Evangelion and the Duality of Man

It’s a dark Thursday evening for me, a broke college student password sharing Netflix with a friend. I’ve done my college schoolwork, not particularly taking an enjoyment toward the chemistry homework and liking cell signaling slightly better. 

I took on Neon Genesis: Evangelion (NGE) at the suggestion of my friend. It was on Netflix and I had to use Netflix to watch four episodes of Crash Landing on You (do you like romantic cringe? This is for you!) for English Literature. It seemed like the perfect excuse to finally watch the show that my friend had been flooding my DMs on Instagram and Discord with. 

The slate that day: Episodes 19 and 20 of NGE. It’s the episode where Shinji has to nearly kill Toji, and where we learn the true nature of Shinji’s upbringing and get to know his mom. 

The slate ends and I am thoroughly satisfied by the episodes, whilst at the same time, being absolutely horrified at Gendo. I turn on Instagram for my customary doomscroll, see a few cute memes of Rei dolls being dressed up and taken around, and go to sleep. The next day was a Friday, and the day after was a Saturday, and I’d finally have the freedom (and a car!). I don’t take my car to school) to go pursue some of the Evangelion-related print media that went beyond the show. Particularly of interest to me was Der Monde (the illustrations book involving the original show, so NGE and End of Evangelion [no, I am NOT going into detail of that movie again]), and Illustrations, the book covering the artwork of the pilots from 2007-2017 (so the bulk of the rebuild). The bookstore only had in stock Illustrations, so that is what I got to view. 

I, admittedly, got very excited about finally seeing an Evangelion book, particularly one of artwork. It was a good book, very nice illustrations. But one thing in particular stuck out to me. 

—

We all love advertising. Tourists to Piccadilly Circus or Times Square send back screenshots and Instagram posts of themselves, smiling happily as the LED screens in the background bombard them with ads on whatever product is popular that day. 

The human relationship with advertisement is a complicated one. Without advertising, with very few exceptions (Arizona Tea my beloved, though word-of-mouth is probably the most powerful form of adverts), there would be no market economy. Without ads, we wouldn’t be here in a state of late-form capitalism. Without ads, we wouldn’t see a more centralized market with several companies controlling much of the money (Be honest with yourself. Name me three phone manufacturers outside of Apple and Samsung.). 

Ads have the ability to tell a story. They need to tell a story or convey a message quickly. We have the attention span of an overhyper teenager (LOOKING RIGHT AT YOU, KINGSBURY), and ad makers know this. How quickly can an artist tell us what they’re selling and why they’re selling the product? You could go the telemarketer route and try to shove in as much testimonial as you can. You could go the quickfire route and shove in characters holding your gear as product placement. How will you bait my friend into paying for a Hauptwerk subscription month after month (Hauptwerk is a virtual organ software)?

I digress. Grace, I apologize. 

Evangelion has mastered the fine balance between obstinate overstimulation with getting the point across. Go to Japan on a whim and look at the adverts. Asuka is advertising something for Casetify. Rei is portrayed walking out of a 7Eleven. Columbia of all brands collaborated with Evangelion. A brand that I might ACTUALLY BUY (I like Columbia but I buy Patagonia or hockey-branded jackets more often than not) is being used by fictional characters I could watch on screen. 

Let’s look deeper into some of the adverts. Asuka is at a creek, smiling as she slips on some of the creek wading shoes that Columbia made for Evangelion. Mari is smiling as she walks out of a 7Eleven. Heck, even the Rebuild movies have product placement. As Misato is shopping for food as she first takes Shinji to her apartment, you can clearly see a bag of Frito Lay chips (Walkers or Lays, it doesn’t matter, the point is made) in her shopping cart. I am admittedly a bit of a corporate sheep who buys a lot of branded gear (as of the writing of this paper, I just dropped $350 on a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey), but there is a pull to seeing your favorite character showing you something you might actually buy. They’re smiling too. All of them are smiling. Gendo, at long last, is smiling as he shaves himself using a Schick razor. As I flip through Illustrations, I see the tourist ads for Hakone, the coffee ads, the ads with Misato and a Honda Civic. It’s all shit I might use on a daily basis (I drive a Honda Accord. I’m the male version of Misato?). 

—

Andrew complains about commercialism. Just another day with him and a platform to run his mouth. Andrew needs to cope, everyone advertises, think of all the progress we’d miss. And admit it. You have the Alpine ad with Misato and Asuka as a sticker on your computer!

There’s a point to all this. 

Smiling, happiness, as the characters use the products in their advertising. 

This is the same show and franchise, I will remind you, that got the hospital scene around censors. What happiness?

It’s a long introduction to say one thing. Neon Genesis Evangelion is a show that thrives off of the contrast, struggle, and duality of mankind. And once you notice those patterns for the first time, you can’t stop looking for them and using them to enhance your watch experience.

—

Shinji Ikari is a broken man. The kid is never officially labeled, but according to many psychological studies done on the show, the dude has, at the bare minimum, MASSIVE bouts of depression with a severely crippling anxiety disorder. As we learn later in the show (Episodes 25 and 26), he’s mostly here for personal praise. As selfish as this sounds, there is a sound logical basis to why he’s the way he is, a praise whore. After his mother’s death, his father left him, and he spent most of his time as a loner living with teachers before Misato took him in. There are entire Instagram accounts pretending that he’s listening to musical hits on his Walkman on the train (my personal favorite, Oasis’s Wonderwall). The dude is depressed, and his actions confirm it. 

But at the same time, many times as portrayed and seen during the show, is the pilot that all at NERV go through. Asuka is more talented than him, but the mental breakdown renders her completely useless. Rei is not as talented and is piloting Unit 00, a prototype Evangelion. Shinji is the pilot with the highest sync rate with his Eva, and his grounding significantly hampers the plans of NERV. 

To use a hockey metaphor here, imagine the 1990s Detroit Red Wings. Sergei Fedorov is Asuka. Fedorov was the single most hockey talented player the Wings have ever had. His flair, skill, offensive and defensive acumen, and sheer skill made many a young child a Red Wings fan. Rei is Steve Yzerman. The reliable rock that always put his duty as Wings captain over all others. He didn’t have the talent of Fedorov, but he was a damn good player on his own. The heart of the Red Wings, putting duty over self, much like Rei did. No sane man faces an angry Ramiel without putting her job and role of NERV over her own self. 

But on that Red Wings team, no man was more influential than Nicklas Lidstrom. Lidstrom is one of my all-time favorite players, so I might be biased. I do not care. He is, as described by his teammates, the Perfect Human. His top was always pressed, his stick tape clean. If Fedorov was the spark plug and Yzerman the heart and soul, then Lidstrom was the defensive engine that kept the team running. When he was missing, the team felt it. 

Shinji is the engine of the Three Children. Without him, NERV would have probably been down and out many times. Without him going berserk and eating angels, NERV would no longer exist and NGE would resemble more of a Shakespearean tragedy more than an anime. 

But think of contrast, my friend. 

Shinji is not the perfect human. He’s kind of selfish; he laps up praise like a little lap dog. Lidstrom, in his over 20 years in Detroit, was known as a humble man. Shinji, when he does something, isn’t necessarily bragging but is very inside of himself beating himself up. But nothing about this series is perfect. Gendo and Shinji are very similar, with actually slightly similar mannerisms. They’re rather final or floppish with decisions. They will not overturn things they are committed to, but Gendo, much like his son, is dealing with great separation anxiety. It’s clear there is a hole somewhere. 

(Except that Gendo goes really far and basically clones his dead wife over and over again. The “I ended the world in three timelines for the same pussy” is apt here.)

So a lack of contrast actually can build us a character. Same with contrast. For as different as Gendo and Shinji are… they’re kind of similar. It’s clear that they are father-and-son. 

—

I am an odd person. I get tired of watching the same old things. I get tired of hearing the same old things. 

The same applies to stories. Characters shouldn’t mix. They should bounce gracefully off of each other. Frieren, for example. The three protagonists are insanely different, but united under a common goal. 

Dare I say that Evangelion used the complex relationship between contrast and similarity to inspire the characters in Frieren? Except that they’re not friends like in Frieren, but instead three incredibly troubled teenagers that are in dire need of therapy. 

I’m not going to go into great detail about the three children. If you’re reading this you likely know the struggles of these children. But what about clashing and contrast makes this story “go”?

I am the type that takes the hyperfixations on characters too far. I have spent way too much time making Asuka or Fern edits on Canva just for the sake of tomfoolery. By that logic, I should have been over the moon when Eva’s 30th Anniversary Short Film had stills of the dating and married life of Shinji and Asuka. I’ll admit, they’re really cute. We’ve been teased since the rebuilds of the two building a life together, and to many, the Rebuild ending of Shinji and Mari left a sour taste in their mouths. But also, at the same time, Shinji and Asuka getting married feels… wrong. 

(why did we give the Asukeks ammo)

There is a fine line between outright fanservice and the author’s original vision that must be noted. The Short film with the shippers winning? Complete fanservice. The original NGE and EoE? The true unadulterated vision of Anno. And in my opinion, the author’s vision should be respected over all others. I cringe at the thought of splitting the two up again, but Asuka and Shinji are complete polar opposites. It feels a bit wrong to have them together after Anno spent decades showing that one is a psycho bitch, and the other a man still running mentally from years of trauma. Add Rei in, and we get a complex triad of psychological issues and differences that is… oddly nice and satisfying. They’re all tied together by the thread of being pilots, but they’re different. And because they’re so different, you can actually feel a connection to one. A strong connection. And personally, I’d rather have a strong connection to one rather than a weak connection to a collective. 

We need differences. We need contrast. And through difficulty, we build connections. You build relationships with others through teamwork and resolving differences. After the short film’s release, I’ve seen a lot of people clamor for a slice-of-life version of Evangelion.

Short answer: we do. The Shinji Ikari Rising Project. Get over the tit and ass jokes and it’s still the only piece of media I’ve actively had to goad myself to finish more than a 3rd of. Everyone feels the same, and it reads like softcore porn at times. 

Long Answer: we don’t need it. Society has fallen since the idea of the “bubble” has come into fruition. We don’t challenge beliefs anymore. We don’t work together as a team. It’s red or blue now. Red sucks because they’re abandoning values. Blue sucks because their asses are stuck in the past. When the two could actually work together to solve the problem of massive rising costs for the consumer. 

We don’t need a bubble of shippers of Asuka and Shinji. I want distinct characters, distinct personalities. I want and crave contrast. Which is why the original NGE works so well as a story. It’s compelling as the contrast allows me to actually connect to the characters on a much deeper level. Why do I like Asuka so much? Why do I take the position that Ritsuko is better than Misato? Because the creative vision of the show ALLOWED the characters to be different. They took massive risks, giving every character a horrifying shared goal and personal trauma that would make a therapist weep in grief. But because of this, it works. 

—

Advertising tells us a lot. It tells us how we should be more stuff. But it can also be a window into our thoughts. And in a way, it is a window into exploration. 

Smiles… behind those smiles is teenage trauma. Behind every shoe or car ad is a dead mom, absent father, meaningless life. Advertising is our invitation into this world. Advertising shows us the contrast between facade and reality. And with this understanding of contrast, we begin to notice the contrasts we set ourselves in this reality. 

Congratulations.

The Coin of Lady Luck: A Recap of the 2026 Winter Olympics Men and Women's Ice Hockey Finals

It’s an evening game of ice hockey in Milan on February 19th, 2026. Ask any Team USA fan about the women’s team and they have given up. The most powerful offensive in women’s hockey had been held lifeless for 57 minutes by Team Canada in the gold-medal game for women’s ice hockey. On a last ditch attempt to tie the game, Laila Edwards lines up a shot from the point directly toward the net, aiming toward the net but with Hilary Knight nicely in front of the net for a potential deflection.

Three days later, in the men’s gold-medal game the Canadian Men would find themselves on an uncharacteristic US Defensive breakdown, exploiting a gap to find a glorious feed between Macklin Celebrini and Nathan MacKinnon with US Goalie Connor Hellebuyck caught facing the wrong way. His feet are planted incorrectly. In a game, deep in the 3rd Period, with the US retreating constantly into a defensive cocoon, a goal here on the half-open net would bring Canada the dagger to stab the US.

Knight tips in the pass to tie the game for the US 1-1 and force overtime, where the women would win 2-1. 

Nathan MacKinnon shoots his puck into the netting on the wrong side. The US would eventually win in overtime 2-1. 

On the surface, it’s two different gold-medal games between the two different hockey superpowers in the two different genders. The score was identical, the outcome the same. The discourse, however, couldn’t be more different. The women fought for their victory, they cried. The men got extremely lucky. 

Let’s stop right there, and take a recap of today, but from the lens of history, as we answer a question on the role of luck in sports. 

And Connor Hellebuyck? He becomes much more important later in our recap. 

…

Open Google, type in “luck” for me.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, “luck” is success or failure brought about by chance instead of one’s own actions. We can apply it to anything, really. In an RPG, we build our character statistics by assigning “skill points” to players, and for some chaos, we give all our skill points into the “luck” category, making a relatively weak but incredibly fun player that is bailed out by incredible luck (or incredible amounts of bullshit). You can get lucky in the manner of forgetting to do something to help you get out of a disaster (the people who forgot to set their alarms to come into the WTC on the morning of 9/11- a classic example). Anything that you don’t influence, they say, can be influenced by “luck”. 

Of course, you can somewhat control your luck. In the RPG, you have the choice on where to distribute those skill points, and not all the points have to go into luck. You can actively make lifestyle choices that place more of the outcomes of life on your own actions rather than blind faith. You can be prepared to personally face the things this world throws at your feet. 

None of this, however, takes into account that there is more than just you in this world. There are 8 billion human beings on this Earth right now, each with different motivations, lifestyles, political inclinations, etc. All will do things the way they want to, and you have no influence over them. It is truly “chance” on which version of your colleagues or strangers you will interact with on a daily basis. Your boss may be in a foul mood, cancelling the work party you had planned. Or he may be in a great mood, approving bonuses all around. 

The above thinking can be applied to sports. You can do so much preparation and training for a competition/event, but you are only a small factor in a game, and your opponent’s actions are the other factor. 

Even if the outside world is unpredictable, you can try to keep your end as impeccable and as chance-free as possible. You show up to work everyday, with all of the papers and readings studied. You put your finest foot forward during meetings with a professional outlook that would make LinkedIn users weep with prideful tears. You eat healthy and exercise so that you’re at your finest for your professional and family life. In a normal world, you don’t want to rely on others working toward your satisfaction. You must do most of the work so you don’t rely on the “chance” circumstances of your coworkers. 

The same can be applied to sports as well. Cinderella championship runs usually fall flat because they were too reliant on circumstance rather than forging their own path. Slovakia, a decent team at this year’s men’s ice-hockey tournament, looked very unbeatable, until they met the US in the semi-final, a team much better than them no matter how Slovakia prepared. The 2003 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, running off of unprepared teams and the form of netminder Jean-Sebastien Giguire, finally lost the Stanley Cup Finals to the New Jersey Devils, who were just better than them.

There is no shame for either of these teams. They were weaker teams that took advantage of their circumstances to make something burn bright. And burn bright they did. But behind the burning, there was much to suggest that the success was built off of their own skill, but a deep reliance on the bad preparation and work of others. Slovakia topped their relatively easy group at this year’s Olympics. The Mighty Ducks had an easy path to the Cup final where the Minnesota Wild, the team they defeated in the conference final, had already defeated the conference champion favorite Colorado Avalanche before them. 

The point is that you need to be able to be self-sufficient without needing to constantly rely on luck. But there is a theory that has been brewing in the back of my mind. If you’re so good, can you just create your own luck? 

Teams that are great have one common thing in common. They are the primary dictators of pace and play in the games they play. When they do get lucky, people decry them as “getting lucky” or “the bullshit is real” (A popular cope where I’m from), but when you’re a good team, you’ll find ways to constantly put teams under pressure or on the ropes early. The Super-Bowl winning teams that the Kansas City Chiefs are a good example of my theory. Many have accused the NFL of biased refereeing toward their “golden boy” the Chiefs. However, when breaking this argument down, one will realize that their championship teams were incredibly talented. The amount of chances they created on offensive and defensive scenarios were so numerous there was bound to be a little bit of pro-Chiefs luck occurring in all those games. If you’re good, you’ll naturally find lucky moments through sheer overwhelming force. 

There are examples of this in every sport. The 2024-25 Florida Panthers, reviled (I hate this goddamn team so much) was a four-line monster that through sheer physical force, got lucky referee breaks and teams openly struggling to counter them so often that they could skewer these moments onto a BBQ split and grill them over the Stanley Cup. In golf, Tiger Woods was so skilled that if you gave him the chance to play for a win, he would find a way to steal wins away because he was that dominant and consistent with the golf clubs. 

If you’re good enough, you’ll naturally get more opportunities. Get more opportunities, and you’ll manufacture your own luck. 

It’s February 17th, 2026 again, and we’re on minute 57 of the Women’s Gold-Medal Ice Hockey match between the US and Canada. The US might be on death’s door, but if you watched the game, you know that despite the US not being clinical, they’ve been knocking on the door. The deflection from Knight to tie the game felt inevitable. But in a way, they built their own luck. The “knocking” at the door was from an incredible shot volume. And on that one shot from Edwards past Knight, the US got their own luck. Canada, a long last, let the foot off the gas and allowed Knight to slip into position and deflect the puck up past an Ann-Renee Desbiens that had been lights out beforehand. Twenty minutes later, Megan Keller would produce one of the silkiest evasion moves of all time to destroy the ankles of Claire Thompson and poking the puck into the net, past a goalie and team that was already demoralized for coming so close to victory. 

But two days later, in the men’s final, you find Nathan MacKinnon with his stick betraying him, shooting wide left on a very plump chance. You find Devon Toews, right inside of the goalie crease, being stopped by one of the greatest desperation saves from a goalie of all time. After Canada tied the game, Canada spent the next 22 minutes bringing hell down on the US defense. Chance after chance was brushed aside as the US hunkered down around Hellebuyck, who would end the day with 41/42 shots saved. 

It’s hard to define what this game was. In a game where the US was thoroughly outplayed, the MacKinnon miss seemed to define the day of unbelievably excruciating pain for Team Canada. The US didn’t win because they were better, many cried. They won because Canada didn’t finish properly. 

The above argument presented by many in Canada is complete and utter cow crud. The United States was considered the only team that was considered to even hold a candle to the Canadians in terms of power. The Canadians, in fact, defeated Italy and France earlier in the tournament by huge margins. 

But the US was widely outplayed, and during the game, was outshot a lot. You can’t describe it as a better team outplaying the other. 

But a team is made of individuals, and today, Connor Hellebuyck decided to be that man. The paddle save of Hellebuyck on Toews should be hung in the Smithsonian for time eternal (I already have it printed out. Fight me.).  When the team fails, sometimes, the strong will of a man to succeed will create all the luck for himself. And on the 22nd of February, 2026, Connor decided to bring his will and end 40 years of wandering in the wilderness for US Hockey. He was unstoppable that night. 

Another individual stepped up that day. Two actually. The men from Michigan. Zach Werenski, and Jack Hughes (yes, he is dating Tate McRae. Am I jealous? Kind of.). Zach Werenski had watched like a hawk during the first minute of overtime Connor McDavid attempting to end the game on his own stick, “heroballing” the puck with speed, attempting to find the net. As the puck began to travel the other way, Hughes went for a risky pass up the ice, with Cale Makar and Zach Werenski racing for the puck. Werenski was just a smidge faster, another piece of luck shining through for the American D-man. After battling with MacKinnon for the puck for a few seconds, he feeds Jack Hughes to make the game winning shot. 

This game was by no means a comprehensive victory. As a matter of fact, it was a psychological and defensive struggle that made me question why I was a hockey fan, or why this southern boy fell in love with the game. I actively felt a few heartbeats skip as I watched this on a “suspicious” stream on my laptop. 

The men and women of the US Hockey Team made this luck for themselves. They proved to Canada and the world of hockey that they were ready to fight for gold. The years of darkness for US Hockey was over. These men and women were ready to fight and dominate at the top of the competition. 

However, even if you’re dominant, the other team might be just better than you. Sometimes, just sometimes, Lady Luck herself might push the shooting stick of a sniper just a few inches the other way. Just sometimes. Prepare all you want, account for your weakness, and they will account for their weaknesses. Lady Luck herself remains undefeated. Oh yeah, Hannah Bilka MY GOAT

A Review on "The End of Evangelion"

Being the sleep-deprived college student I am, I decided that I, Andrew, on a fine 21st of February, in the year of our Lord 2026, would finally watch End of Evangelion. Before you ask, yes, I knew about “that hospital scene” and knew what it entailed. I am not new to meme culture, trust me. I might not have been born yesterday but I still know. 

I had just finished the Neon Genesis: Evangelion TV show (the 26-episode masterpiece), and found the ending of the show slightly abstract. Yes, the show had morphed into a psychological thriller, but the last two episodes were… strange, to say the least. Most times, a show pulls out all the stops in order to make the ending fine. Star Trek: The Next Generation, amongst other great shows. Due to factors in Gainax’s control (budget cuts) and out of their control (a chemical attack on Tokyo in 1995), Episodes 25 and 26 are, to say the least, strange. It’s definitely crazy but you can tell that some “punches” have been held back. Much of Episode 26, in specific, was hand-drawn, leaving the classroom alternate reality and the 90-second “Congratulations” clips as the only real significant part of true “animation” that Gainax could afford at the time. 

“Congratulations” in particular, felt kind of strange. It was a nice conclusion but for all the build-up connecting to the eventual “Third Impact”, it felt flat. The “Congratulations” scene was a TERRIBLE payoff for about five episodes of psychological nightmares for all the characters, especially Shinji, who we’ve been investing more and more into as the show grinded its way to a conclusion, felt especially unsatisfying. I believe personally that a lot of sentiment is that this psychological pressure should have at least come with a physical payoff. The act of one realization leading to a sudden end to the cataclysmic Third Impact does not bring satisfaction. However, by itself, “Congratulations” has given me one of my favorite sarcastic gifs, so that’s that. 

End of Evangelion, by contrast, at least presented to me by a friend of mine (an exceptionally hyperactive Canadian organ player that could consume her own weight in energy drinks), was perfect for hyperactive souls like mine that didn’t get “satisfaction” from the original ending of NGE. The action and the explanation of the film definitely appealed to me. It was going to be the ending of the show redone as if Gainax had money (side note, Gainax finally ran out of money last year). I was sold on the idea that I could enrich myself with the ending that Anno wanted for the show: the same psychological thriller I had eagerly awaited but was slightly let down with the last two episodes. Heck, the movie is SPLIT into 2 (really 2.5) episodes. The movie was directly meant for suckers like me who wanted that gritty, tough ending to the show. 

The economic principle of the Sunken-Cost Fallacy also led me here. I had finished the show, why not do the movie as well (this will also lead me to watch the four rebuilds in the future. God help me)? What I got was a movie that I somehow expected but was somehow disgusted and deeply engrossed and impressed at the same time. 

Shut Up and Sit Down is a gaming YouTuber based in the United Kingdom. A few words of theirs stuck out to me. In a review of the game Gloomhaven (a game I own and really need to finish, but that’s another day’s story), he states that a review should not be a “comprehensive list of parts” but rather a “[picture] into how a game makes you feel”, and I feel inclined to discuss what the movie did to me, because most of everyone who gives a damn about Evangelion has already watched the movie.

A lot is placed into the “shock value” given by the movie, with most of the notoriety being placed onto the now-infamous and vile “hospital scene”. As insane as it sounds, to me, it has lost all shock value in the 29 years since the film first released. The scene itself, the self proclaimed “lowest of the low”, has been lifted to the “highest of the high” by the meme community. I have been, unfortunately, a common visitor to the subreddit Evangelion Memes, and with the release of the 30th Anniversary Short involving Asuka, decided to visit the Asushin “shipping” subreddit, and the “hospital” scene is such an overused joke that it has lost all shock value. 

Personally, I felt more disgust and general ire at the scene where Gendo is discussing the final elements of Human Instrumentality with Rei, who has just emerged from a tank of LCL. The scene itself, frankly, could pass off as softcore porn in some nations. Gendo, in a move that no sane human should EVER consider making to a woman, proceeds to make an action resembling a grope of Rei’s breasts and have his hand somehow absorbed (has Eva ever made sense to you? Thought so.) into her, and his hand moves down her body, an action that should really only be completed by a couple. Why this scene somehow is ignored by the Evangelion faithful while the “hospital scene” has been shot many times with a metaphorical rifle. In all honesty, this is much worse in magnitude. You can understand (with INTENSIVE mental gymnastics) why Shinji does the actions he does. 

A meme exists within the Evangelion community that Yui’s [redacted] was so good that Gendo was willing to end the world in three separate timelines to get her back. All I can say is that the events in the LCL tank with Rei and the meme are somehow connected. And it is just as disgusting as you imagine. You do not grope a child. You do not grope a child, especially an UNDERAGE girl, at her most vulnerable. 

While that exists, let me remind you about some of the other shocks that this movie provides. Ritsuko, obviously, since the moment she destroyed the Rei clones in a fit of rage, was a dead man walking. I believe, upon recollection, it was the early 20 episodes where she destroyed the Rei clones under Misato’s witness. But oddly enough, they kept kicking her until then. 

I believe here, I let my guard down. Because I was shocked when Gendo pulled the gun out and shot Ritsuko cleanly. There is nothing to learn or gather from this. All we can gather is that Gendo does not care if you once loved him. He killed Dr. Akagi (Ritsuko’s mother) and will do the same to the daughter. The brain of her mother, inside of CASPER, betrayed her own daughter for a man she knew was having an affair with everyone else. 

Love is a cruel mistress. Maybe this is why I’m still single. 

But shock also has the ability to educate. And put enough shocks together and you can form a decent argument and plotline for any movie. 

In conjunction with the “plastic folding chair in the theatre” scene from episode 25, we know that Misato tends to use men and sex as an escape for her own problems. We get that, Anno. Good job there. So then my question is that why does it need to be revealed that she once had sex with a man (presumably Kaji?) for seven consecutive days? 

It should be noted that I am a biology major. I realize that sex and reproduction are necessary goals of any living being. 

I also learned that having sex for seven straight days is, I hope, incredibly unhealthy. Humans must eat too (what’s being eaten depends on the eye of the beholder). 

Due to budget cuts, the important exploration and delve into the character of Misato is left to about a minute of audio. THIS is what we wanted to see, and I am left assuming that this is what Anno wanted from the character development before the budget cuts. A+ work there, nice visual (yeech). 

The shock value does a good job at breaking down characters to their lowest. In honesty, Shinji is a terribly unlikable character. And his actions justify it. The choking, good grief, was an odd choice.

But somehow, someway, this mindtrip of an anime does it. An actual story that doesn’t make the characters feel overdone and unrealistic.

A major gripe I’ve had with Disney over the last several years is how the characters… don’t feel like characters. They’re superhuman. Rey (from the Sequel Trilogy of Star Wars) is a character that should have been so more; however, she was given a terrible story and she remains one of the great Star Wars “what-ifs?” due to her true lack of “fleshing out”. No one in the modern Disney films feels like they’re lacking on screen time. As a matter of fact, the contrary. We get a lot and we learn a lot. But modern media today focuses on the wrong thing. We focus on family, but we miss the man himself. 

If it’s one thing that this movie does very well, it focuses on the right things. The family, of course, needs to be explained, Gendo is obviously Shinji’s father. But I feel like that’s used as a tool, not the entire composition of a man. Shinji is still a pathetic being, who thinks that pleasuring oneself over the comatose body of a girl you kissed is a morally acceptable action. He chokes the same girl twice in the course of the 90-minute hellscape. 

The characters, honestly, like in so many other Japanese films, particularly Satoshi Kon’s Paprika, are the best part of many of these films. We might not get the deep background of the character, but the character themselves turns to be a gold nugget in a minefield of plot and action. To this day, I still don’t understand Paprika. But I remember Paprika, Dr. Chiba, Dr. Shima, and Konawawa, because they were written so well. I don’t understand the plot at all. But through the characters, I can work through enough to understand the point. 

Many moviemakers handhold us through understanding the character. And I find it deeply insulting. People who watch this kind of media are not dumb. If written well enough, a man can piece together effortlessly the machinations of a man. 

So thus, my thoughts on the End of Evangelion. A well thought out, intelligent film, but not without fault due to the sheer shock value and emotional weight given to the film.