Neon Genesis Evangelion Episode 11

FUN FACT! This episode was animated by the famed Studio Ghibli (My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away)! Eva creator Hideaki Anno is good friends with Hayao Miyazaki and called in a favor to ease production woes on this series. You can kind of tell the characters are a little adorably off-model.

Oh btw, I would strongly recommend against skipping Death (True)² before watching End of Evangelion, despite plot munchkins and reddit hive-mind dismissing it as ‘just a recap’ (clueless as usual). Admittedly maybe not to make a reaction video out of it, but it is a beautiful edit that frames a ton of things in a new light. Plus a few scenes were redrawn/completely reframed for it.

Just realized they said in the intro that Shinji has had 0 conversations with his father (not true, rewatch Episode 1). They spoke it into existence, they probably regret it though with how hard to watch that phone call is.

Only two more episodes and then half-way done with the series already D:

You're damn right; someone SHOULD investigate NERV.

Ristuko, Misato, and Fuyutsuki also have that delusion confidence in themselves, NERVE, the Evas, and the pilots that Gendo exhibits here. IMO it is necessary for the jobs they do, they must ignore the possibility of failure. If there is a 0.00000001% chance that a plan will work, then they enact it as if it is a sure thing because the alternative is giving up and everyone dies. This is also why they have such a difficult time dealing with Shinji, who lives in doubt, because they have suppressed that kind of feeling completely.

They were so mad at Shinji's father it took them a while to notice the electricity going out! I have never heard the expression "I want to break his neck over my knee" until now... By the way "Captain Katsuragi" is Misato, that's who he was saying covers that work. Ikari is wearing glasses for his eyesight, they look dark because there is no light penetrating them.

I love seeing the NERV workers outside their workplace. It's a glimpse into a regular day in this post-apocalyptic society, running into one another on their way to work, using the same transit, laundry place and such. We see the personality of the three NERV scientists who are the ones yelling about things like sync rate and pattern type, showing that they are people not just exposition machines. The power blackout lets us see the three pilots without adult supervision, showing their natural group dynamic as they try to solve a problem; similarly, we see the adults as co-workers both in and outside of a work environment (Misato and Kaji show the awkwardness of a past relationship in a work context). We also see the admiration for Shinji's father from those who work at NERV, he's a shitty father but he clearly subverted your expectations that he would do nothing and leave the work to everyone else, showing that he is the leader of this operation.

ANTA BAKA?!

Capitulo chill, tranquilo, viendo convivir al trio maravilla, Shinji, Azuka y Rei

As always, the theorising is my favorite part. Love how some are right, some are wrong and some are from discarded ideas that were considered at some point. Looking at you "dog Asuka"

The more you think about it.. the more confused you will get with this show lol but I get wanting to get some answers at this point.. some of the answers might be more subtle than others when it comes how the show delivers them but I will trust you guys will enjoy the process.. 🐢

With Rei, you forgot the absolute condemned dump she lives in. Alone. About NERV - by now you should also see that they have the entire United Nations by the balls, insofar as the whole world is doing their bidding. A bit of a scary parallel nowadays, isn’t it. Three computers - they govern just Tokyo-3 in particular. Thinking about it, Tokyo-3 is a fairly oblique reference to atomgrads like Arzamas 16 (now known as Sarov, aka Gor’ky-130, aka Arzamas-75). Quite sinister, given Japan’s relationship with nuclear power.

I’d love to hear their theories and reflections after the movies!

Very funny to be like my brain hurts from speculating about Angels lets save it for after and then get wrapped up in Angel theories for 9 mins lol

this title dilema will go on until the end of the show 😭

This is the proper amount of confusion at this point in the story 😂

Yes, of course! They’re going to stay happy forever until the very end. The rest of the show is basically just them going to school, making friends, and living completely normal, emotionally healthy and wholesome lives :)

Hi!, my comments and easter eggs about this episode At the beginning of the episode, Fuyutsuki, NERV’s vice commander, reveals that Tokyo-3’s city council is essentially a façade and that the city is actually administered by the three interconnected MAGI supercomputers. Decisions are made through majority rule, creating what he describes as a system based on “democratic principles” (which is a pretty funny way to describe a city governed from the shadows by NERV through three supercomputers xD). The computers are named Melchior, Balthasar, and Casper after the three Magi traditionally associated with the birth of Jesus. The names Melchior-1, Balthasar-2, and Casper-3 had already appeared during the Eva-00 activation test in Episode 5. The MAGI system was mentioned again during Operation Yashima in Episode 6, when Fuyutsuki asked what the MAGI thought of Misato’s plan. Misato answered that two computers approved it while the third gave conditional approval, already demonstrating their majority-rule system. This episode introduces the Ninth Angel, Matarael. Its name is generally interpreted as “Rain of God” or “God’s rain,” combining the Hebrew word matar, meaning rain, with El, meaning God. The name appears in The Hebrew Book of Enoch in the line “Matariel who is appointed over the rain.” Evangelion reflects this association directly through Matarael’s corrosive liquid, while reversing the traditional symbolism of rain as fertility, purification, and divine blessing. Because the acid falls from an eye, Matarael appears to be weeping, which maybe could be interpreted symbolically as transforming tears from an expression of vulnerability into a destructive force. Matarael’s silhouette personally reminds me of the towering alien machines from H. G. Wells’s “The War of the Worlds,” but Matarael has four legs and an organic design more similar to harvest spiders. Its eye motifs also resemble the emblem of “Neo-Atlantis” from “Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water,” a previous anime by Hideaki Anno. By the way, this is the anime that some people accused Disney of plagiarizing when “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” was released because of the similarities between the two works. The English title, “The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still,” directly references the 1951 science-fiction film “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” The title fits the episode’s focus on technological paralysis and the vulnerability concealed beneath Tokyo-3’s apparent power. NERV concludes that the blackout was probably deliberate sabotage intended to reveal the structure of headquarters through the order in which its systems were restored. Matarael becomes dangerous because humanity has already compromised its own defenses, giving greater weight to Gendo and Fuyutsuki’s conclusion that humanity’s greatest enemy is humanity itself. NERV’s computers, surveillance systems, security, automated infrastructure, and even Tokyo-3’s government appear extraordinarily advanced, yet all that power depends on something as basic and vulnerable as electricity. Shinji also asks Asuka: “What do you think the Angels are?... Angels, messengers of God. Our enemies bearing divine names. Why are we fighting each other?” The final conversation about light and darkness brings these ideas to a more philosophical conclusion. Rei says: “Man fears the darkness, and so he scrapes away at the edges of it with fire. He creates life by diminishing the Darkness.” The return of Tokyo-3’s artificial lights then obscures the stars. Civilization’s light offers protection and comfort, but it can also hide what lies beyond it. The episode therefore presents technology as both a human achievement and a defense against fear. Maybe the Angels are like that darkness?

Girls! A question! Are you going the watch the avatar movie? :( 🍿