regulations, she says), but they all refuse. Asuka has no plans to die any time soon, and Shinji and Rei quite literally have nothing to lose or write down. Misato tries to cheer them up by promising them a steak dinner, but I don't think that's a promise she intends on keeping. She makes a lot of those. It doesn't work either - Shinji fakes a cheer and Asuka immediately tears into him about it.
Not even the end of the world can kill the meat industry.
Asuka immediately pulls out a tour guide and starts looking for restaurants she can get Misato to take them to. If you're going to get a free meal... She also invites Rei again, but she declines. She's a vegetarian, as it turns out.
(Considering who Rei is, you'd think there'd be some symbolic reason behind the fact that Rei is a vegetarian. Nope. She's only one because Anno is.)
Very few personnel man the Bridge as everyone prepares for what they are probably convinced is their final sortie. Since the Angel cloaked itself before entering the homestretch of its re-entry, it could come down anywhere across the city and its surroundings. Not that it matters - if it hits the ground anywhere, they're all dead. So Misato's tried her best to deploy the Evas in a way that will maximize the potential range. Call it women's intuition. She probably shouldn't have told them that - Asuka immediately despairs that their miracle is only getting farther and farther away. Shinji helpfully informs her that Misato has never won the lottery. Asuka only groans in response.
While in the elevator to the Eva cage, Asuka and Shinji talk between themselves. Rei is also there, but she predictably doesn't join the conversation.
We're then treated to one of the best shots of the show:
Misato tries to get the two Bridge Bunnies present (Hyuga and Aoba) to evacuate, but they refuse since this is their fight too. She smiles. And she's honestly worried about the pilots the least - their AT Fields will at least protect them far better than any amount of concrete and rebar between them and the Angel. There are brief shots of the other two pilots waiting in their cockpits - Rei is presumably taking a nap, while Asuka for once is the one listening to some tunes. But Shinji is thinking about a conversation he had with Misato the previous day, on the outlook back from episode 2:
There is no way but through.
The Angel is sighted as it enters the atmosphere. 25 kilometers up and falling rapidly. The Evas assume positions like runners waiting for the sound of the starting gun. That is ultimately what this is, after all, a race for survival. The MAGI will help calculate the estimated trajectory until Sahaquiel is ten kilometers up, then they're on their own. When the Angel reaches the 20 km mark, the cables are ejected and the starting gun fires. The race is on.
Most sequences in the series I've noticed tend to focus on the incredible amount of logistics required to bring online and use a 100-200 meter tall weapon like an Evangelion. Each deployment of the Evas feels less like the fielding of an ultimate weapon and more like a rocket launch. I made that comparison in regards to the first episode, and I stand by it. As such, we rarely get to appreciate the full power of the Evangelions themselves. This sequence is one of the few times we get to see them cut loose.
The three Evangelions take off, 01 tearing asphalt up under its feet and clearing hills in a single bound. The ground itself buckles with every leap into the air they make. Powerlines sway as they slam down into the ground. Shinji is ultimately the closest to Sahaquiel and comes close to potentially breaking the sound barrier as he activates his AT Field and breaks for the Angel, slamming through multiple buildings in the process. He reaches the impact zone with a few moments to spare, deploying his AT Field at maximum power to keep the Angel at bay.
After the battle, Misato and the pilots look at each other with pride. Contact with Gendo and Fuyutsuki in Antarctica has been re-established:
Misato still owes the kids steak dinner. She is already cringing at the thought of what this is going to do to her paycheck. Her apartment isn't exactly very big as it is. But to her surprise, the three kids have picked out a rather inexpensive ramen stand instead. She probably should have figured something was up when Rei agreed to come, but eh. She looks stunned for a moment but then smiles. The pilots and their commander enjoy a nice, peaceful dinner after their hard day. They deserve it.
TO BE CONTINUED.
...
To be fair, you don't pilot for a good reason either, Asuka. But that's later.
I don't think I really have strong feelings about this episode. Not bad, not great. Sums up a lot of the Action Arc, really. Not that these episodes are bad by any means. They're important for character development and what comes after. It's important for the sake of the show that we actually see the pilots and other main cast members happy and bond with each other if only to twist the knife in later and tear these fragile bonds apart. The next episode marks the halfway point of the original show, and it's a long way down from here...
Until next time. Ciao.
- Pronouns
- He
Do we even see anyone else with a military rank in NERV?
The Red Prince
000:00:00:00
- Location
- Everywhere, at the end of time.
- Pronouns
- She/They
That's a good question. No one else comes to mind.