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samasmith23 · 1 year

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Evangelion: You Can (Not) Marathon — (Part 6)

Neon Genesis Evangelion, “Episode 6: Decisive Battle, New Tokyo-3/Rei II”

Continuing my Evangelion re-watch marathon with NGE, "Episode 6: Decisive Battle, New Tokyo-3/Rei II"! For my thoughts on the previous episode, click the link to the post below:

With that out of the way, let's dig in!

I love how this episode begins immediately where Episode 5 ended, with Shinji getting immediately blasted by Ramiel’s laser beam the literal moment EVA Unit-01 emerged from the GeoFront's hatch! And seeing Ritsuko’s efforts to revive Shinji after he subsequently went into cardiac arrest and Misato’s efforts to revive him felt incredibly intense! The soundtrack “Angel Attack” (one of my personal favorite scores from the series soundtrack) definitely elevates the suspense in this opening:

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Also, I forgot that NERV could give their pilots a heart massage via the LCL liquid inside the Entry-Plug! That actually kinda makes sense considering that in the Evangelion universe that LCL that the pilots are submerged in is actually the blood of Lilith, aka the seed of life for humanity!

So... that diamond-drill which Ramiel employs to bore into NERV HQ still gives me the absolute shivers! But seeing that I’m also a snarky bastard, I can't help but not think of Freudian psycho-sexual imagery whenever I look at said-elongated drill emerging from the bottom of Ramiel and penetrating the various plate armors below Tokyo-3.

Lol dang! I forgot that Misato actually was the one who invented my nickname for Ramiel, the “Flying Fortress” Angel, while describing its absolutely perfect offensive and defensive capabilities!

One of the things that I’ve always felt makes NGE's Angel fights so uniquely distinct from other giant-Kaiju fights in anime is how the battles rely primarily on strategic planning rather than brute force! And Misato’s plan “Operation Yashima” to take down Ramiel is a perfect example of this in how simultaneously insane and ingenious her strategy is!

Alright, so get this... due to the lighting-fast speed of Ramiel’s particle-beam attacks combined with the strength of its AT Field defenses, Misato plans to have the EVA’s utilize a long-range experimental positron sniper rifle to fire a powerful particle beam from Mt. Fukushima outside of the Angel’s firing range, drawing electricity from ALL of Japan’s power lines to create an energy beam powerful enough to penetrate the AT Field and destroy the Angel in a single shot. And the steps to complete plan, including NERV acquiring the positron rifle from the Japanese government (which Misato hilariously has Rei’s EVA Unit-00 steal from the SDF right under their roof, and then tapping all of Japan’s power lines into the rifle, and converting the hull of a disused space shuttle into a makeshift-shield to defend against Ramiel’s particle beam! And all of this has to be completed within the short span of 9 to 10 hours before Ramiel’s drill completely penetrates the armored plates directly above NERV HQ!

This plan is absolutely bonkers and has so many variables that can go wrong, but it’s simultaneously so clever and inventive that I can’t help but love it (especially since NERV’s super computers, "the Magi," determined it to have the best possible outcome of success out of all available strategies despite only having an 8.8% success rate factor)!

Oh boy! There’s certainly a lot to unpack regarding the scene where Rei wakes up Shinji in the hospital to brief him on Operation Yashima. Firstly, this scene further effectively illustrates just how emotionally detached and distant Rei is considering that she doesn’t even express any concern or relief when Shinji wakes up from a near-death experience, instead jumping the gun to read-over military protocol before coldly tossing a new plug suit onto his lap the moment she see’s he’s awake. While Rei does briefly seem to show some semblance of basic humanity when she offers Shinji a plate of food, she immediately reverts back to her usual detached personality by stating that it’s Shinji’s obligation to continue piloting EVA Unit-01, completely disregarding his fears after just being almost killed by Ramiel, before stating that if Shinji won’t pilot Unit-01 then she’ll act as his substitute, not even seeming to care whether or not she lives or dies in the process.

In addition to further conveying Rei’s emotionless detachment from herself and others, this scene is also effective in showcasing how Rei is willing to blindly and obediently follow the orders of her commanding officers without even considering the well-being of herself or others, almost as if doing so is a completely foreign concept to her. It makes Rei feel eerily robotic and doll-like, further adding to her enigmatic nature.

I am in no way whatsoever foreshadowing anything with the usage of the word "doll" there! Not at all... (sarcasm)

A couple of points about the preparation scene at Mt. Fukushima: I love the lighting of the scene where Misato & Ritsuko are re-briefing Shinji & Rei on the operation, and this exchange between the latter two as they put on their plugsuits conveys an underlying sense of humanity beneath Rei’s cold emotionless exterior:

Shinji: “Maybe this will be our last day alive.” Rei: “Why would you say something like that? You won’t die… I’ll be protecting you…”

And here it is! One of the central reoccurring questions that’s asked throughout Evangelion: “What exactly is reason that these 14-year-old children continue to pilot their respective EVA’s.”

We’ve already seen in previous episodes that Shinji hardly pilots the EVA for altruistic reasons like saving humanity from annihilation at the hands of the Angels, but primarily out of a misplaced desire to validate his own depressed and empty existence by attempting to gain the acceptance and validations of others such as his scumbag father Gendo or his flawed but well-meaning caretaker Misato. But the question of why Shinji continues to pilot is one which he keeps coming back to due to just how stressful and traumatic the experience has been for him so far.

So wanting to understand why someone else like Rei would conversely be so willing to throw her self into danger seemingly without any care, a Shinji can’t help but ask her why she decides to pilot the EVA. And although Rei’s answer is incredibly vague at first glance, it ultimately reveals and foreshadows so much about her character. Rei pilots EVA Unit-00 because, “[She’s] bonded to it," that it represents "a bond.” Not necessarily a bond between herself and Gendo like Shinji initally suspects, but to “all people,” telling him that she has nothing else before standing up directly in front of the pale moonlight and ominously stating, “Goodbye Shinji.”

Essentially, this scene subtly foreshadows the later reveal of Rei’s true identity as the reincarnated soul of humanity’s progenitor Lilith, as is conveyed through both her statement of being “[Bonded] to all people [and having] nothing else,” as well as the shot of her underneath the gaze of the white moon light being reflective of the contrast between the Angel’s progenitor Adam’s vessel, “the lost White Moon,” and Lilith’s vessel being "the Black Moon” buried underneath Tokyo-3 which the NERV GeoFront is a part of. Said-bond to all people is also reflective of Rei’s currents lack of tangible bonds to other people, with even her attachment to Gendo being one of militant subservience rather than legitimate parental/child affection.

Plus, Rei’s “goodbye” highlights her suicidal belief that she’s a disposable piece of hardware who doesn’t care whether or not she lives or dies in battle as long as she successfully completes her mission. And the fact that Rei’s soul is also the soul of Lilith also suggests the idea that her empty nihilistic behavior is symbolic of the feelings of emptiness and hopelessness which predominate all of humanity in the EVA universe following Second Impact, similar to how Shinji will later become an avatar representing all of humanity during Third Impact in The End of Evangelion!

You can definitely tell Anno was planting the seeds of Rei’s true identity (and how it ties into the series overall mythos and finale) from the very beginning! I absolutely love it!

Still... for the sake of craps and giggles, considering my earlier usage of the phrase "pale moonlight" as well as the fact that Lilith according to both Mesopotamian and Judaic mythology is the first wife of Adam and the primordial mother of all demons, (which basically means that all humans in the EVA universe are essentially demons from a certain point of view…), I can't help but think of this classic line from Tim Burton's Batman when I see the image of Rei standing in front of the moon:

I absolutely love the pattern-effect of the positron rifle’s energy-beam completely diverting Ramiel’s particle-beam during the first failed sniper-shot, plus the melted-plastic texture of EVA Units-00 and 01 when Rei desperately tries to shield Shinji before he fires a successful second shot, destroying the Angel!

The decision to have the ending of Episode 6 identically mirror the beginning of Episode 5 was a perfect way bookending this two-parter! Especially since while Shinji does end up saving Rei here in a manner exactly identical to how Gendo did during the first Unit-00 activation test, in contrast to his father Shinji presents himself to Rei as visibly more emotional and caring, not only asking if Rei is alright like Gendo did, but also telling her to never say goodbye in such a suicidal manner like she previously did before he bursts into tears. In contrast to Gendo’s distant “I see" response, Shinji’s tearful breakdown is so completely foreign to Rei that she doesn’t know how to respond to this situation before Shinji asks her to smile, suddenly reminding her of a similar gesture she once received from Gendo. Realizing that she’s starting to form a more sincere and legitimate bond with someone else, Rei can’t help but show a visible emotion for the first time ever by responding to Shinji’s kindness with a genuine heartfelt smile!

What a perfect bit of character development for Rei to end the episode on! Episode 5 began with her only possessing a hollow and subservient bond to Gendo who only see’s her as a tool, whereas by the end of Episode 6 she’s beginning to form a legitimate and meaningful bond with Shinji who conversely see’s her as a person. It also demonstrates a level of empathy not previously conveyed by Shinji, whom instead of wallowing in his own depressive self-pity, has now found someone who’s existence is even more empty and directionless than his own, and genuinely wants to help her self-actualize and discover her true purpose for existing! In that regard, Episode 6 serves as an important stepping stone not only for Rei’s character development, but for Shinji’s as well!

As heartwarming as this scene is, I still can’t help but feel that it’s a tad unrealistic for Rei to form such a sweet and innocent smile so easily after apparently never having smiled before in her entire life. If this scene were to play more realistically, it’d be like that hilarious David Willis' Shortpacked! parody webcomic version of this scene!

Being serious again though, I feel that I should indulge in some behind-the-scenes trivia concerning Rei's characterization. In a 1996 interview with Rei's Japanese voice actress, Megumi Hayashibara (who also provides the voice of Shinji's mother, Yui Ikari), she stated that despite the character's apparent lack of visible emotion, "Rei's beauty comes from the truth that she has feelings." According to Hayashibara, Hideaki Anno informed her during the directorial process that, "It's not that [Rei] doesn't have emotion, but that she doesn't know what it is," which contributed to Hayashibara delivering her lines in a manner that's simultaneously flat yet meaningful, like she's struggling to draw out the feelings "hidden deep inside [her] heart."

And I personally felt that Amanda Winn Lee carried over this same kind of energy to her performance as Rei in the ADV dub! Which is quite an accomplishment considering that Winn Lee's personality IRL is incredibly open and snarky, which is a stark contrast to Rei's quiet and reserved demeanor.

One last note before wrapping up, I'm kinda embarrassed to admit this, but it took me forever to realize that the silhouetted figure spinning underneath the water upside-down in front of the moon during the closing credits is actually supposed to be Rei (when I first watched the series back in college I honestly mistakened said-silhouette for Shinji). Both the presence of the moon combined with being submerged in liquid definitely feels like further visual foreshadowing to Rei’s role as Lilith in The End of Evangelion!

So yeah, that was NGE, "Episode 6: Decisive Battle, New Tokyo-3/Rei II" and both it along with the previous episode reminded me of why I was initially so captivated by Rei’s unique enigmatic nature (therefore making me want to learn more about her)! Rewatching these episodes has helped me gain an even greater appreciation for the sheer amount of characterization and development she receives in only just under an hour’s worth of screen time! It's very impressive work on Anno’s part!

Which is actually somewhat ironic considering that Anno has openly expressed that out of all the characters in NGE Rei is the one he feels the least attached to. Specifically, in a 1997 interview Anno stated that, "I don't really understand [Rei]. The truth is, I have no emotional attachment to her at all. [...] At the end [of the sixth episode], when Rei says, 'I don't know what kind of expression I should have at a time like this,' and Shinji says, 'I think you should smile,' and Rei smiles. [...] When I thought about it afterwards, I cursed. I thought, in short, that if she has [already] communicated with Shinji there, then isn't she over with? At that moment, Rei, for me, was finished, all at once."

This attitude is also apparent in the notable differences in the portrayal Rei's character was portrayed between the NGE anime and the official manga adaptation for the series written & illustrated by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (who was also the lead-character designer for NGE). While it's not the only difference between the manga and anime despite both versions sharing the exact same plot beats (but interpreted much differently), Sadamoto dedicated a lot more time and focus to Rei and her relationship with Shinji in the manga version of the story, Anno was more openly interested in exploring the dynamic between Shinji & Asuka (which will become evident once Asuka debuts in Episode 8...). Despite this, I do love the amount of development Anno provided for Rei's character in both Episodes 5 & 6 as well as later on in the series' later episodes and The End of Evangelion movie, demonstrating that he still understood and respected her importance in the narrative!

But yeah, I overall really enjoyed Episodes 5 & 6! Next up is Episode 7 which... while by no means a bad episode and is still a lot of fun from what I remember, was always my personal least favorite episode in NGE (even more so than the "Magmadiver" episode which is seemingly universally derided by a large amount of the EVA fanbase, which always confused me since I personally really loved that episode). But anyways... let's see how I feel about Episode 7 upon rewatch...

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taxkha · 2 years

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I finished nge today. Not my favourite anime but I loved the aesthetic and art direction.

#neon genesis evangelion #nge #rei ayanami #some thoughts on the show #I’m not super attached to any of the characters #at the beginning I didn’t like a single one #eventually misato and kaiji really grew on me so uhm #loved the aesthetic and art direction of the show #even if the characters weren’t the reason for me continuing my eyes sure had a good time #overall it’s really my cup of tea but sometimes the characters and especially the fan service destroyed my enjoyment #still gonna watch the end of evangelion tomorrow and then the other movies

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kaibacorpintern · 3 years

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Neon Genesis Evangelion AU for YGO if you want, maybe.

(Major spoilers for NGE but honestly not knowing anything about NGE will make this unintelligible anyway.)

Okay. I know the immediate, fast answer is to put Gozaburo in the Gendo Ikari role and cast Seto as Shinji, but that's so EASY. BLAH! I remember thinking that the Crystal Cloud Network has some uncanny, delicious similarities to human instrumentality, and both of their advocates are made isolated and distant by their grief. And you know me, I love Kaiba brothers, especially when it's difficult for them.

Which leads me to put Seto in Gendo's role, and Mokuba in Shinji's role - HEAR ME OUT. Mokuba, age 14, is the one who gets in the robot, although he doesn't want to - desperate to please the aloof, distant, intractable NERV Commander, his very own older brother, who assumed control of NERV after the previous Commander (Gozaburo) died, and who relentlessly whips everyone forward in their battle against the Angels (and has done an excellent, if terrifying job.) Mokuba's hot and cold - he rejects the piloting, he throws himself back into it, he rejects it, he comes back in, over and over again, dancing the line between wanting Seto's approval and wanting nothing to do with him.

Atem is in Yui Ikari's role - Kaiba's lover who died in a Contact Experiment with EVA, and whose death destroyed him with grief. This also makes Atem the soul of the EVA Unit 01, the highest honor I can bestow on any character, and is part of the reason why EVA Unit 01 is so defensive of his pilots and so furious around Kaiba: of what remains of Atem, some part of him doesn't want Kaiba to lose someone else, some part of him wants Kaiba to stop, and some part of him understands he is still deeply loved by all the people he left behind.

Yuugi is Rei-ISH. He's Mokuba's fellow EVA pilot (and the original pilot of EVA Unit 01 before Mokuba steps in) and Atem's younger brother. He misses Atem just as much as Kaiba does, which makes him the only person who's made a few inroads with Kaiba's grief - but the combination of his disapproval of Kaiba's general Kaibaness and his own inability to move on makes it impossible for Yuugi to meaningfully break through with Kaiba.

Something something... the lore of Neon Genesis Evangelion still makes my head spin and I haven't seen the last movie yet, and trying to place people into the specific roles of First Child or Second Child or Fourth child etc. is making my head spin AGAIN. SO MANY POSSIBILITIES? (If Gozaburo was Gendo, I'd make Seto = Shinji and Kaworu = Atem? MAYBE?)

So let's stick to the series: Kaiba successfully instigates the Third Impact, beginning human instrumentality, and Mokuba rejects it, because he wants to feel his own feelings, he wants to live with other people, despite the risk of pain and failed intimacy/connections... and in the obliterating chaos of instrumentality he finds Seto, the terrified, lonely child hidden deep in Kaiba's heart, and does not abandon him. He never will.

I MEAN. Something about Seto realizing he's not alone in his grief and agony and even in his loneliness and desire for love and intimacy and connection... and he and Mokuba have their first ever true moment of connection and understanding that isn't just "please love me" and it's predicated on finally seeing the other person as a complete individual - not a dream, not a memory, not an idealization, not a hopeless desire - but a human as flawed and yearning as any other. and THAT undoes instrumentality.

tl,dr; Kaiba's desire to connect with others taken to the most desperate and destructive and nth degree; Mokuba saving both him and humanity

#isis and jounouchi and anzu and everyone else as assorted NERV officers #this got long as FUCK but listen to me: KAIBA BROTHERS #thank you this was a delight

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ritsushinbro · 3 years

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My thoughts on Kaworu Nagisa in the Rebuilds (spoilers)

So this will be my final piece on the four pilots that aren't Shinji. Kaworu is a difficult one because not only does he get little screentime but he is one of the few characters that is the same person from NGE. Furthermore, it's not a secret that Kaworu is my favourite character and I (along with many others) feel that he got treated the best in the rebuilds not that is saying much. I will not be discussing Kaworu's sexuality because it's not really relevant.

We begin with NGE's episode 24. Shinji is at his worst mentally speaking. His surrogate mother just tried to have sex with him, he just found out Rei is a clone of his mother, Asuka is catatonic in bed and his friends have left Tokyo, one of whom is permanently crippled because of him. As he is watching the sunrise across the lake, his despondent contemplation is disturbed by the cheerful yet slow humming of a boy sat atop an angel statue. Kaworu is humming "Ode to Joy" by Beethoven, a piece that's not only famous for how happy and uplifting it is, but one that has lyrics regarding cherubs (angels) and the unity of men before God. Quite appropriate for what Evangelion is about. Kaworu's first words to Shinji are regarding how music is mankind's greatest achievement and how it can be used to uplift the soul. This directly contradicts Shinji's approach to music as for him, music via the SDAT represents isolation and also compliance via the cello as the only reason he continued playing is because nobody told him to stop playing. Kaworu then refers to Shinji by name much to his amazement. He then goes on to remind Shinji just how important Shinji is. It's important to notice just how straightforward and comfortable Kaworu is in giving Shinji recognition and acknowledgement.

Kaworu does not specifically refer to Eva piloting which is a stark contrast to what all the other characters do when they try and get Shinji to pilot. Shinji feels he is only wanted because he is an Eva pilot, Kaworu on the other hand recognises Shinji's importance without mentioning piloting and thus sees him as more than just a pilot but instead a child bound by fate like him. Kaworu is so relaxed and cheerful here that he immediately gets on to a first name basis with Shinji, which in Japan I believe is quite a feat. Shinji's first meeting with Kaworu is my favourite scene in all of NGE. The ambience, the colours of the sunset, the cicadas in the background and the humming of ode to joy are all simply brilliant. Ishida's voice elevates the scene as he can perfectly portray the ethereal tone that gives Kaworu that angelic aura. Kaworu then decides to meet with Rei. He mentions how they are both the same which would go on to spur Rei to discover her true identity. This highlights just how familiar and comfortable Kaworu is with his own identity and fate unlike Rei.

The next scene is right before the bath scene. Shinji is seen waiting for Kaworu and he is actually listening to Ode to Joy. For the first time it seems that Shinji is listening to music for his own enjoyment and not to shut everyone out and it is because of Kaworu. Kaworu intuitively knows that Shinji was waiting for him and immediately comments on it; he has no problem bringing things up that normal people (especially japanese people) would not. In the bath scene we have Kaworu do his monologue on Shinji and people's "hearts". Once again Kaworu is flexing his intuition and basically reading Shinji like a book. Even though it seems unusual, Kaworu talking like this reveals great insight into Shinji as well as the human psyche. After all, understanding the human ego is one of the best ways of transcending it (according to some Buddhist philosophies). Kaworu also makes physical contact by touching Shinji's hand and also says he "loves" him. I believe that this comes across as a Christ-like love due to the aforementioned characteristics and also because I do not believe Kaworu is even aware of romantic love or sex even is. This also highlights how little awareness or regard Kaworu has for social norms despite his understanding of human beings. Telling someone you love them is pretty out there even if your love is genuine and unconditional. I have read some Buddhist and Christian teachings about Saints and Sages who feel unconditional love for all people, however they recommend not directly telling people you love them because people will naturally think you have designs on them. Kaworu on the other hand doesn't seem to care. Pretty funny.

Next we have the bed scene where Kaworu and Shinji do their pillow talk. Somehow, without even looking at Shinji, Kaworu knows that Shinji has stuff to get off his chest and subsequently offers to listen. Once again, this is further evidence of Kaworu's intuition and celestial nature. And effortlessly, Shinji opens up about his life, people and his hatred for his father. He even questions why he is so open with Kaworu. Kaworu then gives his famous line "I think I was born to meet you". I originally thought this meant that Kaworu was not in control of his fate and came across Shinji by accident and "fell in love" with him, however with the book of life stuff, I don't know any more. Kaworu's scene where he talks with SEELE is quite confusing though. SEELE tells Kaworu that Adam's resurrected body (the embryo) was inside Gendo, so why was Kaworu so shocked to find Lilith and not Adam in Terminal Dogma? I originally wanted to make the point that Kaworu is a being that has no personal will of his own but rather one that follows the will of something greater than himself (Not SEELE, but something like God or the Universe, etc). And as a result of this he couldn't help but follow his instincts towards reuniting with what he thought was Adam AKA himself. I suppose I can still make this point but it is rather confusing with the whole Lilith mix-up.

I do not believe he deliberately sought to "betray" Shinji. After all, what realistically would have happened if Kaworu reunited with the original Adam? Second impact was caused by Lilin DNA touching Adam-based matter so what could Kaworu have become since he isn't technically a lilin? Giant Naked Kaworu? It makes my brain hurt to think about. However when Kaworu finds out it's actually Lilith down there he realises that touching her would lead to third impact and death to all humanity. As a result, he states that his wish is to die selflessly so that humanity and Shinji may live. This further reinforces his Christ-like character and a being who is not selfish or manipulative as others may tell you. I really like NGE Kaworu. He is a great character and Ishida really nails the otherworldly, detached yet loving, angelic nature that Kaworu has.

Let's contrast him with his Rebuild counterpart (who is technically supposed to be the exact same character). I'll just be straight up. I do not like rebuild Kaworu. He seems like a caricature and an imitation of NGE Kaworu. He shows fear, sadness, seriousness, disappointment, regret, anger (slightly). He is not the Kaworu I like. He does not exude the same angelic aura that should make you feel safe when he is on the screen. I know he is supposed to be more "human" with the loops but why does that need to be the case? We first see him wake up in the coffins in 1.0 suggesting the loop theory, which isn't something I have a problem with personally. He does mention Shinji though which makes me feel weird because it makes Kaworu seem like a Shinji-stalker instead of albino Jesus. In 2.0 we see Kaworu twice. The first time he is chilling on the moon making Gendo shit his pants and the second time he is stopping NTI whilst promising to help Shinji find happiness. But why? Why is Kaworu so serious here? Why is he only concerned with Shinji? Just like with Shikinami, it's as if Kaworu's entire character was distilled down to one singular characteristic i.e. his affection towards Shinji. It's so shallow.

This is further evidenced in 3.0 where he tries to act as Shinji's saviour. He tells Shinji that he caused the damage to the world, however the specific language that is used is quite nuanced and implies that Shinji "initiated" it but wasn't the direct cause. However, just like all the characters in 3.0, it was still too vague and ended up pushing Shinji into the desperate wreck we see pulling the spears in Lilith's chamber. Kaworu in 3.0 is happy to give his sagely monologues to Shinji just as he does in NGE. He talks about change and hope and all that, so you genuinely think this kid knows what he is talking about. But his actions tell a different story. Why? Because he does weird things. Why the hell would you take the choker instead of throwing it away? It didn't even kill you (Headless zombie Kaworu still beat Asuka btw) and it didn't even stop the 4th impact anyway. Using your angelic telepathic powers to eject both pilots from Unit 13 would have been a better plan but no, he had to die for plot reasons. He also said nothing when they were being attacked in Lilith's chamber. If he had spoken up earlier, things might have been different. My favourite character was made to act like a dummy and it's infuriating. I do like the piano scenes though. Seeing Kaworu first play the piano in 3.0 is reminiscent of that carefree Kaworu from NGE which is nice.

In 3.0+1.0, Kaworu is done even dirtier in my opinion. He gets like 2 minutes of screentime (which isn't necessarily a bad thing for someone like Kaworu), however those few seconds just show him as a ghost-tulpa and a goodbye scene. The tulpa just has him repeat his old words and the goodbye scene has him basically get pushed away by Shinji. Furthermore, it shows Kaworu be shown with Kaji and has Kaji basically be the "non-Shinji" person in Kaworu's life if that makes sense. Not only did the rebuilds portray Kaworu as Shinji-orbiting but it then tries to fallaciously "correct" that character defect by having him be shown with Kaji and then subsequently, Rei. It's the movie equivalent of a strawman argument. Make the character have this flaw despite it not being fully congruent with his previous iteration and then try to make it better in a contrived manner. Also, making Kaworu a simp for Shinji (instead of being a Christ-like figure) by having him write Shinji's name in the book of Life is really weird. I don't care what anyone else says. If there is one silver-lining to this "human" Kaworu, it's that I do like the fact we get to see Kaworu crying tears of happiness and pride over Shinji. I can't really explain why I like that, I just know that I do. The last thing we see of Kaworu is in the train station where we actually get a close-up of his face which is better than what we got from the other characters. To conclude, I will just repeat that Kaworu is my favourite character because his original version is basically a saintly character and seems to inspire a lot of hope and compassion. The rebuild version on the other hand, is just a generic deuteragonist in 3.0 due to the range of human emotions he expresses. I do not get the celestial aura from him I got from the NGE version.

#nge #neon genesis evangelion #evangelion #rebuild of evangelion #evangelion 3.0+1.0 #evangelion 3.0 you can (not) redo #3+1 spoilers #spoilers #shinji ikari #kaworu nagisa

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empty-dream · 3 years

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Just Watched Evangelion 3.0+1.0

Which actually is 3.0+1.01. What is this, an app update?

Following the yet another apocalypse averted narrowly but still it's fucking bleak ending of 3.0, Mari and WILLE have mission in Paris while the original trio wanders to an unlikely haven. Cue cottagore. And then gore.

Fucking finally. This movie is no longer a myth. It's actually a thing. Oh my god I lived long enough to see 3.0+1.0.

Not gonna lie I swallowed hard when I saw the timestamp (2hr35min) cuz I thought that's almost 3 hours of depression and I could barely stand the gloom in 3.0. But then again I watched Avengers Endgame (3 hr). Twice.

Applause to Anno and team who contributed to this. I hear he had a hard time finishing the tetralogy, so I was just happy he would even go back here after all..

You know, I actually haven't watched the original NGE series. Got no time or heart to do that. I only know the plot points, the terms, signature scenes and what it ultimately is about. So as always, I can and will speak only for myself and not for anyone else.

As a Rebuild only watcher, I'm immensely satisfied. I rewatched everything before watching 3.0+1.0 and it was such a trip.

I did have a bit of difficulty following every detail since again, I don't watch the original series. For example, idk specific objects like Black Moon or Golgotha Object, but I know general things like Instrumentality and Impacts and the Lance. If I took things in strides at face value, with my own knowledge for the series and SF in general, I still enjoyed and got the story of the movie.

Last movie addresses a lot of questions from 3.0, like where is Kaji, what happens to everyone else during the (Near) 3rd Impact(s), and the biggest tick that I have: Misato giving Shinji the cold shoulders and utterly disowning him even though she was the one who encouraged him to do what he did in the climax of 2.0. I like how it is finally addressed and resolved here.

In fact, I think most characters have their story resolved well. Not everyone, but most of them.

Looking back, even I get the sense that their Rebuild characters are less depressing than the original series version. And I like that, because even the Rebuild version, especially from 3.0 already makes me exhale. Because their dysfunction is not quite as severe and they do rather better generally, it's possible for them to overcome their problems in healthier ways and without coming off as forced. I like depressing things that end happily, after all.

Nice of all the callbacks. A girl offers Rei Q a book with "Porcupine" in the title, reminding me back to the Hedgehog Theory. Well, even tho those two aren't that closely related. Watermelons and nature in general keep being related to Kaji. The beach, oh my god the beach.

Nice job at the art shifts. From tokusatsu-style 3D, to photorealistic, to discolored animation frames, all of those really reflect the surrealism in the climax of the movie.

From the beginning I treat the ships as plot devices rather than a militant die hard stan thing. But I admit I was a bit surprised at how it ended. Still, that's definitely no reason to send the studio death threats, as I found out that it truly happened.

Well I personally think the ending itself has a very positive note and if it really mirrors what Anno thinks of his life now, then good for him. And as for me, it’s truly a conclusion. After I watched it, it felt like closing a book and I was left in a daze for a week because man, I couldn’t believe it already ended. It’s a satisfying ending for a long journey.

Man, One Last Kiss is a spectacular song, I fell hard instantly for that song ever since the trailer was out. The music is amazing and so is the lyric. But hearing it again at the end of this movie just hiTS DIFFERENT. I was muffling my scream the entire time.

But another surprise is VOYAGER - Hizuke no Nai Bohyou that plays during the climax. It's kinda like Tsubasa wo Kudasai for 2.0. It's a great melancholic, nostalgic song that reminds me of idk, 90s songs? And the lyrics is, *mwah*

TL;DR: What a journey. *Screaming Geometrically*

Watashi ga anata to shiriaeta koto wo / Watashi ga anata wo aishiteta koto wo / Shinu made shinu made hokori ni shitai kara~ (That I got to know you, that I loved you, I want to be proud of that until the day I die)

#evangelion 3.0+1.0 #rebuild of evangelion #neon genesis evangelion #random saying

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geekmedium · 4 years

Text

S-rank Fanfiction Recommendations

Because fanfictions can be a valid source of good stories if you’re willing to look for them.

1.) Stucco Hearts - A Percy Jackson soulmate au, but instead of the characters just falling in love, it explores every stage of their relationship as they grow from essentially awkward roommates to devoted lovers. Also uses the soulmate premise for some thoughtful worldbuilding and discourse on love.

2.) Nobody Dies - A Neon Genesis Evangelion story where the premise is, as the title suggests, one where Shinji’s mom, Yui Ikari, doesn’t die. But it’s so much more than that. If NGE proper is a Lovecraft story about humans dealing with an alien threat they don’t understand, Nobody Dies is Lovecraft Lite. The aliens are still a legitimate threat, but they are now a source of awesomeness instead of nightmare fuel. The characters while still having problems are relatively more stable, and much more competent as a result. Except Rei, who is more awesome because she is so much more unstable than canon. Honestly if I had to compare it to anything, I would say it reminds me heavily of The Vorkosigan Saga. It’s not exactly a comedy, but it has tons of funny moments and the characters can go from enjoying a school dance to fighting zombies in a chapter. And it has plenty of relationship drama that leads to incredible heartwarming moments. Highly recommend, though I will say the quality drops off around chapter 72 and the author isn’t writing more chapters so it’s incomplete. Still, if just for the first 60 chapters alone, you should give it a try.

3.) Advice and Trust - Another NGE story, this one more canon based. It’s basic premise is what if the story had happened exactly as before, until episode 15 when THAT scene is changed to Asuka and Shinji successfully getting together. The consequences as it turns out become huge. It’s an engaging story on its own, but what makes it 10x better is if you want a much more optimistic NGE where the heroes have way more success. Believe me, however, when I say it isn’t at all a fluff piece. New problems show up as well and the young lovers must rely and trust each other as they work to prevent the end of the world. Would gladly recommend this to fellow NGE fans, especially fellow Shinji/Asuka shippers.

4.) Perpendicular - A great Spider-Man romance story. Taking place ostensibly in the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man movie verse, the story came out before the second one and follows the planned but unused Mary Jane, thus giving it a feel removed from the movies. We follow MJ as she grows use to a post-college life of applying for acting gigs, all the while her best friend Gwen lives with her, along with Gwen’s annoying boyfriend Peter. I think I especially love the emotional complexity of this. MJ must slowly come to terms with her growing feelings for Peter, all the while wondering if she should settle with billionaire Harry Osborn who takes a liking to her. I should mention that this Mary Jane Watson is not like the one from 616 continuity, but she is still incredibly human and engaging to read about.

5.) Spidey’s got a Girlfriend - A fun story in the Marvel Adventures Spider-Man universe. It is about Peter finally hooking up with MJ and her coming to the Avengers’ mansion. Chaos and comedy ensue. It isn’t a super emotional or serious story, but it has the feel of a classic Spidey misadventure ala “The Commuter Cometh.”

6.) Webslinger - It only lasted for two chapters, but this is a Spectacular Spider-Man story that truly fits the name. Since it is only the beginning of the story, not an awful lot happens, but you can tell the author was trying to make a continuation of the series that fit the tone and style. I especially love the descriptive action. It can be very hard for prose to convey the kinetic dynamism of comics and comic shows, but I loved the clear descriptions of webslinging and fighting. You understood what was happening and could clearly imagine what poor Pete was going through. Small warning that it is rated T for a reason. There is a little bit of cursing and suggestive language.

7.) Super Stories of Samuel Hawkins - A series of Superboy stories meant to invoke the silver age style. If you like a more old fashioned super story where Clark can lift planets and adventure with the Legion, this is for you.

8.) Partners in Crime - A Batman/Catwoman story taking place in the DCAU. It goes over why these two love and want each other so much in a fairly quick read leading up to them establishing a new family. If you want a nicely paced story of how Selina goes from criminal to partner and co-leader of the batfamily, definitely recommend.

9.) Cat-Tales - Quite possibly the best Batman/Catwoman story I’ve ever read. I have a feeling whatever Tom King’s gonna try to do won’t even hold a candle to this. What I think sets it apart from other BatCat stories is it is less a sexy romp and more a character study of these very dysfunctional people, and shows how that dysfunction works to make a weirdly functional relationship. There’s no will they, won’t they plot and it tries to involve most of the Batman cast at some point, even giving them their own engaging subplots and relationship problems. But at its heart is a story that can make anyone a BatCat shipper.

10.) Endangered Species - Honestly my favorite story about the relationship between Black Canary and Green Arrow. It has them investigating an attack on Dinah’s mom that slowly reveals a much bigger scheme. It involves the two leads at their snarky, loving best. Equally devoted to and irritated by each other, you understand that under all the banter and annoyed glares is a special connection that makes them perfect for each other.

#fanfiction #recommend #Romance #S-rank #multiple IPs #listicle

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radrush · 5 years

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give YOUR nge thoughts

this is gonna be super filled with spoilers in case any of my followers still haven’t seen this show for some reason

don’t watch period | drop if not interested within 2-3 episodes | give it a go, could be your thing obviously it’s very intense and the lore is very confusing but it’s so worth what it demands | 5 star recommendation I've watched nge numerous times but it’s just one of those shows that’s filled with such detail and rich characterization that I seemingly find new things to consider every time I watch it

fav characters: Asuka is the neurotic queen and is probably the most entertaining character to witness on screen because of it but it also makes her the series’ most tragic character in my opinion. While she ultimately faces the same existential conundrums as Shinji (a sense of loneliness and isolation caused by lack of familial support, an anxiety created by a lack of assurance in one’s own purpose that contributes to low self-worth, and a fundamental difficulty with relating to others honestly because of these factors), unlike Shinji she has a variety of coping mechanisms to deal with these issues which give her the appearance of functionality but which are ultimately unsustainable and don’t allow her to be honest with herself about her real emotions, precisely because they work to repress the emotions that are too painful for her to feel fully. In an attempt to overcome feelings of worthlessness caused by her family’s rejection of her, she throws herself fully into the role of Eva pilot, turning her abilities as a pilot into a structural pillar of her self-worth which comes crashing down when Shinji proves himself to be as capable as pilot as her. She also acts rudely and boisterously in an attempt to avoid rejection, pushing people away from her before they have a chance to get close enough to understand who she really is and then reject her afterwards. This is also why Asuka is NOT a tsundere as so many people claim. Her coldness and “high and mighty” attitude are not borne out of an embarrassment with her “true feelings” of friendship or romance towards Shinji, but are rather a defense mechanism that she uses to protect herself from the pain of intimacy. Her open displays of disgust towards him are not an act which she uses to hide a secretly harbored positive view of him, she actually just hates his guts. She’s all tsun and no dere.

Shinji is a character whose experiences highly resonated with me when I first watched the series as a teenager but I feel like even if i didn’t heavily relate to his emotional struggles I would still end up talking about him here because ultimately the series is focused on his struggle to define himself on his own terms and through his relationships with others. Because Shinji lacks the dysfunctional coping mechanisms that Asuka has come to adopt, and instead has a tendency to turn inward and engage in torturous processes of reflective self-deprecation when he feels emotionally challenged it makes sense that he would be the focus of the show’s thesis on relational psychology. As a sensitive boy with a great deal of familial trauma, Shinji is intimately familiar with the emotional havoc that humans can wreak on each other in their relationships. Not wanting to have to deal with the burden of this pain any longer, he is constantly running away from his commitments because he views his relationships with others not as potential sites for growth and self-fulfillment but as avenues which only lead towards greater feelings of pain and misery. You can hardly blame him for feeling this way because of what he experiences before and during the series, but ultimately he must learn as a part of his growth process that while his relationships with others contain the possibility of greater pain, to live a fulfilling life it is imperative to look past the possibility for pain in order to find the hope for meaning and love that makes life worth living. Shinji’s story teaches us that as long as we remain true to ourselves and are cognizant of our own emotional needs in our relationships, there is no need to live in fear of the pain that others might deliver upon us out of their own wounding.

In many ways Misato behaves like a grown-up, more apparently functional version of Shinji. While she is more readily able to form emotional bonds with others, these bonds are often entirely surface-level, as evidenced by her preoccupation with appearances (wearing flashy clothes, driving an expensive sports car, introducing herself to Shinji in the way she does). The dichotomy between her clean, confident exterior persona and the slobbish, lazy way she lives when removed from the gaze of others reinforces the idea that while she behaves a certain way in order to be comfortable in social situations, she is inwardly insecure and deeply troubled by how her attempts at meaningful relationships have turned out, having never been able to reconcile her relationship with her father before his death and having run away from her relationship with Kaji when his presence caused those unreconciled emotions to rise to the forefront of her psyche. I also love how the Jet Alone episode frames her lifestyle in two drastically different ways. At the beginning of the episode we see her guzzling beer and eating instant ramen for breakfast in her gross apartment and react to those behaviors according to the humorous and quirky surface-level reading of them that the show gives us, but during the episode itself we see her forced to deal with the stupidity and recklessness of others in her profession as well as the unique challenges she faces in those situations because of her femininity, on top of seeing her take responsibility during a life-threatening situation when no one else will, causing her to undergo a near-death experience. After all of this, the narrative comes full circle and we see her again the next morning in her gross apartment, chugging an entire can of Yebisu and realize how much her lax lifestyle choices are really shaped by the kind of emotional stress she is forced to deal with on a daily basis and a need to have a space where she can be unconcerned with those stresses.

I like how although Ritsuko treats Misato as her equal in their personal relationship and they’re both at the same professional level, being heads of their respective branches of NERV, from the very first episode it’s clear that Ritsuko’s knowledge of the Evas and and the true purposes of NERV far surpasses Misato’s. As Misato begins to understand the amount of classified information that Ritsuko has access to and refuses to share with her their relationship effectively deteriorates until Ristuko can no longer shoulder the burden of her knowledge on top of her increasingly strained relationships with both Misato and Gendo and she essentially self-destructs.

Kaji is kind of a sexist jerk but he’s also the only character in the text who can operate as a positive male role model for Shinji because of how selfish Gendo is and it’s ultimately his advice to Shinji throughout the series but especially in episode 19 and the run up to it that spurs Shinji to take action instead of continuing to be a bystander while Rei and Asuka fight for their lives. I also like him because he’s a truth seeker. He does the bidding of Selee and Gendo because doing so allows him to get closer to the truth behind Selee, NERV, the Evas, the angels, and human instrumentality, and he eventually pays the ultimate price for his pursuit of knowledge.

least fav characters: I guess I'm supposed to say Gendo because he’s such a dick but even if he’s a shitelord he’s still a well developed character–consistently narcissistic and self-serving, only treating others as means to ends, not at all capable of the emotional vulnerability required to actually really love, although maybe he possessed it at one point in the past. He’s evil as fuck but ultimately a good character. I love how the first time we see him smile is when he gives the order to launch unit-01 it’s so good and makes me hate him so much.

Ritusko’s mom, Naoko, is like probably the only character in the show that i think is written poorly like it’s honestly just stupid to me that she would be so in love with Gendo and so heartbroken over him that she would literally kill Rei I and then herself over being taunted about the fact that Gendo didn’t really love her and was just using her but i guess bitches just be crazy amirite fellow redditors. Literally what is so great about Gendo that all these women keep getting involved with him?? Like for the credit you can give Anno for writing really interesting women in this series, he still is a bit of a sexist and it’s not just with Naoko.

fav relationship: Asuka and Shinji obviously have one of the most interesting dynamics in the show from the first time they meet. We know they’re not bound to get along well since Shinji is pretty reserved and not very confident and Asuka is incredibly boisterous and all too full of herself and in fact resents Shinji for his lack of self-worth and motivation. All of this is compounded by the fact that the source of Asuka’s massive self-esteem is her ability to pilot the Eva, a task at which she continually finds herself upstaged by Shinji, who at the same time can’t seem to decide whether piloting the Eva is something he even wants to continue doing. In episode eight she’s amazed when Kaji tells her that Shinji was able to sync with Unit-01 without ever having been inside it before but when Kaji brings it up again when all of them are together and openly praises Shinji’s “natural” capabilities as a pilot, Asuka is embarrassed and takes his praise of Shinji as an injury to her self esteem because being the greatest Eva pilot is so central to her self-identity. She vents this embarrassment by taking it out on Shinji, who meanwhile can’t help the fact that he has a natural ability to do this scary and dangerous thing he’s barely done before and doesn’t at all know what to do with Asuka’s frustration towards him. Rei operates as a kind of foil to this dynamic (is it still a foil if its three ways instead of two?) because she possesses very little of her own will in the early part of the series and merely pilots the Eva because it’s her designated purpose in life, what she was literally born to do. As all three of them grow through the relationships that they navigate with each other and the adults in their lives, these motivations, self-definitions, and reasons for being shift and evolve, are built up and broken down, and ultimately remain in flux because that’s just how that shit is

Shinji and Kaworu I obviously hold very close to my big gay heart because of how touching it is to see Shinji love and be loved by another boy but that being said their relationship is very intentionally one-dimensional because of the fact that Kaworu is less of a human character and more of a character representation of the abstract concepts of hope and love themselves. From Kaworu’s perspective too, his relationship with Shinji is just as much about knowing and loving Shinji as it is about knowing and loving humanity as a whole. Because Kaworu isn’t human, he doesn’t have any emotional needs or trauma which might preclude him from loving Shinji or make it difficult for Shinji to love him, which is why he appears to Shinji when he does: when Shinji feels most abandoned by those he feels he has tried and failed to form emotional bonds with and is in most dire need of someone who will attempt to understand him as he is trying to understand himself. In loving Shinji in the selfless, needless, and unconditional way he does, he gives Shinji hope that real love and real human connection are things that exist out there in the world for him to experience, even if his relationship with Shinji is only an idealized version of that. When Shinji is forced to kill Kaworu in order to save himself and humanity, this hope is momentarily shattered and by the next episode we realize that this has caused Shinji to lose his will to live, although ultimately Kaworu’s death is necessary not just for plot reasons but also because Shinji must eventually come to realize that while he can be in love and find meaning in his relationships with others, he can’t expect any other person to love him so selflessly the way Kaworu did because that’s simply not a reasonable thing to ask of another human being with their own emotional needs and trauma and baggage. In addition to his qualities of magnanimous selflessness, as a divine being in a mortal vessel who ultimately chooses to sacrifice himself to ensure the fate of humanity, Kaworu also operates as a sort of messiah figure within the narrative of the series. The fact that his love for Shinji is representative of his love for all humankind and that Shinji’s love for him is a reflection of the timeless and ephemeral concept of love itself, and the fact that Shinji must also bear the guilt of killing one he loved for the greater good of saving the souls of humanity also puts them squarely in the midst of a Judas/Jesus dichotomy.

fav moment: the direction in this show continues to amaze me and just the choices in the first two episodes alone are so fuckin awesome like I love how episode one ends on a cliffhanger and episode two begins with shinji recovering from the battle, completely skipping over the action and having us only deal with its fallout before finally getting to see how it unfolded when shinji is alone at night and has a moment to reflect on what he witnessed. also the shot during the battle flashback when the armor falls off of unit-01′s face and shinji looks out from the entry plug and sees the true reflection of the eva in the building next to him knocks me on my ass every single time.

in episode one when shinji gives misato the letter that his father sent him and its creased as shit and the whole thing is redacted aside from the words “shinji, come”

whenever gendo’s glasses reflect the massive screens in the command center

rei smiling after she and shinji defeat ramiel and he opens the entry plug hatch

“You’re just as much a kid as I am”

When Ritusko hacks into a human brain and honestly just the whole Magi design has such a killer aesthetic i don’t even know what to call it its like cyberbiomechanicalpunk but the cyber tech isn’t futuristic it’s like 1995 technology complete with ribbon cables on the keyboards

“You apologize to people as a reflex, so that you won’t have to confront them” “I’m sorry”

Literally everything about episodes 19-24

THE ELEVATOR SCENE

“I loved him too”

When Asuka synchronizes with unit-02 at the bottom of the lake in EoE and the whole fight with the eva series

Why not just say all of EoE cause holy shit

headcanons/theories: As far as the lore itself is concerned, it feels like there aren’t that many mysteries that haven’t been explained either through actual dialog in the show or peeks into what was left on the cutting room floor, it can just be hard for first time viewers to wrap their heads around it all because of the convoluted way it's presented in the show and how everything has dramatic biblical names (which do have meaning for the record, anyone who says all the religious symbolism in eva is fake deep is not paying close enough attention. the constant use of the latin and greek crosses in explosions and in various design elements like lilith’s crucifix are obviously not always rife with distinctly religious meaning but I already talked about how Kaworu is literally a messiah figure so give me some credit here). When I do see shit on youtube like “the 26 timelines of evangelion explained” though it just makes me roll my eyes. Also I think that the lore is really cool and well developed in general but a lot of it is somewhat tangential to the real dramatic meat of the series which consists of the development of the characters and their relations to one another so it is kinda lame to me that the popular view of the series for so long was focused more on the mysteries of the super weird convoluted world building than on the exploration of humanity that makes the show what it is although that might have changed now that more people have dipped their toes in the series with the netflix localization

one thing I’ve been thinking about recently is rei’s ghostly appearance to shinji at the beginning of episode one which I believe to be connected to the ghostly appearances she makes in EoE to the dead and soon-to-be sublimated (or i guess more accurately, liquified) NERV staff after she merges with lilith and ultimately to her final appearance to shinji floating above the lcl sea at the end of the film. All of these appearances are made by the rei that merged with lilith during EoE, even the one in episode one. This is possible because after merging with lilith, rei becomes a being with quantum characteristics, able to exist everywhere on earth at once to collect the souls of all humanity and gather them together. Since it’s also heavily implied that rei is a vessel for the soul of lilith in the same way that kaworu is a vessel for the soul of adam, this is likely lilith’s “true form,” having finally reunited her body with her soul. To those still alive for this process, she appears to them as a manifestation of their heart’s desire, bestowing upon each soul a momentary embrace of hope that will last a lifetime. This is what Gendo understood about instrumentality from the beginning and was always his plan to be able to see Yui again. I think rei’s final gift is also sort of a riff on modern scientific explanations for the experience of heaven, how we now understand that the chemicals that are released in your brain when you die can give you a euphoric experience that some might be inclined to interpret as heaven-like. But anyway, since rei no longer has to obey the laws of time and space, and she makes it a point to make a final appearance to shinji in her quantum form at the end of the film it feels right that she should choose to go back and make a first appearance to shinji to signify the beginning of the end as it were. After all, “the beginning and the end are found in the same place.” Anno himself has told us that “eva is a story that repeats” with reference to the pervasive visual and verbal self-references that are prevalent throughout the series and I think this is perhaps one of the most shining examples of that repetition.

Related: Also a fan of the theory that Gendo’s last words to Ritsuko were “I need you.”

unpopular opinion: Episodes 25 and 26 provide the necessary(?) conclusion to the show’s thesis on human relationships which make them more or less key to understanding how those ideas are present in the work as a whole but the last time I re-watched the series I skipped them and went right to EoE because that’s the better dramatic experience and also I think EoE works to wrap up the ideas from the show, albeit not as cleanly and moralistically.

this is also probably a popular opinion but the rebuild movies fucking suck. they completely gut like half the thematic content from the original series and they even feel bland visually at times like everything is so glossy and shiny i like the saturation, contrast, and thicker line art of the original series way more. literally there’s only one good part per movie in the first one it’s ramiel in the second one its the aquarium scene in the third one its piano kaworu and that’s it. I can hope the fourth movie isn’t completely gutless but i can also set myself up for disappointment but if evangelion teaches anything it’s that we can’t let the fear of disappointment or sadness bar us from seeking the joys and loves that life has to offer us so i’ll see y’all again in 2020 i guess

random thoughts:

youtube

#lesbianbakugou #props to anyone who actually read my essay-length post about an old anime #nge theory #answered #poast

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princeasimdiya12 · 5 years

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i got an idea: CU/NGE au. erica in shinji's spot, george as asuka, and harold as rei. oh and crackers is Pen Pen

Oh boy. Well I do think the idea is certainly interesting and I already have a few choices for the main cast. Although I need to take alot of artistic liberties regarding the tone since this series is DARK. Also, with all due respect, I’m gonna have to switch out the character roles you picked out for other ones if that’s cool.

With that I present Captain Underpants and the Nightmarishly Gregarious Escapades of Neon Genesis Evangelion

So to start, I actually want George and Harold to share the role of Shinji. Just like the start of the series, both of them lost their parents due to a horrific accident that occurred at NERV headquarters and how they were left at a boarding school by the director of NERV who could care less about them. The impact of their parental loss along with being abandoned was hard on the boys, but they always had each other for emotional support as they grew up. Together, they both pilot Unit CPN-UNDRPN5. The director of NERV wanted the mecha to look just like him but after the boys pilot the suit for the first time, they give him a dramatic makeover by giving him a cape and underwear. After their first successful takedown of Malakai the Turbo Toilet, the staff at NERV decide to roll with their Unit’s ridiculous appearance much to the director’s frustration. Despite their own issues with their abandonment, they decide to make the most of their situation in order to save the world. Plus all these battles against cartoony alien monsters gives them more inspiration when making comic books.

Next up, I actually envisioned Erica as Rei. Both of them are stoic, serious minded girls who prefer to keep their distance. While she may be friendly with the boys during leisurely hours, she has a hard time accepting them as friends. Mainly because she doesn’t see much value in making friends during the end of times. Before and even after the boys arrived, Erica is considered one of the top pilots as she has an incredible track record of defeating multiple angels on her own. Even after she sustains multiple injuries from fights that are considered too dangerous, she always turns out great the next day. She pilots Unit PLNGR-1NA which comes equipped with two giant plungers.

And the third/fourth member of the pilots is Melvin as Asuka. Both of them are hot-headed red heads who do not get along well with the main protagonists because of their contrasting ideals. He’s also an accomplished pilot who has used his technological skills to improve the fighting capabilities of his Unit MLVN-B0RG to endure much longer than the standard Unit. Despite his achievements, he’s still brushed off as a kid in the world of adults. What’s worse is that the adults tend to use his ideas and only give him an ounce of praise to pacify him and send him on his way. He feels frustration over how he rarely gets the praise and appreciation he deserves, especially for all he does for the organization.

Now for the adults.

As you can guess, Krupp would be the Gendo Ikari of this AU. They’re both horrible, selfish, arrogant leader figures who are all too willing to exploit children for their own nefarious purposes. Krupp was initially asked to care for George and Harold after their parents’ death which he was indirectly responsible for, but he didn’t want to be bothered by them so he had them sent to a boarding school. This has resulted in the boys developing a secret hatred for him. And while it would be too easy to make him into a complete monster just like Gendo, I would like to include some redeeming qualities. Like for instance, as the battles against the angels become more dangerous and mentally scarring, Krupp begins to second guess as to whether it’s a good idea to actually send kids to do the dirty work. At first he didn’t mind so much since to him a kid battling a giant monster in a robot suit is every child’s fantasy. But it becomes impossibly concerning when the kid ends up having a mental breakdown and all the adults stop to question whether any of this is a good idea. The Hedgehog’s Dilemma would also be explored here as Krupp starts to feel guilty over how the boys are getting emotionally distressed with each Angel battle and over what he did in the past.

For the role of caregiver and senior officer, I chose Edith as Misato. Both of them are friendly, cheerful and slightly awkward young women who are assigned to watch after the boys. She makes alot of effort into helping the boys with their issues and providing emotional support during their times of stress. During work, she proves to be very competent as she organizes the main operations behind the NERV defenses as well as maintaining relationships with her organization and the outside world. And just like Misato, Edith was one of the few survivors of the Second Impact which left alot of psychological trauma after she was found. There were also alot of rumors that painted her as an alien in disguise as there’s no way any normal human would have survived the Impact. Also, she has a closer relationship with Krupp then Misato did with Gendo. He still cares about her and treats her with more compassion and gentleness compared to his coworkers. It’s also thanks to her influence that Krupp starts to take notice of the pilots who are making him successful to begin with.

For Ritsuko’s role, I wanted place Ms. Anthrope as the chief scientist of NERV. She works closely alongside Krupp and Melvin regarding the technological systems that maintain the Units. She’s also a close friend of Edith and is the only one who is able to understand her trauma after the Impact as well as the pressures she feels as a senior officer. She’s also aware of her growing relationship with Krupp and she feels a bit of jealousy; Anthrope has been working alongside Krupp since Day 1 and knows all about his issues and the dark secrets behind NERV. She can’t help but feel that she deserves to be recognized more for what she does behind the scenes.

Then there’s Mr. Ree as Kaji, an old acquaintance of Edith who is also a double agent working both for NERV and the government in order to keep track of NERV’s dubious schemes. Much to Krupp’s relief, Ree isn’t interested in Edith romantically but he does care about her as a friend and pushes her to question whether her organization is as righteous as it makes itself out to be. He also serves as Melvin’s primary caregiver after his parents ‘went away’ on business.

Other minor characters include….

Professor Poopypants as Kozo Fuyutsuki. Krupp’s right hand man who helped organize NERV and helped create the Units aswell as study the nature of the Angels.

Ribble, Meaner and Fyde as the trio of First Lieutenants who often oversee the Unit vs Angel battles alongside Edith as they keep track of the Units when they obtain damage.

Bo, Gooch and Dressy as Toji, Kensuke and Hikari respectively. Ordinary classmates of the boys who often stay on the sidelines and cheer for them.

Crackers as Pen Pen: The adorable bird like mascot.

And below the line will include spoilers for this AU as well as the one will be casted as Kaworu Nagisa.

So for starters, Poopypants will turn out to be a “twist villain” in the endgame. His motivations of using the EVA Units and having the children fight with them was a way to experiment them in order to create perfect Units. He’s also been capturing and hording the remains of the Angels that were defeated in order to study their alien biology and unlock their powers in the hopes of using their power to improve his technology. He reveals this secret to Krupp and Anthrope knowing that neither of them will tell since they too are also involved NERV’s seedy actions so they’ll also be imprisoned for their crimes.

Next up, Erica comes from a series of clones. Having found the perfect human who’s body reacts perfectly to the Angel DNA, Poopypants decided to create an army of expendable clones to continue the Unit vs Angel battles regardless of the damage it was doing to the Erica pilots. Only Anthrope has been charged as the main supervisor for this side project but after seeing the recent Erica clone making meaningful bonds with the boys and growing as a person, she decides to pull the plug on the project to keep Erica safe.

And finally, for the role of Kaworu Nagisa, I actually envision none other than Dav Pilkey for the role. As the mastermind behind the Angel attacks, Dav initially wanted to reconnect with Earth as for too long they’ve become disconnected and have subjected their world as being serious, oppressive, cruel and self-serving. The Angels, which all consist of wacky monsters of the weeks from the books and cartoon, were created to destroy the symbols of that corruption as well as connect with the children pilots in the hopes of reaching out to them. And it isn’t until he makes his presence known to George and Harold do they really understand what he was trying to do all along.

And that’s all I have so far for this AU. Thank you to those who actually read this whole thing. And if you have any comments or ideas for this AU, you’re more than welcome to share them by reblogging this post and adding your comments.

#captain underpants #neon genesis evangelion #evangelion au #george beard #harold hutchins #erica wang #melvin sneedly #mr. krupp #edith #ms. anthrope #mr. rhee #professor poopypants #anon

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adamworu · 7 years

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Is there any character and/or episode that you feel should get more attention/love from the community in the original NGE ?

It’s actually a few characters I feel deserve more love from the Eva community (pertaining to the original show of course!). The same applies for the episode part of the question: it’s also a few.

More down below....

Rei’s a huge one I feel, considering she’s one of the most relatable characters within Evangelion. Shinji is a relatable character because his arc is around being aware of his own actions and steering him into free will rather than determinism. Shinji believes that reality is fixed, fixed in the sense that nothing good comes from reality. This leads him to reject reality and reject the true selves of people, therefore straining the relationships of everyone around him. Asuka feigns a persona of being + acting more grown than she actually is, all too aware of her problems. All too awareness is met with rejection rather than acceptance. We have the adults who parallel some of the children, the rejection of reality and the oft times selfishness that spawns from aforementioned rejection.

Rei’s arc deals with identity, individuality + her character treatment parallels how people will forcibly mold your identity into something which benefits them personally rather than allowing you any iota of autonomy. Rei’s a character whose whole existence is objectified; her whole body is quintessentially used as a tool, ultimately for Gendo’s desire to reunite with Yui via Instrumentality as well as the core of the Dummy Plugs’ thought processes (excluding MPE Plugs). This is sadly relatable, especially if you’re navigating any part of adolescence. What really makes this a massive problem is that abstract thought (exploration and grey areas rather than concrete ones) come forth in early adolescence. Rei isn’t allowed to explore, just do what’s asked and not even go beyond what’s been imprinted on her.

I feel as if understanding Rei is understanding some of the puzzle that is the AT Field. Rei actually insinuates about it in episode 14, during her pondering midway in through the episode. (slight nudity warning here)

Rei also likens her identity to flowers during her thoughts. Many of them the same and yet most lack purpose. I feel as if this is an indicator of Rei and paralleling her clones to aforesaid flowers, because again, she’s taught to feel expendable. She also talks about how she’s melting toward the end of her thoughts (back to the AT Field insinuations again!). AT Fields, other than being a well-placed metaphor for boundaries, also serve as our physicality (and most of all our identity). If we relinquish our AT Fields, we lose our physical shape. In End of Evangelion Rei’s arm just sort of melts/slides off her body. Gendo urges Rei to hurry along with the merging of Adam unto her (thinking she’s his personal puppet, when he doesn’t realize that she knows her she’s Lilith), remarking that her AT Field is beginning to break down.

Without an AT Field, we undergo death, metaphorically. In Eva’s context, it means that you give up an identity. Without identity, others cannot discern who you are, because metaphorically you don’t exist. Rei, when talking about the clones toward the end of her poem talks about no longer seeing herself. The other Rei’s aren’t allowed exploration either, causing Rei to question her individuality. Remember Rei’s words about the flowers? That many are the same but so many are without purpose?

Rei’s poem highlights the acknowledgement of identity (it ends with her speculating the identity of Unit-01′s soul). It’s Rei’s way of making sense of the world the only way she can, making sense of herself, and associating certain things with certain symbols or ideas.

I also feel that all the angels are characters that especially need as much credit as the cast of Evangelion. When you start seeing the angels, especially in the episodes involving psychological exploration of the pilots, you start realizing Evangelion isn’t actually about the human condition. It’s understandable that Eva is considered by many as a piece of media dealing with the human condition, considering humans are at the forefront of the show. However, Eva pokes a hole through that considering two things. One, Ritsuko’s comment in regards to Arael breaching through Asuka’s mind in episode 22 and two, Misato’s comment to Shinji about the human’s origins. Ritsuko remarks that angels hold capability of understanding our psychology (and she’s right about that!). Misato states that angels came from Adam, the ones we know with all the varying shapes (but quintessentially the same physiology - cores, S2 engines, that good stuff) and we’re the 18th angel (Lilin from Lilith, 2nd angel). Evangelion cannot be the human condition because that excludes the angels from that, though humans are angels, not the other way around.

I feel that episodes wise: the episodes which show the psychological exploration of the characters need more love, especially when it involves the ones with the angels. The angels assume symbols immediately recognizable to the respective pilot and at least two angels use specific psychological concepts to get their point across. Leliel uses a Johari Window, a tool meant for self-awareness of the individual and their identity as known as well as unknown by themselves as well as others. When Leliel does talk on some points the two lines are presented as perpendicular, as a way of seeing a window to the self (and being aware of selves existing outside of the self). Leliel tries getting Shinji to be aware of his own actions (which involves understanding himself and others).

Tabris/Kaworu (yes I consider him one of the psychological angels, though he doesn’t use means to breach the subconscious) and Shinji embody the two loci of control. The internal locus and the external locus are more known as Free Will v. Determinism, an argument which intersects psychology and philosophy (psychology does have a philosophical aspect). Tabris, being the angel of Free Will is the internal locus (believing you can control your life, meaning you aren’t free of accountability). That leaves Shinji as the opposite, the external locus, the polar opposite of Kaworu’s loci. Determinism/external locus means that nothing in your life is within your control and therefore accountability is nonexistent. Tabris tries telling Shinji that he must endure pain rather than running away, insinuating that Shinji has free will and must use it in a way that helps most.

Episodes 14, 15, 21-24 (Director’s Cut versions), as well as the last two episodes are important. Episodes 25 and 26 need to be put on the same importance as EoE, because I think it gives the viewer insight to other characters (e.g. Asuka living so she can find out her purpose). It also helps give insight on who else may defy Instrumentality and who won’t.

#neon genesis evangelion #shinji #rei #asuka #kaworu #correct me if i'm wrong #Anonymous

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ritsushinbro · 3 years

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My Thoughts on Rei Ayanami in the Rebuilds (spoilers)

I thought I would continue my posts on the characterisation within the rebuilds. I have already done Asuka so I thought I would do Rei next. Honestly I was quite reluctant to post my thoughts on Rei (and the other pilots I have saved) because they are quite critical and I worry it may come across as repetitive. So if you guys still want my Mari and Kaworu posts then please say. There’s less I have to say about Rei because although I feel she was neglected by the writers, I do not feel Rei herself was made to act obtuse or as an extreme caricature of her NGE counterpart. 1.0 does not seem to change Rei’s character as the film is a condensed version of the first few episodes of NGE. So I can’t really complain about the first rebuild and Rei as there is not much difference. 2.0 however does deviate a lot and places a lot of character “development” on Rei very quickly. This is another example of 2.0 having to fit too much into one movie so they could get to the rebuild equivalent of episode 19. The two most prominent examples of this is the elevator scene and Rei’s decision to cook for Shinji and Gendo. The former has her prevent Asuka from hitting her, this indicates that Rei has become a lot more human and is now beginning to value herself than her NGE counterpart at this point in the story. However this “humanisation” comes across as a lot more sudden than it does in NGE (as to be expected from a movie) as it seemed not just a few days ago that Rei was lamenting about how isolated she felt when looking at the fish in the aquarium. What caused that sudden shift? The miso soup that Shinji gave her? Was that all it took to make Rei become a lot more sociable (much to Touji’s surprise) and then deciding to enquire about the value of eating in the company of others with Gendo of all people? It just seems extremely weird to have that miso soup be the catalysis for such sudden character development. I cannot complain however, because I do feel this change in Rei’s behaviour is in keeping with her character (despite it being relatively more extroverted by comparison with her NGE counterpart).

One thing I do seem to have a problem with however is Rei’s principle desire to kill Zeruel in order to keep Shinji from piloting again. The reason I furrow my brow at this, is because Zeruel is not the final angel so killing it wouldn’t exactly mean they would be in the clear and Shinji would be liberated from his piloting responsibilities. Another thing is that Shinji was pissed off at his father for forcing him to hurt Asuka with the dummy plug; it wasn’t piloting that hurt Shinji but his father’s decisions. Even though Shinji never actually spoke to Rei after Bardiel (I think, it has been a while since I saw 2.0), why would Rei assume it was the piloting itself that was causing Shinji pain and not his father? After all, Shinji was actually getting used to piloting (as evidenced by the pilots’ cooperation with sahaquiel and Shinji’s comments that Unit 01 is comforting to be inside. But honestly, I am being pedantic here and this is not as big a plot discrepancy as I am making it out to be. Another thing that I just remembered is why would Rei tell Shinji during his rescue attempt that she is replaceable and that Shinji should just abandon her because that is her life now which shows deep resignation to her own life. But this goes against her previous development in the elevator scene where she stops Asuka from hitting her which shows she values herself. Kinda weird considering Shinji was already past the point of no return but whatever.

3.0 does mess with her character a lot though. All the character development that Rei had and especially her connection with Shinji was all thrown out the window. The Rei that Shinji knew was long gone and all that was left was a robotic look alike that does nothing but follow orders. The writers messed up a bit with this because at least in NGE we know that the memories of the prior Rei clones carry over which leads Rei III to fuck Gendo over for Shinji in EoE. They could have shown small aspects of this with Rei Q but they don’t. They have Rei Q see a spectre of Rei in a school uniform when she is in her maintenance tank but that doesn’t go anywhere as we learn the original Rei is chilling inside Unit 01. So who the hell was that ghost Rei or was it just a hallucination from the original? If it is the latter, then Rei Q’s connection with Rei 2.0 doesn’t get foreshadowed well enough IMO, they should have shown the ghost Rei in a white plugsuit instead of a school uniform, because the latter just makes it seem like they wanted to do a quantum Rei storyline but copped out. Now that we know she is a completely different person, we have Rei Q constantly questioning her identity as Rei Ayanami as she should so I have no complaints about that. She even resorts to asking Asuka what the original Rei would do to which Asuka replies what she wants to do instead of what Rei would do. This indicates that Rei Q is and will be getting her own development as her own person in the next film which honestly makes sense if what actually happens isn’t so tragic.

3.0+1.0 is gracious enough to give Rei Q a lot of development in the village. She learns about farming, animals, babies, food (there is a call back to the miso soup) and even wears a school uniform. She even asks Asuka for a name to which I believe she replies with “Lot-chan” (correct me if I’m wrong). She very quickly becomes her own person. However, like 2.0, I think this development is too quick as it was only a few hours ago she was so obsessed with following orders that she beheaded Mark 06 to release the angel and help doom the world, but this is neither here nor there. It genuinely feels like Rei Q is going to become her own character separate from the other Rei. She even develops her own feelings for Shinji (which is also too quick and sudden IMO) and helps him recover psychologically after Asuka’s loving and tender (sarcasm, obviously) feeding attempt went wrong.

However this is where things go wrong. It is revealed that Rei and all her clones have “programmed” feelings for Shinji which completely remove all authenticity of Shinji’s and Rei’s relationship. Rei states that this doesn’t bother her but it really should because it doesn’t make sense as both iterations of Rei were indifferent to Shinji. Neither of them showed that they were programmed to love him so that is just a mistake from the writers there. Furthermore, Rei Q does not get to see another day, as it turns out she will die without her tank. So she goes to Shinji, gives him back his SDAT, confesses her feelings and then just explodes into LCL. Oh but not before she confesses her feelings for him and her plugsuit changes to the original Rei’s white colour scheme. Like why would the writers do this?! You spend all that time developing another character and reinforcing her individuality only to bloody kill her off and then fuse her with the original Rei. It’s so dumb and achieves nothing narratively wise other than making the original Rei baby-crazy. Furthermore, her death apparently makes Shinji summon the will to fight against Gendo by going to the wunder, where people still want to kill him. How, when Shinji is still grieving from Kaworu, you would think another death would just add to it but no. A contrived death to make a contrived recovery.

And now we have Shinji’s reunion with the original Rei in Unit 01. What can I say about this that hasn’t already been said? It’s done in a studio and is pure meta-commentary. Like why? There is even a cringy title-drop in their meeting. It’s so stupid. Although their talk is more intimate than Asuka’s goodbye, the tenderness is completely ruined by it being in a studio. They could have done it in the aquarium for God’s sake or even in the place where she first smiles at him after ramiel. It is just completely laughable. I am not gonna talk about Rei concealing Shinji’s synch scores because that kinda speaks for itself. Shinji tells Rei to leave because apparently Mari is gonna pick him up. How can this be the case, considering he planned on killing himself but maybe he just didn’t want to scare Rei or he thought Mari could bring him back, who knows? Rei was extremely protective over Shinji (her concealing his synch scores) and this is portrayed as a bad thing as it means Shinji has forced Rei to be self-sacrificial for him. So he lets Rei go, except he has replaced her with Mari who stated she will always be wherever he is or something like that and that he should wait for her. So effectively he has just substituted Rei for Mari in the dutiful roles they play in Shinji’s life and one is portrayed as bad and the latter is portrayed as good?

Finally, Rei is shown in the train scene with Kaworu but her face is not even shown. I don’t care about the Kaworei implications but the fact that Shinji is not even shown to acknowledge the girl he ended the world for (supposedly) is absolutely egregious. Let’s not forget that Rei is Shinji’s only blood relative (which he should be aware of after 3.0 and if not definitely after instrumentality) so you would think that he would keep her close in the new world. But no, he runs off with Mari and refuses to meet with Rei again because of the meta “moving on” motif and because according to some users, he feels “guilt” for Rei apparently sacrificing herself for Shinji. But why should Shinji feel guilt (as evidenced by him still wearing the choker if that is what it symbolises)? Rei was the one that decided to prevent Shinji from piloting out of her own volition, Shinji never asked her to do that, in fact it was a hindrance to him in 3.0. And it is not like Shinji did nothing in return for her, he treated her with kindness, introduced her to food, helped her become human and ultimately saved her from zeruel and gave her a new life. Even for Rei Q, Shinji tried to connect with her and gave her books to read so it’s not like Shinji is someone who does nothing for anybody, so why should he feel guilt for people doing things for him out of their own choice? Because Anno needed to give a reason for Shinji to leave his closest friends including his only blood relative and not even having the decency to see her face in the end.

#evangelion 3.0+1.0 #evangelion 3.0 you can (not) redo #evangelion #shinji ikari #rei ayanami #nge #neon genesis evangelion #rebuild of evangelion #3+1 spoilers #spoilers

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