Neon Genesis Evangelion

Episode 21

Time to get back on the horse guys!

A lot of backstory here, Fuyutsuki's abduction is used pretty much as a device for us to hear about the birth of NERV and how our characters have come to be a part of it, it mainly centres around Yui, Gendou, Fuyutsuki and Ritsuko, but we get some further background on Misato and see Naoko for the first (and only) time too.

It's no surprise really that Gendou was a troublemaker in his younger days, getting into fights and generally just being a douche, it makes you wonder exactly what Yui saw in him, though you suspect there is more to it than we see on the surface. I like how the episode builds up this almost contemptuous relationship between Gendou and Fuyutsuki, especially as we've seen a mutual respect between the two in the rest of the show, it would be interesting to see how that played out over the years too. I liked the correspondences between Ritsuko and Naoko, it highlights the relationship that we saw as strained earlier in the show, and shows that it probably wasn't as bad as Ritsuko made out, or it could be from seeing her make out with Gendou what seems to be days/weeks after Yui's disappearance, and her disappointment in her mother.

Two scenes here are tied for best of the episode, Naoko and child Rei calling her a hag, and the consequences of that, and Misato's reaction to Kaji's death at the end. Did I mention about Kaji? Well it turns out it was his plan to have Fuyutsuki kidnapped and questioned by SEELE, but also his plan as a double agent to rescue him, so he pretty much fucks off everyone all at the same time who is capable of killing him easily. Unfortunately for him, that's what happens here.

After a week out of the country and a week away from anime in general, this was a perfect return to the medium.
 
Episode 22

More harrowing than I remember
Very Asuka centric, and this is the first episode we see how everyone's 'normal' life is since the last angel attack. It hit Asuka hard, she now totally resents Shinji, and hates Rei for seemingly having no real independence of thought. The elevator scene is a particular favourite of mine, where we see Rei tell Asuka what she should be doing in the Eva, resulting in being slapped.

The episode culminates with what is often called Asuka's "mind rape", a term i always hated, but now seems incredibly fitting. Maybe it's just looking at the scene again with fresh eyes, and perhaps more mature eyes, but it definitely feels like rape in that she is begging not to be explored like that, she is laid entirely bare for the angel to see whatever it wishes about her, and it goes to her darkest places in her past. Some of the choices of words here also make it feel like violation "Don't enter me" etc, and the whole scene comes across as one of the darkest moments we've had in the whole show so far.
 
Aww fine, I'll get back on track tomorrow or smth. I've watched episode 20 not so long ago but lacked the spirit to post about it or something, I dunno... smth smth
 
Episode 22:

This one's all about Asuka, the young lady with the rather abrasive manners. It's mostly a coping mechanism, of course, since she has some deep-rooted issues, and she lashes out at others and wants to be independent and strong because of them. What I enjoy is that the episode does inform and explain her behaviour, but I never get the feeling that it's trying to excuse her actions and milk the audience for some sympathy in the way, say, 50 Shades of Grey is. I think it's mostly because her desperate need to be seen as an adult coupled with her competitiveness are so clearly childish in and of themselves.

The psychic assault scene is really uncomfortable to watch due to the sexual undertones, and a part of me wishes that they would have gone about it in a different way. But, it drives the point home excellently, and it's not nearly as exploitative or edgy as it could have been.
 
fixed that for you senpai

Anta baka?

Episode 23

Angel attacks! This is always one of the hardest episodes for me to watch, the opening 5 minutes is pretty brutal with Rein immediately getting fused with the angel, Asuka not managing to move Unit 02 at all, and then seeing the freeze on Unit 01 lifted for Rei, but not for her. Then it all culminates in Unit 00 self destructing so that Rei can save Shinji? Maybe, but her last thought is of Gendou, so maybe it's purely a protective instinct rather than romantic.

The imagery during the scene is pretty messed up too, with the little Rei like figures popping up on Shinji's arm, and the huge growth growing out of Unit 00. It really gives the whole thing an extra layer of fucked-upness.

Then there's other scenes too, like Ritsuko and the salvage team finding what seems to be Rei's crisped remains, but then a few minutes later we see Rei fine, with just some bandages. When she talks to Shinji and says "I think I must be the third" is creepy as all fuck too, so far we've seen her strangled as a child, and then blown to bits inside the Eva, it all makes sense with the very last scene...

Ritsuko takes Shinji and Misato on a tour of NERVs greatest secrets, first there's the "birth" place of Rei that looks suspiciously like some kind of back alley lab, then the Eva graveyard where Yui disappeared years ago (notice the holes on the floor are shaped like the Kabbalah tree of life), then we finally see the Rei room. It's here we see that Rei is indeed a clone of herself, that every time she dies, that machine we saw earlier in the show that was downloading, for lack of a better word, Rei's psyche to use for the dummy plug, they upload into a new body. What's worse is that Rei is fully aware of this process, yet obviously has no idea how to feel about it. I wonder if the part earlier in the episode where she takes off her bandages and starts crying, is grieving for the person she was before the explosion?
 
Episode 23:

We see more of the tensions between Seele and Gendou, and how there's apparently only one angel left before their ominous-sounding plans can come in effect. They're probably not up to anything good, given their Reiquarium and a bunch of bones from botched EVA prototypes...

We get some more sexual undertones in this episode's ange attack as well, but only when Rei is attacked. When it goes after Shinji, we don't see him blush and a screen with a big "PENETRATION" sign blinking on it. Hmmm...

Asuka is pretty close to hitting rock bottom right now, and she's hardly alone on being on a downward spiral. One thing I noticed is that she only shows concern for others now that she's lost basically all her sense of self-worth, and when she does, it's directly tied to how she thinks she's worthless.

Though as stated, she's far from alone. Misato has gotten herself out of the slump she was in after Kaji's death, but she's pretty alone now, as can herself says after being unable to hold hands with both Shinji and Pen-Pen. Shot down twice in a matter of minutes, that's gotta sting, etc.

The Rei clones are all sorts of fucked up, and watching Ritsuko break down after some insta-kill button she carries on her person isn't too fun either. She's been used by Gendou, just like her mother, and her many scientific accomplishes are for nothing when it's clear that Gendou chose someone else over her.

Another great episode, but man, this still feels pretty heavy to watch. Not bad for an old cartoon.
 
I've been thinking about Rei this morning

In previous watches, I've always thought of her as one of the more dull characters, but actually after the events of episode 23, I've swung entirely the other way.

The first 5-6 episodes concentrate heavily on the non-relationship between Shinji and Rei, how completely different they are in terms of how they act, and even how they think of other characters (specifically Gendou), and how they actually manage to overcome these barriers and become friends. Once Asuka comes onto the scene, we get 4-5 episodes of levity, during this time Rei takes a bit of a back seat, she's always there, but the show loses focus on her for a while, and it's not until the downward spiral starts that we see more of her again. This time we see her in moments of conversation with Shinji, conversations we're not a part of as a viewer, but that blatantly relay that what happened in those first few episodes formed a lasting relationship.

Now I said that Rei being aware that she's a clone was creepy, but what I mean is the situation is creepy, I don't find Rei creepy, I find her tragic. And when she cries just before self destructing one of the most tragic moments of the entire show, she's aware that she'll be replaced, that her soul will be transferred into another new body, but she's 14 years old and in the last few months has made her first and only real friend, and now she has to lose all that again because the new Rei won't have a clear memory of those emotions, or even a memory of the act, as plainly seen in ep 23 when Shinji tells her what she did, she has no awareness of it, and even seems a little confused as to why she would do it to protect another human.

Maybe I'm just stating the obvious for some of you, but it was fun to think about and put these thoughts down somewhere!
 
I've been thinking about Rei this morning

In previous watches, I've always thought of her as one of the more dull characters, but actually after the events of episode 23, I've swung entirely the other way.

The first 5-6 episodes concentrate heavily on the non-relationship between Shinji and Rei, how completely different they are in terms of how they act, and even how they think of other characters (specifically Gendou), and how they actually manage to overcome these barriers and become friends. Once Asuka comes onto the scene, we get 4-5 episodes of levity, during this time Rei takes a bit of a back seat, she's always there, but the show loses focus on her for a while, and it's not until the downward spiral starts that we see more of her again. This time we see her in moments of conversation with Shinji, conversations we're not a part of as a viewer, but that blatantly relay that what happened in those first few episodes formed a lasting relationship.

Now I said that Rei being aware that she's a clone was creepy, but what I mean is the situation is creepy, I don't find Rei creepy, I find her tragic. And when she cries just before self destructing one of the most tragic moments of the entire show, she's aware that she'll be replaced, that her soul will be transferred into another new body, but she's 14 years old and in the last few months has made her first and only real friend, and now she has to lose all that again because the new Rei won't have a clear memory of those emotions, or even a memory of the act, as plainly seen in ep 23 when Shinji tells her what she did, she has no awareness of it, and even seems a little confused as to why she would do it to protect another human.

Maybe I'm just stating the obvious for some of you, but it was fun to think about and put these thoughts down somewhere!

wow nice observation , think il have to rewatch and look at rei again
 
wow nice observation , think il have to rewatch and look at rei again

It's a great show to rewatch!

Episode 24

Was asuka supposed to have slit her wrists in that bath? Either way, the beginning of this episode pretty much confirms what I thought earlier in this rewatch, Asuka was never pining for Shinji in the slightest, right at the start she hears about Kaji's death, then we see her in the bathtub, and later in the hospital, his death was too much for her to bear on top of everything else she's gone through.

I think the relationship between Kaworu and Shinji is one of the strongest things about the whole show, and it lasts less than 20 minutes. I just think they really hit every note perfectly with the dialogue and art direction to really build up what seems to be a blossoming friendship come romance. It helps that kaworu tells Shinji that he loves him, and it seems to come across as sincere, the scene and Shinji's reaction makes me believe that Shinji is in fact bisexual.

Fuck I love the end of this episode, the music is so fucking perfect I don't give a fuck how pretentious people say it is, the pause before Shinji crushes him builds so much tension, everything about it is great. The short conversation with Misato in the aftermath is brilliant too, I totally understand Misato's stance, but I feel that here she should have offered a little more consolation, something like "I'm sorry you had to go through this" would have sufficed.
 
Episode 24:

A pretty damn awesome episode. It's pretty melancholy, apart from Shinji getting a new friend after basically everyone leaving (in one way or another), but to me, it's not annoyingly grimderp or generally over the top. Shinji and Kaworu's relationship progresses really fast, but it doesn't feel rushed in the slightest. I feel that it's handled really well, with Kaworu being the first person to really try and understand Shinji.

We also see that Ritsuko's a far cry from the stoic scientist we saw in the early episodes, and Misato has to give Pen-Pen away for his own safety, and she basically has only work-related human interaction left. While they aren't subtle scenes, it still feels rather toned down than what most anime would have been.

The visuals are great, though of course the scene with Shinji holding Kaworu would probably not have been as long if they still had a decent budget. It's still a great scene, though. And besides, what actual animation remains is still good, and unlike Cross Ange, they manage to keep everyone on model.

Was asuka supposed to have slit her wrists in that bath? Either way, the beginning of this episode pretty much confirms what I thought earlier in this rewatch, Asuka was never pining for Shinji in the slightest, right at the start she hears about Kaji's death, then we see her in the bathtub, and later in the hospital, his death was too much for her to bear on top of everything else she's gone through.

Well, Misato said that she was on her period when the angel attacked in episode 22, so it's most likely menstrual blood. And yeah, I'd say that Shinji has been a distraction for her, but nothing else, really.
 
Episodes 25 & 26

These episodes are much better than I remember, not because I ever thought they were bad, but I now think they're great.

It's hard to pick out why in specific ways though, at least in terms of saying "this scene was good because...", purely because of the structure of them, where any conventional story telling is left by the way side to get some proper introspection from Shinji, Asuka, Misato and Rei. Now we've had this before in previous episodes where Shinji was absorbed into Unit 01, but this time around it feels less like Philosophy 101, and more about the interaction between all these characters, and what they hide from each other. All of it is bared to each other, and they all have to react to it and find some kind of strength in themselves.

I'd like to address the criticism of the reused scenes and the whole "they run out of budget" meme, because, yeah, they reused some scenes, a lot actually, and the new stuff they put in wasn't really animated, but never do either of these episodes look bad, and it all fits the tone of what's actually happening. If you really want to see how a show looks when struggling for budget, go watch Cross Ange, at least the characters are on model here.

The use of music is also amazing here, it actually makes my hair stand on end, none of it is anything we haven't heard before here, but because the visuals aren't a main focus, the sound brought to the front a lot more. As is the voice acting which is genuinely some of the best I've ever heard.

The conclusion is brilliant, I love that it isn't "I'm happy now and everything is fine", I love how it all hinges on the small realisation that Shinji can learn to love himself, and that the world can be however he perceives it to be in his own mindset. The infamous "Congratulations" scene borders on the cheesey, but somehow they manage to pull it off.

Man I'm sorry to see us come to the end of the show, just End of Evangelion to go now, then the deep hollow feeling of finishing one of my favourite shows...
 
Episodes 25 and 26:

I feel that there is a bit too much Existentialism 101 in this, but it handles it better than, say, Black Lagoon does. However, it's still very much enjoyable to watch, and when keeping in mind that it's made for a mixed audience, it's not that bad. The ending scene is still really cathartic, and Anno adroitly manages to keep it from being too maudlin.

Even operating on what appears to be a shoe-string budget, Gainax manages to deliver some really nifty visuals, though it can get a little rough now and then. The audio is still great, though, and the music is, as always, incredibly fitting. There are some really stellar tracks here.

For me, Evangelion still holds up really well to this day, and I don't think it's been surpassed by any subsequent mecha show in the character department.
 
I'm watching this for the first time, just got to episode 25 and came here because I just needed a place to say "what the hell was that?"
 
My suggestion is to think on it for a few days and try and piece the last 2 episodes back to everything that happened before, if you struggle (and that's fine, I did too and so did most others), post in here again and I'll try and do a full break down for you.
 
Yeah, I just finished 26 and I have to say this seems really weird. I saw somewhere that most people preferred watching End of Evangelion, and thne these two episodes so I think I'll watch EoE one of these days and then rewatch this. The amount of philosphical things they threw in these last episodes came as a bit of a surprise, even though they put some in before.

Ending spoilers:

I mean, I know they talked a bit about the Instrumentality Project and "becoming one" before, but I'm confused as to how this hapened. He kills the last Angel, he's sad, and suddenly we're thrown into the mind-stuff with Shinji, Asuka, Rei, Misato etc. We don't get any explanations about Seele, the Angels or how this Instrumentality thing even started. No boss fight, no end of the world, nothing. I like philosophy as much as the next guy, but all those unresolved things leave a bit of a sour taste right now.

I'm also wondering about the congratulations stuff at the end... does that mean he wants to live in the real world? He says "my life is worth living here", but where exactly is "here"? Does it mean the instrumentality failed? Is Shinji dead? Are the others dead? (we see images of a dead Misato etc, so that seems possible...)

I'll probably be back in a couple of days after rewatching this, but I can say already that even if the ending feels convoluted and doesn't resolve everything, it's still quite good.
 
I'll reserve saying some things until you've watched EoE. There's a lot of theories out there about what's happening in EoE and the last 2 episodes, the one I subscribe to is that the events are happening concurrently. So watch that first and see what you think.
 
Aww fine, I'll get back on track tomorrow or smth. I've watched episode 20 not so long ago but lacked the spirit to post about it or something, I dunno... smth smth

He he, did I mean tomorrow? What I obviously meant to say was tomorrow few months later... he he.. I should finish this at some point.

Yeah, I just finished 26 and I have to say this seems really weird. I saw somewhere that most people preferred watching End of Evangelion, and thne these two episodes so I think I'll watch EoE one of these days and then rewatch this. The amount of philosphical things they threw in these last episodes came as a bit of a surprise, even though they put some in before.

Ending spoilers:

I mean, I know they talked a bit about the Instrumentality Project and "becoming one" before, but I'm confused as to how this hapened. He kills the last Angel, he's sad, and suddenly we're thrown into the mind-stuff with Shinji, Asuka, Rei, Misato etc. We don't get any explanations about Seele, the Angels or how this Instrumentality thing even started. No boss fight, no end of the world, nothing. I like philosophy as much as the next guy, but all those unresolved things leave a bit of a sour taste right now.

I'm also wondering about the congratulations stuff at the end... does that mean he wants to live in the real world? He says "my life is worth living here", but where exactly is "here"? Does it mean the instrumentality failed? Is Shinji dead? Are the others dead? (we see images of a dead Misato etc, so that seems possible...)

I'll probably be back in a couple of days after rewatching this, but I can say already that even if the ending feels convoluted and doesn't resolve everything, it's still quite good.

If you want conclusion in every way watch EoE.
 
If you don't understand the last episode, or want to dig deeper into Evangelion and all the meaning and references behind it, the philosophy, theology, and psychology behind it, I would recommend you watch this video:
 
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