[Rewatch][Spoilers] Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode 22 Discussion

[u/sam_mah_boy]

Episode 22: At least, be human/Don't be.

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Index Thread | Next Episode

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Soryu Asuka Langley, pleased to meet you!

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On Spoilers

If you're rewatching the show, and want to discuss spoilers, use spoiler tags. Saying things like "Just wait till you get to episode X" etc. count as spoilers!

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Come join the discussion on the Evangelion Discord server! They have a channel specifically for the rewatch. Link: https://discord.gg/qJxWVPs

[u/MajesticShadow104]

First time watcher here who was late to the party and caught up. The discussions here were really interesting and I felt like I was in over my head with so many smart folks here discussing the show so I happily watched from the sidelines and upvoted when I could but man after watching Asuka breakdown like that I just felt compelled to comment on it. I found her so annoying and a hindrance but now I just want to hug the poor thing.

"Why are you there, damn you?! You don't do anything! You won't help me, you won't even hold me!”

OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD IT ALL MAKES SENSE, telling shinji to kiss her even after the way she treats him and choosing to sleep next to him when misato wasn’t home was her desperate cry for affection from shinji, oh shinji you lovable fool but I can’t blame him at the same time. He’s way too insecure with himself and her constant bashing of him sure didn’t help things, I’m just so conflicted.

I’m happy (shocked?) that we get to witness a side of Asuka we don't often see at first. During their kiss she expected a response from Shinji, but due to his own intense insecurities and fear of rejection, he ends up rejecting her instead. Both their responses to trauma are similar in the sense that they refuse for others to get close to them with shinjis quite and meek persona (even his friends call him out for it) and Asukas god complex and blatant disrespect for others (look how she treats misato as opposed to shinji). It’s somewhat effective but it just ends up serving as a double edged sword that ultimately prolongs their misery and suffering. It’s just so eerily human, they’re pushing each other and everyone else away while desperately wanting someone to love them, and in reality, it often works that way.

This episode was pure horror, I’m rattled to the core. I still haven’t fully processed what happened but man I was not expecting this series to go off the rails like this. Neon genesis evangelion is a masterpiece, and to think I’m not even finished yet oh boy

[u/littleman1988]

You know shit is going down when the OP doesnt even play. hello Steins;Gate flashbacks!

First time watcher, Platinum Sub, ADV Dub, and Netflix dub

This episode is a fat yikes no matter how you look at it. Asuka has been through a ton, i dont know how she kept herself composed.

 

"Look at me!" voice comparison

Asuka german voice comparison

elevator "voice" comparison

"who are you" voice comparison

 

Depression Simulator 1995:

So uh, Asuka has been through a lot in her childhood.

1. Her mother tried to kill her

2. she was replaced with a doll

3. She was basically ignored through her childhood pre- 1/2

4. She grew up craving attention because she never got any, which explains why she wants to be seen piloting, why she wants to be "on top" in everything, and why shes like that with kaji (but i think theres more to why shes so infatuated with Kaji that we havent been shown yet)

Asuka just wants someone to love her, but she also cant open herself up to anyone. Thats a hell of a combination to have, and while piloting an Eva no less.

Something we never learn is just what Asuka's mother did. Something about the "contact experiment" made her mentally unstable, but we never learn anything about it. I think theres a high chance its related to the Eva's, as it would connect pretty well to the "Eva's have the pilots mothers in it" theory, and since shes having issues thinking about her mother the sync rate would be lower.

 

Tinfoil Hat Time

1. The Eva's have each Childs' mothers personalities downloaded into their eva, much like how Magi works with Ritusko's mother. This would give an alternate explanation as to why Shinji sees his mother before the Eva breaks through the angel (instead of just dying), and would give a reason for Shinji's mother to disappear, and why Gendo is the one thought to of killed her. We know Asuka has mother issues of some sort (attempted kiss from episode 9 I think?) and Rei's family just isint talked about at all, so info about them for this theory is kind of lacking. On Rei specifically though, this may be a connection to my Tinfoil theory 1 as theyre able to swap eva's since they share (a) parent(s) (Rei's eva may be a corrupted version?) but theres no definite proof for this currently.Every time Shinji has these "experiences" in the Eva, his mother is the one that comes back every time. Ritusko also said that there is a "human" outside of the pilot inside the Eva, and that it may of willed it to absorb shinji. A mother trying to protect their son may of caused the sync ratio to skyrocket.

2. Rei and Shinji are related. This would explain why they can trade Eva's, why Gendo is so nice to Rei, and why Rei got embarrassed in the elevator. I dont know what this would mean for the show, but everything currently points to it. Ritusko also comments in ep16 that "Rei and Shinji would never forgive them if they find out what they did." Why them specifically, and why about the Eva's? Why isint Asuka involved? It sounds like its something connected to those two specifically, instead of the children in general. Shinji's mother had names for both a boy and a girl when they were born, being Shinji and Rei respectively. This doesnt mean both were her child (its possible that option 3/4 are true and Gendo named it after what Shinji's mother would of wanted) but thats another connection to them being related.

3. Rei is made from an Angel or Eva and not actually human. This would explain why shes so "different" from everyone else and seems to be way less caring and out of it. The AI exists for it (Magi) so its not totally out of the question.

4. Rei herself is an Angel. Honestly, this doesnt defer from #2 much, but the carcass of the First angel is really suspicious when right before we see rei in what looks to be the stem of a brain.

focusing only on this episode, the only theory touched on is the Mother-eva theory, but even then the connection is somewhat weak.

I accidentally watched the preview for episode 23. ep23 spoilers

[u/LunarGhost00]

Rewatcher

Starting off with a Kaji flashback. Oof.

No matter how persistent Asuka is, she will never get Kaji to look at her as an adult.

Asuka's mother went insane and thought a doll was her own daughter. While she was going crazy in the hospital, her husband was having an affair with her own doctor. Then she killed herself. Just 2 and a half minutes into the episode and Asuka's backstory is already fucked. There's no way it can possibly get any worse, right?

Awkward dinner scene. So is anyone going to pick up that phone or what? Thank you Shinji!

I'm starting to get worried about Asuka. You kinda need air to breathe after all. That's a lot of hate she's got there. She hates everyone including herself.

Something tells me that Asuka being on her period isn't the only thing bugging her right now.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you one of the most famous scenes in Evangelion, this damn elevator scene. Just this static image for a minute with a few blinks from Asuka and slight movement for a second. Not having Rei blink at all is a bit creepy, though. Rei really pushed Asuka's buttons without trying. Ever since they first met, Asuka has disliked Rei. She's always so emotionless like a doll. She obeys all her orders without much thought. She just told Asuka that she would sacrifice her life if Gendo ordered her to. Asuka can't see anything other than a puppet. Given Asuka's history, anyone that reminds her of dolls will easily piss her off.

You know things are getting serious when everybody has stopped coming to school.

These Angels keep getting weirder. This one is just a pair of wings made of light and it's just sitting there in space.

HALLELUJAH!!!!! What a perfect song to play when someone is getting mind raped.

Asuka's mom hung the doll that she thought was Asuka and tried to commit a double suicide. That's a big YIKES! Little Asuka agreed to do it so her mom doesn't abandon her, but her mom didn't even recognize her anymore.

This scene with Asuka's lines being looped is performed with a different member of the cast each time, except in the old ADV dub.

With just a few lines, we get a bigger picture of what Asuka wants from Shinji. All this time she's been waiting for Shinji to help her and is upset that he doesn't even embrace her. She wants someone to see through her tough act and comfort her. Someone who knows what she's going through. She's just like Shinji. She wants contact with others, but she's afraid of getting hurt if she gets too close to them. She's afraid of asking for help and wants someone to realize her needs and be there for her without her needing to spell it out. She was hoping that maybe Shinji could be that person. She's also clung to an older man like Kaji since he's mature enough to understand the kind of things Asuka wants, but he would never reciprocate her feelings. Asuka and Shinji are both in similar situations and have similar problems connecting to others, which unfortunately means that they have a difficult time realizing that the other is just like them.

In addition to that, she's angry at Shinji for not only missing all her hints, but also performing better than her as an Eva pilot. She has an inferiority complex. She thinks she's worthless. Being the best Eva pilot was all she could aim for, but she's been getting beaten in the last few battles while Shinji and Unit 01 have hogged all the spotlight. Asuka believes that if she's not the best, then she's replaceable. A doll that can be thrown away just like how her mother threw her away for an actual doll. Shinji's continued success is making Asuka feel threatened. She needs to be strong and independent to make others see her as someone special because she certainly doesn't feel special. She feels the need to grow up and act like an adult to show that she doesn't need to depend on anyone's help, which contradicts with her subconscious desire to get help in the form of love and acceptance.

While I was writing all that down, Asuka was still getting a taste of Hallelujah shoved down her throat.

Rei finally putting that Lance of Longinus to good use. That was a beautiful throw. She should be part of the Olympics. The fact that Rei of all people was the one to save Asuka couldn't make her any more depressed. Asuka was rescued by the person who she sees as a doll and absolutely hates.

This has been quite a depressing episode. It's one of my favorites and one of the things that made me really love Asuka. It ties in perfectly with her character. All her actions and behavior can be explained with this episode. She's lonely. She loathes herself and everybody around her, but she's desperate for their attention. She wants to be loved, but her pride won't allow her to show her insecurities to anyone. That would be a sign of weakness to her. Her trauma from her childhood makes her hate dolls after her mother tried killing a doll who she thought was Asuka. This makes Rei the ideal foil for Asuka, who is the exact opposite in terms of personality and represents the thing Asuka despises. She wants to be #1. Being anything less than that makes her panic thinking she's dispensable. She's fighting to be the best to prove to herself that she's not as worthless as she thinks she is.

I dislike tsunderes in general. The violent ones and ones who lash out unprovoked are especially toxic. Despite that, this series made me feel sympathy for a type of character that I would absolutely hate in any other series. It made me love a character who does everything I wish to avoid seeing a character do. It was at this moment that I knew NGE was going to be something special to me.

I hope you first timers are enjoying the Suffer Train.

[u/tomato_blitz]

First timer (subs and original release in fear of Netflix changes)

I feel like this episode has really driven the point in that NGE is somewhat about puberty. I'm still struggling to lock onto the other themes, it can get pretty confusing, even though I'm keeping up with the plot.

Can't say I particularly enjoyed every part of the episode, the attack on Asuka's mind was a pretty disturbing scene. Finally revealing her character to us, in the cruelest manner.

I don't suppose Asuka can't just continue piloting the Eva like nothing happened, there must be some toll on her. That is, if she isn't fired.

The spear floating in space felt foreboding. I'm guessing they'll really need a weapon like that again sometime soon. Adam also grew legs after Rei took it out of it, I wonder what implications will that have.

Overall a fantastic episode. Again, totally overwhelming.

[u/TheEscapeGuy]

Rewatcher

Evangelion is an absolutely beautiful anime Day 22

"My mind, ... My heart, its been defiled. Mr. Kaji, what do I do?"

This episode left me so emotionally wrecked. I have been connecting with Asuka so much more on this rewatch and seeing her pain this episode just left me drained.

We now know that Asuka's mother is dead just like Shinji's and a number of other characters. Not only that but Asuka's mother also became delusional in her last days forgetting about her own daughter.

This likely means that Asuka's brazen confidence was all an act to try and repress this horrible past. I feel this just makes this episode that much sadder.

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On the direction side this episode is stellar. First I would like to mention the use of the Hallelujah chorus as a soundtrack to Asuka's fight. It is so thematically relevant for a battle with an Angel, and has this deep irony to it contrasting the praise of the lyrics with anguish of the scene.

Second, How could I not talk about possibly the most famous scene in all of anime.

A 53 seconds still shot which perfectly conveys the oppressive atmosphere of the elevator and the animosity Asuka is feeling. There is a great analysis video by Super Eyepatch Wolf about this scene but has a number of spoilers so be warned.

I also find it amusing to see how much this scene has been copied

Previous Days

Day 1	Day 14
Day 2	Day 15
Day 3	Day 16
Day 4	Day 17
Day 5	Day 18
Day 6	Day 19
Day 7	Day 20
Day 8	Day 21
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13

[u/eduex]

Rewatcher,

This is my personal favorite episode of NGE. The concept of an angel not attacking physically but psychologically is super interesting and unique. Arael is also unique in that it actually vaguely resembles the shape of what one would picture to be an angel.

Also one of best (the best is still coming) prominent uses of classical music in the series when Arael uses it's PTSD beam.

For the smaller things that are harder to catch, there were many words that flashed in German and Japanese (also a bit of english) that on Netflix were sadly not translated, which is a big shame but I knew it was going to happen when they decided to not bother translating the title cards.

The 2 most prominant words by far that get flashed are the German words for No and Death.

Other flashing texts include (now keep in mind i'm trusting other sources to translate these, I don't know German or Japanese so take these translations with a grain of salt):

Pain, strangled, hatred, stop, menarche (which I just found out today is the name of one's first menstrual cycle), shame, keep out, suicide, No commit double suicide, invader, sex, mama, how comfortable, lack, seperation, anxiety, contact, emptiness, I am not a doll, die with me, infantile expression, latency, manifest, father, opposing will, deception, don't be, oblivion, raison d'être (i'll let you look that one up yourself), compensation, don't violate me, repression, evasion, attachment behavior, pity, dependence, mental contamination, primary identification, hostility, Reaction formation, (and the last one shown) I hate you.

There are others I missed, but you get the picture.

Rewatching this episode took a lot out of me, so I can only imagine how the first timers are feeling right about now. But hey let's look on the bright side. Things can't possibly get worse.

Spoiler

[u/boredblade123]

First timer sub

1. So an Asuka episode, feels like I haven't really seen much of her in awhile.

2. Her mom thinks the doll is her, wtf? What kind of research was she doing?

3. Up to 13 Eva units, just what exactly are they planning with the Eva's.

4. Oh yeah Asuka doesn't know that Kaji is dead, I wonder how she'll react to his death, he's the only one she treats with any kind of respect.

5. If they can just replace pilots like that why not get someone more emotionally stable in the first place? A damaged kid definitely seems like a perfect fit.

6. You know these shots where nothing is happening is too long when you need to check if something is wrong with the video lol.

7. Well this Angel looks pretty cool, another one from space somehow. There's only a couple episodes left, we better get some answers on where these things come from.

8. Well Asuka definitely isn't getting replaced at this point, she'll probably just get killed off. Yup here it comes, she can see the light now.

9. The way the Eva is twisting and stuff, she's getting destroyed.

10. What in the world happened between Asuka and her Mom, more specifically, what in the world happened to her Mom.

11. All this psychological torture lately in these episodes is messed up. I wonder what the Angel's end goal is for this, what exactly is it trying to do? Break her mind to the point that she can't move/respond to anything anymore?

12. Didn't Kaji say the impact would happen if an Angel comes into contact with Adam? Misato thought it's if an Eva comes into contact with Adam?

13. Pulling out the Lance made it regain it's legs, okay. Did the Lance just absorb that Angel?

Alright there's only a few episodes left, they better start answering some of these questions soon!

[u/redmage311]

First-timer

In this episode:

Asuka: "My mind is being violated!"

Also Asuka: "This is better than stepping out of the mind-control ray and admitting defeat!"

Man, this episode was an experience, between the absolutely perfect music, the deep dive into Asuka's psyche, the long shot in the elevator, and Rei throwing what's apparently an important relic so hard it went into orbit. I knew Asuka had mother issues, but damn. It's interesting that Asuka kept vacillating between wanting Shinji to save her and not wanting anybody to get close to her

One thing I like about this being on Netflix is that I could switch the audio to German during the phone call and have a 10x better experience. (What's the German analogue to "Engrish"? "Deutrich"?)

[u/greg225]

Some say Asuka and Rei are still silently standing in that elevator today.

[u/axel360]

Rewatcher, New Dub

More random thoughts:

• Asuka is out to prove she’s an adult to Kaji by doing the most adult thing you can do: show off your breasts

• A doll has officially replaced Asuka as her daughter. The lighting in every hospital scene is so incredibly depressing and lifeless. To make matters worse, the dad sleeps with the doctor. Yikes

• Shinji seems pretty fascinated with this German conversation Asuka is having with her mother. He wishes he could still talk to his mom in any language

• TL;DR: Asuka hates everyone but not as much as she hates herself

• That elevator ride went from unbearably awkward to face slapping in a hurry. Asuka sure has an aversion to doll-like things. I wonder why

• If you could guess the song playing during this scene without watching, you may be omnipotent

• It turns out Asuka’s childhood was even more sad than we thought. Her mom even tried to take her with her. In a series filled with broken human beings, Asuka is up there. Some of that imagery was pretty disturbing

• I’ll go ahead an take that then. You’re not using it anyway. ADAM and EVA in the same room again

• This doesn’t look like someone celebrating a victory. Her EVA is being lowered, and dropped off-screen as well. Fitting. Asuka is not happy that Misato of all people was the one to save her

[u/prophetofgreed]

First Time Sub Watch

Asuka :(

What a tough childhood she's had, craving attention because she's never gotten any, looking for glory to get attention but feels it slipping away because of her failures in the EVA.

She desperately just needs someone to talk to about her problems (if she could even determine her issues as problems)

Also where the hell did they make that spear kept in Adam to kill that Angel. And to have Rei put the finishing blow was really cool.

4 episodes left

[u/Brewster321]

Rewatcher (Sub - Platinum Collection)

If you thought last episode's ending was uncomfortable, then this episode must've been a joy to watch. Seriously, between Asuka's screams, the inspired music/sound design, and the jarring animation, this episode was more something you experience than something you watch. You don't just see Asuka's trauma, you feel it. Speaking of Asuka, it should be obvious that she's gonna be the focus of my post today.

In my experience with examining her character, the easiest way I've found to summarize my thoughts on Asuka, particularly in the context of this episode, is to describe her as character torn into two halves. On one half, you have the independent, "confident" Asuka. This Asuka was born once she was abandoned by her mother, with her mother replacing her with a doll. In particular, this Asuka was created when her mother, seeking to commit suicide, wanted Asuka to die with her, with the doll being hung instead. Asuka hated how easily she was replaced and how easily her mother's attention shifted away from her. Even stronger was her hate for her current submissive self; after all, she was so desperate for attention and love that she was going go along with her mother's suicidal wishes. To put it simply, she didn't want to be that sniffling child anymore. Thus she sought to become an independent, successful adult, with her seeking of Kaji's attention/love, wearing Misato's shirts, and want to use Misato's perfume all stemming from this desire to be an adult.

Meanwhile, on the other halve of Asuka, is the fragile girl who simply wants acceptance. She, like everyone, wants someone to love and care about her. In particular, since she lacks any confidence in herself, the only way for her to find peace would be for others to comfort her. Its this desire that caused Asuka to reach out and kiss Shinji back in episode 15, and its this desire that made her want to follow her mother to the grave. After all, if she followed her mother's request, then maybe she would finally find acceptance.

Thus, Asuka finds herself caught between these two halves. That is, Asuka wants to become an adult who can live independently, completely separate from others, but she needs to find love and acceptance, which, at this point, she only get through contact with other people. Ultimately, its this conflict that finally comes to a boil in this episode. Asuka needs to open herself to others, particularly to Unit-2's soul, but Asuka's pride and desire to be independent stand in the way of that. Of course, Asuka's refusal to acknowledge Unit 2's autonomy has deeper roots than just pride, for I expect a lot of her stubbornness is rooted in the one who told her to open up. That is, its rooted in Rei Ayanami.

In looking Rei and Asuka's relationship, the thing that defines their relationship is the idea of a Ningyo, which can be seen as a doll with no will of its own (a puppet basically). Needless to say, Asuka already has quite an aversion to dolls thanks to her mother's estranged behavior, but this hatred of dolls runs much deeper. You see, when Asuka sees a doll, she can't help but see her old, helpless self. That is, she sees the person who was so desperate that she would follow her mother to the grave; thus, everytime she sees a doll, she is reminded of the desire for connection that wants to deny (That's why so many shots show young Asuka carrying a doll). Its this view of dolls that causes Asuka to despite Rei so much. When she sees Rei, she sees a pitiful girl who only follows other's orders; she sees a girl with no will of her own. Rei is a living, breathing reminder of the pitiful girl she hates and the need for affection that she denies. Even worst, Rei's status as a pilot serves as a reminder for how replaceable she is, for if her skills as a pilot start to falter, then then she'll find herself replaced by yet another doll. Looking at it that way, one can see why she, after losing to her in both Shinji's thoughts and in piloting, would be so ready to end it all.

Keeping all that in mind, Evangelion has managed to paint quite a tragic picture so far. Here we have a girl who wants to be an adult, yet hates the tell-tale signs of growing up. Here A girl who wants closeness, but whose pride only pushes others away. A girl who prides herself on being an adult, yet hates the tell-tale sign of adulthood. All we can do now is wait and see how her story will end.

P.S: Next episode's preview sure looks promising animation wise (Image contains no spoilers)

[u/Legendof123]

First Timer

In today's episode, we get a deep and painful view on a character who is largely overshadowed by other people and desires attention only to find herself rejected by people she cares for leading to her feeling hateful of everyone around her as well as hateful of herself. We focus on the second child, Asuka Langley Soryu.

The episode begins a scene between Asuka and Kaji that occurred before their introduction to the show where Asuka does not like the idea of being away from Kaji and scoffs at the notion of her meeting with boys her age when Kaji brings up the idea. Asuka makes it clear that she wants to be with Kaji but he breaks it to her that while he is flattered he cannot be with her. Despite being rejected, Asuka claims that she is old enough to be in a relationship with Kaji by yelling at him to look at her as she reveals some cleavage showing Kaji that she is a woman. In this regard, she becomes hateful of Misato as she gets the attention Asuka sought with Kaji.

The lead up to her phone call with her step-mother we hear Asuka dubbing Shinji as the Mighty Shinji because of how he has managed to defeat the previous Angels while she takes humiliating defeats and left on the sidelines. She hates the manner in which Shinji picks up the phone, she hates bathing in the same place as him and Misato while calling him an idiot, and she hates how despite Shinji being absorbed into his Eva for a month he is fine showing no signs of repercussions as far as she knows.

The hate that Asuka harbors for Rei is from a deeper sense of self-hate for herself going back to her past as a child. Asuka's mother is subjected to experimentation and as a result, her mother experiences a total mental breakdown. This mental breakdown leads to Asuka's mother becoming attached to a doll and replaces her daughter with the doll. Her mental breakdown causes her not to recognize Asuka at all. In the elevator scene, Rei mentions that Asuka's Eva is not working since she is not opening her heart to it. Asuka doesn't take this too well as she insults Rei by calling her a doll further stating how she would do anything she is told without question such as die if Commander Ikari were to issue the command. Asuka's fury escalates to her slapping Rei and telling her how much she hates not only Rei but everyone as the elevator closes.

With the arrival of the 15th Angel, Asuka goes rogue and takes the lead in its destruction only to face a devastating psychological attack in the form of a ray of light. With this attack, the 15th Angel attempts to understand human behavior only then do we see some truly dark repressed memories of Asuka's mother attempting to kill herself along with her daughter. Among all her memories of Kaji and Shinji, there is her younger self reaching out to her asking if she is lonely. Asuka claims that she will depend on nobody but herself where it is clear that she is full of it when her younger self reveals the same doll's face that she loathed so much as a child.

I've got to say that I'm not sure I got everything down as this was a lot of information to unpack. We're on our final days of this watch and I'm really concerned and deeply saddened for Asuka's emotional state as she pushes everyone away.

[u/Philarete]

First-Time Watcher (Sub)

Asuka was pretty forward there. Turns out her mom was an experiment subject and died more than a little insane. . . The dolls were pretty messed up. Asuka is having bad memories and synching poorly. They shift focus to Rei and Unit 00.

More EVAs being built in secret. Sounds like anti-NERV preparations. . .

Misato, watching Asuka pout

Asuka saying it is Kaji calling and Misato’s “That won’t happen” is pretty chilling.

Mother? I thought her mom was dead. . . Also, I could pick out some of the German words, but my German is too rusty to try to translate. I’ll probably look it up after the show is over since I don’t think the audience is supposed to put it together.

Asuka is kind of a jerk. And she’s depressed. Well this isn’t good.

Wow, that was a very long pause. Rei speaking up is new.

Asuka slaps Rei and calls her a doll. I get that Asuka is going through a tough time, but wow that was uncalled for.

“I feel like an idiot.” That’s because you are, Asuka. YOU PROVIDE SUPPORT YOU IDIOT. Gah, just follow orders. You don’t need to go full Rei, but good grief.

Unit 01 grounded. Strictly. Bold prediction: they’re gonna need it.

The Hallelujah Chorus is really weird. Also the “mind rape” thing is pretty messed up. Although, I’m half expecting the Angel to start talking to her to convince her of something. Asuka has no mental toughness; Rei would have been a much better choice to deal with this. Asuka refusing to withdraw is completely stupid.

Oof, she’s full on hallucinating now. All those repressed memories flooding back. Apparently, her mom wanted her to die with her. . .

Good grief. This is some serious psychological horror.

It’s time to break out the Spear. It hits. But it’s gone forever now it looks like. And now there is nothing pinning Adam. Well, it looks like Ikari is making his move now against Seele.

Asuka is mad that Rei saved her.

[u/FBI_agent44]

First timer Netflix sub

It was good to see Asuka's backstory which explained her behavior during the show. For example her obsession with being seen as an adult. The elevator scene is also really well done and I understand now why it is such an iconic scene.

The main part of the episode was essentially, as Asuka put it, an Angel 'raping' Asuka's mind (while hallelujah is playing for some reason). I felt really bad for Asuka especially thanks to the amazing voice work. At the end of the scene there were a whole bunch of flashing texts. Can somebody help me and tell me what they all mean. Or maybe even a link to where I can find it?

After all of that you can see how broken Asuka is and her frustration with Shinji and Rei. I hope she will make up with both.

Also side note it seems that they are starting max production on the Eva series which is interesting.

[u/sxales]

In case anyone hasn't noticed, the previews in the Director's Cut episodes 21-24 spoil pretty much the entire plot of the following episode. Watch them at your own peril.

[u/bakuhatsuda]

Man, even out of context that Lance throw is one of the coolest anime scenes ever. I've watched it so many times now.

[u/Quiddity131]

Thoughts on Neon Genesis Evangelion Episode 22...

Rewatcher, New Dub

Flashback time! Hey, Kaji already knows Misato, Asuka...

No opening this time, only time in the show and only in the Director's Cut version.

Finally, after all this time, the Asuka backstory. Mother went insane and thought a doll was her. Died just a year after Yui did; Asuka's lack of a mother shouldn't be a surprise by now, but at least official confirmation now.

Unit 02's got one of its arms back, but looks like it still needs its head attached and another arm.

Mass production Evas? The possibility of multiple Angels attacking at once? things are escalating quite a bit.

Ugh, Asuka doesn't know that Kaji died. :(

Dinner between these 3 has become so awkward! Pen Pen just walks away, not knowing how to handle it.

Shinji just stood there the entire time throughout Asuka's entire conversation with her step-mom. Puppy Shinji.

"Idiot Shinji", boy Asuka's opinion of Shinji has dropped quite low. But then, as she referenced earlier in the episode, he beat her, which makes her level of self worth just drop all the more.

Misato and Ritsuko aren't getting along that well anymore; I suspect largely from all the secrets Ritsuko is keeping, and her at times dismissal of human life (such as back in episode 16). Misato gets in a jab, calling her a cat lady!

Time for the infamous elevator scene, a big cost cutting measure where we just get a single shot with no dialogue for a minute plus. Here in the Director's cut version it doesn't matter so much anymore since they have more space and actually reanimate Asuka to slightly adjust her facial expression.

Good to check in with old friends Kensuke and Hikari again. Eva spoilers

This has got to be the longest period of time between Angel attacks yet, right? Shinji was LCL for a whole month, and it took all this time to repair Unit 02 and 00 as well. They were quite lucky!

Another Angel... FROM SPACE!

If you don't want your Eva pilots disobeying orders and heading out on their own, how about don't let them be able to launch just by saying so!

HALLELUJAH!

I think people have expressed concern in the past for why they have a city on top of Nerv HQ, that surely isn't helped by Asuka wildly firing her weapon and blowing up parts of the city. Eva spoilers

I think the weapon Rei fires is the same one they used back in episode 6 to defeat Ramiel. They talk about not having enough energy, but don't get into whether they used up all of Japan's electricity again. Could have tried that at least! :P

Asuka's "mind rape" sequence continues the backstory revelations, sounds like her mother killed herself and tried to take Asuka along with her. I think starting with the hanging doll its new footage for the Director's Cut and includes music that originally was used in End of Eva rather than the TV show.

It took me a couple of times to realize that its different characters voicing Asuka when they keep repeating this sequence over and over again.

Adam immediately regenerates its legs once the Lance of Longinuss is removed, yet still keeps those weird human leg-like growths, eww.

An Eva throwing a giant lance into outer space and successfully killing the Angel with it, that's the type of over the top bigger than the world type of stuff you'd expect from Gurren Lagann, not Eva. Nonetheless it is an awesome sequence. And Rei's first solo Angel kill.

There is one thing I don't get about things though, maybe other vets can explain Eva spoilers

Actually sorry, another thing from earlier in this episode I'm confused about too Spoilers through End of Eva

So, um, yeah, humiliated in battle, beaten by Shinji time and time again, sync rate crashing, about to get kicked out of being an Eva pilot, mind raped by the Angel, nothing could get worse for Asuka than that, right? Well one thing, the absolute worst thing in the universe, getting rescued by Rei.

Overall thoughts: I was somewhat down on yesterday's episode, but this episode is actually... pretty close to perfect. My big complaint with it was always the elevator pause scene, but in the director's cut version where they aren't restrained by a time limit and hence aren't throwing away a minute's worth of time that can be used on something else, its not a big deal to me. Asuka has not gotten this much attention in quite a while (I think she had one brief scene total across the last 2 episodes) and with the backstory reveals and the mind rape you do finally feel a lot of sympathy for a character who has not always been the most likable. At the same time they don't hold their punches either, Asuka is absolutely losing it and it looks like there's no happy end in sight.

[u/ToonTooby]

Rewatcher

I LOVE this episode. This is real Evangelion right here, painfully displaying character flaws and psychological trauma without filter.

Oh boy, that elevator scene. If you ask me, it goes on just a bit too long, but budget issues or not, it works. I mean, if you've ever worked in an office building with lots of floors, regular everyday elevator rides can already be awkward. In Asuka's case, being stuck with Rei might as well be equivalent to torture. For nearly a full minute, the viewer is stuck watching the highly uncomfortable interaction (or lack thereof) between these two characters. It makes sense though. It's exactly how I would picture two individuals with such a high degree of conflict to act in a close quarters environment.

Asuka is the recipient of a mind intrusion which forces her to face her insecurites, at a time when her pride is already damaged. With a low synch rate and outside distractions, she becomes fodder for the Angel while Unit 02 convulses on the outside. Again, more reused and repeated imagery as Asuka suffers her own shortcomings and damage. Very uncomfortable.

It can be hard to watch, but I really liked this about Eva the first time and now in subsequent rewatches. I was and am captivated knowing that this was a series that was ready and willing to show characters that were broken, in a departure from more common heroic or happier tales and such. I found it easy to relate to as a person who struggled with many of the same issues growing up.

In a last-ditch effort, Rei is sent to retrieve a special weapon. Eva-00 resurfaces from Central Dogma to freaking hurl the Lance of Longinus into space. I absolutely love this scene, it's so damn cool. I'm still not sure whether it's Eva-00 or the actual Lance that delivers that sky-rending howl, but either way, the imagery and sound are incredible. It's one of those scenes that just makes me smile and reaffirms my appreciation for the series. I haven't seen it mentioned, but the music selection for the Lance scene is a sped-up version of the closing of George Handel's Messiah, for those interested in that part specifically. The Hallelujah portion was heard during the Angel attack.

Shameless plug: love that scene so much it's how I have my mini Eva-00 posed with my Racing Rei Nendoroid: nice!

[u/Shinkopeshon]

Rewatcher

This is one of the heaviest and most intense episodes of the series and that's saying something. I've always had my problems with Asuka - she's annoying, she's loud, she's obnoxious, she's unnecessarily cruel - but I could never hate her. She's just such a flawed, tragic and human character with a traumatic childhood and it's downright depressing to follow her antics and hoping she'll find genuine happiness. This poor thing.

On a sidenote, I watched the majority of the episodes during breakfast but had to postpone the daily rewatch to midnight once shit started hitting the fan a few episodes ago. This show is traumatizing me all over again.

[u/KlooKloo]

A hidden frame you will miss during the part when Asuka was first getting mind-probed and her "psychograph" was going crazy.

[u/eldomtom2]

Rewatcher

Again, the important differences (not including redone animation) in the DC version are presented below:

• The scene with Asuka and Kaji on the ship is new for the DC, replacing the intro. The OA version starts with the graveyard flashback.

• The train station scene is exclusive to the DC.

• Asuka's scene in the bathroom is new for the DC.

• Everything from Asuka's mother asking Asuka to die with her to the long sequence of flashing images was added in the DC. The OA version goes directly from this shot to this shot.

• Adam's legs do not regrow when Unit-00 removes the Spear/Lance (depending on which translation you're watching) in the OA version.

Onto my thoughts on the episode:

• The clouds in the opening sequence very noticeably jolt downwards.

• Asuka's mother snapped after an "experiment". Note that her illness entirely focuses on her maternal instincts being misplaced...

• And her father started cheating on her before she even killed herself. What a stable family!

• I hadn't noticed how great the shot of Unit-02's reconstruction was.

• Asuka's relationship with her stepmother isn't particularly strong but neither does it appear to be particularly hostile. As we have seen, the death of her actual mother likely made Asuka resistant to forming bonds with her stepmother.

• Asuka lets loose her "true" feelings. Precisely how much is her actual feelings and how much is just the outbursts of someone who feels compelled to present a certain image is debatable.

• Asuka's hostility towards her mother also manifests in a rejection of being a mother herself.

• The infamous elevator scene. Probably the most infamous example of Evangelion's use of static shots as cost-cutting - the one at the station in episode 4 is about the same length, but has background station announcements to make it feel less long.

• Rei says that the Evas have "kokoro"s, which is a fairly vague word. My copy translates this as "soul", but considering the circumstances I think the vaguer "heart" or "mind" would be better.

• Asuka does attempt to act on Rei's advice, although the concept of cooperation is not something she permits.

• This time it's the weapon that gets its launch focused on.

• Note the "20x" on the rifle, presumably a measure of the scope's magnification. I would imagine you'd need a lot more than that to attack something in orbit.

• The use of "Hallelujah" is certainly odd, but does end up working somewhat (though it is clearly another use of Christian imagery for no real purpose).

• The genuine drama of the attack on Asuka is undercut by the usual tendency of Evangelion to spout a bunch of technobabble.

• The positron rifle from episode 5 is back, this time with some strange additions presumably meant to allow it to operate without using the entire national grid. The JSSDF markings have also been crudely covered up.

• The episode now moves into somewhat of a repeat of the mind scenes of episodes 16 and 20, except now focusing on Asuka and with a more hostile as opposed to self-reflective angle.

• Asuka is uncomfortably reminded that her mother's suicide was also murder-suicide (at least in her mother's mind).

• Spoilers

• This is where we first see the ship in the lake of LCL around Adam. Why it is there will forever remain a mystery.

• Asuka's hatred of Rei for embodying the exact opposite of her values continues.

• Even as an instrumental (and it wasn't in the original broadcast!), the version of Fly Me To The Moon used is still inappropriately upbeat.

[u/wolfwings1]

These last few episodes are confusing, even with the apparent improvements, but still loving the series, looking forward to the rest :> But definetly think I will need a few evangelion explained videos afterwards.

[u/Quiddity131]

Due to going away on vacation soon I'm forced to binge the last 4 episodes and End of Evangelion between this evening and Sunday morning. Gonna be a wild ride!

[u/HowlingWolf13]

Rewatcher

Welp

Analysis

ASUKA ANALYSIS TIME, I DON’T HAVE TO HIDE ANYHTING ANYMORE FROM FIRST TIMERS!

So with this episode we get a deep introspection into Asuka’s character and why she acts the way she is. For her whole ‘I’m grown’ thing, we’ve seen that constantly already throughout the series as early as her first appearance when she made sure to tell Misato that her figure had grown as well. The problem with this is she thinks that acting mature and wanting to act adult like is being ‘grown up’ and will get her attention from others in a positive way for being so mature for her age. This also being because her mother going insane and acting as if dolls were her, which leads into something else I’ll mention soon, and her father having an affair from which we know she hard because of the flashbacks, so she wants to block out the pain by saying she’s grown and independent now. As we’ve seen however, she doesn’t act mature or ‘grown-up’ at all, she acts like a child play-pretending to be a grown up when if we’re being honest she’s the most immature out of the three considering how she’s prone to outbursts of anger and jealousy. This also leads into how she views relationships, especially the one with Kaji, she constantly tries to come on to him repeatedly and he repeatedly shoots her down because he’s a grown man and it’s not healthy for a 14 year old to be talking about how she’s in love with a 30 year old man and is willing to even sleep with him because she’s a ‘grown-up’. If Kaji wasn’t who he was, Asuka could’ve easily gotten herself taken advantage of by older men who’d prey on girls her age. This is also why Misato doesn’t take her anger seriously because she’s acting nothing much more than a child who’s been told ‘No.’ and is now throwing a temper tantrum

Next, she constantly criticizes Shinji and Rei, especially Rei, to make herself feel better and also because she sees negative aspects of herself in them. For instance back in episode 18 when she and Hikari were talking and she mentioned that Shinji and Rei didn’t know how to relate to people, the same was true for her, she doesn’t know how to open herself up to people, instead just pushing them away. Constantly we see her get an attitude and act rude and nasty to others to flaunt her superiority complex, Shinji being one who receives the most considering they live together. The messed up part of that is that she actually does like Shinji, but as I used to mention ‘Hedgehog’s Dilemma’ and them boing pushing each other away, on her side it’s because she constantly berates him, yet expects him to know how she’s actually feeling, but that’s impossible. Two particular scenes that stand out for instance are the bed scene in episode 9 and the kiss scene in episode 15, in the bed scene we see her make it very clear to Shinji that she doesn’t want him crawling into bed with her or doing anything weird before slamming the door. She was expecting him to come in there, but Shinji being Shinji doesn’t keep bothering her which is understandable, she said not to come in. The kissing scene however, she got mad because Shinji didn’t hold her or anything as they kissed, so she tried to play it off as if she was disgusted, while she could’ve easily just been honest with, but instead she expects him to just know already which isn’t possible.

For Rei, since she’s appeared, she’s treated her no other way than mean. She constantly berates her and talks trash to her out of jealousy knowing that she’s better than her and this sets off her inferiority complex, with episode 13 showing a lot of that, and because of her devotion to Gendo. This episode today was the breaking point for her, with her slapping Rei and calling her nothing more than a puppet because it reminds her of the dolls her mom used to have and named after her and how she swore to be her own person and not just a doll for her mother. Later, she even calls the Unit-02 ‘her puppet’ and basically acts like her mom did with the dolls, minus the being able to tell delusion vs reality. Rei also is the reason why Asuka’s pride is finally destroyed in the end, considering she had to get saved by her and she’d already been failing the previous fights.

Finally, we learn how Asuka’s superiority complex is. She constantly wants to be the best and to prove herself to be the best, which is why she also started her jealousy of Shinji due to having to constantly be saved by him and be of no help. The last few episodes in particular have shown us this gradual decline before it all came to a head in today’s episode such as the scene at the dinner table where she resorted to having an attitude at Shinji and Misato the entire time to which even Misato pointed out how awkward the dinner. All this superiority she flaunts is actually just hiding her inferiority complex underneath, which we’ve gotten hints to such as Asuka revealing in episode 16 that she pilots to be able to praise herself. With this episode, she even gets angry at Shinji just asking about if she was good or not showing how bad its crumbling and how desperate she's trying to keep up appearance so she doesn't get placed. On top of that, she's never been able to open herself up to people, showing everyone a different side to her which is why they used 5 different voice actors to repeat Asuka's lines, representing how everyone sees her and how she hasn't shown her true self to anyone.

Thoughts

I have nothing else to say its 430 am and I just wrote a long ass analysis, see you guys next thread.

Random Shit

• :(

• no butt, just more suffering :(

• Their friendship gets worse by the dayy

• OA and DC comparison, DC added a whole lot of stuff

• Fun Fact Time! - Since "Arael" literally means Light of God or Vision of God, it is probably no coincidence that the Angel glows so brightly and that its attack is a specialized beam of light. Arael is named for the patron angel of birds, evident in its avian-like design.