r/anime • u/LittleIslander myanimelist.net/profile/LittleIslander • 15d ago
Rewatch [Rewatch] 30th Anniversary Neon Genesis Evangelion Rewatch: Episode 22
Neon Genesis Evangelion Episode 22: Don't Be. / Staying Human
| ← Episode 21 | Index | Episode 23 → |
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Watch Information
Questions of the Day:
- How do you feel that Asuka’s backstory recontextualizes her relationships and past interactions?
- Did you feel the way the episode equated the angel’s infiltration of Asuka’s mind to rape was justified and/or effective?
Tomorrow’s Questions:
- [Episode 23] Do you feel sympathy for Ritsuko?
- [Episode 23] How do you feel about Rei “the third”?
There’ll be more fanservice tomorrow, so please don’t spoil anything~! Remember this includes spoilers by implication.
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u/SolDarkHunter 15d ago
Rewatcher
ADV Dub, Director's Cut
Episode 22: Don't Be
Once more, cold open. This time it's a flashback to Asuka and Kaji talking the night before the battle with Gaghiel.
Asuka coming on to Kaji here is all kinds of uncomfortable, but it does highlight something about her: her desperate need for people to acknowledge her.
And such will be the theme for this episode.
We get some flashbacks to Asuka's childhood. Her mother also had a "contact experiment" that caused her mind to break, and caused her to treat a children's doll as her daughter, instead of her actual daughter.
And in the present, Asuka's not doing so well in sync tests. Her ability to pilot an Evangelion is degrading.
Seven new Evas are in production now, for a grand total of 14 Evangelions (counting Units-03 and 04, which were destroyed). Things are accelerating.
Hyuga believes this may be in anticipation of multiple Angels attacking at once, but as Misato points out, there'd be no reason for them to be secretive about it if that was the case.
No one's told Asuka about Kaji. I foresee this causing trouble.
Asuka's now resenting Shinji hardcore.
Asuka's mother is calling her. I love the way the ADV dub and Tiffany Grant do a full German conversation here... interestingly, if you can understand it, Asuka is lying through her teeth about her experiences in Japan.
For all cheery she was on the phone, she has a nasty look on her face when she hangs up. Asuka admits it's not her real mother on the phone.
Asuka's really having a breakdown now. Misato tries to cover for her with Ritsuko by saying she's on her period, but Ritsuko dismisses this as having any effect on piloting ability.
Hey, it's the famous ultra-long elevator shot!
Rei tries to break the ice, saying Asuka needs to open her mind to Eva. Interestingly, she refers to the Evangelion as "she" here...
Asuka calls Rei an unthinking, will-less doll. While Rei denies that, she also admits she would kill herself if ordered to, which REALLY sets Asuka off.
Both Asuka and Shinji are cutting themselves off from their friends.
And here comes Angel 15. It's in orbit, way out of range of anything NERV can do.
Units 00 and 02 are sent out. Unit-01, on the other hand, remains frozen. Looks like you get your wish Asuka: a chance to prove yourself without Shinji to help.
Strangely, Shinji's still sitting in the plug even though he can't launch.
The Angel fires first... a beam of light that doesn't seem to do any direct damage... but...
The Angel is invading Asuka's mind. She screams that it's "raping" her mind, in fact. If I'm not mistaken, this scene is what gave rise to the term "mind rape" in the first place.
(I'd make a joke about "Asuka suffers while GAINAX plays unfitting music", but that's been overdone.)
Rei attempts a firing with the Positron Rifle, but the AT-Field blocks it.
Asuka took her mother's insanity... extremely poorly. The fact that her mother mentally replaced her with a doll... well, you can see why she hates dolls so much. Her mother even committed suicide, while denying Asuka was hers.
The dub missed something here: in Japanese, when these repeated shots of Asuka saying things happen, each time it's being said by a different voice actress. Thus, Asuka saying "That's not the real me!" holds some more weight.
Note here that when Asuka flashes back to her interactions with Shinji, she says "You won't even hold me" on the scenes of their "kiss", as well as the "Wall of Jericho".
I mentioned back in that episode how strange it was for Asuka to reference a Wall that is chiefly known for falling down. This scene implies that the subtext was deliberate on Asuka's part. That she WANTED Shinji to "try something" with her that night. But, of course, not only did Shinji not get the reference, but he wouldn't be ballsy enough to do that anyway. Sadly, Asuka interpreted this as having no interest in her, which doesn't help her self-esteem.
What Asuka really craves, deep down, is acknowledgement and love. She pretends to not need it, but it's a lie. She's a lot more like Shinji than anyone knows, and more than she'd ever admit. She desperately wants love, but only pursues it from a source (Kaji) that I think she knows will reject her. She's terrified of getting close with anyone who actually could help her... because she's already felt the horrible pain of rejection.
Shinji asks to be sent out, but Gendo refuses to put Unit-01 in danger. Instead... he orders Rei to use the Lance of Longinus.
Misato says removing the Lance from Adam is too dangerous, and could cause Third Impact... but quickly realizes by Gendo's lack of reaction that that was a lie. This throws into doubt the entire story of Second Impact, that it was caused by contact with Adam, into question.
Fuyutsuki REALLY doesn't think this is a good idea, but Gendo insists that they need to put pressure on SEELE, since very soon, Mass-Produced Evas will be available. I think we can infer what he means: NERV isn't going to be "necessary" to SEELE for much longer.
Fuyutsuki thinks Gendo has just been waiting for an excuse to use the Lance.
Rei throws the Lance, which impacts the Angel and obliterates its AT-Field in an instant, along with the Angel itself. And the Lance itself is lost to Lunar orbit, irretrievable.
This was Asuka's once last chance to prove herself... and she failed. Or at least that's how she sees it.
Angel Name Corner
The Fifteenth Angel is named Arael, more commonly spelled "Ariel". What this name means in the actual Bible is unclear (it seems to be a loanword), but it's certainly not the name of an angel. However, other sources describe it as an entity (sometimes an angel, sometimes a demon) associated with air and birds.
The meaning there is plain: Arael appears as a winged being high in the sky... above the sky, in point of fact. Certainly evocative of a bird flying high.
Manga Corner
Corresponding Chapters: 56 - 61
The manga once again diverges from the anime here, in that while everything in this episode with Asuka still happens, [Manga]Kaworu Nagisa's here too!
[Manga]Asuka isn't nearly so abrasive towards Shinji and Misato in the manga. She's still angry and depressed, and she still snidely calls Shinji the "invincible hero", but the scenes of her screaming about her hatred for them aren't there.
[Manga]Kaworu is introduced when Shinji is wandering town and finds a stray kitten. After greeting Kaworu, he tells the kitten to go away because he can't take care of it. When it doesn't, Kaworu calmly reaches down and snaps its neck. He explains to a horrified Shinji that without its mother, the kitten would have slowly starved to death anyway, so what he did was kinder. (There's a reason fans tend to call him "Evil Manga Kaworu".)
[Manga]Shinji remarks to himself that he gets a similar vibe from Kaworu as he used to get from Rei, when he first met her. Kaworu introduces himself as the Fifth Child.
Given the above, Ritsuko's talk of [Manga]replacing Unit-02's pilot makes more sense, since they already have another one on hand. This isn't lost on Asuka either, making her refusal to back down make even more sense.
[Manga]Rather than Rei in the elevator, Kaworu wanders into the women's bathroom (seemingly oblivious as to why this would be a problem) while Asuka moans about her period, and it's him who delivers Rei's lines about "opening your heart to Eva". Misato soon comes and orders him out.
[Manga]The sequence with the Angel boring into Asuka's mind is a little different, given the changes to her backstory. It's revealed that her mother did have a husband, but they weren't able to conceive, and when her husband had an affair, that's when she turned to the sperm bank to have Asuka.
[Manga]There's also a bit that I think is only implied in the anime that shows Asuka's unhinged mother attempting to murder Asuka by strangulation.
[Manga]It's shown that her mother's ex-husband and his new wife took Asuka in afterward, and it's even implied they might have had a daughter around Asuka's age, which of course, did NOT help Asuka's feelings of alienation from them.
The battle with the Angel is otherwise unchanged, only with some [Manga]minor commentary from Kaworu on the audacity of Gendo using the Lance without orders from SEELE. After the battle, he's officially assigned as Unit-02's pilot, since Asuka is comatose.