Commentary Episode 01 Re-opened

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Kendrix
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Postby Kendrix » Sat Apr 20, 2013 10:17 pm

test (just wanted to see if I could post ANYTHING without getting an 500)

(maybe it was too long? I'll try posting... half of it by editing it in? - Adding the other half via edit didn't work. Could somebody please bump this so I can add the second half in a separate posting? Thank you!)

This forum hasn't been quite the same, ever since that Q-related zergrush....


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I got sidetracked by a whole lot of different things, and then I sort of lost the flow of it... but I can't NOT contribute to such a huge project - You always notice new things in the scripts and besides, I can't leave a mayor interpretation work that new fans will look to for ages so severely lacking in team-blue perspective. /silly.



Title: And so the legend begins:
Anno wrote:'Eva' is a story that repeats.
It is a story where the main character witnesses many horrors with his own eyes, but still tries to stand up again.
It is a story of will; a story of moving forward, if only just a little.
It is a story of fear, where someone who must face indefinite solitude fears reaching out to others, but still wants to try.


For all the deconstructing he did, Anno was far too much of a geek to resist the classic Sci-Fi opening line. We've probably all seen "In the year...." almost as often as "It was a dark and stormy night..." or "XY was a completely ordinary boy/girl untill..." or a Baby being abandoned at someone's doorstep. To my experience, however, the former has a somewhat higher chance of being followed by pure compressed awesome, with NGE being just one of the examples.

I'll use this moment to note that according to some interviews (not sure if it was the CR or the "what are we trying to make here" statement), Anno's intention with the first episode was to create an image of utter hopelessness and incredible odds against the protagonists that should change over the course of the series. In retrospect, he was somewhat dissatisfied with his sucess here which is probably why he felt the need to add the red sea/ruined environment for Rebuild.

001: And here it comes, the glistening water surface. Anno really loves those (They're also quite abundant in "Nadia", tough that makes a lot more sense since it's set on a submarine), so prepare to see a lot of them, from above and below the surface. This here could be considered the setup for book ends (even tough not even Anno knew how this would end and what call backs that ending would contain by the time they made episode 1, some materials state he was quite undecided and with all we know about the creative proccess of Rebuild, I believe it, after all, he could never decide and thus gave us two endings XD) as the surface of liquid/a shoreline with destroyed infrastructure around it is also one of the last things we'll see.
On the water surfaces/shorelines themselves, they're said to be associated with the border between the concious and the subconcious and obviously used with that in mind in some of the introspection scenes... here, it's probably just to create the proper atmosphere while keeping in mind what associations the ocean is going to create in the audience's mind , being an ancient, primal force of nature but also the source of all life.
Another thing that makes this opening scene so effective is that its dominated by harsh, loud sound effects with only silence in the background, no music, no human voice, gives it all a very "reality-like" feel, detached as a documentary would be without sensationalising anything or trying too hard to be epic.

002: A ruined city left to the Elements always speaks for itself, it is always a monument of humanity being defeated by forces greater than themselves, even if it might be the humans themselves who unleashed this forces... especially to the Japanese who are constantly threatened by Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Tsunamis and what not... The Level of Crazy Preparednes Nerv displays (and the technology levels they have) might not look that futuristic to the technology-savy, crazy-prepared Japanese. Remember that big earthquake that hit the country recently? Not a single train derailed and all the elevators had automatically moved to the ground floor and deactivated. Most damage came from the Tsunami, because, there's only so much you can do against everything being submerged under three stories of water. - in fact, the many backup systems and technological wonders that we in Germany use to dispose of our used water made me think of the way Nerv happens to have special equiptment for every possible situation. This shot is quick to establish that some catastrophe has taken place and we're in for something post-apocalyptic. (Or rather, as the existence if working helicopters suggests, something post-post apocalyptic, since civilization has had the time to rebuild which is, in itself, one of the many subversions of known conventions we're going to see here. )
The flooded buildings, a staple of Evangelion, also showcase the fragility of the world as we know it. Humanity has always been somewhat obsessed with the apocalypse, every day, people find new reasons to preach that the end of the world is near, perhaps because we subconciously prefer to end with a bang to a whimper, or because, as this very show later points out, humans are about the only creatures capable of hating themselves. This show with its contant threat of "pop end of the world" and subtler, all the more scarier hints that humanity is dying (the birth rates decreasing, "the room of Gauf is empty", the constant mysterious ramblings about how the Instrumentality Project is the only hope... diffuse backgruond things you can't fight with Mechas and oversized knives), of course, taps into that sentiment, (Don't the sunken cities make you think of all that horror scenarios about Global Warming?... And let's not even start about the fanatists and conspiracies (SEELE)) but ultimately critizises it, not by denying that the problems of this world are there and partially our own fault, but by telling us to accept responsibility and face the problem while, at the same time, being a love poem to human ingenuity, adaptability, endurance and willpower.
Here, we also see the tendency of modern writers to include a big cataclysmic event in the backstory of their setting, roughly as far away in the past as WWII is to make said setting relatable - now, WWII is much further from the 90ies than SI is from the series's main timelime, but since Shinji is Anno's sort-of avatar, the WWII-like event and its temporal distance would have to suit that of Anno's generation. (He thinks most of them still behave like brats, anyway)
Again, here we see the typical Sci-Fi tactic of creating a fantastic analogue to a real world issue to dissect certain aspects of it in peace - What the following 26 episodes and 6 movies will try to make a point about is not WWII itself (For Anno beat that particular horse to death in "Nadia") but rather, the sort of society that Japan has brought forth after it, thus, the disaster in the past was made a neutral, force-of-nature like catastrophe (or, as we shall find out, the result of rather fantastic/abstract plotting) so that the story can deal with the post-catastrophe society alone

003: And here comes the classic giant monster approaching Tokyo - So far, all of this could still have turned out very archetypical. Of course, we're being lulled into a sense of false security. One might wonder why Sachiel is called the "Angel of Water" if one forgets this little silent sequence.


004: Here, we meet out ever-present friend the wird camera angles. This one reminds me of some cuts of Fassbinder's film version of "Effi briest" where we observe the protagonist and her mother through the branches of a tree. It's a detached sort of perspective, with something (the walls/windows) between the object of interest and the fourth wall.

005: And here is our other constant companion, the technology porn, by courtesy of the military geek directing this show, and the frequent, haunting sound motif of chirping insects. Again, harsh background noises, mechanical imaginery which looks even more detached/un-personal/documentary-like if you notice how all those tanks look almost identical/are lined up behind each other. Even though many ought to be working here/shouting orders, they don't show us a single human here.

006: The entire shore is full on them.

007: The classic but effective imagery of animals fleeing from things that are bad and wrong, to sort reinforce the image of a "dying world".
But otherwise, we see trees and a nice horizon, all is blue, it fits the treacherous silence, that tension created by the background noises, the calm before the storm... even the big splash created by the Angel is played down/shown only from the distance, again, creating that documentary-like feeling, like we're seeing it all through cameras placed in fixed spots.

008: More scenes of a somewhat dissonantly serene, dying world, with dead trees, sloped buildings/telephone poles and broken windows being other archetypical elements there. And in spite of it all, there is this beautifully drawn landscape, the bright sunlight nonchalantly reflecting from the broken windows being one of the most groptesque contrasts.
We finally hear human voices, but it's still a fairly "mechanical" thing, such an announcement, it still fells like a documentary or a news broascast, the "world"/setting of the shown being shown at large before "zooming in" on our protagonist.


009: Another thing we'll soon have to get used to is all the urban imagery used in this show, train stations, appartment blocks, power lines... This shot, again, tells us a lot about the setting with one glance, we see the old rails having fallen into decay (kinda like the sunken buildings) and the rebuilt, modern stuff that came after. The lone figure, be it someone who got informed to late, a looter, or Shinji who just arrived (which I personally find more likely since it makes sense that he'd have the honor of being the first human being to appear on screen - I mostly agree with Shin-seiki's scenario here, Misato was late, so Shinji decided to try and phone her.) it is definitely a nice touch that adds to the whole "abandoned city" scenery by emphasizing that a city (this time, an intact one) being abandoned means that something made the people in it run away.
Also, note the perspective, we see it all from far away, were the modern train station in question is almost fading into the background.

010: A classic way to stop that something very bad is going on is to show that all transport has come to a halt. Note the numerous details on the Rails and the trains (After all, most Science Fiction is written by people who like looking at cool machines for people who like looking at cool machines).

011: There has always been something inherently epic about train stations, perhaps because they are places where journeys end and begin, in any case, we'll be seeing a lot of trains and train stations along the way, so perhaps showing an empty one in pure white (in contrast to the more orange-ish ones we'll be seeing later) is a way to start the motif off.
Also, this particular train station is a mayor relevant location that we'll be seeing often enough for it to merit some exposition cuts.


012: Here we see that it doesn't just look deserted, it actually is. Also leaves the realization of said deserted-ness more time to sink in before the action starts.

013: Note that that one car has its door open - Presumably, someone didn't make it out before all traffic was closed down (note the red lights) and just ran for it, leaving the car right where it was. Given that cars are rather expensive and something people rely on a lot for their everyday life, someone must be really panicked to leave it behind wide open.

014: A navigation system - here, observant viewers are given a chance to begin suspecting that Misato's sense of orientation sux, allowing them to chuckle to themselves and say "I knew it!" when the inevitable happens at Nerv headquarters...

015: ... well, "not outdated" except for that phone with a cable on it... the fact that they had one of these Nerv phones (get used to them, too) built into their employee's cars is the first thing to begin showcasing Nerv's level of crazy-prepared-ness, before we saw all those improbable displays. The car is also meant to reflect that this is "The Future ~" because while 2015 sounds like the classic "twenty minutes in the future" kind of setting to us, it was closer to "exty years from now" when it was first created, hence the "futurustic" car. (That's always a big question one has to ask oneself before making a Sci-Fi... just how far ahead. The closer it is to the present, the more relatable the setting is and the more you can mention present-day problems, but being closer to the present means it must seem feasible for the tech to have appeared in the meantime - no one will buy us having FTL by 2030, for example. ) Shinji's cassete player was also cutting edge by the time the series came out, the implication being that everyone would have such cool stuff by 2015. Such prediction are sometimes strikingly accurate... and sometimes, they aren't. Our modern MP3 Players and the sheer amount of music that fits on them looks rather Star-Trekian compared to a tape or a CD.
I like how it was done, tough, establishing the setting as "the future", without any cheesy exposition scenes, but by showing us little details as they went on (Misato's automatic front door, the battery-powered car...) just as background details.

Other things remarkable of this frame are, of course, more technology drawn with love for details (This time, Sadamoto is to blame - he's a car buff.) a picture of someone who will obviously be relevant to the plot, and our first dose of SAABISU! - At this point, half the audience will still be fooled into thinking this is your average giant monster show, and thus, this female who seems to have a clue of what is going on is presented in a cool, bond-girl like manner. Of course, to mantain the tension, they're not showing us her face yet.

016: It's a pity that we never actually see Shinji wear that black outfit there, he has never looked better in anything else - I strongly suspect that this is what he was wearing when Sadamoto first scribbled him unto a piece of paper. Being all black and high-collared, it brings out the family resemblance quite a bit, but also makes him look a bit gloomy.

017: In the flesh, (and his standart outfit) he doesn't look quite that impressive... still, I'd like to use this occassion to praise his rather effective character design. At first glance, he looks pretty unremarkable with little distinctive features to him, even defying the unwritten rule that the protagonist of any anime/ manga has to have a hairstyle that stands out. (In fact, it was written in one of the first "how to draw manga books" I got my hands on, and seems to reflect reality, think of a Anime/Manga protagonist whose hair wouldn't stand out in a crowd - as the "face" of the frachise they're required to be memorable), but then, there's those dark blue eyes of his. Here, almost half the ppl have em, but in Japan, these would be a rare feature, like someone with red hair or a white streak in their hair, except that you'd need to take a closer look at him to notice them. (Yeah, Anime in general is infamous for its technicolor population, but EVA generally uses realistic palettes unless the person in question has plot relevant reasons to look weird. )That extends to his name, which is a very common one, but can mean "divine child", which is just perfect for "the chosen one" of our story - Basically, he does not seem particularly heroic at first glance, but he does have his qualities. Also, he's - just the perfect age for some good drama: Not too old to angst about his parents, but not too young to fall in love and angst about that, too. As we all probably remember, being a 12/13 year old girl or a 13/14 year old boy (a.k.a a helpless victim of puberty)sucks big time.

018: This larger shot here emphasizes that our protagonist is all alone in a big, abandoned place he doesn't know. The trees in the BG even give it shades of "middle of nowhere".

020: Misato probably thought this was just a harmless joke. Still, big character establishing moment there: This single shot tells us that mystery lady we'll soon be meeting is apparently hot, humorous, bold, confident about herself and her body and perhaps a little bit lacking in shame and maturity (since that's her superior's son whose stash of fap material she just augmented)...or at least, that's how she wants to sell/advertise herself to others, this card being a means of "presenting" herself/creating the first opinion she wants to create. There are, of course, lots of hidden dephts to be discovered here, but for now, let's believe we've been fooled into thinking she's an uber cool, hypercompetent bond-girl type.
Note the pararellism here: Both Shinji and Misato can be seen looking at a photograph of the other before their first meeting.
Also, remember those glorious hot pants: We shall soon be seeing them again.

022: Looks suspiciously like all these Rei apparitions from EoE, some of which appeared before the actual TI, implying a)temporal transcendence. and b) this being one of them. According to some interpretations, this is both the first time he sees her and the last time she sees him. And he can't recognize her/realize the meaning of this because he hasn't met her yet, which is just plain heartbreaking in an uniquely science-fiction-y way. Note that the second "bookend Rei" is explicitly floating and has her eyes covered by her hair/ classic anime "dark face" while this one is standing on the ground and has her eyes visible.
The way she is right in the middle of the street and not anywhere you'd normally walk (the sidewalk, the cross walk...) just reinforces the "ghostly/out of place" look of her figure.
That aside, there's also something surprisingly romantic about this when you consider that when Shinji eventually meets her properly, he's gonna have the faint feeling of having seen her somewhere before...~<3

023: Many animals are better that humans at sensing faint vibrations like, for example, those preceding an earthquake... or caused by big, green feet stomping around. Those birds probably fleed because they could tell Sachiel was comming.

024: This shot reveals the one before as having been from Shinji's POV as he is glancing upwards, he probably heard the birds flying away, and thought he could continue staring at Rei/asking himself who she is and why she's there later... Id'd light to highlight the drama here: She appears before him one last time, and he's busy with some birds because, at this point, she's just a random chick to him.
(Reminds me of a certain Doctor who episode that got much, much more tearjerking in hindsight)

025: I say she's actually there - firstly, Shinji does look at her (021: "...He notices someone", 026: "He looks puzzled" [since she's no longer there], secondly, we know that projectng spectral images of herself isn't beyond her capabilities, at least after she pretty much turns into a goddess, and fourthly, Shinji has a flashback of this in episode 14 (to be fair, that scene is, of course, another can of worms) which is probably when he makes the connection between this "random girl on the street" and the Rei he knows. Note that he only saw her for a moment, and from afar, and the state he was in when he next saw her.

027: Various details...

028: ...Showcasing that something *huge* is comming. It's little thingies like this that construct that impression of majestic ginormousness.

029: Ouch. Shockwaves can be a bitch on your eardrums. Good job remembering that sort of Details, Gainax ppl!

030: And now, enter the giant monster! At this point, poor Shinji probably starts wondering wether he took the wrong turn and ended up on the set of some cliched action movie.

As for Sachiel's design, I kinda like his color. Also, I always interpreted his relatively slow mood (and the way he often seems to "look around") as him sort of carefully "scouting" the enemy terrain.

031: That he isn't running for his life yet shows just how shocked/overwhelmed he is. He's still in the denial/"Am I dreaming"/"What the fuck even..."-Phase here. He hasn't yet processed that this is really real, so it takes a while for his self-preservation instincts to kick in.

032B: You can hardly hear this if you're not reading the script... but the very existence of this forum proves that there *are* ppl nerdy enough to be interested in the technicalities... So, thanks, Anno!
This also shows the level of Detail Anno put into this... and why not? Many Animes/Movies are based on Books or Mangas, and so often don't make use of just how much information you can squeeze into a video - you have the whole picture, lots of pixels, not just those where the main story is happening, BGM, sound, dialogue... Anno uses the whole picture7screen, not just the parts that are moving.
He even manages to put that sort of information density into a romance comedy - Kare Kano (and Eva, too) are much more fun if you have a pause and a replay button.

033: And here, we meet Gendo and Fuyutsuki- Fuyutsuki exists largely to give Gendo someone to talk with (this being Eva, he does get fleshed out more with a few little scenes in thre action arc and a big damn flashback episode after which many ppl went "How come I totally overlooked this nuanced, three-dimensional character all along?"), and as such, was made a sort of contrast figure... It starts with their looks, Fuyu being slender and neatly-dressed, while Gendo has broad shoulders and a slightly unkempt appearance (Beard, unzipped uniform, cheap sunglasses, tanned...)... With his edgy, gaunt-ish face, his rampantly growing beard and the lines under his eyes, he always looks like he's in a state of disrepair. Fuyu is a bit more "sentimental" than Gendo and has more quals/ethical doubts abbout things, giving Gendo a chance to display his pragmatism and his negative world view.
Interestingly, the "callous guy"/ "concerned guy"-dynamic reverses whenever the subject changes to Rei. (As I will detailedly point out later)
Maybe Fuyu tries to emotionally distance himself from her and see her as "just an experiment" because he can't deal with the things (shame? guilt? I don't mean attachment, more a remainder of having "failed" Yui. ) he'd feel if he didn't.

034: Ah, at times I'm rather envious of the Japanese writers, their language gives them so much tools to characterize both their characters and their relationships to others just by having them say some sentence.
What you guys say about Gendo's speech really suits his character - He doesn't really respect his superiors or many of the people he deals with (Remember his younger self blatantly smiling in Fuyutsuki's face, obviously bullshitting him with a good ounce of trollish delight?), and it's only right for a very pragmatic big boss guy to talk in a dry, concise manner. "Do it!" I also noted the accentuation thing, and I always thought that it was very appropiate for the individual scenes - He hardly uses Shinji's name, so when he does, it's plot relevant.

As for Gendo's English VA... I get that many of you would be attached to the version you knew but... If you ask me, he ruined it. The Rebuild one was somewhat better, but not that much. He sounds too much like a... cliched over-the-top villain of sorts (I don't know if america's rampant hate of him (He isn't really that popular anywhere, but I did make the observation that the English fandom has more of a tendency to omit his few positive traits than most of the German fanfics... he has haters here, too, but the extent of simplification is notably different... just my impression, tough.) is possibly caused by that, or if he got that sort of voice because the Americans who made the dub hated him), and Gendo's supposed to be sorta ambiguous. Also, he's not really that bossy arrogant guy who hurts others for fun and profit, he's more like... very pragmatic to the point of callousness, bitter and tired.

On the point of Sachiel... I like these little scenes that hint at the Angel's intelligence/as monstrous or mechanical as they look... here, he seems to be looking at the camera, like he's aware of the tiny humans watching him... which is proven right when he later decides to shoot down cameras.

Of course, us veteran fans hardly notice anymore, but this is the point where that monster is first rather paradoxically identified as an Angel.
Nice idea here, since our legends mention that YHVH spawned that other population of beings there... not that far fetched (for someone reading this from an outside perspective) that the other batch of creations might've gotten the other fruit and have, like, their own stories...

It is also worth noting that while they often disguised themselves in human form, some old testament scenes paint Angels as rather lovecraftian... not sure if Anno knew that or just went for expectation-subversion, but it's still kinda cool.

(Islam, of course, outdoes them all, they put great emphasis on how Allah is utterly abstract. He'd make good cosmic horror material if he wasn't sorta benevolent... then again, the Qu'ran often states that he "does as he pleases" Rather intriguing/fascinating.)

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subtitle: After a few episodes, you could tell that, when you hear this music, Murphy's law will strike - It spoils quite some sudden dangers. Or maybe it's like the spoiling previews/supposed to freak us out/create tension in advance

035: BAM! And suddenly, he's in the middle of a war zone. It doesn't help that this thing looks like it's coming from the screen/flying over our shoulders if you're watching this on an actual TV and not a little laptop, you see it disapear into the depht of the picture...

036: Since it actually flew over his head, it's not "somewhere far away" anymore, it's really in the, uh, sphere of space he occupies. It can touch him. and worse.

037: Or maybe he had yet to get a feel for how much he can block.

038: Yay, explosions!
Again, little details of destruction showing vaguely human-sized objects help to create the "big impression" of something HUGE attacking/the battle being very real and very close.

037: So I finally find out what that acrynom stands for.

040: I get the impression that he's sort of testing his power on these random planes.

041: Again, another shot accentuating how he's stuck in a warzone of all sudden... Just look at just how tiny Shinji looks in this picture (it zooms out, making him even tinier), how the perspective doesn't really allow us to gauge the distance between Shinji and the BOOM and just how this is all generally beyond his ability to handle.

042: Nice observations. They seem to go well with my theory that he's sorta testing his powers/ looking around.
He was either able to gauge his goal's position a bit more accurately and left for it, or he simply lost interest in the small fry and decided to further pursue his actual objective.
Again, note the little details of destruction (the foreground) and how that yellow light creates an impression of heat and power.
This is something giganticly powerful that breaks manmade things apart like toothpicks.
Another thing: Angels are generally thought of as being flying beings... and well, look, Sachi flies. Way to make these rather un-angel like Angels just angel-like enough to freak you out.
While only Arael really had the classic wings, the broad mayority of the Angels can levitate or levitates by default, especially the stronger ones... This could be taken as implication that even those with legs can levitate, but chose to use their legs out of convenience (and, in Kaworu's case, stealth)


043: A very fast motion here, following the levitation very fluently. Sachi disapears into the left side of the creen and Shinji promptly distances himself from the right one, which, dispite the very different "zoom lenses", creates an impression that the pictures are connected like two halves of a pannorama view that is panned over.

044: CRUNCH! Again, we see how mankind looks insignificant before this incomprehensible, logic defying monster. We're used to seeing big kaiju on the screen, so we have to work hard to bring across the fact that this thing should normally collapse under its own weight, m'kay?

After all, the protagonist is gonna be freaked out to a realistic degree.

I also agree on the "accidental" version (or more like he just doesn't care what sort of silly lillim constructs are between him and his goal - the plane is no different from the street to him, we don't merit his attention... classic cosmic horror staple. ), he's not stomping on the middle of it like he's deliberate, but severs a wing. When there's a big, stomping monster, you need it to stomp something to show off its power.

Anno & co were probably too nerdy to *resist* the obvious stomping.


049: Way to make a classic cool entrace à la Bond. The majority of episode 1 presents Misato as impossibly cool, hypercompetent and your perfect 21th century power-woman. Oh, she is certainly a nice discription of the life some women in our time live, but in a more realistic way... for once, the coolness gets discarded along with her shoes on the doorstep of her house.

A similar thing could be said about Ritsuko who's first shown as similarity hypercompetent, cool and a perfect rolemodel for every little girl... and then deconstructed to hell, but in a different way.
Misato is a realistic portrayal of some "modern" women our society produces with the more shadowy parts included ("You slut!", late /lack of marriage...) while our "cool solitary rational science woman" turns out to be rather submissive at heart... (even tough its a bit more complicated than that)

To go back to Misato, as far as Episode one goes, you might be forgiven to mistake her for the hot cool fanservice bond-girl-y sort of character, having the "warm", "experienced", oddly maternal kind of sexy to her and the looks to match: She's tanned, tall, assertive, humurous, huge hips, that "popular" kind of ass, relatively large boobs (well, by Japanese standarts I guess - She is the main source of boob-service until Mari comes along,(Rebuild still loves Misato's hips and ass) the emphasis on Asuka's fairly modest chest is more Shinji's PoV / at least as much plot relevant as fancervice-ish.)

047: The sunglasses and the nonchalant playful-ish apology make her even cooler.

048: Ah, and now, let's get a good closeup at that chick's face since she's obviously gonna be important later. Earrings, Lipstick, a dress revealing much skin - Artificial prettyness enchancements.
Part of its purpose is certainly to complete the action-movie-babe look. But Make-up has a lot of connotations, especially if used in a way that doesn't make it too hard to tell that make-up was used at all.
It is, of course, something that can be wiped away like a mask, something that's used to disguise imperfections (The entirety of Misato's "action hero" look and her "cool serious business persona" can be said to serve this purpose on some level... )
Lots of prettyness-enchancements can, of course, be associated with trying to impress men in a cheap way/is often percieved that way by men or even some women, but in reality, short skirts, makeup, decorations etc are more about self-expression and your level of self-confidence. For example, miniskirts were originally considered an expression of freedom.
Wearing a miniskirt means you're not afraid of (or don't care about) people insulting you because of your looks, it means that you're happy in your skin... or at least want to give others that impression. Some women do indeed seek attention, but most of the time, it's just general, social attention instead of just sexual attention, i.e., they want the other girls to admire them, too.
And Misato is a rather effective Character because she's used to explore those psychosocial implications of today's women... basically, you try to do things because you want to, or to like yourself better (the latter case, which is mostly the one applying to Misato, is more interesting because it means a certain vulnerability is present; nasty retorts can do damage) and find themselves faced with the possibility of being percieved as "sluts".

It is certainly a sign of improvement in our society that lately, men have been trying to make themselves look appealing too, instead of just demanding the girls in front of them be hot, with things like hair gel, piercings, tatoos, chains, men's perfume... It just reflects that men are becoming aware that they're not the ones doing all the choosing. Then again, this does showcase the remaining vestiges of the double standards: since a piercing or hairgel will usually be recognized as self-expression or at least meant to grab "social" attention, while a minidress will still occasionally get you percieved as "slutty".


050: The last pic looks oddly like Sachiel just discovered that he's a little ticklish. By thins point, he's not even trying to evade, and just observes the projectiles with what looks like curiosity. Yeah, this thing is out of our league.

052: At least they are keeping their distance now.

054: Nice perspective shot that also serves to remind us that the protagonists and the monster are still unfortunately close to each other.

And oh, a tailbone. Another of these nice little cues foreshadowing that they're more similar to us than we'd ever want to know. And as they're called an "alternate evolutional possibility/path", well, the only things that make you think of the word "evolution" faster than tailbones would be mentions of Darwin or the Galapagos Isles.

055: The Gainax staff, being huge nerds themselves, never miss out on an opportunity on showing us machinery in gorgeous detail. Fingerless gloves and cool if slightly don't-try-this-at-home-y things with cars are, of course, another classic "cool action movie" staple.
Also, look at this other gracious use of scenes with very different perspectives/ "zooms" being shown in rapid succession, but remaining interconnected by lots of cleverly placed fast movement.

056: And thus, the oddissey of Misato's car begins. The damage will only acumulate from now on.

057: Here come the impossibly cool vehicle acrobatics.

058: Sachiel is just huge and doesn't care what he steps on.

059: Ah, the Central Dogma, aka, our good old mission control... Everybody has spent a long time analizing the religious alusions and explaining where they're from, but I'd like to point out that Anno uses at least as much imagery from Biology, especially genetics and neurology (All the spines and nerves etc). This, in particular, is a reference to the "central dogma of molecular biology", which stated that the transfer of Information in organisms always flows from DNA to RNA to Proteins and never the other way around. As the name implies, it used to be one of the great principles of molecular biology untill it got destroyed... by AIDS.
No, really, AIDS. The HIV and other retroviruses have enzymes capable of reverse transcription, i.e, transkribing RNA to DNA. This enzyme is, for various reasons more or less the source of the HIV's deadliness, also because its transkription is very inexact - at first, that sounds rather inconvenient, but the more complex an organism gets, the more damage can be caused by a smaller error, for example, a zebra fish can have too many cromosomes in the mayority of it's cells and live perfectly fine, a tree can still survive as a whole if one large branch dies, but a human would die or face severe repercussions.
Viruses are as simple as lifeforms come, to the point that the scientists are still debating wether they can be considered alive at all, and given how much replications take place in one patient's body, it's not even that much of a problem if the majority of the viruses are defective - so that simple, little thing that's basically a strand of RNA in a nice packaging manages to exploit the very force of evolution that grinds all living beings to dust between its wheels if they don't adapt to its advantage, becoming a "worthy oponent" for things like us with brains and self-awareness and science. We have little problems subjugating other mammals and since we have guns, we needn't fear any predators anymore, but we, the most complex of beings, are still having trouble with the most simple ones. I think that's all very fascinating and strangely poetic.

in any case, naming something after a huge scientific principle that was debunked is a nice way of telling the alert viewer that by the end of the series, this place or those who work in it are BLOWING UP that's a bit less obvious than nbaming it "Hindenburg", "Titanic" or "Kobayashi Maru".

060: Bad random military dude, pencils have feelings, too!

As for why they're there, well, they're technically Gendo's superiors... at least on the papers. They were probably called here so they could watch and at least get the illusion that they're in charge... they *were* comanding the efforts with the conventional weapons until Gendo took over when it all failed.

062: Because Anno wants to draw the hatch opening, of course. More shiny machines. Again, this is *the future* and obviously, everything is bigger and more explosive in the future. Haven't you watched any Science-Fiction movies? XD

064: This thene simply makes for a better demonstration of destructive power than just another explosion leaving no effect.

065: This drawing of Sachi appearing out of the smoke/heated air is rather cool and that he's appearing somewhat gradualy.

066: It's not like seeing people smoke is particularly interesting. The trays are enough to tell us that smoking takes place and they can be conveniantly placed in the fore- or background while that same screentime can be used for interesting dialogue.

068: Aha, look. While everybody else is sort of panicking, those two renmain cool and seem to know exactly what is going on. Indeed, they know much more than everyone else at this point, and even the audience will need a while to figure them out.

069: Again, behold the cool technology and all the cards used.... (Oh, the nineties, when phones still had cables attached to them!)

070: At this point, the context already makes it clear that whatever they're plabnning will be at least somewhat inconvenient, solely because of Murphy's law and the fact that it's not the "informed, cool people" who came up with this plan.

071: Note that both Sachi and Misato's car have, at this point, put some distance between themselves and the part of the city the train station is in, they're out in the open now.

072:
Again, another of these cuts connected by fluid motions, and another hot action movie chick cliche: The cool gadgets!
Also, this showcases how EVA often just "throws" its terminology like "N²-Mines" or "AT-Field" on us without explaining what they mean. You can more or less puzzle it together, but when you first watch this episode, they'll be just complicated words to you... a nice way of giving the audience a taste of Shinji's situation, since he doesn't have a clue either and probably hardly gets what Misato is talking about.

I love how there isn't a big closeup shot of the protagonist noticing a small plot relevant detail like the neckacle, he can be seen looking at it in a cut that also has other things happening in it, you have to pay attention... after all, you get rewarding by the funny observation that, judging by his expression, he obviously got uncomfortably smothered by her boobies.
A first sighn that our poor protagonist magically attracts embarassing situations, particularly those involving mamaries.

I swear, if some girl were to, say, descend with a parachute anywhere in Tokyo-3 vincinity, I guarantee you that her breats would end up landing exactly on Shinji's face... oh, wait.

073: Oh, Anno you genius. Only few people can spell "oh shit" with just a quiet image of a landscape. How? well, that's the view without the binoculars, and while we can't see Sachiel like this, we see those same mountains and get that Shinji and Misato are dangerously close to whatever "trump card" the military had its own planes retreat from.

074: Butt ~<3

"covers him with her body", heh? This both creates an... arkward situation that would certainly tick some checkboxes on the "how to become a love interest list", both by being akward and by her protecting him by putting herself in danger without a moment's hesitation, but you might also interpret it as some maternal instinct awakening there. In many ways, a very fitting beginning for their later relationship.

Knowing when to duck, saving the clueless protagonist while showing off just how short her dress really is is of course another "cool action movie chick" staple.

075: Again, Anno & co have a talent for the depiction of "great power" (tough we won't be seeing the full extent of that until the next episode)- the target disapearing into light, the ground blowing up/partially desintegrating... yeah, that was one hell of a "boom". It takes things like these to remind an audiente that's accustumed to things exploding of how explosions are things to be in awe of, involving terrific heat and overwehelming physical force.

076: It totally makes sense that the ppl *in-universe* would want big explosions that don't leave everything irradiated, and given the level of technology they have...

077: Nothing says "intense heat" like a red/orange filter. I also always liked the slightly "delayed" shockwave there.

078: That's one of these details you miss if you blink - it's easier to see in rebuild where they could put in more detail/had a larger color palette for the shading. But yeah, she's clinging to him there.

079: Nothing says "epic" like terrific heat that makes everything glow ang go wobly, and what better way to show that out protagonist has gotten caught up in something really bagi far past his understanding than to have him narrowly survive an explosion without any real idea what's going on?

082: But of course, the viewer already knows that it's the unfazed guys in the background they should pay attention to.

083: @Reichu: Wow. That's one cool detail for them to think of.

084: It kinda looks like the surface of the moon... and look how small the car looks compared to the footprints and the craters.

085: Of course, a silly little thing like a monumental explosion won't stop the cool lady with the sunglasses.

087: Nice details on the detent metal here. And so, the car's odyssey continues...

090: Note how the uncovering of her eyes coincides with her recieving a Name, unveiling them along with her identity and the fact that she seems to be nice. And of course, our cute little protagonist gets a name, too. Ikari Shinji. Now, most the surnames in this show are fairly odd because there's a nautic theme naming going on - when the names aren't taken from WWII ships, they're taken from random ship related terms. The last name means "anchor", but is homophonous with the Japanese word for "wrath". As we find out soon, both this name and, yes, the berserker rage it implies are hand-me-downs from his mommy, even if neither of them really look the part.
As for his first name, it's very common, Japan is filled to the brink with Shinjis, but it also means "divine child" which is perfect for a chosen one who looks very ordinary/not chosen-one-y at all on first glance.
At this point, we can expect those two to more or less bond over the course of the series, she immediately tries to present herself as someone who isn't all stiff and formal and can be talked to,
Q-related comment  SPOILER: Show
which more or less remained true for all of the original series, but in the Rebuild movies, this very "sunglasses-removal-revealing-identity"-thing gets a very painful ironic echo. While she was wearing the sunglasses, it was somewhat... ambiguous and she was just avoiding talking to him, but when she takes them off, you just see all the ice in her eyes - and that this isn't some sort of mask, she actually hates him. That said, the sunglasses also get shattered just before she fails to pull the trigger on him...


091: Note how he's more on the right side of the screen while Misato was more on the left one... makes for a nice transistion.

096: Again, I must praise the composition here, the screen makes the military guys look small, much like the uncomfortable truth it presents them with makes them look useless.

097: These mines give nice occasions for us to compare the angels' power to each other. Sachiel is affected, but not as much as Israphael was.
I like how early on, the angels seem to defy that cliche that the "villains" always appear in exact order of their streght, just when the heroes can beat them. Then again, the latter angels are more intelligent and the last one is indeed the strongest, but Sachiel certainly wasn't the weakest, and Ramiel is a relatively strong foe who appears fairly eatly on.

Relish the days where those N²-mines would still buy us some time, for there will come the day when even they are rendered totally useless. Some stronger, more plot-relevant angels just brush these things off like they're nothing.
I wanted to try harvesting the rice

I wanted to hold Tsubame more

I wanted to stay together forever with the boy I like

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Postby Ornette » Mon Apr 22, 2013 12:19 am

Yes, there's a hard limit to how many characters are in a post due to the definition of the post_text table.

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Postby Kendrix » Tue Apr 23, 2013 10:58 pm

View Original PostOrnette wrote:Yes, there's a hard limit to how many characters are in a post due to the definition of the post_text table.


It would be nice if there was an error message instead of a 500, but whatevs. I will see if the rest fits in here.

098: This looks like it's supposed to be some sort of cooling process.

099: Or its the same bluish-purple stuff only with different lighting. I always found it fascinating how the angels and Evas actually bleed, and quite a lot. It gives the battles a whole different level of intensity, less "cool robot thing" and more as if it were two characters with swords cutting each other to bits, it serves to remove distance (and, of course, hint that neither the EVAs nor the Angels are too different from us. ) Seems like they went with blue first (perhaps in connection to "blood type:blue") but later thought that things like Leliel's explosion would look more brutal and impressive in red.

100: I love how that one part there moves/ seems like it might fall of at any moment. And of course, your classic hypercompetent action hero babe must know how to make repairing technology of any sort ridiculously easy


103: It's a common strategy of Anno's to insert pictures of what a person is currently talking about along with the dialogue. Also, note how the black background signifies her monologueing in her "internal world" while the regular BG comes back once Shinji's voice gets her back down to earth.

104: Hehe, here we finally get some characterisation on our protagonist: As oposed to the traditional shonen hero, he's serious, hesitant and by-the-book-ish, but still fundamentally a nice guy (He's worrying after other people's propriety, after all. )
We don't see him this snarky again untill episode 7, but this actually fairly mature-lokóking, snarky overly serious persona is how he acted around his friends and flatmates most of the time before things went to hell, which makes me wonder if his default state at the time wasn't as close to the permanently-curled-up-into-a-ball prologue arc Shinji as we used to think... maybe it's just some early installment weirdness (the scene that replaced this in 1.11 has him acting like his usual prologue-arc-self, "You wouldn't tell me anyway...")

106: Many random citizens have been seen mentioning NERV, so there must be some open secrets even if nobody knows any details. But i always thought these were meant to be some solar panel-ish thingies...
Also, compare with episode 6 where Misato shows her passion for confiscating things in the name of the government once again.

108: Remember, despite his many haters, he's considered hot stuff in-universe, even if his personally sort of prevents him from really making use of his girl-attracting powers. His personality and the fact that many of his fangirls are, sadly, stuck on this side of the screen ~<3

133: Ah, the pronunciation of "Nerv" is not that big a problem, the words don't sound that different after all, the Japanese have it easier because their language also uses mostly "clear/dry" sounds, "a" is just "a" most of the time, as oposed to the millions of half-mixed together sounds it can be in English. I've got way more complaints about how they pronounced "Seele". That word was once supposed to have a dark and solemn sound to it like metaphysical/philosophical stuff schould have.

135: From this point onwards, Misato's explanations sorta fly past Shinji, we begin to see that this whole father business is a sore spot for him.

136: Note how Shinji speaks of Gendo: "Someone else told me big abstract things". On one hand, it goes to show that they're practically strangers, all he knows is what people told him, but on the other, he is regurgitating someone else's opinion here, and thereby hinding his own.
Under his resigned exterior, Shinji always had that unpredictable core of anger, his real opinion of Gendo is something less flattering than "He's a savior of our world", but here, he goes with what he should reply, not with what he actually wants to see. Untill now, he's been freely chatting with Misato (as close as he gets to that), but now that an uncomfortable topic has been mentioned, he's building a wall. He averts his eyes to hide that nervous expression, he's breaking eye contact with her...

As for the sensei in question, we learn that he encouraged Shinji to try and play some musical instrument/aparently saw that he had some talent, so i don't think he neglected Shinji or anything. It's more that this person is a professional who gets paid to care for Shinji, so it would be improper if they did things that kids usuaslly do with parental figures (Hugs! I don't think Shinji ever gor any of those untill episode 16 or the end of 2.X) and Shinji couldn't really bond with that person as a family member... Their relationship was most likely not bad, but distanced, note how he always talks of his past life as solitary, but not "bad" in any way, not like there were arguments or anything like that.

Another important detail here (that often gets lost when adaptations and fanfics alike replace the sensei with some random relative/Uncle/whatever) is that Gendo put Shinji with a professional, whom he probably paid a lot of cash, his logic probably being that someone who was actually educated in how the minds of children work would get the job done better than he ever could. He didn't just abandom Shinji in a box, he actually took some steps to make sure he was provided for.
Of course, Shinji might've been better off with the random relative, as he'd have had some sense of family/adopted parents, as there are some needs that a mere caretaker cannot fulfill, but did these really exist?
Gendo doesn't look like he has any living family that should be trusted with a kid, and if the CI is to be trusted, Yui's family would be associated with Seele and twist Shinji's impressionable little mind to suit their needs.
That one snipped from ep 20 suggest that Gendo would like his son to have a normal life if not for the circumstances... I think he may have been trying to keep Shinji far, far away from the project.
Rebuild is another story, but as far as the original canon goes, I think that Gendo may very well have planned for Rei to be EVA 01's pilot (After all, Shinji's constantly told that she'll pilot it in if he won't) and for Shinji never to be involved at all, and may never have called him if Rei hadn't gotten injured. She was unlikely to win in her state, and he had no choice but to call in the one person that he knew would be compatible with Yui.

Consider this: He never makes any efforts to keep Shinji from leaving (Episode four!!!) even when it wouldn't be benefical to stay, nor did he, who played people like instruments left and right (Neutralizing Ritsuko with but a single sentence), tell Shinji what he wants to hear to keep him motivated.

137: This shot/cut makes it very obvious just who the cool guy who seems to know what is going on really is, even if you didn't pay attention to their names. (Hint!Hint! Think Star Wars!)
At this point, the family resemblance (which is rather strong, under closer inspection) isn't that apparent, mostly because those sunglasses obscure the telltale eyes. That these are half-concealed also fits well with how we're only shown many of their similarities later in the story.
For the majority of the show, both Shinji and the audience really struggle to try and guess what's going on in his head, his actions seem mostly ruthless, but slightly conflicting, we only get to see his side of things, his motivations etc. very late. We can't see past the reflective glasses into the windows of his soul, so to speak.

141: Apparently, glasses-acrobatics are even a legitimate tool of characterisation. Gendo is a classic bridge-pusher. So what does it say about me that I use the bridge, too?


146: That Futsuki didn't know yet goes well with my theory that calling Shinji was a last-moment ultima ratio type of decision. He turns away from Fuyutsuki before the latter can guess who it is... and so, he becomes opaque to the audience, we can't see his face, so we can't guess what he's thinking. As for what Gendo himself was thinking here, he probably doesn't want to talk about it/would prefer if Fuyu wouldn't confront him about it/ask further questions.

147: He certainly is. That's something he does, try and look like a victim so people will "hug him". It's not really a wilful deception or anything, but something he does need to get called out on. See here.

150: Cool to begin the flashback with such a detail shot. Also, look how this bag resembles the one he brought with him - Even if it's not the same one, there is a "bookend-ish" quality to it, for him to carry such a thing when he's left by his father and when he's called back.

151: Ah, that one cut. We'll see it quite a lot. The first thing we're supposed to gather from this, is, of course, that Shinji was abandoned, he's bawling his eyes out, there's lots of empty space around him, and there's a bag, presumably filled with his things. there is no need to even say he was abandoned, the picture speaks clearly. But there is more information packed into this Picture than you'd think:
a) His pants are too short and the shirt is too big. Presumably, Gendo haphazardly stuffed him into the first things he could find, no really knowing the arcane order Yui organized the baby's clothes in or not knowing what size the kid wears because Yui did the clothes shopping. An early hint that Gendo didn't leave him out of coldheartedness, but because he felt overburdened with the task of caring for him.
b) This is ostensibly a train station in the back. Presumably, Gendo sent Little Shinji on a train to go to his sensei's place, which is why he came to associate trains with entrapment... this moment, this abandonment shaped his entire idea of himself, and the fact that his mental landscape looks like a train, with the ocassional ghostly mini-Shinji sitting around in it, only serves to accentuate that. As with the bag, there is also the peculiarity that he came to Tokyo-3 in a train... and then there's episode 4.
c) Shinji looks quite a bit older than he does in the flashbacks of Yui's death. He wasn't dumped immediately after her death. Stuff happened. Stuff that stays nebulous untill the end even though it's the main character's back-story. I really like this, how Shinji still manages to stay as mysterious as everyone else in the show despite being the PoV character. Frankly, he's not as ordinary as he seems to be.... It probably also means that Gendo first gave it a try before sending him away.

152: It may be meant to sort of "connect" the flashback to the present, the train of back then to the train of right now.

157: As we see in episode 7, it is NERV's policy to blank out parts of documents they don't want to schow to outsiders even if they're legaly obliged to send a document. Basically, they're not telling Shinji anything.
it took me a while to notice the scribbling/taping, but in a way, it makes me thing of how little Shinji furiously trashes that Pyramid in EoE... (A metaphor for his relationship with his father and generally his stay in Tokyo-3) and then slowly starts to rebuild it...

165: Brooding as he may be, Shinji is still a teenaged boy and as such impressed by shiny technology. We see this again in episode 2, when he reacts to the retractable sky-scrapers.

168: From this line, and another in episode 11 stating how the geofront was designed as an "fully independent colony", I got the impression that there was some plan for the last few humans to survive here if all the rest should be wiped out or something like that.

EYECATCH A: "Nadia" had such a fanfare chant, too, which was okay in the first, comedy heavy episodes, but got annoying over time and was finally dropped all together for the last few episodes.

174: I guess this "Mirror Image" introduction helps to introduce these two as contrast figures. It's not as strong as with Asuka and Rei, but their dialogues are often worked to build a contrast:
Age appropiate/serious/no-nonsense vs. Immature/childish
Cynism vs. optimism
Rationality vs. intuition/emotion
lack of empathy/cold logic vs. human warmth (Hence, Misato's the one with the ethical qualms)

They also seem to contast each other as being two typical forms of "modern women", both appearing as cool hypercompetent empowered ladies, but with Misato being the "sexually liberated" one who's confident with her body, while Ritsuko is presented as the "icy career woman" who simply puts her work above things like men and children and doesn't really feel that strong a need.
Both seemingly have a thing going on with being slightly afraid that they'll never find love... but as we see later, things are a bit more complex than that and Ritsuko, in particular, is not what she seems.
(In the end, SHE is the sexually voracious one while Misato is all insecure and quite single-target, and there's more layers to it, too...)

In any case, Ritsuko's looks alreay reflect her "fakeness" - Her obviously fake hair color (since she's Japanese... also, the eyebrows), the heavy make-up/lipsticks etc... I can't really find her attractive because she's so fake... but I guess she also has the appeal of someone who was corrupted into dirtying her hands and proceeds to corrupt others (Shinji(ep 23), Maya....(ep 14!)

184: Unlike Misato who had a more "personal" introduction, including intimate contact and saving his life, Ritsuko gets a businesslike introduction and talks about him in the third person when he's present. Those two ultimatelycome to view him in a very different manner.
I wonder if she's so callous/objectifying about him because she secretly hates him for being Yui's son.
She was definitely intending to do something to him in episode 23...

185: Don't forget just how many shots in this episodes show Shinji surrounded by these two with them on either side.... I think it's because he will be forced to make a choice between the things they represent.

186: Yeah, this part is definitely important, not just because they do share a serious, gloomy demeanor. In a way, they're both very similar, and I'd say that if the cast of the show were that assortment of drives, concepts and metaphysical homunculi that float around in a person's head, they'd both be the "self". Shinji's the plain old self, while Gendo would be the "self that observes the self", the part that evaluates the rest, the source of self-hatred, basically. What makes it most obvious is that they're the author's mini-me's. Shinji's case shouldn't need further elaboration and Gendo, well... he's basically Anno with straight hair and fancier clothes, really. It's practically a self-portrait. Anno has also describes himself as having some of Gendo's flaws in interviews.

In any case, the big irony/ tragic beauty of the story is that these two had the very same problem all along, but in Shinji's case, we see him from the inside, while Gendo is mostly shown from the outside, with the implication that they would look very similar if you flipped the perspective.
So maybe Shinji looks rather like Gendo if you see him from the outside, at least Touji definitely thought he was a jerk at first. (see ep 17)

183: I think it's a little weird how he says this, like he's expecting some happy reuinion.
Also, look! He doesn't say "ten/nine years", he says three.
This is the first mention of yet another mystery incident in Shinji's past - the "three years ago" thing. We later learn that it involved visiting Yui's grave and Shinji running away, but it mostly stays nebulous. Sadly, those dark spots in the Ikari's backstory are often overlooked because ppl either write Gendo off as a flat villain or aren't that interested with Shinji/ don't see these edgy, unpredictable parts of him.
One important thing that this hints at (which is later implied more strongly when we get to the third act) is that there was, in fact, regular contact between the two before that one incident brought it to a halt. Knowing the two, I don't think these visits were particularly long, frequent or productive, but again, they mean that Gendo wasn't as indifferent as one is first led to believe.

191: So there's a good chance that none of the three billion people on the planet are compatible at all... Most likely, those would be the odds for just any person but Ritsuko didn't want to detail why Shinji has more of a chance (He's the son of the person inside that thing) That's probably why "compatible" people are treated like such a rare good.

202: He's high above, far away, behind a massive wall and staring down. Shinji probably feels like a mouse in the face of an eagle.

204: Gendo, being Gendo, obviously wants to get down to business without any pleasantries. He just doesn't do these, and is, ultimately, offering to begin some sort of cooperation here - But this is the first time Shinji even hears about the "business", and any conversations where the participants are very much talking about different things is doomed to eventual failure.

As for the screens, they're just a dramatic-looking way to have them both on-screen at the same time (to show the exchange of actions and reactions) without taking away the distance between them.

209: This scene heavily contrasts the two women and it' composition simply makes use of it - Ritsuko is about to use that kid callously, while Misato shows more of a "human" reaction that takes Shinji's situation and the sheer absurdity of the situation into account. The script repeatedly mentions Ritsuko's flat, unaffected tone.

211: Another important tidbit about our protagonist: He's somewhat obedient by nature... but not in every situation...

213: Just picture it, if you were, you know, a normal teenager, and suddenly you're told to go and pilot a giant robot. Seriously, a giant robot? This is how any normal person would react, really. Keep in might that he doesn't know that thing's thought-controlled, they may have been expecting him to manage some complex buttons and levers and stuff.

214: "Even Rei..." implies that Asuka took longer, even if she eventually reached a higher synch rate.
Rei might've been faster because she's part angelic in nature, while she never got past a certain level because that's not her mother in there/she doesn't have one.

215: The fact that Shinji's not in this shot may be intended to emphasize how they're just talking above his head of things he hardly understand, leaving him to his inner deliberations...

218: Ah, there it is. That core of pent-up anger. It's all going too fast for him, he's all confused and just plain lost in many ways and he doesn't understand half of what's going on, and it's all just getting ridiculous, so amidts all that stress, he just cracks and in his helplessness, goes and asks the question he really wanted to ask.

While Shinji was frequently remarking that he shouldn't have come/should have expected this, that was his reason speaking, thinking of what he should do. He was trying his hardest to shield himself from the inevitable result and to avoid having expectations as a protection mechanism to not be disappointed... But the thing is, he couldn't stop these expectations from building up, he's an emotional person at heart, not a rational one. That's why he even came all the way, because he was hoping for Gendo to aknowledge him, and now he's disapointed and burning with the anger of years. Of course, it would be the responsible thing to get in there and pilot that thing because there's so much at stake, but these big numbers are just numbers to him right now.
The biggest difference between the Ikari's is really their temperament, Shinji's more of an emotional, artistiyc type, while Gendo's the rational, calculating type.
They're talking past each other, really.
Gendo is talking about the impending apocalyse/giving orders to an underling, while Shinji is talking about their screwed up relationship and feel understandably stepped on when all he hears is "Get into the mecha", like that's all there is and nothing changed.

219: Gendo is trying to just give orders as a superior and avoid the father-son channel/actual interaction, while Shinji currently doesn't want to hear about anything but that right now, least of all big surreal things like monster attacks.


221: Now it's all spilling out, isn't it? "You didn't want me!" Ugly, raw emotions there.

223: I think that's the only way in which Gendo is currently capable of denying that accusation, but with Shinji viewing this through the "Am I just a tool?" lense (as the majority of people who barely know Gendo would), this was bound to backfire. I think Gendo's really just as helpless as Shinji there, he's trying to establish an alliance of sorts, but there are places where he just won't go/a distance he's insisting on keeping.
He's saying "Be my co-conspirator" at best, but all Shinji is receptive for at the moment is "Be my son".
Note that Gendo's answer is not a lie, but a simplified truth.

224: An understandable sentiment, really. Put yourself in his shoes. He barely had any time to grasp what's going on or how big the danger is, he remedies his decision once he sees a more tangible indicatpr that there will be *consequences* if he doesn't pilot that thing, The fact that he just doesn't wanna hear about robots or anything else that doesn't involve a familial reconcilliation right now certainly features in, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily one or the other, more like a mix of everything with some general confusion thrown in for good measure.


225: The German dub rendered this as "I'll explain if you want to." Is that a mistranslation, or just the grammatically single/ambigous nature of the line?

235: And I was *convinced* that this Rainbow was a Rebuild-specific addition...

240: Pressed into a situation he can't handle, he seeks comfort with the person who appeared to be the closest thing to being on his side...

241: But she is saying the same thing as everyone else.

242: "I didn't come for this" Is the telling part here. He didn't come for any mecha fighting, he wanted a family reunion, despite all his talk of "Why am I even here?" and "I should have known!" Used to being disappointed, Shinji didn’t *want* to have any hope here and expected rejection to begin with, more as a defense mechanism than out of bias, but what's really telling about who this character here is, is how he's still obviously dissapointed, no matter how much he tried to keep his expectations down.

243: Misato leans in like someone giving personal advice would, abandoning any professional distance, clearly influenced by the connections to her own past.
In some scenes with her and Shinji, it's almost like Misato giving her younger self which she holds a certain disdain for and must look even more foolish to her now that she's at least a bit more of an adult, and so Shinji ends up on the recieving end of that anger - But on the other hand, sometimes Shinji could actually use a few more direct words that don't pamper him, so it's always a fine line for Misato to walk and much potential for her to doubt herself either way.

244: Interesting that one might be tempted to think that this is the point where that one Phrase got stuck into Shinji's head, but episode 16 later shows us that the line "You mustn't run away" was ingrained into his thinking much earlier.
Also, I wouldn't say that it "never did him any good" - by episode 12, he certainly confided in her and asked her for guidance, but then, shit happened, more shit than their bond could withstand.

245: The way he says "I know!" here might suggest that this isn't the first time he's hearing anyone bombard him with "Just be optimistic!"-phrases - perhaps his old Sensei tried. But without him getting the real mechanics of the meaning behind them, they're just that... silly phrases.
Also, I always found that shot where we briefly see half his face obscured by his shoulder, but can pretty much infer the rest of his expression by the look of his eyes quite fascinating - He's still got such an intense expression, even though he isn't really looking at anyone...


246: ...in other words, no longer expecting him to be any help - returning to a distanced panorama shot certainly creates that feeling of a "finished situation".

247: Now that you say it... The way the glasses immediately shift back to opaque-shiny-mode do suggest that this was a rare glimpse behind his facade, but this sure isn't something you'd notice on the first viewing, with the canals your perception will already having sent into at this point.
That said, I don't think Gendo's regrets here go into the direction of "I did this." (even if they obviously should), that would require him to have a more differentiated view of the whole situation than he displayed in EoE - It's probably closer to, "I knew he wouldn't want to have anything do do with me, since all I can do is upset him."

248: I don't think that this was an attempt to manipulate Shinji - He had simply exhausted all other options, and had to avert an angel-based-TI by all means necessecary, since that would mean the end of the world (and while Gendo is planning something similar, he views his plan as the only means of survival), so he moved over to the last remaining option - The thing about Gendo is, it's not that he doesn't care about Shinji and Rei, it's that caring about them won't stop him from using them if he absolutely has to - an abnormal disconnect, you might say. Or the way of thinking that is necessary to lead a huge organization and consider the big picture first.
Either way, he went as far as involving Shinji (whom he initially seems to have wanted to keep far away from all this) to avoid sending Rei out, which could be seen as an indicator of just how important she is to him. Not any less than his flesh-and-blood child.
Which, of course, also pertains to that particular plot thread of Shinji feeling like Rei somehow took his rightful place/ that Gendo "likes her more than him", though he eventually (ep 24) reaches the conclusion that Gendo's just using her. The truth is probably a lot more complicated than those two extremes, as stuff pertaining to alleged parental favoritism often is, even if it rarely involves one of the children being a key piece in a huge, apocalyptic masterplan.

As for the manipulation bit... sure, ultimately, his plan involves manipulating the fates of the EVA pilots, and Shinji happens to be one of these, but most of the time, we're talking abour rather indirect manipulation here - there were many occassions where just telling Shinji what he wants to hear would have greatly resolved a situation - Take, again, episode 4, where Gendo let the only available pilot waltz out without doing a thing (as Ritsuko lampshades) On first glance, it may look like he just doesn't give a fuck, but that's a child's way of thinking, really, probably how Shinji would see it and DID see the fact that Gendo didn't show up, but Gendo has Angels to worry about. His thoughts over the whole incident where probably not that different from Misato's (who was partially hoping he wouldn't return, knowing that the job would destroy him)...
Remember that scene in EoE where he completely "defused" Ritsuko, reducing her to tears with a single sentence, exerting complete control over her even after she'd resolved to blow him to hell - We never see him do anything comparable to Shinji, even when it would benefit his shemes ; Shinji would do anything short of killing a person to please Gendo, he'd be a very easy target for any halfway-decent brainwashing...
You also have to consider the way Gendo views Shinji - to a certain degree, he feels helpless before the kid, there's an uncertainty of what to do or say to produce the results he wants - more uncertainty than Gendo is comfortable with.

Oh, and this is also the introduction of the usual sentimental guy /unscrupulous guy-dynamic between Gendo and Fuyutsuki. While this initially looks like Fuyutsuki's a lot more concerned with poor Rei's wellbeing than Gendo is, this dynamic interestingly reverses in a couple of Rei-related conversations, like here and here.

249: That's very much just how Gendo normally talks, though. I'm pretty sure the writers intended this as a further "Ouch!" moment, but wether its deliberate on Gendo's part is another story...
So, enter Rei, the Angel of Hope, hope being one of the many things that Shinji encountered when he agreed to become EVA 01’s pilot.
To him, that’s just what hope is, some weird, strange thing that lurked at the edges of his consciousness during this first story arc, something that seemed alien and unsettling at first, but turned out to be all sorts of warm and pleasant once he got a closer look at it – that and the source of his strength…
Look at this concise, short dialogue here; It's free of any great affectations, nothing other than the core of the information is conveyed - Neither of them is particularly verbose. But it also suggests that there were previous explanations/ these two have been working together effectively for a while - She instantly knows what she means by "spare" and by "doing it again".

I always thought this was a cool shot because of that detailed reflection, which conveniently allows for Shinji to be on-screen during the exchange.

Q-related comment  SPOILER: Show
But just you wait, 25 episodes and five movies later, we will get to hear a similar line by someone who MUST have known what such words would do to him, no ambiguity possible - especially since she's standing next to him right now.


250: ...aaaand everything just continues without him, he might as well have dissolved into thin air...

251: ...and this panorama shot of them just leaving that insignificant Dot isn't helping. As for EVA 01's eye lights, occam's razor says that it's just part of whatever rebooting/reconfigurating sequence Ritsuko just had them do.

252: So yeah, ouch. There's something quite deeply-rooted going on here... And what did I say? Welcome back, usual shot of poor unfortunate Mini!Shinji. What we see here is a result the conflicted feelings he has for his old man - on the one hand, he wanted to spite him ("Will you notice I exist if I screw over your giant robot deployment?"), on the other, Gendo calling him "unusable" just now most likely struck a nerve... That, and he's used to feeling powerless before this man, so on some subconcious level, (which is, as I'd like to stress, different from a purposeful calculation there) he probably wanted to see how far he could take it, to make the fabric screech as he tears at it, so to speak. Kids do similar things alll the time when they feel they get too little attention, they usually prefer negative attention to no attention at all.

Would it ever have been enough? It depends on where he draws the line, and as he is right now, he wouldn't draw it at all, as the uncertainty would never completely dissapear - Also, while he does want confirmation from it, he is, at the same time, suffering from that very pressure, on a more concious level, because - He actually has no idea of how to navigate a giant robot. Remember, so far, no one has bothered to tell him that EVAs are thought-controlled.
So simple pressure wouldn't have done the trick, but something else would have - Ultimately, all he wanted was just wanted Gendo to say "Pretty please.".

253: ZOMFG, IT'S TEH Rei! And note how the revelation of her (not entirely unfamiliar) face is "held back" for a few shots, with us only seeing the the rest of her - at the same time, these roundabout shots allow for an emphasis of her unfortunate state.

254: They most likely dressed her just in case, after all, it would be pretty embarassing if Third Impact happened while they were getting her into her outfit or wheeling her around on some corridor - given what was at stake, they had to get her ready regardless of how small the chance of actually using her was.

257: They're just moving her past him, like he isn't even there... but at this point, his mind is already elsewhere, any thoughts of that nature are already completely subsumed by thoughts of, "That poor girl!" and probably some ancient instinct to just help/protect her that he didn't know he had. That this is the first impression/ initial thought/situation they encountered each other in did of course lay the foundation for the direction their relationship eventually went ento, ie, he got quite protective of her once they got to know each other better.
After all, any mayor character establishing moment for Shinji would be incomplete without a display of his kindness and his nobler traits; So far, he's only heard vague talks of danger, but no concrete statements of just what is at stake, none of it ever has quite entered his monkeyphere yet. (an important concept to keep in mind with him) He often gets shit for alledgedly being a selfish asshole who puts his personal whining over the fate of the world, but one important thing that needs to be understood about Shinji is that he does not make that comparision at any point, this being the actual problem, but quite an usual one - He's a teenager, the part of the population that is usually found rebelling to any possible shit, thinking the solution is laughably easy and that all the people before them were just stupid - As far as brooding, "world-weary" teenagers go (just use google!) Shinji's one of the more justified and ultimately agreeable specimens.
And whenever he becomes aware of the exact nature of the stakes/immediate consequences, he usually wastes little time in rushing back to where he should be - Every. single. time.
What we witness here with this whole Rei situation is the first interation of a pattern that will repeat itself a lot - which, in itself, may be frustrating to observe, but is ultimately true to the search of many real people -untill we reach the finale where he comes to accept the absurd, circular nature of his existence (Ep 26': "I'll probably continue to ask myself these questions, and I'll probably always reach the same conclusions...")
Sure, he saw the city being attacked before, but... city being attacked by monsters! What kind of surreal situation is that? He and fighting that? Really? It's enough for him to apply at least a partially-reason based rationale to that: That he hasn't piloted a giant mecha ever in his life and thus woundn't make a difference to the situation - and, in fact, all he does is fall flat on his face, he really couldn't do shit.
When he ultimately got into that mecha, it wasn't because he thought he could win, it was because he had to win, because he couldn't bear the alternative. He did not expect to win this/do anything other but march to his doom for a single second - which, I think, made that which he is about to do now take a lot more guts than greater feats by standard shonen protagonists who never doubt for a second that they will succeed.

258: I'll take option C. The way she's apathetically staring upwards should just intensify any present feelings of worry...

262: Shinji certainly does come to admire that quality of hers. Also, OUCH.

263: Note the adverb here: "helplessly". - He certainly can't bear the sight at all, but it hasn't quite occured to him what exactly he - and only he - can do to finish this.

264: Double rainbow all the way across the sky! So intense!

266: Aside from the obvious "ZOMG, Christian Crosses!" part, the inexplicable lovecraftian nature of this shit also lies in the fact that light normally doesn't go sideways, and few explosions ever do 90-degre-turns. It might be a Lorentz-Force (hoho!) related effect, you know, the magnetic fields go sideways from the electric current generating them?

275: Interesting shot - maybe just Anno's way to include as many hands at a time? Or the parallelisms between the hands serves a higher implication...?

277: He's the only one who actually remained standing, through sheer force of will, presumably. Or because it would destroy the air of menace that he posesses (at least in Shinji's eyes, that is)

278: The way this breaks apart around his face is just all sorts of epic.

279: And another quick exchange of opposite perspective shots - His arms even part in a similar way to that ill-fated lamp.

280: These hanging cables are just a nice touch here - then again, I'm crazy for any sort of classic "Mad-Science-Aesthetics".

281: A cool way to lead over to her line/scene, to show her from the perspective of the last shot's focus (The hand - and she looks so tiny next to it!) and then zoom in.

282: Strangely enough, as much as the show and it dialogues, aesthetics etc play up the horror factor of Berserking EVAs like they're the most primal, monstrous thing ever, like, several magnitudes scarier than the Angels they're supposed to fight (tellingly, out-of-control-EVAs are one of the few things that actually frighten the usually cold and in-control Dr. Akagi) they never actually do that much damage, and usually even end up solving the cast's problems for them more often than not - Even the writers must have noticed this, as the rebuild movies eventually go out of their way to remind us all exactly WHY there are restraints on those monsters, namely, that they're second-rate copies of things that do impacts.

283: Of course, the person who would go on to become the best this screwed-up cast has to offer in terms of maternal figures instinctively knows what just happened...
Still, I thought it was a wise decision to leave this entire scene out of 1.11, it was far too early and took away from the schock factor of the EVA moving by itself during the actual battle/made that predictable.

286: ...Look at this - He just instantly runs to the poor injured girl without bothering with anything else, this whole chaotic situation be damned - If he sees a person in pain, spread all over the ground, there's only one possible course of action for him, he doesn't even need a particular reason for that, even if it's a complete stranger - Shinji may be very far from being perfect, but damnit, at the bottom of it all, he ultimately is a nice guy.
Rei in particular bringts that side of him out...
(BTW, this is why he got a lot closer to earning a special place in TEH Rei's place than any of you wanton mecha-oglers. )

287: Again,how many people would just take a complete stranger into their arms? These days, when any sort of accident happens or the like, there will be a circle of gawking people long before anyone bothers with phoning an ambulance, never mind getting their hands dirty and actually helping.

He's a nobler person than I am - I have vivid memories of an incident where not even a stranger, but my own mom got an ugly cut on her arm, and she had to YELL AT ME to go get the goddamn phone - and dial the number herself because my panicked little fingers couldn't hit the right keys. Thankfully, she was never very sensitive to physical pain, which probably saved her life and spared the four of us from getting stuck with one ridiculously useless single father, but no thanks to me for that... In hindsight, it was a pretty humbling experience.

298: With the way he looks to the EVA and then back to Rei, you can pretty much tell exactly what he's thinking, like he's considering/ realizing exactly what his two options right now are, with a dash of "They're not actually gonna stuff her in there, are they?"

290: Pretty straighforward, classic "blood on hands" symbolism - In oother words, the realization of just how bad her state is and that he will be partially responsible for what happens to her if he doesn't go in her place... Ah, just that bright-red color and how it contrasts with all of these lighter, understated colors in the rest of that images...

291: This shot and the way it portrays this sort of "transformation" here always struck me as particularly genius - We see so little, and yet, we see all we need to see.

292: And here, for good measure, is a panorama shot of the iconic pose with Rei-in-Shinji's-Arms, last but not least immortalized by a certain artwork of Sadamoto's that anyone

301: Yes, Shinji, you're about to be confronted with something else no one chose to warn you about... And, ah, look, they've outfitted him with an interface headset - They could never quite decide wether Shinji's Interface headset (and the upper half of his plugsuit) are completely white, or just a very light blue. That said, this particular headset may be one of Rei's spare ones since Shinji only just arrived...

302: Enter NGE's universal plot liquid, good old LCL! While there have been numerous comparisions to all sorts of orangey beverages, it's probably meant to look like blood plasma (the translucent liquid component of blood that remains after filtering out the cells - there is the occassional mention of the LCL being filtered, too) which also has an orange/dark yellow color.
That said, LCL also occassionally serves as a symbolic stand-in for amniotic fluid.

305: Not to mention that any mammal worth its salt will have a very strong instinctive drive not to let any liquid stuff enter their airways.

307: ...Poor thing. This is already starting great.... And this is one of the less discomfort inducing things he'll have to endure over the course of this show...

310: This might be something related to the weird patters you can occassionally see when your optical nerves or corresponding brain areas are activated in an improper manner (which would happen here because the startup/vonnection is still incomplete) - like those weird colors you see when you apply pressure to your eyes, or the weird zigzagged patters ("Aura") that occassionally precede migraines.

311: Ah, how sad/ironic it is to see that there actually was a time where he was capable of producing a slight "wow!" reaction in EVA-related contexts - after the following incident, he won't be able to percieve them as anything other than deeply terrifying...

312: ...which is apparently quite a lot. At least, four times more than the minimum needed to activate the EVA at all. An interisting tidbit is how these graphs always show three components alighning with each other (here in blue, red and pink, respectively - It's more obvious on Rebuild's 3D graphs) - presumably, the pilot, the EVA itself and the soul in the core, even if most of the technies probably don't know that last detail/were most likely told something else.

313: Yup, judging by their reactions, 41.3 is a big deal. He's a natural! Another Rookie Red Ranger... But this is something way more sinister than your classic shonen beginner's luck - not to mention that it will ruin his life.

316: ...Aaaand more technology porn!

317: Remember, kids, paying attention brings rewards - That thingy they've been standing around on is called an "umbilical bridge."

324: Note the random worker looking up at the passing Evangelion, presumably placing all their hope on it - nice detail.

325: So far, he still seems determined enough, but agreeing to sit inside that thing and letting them shoot you to the surface and actually fighting a giant monster are two very different things, and Shinji knows it...

328: I always thought these many hatches opening came with a nice illusion of perspective/3D, like you can really look into the dephts of that tunnel, and the uncertain darkness that lies beyond it...

329: This alludes to the multitude of various tunnels in and around the city which we see them use over the course of the show.

332: Another line to hammer home the hopelesness of the situation, angel-related or beyond that - Gendo drops those on a regular basis, presumably because he believes it to be a lot more hopeless than it actually is. That's very much the reason/justification behind anything Gendo ever does - He's genuinely convinced that his plan is the only way/form in which humanity can continue existing.

333: Fuyutsuki is, of course, concerned about a lot more than defeating that particular Angel - They're about to set off a huge chain reaction....

334: ...Says more than a thousand words and immediately made half the audience suspect something fishy about his actions... Very telling important character establishing moment here.
Not to mention that this whole shot - the faint poison-like smile hidden beneath his hands, those fingers - his hands seems big enough, but his fingers still retain thant long, flexible quality - and the details on his gloves - is also immensely hot.

335: The constant "Hasshin~!" could almost be her catchphrase.

337: The armor is probably built to withstand this...

338:... or most of it, since poor Shinji doesn't seem completely unaffected... At least this part, he seems to have eventually gotten used to... On the plus side, you got to experience the closent thing to being shot up in a rocket...

341/342: Sachiek seems to sense/await the arrival of something capable of generating a projectable AT-Field. The way he peeks around the corner practically says, "Hm? What's this?"

345: Even if they're obviously bending the laws of physics here, it is sweet how they remembered to at least aknowledge the existence of inertia and the like.

348: It's a lot harder to be brave when the proximity to the monster exeeds the distance to the pretty girls, given that he still has zero experience with fighting giant monsters, or fighting, at all, and unlikely to be all too optimistic about it.
He's coming to terms with the fact that he practically agreed to march into the slaughterhouse...
And if he fails, no one's coming....

349: And to make it even creepier, visual evidence that the resident giant monster has indeed noticed him, and will be coming to get his ass...

351: Another affirmation that the situation is indeed serious - but hey, at least someone's concerned whether he lives or dies...


END: Here comes the cliffhanger - in fact, a double cliffhanger, or did you really believe the beginning of the next episode would show you the conclusion of the battle?






[/spoiler]

Uh... sorry.
I'm really sorry that it took me so long.... Even though I'm kinda surprised that you didn't start with ep 2 before I could finish this.


Oh, and just because you'll probably read this anyway/ more likely than if I just edit that monster post that's still the last in the thread... I'll just put my reply to you concerning cut 123 of episode 5 right here:

Yeah, but then Armisael says that it's comming from Rei herself and then she starts crying...

(I would agree that maybe Armisael was a bit in denial there and it wasn't only Rei who was feeling alone... Or maybe that's meant off to come as alien and show that the Angels who don't exist as multiple entities don't have a concept of loneliness, I can't really tell... then again, there's the Angel tower/a possible attempt to resurrect the others using Unit 00's adam-based flesh, which speaks for the former theory. If you view it that way, the battle gets something of a tragic quality, two similar entities being forced to destroy each other. A bit like Shinji and Kaworu, actually.
Even Mari vs. Tunnel Angel could be said to have a similar dynamic going on.
It speaks for Rei that she's able to show empathy to a being that was trying to devour her (for a good reason), but more on Armisael once we get to ep 23...)

---

So... *sheepish look* ...Can we do episode 2 now? I’ll hurry TF up this time, I promise!
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Postby ShockTrance » Sat Sep 14, 2013 1:00 pm

Scene 2
046 - Note that the wristwatch that Shinji was wearing on his left wrist in 021 ~ 029 is now missing.

Scene 3
077 - It's interesting how the blast from the N² mine had enough force to sweep away Misato's car from a fairly good distance in this shot, but, when we later see in Episode 3 what presumably is the epicenter of the same explosion, the surrounding forest and nearby power lines are entirely intact.

Scene 4
158 - Here, Nerv is written in mixed case. In this same scene in Rebuild 1.11, however, it's written as NERV, only adding further confusion to the capitalization issue. The Nerv logo is also added to the top right corner, which I thought was a nice touch.

164 - Considering how often some of these ceiling buildings are dislodged during Angel attacks, the entire system seems to be more expensive and troublesome than it's worth.

Scene 7
267 - Yes, the buildings of Tokyo-3 are MUCH safer dangling from the ceiling of the Geofront.

Scene 8
302 - Before he entered, you'd think that, out of everything else, they'd mention that the Entry Plug was going to be filled with LCL.

305 - Would it be possible to speak if your lungs were full of a liquid instead of air? I seem to recall reading somewhere that it wouldn't be, but I'm not 100% sure.

316 - If you think about it, all of the locks and restraints also hint at Eva-01's true nature. Were she merely a robot, why would they need to lock her up this thoroughly? Wouldn't unplugging her and discharging her internal batteries suffice?

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Postby LegionWrex » Sat Sep 14, 2013 10:29 pm

Scene 1
031 - Shinji looks more confused then anything. Nothing like how I would react. I would run away as quickly as possible.

Scene 2
043 - I don't know why Shinji is surprised. It isn't the first time a giant evil monster has attacked Tokyo.

052 - The fighter pilots should have realized at this point that the missiles do little to nothing to Sachiel. But this is probably foreshadowing the government's negligence in realizing that conventional weapons are useless (this comes up later on at several points in the series).

062 - Oh look, a giant missile. I hope it does something to the evil monster. *sarcasm*

064 - One of the coolest shots in the entire series by far. The way Sachiel just stands there and is like "Meh, I've seen worse" and hold his arm out like a boss is awesome.

068 - Thank you Gendo for stating the blatantly obvious.

Scene 3
097 - The stupidity of the military guys in this episode is unparallelled to anything else in the series. I mean, they keep ignoring the obvious signs that their weapons aren't working and waste all of their firepower on it. I've seen more competent rocks then these guys.

100 - This proves that duck tape can fix anything and everything.

110 - Shinji is not amused...

Scene 4
152 - Same here. Though now that I look back on it, I have no idea why I thought it was part of the flashback, as they have different hues and color tones.

Scene 5
EYECATCH B - The only series that I can think of that had a pilot episode just as good as this one is Fullmetal Alchemist. Both have the same things that make a great pilot: fantastic character setup, a good sense of pacing and a great intro to their respective universes.

180 - It's that type of reaction you get when somebody sees their crush. Could Misato...? Nah, that can't be. Besides, Episode 8 basically answers the question for me. And answer is, well, no.

Scene 6
195 - Once again, the blatantly obvious has been said.

202 - This shot and line perfectly explain why Gendo is one of my favourite characters in the series.

204 - I actually like all the security camera shots in the background. It really gives a sense of urgency to the situation.

218 - This dialogue exchange between Shinji and Gendo (218 to 228) is one of my favourite dialogue exchanges in the entire series. It really sums up their relationship clearly and quickly.

228 - The best line in the episode, hands down.

236 - Ah yes, the beginning of the religious symbolism. So excited *sarcasm*.

240 - At least it's better then looking purple.

Scene 7
252 - Rei I is one of my favourite tracks in the whole series. It's so calming and beautiful, yet mysterious, kinda like Rei.

258 - Rei still manages to be friggin adorable in this scene, despite being, as Xana said, the Goddess of Bandages.

278 - And Gendo is just like "Meh. Saw this last Saturday when Godzilla attacked."

280 - I'm curious as to why this scene was omitted from 1.11. It's a good representation of Unit 01's connection to Shinji.

288 - Poor Rei. I feel so bad for her throughout this entire scene. Seeing her in pain... makes me cringe.

Scene 8

303 - Shinji's reaction here is exactly I would do as well. Especially after finding out what LCL actually *shivers*

336 - Ah, A Step Forward Into Terror. My fave track from the first soundtrack.

Preview (15-second version)
04 - Misato talking about Misato. Seems legit.
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Postby UrsusArctos » Sat Aug 09, 2014 9:48 pm

006: If you take a close look, you can see the electrical overhead lines for a submerged railroad track running past the cliff. For all the military nerds and Kensuke fans watching this, those are Japanese Type 74 tanks. The military always seemed to use tactics straight out of Hollywood movies in the show - the tanks are densely packed on a narrow road, and if Sachiel wrecks two ends of the column the entire lot can be trapped and destroyed.

031: Alarmed? He doesn't believe what he's seeing in the first place!

158: Take a look at "Nerv". For the first and only time in the series, that word is not in ALLCAPS.

180: It actually looks strangely Sailor Moon-ish...perhaps a tip o' the hat to Misato's VA? ;;)
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Postby Sailor Star Dust » Sat Aug 09, 2014 11:59 pm

I couldn't think of anything to contribute for Episode 1 for some time (think I did for Episode 5 and 6, here and there) so here ya go. If any of my comments are too spoiler heavy (try to be vague where I can), feel free to stick them in additional commentary or give some kind of spoiler warning if need be.

022: We still haven't figured out where the Renewal/Platinum line "the existence that gazes upon man" comes from, have we? I personally agree with the Rei 3=Lilith theory (in the sense that Lilith post-EoE is God. Adam/Kaworu too??), existing on a higher plane/everywhere at once). Shinji just happened to catch a glimpse of her at those 2 moments: the beginning and the end of his personal journey in Tokyo-3. But as the symbol of hope for humanity, Lilith's probably silently watching over him and humanity throughout their lives.

050: His "blinking" is super cute!

060: Breaking pencil man has always been an unintentionally(?) hilarious moment for me in both NGE and Eva: 1.0.

090: Could be just because I'm a huge Misato fan, but their "proper" introduction here feels especially heartbreaking once we reach EoE's farewell scene with her. Especially considering this scene is one of the quick flashes when Komm Susser Tod starts up...

103: I really love how this light-hearted scene already prepares the audience for NGE's introspective second half.

View Original PostUrsusArctos wrote:180: It actually looks strangely Sailor Moon-ish...perhaps a tip o' the hat to Misato's VA? ;)


180: Well, Sadamoto did give Misato Usagi-chan's bangs, so maybe Misato's expression is intentional too.

189: I feel for Fuyutsuki here as much as I do Gendo and Shinji. He knows the full story between them (considering Yui), but I guess he feels there's nothing he can do for either father or son?

247: Given what we discover in EoE, Gendo's expression (it's in the eyes) strike me as remorseful too. Could be a mix of disappointment and remorse, of course. No need for either/or.

307: Pretty funny to me, too. Poor kid.

325: I love it too. Very artsy, in my opinion.

Preview 15 second version, 04: I really love what the Renewal/Platinum booklet for Episode 2 has to say about this, it really captures the start of their relationship perfectly: In order to try to close the gap between her and him, Misato acts silly around Shinji and as if in response to that, Shinji acts exaggeratedly surprised by the presence of Pen Pen, the hot spring penguin. Seeing Shinji's true intentions in his actions, Misato says to herself, "Maybe I'm the one who's transparent." It is a most Eva-like depiction concerning "communication." In the preview, the idea of her taking Shinji in is clearly stated as "Misato's arrogance." The sense with which they coolly capture such events is also part of the appeal of Evangelion.
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