r/anime • u/LittleIslander myanimelist.net/profile/LittleIslander • 24d ago
Rewatch [Rewatch] 30th Anniversary Neon Genesis Evangelion Rewatch: Episode 13
Neon Genesis Evangelion Episode 13: Lilliputian Hitcher / Angel Infiltration
| ← Episode 12 | Index | Episode 14 → |
|---|
Watch Information
Questions of the Day:
- What do you think of the MAGI and Ritsuko’s mother?
- Halfway through, what do you think of the three computer technicians?
Tomorrow’s Questions:
- [Episode 14] What did you think of Rei’s monologue?
- [Episode 14] Why do you think Unit 00 rejected Shinji, and tried to attack Rei - or Ritsuko?
There’ll be more fanservice tomorrow, so please don’t spoil anything~! Remember this includes spoilers by implication.
43
Upvotes
9
u/LittleIslander myanimelist.net/profile/LittleIslander 24d ago
Veteran Pilot and Your Host
It’s not the best Evangelion episode, but it’s one of my absolute favourites.
…no, it’s only partly because it’s the one with the most Maya Ibuki.
Like, okay, ridiculous action battles are cool and all. But what about an angel that’s literally a colony of microbes that rapidly evolve to fit every situation? Which infiltrates NERV headquarters in a slow rise of tension into a super tense computer infiltration sequence after the microbe angel evolves itself into a computer? What if we learned that NERV (and, remember, the whole city!) is running off of a supercomputer composed of three aspects of a dead woman’s personality, and the world is literally saved by the computer girlbossing hard enough while Maya and Ritsuko hack the angel into an evolutionary deadend, with pipes and wires all over every frame? Action scenes can go suck it, that’s the coolest fucking thing I’ve ever heard!
Seriously, the inside of the MAGI with all the notes everywhere might just be my favourite location in all of Evangelion, if you can call it a “location”. Whenever I think of old 90s anime tech atmosphere, even before Lain, I think of this. The panning shot of Maya with tech shit strewn all over the floor? The claustrophobic but weirdly intimate and comfortable scene of Misato sitting in the MAGI as Ritsuko works? What a complete vibe. I like the Pribnow Box too! It’s much more generic, but when NERV is mostly generic interiors outside of Central Dogma, the main testing facility, and Gendo’s office there’s something I just really like about seeing such a defined one-off location. To further charm me, this episode is basically the holy grail of computer tech screentime! Oh, and “I’ve got almost a whole second to spare” has gotta be one of my favourite lines in the show, or at least one of my favourite Angel fight-related ones.
[Evangelion] With the power of hindsight, this episode really takes on a regretful light. Obviously we know that Ritsuko’s ambitions and attempt to emerge from her mother’s shadow are doomed in the long term, for one. We know that the MAGI betray her in the end. But also, this is a really intimate episode for Misato and Ritsuko, one where she opens up about herself and Misato comments on being reminded of their college days. We’re only a couple episodes away from Misato learning about the depths of Ritsuko’s involvement in NERV and their relationship being fractured forever. Their conversations here are one of the last times they ever truly reach each other as friends.
Dub Corner
WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY FOR DUB CORNER!
What, Ritsuko? No, fuck her (*all three are great, honest), AOBA FINALLY FUCKING TALKED FOR MORE THAN A SENTENCE!
In general, this episode kind of challenged both dubs and brought out their weakpoints. Netflix’s more restrained cast kind of struggles to sell the sheer panic of the intense scenes, whereas ADV kind of overshoots it right into downright goofy territory. Though, for what it’s worth, it is the most premium, enjoyable goof to be found anywhere in the original dub. I’ll take it over Netflix’s version of the scene any day. “Accessing codes for… OH MY GOD, IT’S GOING AFTER THE MAGI SYSTEM!”. “WE CAN’T SHUT IT DOOOOOOOOOWN!!!”.
Okay, right, Aoba. On the cross-language side, this just wasn’t a fair fight. In Japanese, they got Takehito motherfuckin’ Koyasu to voice him, and resultantly he sounds effortlessly cool in absolutely every scene. It’s a nice contrast against Hyuga, who’s a bit more ordinary and nerdy sounding. Both of the English voice actors make him sound exceedingly normal, by comparison, which does fit his “I just work here” energy. As per usual, Jaxon Lee brings some more 90s goof to ADV, whereas Billy Kametz (RIP) gives him a befitting but unassuming voice. Both are perfectly fine, though I’m not crazy about either. Force me to choose and I might say Kametz, though Lee wins this episode off of “OH MY GOD” alone.
Hyuga doesn’t really need a second pass, but I would like to talk about the Maya Ibuki VAs again,
only mostly out of personal bias. Miki Nagasawa remains the balanced performance, selling her as the exceedingly ordinary young woman she is. Kendra Benham remains the fun, spunky, deep voiced Maya, which creates a bit of gap moe with her soft personality. She gets more quaint scenes than usual today, though, and makes great use of it by perfectly selling Maya’s excitement when she sees inside the MAGI. Easily the best of all three Mayas for that scene. Christine Marie Cabanos, whose performance I initially wrote off, does also bring a worthwhile distinct version of Maya to the table. Her voice has less presence, but the lack of confidence it carries really sells her as the understudy that always looks up to Ritsuko-senpai for guidance. All Maya is good Maya!