Postby Kendrix » Wed Apr 18, 2012 11:18 am
Further annotations:
009: I like how, in defiance of so many shonen manga tropes, this battle is over before Shinji known what hit him, the narrative wasted no time with bringing about a humilating one-shot defeat. This shot also serves to illustrate that, while he's past the constantly-reciting-the-instructions-phase, Shinji is still not quite accostumed to battle. This mini-arc, particulary the experience at the Futagoyama is a mayor turning point in that respect. After this, he does most of his EVA fighting without complaint, (though he still hates it of course) to the point that he's the one mantaining a cool head in episode 8. This, of course, only lasts untill everything goes to hell.
091: Ritsuko adressing her with her rank creates a feeling of distance, emphasizes her disaproval and serves to remind Misato of her duty...
There's always that little subplot with her, about just how far she'll go to defeat these things as her rather creative plans become more and more of a gamble. There was always a certain Ahab-ish undertone there, mostly in the action arc, but there's also her strong suspicions about Kaworu, which are often overlooked since it turned out that there really was something fishy about him, but did go quite far, to the point that she stalks some 15 year old kid with binoculars and shows little empathy about Shinji's grief for him.
Usually, Ritsuko is the one to call her out, following the rationality vs emotion/"gut feeling" contrast that's was built up between them in the beginning. This cumulates in Misato slapping Ritsuko across the face in one of the later episodes.
But even if she does it for selfish, personal reasons, Misato is still really good at what she does/her creative plans are a mayor asset, especially since our dear protagonist isn't good at thinking under stress, and Misato's genuine concern for the Children prevents her from comming off as too captain Ahab-ish, so it's not all black and white.
Still, it might have been interesting to have an episode where one of her plans fails and gets someone seriously hurt, leaving her to question her usual excuses of "It's the only way and no one has a better plan."
Of the mayor failures they have, none were really her fault. The thing in episode 16 when they almost lose Shinji get somewhat played this way, with Ritsuko telling her that she was responsible for the operation and all it's consequences, but since it wasn't the result of her plans going awry, it didn't really feel like she was being called out, but more like Ritsuko was being a heartless jerk.
122: The picture looks almost like a fingerprint.
134: (first part) "a little monotone", hm? Helps to highlight that he's still pretty overwhelmed from the previous battle/hasn't even had the time to "process it", but this is real life and the situation demands that he let himself be stuffed in there right away, trauma or no trauma. Just the blunt cruelty of reality.
135: Swimsuits are worn au-naturel as well and people just wash them. I mean, just how many suits would they use up in all the synch tests etc. if they got a new one each time? I agree that he must've been cut out of the last one, tough.
Also, note the "Nerv" written with lower-case letters.
137: Yeah, so many hot males, so little naked time...
139: There goes the self-depreciation again.
144: (first part) Rei's lack of concer for her own person tends to inspire lots of it in both Shinji and the audience, like they wanna take care of her because she can't. I think most of her fanboys are in it for the fragility appeal. The "fun" in "cold" characters is not the coldness itself, but the defrosting process. We all want to feel needed. We all want to hope that we can earn someone's love and dedication if we "find" them and are nice to them, and we all hope that people will find us... "The hope that people can understand each other", as EoE puts it.
167: Love the lightshow and the unusual camera angels Anno keeps using. Somehow, they're good for conveying tension.
185: As in episode 5, Rei's movements involving clothing look realistic and detailed. The hotness probably commes from the fact that she's diong it naturally withiout puttin on a show/ doing it in a raunchy way.
260: Also, never noticed that the mountain blowing up was already in the original - this is another of those things Rebuild put more of an emphasis on.
321: I always find myself shocked at hoe Rei's skin looks completely white, if not almost gray for the entirity of this scene. Not sure if it's just the shadows or related to how she was almost grilled a few seconds ago. It sure reinforces the fragility factor. Nonetheless, she looks quite beautiful and confused/melancholy in this shot, a bit as if she were still in pain.
322: This is a parallel to the shot in ep 5 where Rei shows up naked and, at first appears blurred because Shinji is looking through Gendo's glasses.
Just like the former indicates that Shinji is now going to form his own opinion of Rei/have his own encounter after the sight of her room and all the hearsay he got, this marks the point where Rei really forms her oponion of Shinji.
(Done. I will immediately tackle ep 5 and then, finally, ep 1)
I wanted to try harvesting the rice
I wanted to hold Tsubame more
I wanted to stay together forever with the boy I like