A lot of people might hate Asuka for her behavior, but to tell you the truth, I don't think I've ever been more seen and understood by a fictional character before or after seeing Evangelion for the first time. Her obsession with being the best, all the while feeling completely worthless and jealous of others made me feel really uncomfortable because that's exactly how I behaved in high school. What's most heartbreaking in all of this is how in End of Evangelion, it turns out Asuka was everything she wanted to be, which is the best Eva pilot. She fights an unwinnable 9v1 and using all her experience and tools, she almost wins. All she needed was to come to terms with her mother's death and realize how much she loved her.
First off: while I don't know you, I wish you all the love, validation and success in the world. Imposter syndrome is the worst, and it feels unfair for anyone to have to battle one's self when there are so many other obstacles to happiness in the world. That said, I have a hard time with _End of Evangelion_ precisely for that reason-it marks a tonal shift that feels like whiplash. Don't get me wrong: _EoA_ gives us the ending that *I want* for Asuka (that desire being directly tied to why I'm more likely to rewatch the artistically inferior "Rebuilds"), but nothing in the main series suggests that that's where her story is leading. Even Ep26, with her mirroring Shinji's realization of her own self-worth, feels more "earned" than the "you had -the ruby slippers- your mom with you all along" revelation in the eleventh hour.
And where are you now? You're most certainly grown up, you've analyzed it and the best part? You came out with it. I think that takes a ton of strength to admit your past like that. Meanwhile me encountering the EoE scene on a Saturday morning in 2006, I made myself a cup of instant noodles. Needless to say, I did not eat it at all.
@@jackymok4848 First of all, thank you and yeah, no wonder XD The movie does leave you feeling empty and disgusted one way or another. Before I watched it the second time with a friend during college, we tried eating at the local canteen. He made a joke about the lasagne tasting funny and the cheese not being cheese at all but...something else. Knowing what Shinji does during the intro scene of the movie, I couldn't finish eating.
@@GSBarlev I've always considered that to be not the conclusion of her arc, but rather a moment of ecstasy at feeling her mother's love for the first time. Maybe I'm just interpreting it this way because I don't like to think that Hideaki Anno would handwave her arc away like that, but considering how she behaves during the battle, and after instrumentality, I've always considered it more of a temporary feeling of elation, which quickly fades as she needs to focus on the fight and then has to undergo the humiliation of being joined to every other person without her consent.
22:26 the other word, "Tod" that appears alongside "Sex" is pretty significant, being the german word for "Death." It's probably a reference to Freud's two drives, Eros (the life-producing drive) and Thanatos (the death-producing drive) Love your ability to pick up on so many symbolic references and thread them all together
I was thinking something similar myself. With Nein tod/sex it could be read as Nein tod Nein sex, the complete loss of drive for advancement through life or death has her development completely arrested. God i love this show, Timber's videos on it, and the discussions both bring out in folks.
Even in english Tod could stand for Transfer on Death which is a legal term for naming a beneficiary. *edit* didn't realize sex was the same in german and english.
The Elevator scene is such a brilliant encapsulation of both Rei and Asuka. Asuka is so consumed by both her contempt and fear of Rei, being the living doll Auska is terrified she truly is, and desperate to project her own defiant strength, that she will stand petulantly silent for the longest minute in animation. Rei is so disconnected from humanity that I honestly don't think she understands how unnerving and unsettling it would be to stand perfectly silent in an enclosed space with someone you have a deep relationship to, even if that relationship is antagonistic.
I need to rewatch the anime, but I have to wonder. How many scenes do they actually have together without Shinji to act as a buffer? I can only think of three including the elevator scene. Their meeting where Asuka tries to make Rei agree to be her friend and Rei says she'd only do it if ordered. And when Shinjis in hospital and Asuka can only hover by the door, too afraid to enter but unwilling to leave. While Rei is by his bedside. Asuka is too scared and Intimidated by Rei to reach out effectively while Rei is too withdrawn to see any reason to even try
@@toawing another one is in the same episode before when he's stuck in Leliel and they argue, portrayed in a literal maximum contrast. i've really liked a view point that the reason Asuka is so uncomfortable with her is because Rei is an Eva pilot, and represents that all what she believed it to be, as a worthy activity and a way to express one's peak potential and self-reliance, as not necessarily true, and that not even being a great pilot can by itself ensure her self-worth.
29:38 Actually, if you compare this to Shinji's experience with Leliel, it's pretty obvious the replication of Asuka's lines in the 5 different female characters' voices is meant to represent the Asuka who exists in the hearts of those 5 other characters...and how every single one of them is actually wrong. The Asuka who exists in Asuka's own heart is in fact radically different because she hides her true pathetic self from pretty much everyone.
@@bhendri31 She put on an act for the rest of the world to see. She did it to avoid facing her past, but at the same time she had no other option. That is something everybody does, but in her case, it isolated her as she struggled with her failures and shortcomming (the lack of intervention plus the angel attack did not help!). At that point, that shield wasn't enough to keep all those feelings and thoughts at bay. Now, I think about it, she should have been the type of people who would have accepted instrumentality, but she wasn't. She recovered her "self" as soon as Shinji rejected instrumentality.
22:03 the "Nondescript sigil" probably spells "TOT", which is "dead" in German, seeing as the word "TOD" or "death" appears in the other version, too. With those being put next to "NEIN" (which is "no", as in the opposite of "yes", and _not_ as in "a lack or absence of...") and "SE*" (which you know the English meaning of), it is pretty safe to assume the scene is about repressed trauma and grief being brought back to the light. Other words that appear include: "Menarche", "Groll" - like a deeply held resentment or hate, "Doppelselbstmo[r]d bege[h]e[n]" - "commit double su*c*de", "Erhängte" - "hanged", "unsauber" - "unclean", "wie ärgerlich" - "how unfortunate/what a bother", "Schmach" - "humiliation/disgrace", "Peinliches" or "embarrassing/shameful [things]", "Stiefmutter" - "stepmother", "der Verlust" - "the loss", "wahnsin[n]ig" - "insane/crazy/deluded"
Thank you for spelling out the German words! Super interesting. I think the "sigil" just says イタイ, which when written with the phonetic kana syllabary instead of kanji could either be "it hurts" (with sexual connotations) or "corpse," which are both read "itai." It does work as a stand in for the "Tod/Sex" image.
29:32 Theese changes were made because that's how it was in the original japanese; Each iteration voiced by another member of the cast and Asuka's subsequent rejection of each voiced by her voice actress. Also notice how this is the first episode where the next episode preview uses storyboards.
I was going to mention this detail. Most likely VSI received a more thoroughly annotated written script made by Dan Kanemitsu and thus the production followed the original directorial intention more closely. As for what the intention is, I have always found it very hard to fully grasp. The constant repetition of the dialogue feels to me unsettling and invasive, almost like a bad trip into the subconscious mind during a particularly traumatic psychoanalysis session. I have always interpreted it as Arael insisting on trying to discover with who it is talking with, finding only a confused and broken young woman who doesn't know, in deep ambivalence, what she even is. Upon trying to compare her with other women found in her psyche Asuka not only violently and hatefully rejects being like "these other women" in her life, rejecting her own womanhood she so strived to reach in the process, but realizes she even failed to measure up to these other women by having failed to attract the two only men she so desired. She's not a woman, but a broken doll. Further hurt by the missidentification she just decides to close her heart, from not being able to be recognized (her main motivation) to causing herself to become unrecognizable until she's just a shadow of herself (this is later punctuated when she sleeps over at Hikari's house). This dooms her unable to pilot her Evangelion as it even later fails to recognize who once had such an indomitable will to live.
I found your channel a couple months ago after I finished the TV series and all the movies. Your analysis is the most in depth and somehow the most digestible that I have seen so far imo. Fantastic work on your Evangelion videos.
@@TheBeastInBlack Because when your own inner voice turns on yourself you will truly breakdown. And most people don't understand what that feels like when you are really in the depths of mental illness. The line captures the break really well. Kara no Kyouaki overlooking view has a scene with Touko that is also a good explanation in the feeling.
One of the most tasteful descriptions of the scene that popularized the term "mind rape". I do have a couple comments. @32:00 There's another line here where Asuka expresses irritation about Shinji being there, and the shot composition has her seeing him with a seemingly smug expression. Perhaps that earlier jealousy over Shinji overtaking her prized sync ratio and diverting Kaji's attention from her? Second: @37:15 Gendo also openly admits here that he doesn't really care what happens to Asuka, a bit more blatantly than he meant. Asuka's fears of being replaced are more valid than she ever knew, considering what happens in two episodes.
This episode is one of the hardest to watch; the apex of that uncomfortability coming with the (not-so) subtle violent imagery of the angel's attack, how close-to-the-heart the attack goes, and the effectiveness of depicting the internal struggle Asuka has there. This video really helps breakdown something I always felt was strong in a way I never would have - being to distracted by empathetic discomfort. Also, I never noticed that the opening was missing (despite watching this episode at least a dozen times).
Amazing analysis I loved this. Asuka was my favorite of the Eva girls because I found her to be the most relatable. I remember when End of Eva was back in theaters earlier this year in the states, there were some younger fans discussing the end of the movie and wondering if Shinji and Asuka got together. I couldn’t help myself by saying, “Why would you want them together? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Thank you for saying that. Even in the rebuild movies I just don't think they go well because of their history even if they are not the entirely same people. To this day people question why shinji went to live on with Mari instead and it's like....did they watch Eva???
The thing is that Asuka and Shinji’s conflict is sort of an outward reflection of the things they don’t like about themselves. So it could be argued that learning to accept and love themselves allows them learning to accept and love each other. I think that’s a big part of the ship’s appeal.
would recommend Rommel's Genocide fanfic, it shows their relationship playing out in a believable way. i think it's the point, that realistically it wouldn't be an easy one, but that makes it more rewarding, as a pair they challenge one another. their traumas are fundamental to how they are as people, and just as in the final scene of EoE they made a first proper connection, it's possible to turn their pain into something positive, their entire history of heartbreak at NERV is unabashedly something they need help with, but what made it overwhelming was that they suffered through it alone. interestingly throughout the series Shinji isnt portrayed as someone who easily develops romantic feelings, probably because of being emotionally stunted overall; meanwhile even though he's obvious Asuka's choice to be shipped with and that she does seek a romantic partner, it was more teased throughout show than committed especially, due to her rejecting him as an option, which culminated in her total rejection that led to the Kom Susser Todd sequence. this is just way more nuanced setup for a ship than i see in almost any media, that the show didn't really go out of its way to do it, i would say the conventions of romance even were a hinderance to their dynamic progressing into a more positive one. the primary thing that to me makes it effective isnt the romance or attraction part, as much as that it's a relationship, between one and their significant other, that was built up as a strong dynamic since Asuka's appearance. their very failure at connecting as consequence led to so many things falling short for them, which to me indicates how much it matters to someone to be accepted, how if they didnt care about each other there wouldn't be so much pain regarding it and that at worst times love may get expressed through hate.
oh my goodness, I absolutely noticed a shift in quality on this one. like, the analysis is spot on and as great as I've come to expect from this channel, but everything else here feels like it got buffed. the original animations and set and stuff are looking so good. even without all of that, this is probably my favorite video so far in this series. I love the long videos! If the next one is even longer I'll be all the happier for it. Just dont lose your mind in the editing process lol
35:26 I'm just realizing now that her mom treated the doll like Asuka when her mind was breaking, did her mom hang the doll when she hung herself? Yikes.
Fabulous episode (both the show and your analysis). Asuka's tragedy has always been the most compelling part of the story for me, and I remember watching this one hardly able to take a breath such is the torrent of imagery and suddenly revealed character history. A feeling that will resurface in the movie when she faces the mass production series. Both the audience and the world in universe hanging by a thread of hope that she'll finally overcome. She's a superb character precisely because we can see her flaws but we pull for her to change, we see her trauma but want for her to heal, and we hope for her to win but that hope dies as the world caves in.
German here: Next to the "Sex" frame to the left of it is "Tod", aka Death, so also the insertion of the Freudian Eros and Thanatos theme here. The three human faces frames' words are "Peinliches", meaning "something embarassing", "Stiefmutter", so "step-mother", and "Peinliches" again.
@@timberw0lfstudios There´s also "der Verlust" meaning "the loss"(-of something or someone) and "Wahnsinnig" meaning "insane" with the faces. If I´ve seeing that right
Aww thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed, and that these videos are continuing to meet expectations. I'm glad to know it's helping others love their favorite show even more.
When I first watched Evangelion, I kind of hated Asuka, seeing her just as a bratty teen who ended up hurting herself and those around her, but when I rewatched Eva, I noticed countless similarities between Asuka and me, I "connected" with her character and now she's one of my favourite characters of all time
She's a dynamic and nuanced character who goes through very complex emotions throughout her arc. Anno's ability to conjure hate and transmute it into empathy is astounding.
Outstanding video. I'm old enough that I was a teenager for the first ADV VHS release of Eva. As I've gotten older, my appreciation for Asuka has grown significantly. I think when you are still young and haven't been through many serious emotional trials, her character seems thin and obvious on the surface. Now that I've been around long enough to have experienced some incredibly painful situations in my life, all of those quiet heartache moments with Asuka resonate far more than when I was younger and naive. You realize that many people around you are suffering in silence, that we are all bearing a cross of some kind. Even if we seem happy and energetic on the surface, it all comes out when we make it home, close the door, flop down on the couch and stare into space. With age, the scales fall from your eyes and you begin to see the real truth of living. Which is to say, despair is always lurking just around the corner, and you have to actively fight back against it to find joy in living, or it will swallow you whole. Personally speaking, of course. You earned a sub with this one.
Not sure if anyone got to this before I did, but the "sigil" that replaces "Sex" is the word イタイ (in kana) meaning simply, "it hurts". Love your dedication, insight, ... your /work/. Keep going!
Along with that, at 23:04 is also "Yamete" (Stop it) in katakana ^^ I think it's a concious choice to use kana instead of hira since Asuka is german and therefore, foreign.
And the frame that says "sex" also has "tod" german for death, an evangellion song by name of "Komm, susser tod" literally translates to "come, sweet death" my questions is what does death sex mean? or does todsex mean something else in german?
@@CheeseyBreezey The conjunction "sex" and "death" is possibly a reference to the Freudian concept of the "death drive", sometime referred to as "Thanatos" in opposition to the drive to live and procreate, "Eros", which in all its outgrowth is best embodied by "sex". So, in a way, framing these two words together could either mean a choice to do (or commit to) one of them, or, which is how I interpret it, the inevitablity of both of them. Since both concepts are equally frightening (especially) for Asuka, they become synonymous, or, bluntly put: two sides of the same terrifying coin.
Over the course of my Eva rewatches, Asuka has torn ahead to become my favourite character far and away. This episode is a large part of that, something so visceral and real that plays off of previous character building to really hit you in heart and make you feel for her (She just like me fr)
Aww thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed the intro--Dominus continues to outdo himself on the music front. Thank you for your continued support and feedback, it keeps things running.
Aww thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed and that these videos are holding their own against others. It's an honor to be compared. Thank you for your feedback and support!
I've always used Asuka as my pfp for most social media sites, because she's the character I identify the most with. To the uninitiated anime fan she's just seen as "hot", but I've always chosen her because our personalities are so similar. It boils down to "I'm the greatest there's ever been and no one can ever hope to be as good as me! (But what I really want is to be a person worthy of your friendship and love.") One of the most enigmatic characters in anime - and I love that duality. The path to self love is long and arduous, and one that needs to be celebrated. Amazing video - thank you for taking so much time to break down one of my top 5 favorite anime characters. Could you do Haruhara Haruko from FLCL someday? ❤
29:37 The equivalence between Asuka having an unguided personality (or self) by desiring the others' characteristics and becoming replaceable is interesting from a Girardian (mimetic) perspective. Merely imitating others who are desirable is not sufficient for guidance/individual self actualization, since this replication makes her vulnerable to being replaceable since she becomes like them and not her actual self. This view combines the two alternatives you present in a way that validates both without discounting one or the other. You made highly astute observations here. Great work! Edit: The followIng observation that Asuka (feels that she has) missed her opportunity (train ride) to become mature is also particularly sharp. She is struggling against a sea of her (mutually-exclusive) imitative selves to become her true, unreplaceable self. From the perspective of René Girard's works, she is confronting her monstrous, imitative self that is replaceable by the others, with her real self. This makes even more sense when you realize that Asuka is imitating (replicating, to use your word) Misato to try to romantically connect to Kaji, who is/was Misato's lover. Asuka desires Kaji because Misato desires him, and Misato is a role model for Asuka. Therefore, Asuka should desire Kaji. Asuka sublimates her self to her model/perception of Misato when she chases Kaji. The real individual that is Asuka actually desires Shinji, but she is fighting to be her own self over the people (Misato, etc.) she looks up to (desires to be). Girard's understanding also integrates the view of Asuka's self (and by extension, every person's self) being more important than instrumentality's mimetic blending of all people into one, undifferentiated, collective being. Each one of us is not replaceable since no other person inhabits our perspective.
There truly is no series like this. I was behind on the last 4 videos because I haven’t been watching RUclips as much with new life events cutting into almost all of my free time. Lord I’m absolutely addicted to this series. With every video I caught up on I remembered why I loved this series so much. I really have no clue how to express how much this series means to me, I really truly wish you the best :3
Aww thank you so much! Knowing these videos have an excited and eager audience awaiting them makes them easier to produce. I'm glad you've been enjoying the retrospective, and I'm excited to release more soon!
This video popped up on my rec. feed, and I am so glad I gave it a watch! Seeing all the background details be explained so clearly makes me want to go back and rewatch the show with different frame of mind.
Thank you so much! So glad you found the video insightful and enjoyable. It is pretty crazy how well-produced the original series was, especially 30 years ago. I highly recommend revisiting it; there's a lot to enjoy that I didn't cover!
Liked and here I am commenting about my excitement but I can't even listen to it yet as I need to finish a meeting first. Watching these drop is always great.
Appreciate the incredible support even before the viewing--thank you so much! That said, pay attention in your meeting! And let me know what you think afterwards, I always enjoy the feedback!
@@timberw0lfstudios I don't know how I feel about this sort of fourth wall break, you telling me to not watch it yet as I have other things to do lol...In any case now that I've been done with meetings for the day (hopefully, otherwise all my work today will be having meetings about work that I should be doing) I was able to watch this. I guess it's telling of where I'm at right now watching this analysis after so many years of watching the original in that I remembered how Azuka's in being forced to confront her character flaws and how the angel, willingly or not, made her feel violated by the painful and forced introspection. My teenage brain did register that, but what I'm surprised about now, decades removed and as a parent to girls now older than in Azuka's flashbacks, is how devastatingly absent the father is for her. I can absolutely see (not condone, but understand where it comes from) that in a situation of having his wife go through that, a husband would fall for another person, but having that make the child feel expendable and replaceable? That has me so mad lol, and if you from that interpret this as me trying desperately to be as a present of a parent to my kiddos as possible (without becoming a helicopter parent or one that does everything for them) well, you'd be right. It wouldn't be a proper Eva analysis if one doesn't end up analyzing oneself, no? Again, the commentary about regression expressed onscreen, and all those details are so wonderful to have pointed out, and also having the added scenes that I might have not had access to even now, is much appreciated. I adore the quality of these videos, if they end up being longer than the episode it's analyzing, well, a price I'm very willing to pay. Happy holidays!
@timberw0lfstudios Seriously?! Wow, well it's so perfectly timed that it could be mistaken as a deliberate tribute. Loved this video btw. You're analysis' are always such a joy to watch ❤
I find myself struggling to explain why i love asuka’s character so much. This video explains many of the aspects though. Thank you so much for helping us understand and appreciate the truly magnificent quality of the series. You are a gift and thank you for your time and knowledge ❤
Don't apologize for putting in hard work & great effort into your videos. Doesn't matter how long it takes, we'll all be right here whenever ya get back. Just make sure ya don't overwork yourself & have fun, Lord knows we have tons of it whenever ya upload. Thanks for everything! 🙂👍
Thank you so much! Knowing I have viewers like you in my audience, excited yet patient for whatever I produce, means the world. Thank you for the wonderful encouragement and support; I'll keep doing my best!
I can't believe that it took me a month to get to this video, time is just passing me by these days. Stellar video by the way, there were so many small details and callbacks that I never noticed through my multiple watch throughs; especially that "game of house" callback. Pumped for the next deconstruction, probably the best Evangelion content on RUclips.
I really enjoyed watching this. You make me wanna binge your videos and then watch the anime as I've never watched it, and I feel like I could have a better understanding of the show.
Wow the level of symbolism you pickup on puts more layers on this than I could see in the 25 years I've been a fan of this show and best girl. I'll be backtracking to watch the rest of these.
You sir are absolutely amazing. Easily one of the best on RUclips. And I’m not even being hyperbolic. Your videos are a master class in analysis. Absolutely love it.
Well, that was nice. The animation at the start was surprising, in a good way. Having watched these in a short period of time, it's an almost jarring jump in animation quality from the earlier videos to this one... Jarring in a good way though. The audio was better, noticeably so. And the quality of the writing stayed at the, by now, high standard I've come to expect from this channel. Thanks a lot for this video, I learned new things from a franchise that I first watched over twenty years ago. Which is a mood, goddamn. I'd love to see you do one of these for other stuff, like Cyberpunk Edgerunners or Ghost in the Shell. Or Psycho Pass. Keep it up, this is awesome, and stay safe
Aww thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed and that the quality is staying consistent if not better. I'll definitely look into franchises like Edgerunners and Psycho Pass, and until then, thank you for supporting me through this series!
I've been looking forward to you covering this episode, I'm very happy :,) this is an amazing video. I resonate with asuka on a very deep level and she's stuck with me ever since I first got into evangelion. Which, just like asuka merging with unity/truth and being forced to self reflection unto ego death from which you face your perspective/ego within unity consciousness much like instrumentality, I was forced to face myself. The show is amazing for and at guiding the audience to do this. I use mild psychedelics so overtime I was processing/watching eva and I was having profound realizations about myself given the messages the show was telling and showing, especially cause with psychedelics your ego becomes suppressed which means your narrow perceptions is expanded and drawn back from your current stone cold beliefs and view on existence, allowing yourself to take in many new possibilities and angular perspectives on things- akin to an ego death, the path to instrumentality/unity consciousness :,) Once broken down its easier to build a better perspective on existence and take charge of your life to make it something you're happy and proud to have created and experienced. Your thoughts form your emotions, your emotions form your actions, your actions form your habits, which overtime become the story of our lives. I kin both asuka soryu and kaworu, the duality of despair and hope. Apologies for the ramble- Take care of yourself.
I don’t have much to add here. You caught everything I’ve taken years to understand. Asuka’s mind destroying itself, her fears affirmed, her desires rejected, her self worth negated…this episode has to be the most devastating half hour of television ever aired. I always identified most with Shinji-his self doubt, his fumbling desire to embrace and be embraced by others, his fear of reaching out and stretching his boundaries all ring true for me. But Asuka’s psychological dismantling in this episode is the crystallization of every nightmare that’s woken me up in a cold sweat in the small hours of the morning. “You don’t matter.” “You are replaceable.” “You aren’t enough.” “You never do anything right.” “You are not loved.” “You are not wanted.” “Your worst fears have come true.” I think we all have those fears, deep down, even those of us in good mental health. But this show really drives home how, despite all sharing the same existential challenges, we are all locked inside our heads alone, banging on the glass, desperate to feel someone else as intimately as we feel our own psyche. But no matter how much we physically interface with others and with the outside world at large, we have to face ourselves alone. And that’s terrifying.
This is the first time I'm even hearing of this show, frankly. But I agree. Facing ourselves is the bravest....and most terrifying, thing, we can ever do. I wonder if that's why some people who are broken by trauma, (less than half) actually go on to enjoy causing the same kind of damage to other people. I wonder what the link is. Part of it, I think, is that we're not willing to face our brokenness. It's terrifying to realize how flawed and broken we are. I agree with that. But only then can healing really begin.
Fascinating. I’ve only seen the whole Evangelion series once, last year (and I watched some other anime at the time like Serial Experiment Lain and Paranoia Agent) and never realized how much detail and thought truly went into it. Asuka is one of my favorite anime characters because of how much depth there is to her that I know I likely still don’t get even half of yet, and that, to me, is amazing. Amazing analysis and attention to detail, it’s clear you know your stuff!
22:03 If I'm reading this correctly, it says "イタイ" (itai) which means "It hurts" or could be used as an equivalent of "ow" or other verbal pain responses. Usually, when written in this way, it's an automatic response, something said in immediate suffering. In combination with the "Nein" and the allegory that this angel's attack represents, it's horrifying to say the least.
Bravo, this masterful show with never lack impact in my life and you've expanded my understanding of how deep it goes well simultaneously helping me understand myself better. Thank you for shearing your thoughts!
I’ll be honest. When you 1st mentioned the last act would be 1 vid per ep I didn’t think it was warranted, but I trusted you’re judgement. I’m glad I did. I don’t press the like button often since I believe a video must hit you in a certain way for that. THIS IS ONE OF THOSE VIDEOS. Time and again you’ve proven to be an expert at deconstruction, but this vid was on another level. This video’s scale was massive not only because of what the show depicts, but because of your willingness to meaningfully engage with its aspects. Your series has been so deep and impactful for me which wouldn’t have been possible if you didn’t give these eps the time they deserve. I will come back to this video as it is art in its own right. This is getting long but know that you are valuable, talented, and wonderful. Do stop doing what you’re doing. God Bless. P.S. I’m the 69th like. Nice.
I don't think I could adequately convey how much your exact feedback means to me, personally and artistically. My only goal in producing these videos is to excavate the meaning and intent behind art and consequently help others find more enjoyment and appreciation in it. To know this video not only achieved that, but is regarded by others as art in its own right is a compliment the likes of which I treasure most dearly. Thank you so, so much for your incredible support and encouragement. I make these videos not for the masses, but for the few who truly love them--knowing those few are in my audience is everything I could ask for. Thank you again, and God Bless.
Asuka has got to be one of the most tragic characters in fiction. Everyone around her grows by giving up the self for the greater good, but Asuka flat out rejects it in its totality. That act is only made the more tragic because she knows exactly what she's doing, and she's acutely aware of the consequences, not because she rejects that she wants what she can't have, but because she is rejecting that she had a chance to have exactly what she has convinced herself for so long not to want.
Thank you for this video. It helps makes so much more sense of this. I found the Evangelion series compelling, moving, disturbing, and heartbreaking. This video of yours made it more hopeful than I thought it could be. Although, I’ve not yet been able to watch the newer reboots. But I plan to soon.
I'm so glad this video proved insightful and valuable to you. There's always a silver lining, especially in this series. Thank you so much for your feedback and support!
@ I’ve been binging your other videos enthusiastically. I’ve always enjoyed anime since I was a kid in the 80s with the little bit that was available, like Robotech and Voltron. It wasn’t nearly as popular back then as it is today. I would watch some here and there over the years. There is something particularly unique about this kind of story telling that I’ve not quite found anywhere else. I imagine that is due to many factors like the Japanese culture and emotive aspects of anime. I love to see what is different from my worldview, and are delighted in seeing what is so relatable , even a world away. I’ve heard and seen stuff “Evangelion” for decades… but only first sat down to watch some a few years ago. Instead of looking up online what watch order i should engage the material, I just jumped in. The first and only thing i watched, was the movie released after the TV series concluded. I was hit with a barrage of thoughts and emotions… but ultimately deep bewilderment. Two weeks ago I started watching the whole tv series and rewatching the movie. That was better, but I still needed help processing, so I found your videos. 🥰
Anime truly is entirely unique from other storytelling mediums. I'm glad you found my videos and that they're proving insightful and valuable to you! Hopefully the story overall makes a lot more sense now. Thank you for your feedback and support!
So uh... Found this yesterday. Immediately found the playlist and i am now finishing a binge of it. Extremely interesting and well thought out breakdown of Eva. Absolutely loving this series and devestated that I have once again found an amazing series that isnt done yet. 😩 Now I wait.
Aww, sorry to make you wait--glad you found the playlist, though! And glad you're enjoying it! It may be unfinished now, but barring any acts of God, it'll be wrapping up by next summer. Thank you for the incredible support!
Hey buddy, I just want to say thank you putting this in depth explanation. You articulated exactly the portrayals of these scenes in such a way that I could never have done myself- furthering my love for this.
You're so very welcome. So glad I could help you fall even more in love with this incredible series. Thank you so much for your feedback and support--it means the world!
I bet you may hear this, but I saw another connection to her and Shinji. The train scene is near identical to the one that “possibly” was Shinji back in episode 1. Possibly invoking the imagery that that she’s has regressed, and become similar to Shinji at the start. Due to all the things you have mentioned.
This video really explains really well why Evangelion is so good. I just can’t explain why I’m so invested into this show but I just am. Everyone has their own character that we can relate to and every time I see someone describing and give details, it gives me a new idea of what the meaning of this show is all about. This video was so entertaining and explains well about Auska who to many is her favorite character I can’t wait for the next video to drop!
Your videos have that special vibe that reminds me of the old Angry video game Nerd and Summoning Salt videos. I wait for ur new evangelion essays for weeks and they are always worth the wait. Keep going m8, your channel is the definition of quality over quantity. Can't wait to see your analysis on 24, 25, 26 and EOE ( if possible please cover the deleted scenes of EOE as well ).
Aww thank you so much, I really appreciate it! Glad to know these videos are continuing to live up to expectations. I'm excited to cover the remaining episodes and End of Evangelion, and I'll have to look into the deleted scenes, it's the first I'm hearing of them. Thank you again for the incredible feedback and support, it means the world!
Honestly man, this is currently my favorite series on RUclips. It seriously helped me deal with my own stuff and made me appreciate Evangelion even more. I can't wait for you to finish the show, and maybe even go on to the movies... but honestly I think this whole series you're doing is really important, and I hope the not so stellar views don't break your spirit. Honestly this is some of the most meaningful analysis I've personally experienced in a long time. Keep it up and take your time! You are doing an amazing job!
I really enjoy watching your videos breaking down the episodes. Certain things I haven't realized in the episode and your intpretations of camera movement as well as the movement of the characters from the show. I'm so glad you make these videos to help me understand this show that much more!
I feel so bad for Asuka, she's my favorite character in Evangelion. I haven't watch this video yet, but I'm sure it's great! Perhaps Asuka love for Shinji was real and genuine and it hurts just watching her mess up and make a fool of herself time and time again.
back when I was a freshmen in HS in 2004 this show had me and my twin hooked on trying to under stand the hidden meaning, how life works why this show was different from say a "gundam like" mecha show. kept us up at night talking about what it was for us. your videos spark the memory i once shared with him. You can find what you're looking for if you try to let go of the pain. Asuka's pain i can relate now to being 35 and looking and my past how we maybe older, a bit wiser but we're still a kid afraid of the dark. Great video, love that you've upgrade you're set up, noticeable and a good sign of whats to come. Peace be with you.
Thank you so very much. It warms my heart to hear my commentary has stoked such good memories. Also glad to hear the upgrades and attention to detail aren't going unnoticed or unappreciated. God bless you.
Aww, thank you so much! I take that as high praise--so glad this retrospective has proved to be so captivating and insightful. Thank you for your incredible feedback and support!
29:15 Something I like to point out here was that in the original japanese dub, they also had different voice actresses playing out Asuka during this scene. It most likely was the VSI dub trying to remain faithful to the JP dub imo. Whether if they’re the VAs for the female cast, I’m not sure. But honestly, I love your interpretation of this scene regardless and the video so far 🩷
14:15 I always understood them using this phrase as a direct reference to the past that the 3 of them shared. That they "were just playing house" back when they(Misato & Kanji) were together, and then again as an accusation that Misato is just trying to recreate her past with Shinji & Asuka as surrogates for herself & Kanji.
As soon as I saw your notification I LEAPT to watch it. Thank you for putting in so much effort for these analyses, it means more than you know for me. I take things so literally and don’t consider deeper connections/metaphors super often, partly due to lack of knowledge about religion and other technical stuff like significance of shots and how they convey certain meanings when strung together. The depths you go to explain all of this… has my full admiration! It’s the main reason I fell in love with this series you’ve been making. It’s what I’ve always needed!! I feel like I can understand evangelion much better and more than before, which leaves me feeling satisfied. So thank you, again. Truly. I’m still watching how you place backgrounds in your animated scenes….. I’m not the best at deciphering but I do notice it! I know you also probably make sure your scenes have meaning in correlation with the video:)) like the trash scattered around in a room with a broken vhs tape watching your own video/clips from Eva while voicing over it.
I've watched so many Eva analysis videos but your content is another level of quality, conciseness, and engagement. I will always look forward to your content!
I don’t think anyone could convince me otherwise that this is one of the saddest and most tragic animes ever, the complexity of the characters is like no other. Even the creator had depression like Shinji’s.
This video got me to finally see what this series was about. Until now I thought it was just another Mecha anime and had shelved it for a rainy day. Glad I stumbled across this in my feed, can't wait to see the finale and maaaaybe movie breakdowns?? (HHHhmmmm?). Keep up the great work!
There have been Eva breakdown and analysis videos since before RUclips was even a platform and to my chagrin I've seen most of it. Yet your creativity and fresh prospective that combines a stylistic approach to making sense of the plot and what goes on in the minds of the characters feels completely fresh. It has been a joy to watch your channel grow throughout the series. You are criminally underrated.
Aww thank you so much! I know I'm playing in a pool with much larger and older boys, so knowing my perspective is still valued and considered novel means the world. Regardless of channel size or follower count, I'll keep doing my best; thank you for being here!
@@timberw0lfstudios thanks for commenting, now i get to watch it a third time lol. The 3 main characters mean a lot to me. Its great to see the show analyzed from this perspective. Thanks for your work.
Thank you for another great video! I don’t think I’ve posted since your first one on NGE but I look forward to seeing them. I appreciate this one most so far for the insight into the child that I have the least connection with and therefore least understanding of beyond a pretty basic level. My relationship to NGE is something I’m not sure I understand. In most ways I do not enjoy watching it and have trouble connecting with the characters but maybe due to my interest in sociology, psychology and theology, hell maybe just my autism, I often think about it. In short, your videos are very helpful and thoughtful.
This was so interesting if only because I had no idea there were basically three different versions of this episode! I've always been more of an Rei fan (so hype for the next video!) but I do feel like this video has made me see Asuka in a more sympathetic light. She'll never be my favourite but I do understand her and her actions a bit better now.
This was so good. Eva is my favorite anime and I am starving for anything that dives this deep! I got here through the algorithm but will be starting at the beginning!
Aww thank you so much! So glad I was able to provide something fresh and that you found it insightful and enjoyable. Hope the other videos live up to the hype!
Asuka’s issues (which, let’s face it, should count as subscriptions) are a bit more complex than simple narcissism and self-centeredness. Asuka has bargained with fate (the one Shinji resists and Rei accepts as a matter of course) in an attempt to bypass growth and suffering and go directly to adulthood. She embraces being a pilot because it allows her to feel adult, without having to deal with the pain and hypocrisy of growing up. Being one of a select few (though not, as it turns out “the chosen one”) gives her license to avoid unwanted connections, as long as she is on the front line, she doesn’t have to worry about whether she is wasting her undoubted talents, if she’s doomed to die (as she frequently hints at), then romance can be fierce and shallow. The scene with her at the bathroom sink makes clear, she has adult desires (and uncertainties about the same), but has no vision of herself as any sort of mother. Given that Gainax have borrowed from him before, I wonder if her remarks are a scan of the Japanese translation of Haldeman’s “Worlds” specifically the lead character’s remarks about late-onset (till past 15 due to growing up in orbit) menarche. “My glorious ___ing womanhood”! Despite all this, Asuka is a lot more “functional” than Shinji, though there are limits. Asuka is (bluntly) honest and forthright, but not very open emotionally (this may be why Hikari gets along with her so well, much as Kaworu will with Shinji). This closed-off aggressive reaction is probably why she isn’t “on the train” but puts up a longer fight (especially in the director’s version). She can handle dying, failure (and reduction to “normal”) is far worse (for one, she’s seen the “chosen one” and he’s not very reliable). And asking for help is out of the question (which is why she doesn’t get help like Shinji does, until the movie). As to the visions.. The whole “Mother mistakes doll for daughter” bit is lifted from the MANGA of Nausicaä, where a failed poisoning of her child left Princess Kushana’s Mother in this state. Those with a long memory of Isekai stories may find this version “familiar” (though that show gave that background to the Rei-Clone). There was a MAJOR gap between episode 20 (Tape 10) and the last sets, both in Japan and America. By the time this tape hit the market, “Death” had come out (and provides some of the extras). The first US release came soon after, but was the broadcast version. It would be months for the “special cut” to come out stateside. This is likely why the ADV version has one voice for the “5 faces of Asuka” scene. It may have been too much hassle to get the rest of the cast in the booth (since only Tiffany Grant had any new material otherwise). Then there’s the meta reading. Plenty of Giant Robot shows have sidelined and/or diminished their female love interest/co-character as the show goes on. Eva makes a character arc out of it.
Asuka Functional? From the start is saw her as a hollow person empty and full of hot air. Challenging her superiority led to an attack. She was in NO WAY functional Literally, Literately, and mentally. Her surface was all there was to her Her depths Shallow in contrast to any Eva Character she was called out the very second she appeared as an Inferiority-Superiority complex. Everyone KNEW it in Universe and Meta wise yet nothing was down to reign it in by those with the authority to do so. In fact they encouraged it and at Shinji's Expense, Because lets face it Rei is a brick wall when attacked and Misato doesnt give enough of a shit about it.
You did it again - great video! Sound is fine and satisfying, however I didn't have chance to compare with previous videos, do cannot tell if there's improvement. Regarding video length and release schedule, you're an author, so you're the boss to decide on it :-) Thanks for great time and entertainment.
Fantastic job on this man. I've overanalyzed every scene and motif there is and you do it so concisely. Exactly what I needed in my life. Will now binge watch the rest of these :)
the scene that says sex on it has two words "tod sex". Tod is death, like kom susser tod - "come sweet death" it is saying "death sex". I don't know why or if it's a bad translation but that needed pointing out if you didn't say it right after I paused the video or something.
I had a mismanagement of resources during scripting and thought a separate frame saying only "sex" appeared where the "Tod sex" frame does. According to the Eva forums that's incorrect, and I wanted to show the right frame in the timeline. The "Tod" translation is addressed later in its singular form.
@@timberw0lfstudios Just made it to that part! Thanks for the reply. I was thinking about what further implications those specific words might have in conjunction with the part that you (and I) are not emotionally stable enough to dissect scene by scene. Love the breakdown, as always.
@@timberw0lfstudios You have to be right about that because I have (RECENTLY!) had that conversation before. I said "absolutely not ever, not one time, not with my eyes closed, not if I got paid a lot of money." He looks like he smells like the toe box of a shoe that was heavily worn, put away, worn once more time and then donated to a goodwill run by cats. 🤣
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
A lot of people might hate Asuka for her behavior, but to tell you the truth, I don't think I've ever been more seen and understood by a fictional character before or after seeing Evangelion for the first time. Her obsession with being the best, all the while feeling completely worthless and jealous of others made me feel really uncomfortable because that's exactly how I behaved in high school.
What's most heartbreaking in all of this is how in End of Evangelion, it turns out Asuka was everything she wanted to be, which is the best Eva pilot. She fights an unwinnable 9v1 and using all her experience and tools, she almost wins. All she needed was to come to terms with her mother's death and realize how much she loved her.
First off: while I don't know you, I wish you all the love, validation and success in the world. Imposter syndrome is the worst, and it feels unfair for anyone to have to battle one's self when there are so many other obstacles to happiness in the world.
That said, I have a hard time with _End of Evangelion_ precisely for that reason-it marks a tonal shift that feels like whiplash. Don't get me wrong: _EoA_ gives us the ending that *I want* for Asuka (that desire being directly tied to why I'm more likely to rewatch the artistically inferior "Rebuilds"), but nothing in the main series suggests that that's where her story is leading. Even Ep26, with her mirroring Shinji's realization of her own self-worth, feels more "earned" than the "you had -the ruby slippers- your mom with you all along" revelation in the eleventh hour.
And where are you now? You're most certainly grown up, you've analyzed it and the best part? You came out with it. I think that takes a ton of strength to admit your past like that.
Meanwhile me encountering the EoE scene on a Saturday morning in 2006, I made myself a cup of instant noodles. Needless to say, I did not eat it at all.
@@jackymok4848 First of all, thank you and yeah, no wonder XD The movie does leave you feeling empty and disgusted one way or another. Before I watched it the second time with a friend during college, we tried eating at the local canteen. He made a joke about the lasagne tasting funny and the cheese not being cheese at all but...something else. Knowing what Shinji does during the intro scene of the movie, I couldn't finish eating.
Yeah as a kid I thought I was more like Rei, as I got older I realized that I am Asuka and was never like Rei.
@@GSBarlev I've always considered that to be not the conclusion of her arc, but rather a moment of ecstasy at feeling her mother's love for the first time. Maybe I'm just interpreting it this way because I don't like to think that Hideaki Anno would handwave her arc away like that, but considering how she behaves during the battle, and after instrumentality, I've always considered it more of a temporary feeling of elation, which quickly fades as she needs to focus on the fight and then has to undergo the humiliation of being joined to every other person without her consent.
The episode where asuka was facing 9 angels traumatized me, i lost it when she was begging her mom to love her while her eva was getting punctured 😭
Certainly a lot going on in that scene, and its gravity is profound.
@@timberw0lfstudios i jus watched that episode today n puked
@@Pain_n_suffering I believe you. It's not a scene for the faint hearted.
Honestly don't know why the mpes disemboweled unit 02
So did I
22:26 the other word, "Tod" that appears alongside "Sex" is pretty significant, being the german word for "Death." It's probably a reference to Freud's two drives, Eros (the life-producing drive) and Thanatos (the death-producing drive)
Love your ability to pick up on so many symbolic references and thread them all together
I was thinking something similar myself. With Nein tod/sex it could be read as Nein tod Nein sex, the complete loss of drive for advancement through life or death has her development completely arrested.
God i love this show, Timber's videos on it, and the discussions both bring out in folks.
The "nondescript sigil" likely also spells "tot" or "dead".
Even in english Tod could stand for Transfer on Death which is a legal term for naming a beneficiary.
*edit* didn't realize sex was the same in german and english.
I am so writing an essay on this for my psychodynamic psychotherapy course!
The Elevator scene is such a brilliant encapsulation of both Rei and Asuka. Asuka is so consumed by both her contempt and fear of Rei, being the living doll Auska is terrified she truly is, and desperate to project her own defiant strength, that she will stand petulantly silent for the longest minute in animation. Rei is so disconnected from humanity that I honestly don't think she understands how unnerving and unsettling it would be to stand perfectly silent in an enclosed space with someone you have a deep relationship to, even if that relationship is antagonistic.
i think there's also some projection from asuka choosing the word "doll" specifically, since it is an object she loathes so much.
I need to rewatch the anime, but I have to wonder.
How many scenes do they actually have together without Shinji to act as a buffer?
I can only think of three including the elevator scene.
Their meeting where Asuka tries to make Rei agree to be her friend and Rei says she'd only do it if ordered.
And when Shinjis in hospital and Asuka can only hover by the door, too afraid to enter but unwilling to leave. While Rei is by his bedside.
Asuka is too scared and Intimidated by Rei to reach out effectively while Rei is too withdrawn to see any reason to even try
@@toawing another one is in the same episode before when he's stuck in Leliel and they argue, portrayed in a literal maximum contrast.
i've really liked a view point that the reason Asuka is so uncomfortable with her is because Rei is an Eva pilot, and represents that all what she believed it to be, as a worthy activity and a way to express one's peak potential and self-reliance, as not necessarily true, and that not even being a great pilot can by itself ensure her self-worth.
@igrazm2437 thank you.
I need to rewatch the series.
I was watching his other videos and there's a fair few other interactions I'd missed
posted on asuka’s official birthday!
coincidence? i think not!
ha, nerd
@ bro is perusing the comments on an anime break down…sorry if I’m the first one to let you know, you’re one of us 💀
Oh man, such a heavy episode, my heart breaks for Asuka.
Heavy indeed, and no punches pulled.
29:38 Actually, if you compare this to Shinji's experience with Leliel, it's pretty obvious the replication of Asuka's lines in the 5 different female characters' voices is meant to represent the Asuka who exists in the hearts of those 5 other characters...and how every single one of them is actually wrong. The Asuka who exists in Asuka's own heart is in fact radically different because she hides her true pathetic self from pretty much everyone.
good point actually
@@bhendri31 Is our self not formed from others' perception of us? The question here seems to be, how did Asuka interpret others' views?
@@t-cc3377 in part yes, while it likely helped Asuka keep up the façade, she was always smart enough to know it was all a lie.
@@bhendri31 She put on an act for the rest of the world to see. She did it to avoid facing her past, but at the same time she had no other option. That is something everybody does, but in her case, it isolated her as she struggled with her failures and shortcomming (the lack of intervention plus the angel attack did not help!). At that point, that shield wasn't enough to keep all those feelings and thoughts at bay. Now, I think about it, she should have been the type of people who would have accepted instrumentality, but she wasn't. She recovered her "self" as soon as Shinji rejected instrumentality.
22:03 the "Nondescript sigil" probably spells "TOT", which is "dead" in German, seeing as the word "TOD" or "death" appears in the other version, too. With those being put next to "NEIN" (which is "no", as in the opposite of "yes", and _not_ as in "a lack or absence of...") and "SE*" (which you know the English meaning of), it is pretty safe to assume the scene is about repressed trauma and grief being brought back to the light.
Other words that appear include: "Menarche",
"Groll" - like a deeply held resentment or hate,
"Doppelselbstmo[r]d bege[h]e[n]" - "commit double su*c*de",
"Erhängte" - "hanged",
"unsauber" - "unclean",
"wie ärgerlich" - "how unfortunate/what a bother",
"Schmach" - "humiliation/disgrace",
"Peinliches" or "embarrassing/shameful [things]",
"Stiefmutter" - "stepmother",
"der Verlust" - "the loss",
"wahnsin[n]ig" - "insane/crazy/deluded"
Thank you for spelling out the German words! Super interesting. I think the "sigil" just says イタイ, which when written with the phonetic kana syllabary instead of kanji could either be "it hurts" (with sexual connotations) or "corpse," which are both read "itai." It does work as a stand in for the "Tod/Sex" image.
29:32 Theese changes were made because that's how it was in the original japanese; Each iteration voiced by another member of the cast and Asuka's subsequent rejection of each voiced by her voice actress.
Also notice how this is the first episode where the next episode preview uses storyboards.
I was going to mention this detail. Most likely VSI received a more thoroughly annotated written script made by Dan Kanemitsu and thus the production followed the original directorial intention more closely.
As for what the intention is, I have always found it very hard to fully grasp. The constant repetition of the dialogue feels to me unsettling and invasive, almost like a bad trip into the subconscious mind during a particularly traumatic psychoanalysis session. I have always interpreted it as Arael insisting on trying to discover with who it is talking with, finding only a confused and broken young woman who doesn't know, in deep ambivalence, what she even is. Upon trying to compare her with other women found in her psyche Asuka not only violently and hatefully rejects being like "these other women" in her life, rejecting her own womanhood she so strived to reach in the process, but realizes she even failed to measure up to these other women by having failed to attract the two only men she so desired. She's not a woman, but a broken doll. Further hurt by the missidentification she just decides to close her heart, from not being able to be recognized (her main motivation) to causing herself to become unrecognizable until she's just a shadow of herself (this is later punctuated when she sleeps over at Hikari's house). This dooms her unable to pilot her Evangelion as it even later fails to recognize who once had such an indomitable will to live.
Speaking german makes this hit much harder as you subconsciously process the text from the strobe cuts.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I HAVE ANTICIPATED THE ASUKA BREAKDOWN ANALYSIS. I jumped at the notification
I had no idea this much content was coming.
Glad to know you're excited! Hopefully it lives up to expectations!
I found your channel a couple months ago after I finished the TV series and all the movies. Your analysis is the most in depth and somehow the most digestible that I have seen so far imo. Fantastic work on your Evangelion videos.
Aww thank you so much! So glad to hear these videos are proving insightful and accessible to so many. Thank you for your feedback and encouragement!
The line where the doll says but your lying I have always said is the best line for mental illness I have ever heard. Too close to home.
What makes it the best if you dont mind me asking?
@@TheBeastInBlack Because when your own inner voice turns on yourself you will truly breakdown. And most people don't understand what that feels like when you are really in the depths of mental illness. The line captures the break really well. Kara no Kyouaki overlooking view has a scene with Touko that is also a good explanation in the feeling.
One of the most tasteful descriptions of the scene that popularized the term "mind rape". I do have a couple comments. @32:00 There's another line here where Asuka expresses irritation about Shinji being there, and the shot composition has her seeing him with a seemingly smug expression. Perhaps that earlier jealousy over Shinji overtaking her prized sync ratio and diverting Kaji's attention from her? Second: @37:15 Gendo also openly admits here that he doesn't really care what happens to Asuka, a bit more blatantly than he meant. Asuka's fears of being replaced are more valid than she ever knew, considering what happens in two episodes.
This episode is one of the hardest to watch; the apex of that uncomfortability coming with the (not-so) subtle violent imagery of the angel's attack, how close-to-the-heart the attack goes, and the effectiveness of depicting the internal struggle Asuka has there. This video really helps breakdown something I always felt was strong in a way I never would have - being to distracted by empathetic discomfort.
Also, I never noticed that the opening was missing (despite watching this episode at least a dozen times).
Amazing analysis I loved this. Asuka was my favorite of the Eva girls because I found her to be the most relatable. I remember when End of Eva was back in theaters earlier this year in the states, there were some younger fans discussing the end of the movie and wondering if Shinji and Asuka got together. I couldn’t help myself by saying, “Why would you want them together? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Thank you for saying that. Even in the rebuild movies I just don't think they go well because of their history even if they are not the entirely same people. To this day people question why shinji went to live on with Mari instead and it's like....did they watch Eva???
The thing is that Asuka and Shinji’s conflict is sort of an outward reflection of the things they don’t like about themselves. So it could be argued that learning to accept and love themselves allows them learning to accept and love each other. I think that’s a big part of the ship’s appeal.
would recommend Rommel's Genocide fanfic, it shows their relationship playing out in a believable way.
i think it's the point, that realistically it wouldn't be an easy one, but that makes it more rewarding, as a pair they challenge one another. their traumas are fundamental to how they are as people, and just as in the final scene of EoE they made a first proper connection, it's possible to turn their pain into something positive, their entire history of heartbreak at NERV is unabashedly something they need help with, but what made it overwhelming was that they suffered through it alone.
interestingly throughout the series Shinji isnt portrayed as someone who easily develops romantic feelings, probably because of being emotionally stunted overall; meanwhile even though he's obvious Asuka's choice to be shipped with and that she does seek a romantic partner, it was more teased throughout show than committed especially, due to her rejecting him as an option, which culminated in her total rejection that led to the Kom Susser Todd sequence. this is just way more nuanced setup for a ship than i see in almost any media, that the show didn't really go out of its way to do it, i would say the conventions of romance even were a hinderance to their dynamic progressing into a more positive one. the primary thing that to me makes it effective isnt the romance or attraction part, as much as that it's a relationship, between one and their significant other, that was built up as a strong dynamic since Asuka's appearance. their very failure at connecting as consequence led to so many things falling short for them, which to me indicates how much it matters to someone to be accepted, how if they didnt care about each other there wouldn't be so much pain regarding it and that at worst times love may get expressed through hate.
oh my goodness, I absolutely noticed a shift in quality on this one. like, the analysis is spot on and as great as I've come to expect from this channel, but everything else here feels like it got buffed. the original animations and set and stuff are looking so good. even without all of that, this is probably my favorite video so far in this series. I love the long videos! If the next one is even longer I'll be all the happier for it. Just dont lose your mind in the editing process lol
It’s almost midnight here in Australia but here we fucking go fam
35:26 I'm just realizing now that her mom treated the doll like Asuka when her mind was breaking, did her mom hang the doll when she hung herself? Yikes.
You know, I think maybe so. Yikes indeed.
@@timberw0lfstudios rewatching the show again and its seems so obvious.
Fabulous episode (both the show and your analysis). Asuka's tragedy has always been the most compelling part of the story for me, and I remember watching this one hardly able to take a breath such is the torrent of imagery and suddenly revealed character history. A feeling that will resurface in the movie when she faces the mass production series. Both the audience and the world in universe hanging by a thread of hope that she'll finally overcome. She's a superb character precisely because we can see her flaws but we pull for her to change, we see her trauma but want for her to heal, and we hope for her to win but that hope dies as the world caves in.
German here: Next to the "Sex" frame to the left of it is "Tod", aka Death, so also the insertion of the Freudian Eros and Thanatos theme here.
The three human faces frames' words are "Peinliches", meaning "something embarassing", "Stiefmutter", so "step-mother", and "Peinliches" again.
You're right on the money with the Freudian insertions. Didn't research the translations in the face section, though: thank you for that!
@@timberw0lfstudios There´s also "der Verlust" meaning "the loss"(-of something or someone) and "Wahnsinnig" meaning "insane" with the faces. If I´ve seeing that right
Another phenomenal analysis. You continue to provide more depth and insight into what was already one of my favorite shows of all time.
Aww thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed, and that these videos are continuing to meet expectations. I'm glad to know it's helping others love their favorite show even more.
When I first watched Evangelion, I kind of hated Asuka, seeing her just as a bratty teen who ended up hurting herself and those around her, but when I rewatched Eva, I noticed countless similarities between Asuka and me, I "connected" with her character and now she's one of my favourite characters of all time
She's a dynamic and nuanced character who goes through very complex emotions throughout her arc. Anno's ability to conjure hate and transmute it into empathy is astounding.
Outstanding video. I'm old enough that I was a teenager for the first ADV VHS release of Eva. As I've gotten older, my appreciation for Asuka has grown significantly. I think when you are still young and haven't been through many serious emotional trials, her character seems thin and obvious on the surface. Now that I've been around long enough to have experienced some incredibly painful situations in my life, all of those quiet heartache moments with Asuka resonate far more than when I was younger and naive. You realize that many people around you are suffering in silence, that we are all bearing a cross of some kind. Even if we seem happy and energetic on the surface, it all comes out when we make it home, close the door, flop down on the couch and stare into space. With age, the scales fall from your eyes and you begin to see the real truth of living. Which is to say, despair is always lurking just around the corner, and you have to actively fight back against it to find joy in living, or it will swallow you whole. Personally speaking, of course. You earned a sub with this one.
Not sure if anyone got to this before I did, but the "sigil" that replaces "Sex" is the word イタイ (in kana) meaning simply, "it hurts".
Love your dedication, insight, ... your /work/. Keep going!
Along with that, at 23:04 is also "Yamete" (Stop it) in katakana ^^
I think it's a concious choice to use kana instead of hira since Asuka is german and therefore, foreign.
And the frame that says "sex" also has "tod" german for death, an evangellion song by name of "Komm, susser tod" literally translates to "come, sweet death" my questions is what does death sex mean? or does todsex mean something else in german?
@@CheeseyBreezey no it means exactly that. death / sex , just two words put together
Love does hurt
@@CheeseyBreezey The conjunction "sex" and "death" is possibly a reference to the Freudian concept of the "death drive", sometime referred to as "Thanatos" in opposition to the drive to live and procreate, "Eros", which in all its outgrowth is best embodied by "sex". So, in a way, framing these two words together could either mean a choice to do (or commit to) one of them, or, which is how I interpret it, the inevitablity of both of them. Since both concepts are equally frightening (especially) for Asuka, they become synonymous, or, bluntly put: two sides of the same terrifying coin.
Over the course of my Eva rewatches, Asuka has torn ahead to become my favourite character far and away. This episode is a large part of that, something so visceral and real that plays off of previous character building to really hit you in heart and make you feel for her
(She just like me fr)
Fantastic video as always! Loved the glitchy effects at the start, and the edit of Evangelion intro gives me goose bumps every time.
Aww thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed the intro--Dominus continues to outdo himself on the music front. Thank you for your continued support and feedback, it keeps things running.
Omg this channel is a GEM… I’ve watched innumerable Evangelion breakdowns and this is by far one of the best… great work brother 🔥💯
Aww thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed and that these videos are holding their own against others. It's an honor to be compared. Thank you for your feedback and support!
What other ones did you enjoy?
I've always used Asuka as my pfp for most social media sites, because she's the character I identify the most with. To the uninitiated anime fan she's just seen as "hot", but I've always chosen her because our personalities are so similar. It boils down to "I'm the greatest there's ever been and no one can ever hope to be as good as me! (But what I really want is to be a person worthy of your friendship and love.") One of the most enigmatic characters in anime - and I love that duality. The path to self love is long and arduous, and one that needs to be celebrated. Amazing video - thank you for taking so much time to break down one of my top 5 favorite anime characters. Could you do Haruhara Haruko from FLCL someday? ❤
Babe wake up TimberW0lf uploaded another banger
What can I say? It's what I do
I missed it for 15 hours😭🙏
Better late than never!
@@timberw0lfstudios thank goodness it wasn't never
STFU GET ME MORE BEER WOMAN
29:37 The equivalence between Asuka having an unguided personality (or self) by desiring the others' characteristics and becoming replaceable is interesting from a Girardian (mimetic) perspective. Merely imitating others who are desirable is not sufficient for guidance/individual self actualization, since this replication makes her vulnerable to being replaceable since she becomes like them and not her actual self.
This view combines the two alternatives you present in a way that validates both without discounting one or the other.
You made highly astute observations here. Great work!
Edit:
The followIng observation that Asuka (feels that she has) missed her opportunity (train ride) to become mature is also particularly sharp.
She is struggling against a sea of her (mutually-exclusive) imitative selves to become her true, unreplaceable self. From the perspective of René Girard's works, she is confronting her monstrous, imitative self that is replaceable by the others, with her real self.
This makes even more sense when you realize that Asuka is imitating (replicating, to use your word) Misato to try to romantically connect to Kaji, who is/was Misato's lover. Asuka desires Kaji because Misato desires him, and Misato is a role model for Asuka. Therefore, Asuka should desire Kaji. Asuka sublimates her self to her model/perception of Misato when she chases Kaji. The real individual that is Asuka actually desires Shinji, but she is fighting to be her own self over the people (Misato, etc.) she looks up to (desires to be).
Girard's understanding also integrates the view of Asuka's self (and by extension, every person's self) being more important than instrumentality's mimetic blending of all people into one, undifferentiated, collective being. Each one of us is not replaceable since no other person inhabits our perspective.
There truly is no series like this.
I was behind on the last 4 videos because I haven’t been watching RUclips as much with new life events cutting into almost all of my free time. Lord I’m absolutely addicted to this series. With every video I caught up on I remembered why I loved this series so much. I really have no clue how to express how much this series means to me, I really truly wish you the best :3
Can't express how excited I get when you review these episodes. Evangelion has so much to it i never realized. Keep up the amazing work !
Aww thank you so much! Knowing these videos have an excited and eager audience awaiting them makes them easier to produce. I'm glad you've been enjoying the retrospective, and I'm excited to release more soon!
This has been my favorite video thus far. I feel like you expressed everything I felt when rewatching this episode and Asuka in general.
Aww thank you so much! So glad it was able to achieve that standard, and that you enjoyed it.
LFG ANOTHER CERTIFIED BANGER (I have violently craved this analysis and can't wait to get my heart ripped out)
This video popped up on my rec. feed, and I am so glad I gave it a watch! Seeing all the background details be explained so clearly makes me want to go back and rewatch the show with different frame of mind.
Thank you so much! So glad you found the video insightful and enjoyable. It is pretty crazy how well-produced the original series was, especially 30 years ago. I highly recommend revisiting it; there's a lot to enjoy that I didn't cover!
Liked and here I am commenting about my excitement but I can't even listen to it yet as I need to finish a meeting first. Watching these drop is always great.
Appreciate the incredible support even before the viewing--thank you so much! That said, pay attention in your meeting! And let me know what you think afterwards, I always enjoy the feedback!
@@timberw0lfstudios I don't know how I feel about this sort of fourth wall break, you telling me to not watch it yet as I have other things to do lol...In any case now that I've been done with meetings for the day (hopefully, otherwise all my work today will be having meetings about work that I should be doing) I was able to watch this.
I guess it's telling of where I'm at right now watching this analysis after so many years of watching the original in that I remembered how Azuka's in being forced to confront her character flaws and how the angel, willingly or not, made her feel violated by the painful and forced introspection. My teenage brain did register that, but what I'm surprised about now, decades removed and as a parent to girls now older than in Azuka's flashbacks, is how devastatingly absent the father is for her. I can absolutely see (not condone, but understand where it comes from) that in a situation of having his wife go through that, a husband would fall for another person, but having that make the child feel expendable and replaceable? That has me so mad lol, and if you from that interpret this as me trying desperately to be as a present of a parent to my kiddos as possible (without becoming a helicopter parent or one that does everything for them) well, you'd be right. It wouldn't be a proper Eva analysis if one doesn't end up analyzing oneself, no?
Again, the commentary about regression expressed onscreen, and all those details are so wonderful to have pointed out, and also having the added scenes that I might have not had access to even now, is much appreciated.
I adore the quality of these videos, if they end up being longer than the episode it's analyzing, well, a price I'm very willing to pay.
Happy holidays!
"When does independence devolve into isolation?" That cut deep.
Appropriate that you uploaded this a day before Asuka's/Yuko Miyamura's birthday
Didn't even notice that, but yes! Happy coincidence!
@timberw0lfstudios Seriously?!
Wow, well it's so perfectly timed that it could be mistaken as a deliberate tribute.
Loved this video btw. You're analysis' are always such a joy to watch ❤
Thank you so much!
I find myself struggling to explain why i love asuka’s character so much. This video explains many of the aspects though.
Thank you so much for helping us understand and appreciate the truly magnificent quality of the series.
You are a gift and thank you for your time and knowledge ❤
Don't apologize for putting in hard work & great effort into your videos. Doesn't matter how long it takes, we'll all be right here whenever ya get back. Just make sure ya don't overwork yourself & have fun, Lord knows we have tons of it whenever ya upload. Thanks for everything! 🙂👍
Thank you so much! Knowing I have viewers like you in my audience, excited yet patient for whatever I produce, means the world. Thank you for the wonderful encouragement and support; I'll keep doing my best!
I can't believe that it took me a month to get to this video, time is just passing me by these days. Stellar video by the way, there were so many small details and callbacks that I never noticed through my multiple watch throughs; especially that "game of house" callback. Pumped for the next deconstruction, probably the best Evangelion content on RUclips.
Let’s go TimberW0lf posted again. I can’t wait for the finale
I really enjoyed watching this. You make me wanna binge your videos and then watch the anime as I've never watched it, and I feel like I could have a better understanding of the show.
Aww thank you so much! That means a lot--glad I could help others enjoy this show even more!
Wow the level of symbolism you pickup on puts more layers on this than I could see in the 25 years I've been a fan of this show and best girl. I'll be backtracking to watch the rest of these.
Thank you so much! So glad you found this retrospective valuable and insightful; I hope the others live up to expectations!
You sir are absolutely amazing. Easily one of the best on RUclips. And I’m not even being hyperbolic. Your videos are a master class in analysis. Absolutely love it.
Aww thank you so much! You flatter me, honestly. So glad you're enjoying the work; hopefully future videos continue exceeding expectations!
Well, that was nice. The animation at the start was surprising, in a good way. Having watched these in a short period of time, it's an almost jarring jump in animation quality from the earlier videos to this one... Jarring in a good way though.
The audio was better, noticeably so. And the quality of the writing stayed at the, by now, high standard I've come to expect from this channel.
Thanks a lot for this video, I learned new things from a franchise that I first watched over twenty years ago. Which is a mood, goddamn.
I'd love to see you do one of these for other stuff, like Cyberpunk Edgerunners or Ghost in the Shell.
Or Psycho Pass.
Keep it up, this is awesome, and stay safe
Aww thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed and that the quality is staying consistent if not better. I'll definitely look into franchises like Edgerunners and Psycho Pass, and until then, thank you for supporting me through this series!
I've been looking forward to you covering this episode, I'm very happy :,) this is an amazing video. I resonate with asuka on a very deep level and she's stuck with me ever since I first got into evangelion. Which, just like asuka merging with unity/truth and being forced to self reflection unto ego death from which you face your perspective/ego within unity consciousness much like instrumentality, I was forced to face myself. The show is amazing for and at guiding the audience to do this. I use mild psychedelics so overtime I was processing/watching eva and I was having profound realizations about myself given the messages the show was telling and showing, especially cause with psychedelics your ego becomes suppressed which means your narrow perceptions is expanded and drawn back from your current stone cold beliefs and view on existence, allowing yourself to take in many new possibilities and angular perspectives on things- akin to an ego death, the path to instrumentality/unity consciousness :,) Once broken down its easier to build a better perspective on existence and take charge of your life to make it something you're happy and proud to have created and experienced. Your thoughts form your emotions, your emotions form your actions, your actions form your habits, which overtime become the story of our lives. I kin both asuka soryu and kaworu, the duality of despair and hope. Apologies for the ramble- Take care of yourself.
I don’t have much to add here. You caught everything I’ve taken years to understand. Asuka’s mind destroying itself, her fears affirmed, her desires rejected, her self worth negated…this episode has to be the most devastating half hour of television ever aired.
I always identified most with Shinji-his self doubt, his fumbling desire to embrace and be embraced by others, his fear of reaching out and stretching his boundaries all ring true for me. But Asuka’s psychological dismantling in this episode is the crystallization of every nightmare that’s woken me up in a cold sweat in the small hours of the morning.
“You don’t matter.”
“You are replaceable.”
“You aren’t enough.”
“You never do anything right.”
“You are not loved.”
“You are not wanted.”
“Your worst fears have come true.”
I think we all have those fears, deep down, even those of us in good mental health. But this show really drives home how, despite all sharing the same existential challenges, we are all locked inside our heads alone, banging on the glass, desperate to feel someone else as intimately as we feel our own psyche. But no matter how much we physically interface with others and with the outside world at large, we have to face ourselves alone.
And that’s terrifying.
This is the first time I'm even hearing of this show, frankly.
But I agree. Facing ourselves is the bravest....and most terrifying, thing, we can ever do. I wonder if that's why some people who are broken by trauma, (less than half) actually go on to enjoy causing the same kind of damage to other people. I wonder what the link is.
Part of it, I think, is that we're not willing to face our brokenness.
It's terrifying to realize how flawed and broken we are. I agree with that. But only then can healing really begin.
amazing breakdown of Asuka! thank you for all your hard work.
Aww thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed and appreciated it!
Just in time for my lil bagel and coffee.
Yes, let us review Asuka! My favorite child.
Fascinating. I’ve only seen the whole Evangelion series once, last year (and I watched some other anime at the time like Serial Experiment Lain and Paranoia Agent) and never realized how much detail and thought truly went into it. Asuka is one of my favorite anime characters because of how much depth there is to her that I know I likely still don’t get even half of yet, and that, to me, is amazing. Amazing analysis and attention to detail, it’s clear you know your stuff!
I've been waiting for this episode for so long. Asuka is by far one of my favorite characters in animation and this episode is a MASTERPIECE
Couldn't agree more!
Im not afraid of long videos, great job once again! Loved this one too.
Aww thank you so much! Glad the runtime didn't scare you off!
22:03 If I'm reading this correctly, it says "イタイ" (itai) which means "It hurts" or could be used as an equivalent of "ow" or other verbal pain responses. Usually, when written in this way, it's an automatic response, something said in immediate suffering. In combination with the "Nein" and the allegory that this angel's attack represents, it's horrifying to say the least.
That definitely makes sense, and definitely evokes a good bit of terror. Thank you for sharing!
Bravo, this masterful show with never lack impact in my life and you've expanded my understanding of how deep it goes well simultaneously helping me understand myself better. Thank you for shearing your thoughts!
I was so uncomfortable watching her freak out, spaz, and scream in her eva, it was so disturbing snd horrifying to me.
it's such a genuinely uncomfortable yet captivating scene
Anno certainly knows how to shake the audience out of their comfort zone.
good god, this was some amazing stuff, i cant beleave people are still being able to dig deeper and deeper in to this absolute art
Thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed and found the video valuable and insightful! It is crazy how many layers the series has.
I’ll be honest. When you 1st mentioned the last act would be 1 vid per ep I didn’t think it was warranted, but I trusted you’re judgement. I’m glad I did.
I don’t press the like button often since I believe a video must hit you in a certain way for that. THIS IS ONE OF THOSE VIDEOS. Time and again you’ve proven to be an expert at deconstruction, but this vid was on another level.
This video’s scale was massive not only because of what the show depicts, but because of your willingness to meaningfully engage with its aspects. Your series has been so deep and impactful for me which wouldn’t have been possible if you didn’t give these eps the time they deserve. I will come back to this video as it is art in its own right. This is getting long but know that you are valuable, talented, and wonderful. Do stop doing what you’re doing. God Bless.
P.S. I’m the 69th like. Nice.
I don't think I could adequately convey how much your exact feedback means to me, personally and artistically. My only goal in producing these videos is to excavate the meaning and intent behind art and consequently help others find more enjoyment and appreciation in it. To know this video not only achieved that, but is regarded by others as art in its own right is a compliment the likes of which I treasure most dearly. Thank you so, so much for your incredible support and encouragement. I make these videos not for the masses, but for the few who truly love them--knowing those few are in my audience is everything I could ask for. Thank you again, and God Bless.
Asuka has got to be one of the most tragic characters in fiction. Everyone around her grows by giving up the self for the greater good, but Asuka flat out rejects it in its totality. That act is only made the more tragic because she knows exactly what she's doing, and she's acutely aware of the consequences, not because she rejects that she wants what she can't have, but because she is rejecting that she had a chance to have exactly what she has convinced herself for so long not to want.
Seriously, my heart sunk a couple times. I adore your work.
That really means the world. Thank you so much for your incredible support and encouragement!
what a damn harsh episode, and your analysis perfectly mirrors it, well done
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it!
Thank you for this video. It helps makes so much more sense of this. I found the Evangelion series compelling, moving, disturbing, and heartbreaking. This video of yours made it more hopeful than I thought it could be. Although, I’ve not yet been able to watch the newer reboots. But I plan to soon.
I'm so glad this video proved insightful and valuable to you. There's always a silver lining, especially in this series. Thank you so much for your feedback and support!
@ I’ve been binging your other videos enthusiastically. I’ve always enjoyed anime since I was a kid in the 80s with the little bit that was available, like Robotech and Voltron. It wasn’t nearly as popular back then as it is today. I would watch some here and there over the years. There is something particularly unique about this kind of story telling that I’ve not quite found anywhere else. I imagine that is due to many factors like the Japanese culture and emotive aspects of anime. I love to see what is different from my worldview, and are delighted in seeing what is so relatable , even a world away.
I’ve heard and seen stuff “Evangelion” for decades… but only first sat down to watch some a few years ago. Instead of looking up online what watch order i should engage the material, I just jumped in. The first and only thing i watched, was the movie released after the TV series concluded. I was hit with a barrage of thoughts and emotions… but ultimately deep bewilderment. Two weeks ago I started watching the whole tv series and rewatching the movie. That was better, but I still needed help processing, so I found your videos. 🥰
Anime truly is entirely unique from other storytelling mediums. I'm glad you found my videos and that they're proving insightful and valuable to you! Hopefully the story overall makes a lot more sense now. Thank you for your feedback and support!
So uh... Found this yesterday. Immediately found the playlist and i am now finishing a binge of it. Extremely interesting and well thought out breakdown of Eva. Absolutely loving this series and devestated that I have once again found an amazing series that isnt done yet. 😩 Now I wait.
Aww, sorry to make you wait--glad you found the playlist, though! And glad you're enjoying it! It may be unfinished now, but barring any acts of God, it'll be wrapping up by next summer. Thank you for the incredible support!
Hey buddy, I just want to say thank you putting this in depth explanation. You articulated exactly the portrayals of these scenes in such a way that I could never have done myself- furthering my love for this.
You're so very welcome. So glad I could help you fall even more in love with this incredible series. Thank you so much for your feedback and support--it means the world!
I bet you may hear this, but I saw another connection to her and Shinji. The train scene is near identical to the one that “possibly” was Shinji back in episode 1. Possibly invoking the imagery that that she’s has regressed, and become similar to Shinji at the start. Due to all the things you have mentioned.
Ooooh I love that interpretation! I didn't even think about how that could relate back to that shot in Episode 1. Great catch!
This video really explains really well why Evangelion is so good. I just can’t explain why I’m so invested into this show but I just am. Everyone has their own character that we can relate to and every time I see someone describing and give details, it gives me a new idea of what the meaning of this show is all about. This video was so entertaining and explains well about Auska who to many is her favorite character I can’t wait for the next video to drop!
Your videos have that special vibe that reminds me of the old Angry video game Nerd and Summoning Salt videos. I wait for ur new evangelion essays for weeks and they are always worth the wait. Keep going m8, your channel is the definition of quality over quantity. Can't wait to see your analysis on 24, 25, 26 and EOE ( if possible please cover the deleted scenes of EOE as well ).
Aww thank you so much, I really appreciate it! Glad to know these videos are continuing to live up to expectations. I'm excited to cover the remaining episodes and End of Evangelion, and I'll have to look into the deleted scenes, it's the first I'm hearing of them.
Thank you again for the incredible feedback and support, it means the world!
Honestly man, this is currently my favorite series on RUclips. It seriously helped me deal with my own stuff and made me appreciate Evangelion even more. I can't wait for you to finish the show, and maybe even go on to the movies... but honestly I think this whole series you're doing is really important, and I hope the not so stellar views don't break your spirit. Honestly this is some of the most meaningful analysis I've personally experienced in a long time. Keep it up and take your time! You are doing an amazing job!
(homer finger twiddling ) OoooOh new episode!🤤
That was so great! i love asuka & rei! mic is great! looking forward to next video!
Aww thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed; thank you for all the incredible feedback and support!
I really enjoy watching your videos breaking down the episodes. Certain things I haven't realized in the episode and your intpretations of camera movement as well as the movement of the characters from the show. I'm so glad you make these videos to help me understand this show that much more!
I feel so bad for Asuka, she's my favorite character in Evangelion. I haven't watch this video yet, but I'm sure it's great!
Perhaps Asuka love for Shinji was real and genuine and it hurts just watching her mess up and make a fool of herself time and time again.
back when I was a freshmen in HS in 2004 this show had me and my twin hooked on trying to under stand the hidden meaning, how life works why this show was different from say a "gundam like" mecha show.
kept us up at night talking about what it was for us.
your videos spark the memory i once shared with him.
You can find what you're looking for if you try to let go of the pain. Asuka's pain i can relate now to being 35 and looking and my past how we maybe older, a bit wiser but we're still a kid afraid of the dark.
Great video, love that you've upgrade you're set up, noticeable and a good sign of whats to come.
Peace be with you.
Thank you so very much. It warms my heart to hear my commentary has stoked such good memories.
Also glad to hear the upgrades and attention to detail aren't going unnoticed or unappreciated.
God bless you.
Asuka is my favorite female character in anime. Thanks for such a great breakdown of her and this episode. Keep up the good work.
Thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed, and that I was able to do Asuka justice. I'll keep doing my best!
I enjoyed your analaysis of what happened in this anime far more than the anime. Thank you for your effort on this!
Aww, thank you so much! I take that as high praise--so glad this retrospective has proved to be so captivating and insightful. Thank you for your incredible feedback and support!
29:15
Something I like to point out here was that in the original japanese dub, they also had different voice actresses playing out Asuka during this scene. It most likely was the VSI dub trying to remain faithful to the JP dub imo. Whether if they’re the VAs for the female cast, I’m not sure. But honestly, I love your interpretation of this scene regardless and the video so far 🩷
This is easily the best analysis of this episode I've watched. Well done sir, a well warned subscription.
Aww thank you so much! That means the world!
14:15 I always understood them using this phrase as a direct reference to the past that the 3 of them shared. That they "were just playing house" back when they(Misato & Kanji) were together, and then again as an accusation that Misato is just trying to recreate her past with Shinji & Asuka as surrogates for herself & Kanji.
As soon as I saw your notification I LEAPT to watch it. Thank you for putting in so much effort for these analyses, it means more than you know for me. I take things so literally and don’t consider deeper connections/metaphors super often, partly due to lack of knowledge about religion and other technical stuff like significance of shots and how they convey certain meanings when strung together. The depths you go to explain all of this… has my full admiration! It’s the main reason I fell in love with this series you’ve been making. It’s what I’ve always needed!! I feel like I can understand evangelion much better and more than before, which leaves me feeling satisfied. So thank you, again. Truly.
I’m still watching how you place backgrounds in your animated scenes….. I’m not the best at deciphering but I do notice it! I know you also probably make sure your scenes have meaning in correlation with the video:)) like the trash scattered around in a room with a broken vhs tape watching your own video/clips from Eva while voicing over it.
I like it when people explains The Episode's True Dark Meaning, and that is quite reasonable enough for me to watch.
I've watched so many Eva analysis videos but your content is another level of quality, conciseness, and engagement. I will always look forward to your content!
Thank you so much! That's truly an honor; I'm so glad you're enjoying the series, and I hope I can continue exceeding expectations!
I don’t think anyone could convince me otherwise that this is one of the saddest and most tragic animes ever, the complexity of the characters is like no other. Even the creator had depression like Shinji’s.
I certainly won't argue with that. Tragedy abounds, but it's necessary to make the hopeful message meaningful. Victory without stakes is hollow.
This video got me to finally see what this series was about. Until now I thought it was just another Mecha anime and had shelved it for a rainy day. Glad I stumbled across this in my feed, can't wait to see the finale and maaaaybe movie breakdowns?? (HHHhmmmm?).
Keep up the great work!
There have been Eva breakdown and analysis videos since before RUclips was even a platform and to my chagrin I've seen most of it. Yet your creativity and fresh prospective that combines a stylistic approach to making sense of the plot and what goes on in the minds of the characters feels completely fresh. It has been a joy to watch your channel grow throughout the series. You are criminally underrated.
Aww thank you so much! I know I'm playing in a pool with much larger and older boys, so knowing my perspective is still valued and considered novel means the world. Regardless of channel size or follower count, I'll keep doing my best; thank you for being here!
Whoa that was amazing. I’m at a point in life where I really needed to hear this perspective hopefully it helps me to grow as well.
So glad this video found you when you needed it. Thank you for sharing, and for your incredible support.
@@timberw0lfstudios thanks for commenting, now i get to watch it a third time lol. The 3 main characters mean a lot to me. Its great to see the show analyzed from this perspective. Thanks for your work.
25:28 I can't unsee Freddy Fazbear with one eye
Thank you for another great video! I don’t think I’ve posted since your first one on NGE but I look forward to seeing them. I appreciate this one most so far for the insight into the child that I have the least connection with and therefore least understanding of beyond a pretty basic level. My relationship to NGE is something I’m not sure I understand. In most ways I do not enjoy watching it and have trouble connecting with the characters but maybe due to my interest in sociology, psychology and theology, hell maybe just my autism, I often think about it. In short, your videos are very helpful and thoughtful.
what is the name of the song @ 1:25 ?
It’s a remix of “home-resonance”
Thank you so much for making these. I really love Evangelion and it really deserves the treatment you give this series
Aww thank you so much! So glad you've been enjoying it, and it's an honor to know others consider this series worthy of the show's reputation.
Have my final chemistry test tmrw but fk that , this is a priority.
How was the test yesterday?
Appreciate the dedication, but my goodness, reorder your priority list! I hope the test went well?
@@timberw0lfstudios went pretty well. Currently waiting for the second part. ✌️
@@tringuyen7376 went quite great mate 👊
Yay, glad to hear it!
Definitely one of my favourite RUclipsrs just thanks to the huge amount of effort and love you put into your videos. Keep up the amazing work bro ❤
Aww thank you so much! Glad the hard work is showing through, and glad you're enjoying the retrospective!
This was so interesting if only because I had no idea there were basically three different versions of this episode! I've always been more of an Rei fan (so hype for the next video!) but I do feel like this video has made me see Asuka in a more sympathetic light. She'll never be my favourite but I do understand her and her actions a bit better now.
This was so good. Eva is my favorite anime and I am starving for anything that dives this deep! I got here through the algorithm but will be starting at the beginning!
Aww thank you so much! So glad I was able to provide something fresh and that you found it insightful and enjoyable. Hope the other videos live up to the hype!
Looks like peak is back on the menu
I been cookin' like you wouldn't believe
Amazing video, you do sound better! Been loving this series, it reignited my love for Evangelion after I set it down for a few years.
Aww awesome, thank you so much! Glad to know the audio has improved, and glad I could help you love this show just a little more!
Asuka’s issues (which, let’s face it, should count as subscriptions) are a bit more complex than simple narcissism and self-centeredness. Asuka has bargained with fate (the one Shinji resists and Rei accepts as a matter of course) in an attempt to bypass growth and suffering and go directly to adulthood. She embraces being a pilot because it allows her to feel adult, without having to deal with the pain and hypocrisy of growing up. Being one of a select few (though not, as it turns out “the chosen one”) gives her license to avoid unwanted connections, as long as she is on the front line, she doesn’t have to worry about whether she is wasting her undoubted talents, if she’s doomed to die (as she frequently hints at), then romance can be fierce and shallow. The scene with her at the bathroom sink makes clear, she has adult desires (and uncertainties about the same), but has no vision of herself as any sort of mother. Given that Gainax have borrowed from him before, I wonder if her remarks are a scan of the Japanese translation of Haldeman’s “Worlds” specifically the lead character’s remarks about late-onset (till past 15 due to growing up in orbit) menarche. “My glorious ___ing womanhood”!
Despite all this, Asuka is a lot more “functional” than Shinji, though there are limits. Asuka is (bluntly) honest and forthright, but not very open emotionally (this may be why Hikari gets along with her so well, much as Kaworu will with Shinji). This closed-off aggressive reaction is probably why she isn’t “on the train” but puts up a longer fight (especially in the director’s version). She can handle dying, failure (and reduction to “normal”) is far worse (for one, she’s seen the “chosen one” and he’s not very reliable). And asking for help is out of the question (which is why she doesn’t get help like Shinji does, until the movie).
As to the visions.. The whole “Mother mistakes doll for daughter” bit is lifted from the MANGA of Nausicaä, where a failed poisoning of her child left Princess Kushana’s Mother in this state. Those with a long memory of Isekai stories may find this version “familiar” (though that show gave that background to the Rei-Clone).
There was a MAJOR gap between episode 20 (Tape 10) and the last sets, both in Japan and America. By the time this tape hit the market, “Death” had come out (and provides some of the extras). The first US release came soon after, but was the broadcast version. It would be months for the “special cut” to come out stateside. This is likely why the ADV version has one voice for the “5 faces of Asuka” scene. It may have been too much hassle to get the rest of the cast in the booth (since only Tiffany Grant had any new material otherwise).
Then there’s the meta reading. Plenty of Giant Robot shows have sidelined and/or diminished their female love interest/co-character as the show goes on. Eva makes a character arc out of it.
Asuka Functional? From the start is saw her as a hollow person empty and full of hot air. Challenging her superiority led to an attack. She was in NO WAY functional Literally, Literately, and mentally. Her surface was all there was to her Her depths Shallow in contrast to any Eva Character she was called out the very second she appeared as an Inferiority-Superiority complex. Everyone KNEW it in Universe and Meta wise yet nothing was down to reign it in by those with the authority to do so. In fact they encouraged it and at Shinji's Expense, Because lets face it Rei is a brick wall when attacked and Misato doesnt give enough of a shit about it.
@@snintendog You're entitled to your opinion, but you are so wrong (and so shallow in it) that's it's not worth the oxygen.
You did it again - great video!
Sound is fine and satisfying, however I didn't have chance to compare with previous videos, do cannot tell if there's improvement.
Regarding video length and release schedule, you're an author, so you're the boss to decide on it :-)
Thanks for great time and entertainment.
This was a great series, I might not have understood most of the messages it tried to convey as a kid but I understood awkward moments
Fantastic job on this man. I've overanalyzed every scene and motif there is and you do it so concisely. Exactly what I needed in my life. Will now binge watch the rest of these :)
Aww thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed and that these videos are proving insightful and valuable!
the scene that says sex on it has two words "tod sex". Tod is death, like kom susser tod - "come sweet death" it is saying "death sex". I don't know why or if it's a bad translation but that needed pointing out if you didn't say it right after I paused the video or something.
I had a mismanagement of resources during scripting and thought a separate frame saying only "sex" appeared where the "Tod sex" frame does.
According to the Eva forums that's incorrect, and I wanted to show the right frame in the timeline. The "Tod" translation is addressed later in its singular form.
@@timberw0lfstudios Just made it to that part! Thanks for the reply. I was thinking about what further implications those specific words might have in conjunction with the part that you (and I) are not emotionally stable enough to dissect scene by scene. Love the breakdown, as always.
it could also mean to having sex with tod howard
More proof that all conversations eventually lead to discussing intercourse with Tod Howard.
@@timberw0lfstudios You have to be right about that because I have (RECENTLY!) had that conversation before. I said "absolutely not ever, not one time, not with my eyes closed, not if I got paid a lot of money." He looks like he smells like the toe box of a shoe that was heavily worn, put away, worn once more time and then donated to a goodwill run by cats. 🤣