The war against the Angels continues. Shinji and Rei are joined by a third Evangelion and it’s pilot: the red head force of nature that is Asuka Langely Soryu. Asuka is more than willing to destroy the Angels without the help of the scared Shinji and soulless Rei. But there is a reason a third Eva has been sent to Tokyo 3. The Angels are becoming bigger, deadlier and far more than any single opponent can withstand. They may be different, they may not be able to stand each other. But if Shinji, Rei and Asuka want to save the world…they’ll have to work together whether they like it or not.
Evangelion kicked it up a notch in these last few
episodes. Five more episodes in, new
characters are introduced as are new mecha, new Angels and new mysteries. Hell there are even some new developments
with Shinji, well after episode 6 that is.
He is growing more comfortable in the Katsuragi household it seems and even
has gotten to a bit of back talking with Misato, Toji and Kensuke without
sounding like a whiner. He’s still a bit
annoying when it comes to “I don’t want to pilot an Eva anymore” for the
many-ith time, but that’s only one episode out of five so any progress is good
progress.
The biggest draw of this new batch of episodes is the
appearance of the Second Child, Asuka Langley Soryu, who brings not just a
brand new Eva but her own brand of kick ass.
Asuka is almost the exact opposite of Shinji and Rei. She’s not scared to pilot an Eva or content
to just follow orders, she’s ready to rumble and throw herself into the fray to
handle Angels single handedly. She’s
arrogant, confident, and beautiful but also a tad grating with how much she
belittles everyone around her. There are
a couple of hints to some deeper trauma in her past but it’s still too early on
to delve into them since it’s just her intro.
But will any future revelations make her a bit more bearable? Only time will tell.
Shiji does get some great interaction with both of his
fellow pilots. Rei’s calm and silent devil
may care is a stark contrast with Asuka’s bull by the horns attitude and Shinji
must contend with both. Between the two,
he has a better time with Rei, who doesn’t belittle him and is actually a bit
kinder to him than Asuka, though I think it’s kind of obvious Shinji is
slightly attracted to the red head fury (he does try to kiss her while she’s
sleeping in Episode 9 which is hilarious).
Actually Episode 9 is actually one of the best episodes of the series so
far, which features Shinji and Asuka being forced to work together and learn an
elaborate Evangelion Dance Routine (you read that right) to defeat a clone
forming Angel. We see how effective
Asuka and Shinji can be when not at each others throats but we also get a great
scene of Shinji and Rei practicing the routine, no muss no fuss, and doing
amazingly well without the conflict.
Asuka may be the better fighter but Rei seems a nice calm fit for Shinji
right now.
Other spotlights this time fall on Misato, who shows a
bit of an “at all costs” attitude when it comes to defeating the Angels while
also trying not to tear apart her recently appearing Ex, Kaji. Kaji, speaking of which, seems like a very
smooth operator. Able to seduce anyone
from his jilted Ex to her best friend to even catching the eye of the younger
Asuka, he looks like he could be a fun addition with his calm, smart ass
demeanor. He’s also the only character
besides Gendo who seems to have a special agenda in mind that has not started
to rear it’s head fully yet but it is peaking.
The action gets some of the series best moments and more
will come for sure. The arrival of Asuka
allows for some great in your face combat with the Angels, something we really
haven’t seen much of in a couple of episodes.
Eva Unit 02’s Angel Smack downs in Episode 8 and 9 are great examples of
how amazing the action can be when the Eva’s are power cordless and able to
perform some of their most human like movements. Eva Unit 01 gets some good moments with Unit
02 and the nail biting sniper scene in episode 6. But it’s stand against the Jet Alone in
Episode 7 was kind of…eh. And actually
the Jet Alone reminded me of a possible prototype Jaeger from Pacific Rim, even
with a nuclear reactor like Gypsy Danger.
And Del Toro says this show had no influence on Pacific Rim…B**********
Ok, now that ive gotten that out of my system, I’ll wrap
this up. Evangelion stepped it up a
notch with this set of episodes. The
arrival of Asuka will provide a potential new dynamic for the three young
pilots and Gendo’s and Kaji’s secret agendas and the clouded pasts of Asuka and
Misato should keep viewers on the edge of their seats for more. And the best is yet to come.
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