You know, I wasn’t expecting Neon Genesis Evangelion to actually give me exactly what I asked for. Typically I want something from an anime, and I am ignored, because I am some random guy on the internet. But this week Evangelion decided to listen, just once. Man, am I awesome. So without further ado, lets jump in and start talking about Shinji’s mental breakdown!
Starting, let’s clarify what this episode is about. This week Evangelion focuses in on Shinji’s character, really diving in to his issues from the first 3 episodes. Not just showing them to us, but helping define both sides of the problem. Showing us both Shinji’s insecurities and how he deals with things, and how Misato is coping and trying to connect with him. Showing a very real issue of miscommunication. and really making it clear how little they know each other. Its exaggerated a bit at times, but hey that’s drama. And my favorite part about all of this is that Evangelion didn’t just sweep it under the rug in a single episode either. Sure, I am not the biggest fan of whining Shinji, but whining Shinji with progress is a whole other beast. And that is exactly what we get, the start of Shinji working through his issues.
To be specific, Evangelion showed us Shinji’s inner conflict this week. The dual, conflicting desires/issues within him. The first one is obvious, he thinks that everyone views him as a tool. That no one truly cares about him and that how his father treats him is how everyone sees him. To Shinji, he is only there as an Eva pilot and nothing more, so his voice means nothing. The best way to get by being to nod your head, say yes, and move on. Conflicting with this though is Shinji’s inner desire to be relied on, for people to want him and actually have expectations of him. We see this in his confrontations with Misato. To me, it felt like Shinji wanted to be scolded, he wanted to be told off for running away and not doing his job. Simply put, Shinji wants a sign that people care.
Meanwhile Misato does care, but she’s not sure how to show it. She doesn’t want to be overbearing, she isn’t his parent after all. But what Misato doesn’t realize is Shinji hasn’t really had a good parent to begin with, so that’s actually what he wants. Throughout the episode Evanglion shows us Misato struggling with how to communicate with Shinji. Does she treat him like a commanding officer with a disobedient soldier? She can hardly act like a friend at work, in the middle of battle in the Eva unit. And Shinji’s attitude is hardly conducive to getting to know him, what with how he shuts down all the time. While exaggerated at times because drama, I think it’s a good relationship. Enough so that if Evangelion can continue this trend without losing the heart of it all, it will be well worth the watch.
As Evangelion says, it’s the Hedgehog’s Dilemma, where as they try to get closer they hurt each other. Of course to get better, you have to push past that, as no relationship is perfect. Its natural they were going to hurt each other. What I like best about what Evangelion did this week though is that this is, hopefully, just the beginning. As I said earlier, this should be just the first step along the way. As Shinji gets to know Misato and starts to branch out from there. Slowly figuring out his parental issues, the rages in the Eva unit, etc etc. To say it another way, if this is as far as Evangelion goes with this plot thread, I will be very annoyed. Because as much as I like giant robots, those are clearly not the centerpiece of the story.
Still I don’t think that is something we have to worry about. As it wasn’t just Misato this week who took the first steps towards understanding Shinji. We also saw the two students, Toji and Kenosuke, come to care for Shinji as well. In their own ways at least. For me the best bit of this was the train station. Their line of “We have seen a lot of classmates off”, as if they know the look. The attitude and what it means when someone doesn’t come to school. Then on top of that we have the quiet moments with them, Shinji getting to spend time with Kenosuke. Or Toji allowing Shinji to punch him back, and demanding he do it for real. In their own ways, they don’t want Shinji to leave with regrets. And I think this is the first real instance Shinji has of someone caring.
Of course, none of this is to say the episode was perfect. For instance at the end of Evangelion this week, we saw the first of Anno’s more questionable directorial styles. That being the “scene which hangs in silence for an uncomfortably long time”. I have to say, I am not a fan. It was, as I said, uncomfortable and just lingered far to long. I understand the idea, let the emotion linger and really drive home how much this meant to both of them. In practice though, this scene was about twice as long as it realistically needed to be, and the background noise really didn’t help it. Hopefully we don’t see to much of this moving forward. But based on what I have heard, this is the least of what Anno does as budget becomes a concern.
So, all in all, how was this weeks Neon Genesis Evangelion? I enjoyed it, and I actually got exactly what I wanted. Which was a progression of Shinji’s character. Along with that we also get a bit more world building and setup that I didn’t mention earlier. Such as how only 14 year olds can be Eva pilots, for whatever reason. Or how a third child is apparently arriving soon, though I suspect this is the red haired Asuka I have heard about over the years. Hopefully with her, the cast can be rounded out, and Rei can start joining in on the fun to. I know she has a bit of a temper, so hopefully she can drag Rei and Shinji forward through the story. In any case, 4 episodes in and Evangelion is doing well. Everything is established. Now I am just looking forward to the meat.
