The Evangelion thread

[João Gomes]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1412656421670469635

Lovely Korean edition. No Fly Me to the Moon, so I guess we should prepare for the same in AL's case. And I'm pretty sure they won't be able to come close to having such lovely design (yes, this is a challenge). A mini Longinus replica

Ultimate Editions becoming real now. A bit more visual info in the second link on that tweet.

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1412656421670469635

Lovely Korean edition. No Fly Me to the Moon, so I guess we should prepare for the same in AL's case. And I'm pretty sure they won't be able to come close to having such lovely design (yes, this is a challenge). A mini Longinus replica

Ultimate Editions becoming real now. A bit more visual info in the second link on that tweet.

Heh that is certainly a lovely set but I'm sure AL can do a whopping good job too, so shall remain hopeful (including in relation to the previous subbies)!



Struggling to fit in any watching in these days but here are some thoughts on episodes 6 & 7. While episode 5 was very much a Rei episode, the sixth one still hasa lot focus on her through some of her great conversations with Shinji, whilst we see Misato showing her leadership skills improvising a plan to avert disaster. Always loved the depiction of the lights in the country going off whilst being replaced by those of the stars. Episode 7 is very much a Misato one with her showing her opposing true colours - one of being a slob, but as his friends make him aware, only around family like Shinji, who as all family finds such behaviour annoying heh; but then deathly efficient and capable when duty calls. Oh and an the political machinations and subterfuge going on the background too. Not surprising this episode was cut from the rebuild movies and, unless I'm mistaken, I think it also didn't make the cut for the manga. Which is a shame, though Misato's character development doesn't suffer for it as it is done quite well throughout the series. Moving on to the next member of the Shinji harem in the next episode!

 

[Neil.T]

Episode 6

Some observations.

- The warning graphic shown at the start of the episode can't help but remind me of the Neo-NERV logo seen in 3.0.

Spoiler: comparison

Warning display, NGE episode 6


New NERV emblem, Evangelion 3.0

- Due to some rather cackhanded animation, Ramiel drills anti-clockwise during the entire episode.

- The artwork for episode 6 is a bit on the ropey side overall, especially (as pointed out on the Evageeks encyclopedia page for this episode) the character designs. Take, for example, the cut of Rei smiling at Shinji near the end. It's been redrawn in infinitely higher quality in the compilation movie Death, based on a beautiful panel of artwork in chapter 19 (volume 3) of Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's manga. You can see the anime comparison near the bottom of this Evageeks page:

Episode 06 - EvaWiki - An Evangelion Wiki - EvaGeeks.org

wiki.evageeks.org

- And lastly for this post, there's something that's bugged me in the dialogue of this episode's Operation Yashima ever since I heard it in 1.0. Take a look at this glaring bit of contradiction. I mean, I love Evangelion, but the dialogue does sometimes tend towards the over-sensational:

Ritsuko: "Since the positron beam will be influenced by the Earth's gravity, magnetic fields and rotation, it will not fire in a straight line. You must remember to make adjustments for these deviations. You must penetrate the core precisely."

Shinji: "But I've never practiced this!"

Ritsuko: "Don't worry. Just do what the manual says. When the indicators converge in the centre, pull the trigger. The computers will handle the rest."

[Emphasis added]

 

[Neil.T]

Episode 7 thoughts:

- Some very clever sound design helps put the viewer in Ritsuko's shoes during the Jet Alone presentation as she's guffaw'd at from all around in an overwhelmingly male environment. We'll get to another of my favourite bits of Eva sound design when we get to 3.0 where there's a clever choice that helps the viewer share in Shinji's frustration.

- NERV don't get a free pass to moral superiority in this episode, though, as Tokita points out how the drain on global public funding that their efforts create is adding to the starving millions.

- As Jet Alone is made to walk, one of the technicians calls out "Yōsorō!", which means something to the effect of "Keep her steady". It's a chiefly nautical term and is also used in 3.0.

- The embarrassing bureaucracy that prevents anything being done to halt the Jet Alone incident is a theme that Anno would return to in his 2016 live-action film Shin Godzilla. (More on the Godzilla franchise in a moment.)

- In the first side-on shot of Misato wearing her radiation suit, I couldn't help but notice how reminiscent it is of Zero Two's piloting attire in Darling in the FranXX.

Not surprising this episode was cut from the rebuild movies and, unless I'm mistaken, I think it also didn't make the cut for the manga.

Yeah, that's right; Jet Alone is not found in Sadamoto's manga. As for Rebuild, well... there may or may not be Jet Alone references in 3.0+1.0; you'll just have to wait and see.

For anyone curious about the name "Jet Alone", it's apparently a tribute to a heroic robot in a 1973 Godzilla film called Godzilla vs. Megalon.

According to Wikizilla:

The popular anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion paid homage to Jet Jaguar in the episode "A Human Work," where a robot named Jet Alone appears. It shares a similar color scheme with Jet Jaguar, and references both his name and the name of his original design, Red Alone.​

Jet Jaguar | Wikizilla, the kaiju encyclopedia

Jet Jaguar (ジェットジャガー, Jetto Jagā) is a heroic robot who first appeared in the 1973 Toho Godzilla film Godzilla vs. Megalon.

wikizilla.org

[Third bullet point]

The above page goes into further detail about that original character's development.

Beyond that, an uprated version of Jet Alone, named JA-2, appears in the PlayStation 2/PSP game Neon Genesis Evangelion 2. You can see Ikuto Yamashita's design sheet for it near the bottom of this Evageeks page that documents mecha found exclusively in Eva spin-off media:

Extracanonical Mecha - EvaWiki - An Evangelion Wiki - EvaGeeks.org

wiki.evageeks.org

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

there's something that's bugged me in the dialogue of this episode's Operation Yashima ever since I heard it in 1.0. Take a look at this glaring bit of contradiction. I mean, I love Evangelion, but the dialogue does sometimes tend towards the over-sensational

Heheh yeah it is ridiculous if taken literally, as I now expect is actually the case as you would've likely been able to pick up on any nuances in language missed or messed up by the translation. Previously I made sense of this assuming poor translation with the conversation implied being "these are all the things that need to be accounted for accuracy, but hey you don't need worry about them as the computer will do it all for you".

Some very clever sound design helps put the viewer in Ritsuko's shoes during the Jet Alone presentation as she's guffaw'd at from all around in an overwhelmingly male environment.

This is a great scene with the table with the two women empty whilst the "big, important" men shun them, and I always love all the times the women in the show put the naysayers in their place heh. The audio design is a real strength for me, in particular how alive the surrounds are made to feel throughout the show with the chatter and background noises and ambience lovingly replicated; the silence between characters is made that much more potent by the ambient sounds (e.g. the cicadas, train station announcements, etc).

The embarrassing bureaucracy that prevents anything being done to halt the Jet Alone incident is a theme that Anno would return to in his 2016 live-action film Shin Godzilla.

Heh I was certainly reminded of that movie as well with this scene.

In the first side-on shot of Misato wearing her radiation suit, I couldn't help but notice how reminiscent it is of Zero Two's piloting attire in Darling in the FranXX.

Good spot! I was thinking "this looks familiar and is like the Eva pilots plug suits but not quite", but on reflection is certainly more akin to the female parasites' suits in Franxx.


Episode 8 - I didn't previously register how packed this great episode is, with a lot of interesting foreshadowing interactions between the main characters, great action and even comedy (Toji's reaction to Asuka's justification for the slap cracks me up every single time heh). The action is fantastic and unit-02 couldn't have had a cooler entry to the show. Another highlight is the underwater scene with the power cable being unwound as the parties are dragged underwater with a great view of a, presumably, post-second impact submerged city, a subtle hint of the disaster the world has suffered.


*Edited some gobbledegook my phone threw out when I didn't spell-check the phone's spell-check....

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

Some thoughts on episode 9:
Rei's obliviousness is the hilariously perfect antidote to Asuka's self-importance.
Misato really knows how to motivate & push Asuka's buttons, her use of Rei is almost mean heh.
I previously didn't register how Asuka's aggression towards Shinji is actually mirrored nicely with Misato's apparent aggression towards Kaji.
Kaji's jest to Ritsuko is scarily prescient.
Shinji susses out Asuka's frailty under all her bravado.
The humour between Asuka and Shinji (& their Evas positionings alongside Ritsuko's perfect delivery of her thoughts on the matter) embarrassing the poor adults at the start and end is hilarious. Hats off to the team for being so good with the comedy in a show this psychologically gruelling. Again, always an interesting watch to see in hindsight the seeds of the characters' relationships before they spiral out.

Episode 10 for tomorrow but now that I happen to have some time on my hands I'm finding it difficult to hold back and pace myself heh.

 

[Neil.T]

now that I happen to have some time on my hands I'm finding it difficult to hold back and pace myself

Hey, just crack on while you've got the chance, man. If anything, it'll help spur me on to catch up to you as well.

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

Episode 10 - the beach episode that wasn't! Going to use this shot of Shinji & Asuka forlornly looking at their friends departing (for their very own beach episode OVA - release date yet tbc) to diverge from Eva momentarily:

Trigger fans will be reminded of SSSS.Gridman & Dynazenon using similar rooftop shots to demonstrate their pivotal characters' isolation; just one more note on SSSS.Dynazenon, which I thought was absolutely brilliant and gave me much more of the quietly confident & effective focus on the characters, which is exactly what I loved most in Gridman, but additionally it also developed more of its characters than Gridman could, a real joy to watch.

Back to Eva, and further thoughts on ep 10:

• Shinji has Asuka pegged, knowing that despite her hubris it is likely to be him eventually being called in to do the job
• Misato demonstrating her ruthlessness by happily plunging Asuka well past safety limits
• and Unit-01 looking it's very coolest:

Episode 11 thoughts:

• Political machinations ongoing with NERV's systems being tested & studied by an unknown human element - Gendo aptly surmising man's worst enemy being himself
• Kaji can't get enough as he likely planned the elevator rendezvous, given Misato's line implying an overnight one anyway
• that's a face that will have Instrumentality at any cost, even if it means stooping to manual labour:

- Another mention of the stars at night when the city's lights go out with, as Asuka puts it, a profound discourse.

 

[Robin91]

Can you Evangelion pros help me with one thing? I'm trying to find out from what Episode or movie this scene is from. Does anyone remember it?

 

[Neil.T]

Can you Evangelion pros help me with one thing? I'm trying to find out from what Episode or movie this scene is from.

Asuka's outfit in that artwork matches the Shinji kissing scene in episode 15 of Neon Genesis Evangelion and also the kitchen argument scene from The End of Evangelion.

@Geriatric hedgehog and I are currently watching all of Eva ahead of 3.0+1.01 on Amazon Prime Video, so... leave it with me? I'll try to give you a more accurate answer.

Is that a piece of original production art that you bought, Robin? It's nice.

 

[Robin91]

Asuka's outfit in that artwork matches the Shinji kissing scene in episode 15 of Neon Genesis Evangelion and also the kitchen argument scene from The End of Evangelion.

@Geriatric hedgehog and I are currently watching all of Eva ahead of 3.0+1.01 on Amazon Prime Video, so... leave it with me? I'll try to give you a more accurate answer.

Is that a piece of original production art that you bought, Robin? It's nice.

Thank you for the info I will bid on it and hopefully get it, unless it gets too expensive (please don't bid against me!)

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

It certainly is nice, best girl among best girls? Yeah, let's not go there... As @Neil.T mentioned, hopefully we'll come across it during our re-watch but it did invoke The of End of Evangelion for me as well, or one of the latter episodes in the TV series (like 21 maybe?) on the basis of the expression as opposed to outfit heh, so yeah I'd therefore bet on @Neil.T's more accurate suggestion.

Episode 12 touches on Misato's motivations for her dogged & fierce determination to stick it to the angels. Expands to those of Shinji's and Misato also drops a subtle bomb on why he rubs Asuka up the wrong way. These unpretentious ruminations on the human psyche are what I adore about this show, regardless of the great lore, action, animation etc. with their shortcomings aside, though unsurprisingly they undoubtedly help it along to achieve masterpiece status. On that note:

Love this scene, with the sound effects of the air as the lift exits an enclosed tunnel, the silhouettes & movement of the elevator relative to the Evas in the distance - fantastic. There was another great scene with some of the lovely soundtrack when Shinji was reminiscing his conversation with Misato overlooking Tokyo-3 at sunset. And the animation of the Evas running and jumping vast distances was also brilliant, great stuff. Lastly, watching on Netflix I've had the alternative music for the closing credits (one of the Rei tracks I believe), which I always thought suited the general feel of the show and the credits scene itself quite well. And though I will always love & prefer the original versions of Fly me to the Moon, and how they often provide a welcome interlude from the melancholia of the heavier episodes, I actually feel objectively the Rei track fits better!

 

[Neil.T]

I will bid on it and hopefully get it, unless it gets too expensive (please don't bid against me!)

Ah, you've no worries there, pal: I don't collect artwork or anything like that, so you're safe from me!

Also, I don't know where the piece is being auctioned. (Don't reveal where, though! )

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

Heh likewise, no interference from me. I'll just go sit in my corner to sharpen my knives in preparation for some mad Max shenanigans if I don't get AL's Ultimate edition NGE boxset though...

 

[Robin91]

Ah, you've no worries there, pal: I don't collect artwork or anything like that, so you're safe from me!

Also, I don't know where the piece is being auctioned. (Don't reveal where, though! )

Cool I'll let you know if I win it. Might just get stupid expensive as most things these days so we'll see

Heh likewise, no interference from me. I'll just go sit in my corner to sharpen my knives in preparation for some mad Max shenanigans if I don't get AL's Ultimate edition NGE boxset though...

Mmm, I'm ready for the NGE Ultimate Edition as well!

 

[Neil.T]

it did invoke The of End of Evangelion for me as well, or one of the latter episodes in the TV series (like 21 maybe?) on the basis of the expression

I got strong Director's Cut vibes from looking at it as well, funnily enough. I thought maybe episode 22, but I looked at my Essential Evangelion Chronicle books for stills, and I couldn't find any of Asuka wearing anything that resembled that top. I'll look out for that expression during episode 22 and EoE.


I'll look towards catching up to you in the series, Geriatric hedgehog.

 

[Robin91]

It certainly is nice, best girl among best girls? Yeah, let's not go there... As @Neil.T mentioned, hopefully we'll come across it during our re-watch but it did invoke The of End of Evangelion for me as well, or one of the latter episodes in the TV series (like 21 maybe?) on the basis of the expression as opposed to outfit heh, so yeah I'd therefore bet on @Neil.T's more accurate suggestion.

Episode 12 touches on Misato's motivations for her dogged & fierce determination to stick it to the angels. Expands to those of Shinji's and Misato also drops a subtle bomb on why he rubs Asuka up the wrong way. These unpretentious ruminations on the human psyche are what I adore about this show, regardless of the great lore, action, animation etc. with their shortcomings aside, though unsurprisingly they undoubtedly help it along to achieve masterpiece status. On that note:
View attachment 19918
Love this scene, with the sound effects of the air as the lift exits an enclosed tunnel, the silhouettes & movement of the elevator relative to the Evas in the distance - fantastic. There was another great scene with some of the lovely soundtrack when Shinji was reminiscing his conversation with Misato overlooking Tokyo-3 at sunset. And the animation of the Evas running and jumping vast distances was also brilliant, great stuff. Lastly, watching on Netflix I've had the alternative music for the closing credits (one of the Rei tracks I believe), which I always thought suited the general feel of the show and the credits scene itself quite well. And though I will always love & prefer the original versions of Fly me to the Moon, and how they often provide a welcome interlude from the melancholia of the heavier episodes, I actually feel objectively the Rei track fits better!

Yeah, let's not go there I hope that you'll be able to spot the scene if I get it. Otherwise I'll have to look it through again

I got strong Director's Cut vibes from looking at it as well, funnily enough. I thought maybe episode 22, but I looked at my Essential Evangelion Chronicle books for stills, and I couldn't find any of Asuka wearing anything that resembled that top. I'll look out for that expression during episode 22 and EoE.


I'll look towards catching up to you in the series, Geriatric hedgehog.

End of Evangelion would be pretty dope as well as the original series I hope I get it but I'm anxious about it

 

[Neil.T]

though I will always love & prefer the original versions of Fly me to the Moon, and how they often provide a welcome interlude from the melancholia of the heavier episodes, I actually feel objectively the Rei track fits better!

I haven't actually heard that alternative music choice as it's being played over the end credits yet, but I've got to agree with you; that track has a suitably foreboding feel to it.

The only time I think that it probably won't work, and this is something @Professor Irony mentioned during the 2019 simulwatch, is the final episode. It must be pretty jarring to have that tonally positive ending and then follow it up with the Rei theme. I reckon it'd destroy the atmosphere and probably make me feel like the ending I had just watched was some kind of cynical, sinister p*ss-take.

Barring that, though, I think I'd probably prefer the Rei theme. For me, personally, the prospect of closing with another Engrish-ridden rendition of "Fry Me to the Moon" has kind of lost any of the original appeal that it might once have had. That's just my own tastes, though.


Meanwhile, it's episode 13 for me next. Still playing catch-up with you, dude.

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

The only time I think that it probably won't work, and this is something @Professor Irony mentioned during the 2019 simulwatch, is the final episode.

That's a very good point, as I'm sure I'll find out soon enough heh. Perhaps a combination of the Rei track for the heavier episodes, and Fly Me to Moon for some of the lighter ones in the middle and the last one may give a nice balance.

For me, personally, the prospect of closing with another Engrish-ridden rendition of "Fry Me to the Moon" has kind of lost any of the original appeal that it might once have had.

Hahaha, Fry me, love it. I did find the song choice interesting on my first watch but it really grew on me on re-watches to the point that it almost feels like a required Engrish idiosyncracy of the series.

Onto Episode 13 where Ritsuko is the focus, with the first hints at her complicated relationship with her mother, a genius on a level where even someone like Ritsuko would feel dwarfed. Ritsuko also implies the start of a mid-life crisis, commenting on getting older, while her mother immortalised as AI is forever young, and on no longer having the same stamina for an all-nighter. I also really liked the switch-up in the nature of the Angel in this episode very much a type of nano-bio-machine. A reflection of the thought that went into the variety in the designs of the monster-of-the-week aspect of the show, a point easily forgotten given how much more there is to it.

Just in case one needed a reminder of the latter, episode 14's first half comes along as a recap, making this one of the weakest episodes for me. However, the second half starts with an interesting existential monologue from Rei, resulting as we are then shown, from her compatibility testing in Unit-01. Misato drops a hint on Unit-02s incompatibility with others (though Shinji did not cause outright rejection in episode 8). Unit-00, or a form/version of Rei within, as per one theory I believe was mentioned, rejects Shinji. Ritsuko is convinced she was the one being targeted, as I believe she also suspected with its first berserk incident with Rei. Unit-00 is one very temperamental Eva, rejecting pilots, attacking authority figures, quite the epitomy of adolescence. At least Unit-01's berserks are set off from a protective/defensive instinct.

 

[Robin91]

I didn't win the auction It went for almost 1350$ dollars and I was the second last buyer. I really wanted it but kinda glad I didn't get it for that price. I guess will have to keep a look out for another one