Another Essay/Analysis of Misato and Shinji

For discussion of and submissions for the EvaGeeks Wiki and Commentary. Open to all posters.

Moderators: UrsusArctos, Board Staff

ran1
Banned
Age: 32
Posts: 2684
Joined: Jan 20, 2010
Location: Taipei/Dalian, PRC
Gender: Male
Contact:

Another Essay/Analysis of Misato and Shinji

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby ran1 » Tue Apr 20, 2010 11:58 am

For the past couple of months, there has been some great discussion and debate in regard to the relationship of the relationship between Misato and Shinji.

Now that the "raw version" of my Episode 22 montage paper is all set up, I'd like to move onto a further, more detalied assessment of the Misato/Shinji relationship in another Theory/Analysis page

Though Misato's page does outline some of the most important facets of their relationship:

The Wiki wrote:Misato's first action regarding Shinji was to send him a photograph of herself to let him know what she looked like when she picked him up: it is a humorously inappropriate photo of her wearing cutoff jeans that reveal her thighs, leaning forward in a tank top revealing excessive cleavage, winking at Shinji and giving him the V-sign. She also left a lipstick kiss on it. The Japanese writing on it translates as "To Shinji: I'll be picking you up, so wait for me, okay?" (apparently written in creator Hideaki Anno's own handwriting). Misato also punctuated the photo with the highly inappropriate message, "Pay attention!!" with an arrow pointing to her barely covered breasts. This is an early indication of Misato's unusual personality, even before she appears on screen. Though she seemed to be joking when she mentioned "putting the moves on" him, her flirtatious behavior and the skimpy clothing she wore around him undermined her role as his guardian. Their relationship took a darker turn as the series progressed when in Episode 23 she attempted to offer Shinji comfort via sex, and in doing so escape her own loneliness. In Episode 24 she seems to realize her failure, commenting, "Shinji still hasn't returned either. I've failed as a guardian." Nonetheless she kissed Shinji deeply before dying in Episode 25', promising to "do the rest" when Shinji returned.

But before this, Misato seemd to care deeply for Shinji, being extremely distressed whenever he disappears (Episodes 16, 20). Misato has said that she wanted to be a mother to Shinji but could not, and indeed, though she often gives Shinji good advice, Misato keeps him at a distance, and later doesn’t even try to "parent" him, perhaps having understood that she’s not much better than he is when it comes to dealing maturely with her emotions.


I'd like to start a further deconstruction of the topic using the material gained from these threads:

http://forum.evageeks.org/viewtopic.php?t=8657
http://forum.evageeks.org/viewtopic.php?t=8643
http://forum.evageeks.org/viewtopic.php?t=8566
http://forum.evageeks.org/viewtopic.php?t=7390

Considering that I've got nothing to do today because I'm laid up at home due to foot surgery, I can put together a preliminary deconstruction on a new page, and perhaps ask for feedback moving forward. Or, if you guys want, I could start it on my userpage. Its just going to be very cluttered as a result of the montage essay still being there.

EDIT: Just did a preliminary set-up for the page. A little text for the first part, just to get it started, next I'll add some images and links.
Oh, and here's the link: http://wiki.evageeks.org/Shinji_and_Misato%27s_Relationship

EDIT II: Working on the images

EDIT III: Preliminary Images for Part 1 Completed. Working on the text to go along with it.

EDIT IV[4/21 10PM]: Gleaning relevant info from threads (linked to the bottom of the page) and pouring over some of the script translations. Nothing substantive until tommorow

Excuse the temporary messiness
Last edited by ran1 on Wed Apr 21, 2010 9:10 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Punished "Venom" Ran1
Vanity of Vanities
Every post in Evageeks automaticaly becomes masturbatory material. It's nothing new. ~Justcrazyguy
Ran's persistent irony is a coping mechanism he uses to try and create some understanding of his paradoxical attraction to and disgust of the elitist bourgeois slaughterhouse in which he's forever trapped. --Muggy

Sailor Star Dust
Kept you waiting, huh?
Kept you waiting, huh?
User avatar
Age: 38
Posts: 23063
Joined: Aug 13, 2006
Location: 私の中いる自分の心
Gender: Female

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby Sailor Star Dust » Tue Apr 20, 2010 1:34 pm

Looks good for a start. According to the EvaCommentary information for Episode 01, Misato's handwriting is really Anno's and the lipstick kiss is from one of the few female Gainax staff members.

Do you think this article will slightly go into the parallels between Shinji/Misato with Asuka/Kaji? (Misato attempts to seduce Shinji and fails, Asuka attempts the same with Kaji on the boat ride to Japan, also failing. Misato's confused feelings for Shinji (wanting to be a mother to him but having attempted to get into his pants/having romantic feelings) stems from Misato's issues of her father as well as Kaji; Asuka has her own issues when it comes to men (Shinji and Kaji), blah blah blah...)

Perhaps all that additional information would be better suited as mentioned somewhere or it's own T&A article, but just a thought.
~Take care of yourself, I need you~

ran1
Banned
Age: 32
Posts: 2684
Joined: Jan 20, 2010
Location: Taipei/Dalian, PRC
Gender: Male
Contact:

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby ran1 » Tue Apr 20, 2010 1:44 pm

SSD wrote:Looks good for a start. According to the EvaCommentary information for Episode 01, Misato's handwriting is really Anno's and the lipstick kiss is from one of the few female Gainax staff members.


Thanks for the tips!

Do you think this article will slightly go into the parallels between Shinji/Misato with Asuka/Kaji? (Misato attempts to seduce Shinji and fails, Asuka attempts the same with Kaji on the boat ride to Japan, also failing. Misato's confused feelings for Shinji (wanting to be a mother to him but having attempted to get into his pants/having romantic feelings) stems from Misato's issues of her father as well as Kaji; Asuka has her own issues when it comes to men (Shinji and Kaji), blah blah blah...)


Though I will do a little section on that, I'm debating whether or not it actually warrants a full article. I leave the senior members here to determine that.
Punished "Venom" Ran1
Vanity of Vanities
Every post in Evageeks automaticaly becomes masturbatory material. It's nothing new. ~Justcrazyguy
Ran's persistent irony is a coping mechanism he uses to try and create some understanding of his paradoxical attraction to and disgust of the elitist bourgeois slaughterhouse in which he's forever trapped. --Muggy

planet news
Armisael
Armisael
User avatar
Posts: 917
Joined: Jan 29, 2010

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby planet news » Tue Apr 20, 2010 6:02 pm

I mean this in the best way possible:
Reading this kind of thing is like reading really, really legit fan fiction.
In other words, keep going. Good job.
"Crab People, look like crab, talk like people. Crab people . . ."

ran1
Banned
Age: 32
Posts: 2684
Joined: Jan 20, 2010
Location: Taipei/Dalian, PRC
Gender: Male
Contact:

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby ran1 » Tue Apr 20, 2010 6:15 pm

View Original Postplanet news wrote:I mean this in the best way possible:
Reading this kind of thing is like reading really, really legit fan fiction.
In other words, keep going. Good job.


Well, its somewhat obvious that there is quite a bit of sexualization in Misato's role, so I suppose my deconstruction makes it look like fanfiction? I dunno.

All I'm trying to get across here is that throughout the first episode, Anno hints a certain... promiscuity (not sure if right word...) on the part of Misato that is difficult to miss. then again, the next episodes after this hint to a more motherly side of Misato, so if that still floats your boat...

But all in all, their their dualistic relationship is one of the most intriguing aspects of Evangelion in terms of character development.
Punished "Venom" Ran1
Vanity of Vanities
Every post in Evageeks automaticaly becomes masturbatory material. It's nothing new. ~Justcrazyguy
Ran's persistent irony is a coping mechanism he uses to try and create some understanding of his paradoxical attraction to and disgust of the elitist bourgeois slaughterhouse in which he's forever trapped. --Muggy

planet news
Armisael
Armisael
User avatar
Posts: 917
Joined: Jan 29, 2010

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby planet news » Tue Apr 20, 2010 6:25 pm

Reading this kind of thing is like reading really, really legit fan fiction.

... but I don't read fanfiction.
"Crab People, look like crab, talk like people. Crab people . . ."

UrsusArctos
The Beginning and The End
The Beginning and The End
User avatar
Posts: 10501
Joined: Jun 28, 2007

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby UrsusArctos » Tue Apr 20, 2010 7:43 pm

Fanfiction =/= Theory and Analysis.

Good stuff, ran. I look forward to reading more of this.
(Was Board Staff from Dec 31, 2007 - Oct 17, 2015 and Oct 20, 2020 - Aug 1, 2021)
Not knowing that Monk is bi is like not knowing the Pope is Catholic - ZapX
You're either really bad at interpreting jokes or really good at pretending you are and I have no idea which.-Monk Ed
WAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!(<-link to lunacy)...Taste me, if you can bear it. (Warning: Language NSFW)
The main point of idiocy is for the smart to have their lulz. Without human idiocy, trolling would not exist, and that's uncool, since a large part of my entertainment consists of mocking the absurdity and dumbassery of the world, especially the Internet.-MaggotMaster

planet news
Armisael
Armisael
User avatar
Posts: 917
Joined: Jan 29, 2010

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby planet news » Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:14 pm

It's "like" reading fanfiction. I didn't say it is fanfiction or mean it as something derogatory. I'm saying I enjoyed it in the same "way". I really shouldn't have said anything at all.

Again, good job.
"Crab People, look like crab, talk like people. Crab people . . ."

Sailor Star Dust
Kept you waiting, huh?
Kept you waiting, huh?
User avatar
Age: 38
Posts: 23063
Joined: Aug 13, 2006
Location: 私の中いる自分の心
Gender: Female

  •      
  •      
  • Quote

Postby Sailor Star Dust » Sat Apr 24, 2010 12:31 am

Just FYI, some tidbits of information regarding their relationship (namely how they refer to each other and some dialouge echoing) is mentioned in this post.
~Take care of yourself, I need you~


Return to “Wiki Editing and Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests