Final Impact-A Evangelion Gundam Anime Corner Special (Part 1)

Earlier in 2021, after years of delays, the final chapter of the Rebuild of Evangelion Saga: Evangelion 3.0+1.0-Thrice Upon a Time, arrived and acted as the final word on one of the greatest Anime sagas of all time.  Not that I was ever planning this to coincide with its streaming debut a few weeks back, no this was something I’d been thinking about ever since I started gathering the Neon Genesis Evangelion Manga Omnibus Collection.  Originally conceived to be released alongside the Evangelion Anime that ran from 1995-1996, the Manga, written by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, saw several setbacks and delays and never completed its run until 2014, seventeen years after the Anime’s true conclusion in The End of Evangelion (Guess the Manga and Rebuild have a lot in common).  Now that I have it all, I wanna do with Evangelion what I did with Gundam Wing in 2020. 

Today, Dear Readers, begins a bonus Friday event alongside First Impression Fridays: Final Impact-A Evangelion Gundam Anime Corner Special…Final Impact for short.  Much like my 2020 Gundam Wing Special, From Losers to Glory, each of the next 14 weeks will cover one volume of the Manga and examine what events it covers from the Anime and how both versions differ from one another.  This will include comparisons to both the TV Series and The End of Evangelion, as the Manga is able to tell in full the originally intended ending that became The End of Evangelion.  So whadya say?  Wanna see if the Manga improves or does a disservice to one of Anime’s most prestigious titles?  The journey begins here, get in the Robot Dear Readers.

Volume 1 (Episodes 1-2)

In the Anime:

The year is 2015 AD.  Fifteen years after a cataclysmic event known as Second Impact wiped out half of the Human Race, what’s left braces for the coming of the harbingers that will finish the job: The Angels.  Shinji Ikari arrives in the mega city of Tokyo-3 just as the Third Angel, Sachiel, attacks.  He’s saved by Captain Misato Katsuragi and brought to the headquarters of NERV: a UN sanctioned task force dedicated to battling the Angels.  Shinji is then reunited with his father and NERV’s Commander, Gendo Ikari, and introduced to the giant battle mecha, Evangelion Unit 01.  After some hesitation, Shinji agrees to pilot the Eva and battle Sachiel.  The Angel mercilessly beats Shinji until he blacks out.  Suddenly, his Eva goes berserk and effortlessly tears through Sachiel until it blows itself up in a vain attempt to destroy the Eva.  Shinji survives the ordeal and accepts an offer to live with Misato.

In the Manga:

·        During Shinji’s first arrival in Tokyo-3, he does not see a quick image of Rei.

·        Evangelion Unit 01 is sortied to battle the Third Angel when it first arrives in the city, piloted by Rei.  It is quickly recalled before the N2 Mine is used in an attempt to destroy the Angel.

·        Evangelion Unit 01 does not suddenly cover Shinji when he rushes to protect Rei from falling debris, during that entire sequence it remains inactive.

·        When Eva 01 is disabled by the Third Angel, Shinji has a vision of a woman he perceives to be his Mother.  The vision then becomes the Eva under the armor, causing Shinji to freak out, triggering Eva 01’s berserker mode.

·        The Eva 01/Third Angel Battle is shown in its entirety, rather than split up like in the first two episodes of the Anime.

·        Shinji continues to have nightmares of the monster he saw in Eva 01 while he recovers.

·        Shinji and Misato have more levity in their shared dialogue, as seen when Misato glares at Shinji for backtalking and drags him out of the hospital to come live with her when he refuses to stay with his father.  Shinji is also more of a smart ass with his replies than he is cowardly.

So it looks as if, unlike Evangelion 1.0-You Are (Not) Alone, we’ve got more immediate changes rather than waiting til the end of the first few episodes.  Shinji and Rei both bear the bulk of the differences with Shinji acting a bit more of a smart ass than timid and withdrawn.  He showed some of this sass in the Anime but not nearly as much as we see in this opening act.  If anything it makes Shinji feel more in line with his spiritual successor, Ayato Kamina, from Rahxephon.  One of the best parts of Eva’s Rebuild Series was seeing Shinji grow emotionally and develop more of a backbone as time went on.  See as how he has a little bit of one now, I think that’s a good sign of things to come.  We also see a bit more from Rei, seeing her sortie in Eva Unit 01.  To my recollection, this was next to impossible in the Anime…you know due to Unit 01 possessing the soul of the woman Rei is cloned from.  Even though Gendo pushed this a few times in the Anime, it looks like his demands wouldntve worked out since Rei doesn’t really do much against Sachiel before the Angel gets hit with an N2 mine.  Everything else plays out just as it did in the Anime, which is fine because the very beginning of Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the best in the genre and a bonefied classic for a reason.  So all in all not quite a soft opening but the beginning of the Evangelion Manga isn’t starting off the story quite as I remember it. 

 
We’ve hit the ground running as fast as Eva Unit 01 charging an Angel and this is just the beginning.  One Volume down, Thirteen to go.  Final Impact is on people, welcome to the Neon Genesis and I’ll just see you guys Next Friday for more and stop trying to sound clever.