Watched a bit of NGE/Rebuild with Japanese friends

[Zenithfleet]

G'day all,

Spent a couple of weeks in Japan recently (picked up the Renewal EoE DVD at an exorbitant price )... and also had the chance to watch a few episodes of NGE with a few members of the Japanese family I was staying with. Only made it to episode 8, but thought I'd share - some of the reactions made me smile.

(Had a look for a thread to necro, but the ones I found were about Western friends so this didn't quite seem to fit.)

NB: A few Rebuild 1.11 spoilers mixed in (you'll see why in a second)

Started off with my 'honorary cousin' (i.e. relative of the family), who I shall refer to as 'K' to protect the guilty. She'd never seen the show but knew about its existence in a vague way like most other youngish Japanese people I talked to - she's 35 - and she was of course a fan of more mainstream stuff like the all-conquering One Piece (my God but it's everywhere these days...)

She was pretty quiet for the first few episodes, but said it was pretty interesting and "next episode!" after each one. Sachiel stalking out from behind the hill near the start of ep 1 got a "whoa". Toothpick scene in ep 2 got a laugh of course. She wondered aloud a few times why they were called Shito/Angels when they were clearly monsters. Samshel's appearance puzzled her as she was expecting a Sachiel lookalike... "what, you mean this one's an Angel too?"

After Ep 5 things got a bit more talkative. My honorary sister's husband 'Y' wandered in - he's mid-twenties and remembers watching NGE on summer holiday TV long ago, so seeing it again was "natsukashii" (nostalgic). Instead of Episode 6 I suggested we switch to the last half hour of Rebuild 1.11. Sacrilege yes, but I've done this before because RAMIEL PEOPLE RAMIEL. I skipped the few scenes that didn't fit with the series (like the reveal of a certain big white thing in the basement, and the final scene).

Highlights:

(Ramiel appears merrily omming to itself)

Y: Wow, the Angel does look a lot prettier in this version.

(Ramiel goes all geometric on Shinji's arse)

Y: Sugoi! Sugei! SUGEI! (continues in this fashion for some time)

(Things get quiet for a while during all the electrical Yashima setup scenery porn, which is frankly just as dull in Rebuild as it is in the TV show Meanwhile, K starts checking mail on her phone.)

K: Hey, how come Shinji's the only one who can pilot Shogouki?

Y: *gives me an uh-oh-spoilers look and tries to avoid the subject* Er... it's funny, they don't really tell you but somehow you do figure it out in the end...

(Shinji puts on plugsuit with Rei on other side of curtain. Cue annoying totally gratuitous Rebuild-Rei bumshot)

K: There's a lot of lewd stuff in this show, isn't there.

(Rei says goodbye)

K: Ah. She's gonna die.

(Operation Yashima begins, missiles fly, Ramiel zaps 'em, RAMIEL PEOPLE RAMIEL)

Y: This Angel is sugei.

K: Wait, this one's an Angel too?!

Y and me: *exchange glances* Please put your phone away. This is the good bit.

(Shinji shivers and sobs after Ramiel blows up his mountain)

K: Geez, this is all he does

(EVA-00 jumps in front with shield up)

Y: DETTA!! (which I would translate as IT'S [s]GENDO[/s] Ayanami!!... clearly he remembers this bit vividly from back in the day)

(Shinji fires final shot at Ramiel)

Y: This would've been amazing to see in the cinema.

(Rei smiles at Shinji)

Y: Moe. *points at screen* Moe. Moe.

K: Haha, you're so right.

Me: What's moe?

(thus ensues ten minutes of increasingly hopeless attempts to get me to understand, involving much desperate mucking about with electronic dictionaries that haven't kept up with modern slang. This only serves to confuse me further, since the word they come up with is 'budding' which I mishear as 'buddy' and say 'oh, moe just means friendship then?' Cue general despair. Anyway, Y is adamant that Rei smiling is a definite 'moe point'. That's Engrish/Katakana by the way. MOE POINTO.)

(We continue to episode 7. I warn them that it might be a little dull compared to other episodes, but as it turns out everyone gets quite involved. Even the family's mum sits down to watch the last act. There's a lot of subdued talk about Fukushima. On the other hand, Jet Alone's silly walk cycle gets a laugh, as does the giant handle on the back of its head.)

(Final episode for the day is episode 8 - Asuka Strikes!)

K: OMG OMG it's HER!

Me and Y:

K: You know! From TV! With the red hair and the plastic bunny ear dongle things and the voice!

Y: Oh, yeah. Her.

Me: I think I've seen someone dressed like that on a DVD cover--

Y & K: Yep.

(they proceed to educate me about this person - my memory is a bit shaky but I think they meant Saki Inagaki: [url]http://forum.jphip.com/index.php?topic=20695.0[/url] [Note: Web page seems OK but other parts of the site might possibly be NSFW given its name and topic...])

(The madness of Episode 8 continues. Vital plot points are lost in the general distraction of preparing to go out for dinner.)

Y: Asuka's a bit... (the word he uses translates as 'sensitive' but he corrects it to 'unstable')

(EVA-02 finally does its eye-glow thing and pushes open Gaghiel's mouth)

K: Kakkoii!! (Cool!)

(EVA-02 lands nimbly on the flight deck...)

K: Mettcha kakkoii. (Super cool.)

(...and falls in a heap)

K: *laughs*

(_fin)

Me: Gah, why are there only four episodes per disc over here? ...So, what'd you think?

K: Interesting!... but... um... looks like a long series.

Y: Nah, it's short.

Me: Only 26 episodes plus a movie.

K: Really? *looks astonished and slightly hopeful at the prospect of something shorter than One Piece by about ten million episodes*

(Y gives me a lift to the train station. He wants to see all of Rebuild, and I warn him the story changes a fair bit in 2.22. We move on to another unsuccessful attempt to make me understand moe. I spend the next few days randomly asking other people to explain it, with about the same success rate. Later: Log on to Eva Geeks. Find relevant post by Xard. Edumacate myself. Case closed. Sort of.)


...OK, that was all a bit pointless, but I just had to share

[symbv]

(Rei smiles at Shinji)

Y: Moe. *points at screen* Moe. Moe.

K: Haha, you're so right.

Me: What's moe?

(thus ensues ten minutes of increasingly hopeless attempts to get me to understand, involving much desperate mucking about with electronic dictionaries that haven't kept up with modern slang. This only serves to confuse me further, since the word they come up with is 'budding' which I mishear as 'buddy' and say 'oh, moe just means friendship then?' Cue general despair. Anyway, Y is adamant that Rei smiling is a definite 'moe point'. That's Engrish/Katakana by the way. MOE POINTO.)

Rei smiling finally is Moe.

(they proceed to educate me about this person - my memory is a bit shaky but I think they meant Saki Inagaki: [url]http://forum.jphip.com/index.php?topic=20695.0[/url]

Saki Inagaki keeps alive the memory of Asuka on mainstream TV. Her ability to mimic Asuka in various Eva scenes is uncanny. The video in the link above where she performed two scenes while the otaku talento Shokotan was her most famous. The other photos in the link is a reality TV program where she traveled around Kansai region while having to earn the means of livelihood (transport, lodging) etc by herself wearing cosplaying student Asuka at all time. I am sure if ever there is a real life version of Eva, she just might be cast as Asuka if it is determined by popular vote.

We move on to another unsuccessful attempt to make me understand moe. I spend the next few days randomly asking other people to explain it, with about the same success rate. Later: Log on to Eva Geeks. Find relevant post by Xard. Edumacate myself. Case closed. Sort of.)

We had a long discussion about MOE earlier and I have contributed a bit here too
http://forum.evageeks.org/viewtopic.php?p=445507#445507
http://forum.evageeks.org/viewtopic.php?p=445541#445541
http://forum.evageeks.org/viewtopic.php?p=469770#469770

If you still have any question about MOE you could post to that thread "What is MOE? (Noob thread)" and we can continue there.

[Xard]

[url]http://forum.jphip.com/index.php?topic=20695.0[/url]

HOLY CRAP it's a real 3D Asuka

[CJD]

The other photos in the link is a reality TV program where she traveled around Kansai region while having to earn the means of livelihood (transport, lodging) etc by herself wearing cosplaying student Asuka at all time.

Oh god, how that must have went.

[BornIn1142]

HOLY CRAP it's a real 3D Asuka

She's twice Asuka's age, and it shows. She looks good, but hardly like a teenager.

Also, I notice a link to her Japanese Wikipedia article... Um, the Japanese Wikipedia has articles on cosplayers?

[Xard]

She's twice Asuka's age, and it shows. She looks good, but hardly like a teenager.

Looking older than the part is (she is ethnically Japanese too) irrelevant when she captures the spirit of the character so well

[SaVaGe]

Not pointless. Thanks for sharing! It was a good read.

I always enjoy hearing of people's first experience with Evangelion. And I adore watching badass movies with people who haven't seen them yet. I always get a kick out of saying, "Shut up. This part's sick!"

And yes, 1.11 Ramiel is just amazing.

[Alaska Slim]

She's twice Asuka's age, and it shows. She looks good, but hardly like a teenager.

She also doesn't look remotely Caucasian, and that hair, equally, looks fake on her.

Yes, I'm aware there are natural Japanese red heads, that's not what I'm getting at.

Still, she may have been a good pick roughly 8 or more years ago.

[Stryker]

^Yeah, I would have to go with Alaska on this one.

[symbv]

Oh god, how that must have went.

You can find out what became of her journey as Asuka around western Japan here http://tinyurl.com/44gplra 11 volumes of DVD have been released so far. Reviews in Amazon JP have been overwhelmingly positive.

Also, I notice a link to her Japanese Wikipedia article... Um, the Japanese Wikipedia has articles on cosplayers?

She is officially a "TV talento", not cosplayer. She cosplays to perform gigs which is a bit different from the standard cosplayers. Also, the Japanese wiki article starts with "日本のお笑い芸人。その他グラビアやCMモデルとしても活動" Translation: "Comedian in Japan. Also active as gravure and CM model." From the list of TV programs in the wiki, she is still pretty active currently on network TV.

She is the best real life Asuka I have ever seen, and I am talking about Japanese perception of what Asuka would look like (i.e. look more Japanese than a pure Caucasian). And she really knows EVA anime inside out and can perform almost any Asuka scene with aplomb. The comedy gigs she performs is also based heavily on Evangelion. According to the Japanese wiki, she became a fan since before junior high and started to imitate Asuka's voice in junior high. She can also mimic other characters voiced by Miyamura (e.g. Kazuha in Conan the Detective) as well as other characters she loves like Minami Asakura in Touch, Shampoo in Ranma 1/2, Yurika in Nadesico, and Haruhi.

Looking older than the part is (she is ethnically Japanese too) irrelevant when she captures the spirit of the character so well

QFT

[Alaska Slim]

QFT

There's a limit though, even Harry Potter replaced the guy playing flashback-Tom Riddle when it got just too ridiculous (29 for a 16 year old).

And lest we forget, Hideaki Anno liked Emma Watson for the role, and I'd cite even her too old by now, but more to the point, it gives one an idea for how he himself visualizes the character.

[symbv]

^ I think Xard and I both think the limit has not been breached yet. I for one could imagine Asuka or Shinji to be in late teens and there are many examples of actors in 20s playing characters in late teens.

[Alaska Slim]

^ I think Xard and I both think the limit has not been breached yet.

And if she were early to mid twenties, I'd agree with you, but she's someone pushing thirty. That's Dawson's Creek level of absurdity, or to put it another way, by 2015, she'll be two years older than Misato.

I for one could imagine Asuka or Shinji to be in late teens

You would then take the child-incomprehensibility, and turn it completely over to teenage angst. No thanks, Hideaki Anno made them that age for a reason.

[symbv]

And if she were early to mid twenties, I'd agree with you, but she's someone pushing thirty. That's Dawson's Creek level of absurdity, or to put it another way, by 2015, she'll be two years older than Misato.

Late twenties for Asians do not look that different from mid twenties. Besides when she started the Asuka look she was in early to mid twenties (in fact even earlier).

You would then take the child-incomprehensibility, and turn it completely over to teenage angst. No thanks, Hideaki Anno made them that age for a reason.

The show could be looked as well as a teen issue. Asuka and Shinji could have lived in their closed-up worlds for 2-3 years longer before encountering the hell of Eva and would probably still react more or less similarly. In fact it would make just as much sense.

[Alaska Slim]

Late twenties for Asians do not look that different from mid twenties.

You'd still be exchanging "Young girl, trying to act like an adult" for "Women, failing to act her age." Or at best "Women acting like a young girl, whose trying to act like a women..." the end result still wouldn't be jarring in the right ways

The show could be looked as well as a teen issue. Asuka and Shinji could have lived in their closed-up worlds for 2-3 years longer before encountering the hell of Eva and would probably still react more or less similarly. In fact it would make just as much sense.

The Child-soldier angle is lost, Asuka trying to claw her way into the realm of adulthood, is lost, the "child" excuse for their actions and reactions in general, is lost.

It be one thing to have actual 16-17 years old play the part, it be quiet another for near 30-year olds to do the same, and still evoke what I stated above.

[CJD]

Am I the only one who's more turned off by her ethnicity than her age? (From a "Character" perspective of course, I mean no offense, but she doesn't look in anyway caucasian.)

[symbv]

^ Actually Japanese do not really perceive the character as that Caucasian. To them, that look is good enough already.

You'd still be exchanging "Young girl, trying to act like an adult" for "Women, failing to act her age." Or at best "Women acting like a young girl, whose trying to act like a women..." the end result still wouldn't be jarring in the right ways

That's fine. As Xard said, catching the spirit of the character is what counts.

The Child-soldier angle is lost, Asuka trying to claw her way into the realm of adulthood, is lost, the "child" excuse for their actions and reactions in general, is lost.

Fine for me too. Personally I always think it is better to have the children perhaps 2 years older than they were depicted in the anime.

[Alaska Slim]

That's fine. As Xard said, catching the spirit of the character is what counts.

That they are children is part of who they are, if you don't get what I mean, watch the anime again, and try to perceive Asuka as even just a developing adult, and see how many times you're let down.

Fine for me too. Personally I always think it is better to have the children perhaps 2 years older than they were depicted in the anime.

For people 30 years old, they might still get the teenaged part, they will not convey the child.

[symbv]

That they are children is part of who they are, if you don't get what I mean, watch the anime again, and try to perceive Asuka as even just a developing adult, and see how many times you're let down.

No need to get agitated, man. I watched the anime when it was first aired back in 1995 and have seen it a couple of times since. Besides, I do not see it so odd to have Asuka or Shinji's child mentality staying on into their mid-teen or beyond. I think you are just too obsessed with your idea of "child soldier". Peace.

[Alaska Slim]

No need to get agitated,

? I'm not agitated, just thinking your making the same error I did as recently as just last year, though for different reasons (I hope).

EDIT: Alright, forgive me, after reading ober my statement over a few times, I see how it came off as it did.

What I'm telling you to do though is nothing more than what I did, and by that point, I had seen Eva more than a few times myself. It's something easy to overlook, namely I think due to the sexualization of the characters going on.

I think you are just too obsessed with your idea of "child soldier"

Tell that to Hideaki Anno, and him giving each pilot the title "Children".