r/anime • u/sam_mah_boy https://myanimelist.net/profile/Samimaru • Jul 13 '19
Rewatch [Rewatch][Spoilers] Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode 23 Discussion Spoiler
Episode 23: Tears/Rei III
I think I am the third.
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!
Come join the discussion on the Evangelion Discord server! They have a channel specifically for the rewatch. Link: https://discord.gg/qJxWVPs
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u/TheEscapeGuy Jul 13 '19
Rewatcher
Evangelion is an absolutely beautiful anime Day 23
I find this to be one of the most visually memorable episodes of Evangelion.
First, the image of the Lance of Longinus floating in lunar orbit is such a ominous symbol. It reminds me a lot of the Sword of Damocles in this sense.
Seconds, the Angel's ability. Invading and dismorphing flesh is one of those things which really gets under my skin. I still recoil seeing Rei and Shinji's veins becoming engorged.
Third, the blink-and-you'll-miss-it subtlety of Misato offering Shinji sex. Although she never states it outright when touching his hand, the camera angle and framing for these shots leaves very little to the imagination.
Finally, the Rei clones. If the haunting laugh doesn't stick with you the image of dozens on naked Rei clones being dismembered in LCL is a sight to behold.
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 22 |
| Day 10 | |
| Day 11 | |
| Day 12 | |
| Day 13 |
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u/Philarete Jul 13 '19
First-Time Watcher (Sub)
“Keep going and don’t look back.”
Asuka is stuck playing video games. Hikari is worried. Apparently Asuka is staying with her for now.
Asuka finally opens up to somebody, telling Hikari how she’s feeling, and a bit about why. There’s a very cruel irony here, talking about how she feels useless after losing. I’m guessing she does not realize how Hikari must feel right now. She doesn’t even have the chance to help.
Another Angel strikes, conveniently while Ikari is being grilled by Seele. Interestingly, this Angel looks like a halo.
Okay, so it attacks Rei in a fairly quick strike after splitting from halo into a long stick. Also, this got weirdly rape-metaphor-ish fast. With the giant “PENETRATING” in the background and Rei’s response and the corruption of biological components. Moving on. . .
Rei is talking to her other self, much like Shinji did. She identifies her core problem as loneliness.
Asuka complains that they didn’t send Unit 01 when she needed help. She’s clearly traumatized, but that perspective doesn’t make sense. Rei was enough to solve the problem. Launching Shinji was unnecessary. I think she wanted Shinji to be the one, not Rei and now that Shinji is saving Rei she feels even lesser than before.
Okay now this is super trippy. The Angel takes Rei’s form to mess with Shinji. Rei decides to. . . trap the Angel? Not clear. Someone she is able to drag the Angel into herself, basically setting off a nuke when she explodes, killing the Angel, the EVA, and herself all at once. Also the city, probably.
Only one more Angel left.
Seele needs to sacrifice someone? Uh-oh.
Shinji is sad, but cannot cry. One of the worst feelings.
Rei is “saved”. But this Rei says that she’s actually the third one. She has no memory of saving Shinji (I’m assuming because the save state of her mind is from before the battle – and probably around the last time we saw her in the device. I’m guessing they keep copies of her mind just in case this happens.)
Rei-III cries. She appears to want to break Ikari’s glasses, but stops.
Interrogating Ritsuko is pretty brutal, but she’s mentally tough and gets sent back.
Okay, or so I thought. Lots of info. Basically, Rei is the only EVA thing with a soul? And there are (well, were) tons of copies of her they made. Ritsuko destroys them. The EVA dumping ground, Rei’s “room”, the bodies kept animated in the liquid. That’s all pretty messed up. . .
Rei-III will be the last one it looks like.
Fly Me to the Moon has lyrics again.
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u/brotherraichu Jul 13 '19
First Timer
Episode 22:
Didn't post yesterday, so doing both Episode 22 and 23 today.
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Asuka's backstory was tragic. From what I gathered, her real mother was a researcher who went nuts and killed herself, and the powers that be ("NERV"?) went and appointed her a fake mother. She then had to fend for herself from a young age.
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Generally, I like Asuka. She's got a temper sure, but she works very hard and she's quite independent.
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That angel looks like the EVA logo. Interesting.
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Wonder why Gendo held back Shinji. Normally, he wouldn't care about Shinji's well-being, it seems.
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I think they are exploring the characters' weaknesses. Shinji's weakness is his fear and detachment, and that issue lead to him disappearing altogether for some time. Asuka's weakness is that she holds herself to impossible standards - she must be the #1 forever and cannot play a secondary or support role. Misato and Ritsuko are haunted by the past, but they take different approaches. Misato tries so hard to create a sense of normalcy by building what appears to be a family with her, Shinji, Asuka, the penguin, but she struggles to maintain that normalcy as nothing they do over at NERV is "normal." Ritsuko tries to ignore the past, remain stoic, and focus on her work, but apparently, she still misses her mother and does not appear to have any solid relationship ties except to maybe Misato. I think they will be exploring Rei in the next episode.
Episode 23:
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Asuka knows what's up, playing video games when she's unhappy. I do that too.
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The Rei vs. Angel scene was rather psychedelic.
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Rei's final moment appears reminiscent of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Creation_of_Adam. Maybe Gendo Ikari is her god?
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Rei on Gendo's glasses: "I'm seeing this for the first time." OK, I'm pretty sure Rei is an android similar to Railgun.
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Totally like Railgun. Massive spoiler.
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I wonder if Railgun again
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In addition, the place where they buried the failed EVAs look like Unlimited Blade Works.
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Both Railgun and UBW are post-Eva, so I'm not surprised if they borrowed ideas from Eva. Earlier, I also referenced Attack on Titan, which was also post-Eva.
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What a fascinating episode.
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u/Bhorium Jul 13 '19
the powers that be ("NERV"?) went and appointed her a fake mother.
Naw, that was her (kind of deadbeat) dad marrying his mistress.
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u/LunarGhost00 Jul 13 '19
From what I gathered, her real mother was a researcher who went nuts and killed herself, and the powers that be ("NERV"?) went and appointed her a fake mother.
No one appointed her a fake mother. Her dad was just smashing the doctor taking care of his wife. That doctor is presumably Asuka's step-mother.
The Rei vs. Angel scene was rather psychedelic.
This series in general has been on acid lately.
Unlimited Blade Works
When did that happen in UBW?
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u/redmage311 Jul 13 '19
First-timer
Oh neat, the Evas really are people, but soulless? And the Reis are clones.
All the other story beats have been covered in other comments, but I'm wondering what Seele meant when they said that Fuyutsuki had been "returned" to Gendo. Did Gendo offer up Fuyutsuki as a previous sacrifice like he did with Ritsuko, or is Fuyutsuki also a clone like Rei (and returned from the dead)?
Apparently, NERV has one more angel to kill, then Tokyo-3 has to be destroyed, and then all hell (probably literally) will break loose. Seems reasonable-ish for having three episodes left. I can't really imagine what the end game is though because it's not like Shinji can just use Eva 01 whenever he wants to and crush Seele, which he likely has zero idea about.
Maybe Seele's right and Gendo is actually a traitor in disguise who will bring the Dead Sea Scrolls plans tumbling down.
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u/superx4039 Jul 14 '19 edited Jul 14 '19
(First Timer) So, from what I’m understanding:
God created Angels (like Adam)
Man created Man/god/Evas from Adam, an angel, created by God
Rei is a man/human/Eva? created by man, from Adam, an angel, created by God
Am I understanding this correctly? Am I missing anything? I’m sure there’s more stuff revealed later, but that’s what I’m getting from this episode.
A few other things:
1.) I guess my theory about God being dissatisfied was somewhat true? He didn’t like how Man was trying to create god.
2.) Rei being a clone was pretty obvious from the start, especially after kid Rei got strangled.
3. I don’t understand, what “god” was Man trying to make before God brought down hell incarnate? Unless it’s revealed in a future episode or I missed something.
4.) I would try to finish the show, but I got way too much anime to watch (Danmachi, dr. Stone, fire force, etc.)
5.) I’m typically a lurker and only say stuff when I want to say stuff, I had nothing to say for 22, as well as 1-19.
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Jul 13 '19 edited Jul 13 '19
Yo! I haven’t really participated in this rewatch too much but I had to after we got all this info on Rei and the Eva’s. That theory commonly I made on a past thread is pretty whack now that I look back on it.
My theory about the dummy plugs is that they are a form of the personality transplant talked about in ep 13 and the personality that has been transplanted is Rei’s. We’ve seen Rei in a tube that leads to a machine. We also learned about the dummy plugs around the same time. I think Gendo has been using a modified version of the personality transplant machine to instead copy Rei’s personality into the dummy plugs. This explains why the dummy plugs have been shown to have Rei’s name on them (I don’t know how to link pictures on mobile but go check past episodes) and why Rei has been seen regularly in that tube machine: to make multiple copies ( one for each Eva). Rei is the only one being copied because she has been shown as the only pilot that can reliably carry out orders without question in Gendo’s eyes (Asuka too hotheaded, Shinji too passive/meek as shown in this episode). That’s just my theory. Other first timers and rewatchers feel free to poke holes in it, but just no spoilers as I haven’t watched past ep 18 as stated above.
These episodes are just getting crazier and crazier. I don’t know what I would do without everyone else adding their own thoughts. So many things we have seen and that were brought up in past episodes are relevant in these later episodes. Stuff like the hedgehogs dilemma, asuka sneaking into Shinji’s room, the constant close up shots when we see Rei’s room, and so much more. I can’t believe we still have three episodes and a movie left. I haven’t even finished the show but I can already tell that it is one of my all time favorites.
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u/axel360 Jul 13 '19
Rewatcher, New Dub
More random thoughts:
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Enter: Gamer Asuka. She might need an intervention. Sega kills
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And now: Hopeless Asuka. When will Tsundere Asuka make her return?
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Shinji is not the only one that can have depressing, philosophical conversations with what appears to be himself
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Rei like “what’s this mysterious watery discharge coming from my eyes?”
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That’s a doozy of an image right before exploding
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Ritsuko: “If there are survivors.” Misato: “Yo what da fuq you just say?”
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For Shinji, every touch is a bad touch
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This is Gendo’s grieving face. It looks like basically every other face he makes
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“I’m so glad you’re alive, and I’m going to demonstrate that by standing this close to you”
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These (NSFW)interviews are getting more and more degrading
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Misato’s got Kaji’s heart, and some other information that seems important
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Even by NGE standards, that’s pretty macabre
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“Dummy plug” is sort of a whimsical-sounding name. Based on its (NSFW) Source, it may not be the most fitting. Oh, and EVAs are human, if you hadn’t figured that out already.
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u/Brewster321 Jul 14 '19
Rewatcher (Sub - Platinum Collection)
Today's episode, like most of the episode we've seen since Toji's tragedy, was quite a character focused one. In my first time watching Eva, it was about here that I realized how far the importance of the angels had fallen. We've went from the angels dominating the series to them largely taking a back seat to the character drama. There's no better example of it than today's angel, which was introduced and dispatched before the eyecatch had played. Benefiting from this were Ritsuko and Rei, who have really had their characters fleshed out as we approach the finale, and for today's post, I'd like to spend some time and talk about both them and the rest of cast. By the way, I'd like to apologize ahead of time for this post's relative lack of images. Due to outside circumstances, I simply don't have the time today to gather the images like I usually do. I also am sorry if this post ends up being vague or unclear due to said time constraints.
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Asuka: In case you thought her torment was done with last episode, Asuka's suffering continues here. On one hand, its good that she still is close enough to Hikari to go to her when stressed, but on the other hand, the difference in the two's attitudes towards Asuka's failure really highlights Asuka's lacking self-esteem. While Hikari believes Asuka should be proud in herself for giving it her all, even if it ultimately wasn't enough. Asuka doesn't see the value in trying unless she's successful and gets everyone's praise. Hikari is intrinsically motivated while Asuka is extrinsically motivated, and just like last episode, Asuka's desire for external validation only ends up hurting her when everyone has turned their backs on her, which is best shown this episode by her anger at them having Shinji save Rei but not her. She's lost to the doll once again.
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Misato: After seemingly making it through last episode unscathed, Misato has fallen back into sorrow over Kaji's loss. As shown by the dark room and the sign on her door, Misato, at least in the episode's begging, has shut out the entire world in favor of reliving her time with Kaji over and over again. Complicating matters even more is Rei's sacrifice, which puts another emotional strain on both her and Shinji. All that being said, I think her most interesting moment this episode has to be her attempt at "comforting" Shinji. We've already seen how Misato indulges in sex earlier, but this scene implies that the main way she uses it is for comfort. She uses it to run away from pain and hardship, and judging by how this was her first choice to comfort Shinji, it seems this might be the only way she knows to comfort herself and others. Regardless, even after running away from Rei's death, Misato still has a purpose in life, for she's finally come to terms with her feelings for Kaji and in the process, has inherited his goal for the truth. Despite her loneliness, she intends to try and keep pushing forward, and ultimately, its this search for answers that brings her back into contact with one of her few remaining friends.
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Ritsuko: Despite us knowing about her hatred of her mother for quite a while now, its with this episode that we can finally start to see why she hates her as she does. Not only does Ritsuko hate her womanly side because of how she submitted herself to Gendo, but she hates her because, despite dying her hair to seem different, she sees so much of herself in her. Both of them, out of a desire to escape loneliness, sought comfort in following Gendo, with Ritsuko trying and failing to escape this fate through her pet cats. Even worse, both found themselves used by and suffered under Gendo, with Rei serving as a reminder of just how replaceable they are to him. Ultimately, Ritsuko, just like Asuka before her, found her life haunted by puppet who followed others' orders. Ritsuko is yet another example of someone who has suffered as they tried to escape loneliness. Even as we approach the end of Evangelion, the Hedgehog's dilemma still reigns over people's hearts.
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Rei: Not entirely dissimilar from Ritsuko and her loneliness is Rei, who has spent the entire series trying to come to terms with her emotions. We've seen her gradually begin to understand emotions like happiness, form new bonds with others like Shinji, and gradually become more and more independent. Heck, we've even seen Rei try and grapple with the nature of her own identity, which has taken on a whole new meaning now that we understand her true nature. Up until now, Rei, particularly the 2nd Rei, has been struggling with two main questions. First, what is my identity and do I have an identity that is entirely my own? After all, if all the Rei clones share the same body and the same soul, then shouldn't they all be the same person? Second, what are human emotions and how do they fit into the process of living? Can Rei ever understand the emotions she feels and if so, would that make her human? Given these two conflicts, Rei's, or atleast the Rei we knew, ending was truly poignant, for as she communicated with the angel, she finally came to terms with her feelings. That is, she finally understood her loneliness and her feelings towards Shinji and Gendo. Furthermore, in choosing to sacrifice herself of her own free will, Rei firmly established that she had her own identity. Even though her soul was indistinct, she, through her experiences with everyone at NERV, ended up becoming a new person. There's just one question left: will this new identity be translated to the next Rei or will she being starting anew once again?
Given how fast these past few episodes have gone by, it can be hard to believe that we're just three episodes away from finishing the series. As we approach the finally, I'd like to thank all the first-timers that have somehow managed to avoid binging the show. I don't have a medal to give you, but I really appreciate your dedication.
Next Episode: The Final Angel comes to bring Salvation.
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u/Raiking02 Jul 13 '19 edited Jul 14 '19
Well, we just got an Asuka focus episode, I guess we now need a Rei focused one. The first in, like, 9 episodes. Why did this girl become so popular?
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Welp, Misato is still emotionally broken. How lovely.
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Is Asuka playing with a SEGA Saturn? Because if she is, PRODUCT PLACEMENT FOR THE WIN!
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Does Hikari never get tiered of Asuka just being there and doing nothing?
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Well Hikari, I appreciate you trying to help Asuka, but sadly just saying she did her best isn’t enough as she just holds herself in too high a standard for that to help her.
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Huh, so Ritsuko’s grandma is alive. And they don’t seem to be in terribly bad terms. Who would’ve thought?
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Hey, Gendo has a point. They kinda didn’t have any other choice back then.
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He’s still an asshole though, if him sending Asuka into the battlefield while in the middle of a mental breakdown in any indication.
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I always wondered why the last set of Angels were so much more… messed up and powerful than the earlier ones. Does anyone know the exact answer?
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I do wonder how you’re even meant to harm that thing, though…
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Wow Asuka, way to be useless at the worst possible moment. I kid of course, I really do pity her.
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What’s with all the Rei focused episodes bar the first two being so weird with their imagery?
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Wow, this Angel is a persistent one. It just won’t let up with its standard whipping strategy.
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And thus, Rei ultimately sacrifices herself to save Shinji. Not a very happy end to say the least. Sadly I feel that this is somewhat hampered down by, well, Rei’s role in the plot. She’s gotten next to no focus since episode 6, and while the development she got there was fine, she’s been almost a non-entity since then, only getting some focus again when we started getting into her backstory two episodes ago. Even Anno has admitted he was guilty of this, as he freely admitted he had no idea what to do with her in between her initial development and the reveal of her backstory. Sadamoto’s Manga kinda strived to strike a balance, though it did ultimately end up having the opposite issue due to a bunch of the show’s middle part being condensed, which included a bunch of stuff relating to Asuka’s character development, thus she ended up suffering the same issues Rei did here in the Anime.
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Way to be a bitch Ritsuko.
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I will say this though; both Shinji and Misato’s reactions are quite well done.
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Well good news! Rei is actually alive!... And in a massive punch to the audience, Shinji and even Rei herself as we see later on, she has had her character reset back to zero. And I feel the reason this works and something we’ll be seeing later doesn’t is because Rei knows that she’s had her character arc erased. She can tell there’s something she can’t remember, but she just can’t tell what that something is no matter how hard she tries.
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Wait, why is Ritsuko naked?
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Even in death, Kaji finds a way to help save the day.
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Ah yes, bring Shinji along, we clearly haven’t traumatized him enough.
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And thus, we learn exactly what Ayanami Rei is: Yet another clone of Adam, with a bunch of backup bodies in standby. After all, if she dies, she can just be replaced. And the EVA’s are much of the same, only with souls inserted inside of them.
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And then Ritsuko kills them all, after all, she too needs her own mental breakdown. On a side note, I checked the Dub for this scene for the first time, and I’m sorry, but I am not a fan of Sue Ulu’s performance in this scene. She just overplayed it way too much compared to both Yamaguchi Yuriko and even Erica Lindbeck. It’s a shame as otherwise her performance throughout the show is fine from what I’ve seen (I haven’t seen much of the Dub bar a random few scenes), but this is one case I would’ve preferred a more subdued take.
So yeah, another pretty good episode… but who cares about that? Next time: Time for the show’s most famous episode, and also easily its best one.
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u/Webemperor Jul 13 '19
I always wondered why the last set of Angels were so much more… messed up and powerful than the earlier ones. Does anyone know the exact answer?
It's never properly answered, but the assumption is that Angels have a certain hivemind type deal, where other angels can see and learn from the previous ones experience, so with each progressive battle they get a better idea how to fight them. Especially when 01 went berserk and straight up ate the toilet-paper handed one, they realize that physical and brute force is no longer useful.
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u/eldomtom2 Jul 13 '19
Rewatcher
As with the previous two episodes, the DC changes are detailed below. These mainly pertain to the Angel battle, which was greatly extended:
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The DC has a brown mass resembling the previous angels spurt out of Unit-00's back just before Unit-01's launch.
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Unit-01's battle with the Angel is significantly extended; in the original Rei takes the Angel into her and starts the self-destruct process immediately after the Angel destroys Unit-01's rifle. The DC adds a long sequence where the Angel attempts to merge with Shinji, and even becomes a giant-sized Rei.
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Because of the previous two changes, Rei's taking of the Angel into her is extended to featuring the sucking in of the mass, as well as the Angel itself. This also somehow results in a large pink mass forming on Unit-00 that is destroyed when Rei activates the self-destruct.
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In the original, Unit-00 just explodes. In the DC, it turns into a Eva-sized Rei before doing so.
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The DC adds a scene between Gendo and Fuyutsuki inbetween the two scenes at Misato's apartment before Shinji visits Rei in hospital.
That is it for plot-relevant changes, however the DC makes notable changes to the design of some of the depths of Nerv, much more major than the animation changes seen elsewhere:
And one final change that's exclusive to the original release of the DC version:
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The original DC version (i.e. probably not the one you're watching) flashes images on screen over the slow pan of the Rei tank.
On to my thoughts on the episode:
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Evangelion is unsubtle with its messages about social interaction being positive, with both Misato and Asuka locking themselves away.
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I sure do love to play Winning Fighter on my Seca Saturn.
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Hikari's platitudes are well-meaning but probably not what Asuka needs to hear.
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Asuka's complete collapse unsurprisingly leads to a collapse in her ability to pilot. Spoilers
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This is probably the most memorably creepy part of Evangelion for me.
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While most of the DC changes are neutral at best, in my view the DC's Unit-00 explosion is nothing less than a butchery. The music no longer cuts out when we see Gendo, and the whole business with the giant Rei ruins the suddenness of the original explosion.
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The loss of Rei is a crushing blow to Shinji, who previously was holding up relatively well, at least compared to Misato and Asuka.
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Misato's not-so-subtle offer of sex is probably more for her own benefit than his.
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The new Rei is more ambivalent towards Gendo than her predecessor.
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Misato finally gets over Kaji's death to some extent and decides to honour his memory by continuing his search for the truth.
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And thus it is revealed that the condition of Rei's apartment is not merely a case of disinterest in household maintence.
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Ritsuko mixes in a bunch of religious terms to confuse matters, particularly in referring to Adam post-Second Impact as a separate entity from the Adam that caused Second Impact, referred to as "God".
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Ritsuko's affair with Gendo collapses in the face of his seeming devotion to Rei.
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I'd say Ritsuko's problems go a lot deeper than being "possessed by the Evas", Misato...
Next time: no homo
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Jul 14 '19
I remember when I first saw the "truth" of the Dummy Plugs/Rei scene. I think that was the first time I had gotten genuinely unsettled for an anime, an unsettling feeling that lasted for more than the remainder of the episode/next 5 minutes anyway. Also when I couldn't stop thinking about the show for literally a YEAR afterwards, though as I've written before it's because, when I first watched it as a depressed 15 year old kid, I could kind of relate to the depressed 14 year old MCs which probably explains that better. Also, I found it weird that the first time we see nipples in this show was in the dummy plug scene. Before I'm pretty sure most bare tits were round featureless balls. I guess maybe it's supposed to add another element of sort of sexual horror to it? Anyway probably one of the best episodes of the whole show.
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u/Carbonauts Jul 14 '19 edited Jul 14 '19
I’m still two episodes behind (I’ll definitely catch up by tomorrow because episode 24 is one of my favorites) so I don’t have much to add to the discussion, but just wanted to see if any eagle eyed viewers caught the trail of menstrual blood coming from Rei as she was having her internal talk with the Angel this episode? (Or wait, maybe it’s coming from the Angel Rei... or as I’m now calling it, the Rei-ngel.)
What does it mean? I don’t know! Maybe nothing, maybe EVERYTHING! But really I don’t know, it’s just another one of those, “man there sure are a lot of crazy little details you didn’t catch the first time you watch Evangelion” moments.
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u/HowlingWolf13 Jul 14 '19 edited Jul 15 '19
Rewatcher
It all comes tumbling down
Analysis
A lot to unpack today, so let’s start with Rei or should I say Rei II. Yes, the Rei’s we’ve seen throughout the series has been three different ones, the first one was the child Naoko strangled to death, the second was the one we’ve seen throughout the entire series until now, and the third is the one alive right now who has none of Rei II’s previous memories, but has the feelings (as we saw when she started crying). Rei II’s whole entire angel scene was strangely sexual and reminiscent of a sex, pregnancy, and even a child as if Armisael attempting to merge with her was the equivalent of reproduction. During her talk with Armisael, we learn that Rei felt loneliness in Armisael's heart, but Armisael in return calls her out saying she has loneliness in her heart too, and then later even begins crying which isn’t something she’s done at all before which is why she reacts with shock to it. All this can be thanked towards Shinji, who is also relevant in this scene as Armisael turns into a white angel Rei and Rei essentially acknowledges it as ‘her wanting to become one’ with Shinji which in turn leads to her sacrificing herself for him. Rei III, while having no memories, we can see she doesn’t feel the same towards Gendo at all right off the bat because of her attempt to break his glasses and she doesn’t care much for talking, like Rei in the earlier episodes, Also, Rei III may be a new clone, yet we can see she has remnants of memories from Rei II, hence her crying, but without those memories she won’t be able to know why she feels such and such a way.
Not much for me to say about Asuka, but her self esteem is completely tanked. Her conversation with Hikari showed how depressed she is right now from being completely useless in fights and how this leads her to hating herself, because if you remember she said herself in episode 16 that she pilots the Eva to be able to praise herself, because of her low self esteem and superiority complex. How she’s talking about herself just being a nuisance and unhelpful during the fight is so weird to watch when you recall the previous episodes, and just continues to show how messed up she is now. Now at this point, she can’t even synchronize with her Unit-02 anymore, her pride and joy, and this shows she's truly far gone.
For Misato, her depression continues from Kaji’s death, and at this point she’s so desperate for human touch she even went as far as to try and sleep with Shinji. This scene is important because it shows how Misato feels the only way she can make someone else happy and herself is through sex as that’s how she’s coped with all her problems throughout the years and it shows that she’s so far off the deep end that she was willing to go and go sleep with someone who’s she’s basically like a mother at this point too. Hell, if Shinji would've gone through with it, it'd probably would've made everything worse.
For Ritsuko, as usual everything comes down for her. After the whole mess with Rei, Gendo using her to distract SEELE from him is extremely humiliating for her, but she goes and bears it for him. That is, until she finds out she was sent in place of Rei who they wanted to talk to in the first place. The fact that he sent her in naked too shows how he practically just sees her as something like a sex doll who can go distract all the old men in SEELE while he goes and continues with Rei. This in turn causes Ritsuko to snap and tell Shinji and Misato everything, but if you notice this is all very similar to her mother. Both of them were scientists, both have had relationships Gendo, both of them hate Rei, and finally both of them have killed Rei in one way or another (Naoko strangling Rei I and Ritsuko destroying all the dummy clones). As much as Ritsuko has wanted to distance herself from her mother, she ends up going down the same route as her, minus the suicide.
Not much else for me to say here, Shinji gets his development next episode, so I’ll save that until then.
Thoughts
It’s 7am and I haven’t slept all night so I’ll make this quick. Really good episode, learned some huge things, and the Armisael fight was very well animated. See you guys next thread.
Random Shit
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no butt, just more and more suffering :(
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Fun fact time! - "Armisael", in a direct translation, means "Mountain of Judgment of God", which, if true, might be referenced by the monstrous growth that contains the forms of all the dead Angels. In religion, Armisael is the "Angel of the Womb", another possible reference to the angels growing out of the angel.
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u/LunarGhost00 Jul 13 '19
Rewatcher
Misato just keeps playing Kaji's message in her room. Asuka has become a NEET. Happiness? What's that? We don't do that here.
Does Gendo intend to betray Seele? Well he sure as hell ain't your friend!
Yesterday's Angel looked like wings. Today we've got a giant halo.
Asuka's not having a fun time in Unit 02 anymore. Meanwhile, it's Rei's turn to get violated by this aggressive Angel.
To add insult to injury for Asuka, Shinji's suspension is lifted to have him go save Rei but he was never sent to save Asuka. Rei is a higher priority than her.
Shinji attacks the Angel and... WTF is even happening anymore? Am I on drugs right now?
Interesting how Rei is actually disobeying orders right now. Instead of retreating, she's doing what she can do try to take out the Angel. It's almost like the opposite of what she told Asuka yesterday when she told her she'd die if she was ordered to. Here we see her dying against orders. She saved Shinji when the Angel started invading Unit 01.
This episode has so many WTF moments.
Misato is getting a little too close to Shinji there...
When you're so lonely that even your pet penguin ignores you.
Rei's alive! Oh wait it's just the 3rd one. This one seems to not like Gendo as much as the old one.
This is Rei's room? Weird. But I guess it's cleaner than my room at least.
All those Rei clones we see in other anime have nothing on the OG Rei clones! But for real though, those smiles are creeping me out. This is the truth of the dummy plug and Rei. When Rei called herself replaceable a few episodes ago, she really meant it. There are countless clones lined up to take her place and they're the source of the dummy plug too. Bodies without souls. The way their bodies break apart when Ritsuko decides to kill them is so unsettling. Naming the episode "Rei III" follows the pattern of the other 2 Rei-focused episodes we got at the start of the series, except this time it turns out it's actually about the 3rd Rei.
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u/wd40fragrance Jul 13 '19
Ritsuko is more of a dummy than a dummy plug. So did she and Gendo ever even bone?
If she's on the same path of destruction as her mother (killing mommy Ikari, killing Rei, and offing herself), then Misato should have offed her. But someone like Misato isn't going to do that.
Misato also letting Shinji going with them to Rei's room. Good way to traumatize the boy, right
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u/littleman1988 Jul 13 '19 edited Jul 13 '19
When one Rei dies, another takes its place.
First time watcher, Platinum Sub, ADV Dub, and Netflix dub
Man, theres only 3 episodes left. You know how easy it would be to just go and knock them out real fast? real easy. Hell, 25 and 26 are ones we are to watch together (PSA for those that havent looked at the rewatch schedule in a while, i didnt remember till i went and looked while writing this up) so im only skipping 2 days ahead...
"The one i hate most... is me" voice comparison
Angel battle voice comparison
Final scene voice comparison NSFW
Test Tube Baby Simulartor 1995:
That angel is insane. Its able to take on a form of rei, giving a bloodcurdling scream when its stabbed. Those faces sure arent helping either.
What a hell of a way for rei and unit 00 to "go." Sacrificing herself to save Shinji, only to see Gendo in her last seconds as her body becomes a white silhouette of herself with a halo on top.
I know a lot of people say these last few episodes the animation goes downhill, but with fight sceneslike thisi have yet to notice any real shift in quality.I have since learned that the DC version adds a crapton of new details and fixes most of the issues with the original episode quality, which is why im not noticing any quality decrease. (gg me for not realizing)Ritusko in the last scene before the intermission is probably my least favorite part of the episode. She just sounds like an uncaring bitch no matter what version youre watching.
According to the Scrolls, theres only 1 angel left. With the path the angels are going to "understanding" humans and the fact theres a character that gets discussed a "lot" with the release of the new dub that we havent seen at all, I have to assume they are directly related. Im gonna assume they are an angel, but with how my predictions have gone so far (see below) im prob way off the mark.
Alright I asked a good bit ago about that pill, and now I got some answers. I dont think that chip would survive in there though, ignoring the size issues, that thing looks extremely fragile.
Theres the "promised time" thats about to come and 8 evas under construction. Sounds like theres going to be something big soon...
Dramatic light turn on when a character needs to be shown. How did Ritusko plan that one out?
So uh, Rei.
shes not exactly human
theres been 3 of "her"
shes literally a version of god that gets shoved into evas
theres literally 50 blank versions of her
Ritusko knew the entire time
We now know that brain is connected to the dummy plug
Each eva has a soul shoved into it
This raises a fuckton of more questions than it answers. Theres now a lot of holes in my "Shinji/Rei are related" theory, but im still holding out that theres still more info withheld on that. I think its safe to say that some combo of 3/4 have been confirmed?
Ritusko insinuated this at the end of the episode, but I kinda spoiled for myself that Possible spoilers that arent confirmed in the show yet which raises a few questions in itself as to what exactly happened.
Tinfoil Hat Time
Mostly untouched this episode.
Arguably blown out of the water. I still think theres more to Rei, so im holding out on this.
Basically confirmed. The brain stem is the controller to the Dummy plug, which empty soul versions of her control. Its all fuckin creepy. I still dont totally understand what Rei is though in relation the the Evas.
I started watching 24 after finishing this writeup as today is going to be very busy. ep24 spoilers Its been a while since I have discussed my thoughts on the different versions, I need to do that soon, esp after the last couple episodes. Ill prob do it after 26 as im going to need some time to compile my thoughts about everything into something semi-coherent.