#The Ultimate Soldier (Evangelion)

[fennthetalkingdog]

I'm just figuring out how important music is in my life! This is coming from a long while trying to cut down on my music use, mostly because I was listening to it so much that it felt more like I couldn't do anything without popping in some earbuds, and partially because of other personal reasons. Some of my routines changed, forcing me to not listen to music while doing certain things, and it ended up becoming that besides working on homework or drawing, I didn't listen to music at all. But I've given myself a break today since I have nothing to do and since, for reasons, I'm feeling just a lil crappy today—and boy, I'm starting to realize again just why I love music!!

I love the diverse music taste I've developed over the years! My family is not only big about music but big about listening to it loud, so the majority of my music taste for most of my life has just been Christian hiphop (Lecrae, KB, Andy Mineo, Trip Lee, and ironically Tonex, whose album where he was struggling hard with his gayness has been my favorite concert movie since I was 5) and gospel music (Kirk Franklin, Tye Tribbett, etc.). And music was one of the few connections between me and my race (I grew up feeling pretty estranged from my blackness as a kid, but the popular songs they played at the YMCA in the 2010s were some of the few things I could use to feel more connected) and between me and my classmates/friends at the Y (I still have fond memories of playing FNAF songs in mat forts and reciting lyrics at pool parties). But I got tired of knowing I could never bond with anyone besides family friends music taste-wise when I was in high school, and so I started listening to secular music on my own time. And that's how I first found Ghost and Pals, a vocaloid artist and one of the first secular music folks I listened to as a kid (can you smell the religious trauma yet? Lol), and that's how I bonded with one of my best friends in early college (ironically, also my first time being publically queer). Now I listen to Kpop, anime songs, songs from warriors MAPs, songs from musicals (Hamilton and In the Heights <3), latin songs, metal songs, and even some secular songs young me would've been too scared to listen to.

And music has always been one of my biggest sources of stimming! I can't dance to save my life, but music will sure get me to flick my fingers and hit my fist against my shoulder furiously. Music was one of the first clues that I like stimming with vibration too (since I love laying against the car door and turning up the music loud enough to feel the world shake around me). And music was one of the first things that made me look into ADHD or autism (specifically, listening to Ghost and Pals songs for a month straight and getting my friend at early college [who also has ADHD] to start looking at me funny when I was discovered doing chores and listening to one of three songs for the fifth time). Music is so cool it'll get me to wax poetically. It was one of the things that kept me together during my roughest times and soothed me during my best. I listen to it while I write, while I cry, while I hang out with my friends and family and while I chill by myself. It's how I relax after a long day, and it's how I feel safe. I feel kinda emotional finally having music hit that spot in me without feeling like I need it to do stuff.

[zedecksiew]

TO PUT AWAY A SWORD

David Blandy + Daniel Locke's post-apocalyptic hopepunk TTRPG ECO MOFOS is back from the printers. Meaning it will soon be in our hands.

Am fairly hyped for it, because I wrote an adventure!

To Put Away A Sword is about the woes of building a home on poisoned earth. The terrible powers that hurtled us to the end of the world continue to bear bitter fruit in your garden.

You are villagers living under the shadow of a fallen giant mecha. Its reactors and warheads leak into your groundwater, poison your goats. What will you do about it? What can you do?

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Mechanically it is a pointcrawl around your local valley. Not super complex, design-wise; but I was pleased with my gimmick solution for mapping both the adventure's dungeons:

Grab a mecha figure, pose it, place it on the game table; each part of the figure corresponds to a location in the dungeon key. Solves for stuff like relative orientation.

Easy!

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To Put Away A Sword is me making a mecha adventure.

Disclaimer: I am not a mecha nerd. I am unfamiliar with most of the genre. Anything I know about Gundam I've absorbed by osmosis.

I was mainly into giant robots in childhood. Receiving a Macross figure for my birthday. Pouring over the manual for The Crescent Hawks' Revenge, which my brother left behind:

While I was not much a fan of mecha, I was very much a fan of Evangelion. I spent my middle teens obsessed with it. The biomechanical, pseudo-mystical stuff; the teen angst. I wanted to be Shinji. I thought trauma was so cool.

So cringe. Anyway:

One of the inspirations for To Put Away A Sword is the survivors-rebuilding-a-town-and-planting-rice sequence in Thrice Upon A Time; probably my favourite part of the whole franchise, now.

The joy and difficulties of trying to build your paradise in the weird ruins of the old world:

Yeah, the adventure has a lot of Evangelion in it. There's a Nerv HQ analogue to explore. There's a content warning for child soldiers.

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The other inspiration for To Put Away A Sword is this piece of box art, an accessory set for Macross's iconic Stonewell Bellcom VF-1 Variable Fighter:

I don't know what this kind of arrange-your-missiles-in-front-of-your-fighter-jet photo is technically called. Hardware porn parade?

You see it often enough. Here's a real-life photo of the Lockheed Martin F35 Joint Strike Fighter:

Fairly or not, in my head I associate mecha with seeing copies of Jane's Defence in airport magazine racks. The genre feels like such a natural way to riff on the hyper-charged corpo-military-industrial complex.

After the brush war ends, and the natural resources extracted, and the ethnic cleansing concluded, and the profits announced, who gets to clean up after a Raytheon missile?

In To Put Away A Sword---you do.

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Ultimately, as always, I am writing and designing from my lived experiences.

See that? The gas flare from the Hengyuan Refining Company? It is about 200 metres from my living room.

That gas flare surfaces constantly in the stuff I make. As I write this post I am breathing its acrid chemical smell. My nose itches. I was asthmatic as a child; I seriously worry about cancer, nowadays.

At night it lights up the sky like Barad-dur.

The plant obviously and continuously flaunts regulations. We've tried lodging complaints: with its corporate management; with the Department of Environment. Nothing has worked so far.

"A home on poisoned earth" is a visceral fact of my life.

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To Put Away A Sword is wish-fulfilment, I guess? In the world of the adventure, at least, the forces that are poisoning your home are post-peak oil.

It is nice to imagine a reality where a kind of survival and flourishing is still possible. My partner Sharon and I talk a lot about imagining hope.

Last month she bought this small mecha-looking thing. A wireless camera! She built a little hut for it on our garden wall. It is trained, 24-7, at the gas flare.

Environmental activists we've met say video evidence of emissions is important. We'll see. We imagine it helping.

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Anyway. David just sent me this photo of my adventure, in print:

Looking good. I hope folks play it and enjoy it.

Preorder ECO MOFOS and its adventure bundle >>>HERE<<<

[laterreurofficial]

So this AU is like, Evangelion meets Miraculous Ladybug?

It's not the same I know but it's got the vibes

And the

You know

Child soldiers

Also I love everything you guys have out out so far, this is a very interesting and creative premise.

It also makes a lot of sense that using powerful magic tools takes a toll on the body/mind

Was is Multimouse's curse? I think it had something to do with dissociation but how does it work exactly?

Also Tikky doesn't want to tell Marinette about the dangers of using the miraculous so often??? What the fuck Tikky :/

The mouse miraculous' curse is indeed a kind of disassociation! The miraculous side effects are often like radiation poisoning, a bleed from the magic of the miraculous to the person wielding it. So the side effects often represent an aspect of the power one gains from the magic or the animal it's associated with. With the mouse miraculous, splitting into multiple people who you *are* simultaneously would probably mess with your sense of awareness a little even without the magic radiation/

Also, regarding Tikki and the other Kwamis, remember, they are immortal. They can care, in their own way, about their wielders, but know how temporary those wielders are. Would you shoot a dog to prevent a thousand dogs from dying? To prevent the universe from ending? Would you shoot *your* dog? Even if you loved them a lot, you have to admit that the value of that one life is nothing in compare to the benefits of ending or ruining it. So it goes for Tikki and the other Kwamis. Their wielders are inconvenient at worst, and represent short friendships at best. Tikki, like Marinette, will ultimately value getting the job done over total honesty. And besides, Marinette never asked. Why would she volunteer information that would make Marinette *less* likely to serve her purpose?

[luminiera-merge]

The Music of Evangelion 3.33

HIIII they got wiped recently but i have playlists of the soundtracks from each eva rebuild movie in the order they're played in the movie. i did the 3.33 one from memory and while there IS a site dedicated to "where does this song play in the show/film?" (tunefind) it's not great and it's owned by songtradr so i'm making one of my own.

for now, here is each song featured in Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo, in the order they appear in and where they play! the first three are there to show the structure. they all have links to the song too!

Bataille d'Espace [Movie Version]: EVA-02' retrieves EVA-01 in space.

God's Message [Movie Version]: Asuka is blindsided by the Mark.04 and holds on for dear life.

Quiproquo 131 (2 pianos) [Movie Version]: Shinji is wheeled to the bridge of the Wunder.

Serenity Amongst the Turmoil [Movie Version]: Misato plans her move against the Nemesis series.

The Ultimate Soldier [Movie Version]: EVA-02 is deployed.

Dark Defender [Movie Version]: The Wunder powers up.

The Anthem [Movie Version]: The Wunder reaches critical power and destroys the Nemesis series.

Quelconque 103 (piano) [Movie Version]: Ritsuko and Sakura brief Shinji.

Quiproquo 83 (2 pianos) [Movie Version]: Asuka tells Shinji it's been 14 years.

Out of the Dark [Movie Version]: The Mark.09 and Rei escape with Shinji.

3EM11_QuatreMains_E_03_mx3*: Shinji sees Kaworu playing piano, but quickly moves on.

L'Apôtre de la Lune (2 pianos) [Movie Version]: Shinji explores the ruins of NERV HQ.

Thème Q (guitare) [Movie Version]: Shinji talks with Rei-Q in her "room".

3EM14_Piano_Adlib_44*: Kaworu and Shinji meet at the piano.

3EM15_pre*: Kaworu convinces Shinji to play piano with him.

3EM15_QuatreMains_Fun_07_edit_B*: Shinji and Kaworu's first duet.

Quatre Mains (à quatre mains) [Movie Version]: Shinji's second duet with Kaworu.

Qui veut faire l'ange fait la bête (piano solo) [Movie Version]: Shinji stargazes with Kaworu.

Quiproquo 140 (piano) [Movie Version]: Shinji expresses worry about the fate of New Tokyo-3.

Trust [Movie Version]: Kaworu brings Shinji outside to tell him the truth.

Long Slow Pain [Movie Version]: Fuyutsuki tells Shinji about NERV.

Quelconque 56 avec A4 (2 pianos plus) [Movie Version]: Shinji struggles to process everything.

3EM21A_QuatreMains_G*: Kaworu's piano flourish before the mission begins.

L'Apôtre de la Lune (orchestre cordes) [Movie Version]: Shinji refuses to pilot Unit-13, but is convinced by Kaworu.

Return to Ash [Movie Version]: Unit-13 and the Mark.09 descend into Central Dogma.

It will mean Victory [Movie Version]: Asuka and Mari vs Shinji, Kaworu and Rei-Q.

Betrayal [Movie Version]: Shinji locks Kaworu out and pulls out the spears.

Scarred and Battled [Movie Version]: Rei-Q frees the 12th Angel.

From Beethoven 9: Unit-13 begins Fourth Impact.

The Wrath of God in All its Fury: Fourth Impact; EVA-02' engages the Mark.09.

Kindred Spirits (Thème Q) [Movie Version]: Kaworu tells Shinji not to be sad.

Tout est Perplexe (Thème Q) [Movie Version]: Kaworu dies.

God's Gift [Movie Version]: Fourth Impact ends and Mari rescues Shinji from Unit-13.

Sakura Nagashi: Credits theme.

Peaceful Times (choeur) [Movie Version]: Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0 teaser with the "Unit 08+02".

*Not available in the widely available commercial soundtrack release.

[thescrapbookingscientist]

Created a big tier list featuring every Red\Blue themed ship I could find :)

Only criteria was that they had to match the color scheme, if the characters were more orange/pink/purple/black I left them for another time. If I missed one of your favorites let me know and I can add them, I don't actually know all the pairings here personally, I just tried to include the major ones I've seen.

Ships featured (In order of appearance):

-Karma Akabane\Nagisa Shiota from Assassination Classroom

-Amber\Eula Lawrence from Genshin Impact

-Tokaku Azuma\Haru Ichinose from Riddle Story of Devil

-Kazuma Asogi\Ryuunosuke Naruhodo from The Great Ace Attorney

-Jeremey Here\Michael Mell from Be More Chill

-Violet (Vi)\Caitlyn Kiramman from Arcane

-Carmen Sandiego\Julia Argent from Carmen Sandiego

-Trevor Belmont\Sypha Belnades from Castlevania

-Cinnabar\Phosphophyllite from Land of the Lustrous

-Daisuke Niwa\Satoshi Hiwatari from DNAngel

-Edelgard von Hresvelg\Byleth Eisner from Fire Emblem Three Houses

-Ember Lumen\Wade Ripple from Elemental

-Fireboy\Watergirl from Fireboy and Watergirl

-Rin Matsuoka\Haruka Nanase from Free!

-Yunan Longclaw\Lady Olivia from Amphibia

-Erza Scarlet\Jellal Fernandes from Fairy Tail

-Soma Yukihara\Megumi Tadokoro from Food Wars!

-Ruby\Sapphire from Steven Universe

-Yoko Littner\Kamina from Gurren Lagann

-Veronica Sawyer\Heather Chandler from Heathers

-Haruka Amami\Chihaya Kisaragi from The iDOLM@ster

-Ryan Akagi\Min-Gi Park from Infinity Train

-Inosuke Hashibira\Tanjiro Kamado from Demon Slayer

-Ameri Azazel\Iruma Suzuki from Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun

-Jedediah\Octavius from Night at the Musuem

-John Egbert\Dave Strider from Homestuck

-Mikotoh Suoh\Reisi Munakata from K Project

-KAITO\MEIKO from VOCALOID

-Kaeya Alberich\Diluc Ragnvindr from Genshin Impact

-Misaki Yata\Saruhiko Fushimi from K Project

-Lance McClain\Keith Kogane from Voltron

-Kuroko Tetsuya\Kagami Taiga from Kuroko no Basket

-Korra\Asami Sato from Avatar: The Legend of Korra

-Sayaka Miki\Kyoko Sakura from Madoka Magica

-Chisato Nishikigi\Takina Inoue from Lycoris Recoil

-Kaguya Shinomiya\Miyuki Shirogane from Kaguya-Sama: Love is War

-Shiki Wakana\Mei Yoneme from Love Live! Superstar!!

-Megamind\Roxanne Ritchi from Megamind

-Melissa Foddebrat\Nine Forton from Beware of the Villainess!

-Arthur Pendragon\Merlin from Merlin

-Miguel\Tulio from The Road to El Dorado

-Rise Kujikawa\Naoto Shirogane from Persona 4

-Phoenix Wright\Miles Edgeworth from Ace Attorney

-Aqua Hoshino\Kana Arima from Oshi no Ko

-Archie\Maxie from Pokemon

-Ittoki Otoya\Ichinose Tokiya from Uta no Prince Sama

-Akane Tendo\Ranma Saotome from Ranma 1/2

-Asuka Soryuu\Rei Ayanami from Evangelion

-Langa Hasegawa\Reki Kyan from Sk8 the Infinity

-Jesse\James from Pokemon

-Ryuko Matoi\Mako Mankanshoku from Kill la Kill

-Mugen\Jin from Samurai Champloo

-Yukimura Sanda\Date Masamune from Sengoku Basara

-Kate\Emilico from Shadows House

-Sherlock Holmes\William Moriarty from Moriarty the Patriot

-Garrus Vakarian\Commander Shepard from Mass Effect

-Sidon\Link from The Ledgend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild

-BLU Soldier\RED Demoman from Team Fortress

-Sonic\Shadow from Sonic the Hesgehog

-Sora\Riku from Kingdom Hearts

-Karen Aijo\Hikari Kagura from Revue Starlight

-Steve Rogers\Tony Stark from the Marvel Cinematic Universe

-Sharkboy\Lavagirl from Sharkboy and Lavagirl

-Felix Fraldarius\Sylvain Gautier from Fire Emblem: Three Houses

-Red\Blue from This is How You Lose the Time War

-Ryuuji Takasu\Taiga Aisaka from Toradora!

-Wei Wuxian\Lan Wangji from Mo Dao Zu Shi

-Yona\Son Hak from Yona of the Red Dawn

-Zagreus\Megaera from Hades

-Zuko\Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender

This was fun, might do some more lists like this - I'm thinking White/Black, Pink/Blue, Orange/Black, or Green/Red for next time.

[duhragonball]

Yeah, Evangelion isn't really a show about the action. I'd say an accurate summary of it is "what if you had to pilot robots against monsters, but all the characters have mental illness?" It's got some neat action for sure, but that's not the focus of the narrative at all, really.

And that's fine. I didn't go into this expecting a lot of action! If this show is Shinji getting therapy then bring it on, but that's not what's happening. He's just laying there like a pile of mashed potatoes, and everyone remarks on how mashed-potato-like he is! For three episodes!

The action scenes are basically all I've got for amusement, but they aren't enough to carry the show because they were never meant to. But what is carrying the show? You can't just write "He's mentally ill" on a 3-by-5 card and put it on the screen for fifteen minutes and call it a story.

Let me use an example of what I'm talking about. There's an episode of M*A*S*H called "Hawk's Nightmares", where Hawkeye starts sleepwalking through the camp, and when other characters find him he acts like a kid, playing marbles and basketball and talking to them like his childhood friends. Then when he finally goes back to bed he wakes up screaming because he saw his childhood friends dying horribly.

About halfway into the episode Colonel Potter calls a psychologist, Sidney Freeman, to get to the bottom of this, and Hawkeye talks it out with him. Ultimately his nightmares are a symptom of the larger trauma of the Korean War, so there's no easy fix, but at least Hawkeye understands what's happening to him, which gives him some reassurance. Sidney tells him he's not losing his mind. "If you were crazy, you'd sleep like a baby."

This is a single half-hour episode of television. Is it a thorough examination of mental health problems? No, of course not. Sidney makes several more appearances on the show, often for Hawkeye specifically, which kind of makes you realize that maybe Hawk isn't the "sanest person [Sidney has] ever known". The psychological analysis may not have aged well, since it's a 50-year-old TV show about a 70-year-old war.

But it's effective as a story because it introduces a problem and immediately draws in the viewer. You can't not notice Hawkeye playing hopscotch in the middle of the night. It's impossible for the other characters to ignore him when he tries to place a phone call in the middle of the night to his childhood friends to make sure they didn't explode like they did in his dreams. And the other characters do something about it. When they can't help him on their own, they call in an expert. They have to. He's their friend, and they need him in the O.R. to save wounded soldiers.

I think Evangelion is following a similar arc, but-- good night!-- it sure isn't in much of a hurry. And if Shinji were shooting free-throws in his sleep, that would be at least kind of amusing to watch while we wait, but he's not. He's practically catatonic. If there was another character to focus on instead, that would be something, but all we have is Rei, who seems to be even worse off than he is.

What kills me is that they're going to get into this eventually. They have to. There's no other choice. So why don't we just do that instead of marking time? I'm an hour into this show, and I feel like I'm watching an unskippable ad for Kroger while I'm waiting for a YouTube video to start.

[angelacnguyen]

The End of Evangelion

Following the last two episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion, I hoped that the movie The End of Evangelion would provide closure to the ambiguity of the series' ending and my confusion. Unsurprisingly, the film is also enigmatic in that many parts of the plot are up to the viewers' interpretation. Despite feeling disorientated while viewing the series and the movie, I now understand its reputation in the anime community and why it's so highly regarded. Through its thoroughly complex and troubled characters, the franchise successfully depicts human nature's convolutedness, focusing exclusively on gender performativity, masculinity, and femininity.

The End of Evangelion immensely highlights Shinji's queer masculinity through his interactions with other characters and his dialogue. For instance, the film continuously portrays Shinji seeking out Asuka for help, as she is an unyielding representation of hegemonic masculinity. Because Shinji frequently calls out Asuka's name as he spirals into despair throughout the film, his queer masculinity desires to live in her shadow. Therefore, Shinji further portrays Heasley's argument that men who do not engage in typical male behavior but do not publicly challenge it are in the safety and shadow of masculinity.

Seele's initial attempt to infiltrate NERV peacefully through hacking failed, leading to a resort to violence and force. The filmmakers reinforce hegemonic masculinity through the brutality of Seele's soldiers, juxtaposed with Shinji's queer masculinity as he passively hides, awaiting his death. Throughout the infiltration, Shinji is despondent to Misato's urgency, ultimately stating that he wants to die. He is forced to rely on Misato for survival, as she skillfully uses a gun and performs hegemonic masculinity to kill the soldiers targeting him. The film's progression shows Shinji as helpless and defeated, under the belief that there is no place for him in the world due to his queer masculinity. Even with the end of the film and physical humanity, Shinji continues to struggle to believe that others accept his queer masculinity and its existence.

[blogs-no-giggles]

The End of Evangelion Reflection

The End of Evangelion timelines Shinji’s emotional states from inquiring for assistance to despair, to destruction, and finally to resurrection. After the death of Kaworu, Shinji becomes despaired because of the enforcement of the hegemonic masculinity on Kaworu ultimately to save humanity. He resisted to his queer masculinity, which is his true self, but the burden he carried as the 1st offering to Adam forces him to perform such acts ultimately devastating his inner peace. The show begins with Shinji in the hospital bed asking Asuka for assistance with his true queer masculinity and hegemonic masculinity required by society. He felt like there was no way out since society won’t accept him for who he is, but force him to commit acts that go against his own will. It seemed like a never-ending nightmare for him, this turned him into the sob, despaired individual who welcomes death as he is deprived of everything he values in life. In one scenario, when the SEELE forces attacked the main base of NERV, he even stood there welcoming death as the soldiers were given instructions to eliminate the Eva Series and its operator as a way to save humanity.

  The show later came to the scene where Asuka becomes the conscience and realizes the meaning of life for which she powers up and becomes fully synchronized with Eva 02 and fights off the SEELE’s Evas that were deployed. However, a turn of events happened when Eva 02 is pierced by the Spear of Loginus. Shinji watched helplessly as the SEEL’s Evas tore apart Eva 02 piece by piece. I personally thought it was super pathetic of him to watch his friend get destroyed and possibly die while he just sat there and did nothing. Nothing seems to motivate him until his mother calls to him and he finally synchronizes with the Eva 01 and goes to fight off the SEELE forces. However, the Spear of Longinus and the SEELE forces froze him in place and flew him up ultimately for the goal of commanding the third impact. The SEELE’s plan works after Rei becomes one with the Mother and tries to help Shinji. The SEELE manipulated Rei into implementing the last step to restarting humanity which caused an world-ending explosion which wiped the surface of Earth, and later we also see how all the souls of humans were collected in the impact into the red sphere shown in the film. Within the red sphere, there’s Shinji’s consciousness and Rei who is talking to him about the outcome of his wishes if there’s no one to judge him. He saw the devastated world with no souls occupied within and thought to restore that balance even if it meant he could never be his true self.

  Shinji felt that in reality, although things weren’t good for him. He still feels the emotions of each person, with a sort of genuineness that the empty space will never be able to provide. He ultimately realized that the perfect society within his head is not possible, that it is only a dream, a dream of fiction, something that can never be true. He realizes that although the reality is cruel and horrifying, the experiences that come with it are what make life genuine. I really like the overall show and the film of Evangelion. It really puts you into perspective of what life is really about, why we do things we do, and the tiny things that makes life fulfilling.

[marcr125x]

In the story of Forbidden Chroma, there are 2 worlds. Monospace, a world of order & routine & Chromeria, a kingdom of wonder & adventure. While in the story, Powder spends most of her time in Chromeria, Monospace is her true home. I designed both of these worlds to be parallels of each other, not in terms of dystopia vs. utopia like you may think as Chromeria is not a perfect land as in my eyes, nothing in the world is truly perfect. Anyways here is a semi-brief summary of inspirations of each world. Also note that the images are what I imagine each world to look like & are NOT the final designs of the worlds.

Monospace: As the the name implies, Monospace takes inspiration from White Space from OMORI, however unlike White Space which is nothing more than a bedroom, Monospace is a massive dystopian style city. At the center of this massive city lies EVA Tower which is the home of Monospace’s monarch Polybius who is the main antagonist of Forbidden Chroma. The tower itself was inspired by Megalo Tower, the giant tower where you battle Ultra Necrozma in Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon. Also, Ultra Megalopolis is the inspiration behind Monospace being a city of sorts as even though Ultra Megalopolis can’t be explored & is just a glorified hallway to the Ultra Necrozma battle, it is still technically a city-like area in Ultra Space. As for the EVA part of the name, that is short for Evangelion as Polybius is an angel-like figure themself & their ultimate end goal also relates to Evangelion in a way but I don’t wanna say too much as I don’t wanna spoil my own story. The Liberators are Polybius’s soldiers & the police force of Monospace. While I don’t have a design for them yet, I want them to also be a mix of angelic & demonic in design while being nothing but mindless soldiers for their boss, basically a fusion between Stormtroopers & the Exorcist Army from Hazbin Hotel.

Chromeria: My idea for Chromeria is to make it a fusion between Hyrule & Remnant from RWBY while also adding some cyberpunk elements to the major 4 cities of the kingdom. All of the major locations are named after colors which fit since this is the land of color compared to the black & white Monospace. The wildlands are also full of monsters that I will try my best to make designs of & maybe show off in the future. These monsters range from, slimes, orcs, magically enhanced animals, demons & more. Chromeria is also the home of two important groups: the royals which include Prince Lithas & Princess Arian & the mafia group known as "Drive Through Hell" or DTH Corps, lead by Kross Bones. DTH Corps & Kross Bones act as a major antagonist but not one on the same threat level as Polybius. This group is basically a mafia group that also has the typical "take over the kingdom" scheme as Kross wishes to turn the orderly Chromeria into a kingdom of mass chaos.

That is as much as I'll say for now as I'm still working out additional details to the world building & lore. For now, let me know what you all think about what I've got so far. Also any characters mentioned in this post will be shown off in future Forbidden Chroma related posts.

[bristefreelanceservice]

Top 20 Best Anime Series You Need to Watch

Are you an anime enthusiast looking for your next binge-worthy series? Look no further! The world of anime is vast and diverse, offering something for everyone. From heart-pounding action to touching dramas and mind-bending fantasies, here's a list of the top 20 best anime series that deserve a spot on your must-watch list. 1. Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) Witness the battle for humanity's survival as they struggle against giant humanoid creatures in a post-apocalyptic world. This anime is known for its intense action and complex characters. 2. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Join the Elric brothers on their journey to reclaim their bodies after a failed alchemical experiment. This series offers a mix of adventure, philosophy, and powerful emotional moments. 3. Death Note Explore the moral dilemmas of a high school student who gains the power to kill anyone by writing their name in a supernatural notebook. A suspenseful psychological thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. 4. Cowboy Bebop A space-western masterpiece following a group of bounty hunters as they travel through the galaxy in pursuit of criminals. Stellar animation, an unforgettable soundtrack, and engaging characters await. 5. Naruto Embark on an epic ninja adventure with Naruto Uzumaki as he strives to become the strongest ninja and gain recognition from his peers. 6. One Piece Join Monkey D. Luffy and his crew of pirates as they search for the ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in this action-packed and comedic journey. 7. Steins;Gate Prepare for a mind-bending sci-fi experience as a group of friends accidentally discovers time travel and faces the consequences of altering the past. 8. My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia) In a world where superpowers are the norm, follow Izuku Midoriya as he enrolls in a prestigious academy to become a hero and protect the innocent. 9. Neon Genesis Evangelion Delve into the psychological struggles of young pilots tasked with protecting Earth from mysterious beings known as Angels in this thought-provoking mecha series. 10. Hunter x Hunter Follow Gon Freecss as he embarks on a journey to become a Hunter and find his missing father, encountering challenges and forming strong bonds along the way. 11. Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) Experience breathtaking animation and intense battles as Tanjiro Kamado fights demons to avenge his family and save his sister. 12. Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) Experience the emotional and action-packed journey of two brothers as they seek the Philosopher's Stone to restore their bodies after a failed alchemical experiment. 13. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Witness the strategic genius Lelouch vi Britannia as he leads a rebellion against an oppressive regime using his supernatural power. 14. One Punch Man Enjoy the humor and action as Saitama, a hero who defeats any opponent with a single punch, seeks a worthy challenge in a world filled with monsters. 15. Haikyuu!! Get ready for intense sports action as a high school volleyball team strives to make it to the national championships, overcoming challenges and improving their skills. 16. Sword Art Online Dive into virtual reality gaming with Kirito as players become trapped in a virtual world, forcing them to clear the game to escape. 17. Your Lie in April (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso) Experience a heartfelt story about a pianist overcoming his past trauma with the help of a free-spirited violinist. 18. Made in Abyss Journey into the depths of a mysterious abyss alongside a young girl and her robot friend, encountering awe-inspiring wonders and deadly creatures. 19. Mob Psycho 100 Explore the struggles of an average boy with incredible psychic powers as he navigates through adolescence and battles supernatural entities. 20. Violet Evergarden Follow the touching story of Violet, a former soldier, as she learns about human emotions and the power of the written word while working as an Auto Memory Doll. From action-packed adventures to emotional roller coasters, this list encompasses a wide range of anime genres that are sure to captivate and entertain. So grab some popcorn, get comfortable, and start exploring these amazing anime series that have left their mark on the world of entertainment. Happy watching! Read the full article

[transmechanicus]

Eva music tiem

[luna-rainbow]

I agree with the anon I'm not someone that ships every two male characters that look at each other Even if they are very close friends But Stucky just worked for me I thought their relationship was one of the most touching in the MCU I think they work as a romance because the writers weren't trying to write one but there was still so much intimacy and emotion in their storytelling I've noticed that most of the ships I love aren't canon and I think its because one character isn't the designated love interest and both characters in the ship get to be... well characters Anyway I was disappointed that Steve and Bucky were separated at the end of every movie they were in I guess because Disney/Marvel had a gay panic when the ship got so popular They weren't allowed to ever really be a team or be together (romantically or platonically) and that was a big shame because I feel that there story was the best in the MCU I honestly could have watched a movie featuring the two with no villains but just a drama I'll take Stucky romantic or platonic but they are one of the few M/M ships that I really loved Its to the point that whenever I see them in a relationship or an attempted relationship with other characters I'm left disappointed because that ship just can't compare to Stucky's story I wouldn't be surprised if Marvel knows this and will try to recreate the Winter Soldier story line with Steve and Peggy in What If season 2

Same anon. I rarely ship, and this is despite me growing up with all kinds of ship-heavy manga and anime like the glorious Gundam Wing/Evangelion days or anything from CLAMP which has homoeroticism baked in. When I watched EG I was not a shipper or even a Steve or Bucky fan, but I walked out really disappointed with what they did to Steve (and by association Bucky).

I definitely agree the Steve-Bucky relationship is one of the most poignant in the whole of MCU. It has a sense of poetry and tragedy to it that elevates it above the rest. Their arcs fit around each other's in a way that was inseparable, which I think is also why I find it less meaningful when they have arcs that ignore the other person's existence (e.g. What If).

Both their stories are also highly romantic, regardless of how you interpret the word "romantic".

In the strictest academic terms, a romance is a narrative genre in literature that involves a mysterious, adventurous, or spiritual story line where the focus is on a quest that involves bravery and strong values, not always a love interest. (Source)

Both of them went on a larger-than-life adventure with the objective of their quest being the other person, and the ultimate resolution lying in how they manifested their own bravery and resilience and love. The stories are romantic even if you don't take "romance" to also refer to the nature of their relationship.

A good tragedy lies in the inevitability of its events. We might say "if only Bucky didn't get on the train..." but we know that Bucky would never choose to let Steve on the train by himself. He would always choose to lead the danger away from Steve, which was the two times he left in CATWS and CACW. The inevitability comes from Bucky's love and loyalty to Steve.

Even relationship wise, it hits different, you know? Most of the other relationships either have an antagonistic element (e.g. Thor and Loki, Gamora and Nebula) or there's a courtship (all the other romantic relationships). Stucky was introduced as an established relationship, and the rest of it was about overcoming the reluctant separations. There was never any doubt that they loved each other, and each time they come back together they are just so comfortable with each other's presence. (I also think that MCU just can't write courtship or women, which is why most of the canonical het pairings come across stilted and uncomfortable.) Unlike other relationships, Stucky was central for all three movies and continued to evolve, without ever losing the core of what made their bond special. To be honest -- Thor and Loki also had something poignant if they didn't decide to sitcom the last movie to minimise Loki's importance.

So yeah...Stucky has a level of melodrama, tragedy and romance that none of the other core MCU relationships come close to, and when you then look at the appeal of their individual personalities and personal values, it's not surprising that they resonated with so many people.

[blackroseraven]

I watched the Yuffie DLC and it looks really fun, but it also doesn’t seem like. FF7, at all. Also “Fort Condor” the game is the equivalent of something like Amazon or Google releasing a game where you destroy the National Butterfly Center or something. Like seriously.

Also seriously THAT’S where you decided to add Crazy Motorcycle Man?

And yes I did not like the other “Wutaian Ninja” Sono... whatever, and predicted exactly what was going to happen to him. I really thought the whole thing started pretty good but then it turned into a bad fanfic manga, where they try to cram as much cool stuff in around their Anime Self Insert as possible.

Also literally no one is going to know Deepground and the Tsviets and Weiss because they were from Dirge of Cerberus, the FF7 spinoff that basically everyone except my partner hated. Well, I didn’t hate it, and hilariously I think it did a better job of expanding the universe than a lot of the Remake stuff has, but I didn’t love it either, you know?

Anyway it’s just. Wild to see this stuff being thrown in willy-nilly to expand on everything. It has that feel to it where someone learns about something for the first time and they have to chuck it into everything.

The length of the DLC definitely contributes to the feeling of emotionally staggering all over the place, since it wants to be funny and a growing-up story and sad and infuriating all at once. There’s sort of this hint of post-World War II drama to it, but I really don’t think this was the time or place for it, nor was it handled very effectively. It sort of makes a mockery of what Wutai was supposed to have gone through at Shinra’s hands because they literally only bring it up sporadically during Sad Times, and then they’re back to joking and laughing.

It’s just wild to me they went with Weiss and the Tsviets for the end when there’s so much material closer to the core of the series they could have gone with. Deepground felt so deeply unnecessary, especially for Yuffie, since this was Vincent’s whole thing. You had no problem creating a whole new group of Avalanche people who sniff down their noses at Barrett’s “splinter cell” - also “gosh they’re causing so many problems for us!!!” doesn’t jive at all well with the appearance of “Main Avalanche” in game when they have gatling guns and heavy armor and they’re blowing up a Shinra depot and apparently working with Wutai ninjas - and your Ninja Dude, but making up a new bad guy is too much?

That and the feeling of colossal failure leaves the DLC so empty, ultimately. It started off so fun and looks like such a neat system! And then someone who watched too much Evangelion and Sad Naruto took a big literary dump on it while showing off their Big Brain Look How Much I Know About The Extended Universe.

“Gee you’re mean and so hard on them!” Yes because I wanted this to be GOOD. I really wanted them to succeed here, to tread that line between “cool new stuff” and “inglorious fanfic” and they decided to dive right into inglorious fanfic. And I know bad fanfic, I have written it myself.

Anyway.

The only possible thing I’m ever going to be excited for in this universe is Zack’s Big Adventure but I’m terrified they’d screw the whole thing up. It already sort of is screwed up because he has a random-ass Buster Sword on his back and in Crisis Core that was very specifically mentioned as something forged especially for Angeal so no production models exist, which means he should instead be using the standard SOLDIER sword. 

YES I KNOW WEIRD EXTENDED UNIVERSE TRIVIA TOO.

It would be great though. Just imagine it, when’s the last time we had a Final Fantasy with a funny goofy main character who deals with his sadness in healthy ways and isn’t actually an alien or something, and who ends up never actually being broken, no matter what circumstances he finds himself in?

Give me that. I just beat Minerva again in Crisis Core, I goddamn deserve that.

[yellowocaballero]

I know next to nothing abt utena but I. I kinda am extremely curious abt the utena vs mcu comparative analysis? if you feel like sharing lmao absolutely no worries if not

I love all of you because I will post obviously bait and someone will always indulge me in asking about it. NO I don’t want to unprompted just start rambling about my opinions, YES I will share them though. I will make this as short as possible because I can talk about Utena all day. I will add a disclaimer that I don’t super like the MCU so I’m very sorry to any MCU fans, Winter Soldier was good. Slight, vague spoilers for Utena ahead. 

TL;DR: MCU is constantly selling feminism in the form of palatable #bossbabes and Strong Female Characters, while Utena’s form of feminism is a more systematic and nuanced interview of how the patriarchy limits, exploits, and controls women. It posits that a woman CANNOT be a #bossbabe while she’s within that system, and only by leaving it can she find independence and identity. MCU is sponsored by the Air Force.

So for the uninitiated, Utena is a magical girl anime that I’ve been jokingly calling Evangelion: For Her. It deconstructs magical girl anime and fairy tales, and critically examines Japanese society, the patriarchy, heteronormative culture, and IN MY OPINION boarding schools. It deals with themes of trauma, toxic relationships, toxic masculinity, gender non-conformity, queerness, abuse, maturity, coming of age, gender roles, memory, and narrative. 

I’ve joked recently that Tumblr would find Utena problematic if it actually talked about the show beyond the killer aesthetic and sword lesbians. Every female character in it is obsessed with men. Most of them are in abusive, or at least toxic, relationships. It has several gender nonconforming, queer women, who view gender nonconformity as adopting the role of a man in society and thereby idealizing/controlling/abusing women, as men do. Every character is a hugely complicated person who hurts others. Men control women and women are either subservient and controlled by men, or they use their position of assumed subservience to manipulate men, or they attempt to regain power by taking the role of men. 

On the flip side. Utena demonstrates how every character is turned into this through the rigid and restrictive nature of (it’s Japanese, so Japanese, although it’s broadly applicable) society. Women who do not fit into these pre-set molds are punished and ostracized. Young boys are groomed by older men in order to fit these abusive molds, and otherwise well meaning men hurt women because they are not taught how to interact with women in healthy ways. The show is basically about how society takes the genuine need for love, intimacy, and human connection among children and beats them into societally accepted molds that keep power in the hands of powerful men. The patriarchy is ultimately a tool of powerful men that abuses and controls both men and women. Ever hear of no ethical consumption under capitalism? Try no ethical love under the patriarchy! 

So, no, Utena doesn’t really have a lot of ‘strong female characters’. But that’s really kind of the point - how can a woman be strong in this system? When a woman tries to gain strength, does she just try to imitate masculine values that we’re brainwashed into perceiving as strength? Is masculinity healthy? Can Utena really be gnc, or will a gnc woman never be accepted as a man by a society that profits off the victimization of women?

I’m not asking the MCU to analyze all of this, because they’re blockbuster movies and I don’t want or need them to get #deep. However, superhero movies will never look at the systematic and societal structures that build heroes and villains so long as the nature of superheroes inherently hinges upon the ‘Great Man’ system (basically an obsession with heroes and salvation through singular men instead of communities and movements). The MCU Spider-Man movies were so frustrating about this: it goes through the effort of saying that capitalism and injustice created the Vulture, but all that does is make a sympathetic villain - it never goes so far as to say that Peter is being fed into this system (by Tony Stark) like meat into a meat grinder that continues to prioritize the special over the collective. I don’t even need to get into Far From Home. The MCU constantly acknowledges these injustices (the way it acknowledges that the Air Force in Captain Marvel is sexist and racist) but it twists around that acknowledgement into assertion that superheroes and good guys CAN exist in this unjust system, and that they can utilize the power of this unjust system in order to provide salvation. Utena has Japanese Buddhist roots over this Christian ideal of the saviour/messiah: it encourages saving ourselves, and says that we cannot be saved by others, only aided and guided in that journey. 

Captain Marvel cannot be a ‘feminist’ film, no matter how much it celebrates Carol for embracing her individuality and autonomy in a discriminatory system, so long as Carol remains within that system. In contrast, the only way that Utena was able to live in gay happiness with Anthy was by rejecting the patriarchy, structure, and society completely. Carol is a shining, premier, ‘ideal’ example of a woman in the Air Force - tough and independent yet obedient and responsible to her system. Utena is also masc and gnc, but it actually explores how performing that masculinity isn’t a repudiation of the system, it’s just striving to attain status as the oppressor instead of the oppressed (absolutely crucial note that Utena doesn’t strive to be a man, she strives for masculinity). The #girlbosses in Black Panther are characterized by their complete and total loyalty and lack of ambition to authoritarian male figures and autocratic systems (Black Panther is really good and I like it a lot, this isn’t a criticism). Judi in Utena is also completely obedient and loyal to the male-dominated structure of the Student Council, but it’s shown as preventing her from accepting her lesbianism and pursing her desires. Black Widow, #girlboss extraordinaire, is devalued as a woman through her infertility and this is completely played straight and uncritically in a move that’s stunningly 1970s. Nanami in Utena (metaphorically) is confronted with her perceived lack of suitability for maternal life - and how the reason why she’s desperate for this is because it’s the promised unconditional love she never received. This isn’t even getting into the men - Tony Stark using tools of war to end war, which is an oxymoron. Peter Parker’s divorce from his working class roots into mindless imitation of authoritarian paternal figures and him literally being handed the cutsey drone strikes. Women in the MCU are ‘cool’, women in Utena are complex, flawed, and nuanced. 

We know the MCU isn’t woke. I don’t want it to be woke. But it keeps on pretending to try and it’s frustrating me. It continually just gets enough there to make me think about it and give the shiny sheen of that feminism while refusing to engage meaningfully with what they’re doing. I’d rather they didn’t try at all, because they consistently raise the question (hey it’s fucked up that the working class is getting screwed over and the Vulture’s doing what he’s doing for a reason!) and then refuse to answer it authentically or genuinely (but he’s evil so we don’t gotta touch that). I’m not gonna use the word pandering, but...that #girlboss shot in Endgame, come on...

Utena meaningfully treats the women as women who Live In A Society, and how that fucks them up, and how the only way they can be free is if they realize there’s no wizard behind the curtain, recognize the injustices, and repudiate the game. MCU says that a woman can be liberated and strong if she achieves specialness and strength within the system - if she ‘wins’ the game. But women don’t win this game. That’s the point of the game. Because when women win, men perceive themselves as losing, and that’s unacceptable. Captain Marvel and the MCU is a consolation prize for what women are consistently denied: complex and flawed characterizations. 

I’m normally uninterested by #feminism but Utena gets it. Thanks for the ask! 

[i-was-a-teenage-eldritch-horror]

The gray morality of Maya Ibuki

Disclaimer: these are unpolished thoughts that I formulated in response to discussion on Discord earlier today, and I am more than open to additions to this post.

I remember some time ago reading a comment on r/Evangelion saying that Maya is “the humanitarian of the bridge bunnies.” However, this assessment is incomplete at best. Maya is not humanitarian -- none of the adults at NERV are. If any of the adults at NERV truly cared about general human welfare, they would not be at NERV. Maya dehumanizes the pilots as much as Ritsuko, Misato, and the others. Her milquetoast handwringing over the dummy system is proof of this. To work at NERV, Maya must believe that the ends (defeating the angels) justify the means, no matter how brutal (child soldiers). Maya lived through Second Impact, after all, and if my math is right, she would’ve been nine years old at the time. The reason why Maya ultimately defers to Ritsuko and NERV is because in the end, she believes that NERV is doing the right thing. She doesn’t begin to truly question NERV until eoe, when she’s asked to gun down other humans, and asks if they (NERV) did the right thing. And even then, Ritsuko is spared from explicit mention and defiance. Maya is ecstatic upon seeing her as her transition guide, and pops into LCL while her laptop screen reads “I need you.” Love is blind, as they say. 

[huayno]

from neon genesis evangelion, vol. 12

The Mysterious Stranger

The Anime, the Manga, and the Mark Twain Novella

"God will provide for this kitten." "What makes you think so?" Ursula's eyes snapped with anger. "Because I know it!" she said. "Not a sparrow falls to the ground without His seeing it." "But it falls, just the same. What good is seeing it fall?"

—from The Mysterious Stranger

There is a short novel by Mark Twain, written near the end of his life and published posthumously, entitled The Mysterious Stranger. The tale is set in a small village in 16th century Austria, where three boys one day meet a young man different from themselves: "he had new and good clothes on, and was handsome and had a winning face and a pleasant voice, and was easy and graceful and unembarrassed, not slouchy and awkward and diffident, like other boys."

The mysterious stranger starts to do small but amazing tricks for them—causing water to turn to ice; conjuring grapes and bread out of air; even making birds that can fly out of clay. At last one boy, the story's narrator, works up the courage to ask the stranger who he is:

"'An angel,' he said, quite simply, and set another bird free and clapped his hands and made it flyaway."

The angel then proceeds to really impress them by making an entire toy castle, complete with five hundred miniature soldiers and workmen that move around by themselves. Naturally the boys get involved with this ultimate playset, making their own knights and cannon and cavalry, and although they get rather nervous again when the angel reveals his name is Satan, he assures them he is not that Satan, but only named after the fallen one.

"We others are still ignorant of sin; we are not able to commit it; we are without blemish, and we shall abide in that estate always." Distracted by two of the miniature workmen, "Satan reached out his hand and crushed the life out of them with his fingers... and went on talking where he had left off: 'We cannot do wrong; neither have we any disposition to do it, for we do not know what it is." Horrified as the other boys are, "he made us drunk with the joy of being with him and of looking into the heaven of his eyes, and of feeling the ecstasy that thrilled along our veins from the touch of his hand.'"

Yes, Kaworu Nagisa made quite an impression on the fans of Neon Genesis Evange/ion, despite the fact that, in the original broadcast version of the TV show (before it got all director's-cutted, box-setted, special-editioned, and platinum-lined) he shows up for only slightly less than thirteen minutes of total screen time, the climax of which being an entire minute where nothing happens at all.

That's what being a beautiful angel will do for you, especially when you make the most of your thirteen minutes on Earth by having a Whirlwind romance with the main character that ends in a lover's quarrel with Prog Knives and finally a voluntary martyrdom at the hand of your boy here. Relationships don't come any more tragic than that of Kaworu Nagisa and Shinji Ikari, and when fans (including this one) first saw it on TV, the affair was so brief and shocking the story logic of it didn't click in until much later.

In the anime, Kaworu is acknowledged as the Final Messenger, and, of all the Angels Shinji has to fight, this is the most ruthless battle, won at the highest possible cost to himself. It took even longer for me to realize that the showdown in episode 24 had also taken us full circle from Shinji's first fight in episodes 1 and 2, which emphasized his personal helplessness against the looming Angel Sachiel. Against Kaworu, it is the Angel who becomes the small, helpless figure, while Shinji is represented only by the gargantuan, frightful helm and arm of his Eva Unit-O1. We never see Shinji's human face once throughout the whole final minute of decision.

So as Col. Trautman would have said instead of Major Katsuragi, "It's over, Shinji! IT'S OVER!" Kaworu v. Shinji (or Kaworu x Shinji, in the doujinshi) was the big final showdown between humanity and the Angels. And with the outcome leaving Shinji at his most wretched ever, wouldn't it be nice if everyone just died—your wish being Eva's command, as it turns out that fortunately humanity hardly ever needed the Angels to slaughter itself.

"I am perishing already—I am failing—I am passing away. In a little while you will be alone in shoreless space, to wander its limitless solitudes without friend or comrade forever...But I, your poor servant, have revealed you to yourself and set you free. Dream other dreams, and better!"

—from The Mysterious Stranger

Satan's words near the end of Mark Twain's story also uncannily prefigure the end of the world and the Instrumentality project, both of which follow his death in the TV show in such quick order you picture Anno as a hairnetted fry cook dinging the counter bell. By now you see Sadamoto's handling of Kaworu, and perhaps nothing illustrates the different experiences of the manga and the anime better than his handling of this critical character.

No longer the last Angel to be fought, Kaworu actually becomes an active Eva pilot and fights an Angel—the dude even has the nerve to observe the fight is fixed, based on his knowledge of SEELE's prophecies. Sadamoto of course introduces him at an earlier point in the narrative—at the equivalent of episode 19's end—and then sends him to NERV near the equivalent of episode 22's beginning—before certain important events, to put it mildly, can occur. When one notes this kind of thing, of course, it's important to restate that the Evangelion manga has always been a separate but equal "official" version of Eva, with no particular obligation to align itself with the anime, and indeed it was with Book Five, the first released after The End of Evangelion, that Sadamoto began to truly seem free to go in his own direction.

Nevertheless, as the "other" official version of the Eva story, it is reasonable for fans to view it as an "alternate history" relative to the anime, and the way Kaworu has been introduced makes us realize the manga may end very differently indeed. Despite the fact we know here that Kaworu is an Angel from the very beginning, he appears destined to at least hang around long enough to pick up a few paychecks. It's not clear when your health benefits kick in at NERV, although if Ritsuko is your primary caregiver it might be best to forego them.

Sadamoto's remarks upon visiting the U.S. in 2003 indicated that the Eva manga might (might) be planned as a twelve-volume series in all. There is still plenty of room for speculation, as the slow working pace to which the artist himself often refers has of late become almost relativistic—as of this writing, it has been eight months since Sadamoto has drawn a new installment of Eva in Japan, and hence a Volume Ten is nowhere in sight. It may be small comfort, but those of you reading this are pretty much in the same drifting boat as the Japanese fans.

"An angel's love is sublime, adorable, divine, beyond the imagination of man—infinitely beyond it! But it is limited to his own august order. If it fell upon one of your race for only an instant, it would consume its object to ashes. No, we cannot love men but we can be harmlessly indifferent to them; we can also like them, sometimes."

—from The Mysterious Stranger

And with Book Nine we see the most staggering difference thus far between the manga and the anime; Sadamoto's Shinji doesn't even like Kaworu, much less love him. Of course, you could say the less-ethereal Kaworu of the manga is harder to love. I can't believe Sadamoto had him tell Rei he thought she'd be "heftier." And yet he did.

I don't think any A.T. Fields actually got penetrated in the anime; while I do think Shinji felt sexually attracted to Kaworu, and that you the audience are supposed to feel that he felt it, what Kaworu himself thought was a very different matter. Like Rei, I believe Kaworu to be innocent—coyly, he appears not to be so, because while Rei needed to be reached out to, Kaworu has come to reach out; whereas Rei has spent her existence being observed; Kaworu has come to observe.

Indeed, in the manga, Shinji's irritation about Kaworu's invasion of his personal space seems almost a parody of his attitude in the anime. In the TV show, when Kaworu put his hand on Shinji's, he flinched but did not pull away; whereas in the manga it's easy to imagine Shinji slugging him. Instead he goes to run after Rei, hoping to get closer to her again.

I hardly think the change reflects any phobia on Sadamoto's part (after all, we even get to see Shinji's "Unit One" in the manga), but the fact the manga Shinji is less emotionally bleak and empty, and hence less vulnerable. Shinji's just as negative in the manga, of course, but it's an active variety, rather than the passive negative creep (in the best Nirvana song sense) we know from the anime. We don't have to imagine him slugging Gendo; from the look of surprise on Dad's face in Book Seven he would have smacked the beard off his face if Kaji hadn't stopped him.

Neither is Shinji in a positive emotional situation where we leave him here, either; indeed at this point in the manga there's arguably no one he can turn to—the more brutal fate that befell Toji has cut him off from his school friends, Rei has become hesitant, Kaji is dead, and his perennial self-esteem booster Asuka is going to need to rebuild her internal supply before she can even get back to calling him a loser and idiot.

So, like Misato trying to put her own hand on Shinji's, all I can do for now while we wait for Sadamoto-sensei is to recommend for your winter vacation reading list The Mysterious Stranger, which I can almost guarantee will give you new angles to think about Kaworu, and may even earn you class credit besides. A quick look at the novel's comments on Amazon list a teacher who says fundamentalist students walked out of his class when he taught it; another compares it to The Matrix; those who dislike it call it "sick," "bitter," and "twisted." Sounds like good old Evangelion to me!

—Carl Gustav Horn

[a drawing of Kaworu holding a kitten]

Although The Mysterious Stranger can also be found in a number of print editions, including The Portable Mark Twain from Penguin (haw haw), the story, being from the days when mp3s came on shellacked cylinders, is legally available online at http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/TwaMyst.html. The same site has a book called The Holy Bible, King James Version, which fans of Evangelion might also enjoy, although it's technically "Editor's Choice."