Neon Genesis Evangelion Episode 2 Reaction

It's funny how the post episode discussion mirrors their talks after AOT.

would love double drops of this a week.

There's a fair amount of traditional fanservice in the show, but there's also very deliberate psychosexual elements. The creator came from a stereotypically horny nerd background and I'm sure he had a keen awareness of the commercial aspect of it as well, but I feel like his maturation during the production led him to consider sexuality in a more critical manner.

Can't wait for their reaction to the ending, the other ending and the other ending LOL

Eva is a show that takes some big swings at referencing some complex ideas. One of those is Fruedian ideas about consciousness. So Misato getting sexualized as a "mother" figure fits into that. But these high minded justification doesn't detract from the fact that the teenage boys this show was originally intended for, like shows with pretty girls.

I’m just waiting for the movie

I think we're gonna need 2 eps a week for this show.

I love Misato sm, she's actually my favorite character!

Caaaaaaapitulazooooooooooooooooooooo

You are my specialz 🎶

Lola, please call it 'Instrumentality'

I love the elevator scene with shinji and his dad. So much is conveyed with no words spoken. When I first watched evangelion and saw that scene, that’s when it clicked for me that this show isn’t just some run of the mill mech anime.

Misato is arguably the goat character of the original series

Remember when Bocchi wakes up in the nurse's office and says "An unfamiliar ceiling"? Now you understand the reference.

For the 90s thing, yeah no you are gonna find out this isn’t that type of anime, everything has a meaning, also misato being like this , and the shots trying to sexualize her maybe im wrong but I always seen as part of the fact that yeah she isn’t a trusted adult even with the way she dresses around a teenager

let's goo

Evangelion is one of my top 5 anime, along with Cowboy Bebop, Attack on Titan, Hunter X Hunter, and probably Vinland Saga. It’s so mature and layered in its handling of themes, I think you’re really gonna appreciate it! The typical Shonen expectation from the fight with the angel would be to portray it as an exciting affair, a power fantasy for a 14 year old boy in the cockpit of this amazing robot. However, Shinji was terrified, and recalls the Angel later with abject horror. Who would actually want to shoulder such responsibility? Even at this early stage, Shinji Ikari is set apart from a typical 90’s anime protagonist.

And the trauma train continue folks! But for real they need some happy animes after this and JJK lol

Episode 2 also begins to hint at Shinji’s emerging libido, adolescent anxieties, and repressed sexuality. From a psychoanalytic perspective, several scenes are framed through Shinji’s point of view, highlighting his self-consciousness, embarrassment, low self-esteem, and difficulty navigating intimacy, reflecting a teenager struggling with unfamiliar social and emotional situations. These moments are often mistaken for simple fan service or comedic relief, but they serve a deeper narrative purpose. Evangelion repeatedly uses uncomfortable situations involving sexuality and intimacy to explore the psychology of its characters and their inability to connect with others. The discomfort these scenes create is intentional and, yes, often both disturbing and controversial. It is also one of the reasons Evangelion remains such a divisive series among viewers, especially today. That said, some of the scenes later in the series are undeniably problematic and difficult to defend. Freudian and psychoanalytic concepts are a major influence on the series and play an important role in the development of the characters’ inner conflicts, particularly themes of desire, repression, loneliness, complexes, and the fear of human relationships. In that sense, Shinji shares some similarities with Denji from Chainsaw Man, as both are emotionally vulnerable teenagers whose desires for affection, intimacy, and acceptance are often mistaken for purely sexual impulses when, in reality, they reflect a deeper longing for human connection.

Can’t wait till they get to episode 4, personal fav of mine.

Also I don’t think Cowboy Bebop is the best comparison for Evangelion. Beyond both being influential anime from the 1990s, they don’t actually have that much in common. A closer comparison might be Attack on Titan. Both series are considerably darker in tone and blend action with psychological drama, mystery, conspiracies, political intrigue, and thriller elements. Attack on Titan creator Hajime Isayama has also spoken about being a fan of Evangelion. There is a clear parallel between the GeoFront and the Walls in Attack on Titan, as both serve as massive defensive structures protecting the last remnants of humanity from monstrous beings that seek humanity’s annihilation. There are visual similarities as well, particularly the combination of giant humanoid beings and body horror. Even the Eva’s Entry Plug being inserted through the neck may feel familiar to Attack on Titan viewers. The Angels, Evas, and Titans also share some similarities, including powerful regenerative abilities and specific weak points that must be targeted to defeat them. Chainsaw Man likewise contains multiple homages to Evangelion. Its creator, Tatsuki Fujimoto, has also stated in interviews that he is a fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion. He has included several visual references to the series in the manga, while the anime opening of Season 1 features a visual homage to one of Evangelion’s most iconic scenes. For me also one of the final scenes of Reze Movie after they defeat he Typhoon Devil has a visual reference to Evangelion.

Before the reaction I have some comments about this episode If it wasn’t clear enough yet, the pilot can physically feel pain and damage when the Eva is injured because their nervous systems are linked via the LCL fluid. The intensity of this feedback depends on the synchronization rate between the pilot and the Eva, and Shinji’s synchronization is unusually high as was already mentioned. Tokyo-3 is not the Tokyo we know. The original Tokyo was heavily damaged before the events of the series, and Japan’s capital was relocated to Tokyo-2, which is the current capital in the series. Tokyo-3 was later built as a fortified city for NERV and anti-Angel operations. Beneath the city of Tokyo-3 is the GeoFront, a massive underground cavern that contains NERV headquarters and the Evangelion launch systems, essentially functioning as an underground defensive fortress beneath the city. Many of the city’s buildings can also retract underground to protect civilians during Angel attacks. This episode also mentions A.T. Fields (the acronym stands for "Absolute Terror Field" as shown in the opening credit), powerful defensive barriers generated by both Angels and Evas that conventional weapons cannot penetrate. We’ll learn much more about them as the series progresses. The Human Instrumentality Project is mentioned during Gendo’s meeting. Its meaning is explained later in the series, so I won’t discuss it yet to avoid spoilers. One detail many viewers may not know, however, is that the name is a tribute to science fiction writer Cordwainer Smith’s Instrumentality of Mankind, a reference deliberately chosen by Hideaki Anno. During the meeting, it is also mentioned that no Angels had appeared for 15 years before Sachiel’s arrival. The penguin Pen Pen belongs to a genetically modified species of warm-water penguins created to adapt to the new environmental conditions of the world. Another detail I forgot to mention about the opening is that the symbols that appear at the very end of the opening sequence are based on the Celestial Alphabet, also known as Angelic Script, an occult alphabet described in the 16th century by Renaissance occultist and alchemist Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa in his "Three Books of Occult Philosophy. He presented it as a script associated with angels or used to communicate with them. Despite many fan attempts to decipher it, the symbols in the opening do not appear to spell out any meaningful message and were most likely used just for their aesthetic.