Neon Genesis Evangelion Forum

The section of the series I've been waiting for you to reach. The next few updates should be great!

Trust me on this if nothing else. Few places in the world get as many cicadas as where I am from. The Northern Kentucky area every decade or so we get almost biblical swarms of them. They don't bite, but in large enough numbers are loud and annoying as hell. More so when you are trying to do yard work and they keep trying to fly into your face and all over your body.
 
Japanese culture uses the cicada to represent summer. It sort of just helps the audience know when the story is taking place without having to literally say. If you think one or two is ominous. Try and imagine that number mutliplied in the thousands. It's very Hitchcockian.
 
I really remember this episode well when I first saw it. I just remember how intense that last scene was. You could really feel what is going on. That was the sign of good dub work. How Shinji didn't know who was in there, but Misato was trying to lessen the impact a bit before it was too late. The tone was perfect. Almost like a parent trying to break really terrible news to a child. You can even hear the sorrow and the panic in her voice as Shinji isn't responding.
 
You also had Unit 01 beating the other Eva to a bloody pulp earlier and Gendo smiling. As far as we know. Toji could of been feeling that, then crushing the plug itself. All the time Shinji is being forced to watch. It was already defeated. Why let it keep going?
 
A fun fact about this anime. Almost every character's family name comes from a WWII battle ship of some kind, but Ikari means wrath or hatred.
 
From here on out. It's just going to become more intense.

That artwork for this article isn't "spoilery"....that never happens in the story.  The image guy for AnimeVice seems to have accidentally used some fanart thing.

Mr. Pinchuk...what in the world are you talking about?  Asuka didn't get her period in episode 18 at all.  Why did you devote a chunk of your review to describing something that didn't happen?   What part of the episode did they even mention that?
 
(for the record, Asuka does get her period in episode 22 and its treated not as a joke....did you skip to that episode or something?)

@ReVolutionOfEvangelion: 
You do realize that another name for a woman's period is sometimes referred to by the euphemism "Monthly" or "Monthly Visitor", right? Women don't just get one period in their life or once a year. It wasn't said literally, but the subtext is pretty strong. Even more so when Asuka complains about wanting be happy since Kaji is there, but can't that night.
Misato wasn't going to be so crass as to tell Shinji that Asuka is having her period and isn't felling well. As a woman, she can relate to how that feels and was covering for her. Further, Kaji has enough experience with women to probably figure out what was wrong.
 
It seems uncalled for to question Tom's perception of events. Accusing him of randomly skipping to episode 22 and somehow mistaking it as episode 18. More so when every other event he addresses was from episode 18.
 

@Tom_Pinchuk:

They really do make you think about the plagues of Egypt when they get in large enough numbers. I've experienced them twice in my life. Just to mow the lawn during that time I had to wear a mask, goggles, hooded long sleeved shirt, and long pants. This in the middle of summer. I looked like some sort of odd Uni Bomber, and that's saying something.
 
It is kind of cool after they all die in a few weeks. You see tons of rabbits, birds, and squirrels running around and feasting on the carcasses. It goes from something Biblical to something out of Snow White.

@Tom_Pinchuk said:

" I can't wait to see what happens next!  "

That's how I felt after watching this episode as well.  Ever since I started reading your articles, I've been dying to read your thoughts on episodes 18 and 21-23.  Do you plan on watching End of Evangeilon as well?
 
Do you have the Director's cut for episodes #21?  It's almost the same, but there's a string riff at the end of the episode that really brought home the events of the episode in a way that always gets to me.

@Tom_Pinchuk:  ....well no.  You just assumed that.  Asuka's being "moody" because from last episode, she knows the pilot of Eva-03 is Toji, but Misato doesn't want to tell Shinji that, because she doesn't know how to tell Shinji that Toji is the pilot.
 
Believe me Mr. Pinchuk:  if they wanted to say it, they would have flat-out said it.  This wasn't implying that at all, it was about Eva-03's pilot.  I mean my that logic, Asuka has been "moody" for her entire appearance in the series.
 
because in episode 22, Asuka actually has "her period"....and some people think its almost darkly funny the way they introduce it; Ritsuko asks why Asuka's synch ratio  is down, and Misato just look at her and kind of detached says, factually, "she's having her period" (to which Ritsuko says that can't affect synch ratio; which means Misato isn't being sarcastic.
 
 
Seriously, though....didn't you stop to think that she's "upset" because Toji is the pilot of Eva-03?  Which she found out at the end of last episode?
 
@FoxFireArt:  as "a guy who runs an Evangelion fansite", in the many years I've been watching Eva, not *once* did I ever see anyone suggest that Asuka was getting her period in this episode.  
 
Regardless of that....Asuka is feeling bad because she has a superiority complex about being an Eva pilot, and now moron Toji is a pilot;  didn't you think that's why she was annoyed the night Kaji was babysitting them?
 
Why did you jump to the conclusion that she was getting her period?
 
****You know what?  Rather than belabor the point, I'll table the issue then remind you of this when we get to episode 22;  they're so obvious about "Asuka is getting her period" in episode 22, that you'll see why its  odd that you bring it up here.
 
"
It seems uncalled for to question Tom's perception of events. Accusing him of randomly skipping to episode 22 and somehow mistaking it as episode 18. More so when every other event he addresses was from episode 18. "
 
Well I accused because....again, if you go onto a random anime messageboard and ask "hey which episode did Asuka get her period in?" multiple people would say "episode 22".  Its one of those  infamous Evangelion moments.  Not quite up there with "Shinji's thermal expansion in episode 10" but...
 
...to use an analogy, its as if you said that you think Shinji is upset in episode 18 because he has an unwanted erection, and you think its "strongly implied through subtext".....and then said "hey remember that episode when Shinji got an unwanted erection?" ....and of course we'd respond, "don't you mean episode 10, not episode 18?" 
 
 I don't mean that to sound harsh I really don't, text doesn't convey this well but....well, you'll see when you get to episode 22; people remember it as "The One Where Asuka Gets Her Period"
 
Regardless, Mr. Pinchuk you HAVE to get the Platinum Edition Director's Cuts for episodes 21 through 24.  And you NEED to watch End of Evangelion the same day as the final 2 TV episodes.

They explained in episode 4 why there are so many cicadas around:  cicadas only come out in Japan in summer, but now it is ALWAYS summer, so they're always there.
 
A subtle hint that the ecosystem is screwed up now.

Another What the F@#$ Did Just Watch?! EVANGELION post, another condescending diatribe from ReVolution. Color me surprised.

@Whiskeyjack: dude...I kind of "run an Eva fansite", I kind of know a few things about the series

Being knowledgeable and educating others about your field of "expertise" is one thing.. the tone and content of the posts you make is another.

@ethan:  its my avatar:  ReVolutionOfEvangelion.org