Neon Genesis Evangelion
show cares most about experience and characters
doesn’t care about canonicity, and it barely cares about narrative
more interested in characters, and their relationships to each other and the world they inhabit
fundamental lack that humans have, from which all fear comes from and how we deal with it, or more importantly how we avoid dealing with it. It proposes that man has self-awareness, which by definition means that it perceives itself as separate from others, which creates the motivation to return to a sort of unity, to remove oneself from this separatedness. Besides the psychological examples through its characters Evangelion also provides a semi-physical way of identifying this separatedness with the AT (Absolute Terror) field. An AT field separates and protects the ego and sense of self of a person from everyone else, allowing them to exist as an individual. The Art of Loving - what is love
MC yelling in the first episode that he DOESNT want to be the pilot to save humanity.
Classic tale of a youngling destined to save the world, a more realistic take: he would fail, be driven insane in the process, world would not be saved
aesthetics
OST
grounded, emphasizes logistics
Learning to love oneself:
- “one who truly hates himself cant come to love and trust others”
- “im cowardly, sneaky and weak” “see? if you understand yourself you can take care of yourself”
Congratulations! so sincere that it feels ironic
Series episodes
Episode 1
Guilt tripped into piloting but then “why DID you come”
“must confront fears and father”
Show always leans on showing logistics
Episode 2
cut to logistics of aftermath, cliffhanger
unfamiliar ceilings
Episode 3
zoom effect from the perspective of civilians. Toji mad, but then understands.
Episode 4
Shinji testing limits, “am i the only one really?” “if I am really needed, I am of importance”
Misato putting him back to place, “we don’t need someone with that attitude”
shinji running away, but coming back, realizing he’s got nothing else.
Aida self-insert viewer? (military crazed, wishes he could pilot)
Ritsuko/Mitsuko “hedgehog’s dilemma: maybe this is the only way he CAN express himself”
Episode 5
“Nothing draws attention like evasive actions”
Rei does not care about her body
Reis relationship with shinjis dad?
Episode 6
Why do they keep piloting
Shinji in bed does not want to go, but changes mind when rei says she will do it instead. Doing it for rei or to be valuable?
Episode 7
Misato different person at home and at work
Misato shown to be out of the loop on NERV matters (ritsuko and shinjis dad conspire etc while misato is doing her own thing)
“She let you see a side she does not show to anyone, that means shes your family shinji”
Episode 8
asuka always trying to be on top, the best, trying to downplay or otherwise prove to shinji that he is worse.
angel was chasing adam in kahjis briefcase
Episode 9
Gaining shinjis awe/approval/attraction in any way would “prove” to asuka that she is the best
Episode 10
thermal expansion filler
Episode 11
Asuka wants to be the leader, always distorting reality to fit the image that she is the best (gets lost but then “oh it was to visually confirm the angel”)
Episode 12
misato saved by father during second impact
shinji sync test talent, asuka disturbed by how fast shinji is catching up to him
Misato to Shinji “all you ever do is worry about what other people think”
Shinji “arent you happy that they appreciate your work enought to promote you” “that’s not the reason i work here” but avoid answering why she works there
Shinjis dad to assistant referring to second impact “this is a world that has been purified of the original sin” “id prefer a world with people no matter how stained with sin”
Misato answers the question she avoided before “want to destroy angels who cause the second imact (and took her father)”
Shinji at the end “the reason i pilot the eva is to hear those word from him (words of praise from father)” (asuka says “thats the reason? you really are stupid”)
Episode 13
autonomus eva test
Misato to Ritsuko “why dont you want to share responsibility, why dont you trust anyone but yourself?”
Personality transplant OS: way to implant persons personality onto a machine. “Same technology is used in evas” ritsukos mothers three personalities are the magi computers mother/woman/scientist all “struggling for dominance” in the three computer system
Episode 14
Rei lists Flowers, Sky, Water and Blood, which partake of Fire, Air, Water and Earth respectively.
“Blood… The smell of blood. A woman who never bleeds.”
“Man made from red soil.”
“Entry plug, the throne for a soul.”
“This is the me that can be seen, yet I feel as though I am not myself.”
“Is someone there, beyond this?”
After the poem, Rei is seen during a cross-compatibility test with Unit-01, in which her synch ratio is reported to be almost the same as with Unit-00. However, the second part of the test- Shinji’s synch with Unit-00, goes berserk.
Dead Sea Scrolls scenario is the goal of shinjis dad.
Rei carrying Lance of longinus
Episode 15
asks rei “what should we talk about, whats he like?” “i dont know”
“the way you wringed it, reminded me of a mother”
“if he hates him, why does he just not say that to him?” “he doesnt actually hate him, thats the problem”
shinji and gendo go to yuis empty grave
force for change and force for status quo struggle in all humans
“one morning i realize how much like you father you were, i panicked” “i buried all my feelings in exacting revenge against angels”
asuka asks shinji to kiss him, trying to find validation by force, dissapointed shinji didnt actually hold him actuallly kiss him
asuka then rejected by kaji when he brings misato home
Kaji snoops in central dogma, shows misato lilith but says that it is “adam”
Episode 16
shinji is number one in sync ratio: asuka devastated
Asuka taunts shinji, shinji breaks (“after all, combat is a mans job”) and swallowed by sea of dirac
asuka “thats what shinji gets for showing off” rei “do you only pilot for the praise of others”
“whos that” “shinji” “but thats me” “the self comprises of two: the self which can be seen and the self observing that” “the shinji ikari in your mind and shinji ikaris in the minds of others, you fear the shinjis in the minds of others”
“i thought i hated my father, now im not sure, he praised me” “so you will keep regurgitating those few pleasant moments?”
“no one can justify their existence by linking their enjoyable moments into a kind of rosary”
shinji sees mother at the peak of death, eva goes berserk
“rei and shinji would never forgive us if they learned the secret about evas”
shinji snickers after seeing that asuka secretly came to see if he was okay at the hospital
Episode 17
2nd branch of NERV vanishes
dummy plug prototype with reis data inside, but “its not really possible to digitize a human mind and soul” so it is only a machine to fool eva by imitating human patterns
4th child is toji, “we need to gather the children together for survival”
at reis place, shinji cleaning up, “youve changed shinji, back then you wouldnt do anything for others, i guess you were so
deep in you own shell i couldnt see the real you”
rei “words of gratitude, word ive never used, not even with him (gendo)”
Marduk institute does not exist, it is pulling the string all by itself
kaji says 707 is codename for shinjis school
“im a boy you know!”
kaji shows shinji melons
Episode 18
misato avoids telling shinji about 4th child
toji to rei “you care about shinji” “maybe that is true”
asuka flabbergasted by “i like his compassionate side”
kaji to shinji “no one can understand each other completely”
gendo uses shinji with dummy plug to kill toji
Episode 19
“i have power to anniahlate half of headquarters” “but you saved everyone” “thats beside the point”
“father betrayed me, he doesnt understand me” “why dont you try to understand HIM? Youre running away”
kensuke “is it true youre leaving? but we admired you!”
“all students in your class are pilot candidates”
unit1 rejects rei, dummy plug, everything
kaji “i can just water here, but you have something only you can do, choose by yourself, think about not having regrets”
at the brink of death uni1 goes berserk again, eats s2 engine
eva armor is not just armor but also bindings
Episode 20
shinji absorbed into unit1, “truth behind 400% sync ratio”
“there is a human soul inside eva”
asuka thinks he was saved by shinji again, devastated
LCL is primordial soup
“am i not supposed to think why i fight the angels?”
“father abandoned me because he already had rei”
“i knew eva but i ran away, leaving mother and father behind”
“i pilot the eva because they treat me well, so i have to fight, i have to win, i will prove my worth” “ive done all i can, why cant you be nice to me”
“you must decide what you want” is then returned from the core
gendo and yui “if boy shinji, if girl rei”
Episode 21
scientists put too much faith in their own ideas. discovery is joy and understanding is dominance, they seek to benefit themselves
longinus is sinking in adam, “pull it back”
to fuyutsuki: “you dont put enough value on relationships”
unit1 is man made god after eating s2 engine
gendo “i am not familiar with being liked, however i am all too well familiar with hatred”
SEELE was funding yuis research
misato mute for 2 years
fuyutsuki threatens to go public with gendos secrets about adama/second impact, seems like this was gendo plan too, to bring fuyutsuki in
ikari changed after yui dissapeared
gendo bearing the cross on his shoulders
ritsukos mom being used by gendo
“taking care friends daughter”
ritsuko analytical about relationships, mother feels responsible
“old hag” > gehirn to NERV
“if i see you again, i will say the words i couldnt say 8 years ago” shinji couldnt comfort misato “im still a child”
Episode 22
“youre the only one i love” “look at me, i am grown up”
contact experiment leaves asuka without mother | before mother was already mistaking doll for asuka | doing that because of guilt of abandoning child for research | humans made dolls in their image, just as god made man in their image “i am a human and a mother first”
asukas grandma? “its okay to cry” “i will never cry”
humans stupid enough to harness the power of their own destruction
asuka even deeper down the hole as shinji seemingly seems fine after being absorbed
“i dont want to use the same water as shinji and misato”
“if i see you again, i will say the words i couldnt say 8 years ago”
“hit your limit? your nice synthetic family is falling apart?” “i dont have to take that from someone who tries to fill the holes in her own empty life with a bunch of cats”
“if you dont open your mind to it, the eva will not move” “youre saying this is my fault, that i am blocking myself?!”
asuka to uni2 “youre just a puppet, you should do everything i say” “why does a weapon need a soul anyway”
mindrape ---
“why am i crying, i swore to never cry again”
“i grow up faster than others, i dont need dolls”
kaji “asuka youre still a child”
asuka to shinji “why are you there? you wont do anything, you wont help me, you wont even hold me”
“i will live on my own” “but youre lying”
taking lance out of lilith using it to defeat angel in orbit
shinji to asuka after recovery “im glad youre okay” “i hate you i hate everything”
Episode 23
asuka playing videogames, feeling useless, lost “any value she mightve had”
Armisael shares her emotions with Rei who identifies them as loneliness. Armisael indicates to Rei that she (Rei) is lonely too.
Misato trying to “comfort” shinji, “is he frightened by women or afraid of getting close to anyone”
rei “I think I am the third.”
Gendo sent ritsuko instead of rei to SEELE interrogation about the last angel
Dummy System, the tank full of Rei bodies that serves as its core.
In each eva there is a soul
ritsuko feels defeated by a soulless doll, like her mother and sexually abused like her mother by gendo
Episode 24
“lilims greatest invention is music/singing”
kaworu first time that shinjis has been showed true compassion and understanding
gendo says to unit 1 “yui”
He observes that humans, whom he calls “Lilin,” cannot be gods. Fifteen monoliths of SEELE appear around him, explaining that Gendo’s true intention is to become like a god. The monoliths admit that humanity, as the progeny of Lilith born from the Black Moon, are the usurpers of the children of Adam born from the White Moon: the Angels. SEELE reminds him that while Kaworu has Adam’s soul, Gendo is in possession of Adam’s body.
Kaworu is able to control unit2 because he and all of the Evangelions, except Unit-01, are children of Adam. “the dominant soul has receded in unit2”
Kaworu notes that because the Evangelions are born of Adam, humans should see them as abominations. He is perplexed that in a desperate attempt to survive, the progeny of Lilith would actually resort to employing Adam-based life forms.
all life possesses an A.T. Field, which he describes as the “inner wall that we all possess.”
Rei neutralizes kaworus AT
“the one who deserves to live is the one who has the will to make it happen, he wished for death, he ignored his will to live, survival is not a mistake”
Episode 25
Shinji ---
“i had to kill him, he was enemy”
“I fear of being hated”
“I fear being hated by my father”
“if others hate me, what will I do?”
“i dont understand what i feel, somebody please help. somebody please tell me what i have to do”
“i pilot because everyone tells me to” “its for the sake of mankind, for others” “others appreciate me then, treat me well” “youre just making excuses, pretending youre sacrificing yourself, it makes you special to play the martyr” “you are being dependent, you live on sympathy” “you want people to need you” “you have to find your own happiness not wait for someone to give it to you”
Asuka ---
Separation anxiety
“you fear being alone” “you think you will lose your identity if others leave you”
Attachment behaviour
Rei ---
“you posess a false body and mind” “i am nor true or fake, i am simply me” “in your depths is the real self that youre ignoring, lurking in your shadows and deepest dreams” “i was formed by my interactions with others” “i create them as they create me” “but there is someone else, you dont know her but she exists” “you deny her because youre afraid she might not have human form” “you fear of becoming nothing, ceasing to exist”
“i want to die, i want to return to nothing, but he wont let me, because he needs me, but he will abandon me” “i wished for the day he abandons me, but now i fear it”
Instrumentality ---
people are lacking, loss in their hearts, fill the void in hearts by intrumentality of hearts and souls by returning to nothing
“it is not a return to nothing, it is a return to state of beginning”
lack gives rise to fear and insecurity, people fear the darkness in their heart
Misato ---
“i have to be a good child, because i have no dad, i have to help mom, but i dont want to become like my mom, i cant cry or depend on anyone, then my dad will not hate me i hope” “i hate my dad and being good, i am tired and i want to be disgraced”
“i slept with him because i loved him” “you sought peace in kajis arms” “you sought your father in kajis arms” “he was so much like father, i was the happiest, which is why i hated it” “you needed a reson to end our love""you were too kind to me” “punishing yourself is simply a cheat to make yourself feel better for a short while” “men always leave me behind, go to their work and escape harsh realities”
“the me who is recognized is the me who is performing a role” “thats not the real me, the real me is always crying”
“youre insecure unless someone is sleeping next to you” “you want to fill the hole in your heart with ectasy and temporary escape”
Asuka ---
“I want to live by myself”
asukas mother pressured to be a good mother, mother trying to avoid being a mother
“dont leave me, i will be good” “your papa hates your mama, lets die together, he doesnt want us”
“i am not wanted? i will think for myself and i will live by myself”
“she looked so happy dead, i hate how she looked”
“i dont want to depend on anyone, but i hate it at the same time, its a pain, i dont want to be alone”
Shinji ---
“you wished the annahilation of everyone” “no this is not what i wanted, please save me” “nobody can save you from yourself”
“this world exists for you, youre free to do anything” “this is the world where you wait for others to give you something” “this is your world unless you decide to change reality” “nothing can change the reality that is!” “no you yourself have to make decisions” “you wished a cold separated world where you could be comfortable by protecting your heart” theater in background
Episode 26
Shinji ---
“You fear hated by others” “you do the same” “at the core we are all the same” “we lack something, we fear that lack”
“we are unique, but wish to connect with others, that is what causes pain”
“i dont want to run away, running away is painful, because others will disrespect running away, please dont leave me”
“piloting eva gives me identity, i had no prior value, i have no other value” “i hate myself” “you belive that since you hate yourself, others hate you too” “but the praise me when i pilot” “if you put your identity on the eva alone, the real you will cease to exist” “you will then lose eva along with your self, like me (asuka)”
what do you want “dont hate me” what i fear is “rejection” what i want is “to connect and be recognized”
I wish the resultion to lonelieness and insecurity
“i want to be worth enough to attract the attention of others” “your value is something only you can find”
“my shape is just an identifier for others, so what am i” “so what i think is me, is me” “i am no more or less than then sum of my self awareness”
“nobody can understand me” “the only one who can take care of you and understand you is, you” “how can i love myself if i dont understand my self” “you can change the world anytime you wish”
With ultimate freedom, shinji still does not know what to do. Restriction gives comfort.
“with only myself i have nothing to interact with, i feel myself fading” “without others you cannot know your own shape” “by looking at the barrier between you and others you visualize your own shape”
“i can be any way i wish to be! but i still hate myself” “but it is your mind that separates reality in to bad and unpleasant” “the mind separates reality from truth” “any new position will change the perception of reality” “there are as many truths as there are people, and you have your own truth which you can decide” “your truth can change simply by the way you accept it”
“one who truly hates himself cant come to love and trust others”
“im cowardly, sneaky and weak” “see? if you understand yourself you can take care of yourself”
congratulations!
The End of Evangelion
Asuka overjoyed that mother is watching over her and she has barrier from everyone else. MP evas then rip that barrier, proving her wrong.
Misato motivating shinji, comforting him only way she knows? Bit of groomer vibes??? But after all eva started with shinji looking for misato, looking at a postcard she sent her, with her pic on it that had arrows pointing to her boobs and with a lipstick kiss on it
Gendo admits: “When Shinji is near me, all I ever do is cause him pain. I thought it was better when I did nothing at all… I didn’t believe that anyone could love me. I never deserved to be loved.”
Eva first goes explicitly meta, showing bad reviews and hate letters, going right into the cinema to the audience
Asuka finally rejects shinji: finally understood how empty shinji was, or how empty her need for shinjis approval was. “How disgusting”
Rebuild of Evangelion
Rebuilds seem like Eva, but for the younger generation
Brought up to modern standards with more budget
Simplified, less esoteric, lessons of the show are more explicit
More emphasis on Shinji taking responsibility by making him an irrefutable cause for Near 3rd Impact and a bit less about loving oneself
More meta about previous criticism “just get in the robot” memes etc
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone
“Mulle meeldib see uus still, nii puhas”
“Palju parem kui sarjas, esimene fight ei olnud lõigatud” - eva teab kuidas erinevatele generatsioonidele teha erinevalt
Shinji has more resolve, less enesehaletsus
Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance
Mari as self insert?
Shinji more relaxed and carefree? Actively tries to csre for others (like rei in fish museu)
Asuka more explicit, more attention towarss shinji (when going to sleep next to him)
Rei asking gendo dinner with everyone
Asuka openly jealous, cooking
Elevator talk asuka rei
Asuka opening up to misato
Shinji willing to lose humanity, “doesnt matter what happens ro me or anyone, i want ayanami back”
End credits kaworu “this time ill make you happy”
A new subplot is also introduced of Rei trying to bring the two Ikaris together for a dinner party. Gendo agrees to partake after he sees Yui reflected in Rei.
When the destruction of Unit 03 plays out like the original series, it’s even more tragic. Gendo was trying to connect with his son, but by forcing Shinji to watch one of his friends nearly be killed, Gendo pushed his son further away than ever before.
Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo
Guilt tripped for almost starting 3rd impact.
In a similar way to father, he was ready to sacrifice everything for rei.
DSS chocker, kills to prevent impact from starting by killing pilot if they are piloting and “succumb to emotions”, “device for safety, symbol of distrust and punishment”
“A single life is no longer worth anything” - asuka
Misato wants shinji to stay for the sake of everyone, shinji “what about my opinion? what i want?”
“shinji is less of an idiot and more of a brat” - asuka
Shinji more directly wants to ask gendo what is going on, gendo avoids.
kaworu connects with shinji over music, is understanding and listens.
kaworu shows shinji that he was responsible for mass exticntion, shinji - “this is too much to bear, i cant be responsible, theres nothing i can do!!!”
kaworu “you cant change what has been” shinji “i didnt do anything!” kaworu “however there is no unforgivable sin, there is still hope, there is always hope”
Fuyutsuki says to gendo that he should get closer to shinji, gendo refuses. Fuyutsuki gives shinji the truth himself.
shinji meltdown, everybody hates him, he didnt save rei (just a doll now), father is distant, weight of the world on his shoulders
Kaworu sacrafices himself by taking DSS choker just like in original series to save shinji/humanity.
Shinji “I will pilot the eva and change the world” to make everything right again. “with those spears we can redo everything and save the world”
shinji starts 4th impact “what do i do”
After 4th rei, asuka and shinji on the ground. Shinji zombified, asuka leading the charge, rei just following like a doll
Its not about if shinji “gets in the robot” or not, its about problems, unfaced shadows of shinji. In rebuilds he is “more of a brat” like asuka says in the beginnging of 3 but goes to show thatcthis does not fix anything, only makes things worse.
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time
Shinji in suzuhara’s village, unable to see life around him, only focusing on failure and fear. Anything good only creates more fear of ruining it.
Everybody understanding of shinji and rei: the other side of shinjis near third impact. He created both despair, mass extinction and villages with understanding like that (“All the troubles that followed brought them (Suzuhara and Hikari) closer together. Some good came out of that close call.“)
“Shinji you’ve fought a lifetime’s worth already”
Rei learning to become a separate self “you should do what you want to do” “choose a name”
Asuka force feeds Shinji “You should be grateful” “I bet you’re thinking about how everything you do turns for the worse and its all too late” “You don’t want to do anything because you know it’s all your fault” “Maybe it was on your fathers orders but you shouldn’t have piloted an eva.”
Rei is offered the kids book Ochibi and the Procupine
Asuka “always alone, always have been, thats how it is”
Asuka to Rei “you Ayanami series have been adjusted to hold affection towards the Third Boy (Shinji)” “I see… It doesn’t matter. I’m OK with how I feel”
Asuka “This isn’t a place to live in, it’s a place I protect”
Kensuke thinking of what he should’ve done with his father before death and says to Shinji “Even if you think it’s a waste of time, you should have a good talk with him” “Father and son, the ties will always be there”
Asuka to Mari about Shinji “That child does not need a lover, he needs a mother”
Asuka to Shinji “Did you figure out why I wanted to punch you?” “It’s because I couldn’t make up my mind. When you were inside Unit 3, I didn’t help you and I didn’t kill you”
Asuka to Shinji “That boxed lunch you made me, it was tasty. I think I had a crush on you then, but I’ve grown into an adult ahead of you”
Second impact purifies the oceans, 3rd the land, 4th the souls
Kill angels or be killed, mutually exclusive
Misato to Shinji “You would fight your father” “I want to, I want to settle it for myself” and accepts the DSS choker himself now
Misato “The only thing a son can do for his father is pat him on his shoulder… or kill him”
Spear of despair and spear of hope, longinus and cassius.
Gendo and Shinji fight for a while, shinji asks “whats going on? our moves are the same”
Gendo “Violence and fear are not the criteria upon which our conflict can be resolved”
Eva Imaginary, mind shapes the reality.
Shinji finally reaches out to his father, on his terms. Gendo explains to Shinji why he wants intrumentality. “Restful world, no barriers, where I can be with Yui again”
Shinji “I’m here because I want to learn about you. I stayed away from you even when I was lonely. I did that because I was afraid I’d finally find out if you disliked me or not. I want to know now, I want to know you, father.”
Gendo “I am afraid of Shinji?”
SDAT as symbol for generationl Ikari baggage. Shinji returning it to Gendo. “You were just like me” “Headphones cut me off too, protected me from the noise of others, helped me to feign indifference. And when I met Yui I no longer needed them”
Gendo “People say different things at different times. What am I supposed to accept?” “I feared forming bonds with other people” “there were two things I liked as child: one was knowledge” “I could satiate the hunger of my heart by” “The other thing I liked was the piano. A finely tuned wire would respond accurately to the key that was touched.” “There was no deception, betrayal, no disappointments there” “You showed that living could be enjoyable too, she was the only one to accept me as I was”
gendo “I am weak. Is that why I am forbidden to see you Yui?” shinji “I think you cannot see her because you’re not willing to accept your weaknesses”
“thank you misato” “youve learned to heed the aspirations of others and accept their deaths. You’ve grown to be an adult”
“Fulfilling a wish entails sacrifice” “I thought a child was a punishment upon myself” “Not meeting my child, not being there for him, I thought that would be redemption. I thought that would be best for my son.”
Part of growing up is learning to view your parents as people, no different from anyone else. By understanding your parents, you can better understand yourself. Gendo does what gendo should’ve done: hugged his son and apologized.
Kaworu “So, what do you wish for?” Shinji “I’m fine. I think I can handle pain and heartbreak.” optimistic piano chord played by kaworu “I have got to settle the score for what my father did”
on the EoE beach “I liked you too, goodbye Asuka”
Kaji to Kaworu “You didn’t want to bring about Shinji’s happiness. You wanted his happiness to make you happy.”
Shinji “I will rewrite the world so that it doesn’t have Evas. A world where new people can live.” Rei “Birth of a new world. Neon genesis.”
“Father wanted to see mother go. That’s the god slaying he wished for”
Shinji and Mari together, at the train station