The world did not need more Evangelion. The original series and its capstone film still exist, and are still phenomenal; the Rebuild series could not recapture that lightning in a bottle, nor could it meaningfully improve on the artistry with which Gainax and their collaborators first brought their ideas to life. The original Evangelion was a masterpiece that permanently altered its medium, for better and for worse. The Rebuilds can only hope to echo or augment their predecessor, whatever power they might possess existing largely because they are positioned on the shoulders of a colossus.
Tag Archives: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Neon Genesis Evangelion – Episode 24
The words of Cruel Angel’s Thesis speak of a boy on the threshold of greatness, the wind of destiny wafting through the open door, wings only waiting to be unfurled adorning his shoulders. And yet the boy hesitates, “desperate for that gentle touch,” his gaze focused solely on the protector beside him. Generations of audiences have interpreted this metaphor of awakening in their own ways, whether to point out Anno’s clear antipathy towards the perpetual adolescence of fandom, the ways in which Evangelion echoes and reifies the heroic journeys of prior mecha pilots, or Evangelion’s own obsession with human connection and distrust of “adulthood.” Of course, Anno did not write Cruel Angel’s Thesis; if he did, I somehow doubt the song would proceed with such confidence, such assurance that any hesitant boy will one day learn he has the wings to take flight.
Neon Genesis Evangelion – Episode 23
Darkness looms over Misato’s apartment as we return to Shinji’s caretaker, now cocooned in the repetition of a painful, desperate ritual. Instant ramen cups lie unattended and spoiling on the floor, beer cans stack up around her bed, and a familiar voice hangs in the air: Kaji’s final message, Misato’s last connection to the man she loved. His encouragement to “go forward without any hesitation” rings bitterly hollow as Misato hunches over her desk, happier to hunch in this loop of familiar feedback rather than strike out into the cold, lonely world.
Neon Genesis Evangelion – Episode 22
A full moon draws us back to earth after an episode of painful revelation. After spending so much of this series guessing at the intent behind Gendo and his compatriots’ actions, the reveal of NERV’s origins proved more harrowing than we could have imagined. Not because the goals of this group are so ominous or esoteric; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. By drawing back the veil cloaking Seele, Gehirn, and NERV, Evangelion has revealed that its architects are driven by motives just as petty and human as the rest of us.
Neon Genesis Evangelion – Episode 21
After twenty episodes of increasingly claustrophobic drama, with our perspective perpetually honing closer into the psychological disarray of Shinji and his companions, Evangelion’s twenty-first episode offers an unexpected broadening of the camera’s frame. No longer must we guess and wonder at the motivations inspiring Gendo, Fuyutsuki, or Ritsuko Akagi; episode twenty-one brings us right back to the beginning, charting a course from the Second Impact through the formation of NERV and the first Eva tests. At last, the grand mysteries of Evangelion will finally be revealed!
Neon Genesis Evangelion – Episode 20
Dull green eyes possessing a keen yet feral intelligence. Gleaming teeth that rip and tear with abandon, uncomfortably human in shape. Bulging muscles that test and snap their bindings, revealing the grotesque organism beneath the metal shell. Too human and also not enough – uncanny in its scale and alarming in its movement, like some great and bloody wolf that has risen on its hindquarters, nose drifting in search of threat or quarry. In order to fight angels, mankind has conscripted devils. Unit 01 is free.
Neon Genesis Evangelion – Episode 19
We begin shortly after the last episode’s grotesque conclusion, with Shinji still in the pilot seat. Not because he’s been forced to, not because he can’t escape, but instead because he refuses to leave. Having witnessed what his father is capable of, having been made complicit in this violence upon his friend Toji, Shinji has at last reached his moral limit. A grim irony there; if Shinji had a more compassionate father, one who actually wanted to see his son succeed, this would likely be a moment of pride. His anxious son, who has so often simply gone with the flow and accepted the directions of others, is at last making a stand for something he believes in. But Gendo does not want his son to be a young man of firm convictions and unerring moral character; he wants Shinji to be a tool, and Shinji is now proving himself a defective one
Neon Genesis Evangelion – Episode 18
We begin on an ominous cold open, as Unit 03 is transported from the remains of the US base to Japan, a grim specter lurking within the clouds. The Eva units have never felt exactly comforting; in fact, our very first image of Unit 01 comes as a terrible shock, a monster that our young Shinji is somehow supposed to bend to his will. The arrival of a giant robot, particularly one with a young human pilot, has traditionally been a moment imbued with optimism and excitement, the moment our proud technology rises to rally against the chaotic forces of the universe. But while the angels are certainly ominous in their own unknowable way, the Eva units are clearly monsters, creatures with cold eyes and cruel teeth and uncertain wills of their own.
Neon Genesis Evangelion – Episode 17
Rather than referring to some psychoanalytical concept or opaque descriptor of the drama to come, Neon Genesis Evangelion’s seventeenth episode is named, quite simply, “Fourth Child.” It is a name that refers to NERV’s conceptually vague yet tonally specific designations for the Eva pilots – Rei is the first child, Asuka the second, and Shinji the third, implying a fourth pilot has finally been secured. Like the use of “angel” as the designation for humanity’s enemies, explicitly referring to the pilots as children carries a certain implication; it frames their battles as something like a meeting of innocents, the curious yet inherently destructive angels reaching out towards the untested, unmolded fruit of humanity. As the previous episode revealed, it is unclear if these angels even mean direct harm to their opponents, or if they simply lack a vector for expressing their intent. If true, they are little different from Shinji himself, who has so much difficulty finding a common language even with his fellow human beings.
Neon Genesis Evangelion – Episode 16
After a season and change of cloaking its personal inquiry in the trappings of a more or less traditional, episodic giant robot anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion’s sixteenth episode represents a formal casting off of its genre pretensions, in favor of directly interrogating the psychology of its forlorn protagonists. This is less dramatic of a transition than some might argue; given the overwhelming focus on cast psychology that has characterized these writeups, you wouldn’t be surprised to learn I see this process as more fulfillment of the show’s lurking ambitions than a genuine shifting of its trajectory. But premeditated or not, this is undeniably the moment when Evangelion fully strayed from its design document, embracing a prioritization of psychoanalysis that to Anno seemed the only way to fully respect the characters he’d conceived, the audience he was seeking, and the hope of happiness he still carried for himself.