What was your first thought after this scene?

[CorporalChaos]

Okay, I was watching Eva for the first time, and I had gotten to Instrumentality. I believe it was episode 25 when we heard this.

Shinji: Don't leave me

Misato: Don't ignore me

Asuka: Don't kill me

I still remember because I burst out laughing when I thouught it. The scene reminded me from the mantra of The Who's Tommy.

See me
Feel me
Touch me
Heal me...

So, what exactly was the first thought through your mind when that happened.

[Mundane]

Reminded me of In the Shadows by The Rasmus.

[PilotIkari]

Throughout the whole of Instrumentality I was reminded of Pink Floyd: The Wall. Especially Rei & Shinji's emotional barriers are very alike to Pink's "Wall" - Blocking everyone out and keeping them in.

[jcmoorehead]

Throughout the whole of Instrumentality I was reminded of Pink Floyd: The Wall. Especially Rei & Shinji's emotional barriers are very alike to Pink's "Wall" - Blocking everyone out and keeping them in.

Yeah I find myself envisioning Eva Scenes whenever I listen to The Wall. I have this image of during the In The Flesh/Run Like Hell/Waiting For The Worms set of Instrumentality turning to hell and Shinji & Asuka taking over the Nerv complex, wearing Black Plugsuits with the crossed hammers on sending the Eva's out on a rampage through Tokyo 3 destroying groups just as Pink wants to in the film. They also share the lines on Run Like Hell.

I think too much.

[zeaven]

See me
Feel me
Touch me
Heal me...

For what it's worth:

Need you
Dream you
Find you
Taste you
Use you
Scar you
Fuck you
Break you...

</OT>

But to answer the original question, I'm not sure. It was at the end of 25, so my brain was still kind of melting, and following it up directly was Shinji saying "What the hell is this?!" Hearing that I was like "wtf". It's way too comical to fit in there. Again, this may only be the translation used in the dub. I am too lazy to check. But that one line prevented me from composing any rational thoughts.

[cat42]

The sub version, if I remember correctly, is a more curious and semi-accepting "What is this?". Spike Spencer came off to me as rather indignant about the whole instrumentality thing, but then again, I kinda feel Spike played Shinji with a bit more confidence than Shinji actually had...

[Evangelionfreak]

i didnt feel anything. not as good as most other scenes

[Karen_Leslie]

Need you
Dream you
Find you
Taste you
Use you
Scar you
Fuck you
Break you...

Yeah that's the connection I would make too, I think I was too out of it to think about NIN at the time, but in retrospect it seems like a really obvious connection to make.

]But to answer the original question, I'm not sure. It was at the end of 25, so my brain was still kind of melting, and following it up directly was Shinji saying "What the hell is this?!" Hearing that I was like "wtf". It's way too comical to fit in there. Again, this may only be the translation used in the dub. I am too lazy to check. But that one line prevented me from composing any rational thoughts.

I have to go out on a limb here and say I LOVED THAT.

I'm not really a dubbie or a subbie (if anything I'm usually inclined to watch both tracks if they're available) but that was one nuance of the Eva dub for that episode that I really liked. It gets across the same question effectively, but mirrors the strong feeling of "WTF?" that the audience is feeling at that moment. And I do think that Shinji is to a certain extent representing the audience in those episodes, so it just seemed appropriate to me.

[zeaven]

but mirrors the strong feeling of "WTF?" that the audience is feeling at that moment

True enough, but at the same time it undercuts the actual messages in 25. It really isn't just psycho-babble, despite what 80% of people say.

[Karen_Leslie]

I think it's more like, the people who were inclined to think it was all psychobabble anyway would interpret it that way. I can go "WTF???" and still realize that there's substance behind what's going on.

There are many times in Eva where they use humor to reinforce a serious point, not undercut it. I don't see how getting some humor out of the fact that instrumentality is confusing to Shinji as well takes away from the point of the episode-- if he understood everything from the beginning, 25 & 26 would be unnessessary.

[Mundane]

I think it's more like, the people who were inclined to think it was all psychobabble anyway would interpret it that way. I can go "WTF???" and still realize that there's substance behind what's going on.

There are many times in Eva where they use humor to reinforce a serious point, not undercut it. I don't see how getting some humor out of the fact that instrumentality is confusing to Shinji as well takes away from the point of the episode-- if he understood everything from the beginning, 25 & 26 would be unnessessary.

The scene at the springs enforced what serious point?

[cat42]

It further demonstrated his at the very least physical attraction to both Misato and Asuka?

I dunno, I'm very tired and trying to think logically.

[Mundane]

Good point, but who wouldn't be physically attracted to them?

[Mr. Tines]

Good point, but who wouldn't be physically attracted to them?

Straight girls and gay guys.

[Mundane]

Touche salesman.

[zeaven]

Also known as "Hey, the characters are now in a hot spring. We need filler between arriving and Misato talking to Asuka about her past. Aaaand... GO!"

(zany hijinks ensue)

[Karen_Leslie]

The scene at the springs enforced what serious point?

I was thinking about the kissing scene in episode 15, where it's just sorta funny that Asuka won't let Shinji breathe while he kisses her so he slowly turns blue, but once you're done chuckling over it, there's a message there.

About the hot springs scene, I don't see any real "deep" meaning there, I do think the part where Shinji throws the body lotion and then hits Asuka unintentionally could serve as a nice mini-metaphor for their relationship; she always puts him into a position where he's flying blind, and then blames him when he screws up. That just occurred to me now though, I think the only thing I was thinking when I originally saw that scene was "OMG THEY FED-EXED PEN-PEN!"

I was kind of on Pen-Pen watch my first time through the series I think...

[Hexon.Arq]

I was merely truing to grasp what the hell wwasd going on. I don't think I was making any comparisons.

[Sailor Star Dust]

Yes, I write a lot.

The only thing I remember thinking is once I watched EoE and Shinji starts yelling at that in Asuka in his mind/Instrumenality was: Holy Shit, it IS concurrent! The fact Asuka says "Don't kill me!" in 25 and Shinji strangles her in 26'...Think about it. :) (Though it could always be a refrence to her "mama" as well.)

While acutally watching that and 26 however, I remember feeling extermely confused (the typical WTF is going on here response) but at the same time, I'm probably one of the 10 other people in the world who greatly enjoyed those episodes and the (TV) ending.

As I haven't watched the dub of that or the movies except for a few selected scenes, I can't really comment. The only thing I can say is Ogata Megumi has that screaming down. ;

Sudden thought: If Anno and GAINAX got death threats (people are fucking stupid, it's just a show and it's not MEANT to mean only one thing! ) for the TV ending, wonder if anything crazy like that would happen for the new 4 movies project. (And, no, I don't think EoE or Death & Rebirth was made as "revenge". Seems like it was somewhat planned in advance, what with a white naked Rei in 23', Eva Unit 01 with wings in the OP, Misato and Ritsuko's death in 25, the Next Episode Preview for "Air" after 24' (from the tv-released version of End of Eva or whatever the hell it's acutal name is.) etc...)

About episodes 25 and 26, Shinji's Rant at the end is always fun. XD and yes, Karen_Leslie, good metaphor.
I personally loved the humor of the show, and I guess there are a few times it's meant to "foreshadow" things in a way.
I'm not smart enough to come up with any of the connections I mention, but one thing I read somewhere was the somewhat-funny scene of Misato letting Ritsuko know Shinji would move in with her ("It's not like I'm gonna "put the moves" on a kid!") foreshadows that "irony bomb" in episode 23/23'. Also, according to something else I read, the humor was meant to be taken in an uncomfortable sense, but that aspect I've never really seen. I just take the humor as what it is: meant to be fucking funny.

And just in general (this part I did come up with on my own, yay), any sexual or otherwise awkwardness, humorus or not, between Shinji and the three females seems to show the fact that he's attracted to each of them to some degree but doesn't know what to do about that. From my understanding: Rei due to her mysteriousness, Misato due to the motherly/big sister attitude and semi-shoutacon feelings she seems to feel towards him (on occasion), and Asuka due to her sexually teasing him. Feel free to contribute and add on to what I wrote, just don't make any major agurements with me yet as I'm still trying to figure out just what the hell I'm trying to say. ;

[Mr. Tines]

The fact Asuka says "Don't kill me!" in 25 and Shinji strangles her in 26'...Think about it. :) (Though it could always be a refrence to her "mama" as well.)

I'm pretty certain that was referring to

Kyoko : Please, come to heaven with me.

Little Asuka : Mama, Mama, Please, don't kill me!

Note that just before the okey-chokey in the kitchen, Shinji takes all three of those lines;

Shinji (weakly - getting to his feet):

Help me... Somebody... Somebody help me...
Help me... Help me... Me... Help ME!!
(throws the table aside)
Don't leave me alone! Don't abandon me! Don't kill me!