It sucks running into your boss on the train. But what really sucks is then learning you’re part of the deep state and the government and democracy are fake when you just wanted to read your paper. And, is there a long lost unrecognizable “olde English” dub of Eva (no). We find more opportunity to talk about Anno and our own, love of power lines and the small town nostalgia they speak to. Steph starts to see the humor in Asuka repeatedly destroying Shinjis self esteem via a Peanuts metaphor. Then we explore why old men might put their feet in water buckets at the office. Josh takes an aside to appreciate getting sound designs in space right and gives the lore on the founding of Gainax and what it had to do with Electric Light Orchestra. And finally Shinji lands on a reason to live… and it ain’t necessarily a good one.
Unit 09 and 10 - “Both of you dance like you want to win!” and "Magma Diver"
These child soldiers’ hormones are heating up. Both figuratively and literally and Asuka hates that they make her Eva look fat. Steph gets a tickle out of that and maybe is starting to come around on her. We also discuss one of the most beautiful :62 committed to animation and all the hijinx that get us there.
Unit 07 and 08 - "A Human Work" and "Asuka Strikes!"
Time to get into the Tree of Sephirot and Eva’s ties to the Kabbalah. LETS GO. But not too much… No Spoilers. Meanwhile, we find more similarities between the fumbling patriarchal political infrastructure of Eva and our own; everyone is playing Dr. Strangelove and as usual, Boomers are getting in the way of a strong woman saving the day.
And then a fan favorite arrives to drive Steph insane and make the show’s cast of teen boys horny: Asuka has landed ya’ll. Toji commits a felony and we all cringe. We meet Kaji who indulges the kids in even more inappropriate banter.
Unit 05 and 06 - "Rei I" and "Rei II"
It’s Rei Day. Today was a good Rei. Is this anything? Alright… here we go. Time to reckon with the elephant in the room: The Pedo Vibes between Rei Ayanami and Gendho Ikari. Those of you who have seen the series likely agree with Josh - “That’s not what’s going on here… Just hang on.” But you wouldn’t be wrong for agreeing with Steph either - “But it’s still coded as Pedo.” As always, if you are a full grown adult with a crush on the underage characters of this show please seek therapy and stay away from schools.
K. Thanks. Bye.
PS - We found someone who did the math on Project Yashima.
Unit 03 and 04 - "A Transfer" and "Hedgehog's Dillema"
The child soldiers in robot train is officially rolling and as any previous fans know, there’s plenty more questions than answers still. Why is this post apocalyptic city underdeveloped in every regard except for giant fighting robot delivery infrastructure? Meanwhile Shinji runs away and gets on his Travis Bikle vibe because he’s too much of a hormone monster to realize that even though he’s forced to engage in horrific battles beyond belief, at least he’s got some friends!
Unit 01 and 02 - "Angel Attack" and "The Beast"
Welcome to the world of Evangelion AKA The Children’s Crusade. Now that we’re off and running on our series viewing we’ll get to hear Steph’s first impressions of her inaugural anime experience.
Unit 00 - Anno, Otaku, and You
Anyone completely new to Evangelion, anime, or Japanese media in general should maybe start here. Actually, every listener should start here. This episode sets up a lot of the point of view we’ll be bringing to this series as more interested in thematic, cultural, and symbolic analysts and less “keepers of the lore.”
Josh sets up the importance of understanding broad strokes of Japanese cultural history going back to World War 2 as a supplement for watching Eva and understanding the Otaku factor that influences Anna and anime in this era. And for the less nerdy among you, an explanation of what the hell “Otaku” is.