Mecha March

EVERYDAY EVA Episode 1: Angel Attacketh | Mecha March

Posted by

3

Welcome to EVERYDAY EVA, the blog series where I aim to cover one episode of Evangelion every single day for Mecha March 2022!

A new series of posts to celebrate my love of Evangelion begins!

When I rewatch NGE Episode 1, “Angel Attack,” I can’t help but think about how solid of a groundwork it lays for the entire series. Scratch that—the entire franchise. The abundant electric poles, lush mountains, and gray machinery of NERV contribute to the Tokyo-3 in my mind. It’s not the largest city, but it’s plenty big enough to stage the location of where most of the series’ action will take place. And there’s a lot of action to come.

First though, the Angel attacks. Misato being more concerned about her wrecked car and ruined dress is peak character introduction for a woman who just barely survived a military bomb explosion. I love how she’s lost trying to navigate through NERV Headquarters despite using a map. According to the guidebook that comes with GKIDS’ Ultimate Edition Blu-ray (which I will simply reference from here on as the production notes), Misato has only marked the locations the two restrooms she uses most frequently! Also, Gendo’s assurance against the JSDF that “This is what NERV is for, gentlemen,” is such an iconic line.

The tension in Shinji’s debate about getting in the Eva, though often trivialized and memed to all hell, is actually quite gripping. Immediately, we see how Shinji is a character who acts based on feelings and the way others perceive him, not logic. He won’t do anything unless he knows he’s good at, and since he’s never before piloted the Eva, he fears failure along with abandonment (from his childhood). From this moment, Misato seeds the notion he mustn’t run away in her words (leaving him to spend the rest of the series grappling with why), and to everyone else, Shinji becomes but a means to an end, that end being their survival.

But those are some cursory thoughts on Episode 1: “Angel Attack.” I’ll be back tomorrow for more #MechaMarch content and another episode of Evangelion. ‘Til then, thanks for reading!

– Takuto

A Whole Month of Evangelion! EVERYDAY EVA & Mecha March Announcement

Posted by

4

Hey guys!

I’m so excited to announce that I will be joining Scott (Mechanical Anime Reviews), Lita (LitaKino Anime Corner), and many other anibloggers in this year’s “Mecha March” festivities! Having been following this annual celebration since its conception several years back, I’ve been dying to participate myself as a blogger. In the past, I’d normally do my own personal mecha adventure in February (long story—it’s somewhere on the blog), but this year I decided not to marathon anything to focus on school instead.

Which is why this year I’d like to make amends for my lack of writing about anime by blogging every single day for an entire month. And the topic, of course, is the only thing I could possibly have the energy to talk senselessly yet passionately about for thirty days straight—Evangelion!

Starting tomorrow, March 1, I will be uploading daily posts covering every single episode of the original Neon Genesis Evangelion (and maybe the Rebuild, we’ll see). My reasons for writing are threefold. For one, it’s Mecha March, WOOT! Two, I’ll be watching Eva in high-def Blu-ray quality for the first time ever thanks to GKIDS’ ultra boujee Ultimate Edition set. And Third, I’ll be celebrating the FIRST ANNIVERSARY of Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, which was released in Japanese theaters on March 8, 2021.

I’ll set the precedent here that my participation in this project is mostly to help get me back into the blogging spirit. So, while you shouldn’t expect super high quality analysis posts and thorough episode reviews, you CAN look forward to short reflection posts containing personal anecdotes, production notes, and other random thoughts I have for each episode. It should be mostly relaxing and fun for the both of us. 🙂

If you are looking forward to this month-long series of posts on Eva or are also writing for Mecha March, let me know in the comments! Again, I’m looking forward to getting back into the blogging groove while talking about why I love this notorious yet classic mecha anime!

– Takuto