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centrally-unplanned · 1 year

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Comic Box 1997 End of Evangelion Issue - Archive Scan

Comic Box was a magazine in Japan launched in, from what I can gather, 1982. It was a bit of an ‘alt” magazine - it has an imprint, Comic Box Jr, which focused on doujinshi for example - and would cover anything anime-adjacent, including western films. The October 1997 release of the magazine was dedicated to the release of the End of Evangelion film, and to answering the question “what was the phenomenon called Evangelion?”. Towards that end it features fan submissions, art, comics, essays, all talking about what Eva meant to them. Some are serious, some are fully comedic, way way more than I expected are erotic, and overall it is a time capsule of how the anime community was thinking about Evangelion when EoE came out. The magazine dissolved in 1998 from what I can tell, so this was one of its last releases - you can still see its absolutely vintage website here! Complete with dashing chibi cat gif.

I discovered this magazine through japanese anime/manga archivist-in-residence ehoba on twitter, who provided photos and rough summaries of some of the pages. They are just camera photos of an open magazine though, not scans, and not at all complete. I hunted around for a while to find a scanned version, messaged ehoba and a few others, posted on forums like Evageeks, and drew total blanks. I couldn’t find any listings of it online, so I set the quest aside...until I was placing another order for some artbooks for import and decide to check Yahoo Auctions Japan and lo and behold, there is was! It arrived this week.

So that image above is not one pulled from the internet - I have scanned the entire Evangelion segment of Comic Box - October 1997 issue. I am a neophyte scanner & image editor, these aren’t gonna be amazing or anything, but while I hope to make a more polished version I wanted to share the drafts now. I really aspire to translate it, but of course I don’t speak Japanese, so I am going to see how far working with some people I know and brute-forcing with AI would go. If you are interested or know someone who would be, definitely reach out! 100% would crowdsource this. If someone already scanned and translated this, also let me know, I would groan heavily and curse my google skills but i’d rather it be available and know, and not waste time.

Below will be some reduced-down PNG’s of the magazine to fit Tumblr image limits with Ehoba’s notes and a few of my own attached to them. A link to the full images as a singular PDF is on the Internet Archive [Here]

A reflection of a very known thing in this magazine is that, from my perspective, End of Evangelion is definitely Asuka’s moment to shine, but it didn’t matter because the 90′s Eva fandom *loved* Rei. She was the most popular by far, and I think dethroned Sailor Mercury on the ‘best girl’ polls in magazines of the era. Nowadays if you poll audiences - as the NHK did recently - Asuka is the most popular girl, but it was a different, proto-moe-boom time.

"Evangelion was fake. A fake made by one director, or by the staff. However, it was a very real fake. God, it was so good."

Watermelon Kaji absolute goat here; so cool indeed

How much Asuka is suffering in all these images vs god-salvation Rei is, again, saying alot about the waifu wars.

"I don't think episode 25 and 26 were professional work. I understand that the ADR script and previews with layout sheets are supposed to be avant-garde, but something is wrong with it." "TV show is not an individual's job, so I wanted them to deal with the schedule limitation."

90% sure this Asuka ‘escaped’ and I saw it on the internet in the early 2000′s - maybe the author published it elsewhere in a doujin, I assume a lot of this art would have been repurposed for other mediums.

Honestly the art is incredible for this magazine sometimes, the splash pages they have are filled with Evangelion’s anime-spiritual energy.

"Unit 02 has a mouth, which means it can give a blow job." "The biggest surprise is Rei in cowgirl position. The official content does that, so hentai authors have nothing to do."

(Gainax putting hard-working hentai doujin authors out of a job, what assholes!)

"My heated up feeling toward Evangelion was quick-freezed by episode 25 and 26. EoE defrosted it, but now I feel distant from Evangelion."

How much Episode 25-26 come up here is great evidence for how divisive they were - End of Eva is absolutely seen as commentary on, and opposition to, the TV ending. I think in the west the initial reception of the original ending is overall more positive? Certainly nowadays, would be curious how it is seen in Japan today.

OCR’ing this image will literally murder me, pls I can’t

"Bullshit plot, surficial information, shallow dialogues, inconsistent direction, story with tons of plot holes, the director's masturbation, the otaku's useless attempt to enlighten other otaku..." "BUT I LOVE IT."

10/10 take

"'Sincerity' of someone I don't like just confirms that I still don't like them. Anno apparently thought that honest depiction of himself can be depiction of otaku, but that's not wrong. Anno is exceptionally creepy."

God-tier Anno portrait here. I love how many of this art showcases “settings” from End of Eva and which ones hit the audience - re-using the movie theatre seats for Shinji, that is really cool!

Evangelion - Slayers edition! The artist names are in the black box panel on the page lining, I absolutely hope to track down a few of them and see what kind of works they made.

"I think each material of Evangelion was nothing new. In the early half, however, I was moved by their techniques of arranging and remixing those materials." "Creators' strong desire for expression supported this story, but I'm not sure."

"Adam and Eve in the Eden East" "I hope they will live happily after the ending."

"The theater was like a funeral after the screening. No, I should say it was a literal funeral. Evangelion ended, it died. In terms of entertainment, Evangelion was completely and brilliantly killed."

Kaworu’s insta-inclusion into the ranks of the kid cast is always amusing to me; he is in one episode of the show after all, barely in Eva! But he is all over the art immediately. The power of design - and also being one of the first gay characters on television (as opposed to OVA’s) in Japan.

Hopefully if I can make progress on translation I can have actual thoughts to add to the scan, certainly I will post results if I get them.

I value, way too deeply to be honest, the preservation of the other side of the ‘media mix’ - how people responded to the media in question and what it meant to them. It is way more likely to be lost than the media itself or documents from the production side. May this contribution to preserving a bit of that experience be of value to those out there who would be interested in the history of Evangelion, and anime more generally.

If you think you know anyone or your followers overall would be interested in translation help, I would appreciate the broadcasting!

#evangelion #anime archives #90's anime zeitgeist

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sleepy-40400 · 1 month

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I can't even with these people

APOLOGIZE NOW REDDITORS/EVAGEEKS😡🤬

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monstroso · 3 months

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reading the comments on that last nge post is making me insane everyone is like "wait Asuka's mom was in the eva i thought it was just Shinj's?" somewhere an evageeks mod is spontaniously combusting and he has no idea why

#i need a new text post tag i guess #90% of the anime is inference if you can't infer things you're going to have such a bad time lol

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autistictojisuzuharafan11 · 2 months

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I found on the evageeks the first script for episode 24, it says that Kensuke would visit Toji in the hospital and ask if he will still pilot the eva

Kensuke: "I heard at the reception desk that you're going to be discharged tomorrow?"

Toji: "Yeah. I think you can go next week."

Kensuke: "Are you going to pilot the Eva again after you're recovered?"

Toji: "No, I've decided to ask for a break. I can't hold back much. When I looked at what was going on, it seemed like it was a bit weird because there was so many expectations placed on me. Hahahaha."

This script also says that Kaworu would go to school and have a fan club of girls who think he's pretty. Kensuke also shows Toji a recording he made of Kaworu introducing himself to the class

Ik links doesn't work on asks but if anyone is curious to see it in full here it is: http://web.archive.org/web/20071011104241/homepage3.nifty.com/kyrie/story24-1-1.htm

(I know I could just talk about Kensuke mentioning Kaworu to Toji but my autistic ass who used to have an eva fixation wanted to tell a lot more things 😭 also english is not my first language so I must have spelled something wrong)

I wish they keep that idea

#neon genesis evangelion #evangelion #nge #anon ask

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i-was-a-teenage-eldritch-horror · 3 months

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Tal vez suene exagerado pero por alguna razón me molesta y perturba la sexualización excesiva hacia Rei Ayanami junto con la cantidad excesiva de personajes expy que son solo un fetiche de chica sumisa para los otakus extremistas. ¿No se supone que Rei era una crítica hacia esa clase de waifus?

¡Hola!

Gracias por la pregunta (y por recordarme que necesito practicar el subjuntivo más). He oído esta idea. El problema con esta idea es que Eva es responsable de mucha de la cultura moderna de otakus. La cultura moderna de otakus es cuando el concepto de waifus emerge verdaderamente y así que es difícil de discutir que Rei era una crítica de waifus, aunque waifus existieron antes de Eva, Eva (y unos otros animes) creó waifus como las conocemos hoy. Anno, Sadamoto, Hayashibara, etc. nunca han dicho nada de Rei siendo una crítica, así que no creo que esta idea es cierta. Parece que esta idea sea de Evageeks, un foro que es el origen de muchos mitos de Eva, irónicamente. ¡Pero puedes interpretar el texto en esa manera, por supuesto, porque Eva es un texto muy rico!

Mi otro pensamiento es que Rei no es sexualizada (las veces cuando está desnuda son intentadas ser inquietantes y demuestran que Rei es una víctima del abuso) en el anime original (aunque los rebuilds son otra historia). Pero tienes razón que los expys de Rei son sexualidados y este hecho es muy preocupante porque dice mucho de nuestra sociedad y cómo ve mujeres y chicas. La idea de una chica sumisa no existe en un vacío. Obviamente hace un gesto a ideas misóginas de cómo mujeres y chicas deben ser y este hecho es porque este tipo de personaje es tan popular. Hay mucho ser dicho de Rei y su influencia en la industria de anime, y este sólo es la punta del iceberg.

¡Espero que mi respuesta sea comprensible, jajaja!

#originals #rei ayanami #ask #asks #answers #answer #answered #somedaysoonyouwillfall

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best-evangelion-girl · 1 year

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why are the things called that?

so to a lot of people who haven't spent hours reading the evageeks wiki, you're probably confused on the weird names for everything, especially with the differences between the original anime series and the rebuilds. I'm gonna attempt to explain everything to the best of my ability, and will also make it clear in all my polls whether I'm talking about something from nge or rebuilds.

so first off, what do I even mean by "nge and rebuilds"

so the anime "Neon Genesis Evangelion", sometimes abbreviated to NGE, was released in October 1995 and aired until march of 96. it consists of 26 episodes and is what is called the original series.

when the show ended, fans were really upset that there wasn't a proper conclusion to the mystery about the angels or seele, and that the last few episodes mainly focused on the mental turmoil of the main characters and them eventually coming to terms with reality and deciding that life is worth living. because of these complaints, the studio and the director of the series hideki anno decided to make a movie with an alternate ending to the series.

released in July of 97, "End of Evangelion" is considered by many fans to be the true ending of the series. the movie is a different episode 25 and 26 where everything sucks and seele invades NERV and tries to kill everyone to cause the third impact, Gendo attempts to start the third impact himself thinking he can reunite with Yui, but ultimately Rei triggers the third impact and gives control to Shinji before he must come to terms with humanity's purpose and find an excuse to live. basically, everyone dies and their souls are merged into one single entity, which means there's no more misunderstanding or confusion or hate in the world. Shinji eventually realizes that this sucks, and that life is about experiencing pain as well and joy, and everyone's souls rejoin their body. the movie then ends with Shinji and Asuka rematerialized on an apocalyptic earth in front of a sea of blood.

End of Evangelion, sometimes abbreviated to eoe, is basically Anno giving a big middle finger to all the fans who didn't like the original ending of the anime.

later, in the mid 2000s, Anno wanted to make a new evangelion story, this time a fully theatrical experience.

in 2007, "Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone" was released, in 2009 "Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance", in 2012 "Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo", and in 2021 "Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0 Thrice Upon A Time"

all four of these movies together are called the rebuilds, the new theatrical release, NTE, and in the case of 3.0+1.0 specifically "shin eva" (similar to many other remakes of popular Japanese ips being labeled "shin", such as godzilla and kamen rider)

it is heavily implied in the lore and through external media that the third impact in EOE caused the world to reset, and this new universe that was created was the universe of the rebuilds.

the events of 1.0 and 2.0 play out largely the same as the original series, up until the end. when the tenth angel attacks, Rei is killed and Shinji risks everything to try and save her. unintentionally, his eva absorbs the angel and nearly causes the third impact before it's stopped. Shinji then wakes up about 15 years later to find that the world is extremely different, and that most of the people he knows are fighting against NERV. he comes to discover that the world was nearly destroyed, but pockets of civilization still exist. after seeing his boyfriend's head explode and understandably being traumatized, he eventually learns how to love life again by being part of a small farming community. the final movie ends with Shinji confronting his father, making him realize that his attempts to reunite with his dead wife were impossible and living in the past was only hurting himself and everyone around him, and then causes a final impact that remakes the entire world into a new world where the Evangelions never existed, and everyone is chill and also he and Mari are dating. another giant middle finger to the fans, basically saying "get a fucking life, nerds. get a girlfriend. stop living in the past."

hopefully that makes sense as an explanation for naming the anime and movies.

nge and eoe are the original series in the 90s

1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 3.0+1.0 are the rebuilds from late 2000s to early 2020s

but what about the angels?

so the angels have names in nge but not in the rebuilds. in the rebuilds, they're just given a number. why is that? according to the lore, the dead sea scrolls were discovered by seele and laid out the plans for human instrumentality and gave names to all the angels. in the rebuilds, the dead sea scrolls were never found, and thus the angels in the rebuilds are not given names.

sure, some of the angels from the rebuilds look very similar to the angels from nge. but because a few are completely new, and they're mostly out of order, it's less confusing to just use numbers when talking about the angels from the rebuilds, and names when from nge. sometimes, when I'm talking about the angel's role in both nge AND rebuilds, I will use the name just because it's more convenient. (for example, I might say "bardiel was the angel that attacked and controlled Unit 03, which was piloted by Toji in nge and Asuka in Evangelion 2.0" even though it's called the 9th angel and not bardiel in Evangelion 2.0, it is basically the exact same thing and it's hopefully less confusing that way.

so yeah. names = original series. numbers = rebuilds

if you want me to give a shitty explanation about anything else, let me know. :3

#best evangelion girl poll #neon genesis evangelion #poll bracket #poll competition

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bloodsadx · 1 year

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dudes on discord trying to explain eva to me like i wasnt on evageeks in the cafeteria before school in 7th grade reading forum posts by guys with his exact wrong opinions a decade ago smdh

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havinganormalone · 2 months

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Been showing my gf Evangelion. It's the first time in a while I've rewatched the series from the beginning. Explaining lore and fandom history to the uninitiated has also made me reflect on my own history with Evangelion. I was a sophmore in college. My mom called me every single day to make sure I hadn't killed myself. Dropping out or transferring was never presented as an option. I watched Evangelion, I started lurking on Evageek forums, reading amateur psychology, armchair diagnosis, the DSM-5 drinking game. I began to suspect that what was wrong with me, the intangible undesirableness that had haunted me since childhood, had a name. Maybe I could seek help. I started therapy that summer, medication a while after that. I still don't have a cure. The specter that hangs over me is twisted, resistant to treatment, but manageable as the years go on, as I pick at the threads and discover the intersection of diagnosis and trauma. You go through cycles. Things will be okay.

#yuru howls

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echidna-auxiliatrix · 7 months

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Two questions: 1.) Do you have more than one blog? 2.) Can you recommend any good nge analysis and fandom blogs to follow?

I've had this account since the Obama administration and since before SCOTUS heard the Obergefell case...naturally, I have several side blogs. Five, to be exact, but only three of them are used with any amount of regularity.

So, I'm not really tuned into the Eva fandom these days. Years of seeing rancid takes on a daily basis (and having been treated rather poorly by this fanbase at times) have lessened my enthusiasm for engaging with other fans, as you might imagine! There's a reason why most eva analysts post consistently for short periods of time and then disappear. My ideas on the show are also pretty specific and set in stone, so I don't have much of a desire to seek out new theories. I feel like I've seen it all, to be honest.

Tumblr users baldmisato1 and qmisato are definitely to go-tos, though they're both inactive. asuka--langley--soryu and reivelation are also great blogs. If you, for whatever reason, care about Kaworu, then adamworu is a good blog for that. My friend, blisseylesbian, has written some insightful posts about Ritsuko and Ritsumaya! Avoid Evageeks and r/evangelion. In fact, if the fandom is dominated by men (as is the case for Eva), then avoid the fandom subreddit.

Regarding Utena, empty movement is a truly wonderful archive of analysis essays, some of which predate the new millennium. We really need something like this in the Eva fandom. The palace perspectives essays are also a must read (if you can find them! OP has deactivated, as best as I can tell), though the OP gets some minor factual details wrong (it does, in fact, rain more than twice in the show).

Regarding Soul Eater, that fandom suffers from the typical shonen fandom BS, with the girl protagonist being neglected in favor of Death the Kid, Soul, and my least favorite anime boy (Black*Star). When Maka is centered, it's largely within the dreadful context of SoMa. People are also rather unaware of the lack of thematic cohesiveness in the manga relative to the anime, which makes discussion insufferable. Tumblr user soul-dwelling is the best SE blog, from what I've seen.

Sailor Moon probably has the best fandom of all my SpIns...and that's probably owing to the fact that SM makes no attempt to say anything deep. r/sailormoon is generally delightful.

What to say about Homestuck...I still love Homestuck, but the release of the epilogues kickstarted a series of bad events that has left the fandom inhospitable for me personally. Kanaya my beloved <3 I have no idea who's writing good Homestuck meta these days. In ye olde 2017, there was a Tumblr user named swamp-wizard who wrote some very good posts, but he's long since deactivated.

Also check out my AMVs, which are linked in my carrd. Not analysis but they're good :)

#personal content #anonymous #anon #anons #ask #asks #answers #answered #answer

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jinruihokankeikaku · 1 year

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It's amazing how eager EvaGeeks Wiki tends to be to downplay the textual homoeroticism in Episode 24. It's one thing to point out that Anno didn't initially intend to play up that element of Shinji and Kaworu's relationship, but it's another altogether to deny that that element is meaningfully present at all, or to downplay Satsukawa and others' contributions to the text and the series as a whole, or to back up your claims with obviously spurious/bad-faith commentary on nuances of translation (the fact that あう is spelled 会う and not 逢う in the script for 「僕は君に会うために生まれてきたのかも知れない」 does not change the implication of saying you might have been born to meet someone; it's true that Kaworu says 好意 and not 恋 - but any dictionary will tell you that 好意 is not uncommonly used as a euphemism for romantic affection; &c.)

Like I understand, to some extent, being frustrated with shippers making poorly evidenced claims, but responding to that with poorly evidenced claims of your own isn't the way to go. Why not just take the text for what it is - complex, nuanced, created by multiple authors, and in many regards deliberately left open to interpretation - rather than trying to unilaterally push one particular view of things?

#also. trying to point to the storyboards for anti-kawoshin evidence whilst ignoring the text therein that *doesn't* suit your claims -#- speaks poorly to your intellectual honesty. imho.#you can just not be a fan of the ship! that's fine! canonically they do not have a romantic relationship - only a mutual affection #so aside from homophobia / hater-ism what reason is there to argue so vehemently that that affection isn't textual at all?

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centrally-unplanned · 8 months

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Though it is fun to go through those actual Usenet threads, you could actually write a good paper from that. Doing some poking around and found an adorable thread from 1998 of people speculating that MTV would air Evangelion? Based on someone visiting, uh "Magnum Opus [comic store] in Grand Rapids, Michigan" and saying oh yeah im working on Eva, but I work for MTV, not [presumed rights holder] ADV". Replete with some people thinking hmmm that makes sense and others going bro this is My Uncle at Nintendo level of rumor mongering bullshit.

But it was apparently a real rumor at the time, I saw evidence from Evageeks threads and Gamefaq discussion - and MTV was the proto Adult Swim of the 90's, the only channel airing cartoons aimed at adults. And someone quotes an article from Japanese Newsweek mentioning it? Is it a real quote? Who knows!! And the thread devolves into a conversation about how the show would be changed to air on MTV - with the general idea being that it might be "Saban'd", aka severely censored and localized like the Sailor Moon anime was. Which would have been a frikkin project, what a writing exercise that would be.

Also worth noting, Carl Horn - the editor of the Evangelion manga who I discussed previously - is name-dropped several times as someone who would "know" and is active in the community. Its very interesting how concrete the list of "big names" in the west were, it was a very countable set.

#evangelion #anime fandom history

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samasmith23 · 1 year

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Evangelion: You Can (Not) Marathon — (Part 2)

Neon Genesis Evangelion, “Episode 2: Unfamiliar Ceiling/THE BEAST”

Continuing my Evangelion re-watch marathon with NGE, "Episode 2: Unfamiliar Ceiling/THE BEAST"! For my thoughts on the previous episode, click the link to the post below:

With that out of the way, let's dig in!

Lol! I love the way Sachiel picks up Evangelion Unit-01 after Shinji causes the mecha to trip! I bet the Angel is thinking to itself, “What the heck is this thing?! It’s not like those planes, missiles & bombs I dispatched earlier, but it’s clearly a threat! Arm go breaky-breaky and laser beam go through eye socket!”

Joking aside though, this scene further emphasizes my personal frustration with the bad-faith criticisms levied by the "Get in the EVA Shinji" crowd. Like... did people seriously expect Shinji to be perfectly efficent at operating a giant robot he had never even heard of before until literally less than an hour earlier, let alone utilizing it to fight and kill an approximately 40 to 95 meter tall world-destroying alien monstrosity?

The fact that Shinji immediately stumbles and trips during his first attempt to try and simply make the EVA walk, along with him being completely paralyzed with fear as the Angel stares down at him is honestly an incredibly believable reaction on his part! I know I'd certainly react the exact same way Shinji does here!

Also, the injuries that Shinji immediately sustains from Sachiel are definitely uncomfortable to witness as a viewer! Not only does Sachiel snap EVA Unit-01's left arm like a twig (simultaneously breaking Shinji's arm in the process since his nervous system is directly bonded with the EVA's), but the Angel then fires multiple laser blasts directly into Unit-01's right eye sockets, causing twin-streams of blood to shoot-out from both sides of the mecha's head!

Like... YIKES! The fact that Shinji ultimately survives this encounter without suffering permanent brain damage, but just short-term memory loss, is truly an astonishing miracle! Speaking of which...

Full disclosure, I remember being annoyed when I first watched this episode and it suddenly cut to Shinji waking up in the hospital the next day after being knocked out by Sachiel, implying that the entire fight happened off screen. However, after finishing watching this episode for the first time several years ago, I realized just how brilliant this move was on Anno’s part considering what we later learned happened during the fight towards the end of the episode.

Also, Shinji's first words upon waking up are, "An unfamiliar ceiling!" Title drop! Lol!

Oh boy! Our first scene of Gendo meeting with his higher-ups, the Human Instrumentality Committee, aka, our official introduction to the mysterious SEELE organization which oversee’s NERV!

Out of curiousity, I wonder if one of these guys is actually Shinji’s grandfather since his mother, Yui Ikari, later states in the flashbacks from Episode 21 that she’s the daughter of a high-ranking SEELE member, and the Committee is supposed to be SEELE’s inner council.

According to the official "EvaGeeks Wiki" though, while the Human Instrumentailty Committee's leader, Keel Lorenz, is from Germany, the unnamed yellow member is French, the blue guy is Russian, the green guy is American, and the red guy is British.

So does that mean Yui is of mixed-ethnicity? If so, that's cool!

Speaking of Chairman Keel though, here's some interesting behind-the-scenes trivia regarding the name of SEELE's enigmatic leader! In addition to "Keel" being derrived from the literal ship part (specifically the central lower spine of a watercraft's hull), the name "Lorenz" is a reference to the renowned Austrian zoologist and child psychologist Konrad Lorenz, whom in 2015 had his 1973 Nobel Prize in Medicine posthemusly revoked due to his historical affiliations with Nazi Germany (originally, Keel was actually intended to be the real-life Konrad Lorenz in the show itself).

While Hideaki Anno & crew likely chose the name as a subtle reference to the historical figure who popularized the psychological theory of "imprinting" in the field of childhood development (which makes sense considering how integral themes of teenage psychology & motherhood are to EVA's overarching narrative), the fact that Keel Lorenz is also named after an individual with literal Nazi ties is also fitting considering that as antagonists SEELE is a quasi-fascistic doomsday cult.

But I'll discuss more about that when the Human Instrumentality Committee true identity is eventually revealed in Episode 14!

Also, I don’t know why but the yellow French SEELE member always reminded me of the Vulture from Spider-Man. I think it’s the combination of the beak-like nose, the hunched back, and the elderly appearance (minus the hair and glasses of course...). And he’s not the only SEELE member who’s apparently a Marvel Comics cosplayer considering that Keel Lorenz is wearing a similar visor to Cyclops from X-Men. Although the blue Russian member seems to be a DC Comics cosplayer considering he looks an awful lot like the Penguin from Batman.

So basically the members of SEELE are all secretly Marvel & DC comic book fans! Lol!

Dang! The fact that even before the Angel's officially returned with Sachiel's attack on Tokyo-3, Gendo already had enough power and influence within the Japanese government to authorize a media-blackout for the rest of the country and entire world regarding the existence of the Angels is pretty impressive!

Seeing as NERV is a branch of SEELE which has ties to the United Nations, I'm guessing that the Human Instruementality Committee sent the Japanese Prime Minister a pretty convincing letter of reccomendation on Gendo's behalf!

Also, that closing exchange between Keel & Gendo is so FREAKING iconic!

Keel Lorenz: "Ikari, you do know that there can be no turning back." Gendo Ikari: "I know. Mankind has no time left."

Chills! Absolute chills everytime I hear it! Keel & Gendo's respective English VA's, Richard Peeples & Tristan MacAvery, are absolutely on point in this scene!

I really love the white & blue-tinted lighting of the hospital where he encounters an injured Rei again after waking up! It really establishes the ambigous and uncomfortable tone of their initial relationship!

While Misato's comment, "Man, air conditioning's the greatest thing. Man's triumph over nature," is funny on a surface-level, it simultaneously foreshadows another major reoccuring theme interwoven into EVA's narrative: the arrogance and hubris behind humanity's over-reliance on technology!

But I'll discuss those themes more in-depth when they become increasingly notable from Episode 11 onwards!

Lol! Even when being empathetic Ritsuko still can't help but continue being the scientist as usual: "Poor little kid. His cerebelum must have taken a lot of stress."

Double lol! Even Misato recognizes her friend's detatched demeanor: "Cerebellum? Don't you mean his heart?"

I honestly don't think voice actress Sue Ulu is given enough credit for her performance as Ritsuko in the original ADV Dub. She's incredibly effective at conveying Ritsuko's rational & analytical personality!

Oh boy... even though Shinji suffered short-term memory loss from Sachiel's laser blasts, he still has lingering subconcious memories of the injuries he sustained slowly bubbling back towards the surface, as demonstrated by him staring at his now-healed left arm with confusion & fear...

More effective mood-lighting on display when Misato' meets Shinji alone in the waiting room of NERV's infirmary, as both the characters and enviornment are completely obscured in shadows caused by the contrasting sunlight of the room's large exterior windows. It effectively symbolizes both Shinji & Misato wandering into the unknown as the two become more closely aquainted with each other!

Man oh man, the scene where Shinji & Misato accidentally encounter Gendo while trying to get on the elevator is absolutely brilliant in how so much information is conveyed here through facial expressions instead of dialogue! Shinji expects praise from his father for defeating the Angel.

Even though Shinji’s memory of how exactly it happened is foggy, he thinks he was still of some use to his father like he always wanted. And yet... Gendo has absolutely nothing to say to him, just staring coldly and blankly, further feeding into Shinji’s sense of isolation & self-loathing!

So many emotions are conveyed in such a short space of screentime without any dialogue whatsoever!

And all Misato can do is watch & grow increasingly concerned for Shinji’s well being. I do also love how quickly Misato catches onto Shinji’s struggles, as she deals with the exact same crap despite being more outgoing and carefree personality-wise than him. Which is part of why she decides to let him live at her apartment instead of alone where he can wallow in self-loathing.

Still, we also get some insight into Misato’s complicated struggles with sexuality versus motherhood derived from her Elektra Complex through her offhanded joke, “It’s not like I’m going to be making any ‘passes’ at [Shinji],” which absolutely enrages Ritsuko over the phone.

I love how when Shinji can’t help but feel further distressed after hearing random bystanders at the grocery store talk about Tokyo-3 being turned into a battle ground without even once mentioning Shinji's name or acknowledging his involvement, Misato takes Shinji to witness Tokyo-3’s skyscrapers rising up from below the GeoFront to show him the city he helped protect in an effort to validate his usefulness and worth as an EVA pilot.

As gorgeous as this scene is though, considering the sheer amount of Freudian symbolism that’s littered all throughout NGE, when I see those skyscrapers rising upward I can’t help but wonder if this was meant to be yet another example of psychosexual imagery.

Spike Spencer does a great job at capturing Shinji's feelings of awkward hesitance and unsure relief as he takes his first step into Misato's apartment and says, "I'm home," to which an overly cheery Misato replies, "Welcome home."

Also, keep this exchange in the back of your minds since it will later become thematically relevant in Episode 4!

Lol! It’s such a wild contrast seeing just how professional and composed Misato is while working at NERV, as opposed to how wild & messy her home life is. In addition to her apartment floors being littered with garbage bags, dirty dishes, and mountains of used & unused Yebisu beer cans (which is apparently a real-life Japanese alcohol brand...), Misato essentially acts like an immature college student within the privacy of her home, wearning nothing but tank-tops and short-shorts while drinking gallons of alcohol & having insta-ramen for dinner!

Yeesh... I just came to an uncomfortable realization here! Misato's home life is basically just like how I personally used to live back in college! Albiet... I never wore short-shorts nor drank beer (seriously, I think all alcohol tastes TERRIBLE!)...

That's honestly one of the more powerful elements of EVA's characters. They are disturbingly relatable and force you to interrogate aspects of yourself that you're sometimes uncomfortable acknowledging. Even during light-hearted and comedic scenes like Shinji & Misato's ramen & beer dinner conversation, NGE's maintains its well-deserved status as a phenomenal treatise on the human condition!

Lol! I always laugh so hard when an annoyed Misato snaps at Shinji's shyness: "WHAT?! ARE YOU FINICKY?!"

God bless Allison Keith! Her performance as Misato is an absolute treasure!

Also, some of the first indications of Shinji's struggles with his developing sexuality as he can't help but stare at Misato's breasts when she leans over the table and gets directly in his face during her aforementioned outburst!

Aww... poor Shinji really got the short end of the stick by being relegated to daily chores for 5 to 6 days of the week after losing several rounds of rock-paper-scissors with Misato.

Also, I once again find myself uncomfortably relating to Misato here since I too can unfortunately be incredibly lazy when it comes to household chores...

Also also, we get some more allusions to Misato's Elektra Complex with her joking, “This is your home, so feel free to take advantage of everything you want, except of course me that is!”

We’ll learn later in the series that due to her traumatic past as a survivor of Second Impact and her strained relationship with her deceased father, Misato spent her entire adolescence catatonic and began actively pursuing sexual relationships during college in order to fill in that empty void in her heart. In particular, men who subconsciously remind her of her late father such as her ex-boyfriend Ryoji Kaji...

In essence, Misato is a person who greatly struggles with developing meaningful relationships with others due to the ghosts of her past, and relies primarily on physical connections and innuendos in order to communicate her true feelings, while also subconsciously wanting to drive others away from her due to her internalized self-loathing.

We also see more of Misato's character flaws as she continues to belittle Shinji's anxiety by angrily grabbing his hair and shouting, "Yes, yes yes. Is that all you can say? It's getting on my nerves! You're a boy! Act like one!"

Yeah... similar to how Shinji has deep-seated issues with women and sexuality, Misato has some toxic and borderline patriarchal expectations concerning the behavior of men. Misato truly is just an older version of Shinji!

On the subject of Shinji's issues with women, we see his obvious discomfort at the sight of Misato's bras & panties hanging on the clothes chandeliers as he prepares to take a bath before panicking at the sight of a literal penguin inside the bathroom. This especially feels like subtle groundwork being laid for Shinji's more overtly misogynistic attitudes in The End of Evangelion?

Speaking of that penguin inside the bathroom though...

Lol! The introduction to Evangleion's official mascot, Pen Pen, accompanied by the classic gag of a terrified & naked Shinji running back to Misato where she has a strategically placed beer can in front of a smaller toothpick jar on the kitchen table to censor his crotch!

Even after all these years, this gag NEVER... EVER ever gets old! I think the reason why this joke is so famous and fondly remembered by EVA fans is because aside from the obvious absurdity of a literal penguin inside an apartment building as well as the strategically placed objects, Shinji's reaction is incredibly realistic & relatable (I know I'd probably have a very similar reaction if I saw a random wild animal in of my shower). Plus, Shinji's embarassed realization to Misato asksing, "Umm... why don't you cover up," with his face turning red and him awkwardly shuffling back to the bathtub further sells the relatablility of the gag!

Studio Khara would repeat this joke in the Evangelion Rebuild 2.22, but instead replaced Shinji with Asuka. Consequently, the scene in the Rebuild feels a lot more like uncomfortable male-gazey fan-service (rather than the slap-sticky humorous tone of the original scene with Shinji), especially since Shinji's also in the room with Misato when Asuka panics at the sight of Pen Pen, thereby leading to him getting kicked in the face by Asuka while the camera has her butt visible in the frame during said-kick.

Yeah... based on everything I've seen and heard, gratuitous and "comedic" fan-service is a major flaw with the Rebuild movies, whereas the original NGE either avoided or actively subverted typical anime fan-service tropes in order to further flesh out its characters.

Also, I love that subdued head-tilt Pen Pen gives Shinji as he walks into his personal automated refrigerator! Pen Pen be like: "What's the matter kid? Ain't ya never seen a warm-water penguin before?"

Also also, as you might have noticed in the upper-right image above, it's here that I feel is an appropriate time to introduce everyone to the official "Pen Pen Censor" sticker, which will definitely be appearing A LOT throughout this marathon (in order to meet Tumblr community guidelines) due to EVA's extensive coverage of themes regarding sex & sexuality.

On the subject of Pen Pen himself, however, while its never outright confirmed in the anime exactly Misato how got her hands on a unique species of "hot-springs penguin" as a household pet, but in the official manga adaptation written & illustrated by the series' lead character designer, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, it's eventually revealed that Pen Pen was actually an experimental lab animal from a company Misato was originally employed by before joining NERV. Feeling lonely and isolated in her home life, Misato took sympathy on Pen Pen and brought him home with her before he could be euthanized.

While the absence of Pen Pen's backstory's doesn't negatively impact the anime's quality at all, there is a part of me that does still wish it had been included since it further conveys the inherently selfish desires underlying Misato's desicion to invite Shinji to be her roommate. Just like Pen Pen, while she related to and sympathized with the "useless, greedy [bird's]" situation, Misato was also simply seeking companionship to help fill the void in her own heart.

The fact that Misato did not adopt Shinji for purely altruistic reasons serves as a major thematic element of her characterization, and invites the viewer to question whether or not Misato legitimately views Shinji as the son/brother that she never had, or merely perceives him like a pet to be coddled & objectified just like Pen Pen.

So... that "Shinji's lovely suite" sign that Misato taped onto Shinji's bedroom door. This defintiely seems to lean into the argument of Misato treating Shinji more like a pet than a roommate.

I know that all the infamous budget issues with Episodes 25 & 26 were totally unplanned, but the fact that the music tracks Shinji is repeatedly listening to on his radio are tracks 25 & 26 feels like it should not be a coincidence! It’s giving me some serious Grant Morrison vibes of back when they had the issue focusing on an older Damian Wayne fighting the satanic Third Ghost of Batman take place in Batman (1940) #666!

While Ritsuko seemed pretty cold in contrast to Misato back during Episode 1, I love how when she’s alone with Gendo here discussing the progress of Rei's recovery from the failed EVA Unit-00 activation test, she can’t help but express her own concerns about forcing literal 14-year-olds to pilot giant robots and fight alien gods.

Also... more EPIC FORESHADOWING with the panning shot of a half-frozen inactive EVA Unit-00 punching the window of a disused control room! This not only effectively builds-up towards the flashback later in Episode 5 concerning Rei's injuries, but is also thematically relevant to this episode's climatic flashback with EVA Unit-01 vs. Sachiel as well!

I love the intentional contrasting of Misato's earlier words about "Bathing [cleaning] the mind and soul," against her feeling guilty for "thinking of Shinji as a tool" in both her work & home lives while bathing.

I guess Shinji's thoughts, "Bad memories always [seeming] to find [him] in the bath," also apply to Misato...

Returning to Shinji though, this shot of him staring up at "another unfamiliar ceiling" while wearing his headphones as a form of escapism to ease his feelings of anxiety is so FREAKING iconic!

Honestly, as an autistic person who struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder & anxiety who spends an awful lot of time wearing headphones to listen to YouTube and distract myself from both external and internal pressures of the world, I totally relate to Shinji here!

Furthermore, we get the return of the titular "unfamiliar ceiling" motif that Shinji referenced earlier in the episode when he first woke up in the NERV infirmary. The website Wrong Every Time did a far better job at explaining the significance behind that title & imagery in their review of Episode 2 than I possibly ever could! Specifically, they argue that unfamiliar ceilings serve as a physical manifestation of Shinji's "sense of displacement" at NERV HQ and Misato's apartment, symbolizing to the viewer that from Shinji's perspective, "[these places are not] his home. [From the] shots of the room’s disarray [to] Shinji’s physical entrapment [emphasizing] his discomfort, as he seems to bury himself away in the space between two repeating cassette tracks."

Like… dang! Wrong Every Time absolutely nailed it in their assessment of this scene! Or as Rei’s English voice actress Amanda Winn Lee infamously described in the audio commentary track to the original End of Evangelion DVD collection, “Nailed it like an Amish barn!” Lol!

The return of the unfamiliar ceiling as Shinji reminesces alone in his new bedroom about full events of the fight with Sachiel functions as a perfect transition to discussing the meanings of episode's secondary title... "THE BEAST!"

So... remember how I said earlier that I was initially really annoyed when I first watched this episode and it suddenly cut away from the Angel knocking Shinji unconscious to him instantly waking up in the hospital the next morning? Well it was during this flashback to the full fight from earlier right here that all my previous annoyance suddenly disappeared and I understood fully why this cut was necessary!

Not only does Anno's decision to have Sachiel’s defeat intially occur off-screen help pique viewer interest in exactly how Shinji defeated the Angel. Not only does it gradually build up the feelings of hollow victory and faint praise that Shinji & Misato couldn’t help but ponder throughout the rest of the episode. But it also effectively makes the ultimate reveal of EVA Unit-01 going berserk for the first time ever all the more shocking & horrifying!

No joke, when I first saw EVA Unit-01 suddenly open it’s mouth & roar I was legitimately FREAKING terrified! I just had so many questions swirling around in my head all at once since I initially thought that Unit-01 was simply just a robot. But this plot twist signified to me that not only are the Evangelions something far more mysterious & disturbing than mere robots, but that they’re also potentially even more dangerous monsters than the Angels!

Plus, the fact that Unit-01's berserker rampage was also foreshadowed back in Episode 1 with the EVA suddenly activating itself to protect Shinji from falling debris (as well as the "0-9 System" controlling it being a reference to Oni from Japanese demonology) makes this plot twist even more impactful!

For the sake of craps & giggles though, I bet the soul of Yui dwelling inside of Unit-01 was thinking to herself at that exact moment: “You will NOT kill my son!”

Also, this I love Misato & Ritsuko's contrasting reactions to Unit-01 going berserk! While, Misato is completely taken aback by this revelation, Ritsuko seems fearfully aware with the events transpiring when she whispers to herself, "Berserker!"

In essence, Misato acts as an audience-surrogate in this scene since just like her we're now completely frightened & suspicious about the Evangelion's true nature, while Ritsuko along with Gendo & Fuyutsuki have access to knowledge that the viewers are currently in the dark about!

Honestly in hindsight, the character's various reactions on display here significantly contributed to my desire to want to learn more about what exactly caused EVA Unit-01 enter a violent animalistic rampage!

As scary as the sight of Unit-01 going on a berseker rampage against Sachiel is though, HOLY CRAP is the sound-design & animation for this fight scene FREAKING phenomenal! In addition to Unit-01's blood-chilling roar heavily indicating the presence of organic vocal cords being suppressed by layers of electronic sirens, the shots of the EVA crouching down before flipping itself high into the air and pouncing onto Sachiel are so FREAKING iconic! Same goes for the 360° panning shot of Unit-01 turning around to face Sachiel again after shrugging off its inital counter-attack!

So wait... how exactly is Unit-01 able to regenerate its armored plating when healing its broken left arm? Is it liquid metal like the T-1000 or something?

Also, we get some more foreshadowing of both the EVA's being cloned from the Angel's progenitor Adam, as well as Unit-01's unique status as a clone of humanity's progenitor Lilith since not only does Unit-01 easily create its own A.T. Field to counter the frequency of Sachiel's, but it easily rips through the Angel's A.T. Field like it was tissue paper!

The animalistic brutality on display as Unit-01 simultaneously crushes both of Sachiel's arms before ripping apart the Angel's own bony chest-protrusions (spilling blue blood in the process) to stab its core is absolutely breathtaking to witness!

As uniquely awesome and uncanny the animation of Sachiel shape-shifting itself into a fluid orb around Unit-01's head is, I'm curious to know exactly how Misato realized that this was a self-destruct maneuver. Especially since the last time she personally witnessed an Angel's abilities was when she was still a teenager 15-years-ago during Second Impact...

Holy crap! The massive cross-shaped explosion that Sachiel generates when it self-destructs is not only breathtaking gorgeous, but it simultaneously adds further intrigue into whether or not the Angels are merely extraterrestrials or literal divine entities!

The feelings of sheer terror that this scene instilled within me were only further cemented by the aftermath of the battle, as Shinji briefly regains consciousness only to scream in horror at the building-side reflection of Unit-01’s head armor falling off and exposing its true fleshy face along with an eyeball that is absolutely in no way whatsoever is meant to resemble traditionally feminine anatomy (H.R. Geiger would eat his heart out over Unit-01’s eyeball here)!

Plus, I only just noticed this, but the front of EVA Unit-01's exposed forehead bears a striking resemblance to the masks on Sachiel's face, further hinting that the Evangelions and the Angels are biologically connected!

I absolutely adore the final moments of the episode where Misato continues to give Shinji faint praise even when she now realizes that it won’t help him. It simultaneously suggests that Misato still wants to do whatever she can to ease Shinji’s pain, while also desperately trying to find some way to justify Unit-01’s berserker rampage against Sachiel “being worth it” despite the traumatic toll the experience has inflicted upon Shinji’s psyche!

What an absolutely perfect way to end the episode! Allison Keith once again perfectly sells this scene through the way her voice so subtly cracks while trying to feign said-empty reassurance!

This concluding exchange also thematically ties the episode's corresponding titles, "Unfamiliar Ceiling" & "THE BEAST," so neatly together! In addition Shinji & Misato being haunted by memories of the literal beast in the form of EVA Unit-01, they're simultaneously confronted with metaphorical beasts as they struggle to process and adapt to unfamiliar enviornments and relationships!

I love it whenever titles convey multiple meanings like that!

Overall though, NGE, "Episode 2: Unfamiliar Ceiling/THE BEAST" still holds up incredibly dang well! Even better than I remember!

Heck, whenever I try to introduce other people to EVA for the first time, I always recommend that they watch Episodes 1 & 2 immediately back-to-back so that they can get a good idea of how this anime functions, since honestly both episodes work incredibly well as an hour-long pilot when watched together!

Now onto Episode 3!

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