EVA-303: Chapter 22 ONLINE NOW!

[GrummanCat]

Yeah, definitely I am addicted. I promised I was going to give myself at least a week off, but I have started drawing the first scene of chapter 13 tonight.

I'm hitting the road atlas and becoming familiar with Interstate I-5 and the scenery between Bakersfield and San Francisco. Weird, I know.

[AlphaGamma]

I've had the chance to read the comic for the first time today and i actually found it very enjoyable. The problem i usually have with Fanfics is that they tend to arbitrarily assign feelings, to the characters, that weren't quite there in series, without providing justification for them (see Retake...).
In this case though, i really enjoyed the change in setting and how you are essentially telling your own story, while only taking some cues from the original. It makes the characters feel more genuine and their feelings more "real", even when they are different from the ones that they had in the series. Definitely appreciated Asuka's personality too, a bit of a mix between Soryu's rivalrous nature (mainly in the first part) and Shinkinami's "sweeter" side and more positive feelings for Shinji. Even the way in which she questions herself is a welcome change to the character, making her feel more mature than her NGE counterpart. Same for Shinji, who actually reminded me quite a bit of manga-Shinji.

Anyway just thought i'd give my opinion about it. Keep up the good work.

[GrummanCat]

I've had the chance to read the comic for the first time today and i actually found it very enjoyable. The problem i usually have with Fanfics is that they tend to arbitrarily assign feelings, to the characters, that weren't quite there in series, without providing justification for them (see Retake...).
In this case though, i really enjoyed the change in setting and how you are essentially telling your own story, while only taking some cues from the original. It makes the characters feel more genuine and their feelings more "real", even when they are different from the ones that they had in the series. Definitely appreciated Asuka's personality too, a bit of a mix between Soryu's rivalrous nature (mainly in the first part) and Shinkinami's "sweeter" side and more positive feelings for Shinji. Even the way in which she questions herself is a welcome change to the character, making her feel more mature than her NGE counterpart. Same for Shinji, who actually reminded me quite a bit of manga-Shinji.

Anyway just thought i'd give my opinion about it. Keep up the good work.

I love my readers.

Recently, I had some time to take a gander at the Re-Take thread and I see some good points being brought up over there. I should post a comment or 2. As for this thread and your very kind words, I used to think that putting this comic in an alternate universe was a great risk and hindrance to the popularity of the comic itself. The theory is that Eva fans generally don't care to see the characters suddenly flying airplanes in a realistic modern day era in of all places the Mojave Desert in California. I mean they're looking for Asuka, Shinji and Rei to be piloting giant mechas in the streets of Tokyo-3. And I always suspected I was cutting off my own fan appeal at the knees because of it.

But one of the neat advantages of that I've recently come to appreaciate is that it gives me (or forces me to create) a FRESH START for the characters where everyone is new and no baggage from canon need necessarily apply.

Aging the characters up from 14 to 20 (gosh, they're turning 21 already) was originally done because even I had a hard time accepting a bunch of 14 year olds flying multi-million dollar U.S. Navy jets. But what it also does is justify maturity and changes in the characters' natures. In fact, it's a challenge often to portray them differently as if they were older, yet recognizable as their canon counterparts. From time to time I feel I'm struggling with this particularly with Shinji. But then I remember not only is he 20 years old, but he's been through a deployment on an aircraft carrier and thus exposed to the military environment for half a year at least. I had to remind myself this when I made Shinji so assertive in the final scene of chapter 12. It's hard to imagine anime or manga Shinji taking command of the situation like that.

Adding years to age is useful in turning Asuka's original feelings of competition and rivalry into the seeds of deeper, even romantic feelings towards Shinji. The fact that he is so good a pilot makes him at first something interesting to her, and things develop from there.

Back on page 17, Literary Eagle was commenting she liked my comic because it didn't treat Rei and Kaworu like crap or dispose of them as characters. I remember when I was having my first daydreams of those 2 and how they would develop in this comic and by the end of the comic, (in my mind at least) they are almost worth the whole comic in their own right. Volume 3 is going to be very important for developing their characters.

It has been a lot of fun finding ways to wrap elements of true NGE into this alternate universe both vaguely and in specific scenes as well

SPOILER: Show

who can forget Asuka pleasuring herself in the shower in chapter 5 a la Shinji's hospital scene in EoE?

And then the story can have whole new elements or scenes that act nothing like canon. Other times I'm borrowing from other things I like (Particularly, the NF-104 Chuck Yeager scene in "The Right Stuff" shows up in the final scene of Chapter 11)

Aviation buffs might find it interesting to know that the fate of Unit 04 in this comic was inspired by the fate of the second XB-70 Valkyrie aircraft.

As far as the way Asuka questions herself (I assume you are referring to her debates with her 'other self'? ), that has been one of my favorite borrowed elements of true NGE. Particularly during Asuka's mind rape in episode 22 and Rei's contact by Armisael.

I very much appreciate your words of encouragement and I hope you will continue to check in for quite a while as I think the comic still has another couple of years to go.

[Literary Eagle]

Back on page 17, Literary Eagle was commenting he liked my comic because it didn't treat Rei and Kaworu like crap or dispose of them as characters. I remember when I was having my first daydreams of those 2 and how they would develop in this comic and by the end of the comic, (in my mind at least) they are almost worth the whole comic in their own right. Volume 3 is going to be very important for developing their characters.

Yay, I'm really glad to hear that! Now I'm looking forward to Volume 3 even more! (But just so you know, I'm a she, not a he. ) Please keep up the awesome work!

[GrummanCat]

(But just so you know, I'm a she, not a he. )

Hokay. Insulting my readers. Check. GYAA! Sorry! I overlooked that, but I've fixed the quote!

[AlphaGamma]

It has been a lot of fun finding ways to wrap elements of true NGE into this alternate universe both vaguely and in specific scenes as well

SPOILER: Show

who can forget Asuka pleasuring herself in the shower in chapter 5 a la Shinji's hospital scene in EoE?

Ye, lol. I noticed some quotes/references to Nge. You actually used the right translation for that scene if i'm not mistaken (not the official english one).

SPOILER: Show

Also the "look at me" during the challenge between the two of them and when they look at each other and Asuka turns to the other side. Pretty sure i'm missing others too.

As far as the way Asuka questions herself (I assume you are referring to her debates with her 'other self'? ), that has been one of my favorite borrowed elements of true NGE. Particularly during Asuka's mind rape in episode 22 and Rei's contact by Armisael.

That's definitely part of it. What i meant by more mature is that (unlike in NGE) she isn't "forced" to confront her real self, nor does she run away from it. In episode 22 the mindrape ends with Asuka essentially denying her real self (her loneliness/ her need for other people's help and so on...), leaving her pretty much in the same (if not worse) psychological state as before the mindrape itself. In the webcomic i definitely get the feeling that she's more willing to accept how she is and even to change/grow (the maturity i was talking about).
I was also referring to her "monologues" (internal monologues i guess), they definitely gave me the feeling that, while confused, she's at least trying to better understand herself and to change

SPOILER: Show

(i think the shower scene could be a good example of that).

The best comparison i could draw is probably with Shikinami's monologue in 2.0. She accepts that she's feeling lonely and goes to talk to Shinji to cheer herself up a bit (instead of shutting herself up in a room, or going the "attention-seeking" route).[/quote]

[Literary Eagle]

Hokay. Insulting my readers. Check. GYAA! Sorry! I overlooked that, but I've fixed the quote!

Oh goodness, don't worry about it! I wasn't insulted at all. I know it's difficult to tell who you're talking to on the Internet. No big deal. But thanks for fixing the quote, that's very nice of you! Rock on!

[PanzerEVA]

I've read the entire comic as it is now. Is there supposed to be 18 pages of Chapter 12?

[GrummanCat]

I've read the entire comic as it is now. Is there supposed to be 18 pages of Chapter 12?

Funny you should mention. I am in the process of uploading the rest of Chapter 12 at this very moment over the course of this evening. One page every 5 minutes. I normally like to give the actual download mediafire zips a week head start over the Smackjeeves account.

What I did earlier this week was upload the first scene of Chapter 12 as sort of a teaser before the full onslaught.

[GrummanCat]

There may be a problem over at Smackjeeves because I am no longer a premium member. It they don't upload this evening, I'll renew my premium membership. That might be it. In the meantime, the mediafire links are on page 19 in case you wanna do it that way. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Just to make it easier to newcomers who would like to download Chapter 12, I am reposting the links on this page.


Regular version
http://www.mediafire.com/download/d35oax8bp508b77/EVA_303_Ch._12.zip

SFW version
http://www.mediafire.com/download/am4seuqpt52ajpn/EVA_303_Ch._12_SFW.zip

[PanzerEVA]

You my good sir, make a mean story.

SPOILER: Show

it's good to see Asuka 303 is on the road to recovery.

[GrummanCat]

You my good sir, make a mean story.

SPOILER: Show

it's good to see Asuka 303 is on the road to recovery.

Thank you, Panzer! I'm glad to hear from you!

[PanzerEVA]

Yes, now I am compounded with the fact that 13 is two months away at best. And as with most other humans, I hate waiting! Take it as a good thing though GC, it means I can't wait for the.next chapter!

[GrummanCat]

Yes, now I am compounded with the fact that 13 is two months away at best. And as with most other humans, I hate waiting! Take it as a good thing though GC, it means I can't wait for the.next chapter!

Aaaaaactually, I said 2 months was going to be the norm mostly to cover my a$$ if life got in the way. In spite of being 102 pages long, Chapter 12 was produced in 5 weeks! (I can't keep that pace though).

I am planning to have chapter 13 done by the end of the month. It's only 2 scenes long and should be in the area of 30 pages. The second scene is another big one though.

[Ænimal]

^ oh Grummancat-san, you big tease, you ;)

do you EVER give yourself a break? all these announcements are making me giddier than a girl scout in the geriatric ward

[GrummanCat]

^ oh Grummancat-san, you big tease, you ;)

do you EVER give yourself a break? all these announcements are making me giddier than a girl scout in the geriatric ward

Oh chapter 13 is the final chapter of Volume 2, so I am definitely taking a break for the rest of the year!

Except that I want to squeek out Chapter 14 as well. It's a short 2-scene chapter that belongs neither to Volume 2 or 3. Then Volume 3 gets started probably in December for a January release. I have to keep on the ball lest the winter Olympics do the same thing that the London games did for the comic.

When the 2012 Olympics came out, they completely washed the comic off my mind and I ended up releasing only 2 chapters that whole year!

After the 'London Blitz', I saw the need to make as much comic as possible while I still have the urge.

I still have the urge.

[Monk Ed]

As for this thread and your very kind words, I used to think that putting this comic in an alternate universe was a great risk and hindrance to the popularity of the comic itself. The theory is that Eva fans generally don't care to see the characters suddenly flying airplanes in a realistic modern day era in of all places the Mojave Desert in California. I mean they're looking for Asuka, Shinji and Rei to be piloting giant mechas in the streets of Tokyo-3. And I always suspected I was cutting off my own fan appeal at the knees because of it.

It's a perfectly reasonable concern, and for all anyone knows, you did, because you can't know how popular your thing would have been if you'd gone that other way. I became interested in this webcomic reading about it over the past few pages, and then I saw this paragraph and my first thought was "Hm, maybe I should reconsider".

Not that I'm anything close to a representative fanfic reader. I have to force myself to read fanfics, even ones I like, and I still haven't even finished any of those (except for some one-shots). I don't believe I've ever finished even the second chapter of an Eva fic I've actually liked.

[GrummanCat]

It's a perfectly reasonable concern, and for all anyone knows, you did, because you can't know how popular your thing would have been if you'd gone that other way. I became interested in this webcomic reading about it over the past few pages, and then I saw this paragraph and my first thought was "Hm, maybe I should reconsider".

Well, if you are looking for an Eva fan work far off the path, this would probably do it. However, on one hand, I feel that this being a comic makes it much more accessible to readers than a novelization, it is quite lengthy (Chapter 12 makes it nearly 800 pages!). Additionally, the comic doesn't really get going until the 3rd chapter and the art in chapter 2 is really quite (maybe ROUGH would be a kind word)...

If you give it a read, you have my thanks and let me know if you would prefer SFW.

[Monk Ed]

I'm actually a time traveler from mankind's bright future where sexuality has been so normalized that it's everywhere in media as a matter of course because everyone can finally admit that they all enjoy it and that it's a beautiful and hot thing. So, actually, quite the opposite: the fact that a SFW version even exists actually depresses me just a little bit, because it reminds me of how much further this worldline has to go.

[GrummanCat]

So, actually, quite the opposite: the fact that a SFW version even exists actually depresses me just a little bit, because it reminds me of how much further this worldline has to go.

Well, taking into account the aforementioned handicap to circulating my story, I think it's best to at least provide alternate versions for those who want them. From what I've read many people actually prefer the SFW version of Re-Take.

For my own part, I've tried to handle the adult content of my comic tastefully and realistically. The characters in this comic are making love because the circumstances lead them to that, rather than sex being the primary driving force. It took 5 chapters just for Shinji and Asuka to even get to that. This as opposed to a hentai comic which will probably begin and end with the act itself with little or no plot.