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samasmith23 · 2 years ago

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Evangelion: You Can (Not) Marathon — (Part 3)

Neon Genesis Evangelion, “Episode 3: The Phone That Never Rings/A transfer”

Continuing my Evangelion re-watch marathon with NGE, "Episode 3: The Phone That Never Rings/A transfer"! For my thoughts on the previous episode, click the link to the post below:

With that out of the way, let's dig in!

I can’t help but be intrigued by the way Ritsuko describes the umbilical cable as being derived from their current limitations with the Evangelion technology (i.e. without the cord feeding it a continuous stream of electricity the EVA can only operate at 1 minute on its emergency built-in battery and 5 minutes in “minimal activity-gain mode”). Knowing what I know comes later in Episode 19 when Unit-01 ingests the S² Engine from the 14th Angel, Zeurel, I wonder whether or not the limited battery supply was an intentional design-flaw on both NERV and SEELE’s part in order to prevent an Evangelion from achieving a level of power equivalent to God? Or is it a bit of both since NERV’s second branch in the US later tries and fails to duplicate the S² Engine into EVA Unit-04, and SEELE later perfects the S² technology with their Mass Production Evangelions in The End of Evangelion? It just makes you wonder…

Huh… Ritsuko’s observation about Shinji returning to the EVA after his traumatic experience intially piloting it in the previous episode is very interesting and helps reveal some important elements about Shinji’s character pretty early on! Namely, the idea that Shinji “simply does what he’s told to do, and that it’s simply his way of getting through life.”

Essentially Shinji’s self-esteem is so low that he doesn’t even bother to think for or take care of himself, and instead relies solely on the wishes and commands of other people in order to get by in life. It shows that Shinji hates himself to the point that he doesn’t trust his own ability to make decisions for himself, and seeks external validation by pleasing others whether it be his father Gendo, his old sensei, or the other NERV officials like Misato and Ritsuko.

As a personal aside, this is an aspect of Shinji’s characterization that I personally can’t help but somewhat relate to since as an Autistic person who also struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder, I sometimes easily doubt my own sense of judgement, and can become overly dependent upon the advice and reassurance of friends & family in order to get by in life. Such over-reliance can become incredibly monotonous and leave you feeling empty and unfulfilled in life at times, which is effectively conveyed through Shinji’s repetition of the lines, “Position the target in the center then pull the switch,” (Spike Spencer’s dreary delivery here perfectly captures said-feelings of sense of emptiness).

Nice! Our first official reference to the "Hedgehog’s Dilemma," which is a central reoccurring thematic motif for not just Shinji, but several other characters in NGE! For those who aren't aware, the Hedgehog's Dilemma is a metaphor about the challenges of human intimacy which was originally conceived by Arthur Schopenhauer in his 1851 book Parerga and Paralipomena before it was later adopted as a psychological theory by our old pal Sigmund Freud!

In particular, this passage from Volume II, Chapter XXXI, Section 396 of Parega and Paralipomena reads: "A number of porcupines huddled together for warmth on a cold day in winter; but, as they began to prick one another with their quills, they were obliged to disperse. However the cold drove them together again, when just the same thing happened. At last, after many turns of huddling and dispersing, they discovered that they would be best off by remaining at a little distance from one another. In the same way the need of society drives the human porcupines together, only to be mutually repelled by the many prickly and disagreeable qualities of their nature. The moderate distance which they at last discover to be the only tolerable condition of intercourse, is the code of politeness and fine manners; and those who transgress it are roughly told—in the English phrase—to keep their distance. By this arrangement the mutual need of warmth is only very moderately satisfied; but then people do not get pricked. A man who has some heat in himself prefers to remain outside, where he will neither prick other people nor get pricked himself."

In essence, the Hedgehog's Dilemma argues that humans cannot experience love without simultaneously suffering pain, which consequently results in weak relationships and self-imposed isolation.

Based on Misato’s reactions during her phone conversation with Ritsuko where the latter describes the Hedgehog's Dilemma in relation to Shinji's depressive behavior, I get the impression that this is actually Misato’s first time ever hearing about the concept.

Also, when Misato states that Shinji will have to simply outgrow emotionally withdrawing himself from his peers to avoid being hurt since part of growing up is learning to interact with others whilst distancing himself from pain, it feels heavily reflective of Misato’s own life experiences of becoming a lot more outgoing and carefree in public as an adult after spending half her childhood catatonic after being traumatized by Second Impact. While Misato herself is also a victim of the Hedgehog’s Dilemma, she is approaches the conflict a lot differently as an adult in contrast to Shinji who’s still a teenager.

Also also, I love the juxtaposition of Shinji glancing at the injured Rei in the classroom just as Misato provides her voice over of, “Learning to interact with others while distancing himself from pain.”

A brilliant bit of visual storytelling and framing there on Anno’s part!

A few notes about the introduction to Shinji’s classmates Kensuke Aida, Hikari Horaki, & Toji Suzuhara:

-1) Kensuke’s voice acting is hilariously bad in the original ADV dub as he sounds way too old and nasally to be a 14-year-old kid (whilst simultaneously being overly high-pitched). And from what little I’ve seen of the Netflix re-dub, apparently Kensuke’s English voice also sucks in that version as well (I guess Kensuke suffering from crappy voice acting is simply just a rule of thumb no matter which English dub of EVA you decide watch; lol!). -2) I love the subtle foreshadowing of Hikari’s closeted romantic feelings towards Toji here as she immediately reprimands Kensuke for failing to deliver the classwork to Toji after he was absent for several days due to his younger sister being hospitalized in the first Evangelion/Angel battle. -3) I honestly don’t mind Toji’s voice acting as much as I do Kensuke’s (even though his psuedo-Brooklyn accent can be a bit obnoxious at times...). While Toji also has a fairly deep voice, at least his is more in line with the character’s general archetype of being the tough-kid/jock. Also, apparently in the otherwise inferior Netflix Redub he was voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch of Bleach and Trigun fame! That's awesome!

So… the teacher’s exposition about the Second Impact is only partially correct. While the effects of the disaster like Antarctica’s destruction, the rising ocean levels, and the destruction of half of Earth’s population are indeed all true, the idea that it was caused by a meteor is absolute bullcrap. A fake version of the events to hide the true cause of the near-apocalypse to the general public.

And the fact that this teacher bears somewhat of a resemblance to SEELE’s leader Keel Lorenz, I can’t help but feel a tad suspicious of this guy as he shares this false narrative of the event…

Also, fun piece of trivia, this still frame of the teacher is actually the main icon for the official EvaGeeks Wiki!

I love how Shinji immediately answers yes to the question of whether or not he’s the pillow of EVA Unit-01 when he sees one of his female classmates waving at him across the room (implying that she was the one who typed it), and that he can’t help but slightly enjoy all the newfound attention and validation he’s been craving from a predominantly female crowd. Definitely feels like a subtle bit of character-building in regards to Shinji’s deep-seated issues with women and sexuality that become increasingly prevalent as the series progresses.

The way Shinji responds to Toji punching him in retaliation for him accidentally injuring his sister back in Episode 2 with, “I didn’t have a choice, they made me pilot he stupid thing,” combined with Toji angrily punching Shinji again in response… I love how this both reflects Shinji’s continued self-loathing and lack of self-esteem when it comes to piloting the EVA (only seconds after slightly appreciating yet still feeling awkward over the praise he recieved from his other classmates For piloting), as well as Toji’s inital inability to truly understand how emotionally painful being burdened with the responsibility of piloting the giant mecha actually is!

The 4th Angel, Shamshel, has just appeared! According to Wikipedia, this Angel's name is a reference to, "Shamsiel (Hebrew and Aramaic: שִׁמְשִׁ��אֵל Šīmšīʾēl, "God is my sun" Greek: Σεμσιήλ Semsiḗl), also spelled Samsâpêêl, Shamshel, Shashiel or Shamshiel, was the 16th Watcher of the 20 leaders of the 200 fallen angels that are mentioned in the Book of Enoch. The name means "God is my sun", which is fitting since it has been said that Shamsiel taught men the signs of the sun."

I’ve gotta say… Shamshel's design is just… bizarre... in a manner that’s simultaneously fascinating and disturbing. On the one hand it has this cool manta-ray or cobra-like appearance (with some centipede-like legs) whenever it's viewed from both the front and above in regards to the shape of its head. Plus, it also has these cool electrical-whips which it utilizes as melee-weapons! But on the other hand, the shape of Shamshel's head combined with its elongated body feels intentionally suggestive, as does the design of the Angel’s mouth and core underneath its head.

I like how Shinji is already questioning his decision to return to piloting the EVA after already realizing from the previous episode that his father won’t acknowledge him (as seen in their brief non-verbal encounter in the elevator after the battle with Sachiel) as well as having been punched by Toji as a consequence for his actions while piloting! Shinji honestly doesn’t know why he’s piloting. At least on a conscious level…

Also, the fact that Shinji continues to monotonously repeat the words “Position the target in the center then pull the switch,” as he fires upon Shamshel is another nice touch, especially since he does so while wasting all of his ammo in the process. It just goes to show that aimlessly following orders without motivation or drive never pays off…

Also also, the fact that Shinji immediately panics upon realizing that the instructions he was repetitively following from Misato earlier in the episode backfire on him (he emptied his ammunition so quickly that he blinded himself to the Angel’s whip attacks with the smoke of his own gunfire) is another important bit of character development in this regard!

Also also also, the tension really increases when Shamshel not only severs EVA Unit-01's umbilical cable, but Shinji is forced to welcome Kensuke & Toji into his Entry-Plug for protection when the two idiotically abandoned Tokyo-3's civilian evacuation shelter to watch the battle in-person.

Holy crap! I honestly forgot just how badass the scene of Shinji stabbing Shamshel’s core with his progressive-knife as EVA Unit-01’s power rapidly depletes is! The animation, the soundtrack, the ticking-clock, and Spike Spencer’s voice acting of Shinji’s screams here all work in perfect synchronization to truly elevate the amount of tension in this fight scene!

At the same time however, I am rather curious as to what exactly was going on in Shinji’s head when he spontaneously decided to disobey Misato’s orders for once and actually kill the Angel head-on instead of retreating, once again stating the iconic line of, “I mustn’t run away!” Did Shinji feel that because following orders previously failed to defeat the Angel or win him the acceptance of others, he might instead gain said-acceptance by doing the exact opposite? Especially since Toji was inside the Entry-Plug right alongside him? Or was it a form of subconcious guilt for previously having hurt Toji’s sister, and wanting to do whatever he could to make amends?

And speaking of Toji, I love the look on his face after Shinji kills Shamshel, as this is the exact moment where he finally starts to develop a sense of empathy and understanding towards Shinji’s burden as an EVA pilot!

I’ve gotta say, I remember being both incredibly shocked and impressed by the level of depth Anno managed to provide Toji’s character when I first watched the series! Like… when we first saw him punch Shinji I was honestly afraid that Toji was primarily going to be relegated to the role of the generic stereotypical school bully/jock. But to witness Toji immediately begin expressing regret for previously lashing out at Shinji after witnessing just how psychologically painful piloting the EVA is for Shinji (even though he publicly tries to deny said-regret in front of Kensuke due to his gruff exterior), it conveyed a surprising level of dimension to this character IMO, actively subverting the boring archetype that I initally feared Toji would be even though he does still embody some elements of stereotypical toxic masculinity in fiction. Definite kudos on Anno’s part there!

Also, for whatever reason Misato’s voice overs for the “Next Episode” teasers are different on the Blu-Ray than they were on my original DVD copies despite Alison Kieth still being present. I’m guessing it was a change between the Perfect and Platinum editions… random but okay… though it’s only in the teaser for Episode 4 that Misato finally gives her trademark running gag of promising more fan-service (which is honestly a lie since there's hardly any legitimate fan-service in NGE, and is mostly just another showcase of Misato's overtly sexual personality). In the previous two teasers Misato instead promised “something a little extra,” which is less funny IMO)…

But yeah, overall that was NGE, "Episode 3: The Phone That Never Rings/A transfer"! I really love the insight this episode gives into Shinji’s psychology in regards to his lack of motivation and self-esteem, as well as the introduction of the Hedgehog’s Dilemma which heavily defines not only Shinji’s actions but the those of the rest of the cast! Plus, the fight with Shamshel was FREAKING epic, and the subverting of tropes with Toji’s character was another strong highlight of the episode!

Next up is Episode 4, and I’m really excited to revisit that one as it’s always been one of my personal favorite entries in the entire series!

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