Finally, Throwback Thursday returns, with a new episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion! Apologies for the wait. I have explained across a number of posts now, but work and moving the site really ate my time. But its all over now and we can get back into it! So let’s just dive in, as we check back in with Shinji!
Starting off with production, as I always do, this week was a bit of an odd one. There was some great stuff. From expressive character acting from Misato during her and Shinji’s interactions, to the effects. I will never get tired of how Evangelion liquefies metal and structures with its lasers and such. It’s a beautiful effect, and one I hope we continue to see more of in the series. On the other hand we also got some more of Anno’s weirdness. Long, hanging still shots with almost no motion. Just dialogue played over an extended escalator scene. Similar to the rest we have seen, I don’t think it’s inherently bad. It works to sell the awkwardness between Rei and Shinji, especially after what happened in the apartment. But it felt to me like it just carried on to long. Still, for the most part, Evangelion did well.
Getting into some actual story content though, I was happy to see Shinji’s progress. I have expected Evangelion to backslide here, to act as if nothing has happened. But in actuality, our lead has become much more outgoing. Granted this is in comparison to how he was before, he’s not exactly social now. But he is asking questions, answering questions, chatting with people and in general trying. That’s a big step for where he was before. He actually seems comfortable for once in this new town and living space. Of course its not perfect, we do still see some issues with Gendo his father, which we will talk about later. But so long as Evangelion can keep up the feeling of progress for him as a character, I will be happy. And as luck would have it, Shinji isn’t the only one to change from episode 4.
Of course, I am talking about Misato. For the most part she is actually exactly the same. Loud, brash, rather uncaring about what she eats and drinks. She is… very outgoing, which is the complete opposite of Shinji. However we see throughout the episode how she is trying to be more open with our lead. Not just expecting him to act how she wants or expects, but rather explaining it to him directly. We saw this most clearly early on in the episode, when they ask him what is wrong. Pointing out that “nothing” is a non-answer and actually just him dodging the question. It shows she is much more conscious of Shinji’s personality now and actively trying to accommodate and interact with him. It’s all rather small so far, but considering I was fearing a backslide on episode 4, it’s a nice change.
Moving on, the other big focus this week was Rei. Rei was pretty weird to be honest, in many ways she is even worse than Shinji. Isolated, quiet and not necessarily unwilling but uninterested in interacting with anyone outside Gendo. In fact, just as Misato says, she seems uninterested in life. As based on her apartment, she doesn’t care much for anything beyond Gendo. The place is a wreck, in the slums, and the only thing in it she seemingly takes care of are an old pair of glasses. To segue a bit, at the start of the episode we see her fail a connection test with the Eva unit. Because of some “mental instability” in the user. It wouldn’t surprise me if on there needed to be a will to live life, some survival instinct, to pilot these. As time and again we have seen Shinji has just that.
Getting back to Rei, Evangelion does do one interesting thing with her character this week. That being her relationship with Gendo, Shinji’s father. At this point I am unsure exactly what it is, but I am sure its not reciprocated. As I believe Gendo views Rei as a father views their child. At least more than he does Shinji, based on his actions to save her and the lively conversation they seemingly had. Of course Shinji notices this to, and I suspect this will be a big sticking point for him moving forward. After all his father is doting on another child after forgetting his own son. Meanwhile though, I fear Rei has a bit more of a… romantic lean to the whole relationship. Hopefully Evangelion avoids the more dodgy territory of it all, but based on what I have seen, I don’t expect it to.
Of course what I mean/am referencing with that would be the shower scene with Rei. Well, I suppose there wasn’t actually a shower involved, but it was immediately prior to the whole event. It was very surprising actually, because I thought Evangelion was either before these tropes took hold, or above it in some sense. But I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, this is anime in the 90’s, we can’t escape this sort of thing. My hope is just that it doesn’t take it too far. It’s not my preferred kind of comedy, nor am I particularly interested in the ecchi stuff. If I wanted that i’d just go watch porn. And here it actually did serve a slight purpose in showing how little Rei cares about anything. So as long as there is actual narrative attached to these bits, I think I can get past them.
So all in all, how was Neon Genesis Evangelion this week? Pretty good, actually. There were small things that bugged me, but ultimately I am interested in where the narrative is going from here. The Angels are showing the ability to adapt, sending different kinds after them, and changing their tactics. We are learning more about them, and how their DNA structure is similar to our own. Meanwhile the characters themselves are growing and progressing as a reasonable click in interesting ways. There are some symptoms of it just being an anime made in the 90’s, but none of those bother me overly much. So yeah, so far a quarter of the way through, Evangelion has been a good time. I hope it manages to keep it up, and I will see you next week!
And make sure to let me know what you thought as well down below! I’d love to hear how other people are keeping up with the series.
