Episode 04
This one always really stuck with me. When I originally saw the show, I think it was probably the first time it really sank in that there was something a bit special going on here. It's the first episode we get without any combat, but we get a real insight into Shinji's personality and the sheer impossibility of what he's trying to process - it's not that he can't walk away, it's just that he couldn't live with himself if he did. That really spoke to me, somehow.
Aida also comes across as increasingly meta here too. One of the most frequent complaints about the show is that people find Shinji's reaction to his situation unbearable, presumably in a lot of cases because he doesn't act like the typical action anime protagonist by quickly rising to the challenge in front of him and ably grasping the bull by the horns. As Aida undoubtedly represents the nerdy fans who dream of being that hero, perhaps putting that kind of self-insert figure into the story reminds us that, were we in this situation, we'd probably be every bit as overwhelmed and unable to act as Shinji is.
Maybe I'm reading too much into that, but if nothing else, let's take a moment to reflect on how downright creepy he looks in this shot.
Yeah...
So anyway, I did switch to the Japanese for this episode and, as I thought, it does seem like the Netflix dub is trying to stick a lot closer to that style of line delivery. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, I don't know. I do give Shinji's new VA credit though for their screaming - Shinji's screaming from the cockpit in ep3 was every bit as pained and blood curdling as it ought to be.
As a final thought, I also only just realised that Netflix are using translations of the Japanese episode titles, instead of the English titles which are hardcoded onto the ad-break eyecatches at the half-way point. I mean, fair enough, but I now can't not remember the joke from
Police Squad, where one episode title will appear on screen, but the narrator will announce it as something completely different..