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Episode 21: a great approach to an episode focused on the past, adding enough to everything that pored out before to confirm necessary implied informations and expand on some.
5/5
@Paleshika Most 26ish episodes TV series not based on pre-existing stories had this skeleton back when full TV shows were a thing (before the 13ep. trend):
- a single/double introductory episode,
- a first half of "one-shot" cases allowing to illustrate characters ways, with one or two elements slipped into it to create a mystery, plus a very few details giving informations sprinkled on that (often ones who had to be connected to later things in order to bring out something),
- the often double middle episode with a shock revelation or equivalent,
- the next half growing out of the previous compartmented aspect and regularly adding some more shocks/revelations. Sometimes fused with some more character themed episodes
- a double episode finale.
@Nishi_23 Yes, he has been assassinated.
Hum, didn't you notice that he was spying on the NERV/Gendô Ikari for the Seele, on the Seele for Ikari AND even did things for himself? (oh, and he shared infos with Misato) I guess you can say he was a "triple agent".
Now that you have read this, I think you understand who might have ordered his execution. ^^
About the "god thing", I don't remember the exact content of this episode so you'll have to remind me, sorry.
Numbers of things aren't said to the audience in words nor are the focus of dialogues. Maybe you are eating the episodes too fast, but I can't blame anyone for doing this when I was the same (the 26eps in 2days, the 1st time).
OK, if the english subtitles are that fast (bad fansub? the official french edition was only hard to read when there were plenty of translated signs/panels), you should indeed keep using "pause" when needed. This would be better than miss informations, subtly pointed out or outright said.
I can imagine that you already skipped quite a lot of important infos or foreshadowing.
@FMmatron Good news for you: the confirmation about Rei comes around the "Rei III" episode you are about to watch. Plus a bit more in ep.24.
@kawaiinekoloverWhy would Gendo want to make another god?
WHen is it said so? Gendô has his own goal, not the one of the SEELE. We are shown that he constantly tries to outstep them to his own advantage (he acquired Adam for hmself through Kaji pretty early in the show for example. Is the Second Impact caused by Seele?
I'm pretty sure that the recap episode or one a few episodes later clearly said what the Second Impact really was: the "first contact"' with a "god", Adam. And if you followed the SEELE origin episode (the recap one?), you are told that the Katsuragi (father of Misato) expedition sent to the South Pole to retrieve Adam and experiment on it was comissioned by the SEELE (or was it the Gehirn, its old name?). What triggered the Second Impact was what they did on this occasion. Only isato survived among the people that were on location. What happened to Kaji?
Well, when you are chased after by a worldwide shadow sect of powerful men after you were foolish enough to play the triple agent, when one of those people find you and shots at you the result is obvious. ^^ This show is starting to raise so many questions. I hope all these questions will be answered later.
Many questions won't be answered:
the series does not conclude the events chain but only the hero's inner progression instead, though the main idea of what happene dout there is easy to conceive
. The ones answered, you might have probably already gotten their "answer": it's mostly shown/deduced/whatever, in other worlds, not directly said in a sentence dedicated to it.
Have a nice watch (especially this great end)
@ShadowZ_AnimeZ Neither Ritsuko nor Misato killed Kaji. o_O
As for the director's cut? If you can, watch them instead of the TV episodes, because of the fixed details and the supplemntary scenes.
@JeremiahOrange Why Ritsuko? Always imagined that the alternative to Naoko's suicide was that she was murdered by Gendô.
Mai 3rd, 2019 @Kajo_Senpai69 "it makes me think back about all those Shinji×Rei moments and how weird it makes me feel now."
Why "weird"? Doesn't it clarify a lot about the relative "ease" of connection Shinji had with her (and vice-versa).
"a single mother having a one-night fling with a widowed father is a pretty inconsequential thing" I was under the impression it was something that lasted more than that (I easily imagined Gendô exploiting her attraction for him for a while without problem).
"her getting put down by security" It's nice to see you got yet another person behind her death (many viewers often believed it was a suicide, while others are leaning toward Gendô doing it himself).
"Katsuragi was forced to put Kaji down." Hey, what?? "to put down" like in "killing him"? It was obviously either NERV or SEELE's henchmen.
May 17th, 2019
@2ego Hum, what? How can a widower be caught cheating?
June 4, 2019 @retr0ali Yes. For the episodes who were recut with added scenes/montages (ep21 up to 24).
The episodes durations, plain and simply. DC versions are longer than the TV cuts, obviously. (exact durations are available on the Internet but I don't think it's useful)
November 12, 2019 @ViniSDthat kid Rei it's the same that the present Rei, or it's another clone?
Obviously, 'little Rei" is dead, killed 10 years ago by Naoko before she "committed suicide". I still have no idea of what the Dead Sea Scrolls are. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_Scrolls
In the Evangelion "mythology", the Gehirn/Seele (the old men sect) exploited them to get informations (Adam, Impact, Angels...).
I hope you'll love the end of TV.
January 15, 2019 @LordQuaz Maybe every character doesn't actually "need a romantic subplot" since their existence greatly depend on how the watcher received the épisodes, this one (and the film) in Fuyutsuki's case.
January 6, 2021 @Code0018 Gendô entered the secret organization/sect through Yui's connections if I remember well. The EVA are kind of made based on the giant they discovered, yes.
Yes, he had an affair with her. I guess it made it easier to exploit her.
"One could presume" Bingo.
Nice to see that, unlike so many internauts claim nowadays, the series actually makes sense in a rather easy way (thanks to such episodes and the numerous hints given prior to them through past dialogues, pictures and/or events).
March 15, 2021 @Manwagy2020 Murdered? Possibly. Her brain? No. Magi has no biological brain hidden somewhere in its electronic. What it does have is three different "ways of thinking" (sub-"AIs") that Ryôko made based on how she thoughts of herself.
June 17th, 2021 @DefeatingMe At least, you got both strongly implied.
I'm also confused as to why Gendo and Ritsuko's mother kissed. Is this significant or is it something that just happened because they're human? Rei said Gendo said he didn't "need her anymore".
It's a way to show that they were having an affair. It was already implied they were into some kind of heated / bad relationship (without letting us know if it was personal or professional) in the episode of MAGI's invasion by a computer virus-like angel (the note Naoko left somewhere in Magi, "Ikari, [insert the insult I've forgotten]") and in this "flashback" or another episode you can even hear that Yui had disappeared (the EVA1 experiment) according to Naoko's wish (she had been tasked with salvaging Yui from LCL and the recovery plan failed).
From that, Gendo's clear lack of interest for her and Rei I's quote of him, he probably more or less let the intimate relationship happen to have a better hold of her. (Maybe. Maybe other reasons too.) Just like he did with the daughter, Ritsuko, afterward.
Fuck,that was heavy content, but I liked this episode and the backround storytelling. It gave more insight on the characters and things seem clearer now.
The thing I'm still asking myself the most right now is, what is Rei ?
R.i.p Kaji :/
One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron
It's kinda hard to keep track of all the information the episode was giving. I still have some questions for the series. Why would Gendo want to make another god? Is the Second Impact caused by Seele? What happened to Kaji? I hope all these questions will be answered later. This show is starting to raise so many questions.
Misato's backstory was the most interesting part of this episode. She transformed from a mute, traumatized girl to fighting back and becoming the loud girl we know today (with the stamina to apparently have sex for a whole week).
Did Shinji see his mom disappear in that experiment? Does he remember it? That could explain a lot of why he's so screwed up.
Did Kaji get killed? Gee...Misato's having a rough week already, but this on top of it...she's gonna be just as screwed up as the EVA pilots.
"No, son, you may not have your body pillow at the dinner table!"
So many backstories and revelation! At one point, I thought Ritsuko's mother proceeds to have sex after she kissed Gendo which resulted in both of them having a child named Rei. BUT I WAS GLADLY WRONG!!!
There are still some mysteries such as where and who did Rei came from. Gendo's acquaintance sounds like a cover-up.
And how exactly did Shinji's mother died?
Also, Rei is already killed by Ritsuko's mother, which cause her to kill herself. But in the present time, Rei is still alive!
Mitsuko killing Keiji is really sudden.
Akagi's mom is such a bitch. I am glad that she killed herself/Akagi murdered her. But Rei as a child is cute and so kawaii. Akagi's mom is a old hag. For killing Yui.
And Kaji is dead. No surprise there.
I am feeling impatient already. Other than the info dumps provided.
It may be possible that Akagi's mom killed Yui so that she can get with the director.
I hope that we understand more about Rei.
And I think Shingeki no Kyojin took some stuff from this anime. Though I could be wrong.
Without change,we end up becoming the very person we hate.
I was dead until the moment I met you. I was a powerless corpse pretending to be alive. Living without power, without the ability to change my course, was bound to lead me to a slow death.
That cold opening was so damn intense. Imagining that footage as an event happening in real life made me sick to my stomach with dread. A staggering start to this episode. Thinking about it now still gives me chills.
@JeremiahOrange Why Ritsuko? Always imagined that the alternative to Naoko's suicide was that she was murdered by Gendô.
@Rei366 That thought never crossed my mind, even though it should have. I always thought of Gendo as the harmless one, the one who is calm and clear about things, even though he was clearly pulling most of the strings.
I thought it was Ritsuko before cause she said that she hated her mom. And
she just went on to do even worse than her mom. I hated it when she killed all the clones of Rei.(Though it MAY OR MAY NOT have improved Rei's further outlook on life, seeing as it made her realize the importance of her life.)
.
To me, Gendo is the second coolest person in NGE(
The first being Rei/Zero, obviously.
), cause even though he is dormant most of the time, when he takes control, it is so goddamn epic.
Without change,we end up becoming the very person we hate.
I was dead until the moment I met you. I was a powerless corpse pretending to be alive. Living without power, without the ability to change my course, was bound to lead me to a slow death.
It was interesting to see the past of those who had created the very foundations of NERV and how they lived they lived their lives right before the Evas even had pilots. Gendo kept Yui's last name instead because she's the reputable one among the two and he pretty much ended up using her last name as a leverage to get in better terms with SEELE after that accident she had with Unit 00's prototype. That implication that Rei might be some sort of clone of Yui Ikari's quite a surprise and it makes me think back about all those Shinji×Rei moments and how weird it makes me feel now.
While it's pretty distasteful to have an affair in general, a single mother having a one-night fling with a widowed father is a pretty inconsequential thing since there weren't anyone they're cheating on at the time anymore. Rei might've just been a kid who's repeating what her asshat father said behind Akagi's back but she really was unbearable to the point of asking to be strangled. It's really unfortunate that it reached that point with her getting put down by security after she did so much for the organization. So that's how she tried to stuck to her dignity as a woman until the very end...
Katsuragi was forced to put Kaji down after he got caught in his activities and that last message at the end was heartbreaking. He was a really shady character but looking back on it made me realize that he wasn't that bad of a person after all.
Goddamn a lot of information this episode, a lot happened. First, Shinji's father is actually a faggot, literally a faggot...not only did he cheat, he also straight up threw the woman he cheated with in a trash can... Ah, poor Katsuragi, I felt bad for her at the end.
i already knew what was going to happen because of the manga but damn.... what an episode. also a lot of people are recommending watching the directors cut?
@Rei366 now i'm confused if i initially watched the director's cut versions of those episodes haha. is there a way to tell off the bat?
retr0ali said: i already knew what was going to happen because of the manga but damn.... what an episode. also a lot of people are recommending watching the directors cut?
@Rei366 now i'm confused if i initially watched the director's cut versions of those episodes haha. is there a way to tell off the bat?
Well, if you watched on Netflix, the episode is 29min instead of the standard 23-24 minutes, so I'm under the assumption it was the DC? Also interested if anyone knows the actual answer.
retr0ali said: i already knew what was going to happen because of the manga but damn.... what an episode. also a lot of people are recommending watching the directors cut?
@Rei366 now i'm confused if i initially watched the director's cut versions of those episodes haha. is there a way to tell off the bat?
Well, if you watched on Netflix, the episode is 29min instead of the standard 23-24 minutes, so I'm under the assumption it was the DC? Also interested if anyone knows the actual answer.
I wasn't watching on Netflix, but it did end up being the DC. (where I was watching it)
I remember when I watched this episode back in the day (must have 1999) it felt like a gift from heaven. Finally, finally much needed explanations on to the background of everything that is going on. And while the puzzle is far from complete, you get enough to get a pretty good idea of how things ended up being like they are.
And people on this thread, lol, saying it's just boring explanations...did they even watch the same thing? There's drama galore, arrests, interrogations conspiracies, love triangles, suicide, infanticide, execution of a major character and cute teenage Ritsu-chan in a high school uniform. Oh and Gendo has always been an asshole.
The voice acting is out of this world too. Misato's seiyuu crying at the end and Megumi Hayshibara doing both Yui Ikari as well as child Rei...amazing.
"Perhaps there is a universal, absolute truth. Perhaps it justifies every question. But that's beyond the reach of these small hands." Mamoru Oshii
There is a cult of ignorance (...) nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” Isaac Asimov
Farabeuf said: I remember when I watched this episode back in the day (must have 1999) it felt like a gift from heaven. Finally, finally much needed explanations on to the background of everything that is going on. And while the puzzle is far from complete, you get enough to get a pretty good idea of how things ended up being like they are.
And people on this thread, lol, saying it's just boring explanations...did they even watch the same thing? There's drama galore, arrests, interrogations conspiracies, love triangles, suicide, infanticide, execution of a major character and cute teenage Ritsu-chan in a high school uniform. Oh and Gendo has always been an asshole.
The voice acting is out of this world too. Misato's seiyuu crying at the end and Megumi Hayshibara doing both Yui Ikari as well as child Rei...amazing.
Unfortunately it's a different generation... Evangelion doesn't hit today's audience like when we were in the 90's and 00's. For me, it's still a masterpiece.
Damn, there's just so many information. It's no wonder they had to do this in 29 minutes instead of the usual 24-25 mins.
The biggest is the formation of Seele and Nerv as well as Ritsuko's mother "Akagi" developing "Magi", having feelings to Ikari as well as her death by suicide due to "killing" Rei.
Still, it is mysterious as to how Ikari found Rei. It's obvious is probably something to do with Yui. They even share the same Seiyuu after all.
Fuyutsuki and Ikari meeting as well as how the 2nd impact happen. Seems Ikari already predicted all of this.
The confusing part is how many organizations keep forming. Project E (Adam), Seele and now was slowly transformed into Nerv and the Human Instrumentality Project.
Feel sorry for Katsuragi. Kaiji was probably killed due to him already leaking too many info. Unless he faked his own death which is possible, but unlikely :\
retr0ali said: i already knew what was going to happen because of the manga but damn.... what an episode. also a lot of people are recommending watching the directors cut?
@Rei366 now i'm confused if i initially watched the director's cut versions of those episodes haha. is there a way to tell off the bat?
Well, if you watched on Netflix, the episode is 29min instead of the standard 23-24 minutes, so I'm under the assumption it was the DC? Also interested if anyone knows the actual answer.
I wasn't watching on Netflix, but it did end up being the DC. (where I was watching it)
where did you guys watched the director's cut episodes?
Rei_III said: @castbound123 On Netflix for most recent answers here, on the European "Platinum Edition" (DVD set with the TV cuts on a bonus DVD, 10€ ) for me.
Thanks for the info man! However, the one that I downloaded online was already Dc eps. I've researched that when the ep's you've watched are 26+ mins longer than the normal then they're surely dc's already :)
Great episode, it was good to see more about the past of the characters.
Things are still confusing. So Rei is a clone or something like that from Shinji's mother. At least that was what I understood. But that kid Rei it's the same that the present Rei, or it's another clone?
So they knew that the second impact was going to happen. I wonder if Adam was as human creation. Also, they mentioned a third impact that will happen, this is interesting.
I still have no idea of what the Dead Sea Scroll is. It's like a instruction of what to do to prevent the third impact? And who wrote it? I have so many questions.
@Rei_III
Thanks for the informations, it was really useful. I always read yours posts in every episode topic, they are very informative. Since you know so much about Evangelion, I would like to ask you something.
I always see people suggesting how to watch the ending of the series. Some say to watch the 26 episodes and then End of Evangelion, but there are people that say to watch until episode 24, then watch End of Evangelion, and finally watch episode 25-26. There is people who say to skip episodes 25 and 26 entirely, but for me this is out of question, since I want to watch everything. I was thinking to watch in the conventional way, all 26 episodes and then End of Evangelion. What do you recommend?
Sure, we left off last episode with Shinji, seemingly by sheer willpower, rematerializing Dr. Manhattan style. Great time to completely shift gears and dive into a backstory episode... i guess. No need to see any characters except Misato react to this... sigh. Also, I guess every single character needs a romantic subplot, huh? Even the deputy director, with his feelings for Shinji's mum. At least we're starting to see glimpses of the truth about NERF and the EVAs and Rei, but man, this show is not dope at directing its energy
HUGE info dump this ep. But extremely interesting. Seeing Shinjis mums face from the side I thought immediately she must have some sort of connection with Rei.
Rei saying the thing about hags was pretty creepy. I'm not sure if she is a clone or what the go is but clearly there's a memory connection there.
Rajis phone message was quite sad.
I feel like there is still some sort of major plot twist that hasn't been revealed just yet.
last episode ended with kaji and misato getting it on and this one starts with the abduction of the vice commander and goes on to have loads of flashbacks..... so......... nothing about how shinji basically went to the astral plane and was reborn from the eva? because that wasn't the craziest thing to happen ever?? yeah sure this kind of thing must happen all the time, nothing more to discuss guys! just another normal day at work! move along!
misato best girl <3
and gendo worst guy
how did yui die exactly? and omgggg is rei a "rebirth" of yui??? that's so freaky, no wonder gendo is so attached to her and rei is so responsive to him
so over the last month or so i've been rewatching this (very slowly looool) and i still absolutely adore it. ticks so many of my boxes. i've rewatched the first 20 episodes, i'm going to watch the director's cut of 21-24 then death & rebirth then end of evangelion just to see everything i can :):):)
i'll be totally honest, i don't remember all of the original episode woops so i don't know which scenes are new. but as far as i can tell, the scenes before the opening song, fuyutsuki as an underground doctor, and yui, fuyutsuki and shinji by the lake are new, i don't remember those.
also is yui's voice actress the same as rei's? they sound quite similar to me? it would make sense if it was
this time watching the show i warmed a bit more to kaji, it would have been great to know a bit more about him but his heart seemed to be in the right place and it was a shame that he died
misato is still my number one girl i love her <3 and gendo you suck <3<3<3
I hope I didn't make mistake by watching director's cut which was an amazing thing. Of course the amount of information that we get in this episode is unbelievably high and understanding everything is just not an easy at all task.
Nerv is a very shady place to work at, the amount of creepy expierimenting and mysteries just make this one hell of organization
Year 2000, Antarctica.
Gendo.
Its walking. Spreading its wings.
Dat white body.
Top secret.
Kaji.
Misato.
Kaji kidnapped the vice commander?
Fuyutsuki.
Year 1999, Kyoto.
Yui Ikari.
3rd option? Domestic life?
Gendo.... Rokubungi?
Gendo. No glasses.
Yui is seeing Gendo.
Second Impact.
Gendo and Yui got married. Gendo Ikari.
They have a child.
Misato.
Year 2003, Hakone.
Yui.
Akagi.
Ritsuko. Her hair.
Eva.
Unit 00.
2005.
Baby Shinji.
Yui's last words.
The HIP.
2008.
Ritsuko is 23.
Gendo and Akagi making out?
2010.
Little Rei.
Rei looks like Yui?
Oh shit! Rei got mouth!
Oh shit! Rei getting Homer'd.
Suicide?
Kaji.
Dat gun shot?
Dat message.
Misato's tears.
Shinji goes back to his room.
He's a child.
Dat ending.
What an episode. Rei got mouth. Called Akagi obaasan. lol So Gendo left on the 11th and Second Impact happened the next day on Sept 12th. Now we know when it happened. And this is why Akagi called Gendo a baka. As expected. Shinji Rokubungi. Has a nice ring to it. lol
If you see that my post is exactly 1 month old (or more) from when it was posted... Don't waste your time, especially when you want to reply with something petty & insignificant. Assume that I've moved on (because I have).
shit bro, that was great. Really liked how they intertwined the members of NERV like Ritsuko and her mom, Gendou and his wife, Misato and Rei pasts, into the after events of the second impact and the creation of NERV itself.
A lot to digest, but from what i got was, Gendou was already studying on the second impact, using Professor Fuyutsuki for links to Yui and mainly her research to help improve his own, later entering a relationship with her. Avoided the second impact with said research, later secretly joining an organisation that specialized in the second impact and it's events and research. Gendou and Naoko, while creating Magi, also started on the Eva project, having a somewhat clone(???) oh Eva. Yui volunteered i guess to pilot it, however it failed and she died , which stuck with Gendou. Later convinced Fuyutsuki to start the next project, something to do with obtaining "godhood".
Gendou then has a some what affair with Naoko?? (Not 100% sure on this ) Soon after Magi's theory is complete,
one could presume Gendou achieved the ability to clone humans to some degree, cloning Yui, into the form of Rei. Naoko although saying she found nothing on Rei, found out later down the line, thats why stating after killing Rei that she "can be replaced" and that "there were many more" (still unsure on this)
Naoko is killed, later splitting the past organisation into the NERV today.
Please correct me if i'm wrong, most of this is what i thought happened, and might be super far fetched.
January 6, 2020 @Code0018 Gendô entered the secret organization/sect through Yui's connections if I remember well. The EVA are kind of made based on the giant they discovered, yes.
Yes, he had an affair with her. I guess it made it easier to exploit her.
"One could presume" Bingo.
Nice to see that, unlike so many internauts claim nowadays, the series actually makes sense in a rather easy way (thanks to such episodes and the numerous hints given prior to them through past dialogues, pictures and/or events).
Thanks for the answer! This is my first shot at the series so i'm still trying to fully wrap my head around it, but many thanks for helping to clear some explanations up as well.
pickboy87 said: Quite a lot of information to absorb. I got pretty lost half way through it, too many organizations to keep track of and what people were doing.
This episode should have been expanded over a couple episodes to fully clarify what the hell has been going on this entire time.
I hope Kaji isn't dead...but it's more than likely the case. Can't wait for the next episode.
That Rei scene with Dr Akgai was nuts lol. So was she eventually murdered and her brain then implemented in the MAGI?
On a whole so far, every epsiode feels so dense, it's literally impossible to binge this series. You gotta take it slow, its feels more impactful that way and helps you absorb all the nuances in this really iconic and well written series.
Wooow, so I guess this was a deeper episode huh? Lots of really interesting backstory.
The comment above mine resonates with me a lot lol. Subconsciously, I was thinking the same thing. A lot of this show is like a math class, where you retain part of the stuff you learn during the teacher's rapid-fire lecture and then inevitably forget most of it, only to faintly recognize the material in the next class. I need to cement the show's lore in my brain by watching a second time. Only then will this episode REALLY make sense to me, because I definitely have a lot of questions.
It's so relieving seeing all the other forums posts about this episode (and others) being DENSE DENSE DENSE with information. And others being equally confused as me lol. NGE is still VERY entertaining for me, and I understand the basic premise and roughly 75% of the info they feed to us. But then things get jumbled and interconnected and I can't memorize some of the terminologies they throw at us.
-
This may be ignorant, but in an alternate reality, if this were an earlier episode or prologue or prequel, not much would be spoiled, right? This is more-so context for things that have already been implied?
On a different note, I remember back to when Shinji called Rei motherly, or something. When Shinji's mother, who Gendo seemed to genuinely love, died, Gendo's demeanor changed and so forth came Rei, who has very similar qualities to the mother. Not to mention blue hair and red eyes, and the phrase "she/you can be replaced" ... I know nothing about this series other than what I've gathered from this concurrent binge, but Rei must be an artificial human of some sort, right. And I'm guessing she has DNA from Shinji's mother? Which is why Gendo is so affectionate toward her?
Still, even-so, I wonder why Gendo is more affectionate toward Rei than Shinji if they're technically both his children. I wonder what Shinji did or didn't do to make his father so cold toward him. I mean, Gendo is cold toward everyone but his favoritism for Rei is something to be noted.
... also, people ship Shinji and Rei... but if my aforementioned thoughts are correct, aren't they siblings in a way? Or does this not turn out to be the case...
I'm also confused as to why Gendo and Ritsuko's mother kissed. Is this significant or is it something that just happened because they're human? Rei said Gendo said he didn't "need her anymore".
I'm just really stupid dense. My bad.
It was entertaining seeing Gendo's past, though. As Shinji's mother's. And the older guy, whose name I STILL haven't gathered -- it's interesting that much of this episode was told from his perspective. And that he was originally against Gendo's methods.
Seeing the evolution of the Seele, NERV, and pretty much the world, over the years in the NGE universe was quite intriguing.
I still think that this episode could properly serve as a prequel or prologue in an alternate universe without spoiling a lot of the show, HOWEVER, I also think you'd need to have watched a great portion of this show to appreciate the new context they're introducing.
And the characters seem to be more intertwined than we thought.
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Mitsuko crying was pretty sad. Good VA and expressions (on animator's part). Kaji's voicemail was effective too. Good delivery.
Although I've been noticing a lack of the penguin as of late. How did Mitsuko come to acquire a penguin, again? There's probably an explanation considering the mentions of Antarctic in this and several episodes.
Kaj is dead :(
I thought he was an ass and now I think he was a great character.
Watched the Director's cut. Seems to be like 5 minutes longer so I guess even more backstory than the theatrical cut? Holy shit Akagi's mom killed Shinji's!
If the EVAs are based off of ADAM, why aren't they called Cain or Able? I suppose EVA is supposed to be a derivative of Eve, but with all the biblical references it's still a bit odd to me.