Episode 14: WEAVING A STORY
Episode 15: Those women longed for the touch of others' lips, and thus invited their kisses.
Episode 16: Splitting of the Breast
Episode 17: FOURTH CHILDREN
Episode 18: AMBIVALENCE
Episode 19: INTROJECTION
Episode 20: WEAVING A STORY 2: oral stage
Episode 21: He was aware that he was still a child.
Episode 22: Don't be.
Episode 23: Rei III
Episode 24: The Beginning and the End, or "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
Episode 25: Do you love me? & Episode 26: Take care of yourself.
Story Summary Part I
The first half of this episode is just a recap of the detail of the battles against the 3rd Angel through the 10th Angel. Gendo lies to the committee about the invasion of the 11th Angel into Central Dogma. Seele decides that this information is not crucial, but remind Commander Ikari of who is in charge. Rei goes through a long, confusing speech about her view of the world around her and humanity in general. Nerv tests the ability of Rei and Shinji to operate each other's Evas. Their synchro ratio is a little lower, but it's acceptable. During the experiment Shinji's mind is flooded with images of Rei, this causes Unit00 to go berserk, in almost the exact same way as the time it injured Rei. However, instead of ejecting Shinji, it just head-butts the wall until it runs out of power. Fuyuzuki and Gendo discuss the inability of Seele to do anything about what they plan to do. They also mention the Adam Project and the Lance Longinus for the first time.
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It becomes apparent that Kaji has been spying on Nerv for someone else. Misato has to go to a wedding on Sunday. Asuka gets stuck with a blind date for Sunday. Shinji has to go visit his mother's grave that Sunday also. Shinji asks Rei what his father is like, so he will know for the trip. However, Rei says she doesn't know what he is like either. Shinji is afraid of being alone with his father, but he must face him. Shinji's day doesn't go that badly, but his father leaves before he can say anything to him. Asuka doesn't like her date, so she goes home while he is waiting in a roller coaster line. Misato stays out late, drinking with Kaji. She ends up drinking so much that she throws up and Kaji has to carry her home. During the walk home Misato lets her true feelings for Kaji surface, and they fall in love once again. While sitting at home bored, Asuka decides to kiss Shinji to kill time (although, I think she really likes him and just doesn't want to show it.) Afterwards Asuka rushes into the bathroom to wash out her mouth. When Kaji brings Misato home, Asuka smells Misato's perfume on Kaji, and realizes that they are back together. The next day Misato finds Kaji sneaking around in the depths of Nerv. Before she can do anything, he opens the door to a secret room that Misato had not known about, the door to Adam.
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Shinji's synchro ratio finally surpasses Asuka's. Asuka tries to hide her anger about it, but she doesn't do a very good job. The 12th Angel soon appears directly over Tokyo 3 without any warning. The Evangelions are quickly mobilized, and Shinji takes the lead after Asuka bugs him about his score. However, he gets a little cocky and attacks the Angel before the other Evas are set. The Angel floating in the sky disappears when Shinji fires at it. It reappears as a shadow underneath Shinji and absorbs him. The other two Evas just barely escape the expanding shadow. Shinji is still alive, but he and Eva Unit01 are floating in a void of nothingness called a Dirac Sea. It turns out that the Shadow is the Angels true form and the Sphere in the sky is just its shadow. Shinji is surviving on life-support power only and begins to become distraught as the time passes. Ritsuko decides to drop all of the 992 remaining N2 mines into the Angel in an attempt to destroy it and recover Unit01. When the power of Unit01 begins to run low and the LCL become murky, Shinji begins to hallucinate. Another Shinji appears before him and begins to talk about his life and what he believes. It criticizes him for wanting everyone to like him, and from running away when he is scared. When the power finally runs out Shinji sees an image of his mother coming towards him. Just before Ritsuko orders the release of the N2 mines, the pavement covered by the shadow cracks, spraying blood everywhere. The sphere in the sky begins to crack and bleed as well. Unit01 emerges from the sphere and falls to the ground. It stands there looking more terrifying than it has ever looked before. Shinji awakens in the hospital later, not remembering anything that had happened.
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This episode begins with Misato being interrogated by Seele about Shinji being absorbed by the 12th Angel. They want to know if the Angels are trying to understand man. The question remains unanswered. Soon after the interrogation, Nerv's Second Branch in America, along with Unit04 and the experimental S2 Engine, disappear off the face of the earth. The accident occurred during a test of the S2 Engine. Nerv believes that the Second Branch was most likely absorbed by a Dirac Sea, like Unit01 was. The Nerv First Branch in America is scared so much by the incident that they have their Unit03 transferred to Japan. The Dummy Plug System is explained as an entry plug containing Rei's personality, but not her mind or spirit, because those can't be digitized. Gendo doesn't care as long as Eva moves. Since Unit03 is being transferred they will need a new child to pilot it. Ritsuko is the one who picks the child this time, not the infamous Marduk Institute. Actually it seems the Marduk Institute never existed, it has always been Nerv. Though it isn't directly shown, it is obvious that Touji Suzuhara will be the 4th Child. It also becomes obvious that Hikari has a crush on Touji. During a conversation about the worth of man, Gendo and Fuyuzuki bring up the fact that everything that has happened was foretold in the Dead Sea Scrolls, but incidents not described in them, such as the Unit04 disappearance, will also occur sometimes. The next day Touji is informed of his new position at Nerv. This information manages to spread throughout Nerv to everybody except Shinji. Misato is supposed to tell him, but since she cares about his feelings, she can't seem to find the right time.
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Unit03 is transported to Japan, but during the flight it encounters some problems while flying through some clouds. Misato and Ritsuko leave for the test in Matsushiro. Due to Touji's new "job", his new friendship with Hikari is put on hold. Rei and Asuka are both concerned about the way Shinji will react to the news of Touji becoming a pilot. During the activation of Unit03, it is taken over by the 13th Angel. Unit03 was probably infected with the Angel while flying through the clouds on the way to Japan. The Angel causes an explosion inside of the test facility, the starts to make its way to Nerv. The three Evas are launched to intercept the Angel under the control of Gendo himself. Nerv fails to successfully eject the pilot from the Eva, and it is reclassified as an Angel and will be handled accordingly. The Angel makes quickly disables Asuka. Rei attempts to shoot it in the back, but before she can the Angel quickly responds and disables her as well. Shinji realizes that there is still a child inside the Angel and refuses to attack. The Angel begins to choke the Eva and subsequently Shinji as well. Since Shinji will not fight back Gendo has the Dummy System activated. Unit01, under its new controller, begins to strangle the Angel, eventually snapping its neck. However, it doesn't stop there, it proceeds to rip the Angel apart. Despite Shinji's cries to his father to stop it, Gendo waits until everything, including the entry plug is destroyed. Only when the hardly alive pilot is pulled from the wreckage does Shinji find out that it was Touji.
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Shinji is so angry about the incident with Touji that he must be forcibly removed from the entry plug. Shinji no longer tries to understand his father, he just hates him. When Touji wakes up Hikari is there beside him. Touji has lost both his left arm and left leg. Shinji decides that he no longer wants to pilot Eva and Quits. Misato tells Shinji before he leaves that all his classmates were candidates for the 4th Child, and that it was all set up by Nerv. However, before Shinji can get on a train and leave, the 14th Angel attacks and he is evacuated to a shelter. The Angel is so powerful that it quickly breaks into the Geofront. the Evas couldn't be readied fast enough to intercept on the surface, so they wait for it in the Geofront. Unit01 will no longer activate with Rei or the Dummy Plug piloting it. It is apparently rejecting Gendo himself. Rei instead is launched in Unit00, even though it is missing an arm from the last battle. Asuka assaults the Angel head on, but no matter how hard she tries, she can't damage it. The Angel attacks, slicing off both of Unit02's arms, and then its head. The head lands in the shelter Shinji is staying in, so he is forced to look elsewhere. While he is wandering around, he runs into Kaji. Kaji convinces Shinji that he is the only one who can stop the Angel. rei tries to stop the Angel with an N2 mine. The blast fails to even scratch the Angel. The Angel quickly splits Unit00's head right down the middle, completely disabling it. Seeing this happen, Shinji rushes to Nerv HQ and demands to pilot Unit01. The Angel breaks into Central Dogma, but Shinji and Unit01 are there to confront it. During the fight the Angel blows Unit01's left arm off. Shinji pushes the Angel onto a launch pad, and the are launched to the surface. Shinji almost kills the Angel, but Unit01 runs out of power before he can. The Angel blows the Eva's breast armor off, exposing the core. As the Angel begins to pound on the Core Shinji pleads for the Eva to move. Right before the Angel destroys the Eva, it reactivates itself. Unit01 catches one of the Angels arms and rips it off. It then uses the arm to regenerate its own arm. The Angel tries to attack again, but its arm is knocked right back at it. Shinji's Schync ratio is now reading 400 percent. The Eva proceeds to kill then eat the Angel and its S2 organ. After its finished the Eva breaks out of it restraints.
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Seele is very disturbed by the way Unit01 obtained an S2 organ. They are also beginning to question making Ikari the commander of Nerv. The damage to Nerv and its equipment was so severe that repairs will take quit some time and operations must be shifted to a secondary facility. The ability to use Unit01 becomes a serious question because they question whether they are able to trust it. It turns out that Seele planted Kaji as a spy in Nerv to watch Gendo. However, Kaji failed to inform them of the problems that were occurring. The truth of Shinji's 400% Schync ratio is that he was absorbed into the Eva. Now that having Shinji to pilot Unit01 it is imperative that Shinji must be recovered from the Eva. While the plan is being devised, we take another trip into Shinji's mind. He remembers all the people he knows, then his enemy, the Angels and his father. He wonders why they must fight the Angels. He also thinks he hates his father for deserting him, but realizes he was the one that ran away. He ran away the day he first saw Unit01 when he was a little boy. The retrieval plan was developed quickly, mainly since most of the data was from a previous attempt. Shinji decides that the reason he pilots Eva is so that others will like him. The recovery process starts well, but quickly deteriorates. The Plug opens itself spilling the LCL all over the floor. Shinji, who had become complacent inside the Eva, is only brought back by the cries of Misato and the vision of his mother. After this is over, Misato is quick to run back to Kaji after it is over. This is the love seen that got series into trouble in Japan. You just hear it, while it is focusing on the night stand. After it is over, Kaji gives Misato a gift, which could be the last gift she ever gets from him
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This episode uses the abduction of Commander Fuyuzuki by Kaji to explain the background of Nerv. Fuyuzuki is questioned by the Seele council itself. Fuyuzuki was originally Yui Ikari's teacher. Though Yui was an excellent science student, she didn't want to become a scientist. Yui was instead in love with a man named Gendo Rokubungi. Even in Gendo's youth only a few people liked him. The first time Fuyuzuki met Gendo he though he was a disgusting person, and couldn't understand why Yui liked him. Gendo apparently had other motives than love behind his affection for Yui. Yui eventually became connected with Seele because of her scientific skills. Gendo and Fuyuzuki don't meet again until after the Second Impact in 2002. In that time Gendo married Yui and they had a son, Shinji. Misato Katsuragi was the only the only survivor of the Katsuragi science team in the Antarctic when the Second Impact occurred. The shock of what had happened to her was so overwhelming that she became mute for over 2 years. The truth of the Second Impact actually being an encounter with an Angel was covered up by the story of a meteor impact. Fuyuzuki tried to discover what really caused the Second Impact. He eventually collected enough data to prove the truth and took his findings to Gendo Ikari. To keep him from publishing the information, Gendo took him down to the Geofront to show him the Gehirn facility and their giant, the prototype Eva. Gendo then offered Fuyuzuki a position at Gehirn. Naoko Akagi was a scientist working on the Magi computer system at Gehirn at this time. Her daughter, Ritsuko, became good friends with a now very talkative Misato. Yui later disappeared in an experiment involving Unit01, while Shinji was watching. Her body was never found. This tragedy causes Gendo to begin work on the Human Instrumentality Project. Gendo soon introduced a new child, Rei Ayanami, to Gehirn. Rei had a striking resemblance to Yui. Rei gets lost and bumps into Naoko who had finally finished the Magi. When Naoko offered to help her, Rei wouldn't accept help from a "hag" like her. She called her a hag because that is what Gendo called her now that she was useless. In a fit of anger, Naoko strangles the little girl. After realizing what she had done, she kills herself. After this incident, Gehirn is dissolved and Nerv is created, with Gendo at the head. This ends the interrogation and Fuyuzuki is released. While meeting someone later, Kaji is shot and killed. (Most probably by Misato) When Misato gets home, she listens to Kaji's last message to her. He knew he was going to die.
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This episode begins with a retelling of Asuka's mother's death. She lost touch with reality due to overworking and thought a doll was her daughter. She eventually destroys the doll and hangs herself. In the present, Asuka's sync ratio is dropping to a borderline point. Repairs are finished on Units 00 and 02; Unit 01 is kept in cryo-stasis. Construction of Eva's 05-13 has begun all over the world in preparation for something big. Resentment has built in Shinji's home to the point of silent games and arguments. Asuka's problem is that she is trying to control the Eva, rather than syncing with it, kind of like controlling a doll and not a creature. An Angel soon appears in orbit near the moon. Nerv decides to try a long-range assault on the Angel. Asuka decides to take the point, but if she fails she will no longer be a pilot. Before she can get lock the Angel attacks with a mental assault that penetrates into Asuka's mind. The Angels AT-Field deflects Rei's riffle attack, while the Angel begins to read Asuka's memories. It learns how her mom died and why she acts the way she does. Rei is sent to retrieve the Lance of Longinus. This order from Gendo proves that contact between Adam and Eva will not cause the 3rd-Impact. The lance is thrown like a laser from Unit00, hitting and annihilating the Angel, but leaving the Lance floating in orbit. Asuka narrowly escapes the attack with her life, but her mental condition is now very questionable.
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Misato is listening to Kaji's last message, and this reminds her of the information he has given her in the capsule. Asuka is now staying at Hikari's house and not being social at all. She seems to think she is now useless. The council is questioning Gendo on his use of the Lance, but another Angel approaching cuts the meeting short. Unit00 is sent to intercept and Unit02 is on backup. The Angel appears as a glowing ring, but is able to change its shape. It attacks as a beam and attaches to Unit00. Unit00 is unable to fend off the assault as the Angel begins to contaminate it and it's pilot. Asuka is unable to make Unit02 move, so it is useless as a decoy. The Angel begins to invade Rei's mind. This time the Angel isn't just reading memories, its communicating with Rei as well. It shares the feeling of loneliness, which it describes as pain. It explains that humans don't want to be alone, but by nature, usually are alone. Eva Unit01 is launched to help Rei, but the Angel just tries to connect to it too. To protect Shinji Rei uses Unit00's self-destruct to destroy the Angel. Unit00's entry plug is recovered, but its contents are classified and destroyed. Seele decides that Gendo is no longer trustworthy, so they begin initiating their own plans. Rei is somehow alive and only injured. She seems to have no memory of recent events, but refers to herself as the "3rd one." Ritsuko is sent to the council instead of Rei for a deposition. Ritsuko doesn't like the fact that Gendo chose Rei over her. Ritsuko tells Shinji to meet her deep inside Nerv, but they meet Misato there as well. Ritsuko shows them Rei's birthplace deep inside Nerv, along with a graveyard of failed Eva experiments. She also shows them the core of the dummy plug system, which are clones of Rei. She explains that the Eva's are derived from Adam, but each contains a human soul. She then decides to destroy all of the clones as an act of revenge against Rei.
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This episode starts again with Asuka remembering the death of her mother. She has had a complete mental breakdown. She disappeared for a week, and was conveniently found on the day the 5th Child arrived. Shinji is haunted with images of the Rei clones. He is depressed because all of his friends have left the destroyed city and he can no longer face the two girls that remain. Shinji then meets Kaoru Nagisa, the 5th Child. The only thing known about him is that he was born on the same day that the 2nd-Impact occurred, and that he was sent to Nerv from Seele directly. Kaoru seems to have the ability to sync at any ratio he wants to with Eva Unit02, even before it's core is reconfigured. Shinji bumps into Kaoru at Nerv and they become friends and hang out for the rest of the day. During the day Kaoru tells Shinji that he loves him. Rei is still pondering her own existence, and also wonders why Kaoru said that she was the same as him. Misato asks Ritsuko about Kaoru; Ritsuko tells her that he is probably the final Angel. Meanwhile, Kaoru commandeers Unit02, without using an entry plug, and proceeds to descend down Central Dogma. Shinji is launched in Unit01 to stop him. Enraged with the thought that Kaoru had betrayed him, Shinji chases after him. Kaoru uses Unit02 and his own AT-Field. Kaoru refers to the AT-Field as the light of the soul, which must never be penetrated and that every living being possesses, not just Angels. Occupied with Unit02, Shinji is unable to stop Kaoru from reaching Heaven's Door. When Kaoru enters Terminal Dogma he realizes that they have Lillith, not Adam, and that Lillith is trying to help man. He decides that man should survive and not him, since they cannot coexist. Kaoru leaves it to Shinji to kill him. After 60 seconds of waiting Shinji finally kills him by crushing him in Eva's grip. Shinji is now distraught over the death of Kaoru. He is sad because he had to kill the first person ever that said he loved Shinji, and that he thought Kaoru deserved to live more than him because of that kindness. Misato tries to tell him that he didn't deserve to live because he decided that he wanted to die.
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Alright, guess its time I finally put my interpretations of these 2 episodes up. I believe that this is the first completion of human instrumentality (the second version was in the movie) In which it explores the minds of each main character. It begins with a questioning of their acts... why do they do what they do? In each case what they beleive causes them to act is not actually the reason. They each blame others or other things for there actions, when in fact its there own thoughts and desires which direct their actions. After this is displayed it begins its next phase. What caused them to desire what they do? In each case it was loneliness in youth and the continued loneliness that exists in them now. This is illustrated by viewing the versions of themselves as they exist in the others minds, in other words, they look at how others view them. Each of the characters was neglected as children, either by abandonment, death or suicide, they were all left alone. This loss is what drives there desires at present. They all are destructive within and this need for destruction has shaped their reality. Basically whatever reality they most deeply wish for is the one that exists to them. From here it moves to fear. What do we all fear? Humanity fears loneliness and cannot survive without the company of others. We each lack something inside us that cannot be filled, only negated by the company of others. At this point it begins to combine everything that it has questioned so far. Now we begin to focus on Shinji alone. Shinji fears being alone, and fears not having worth. He pilots eva because thats what gives his existance meaning, but if thats all that he means he will cease to be if the eva's usefullness ends. He depends on others because they fill his void, he needs them and their help. This is also his weakness. If he were to have his own reality in which there were no boundries he would be lost, but as things begin to be defined around him (such as having a floor to walk on) he loses some off his freedom. This is ok for him though because it is less to worry about. Now if you have your own world you can view it from any perspective you wish, so that truth is only the truth as you see it and is not absolute. But inside this reality he begins to lose who he really is. This is because his being is defined by those around him, and though he is the only one that can truly know himself, that knowlege is based off the views of those around him. Now they begin to meld this reality with his. This is achieved with a small scene in which they are all just normal school kids without the fear of Angel attacks. The point is that this could easily be his reality if he just chose it, if he viewed the world from that perspective thats how it would be. So he controls the reality in which he lives and can shape it to his perspective, but when you shape that perspective that is the only view you may have on the world. After this is explained Shinji begins to understand that he is in control of his own destiny and nobody else can effect or change that. At the moment he realizes this the world is changed and all those that know him are surrounding him, congragulating him.
Here's what I originally had posted:
Unfortunately, the director had some problems with his producers and the project was cut down to only 26 episodes. So Anno (the director) tried to condense everything he wanted to tell his audience in 2 episodes. This led to 2 episodes that make practically no sense. While attempting to analyze all the main characters he tries to complete the Human Instrumentality Project, jumping from character to character the whole time. These 2 episodes upset many fans because they fail to finish the story, and really have very little to do with the main story at all. With the release of the 2 movies these episodes become useless because the Rebirth movie picks up immediately after the 24th episode. The only redeeming value of the 2 episodes is a very comical scene in episode 26 when Shinji sees what another reality could be. Sorry if this summary is no help, but if you've seen these 2 episodes and you can understand them please email me with your opinion. I love hearing interpretations of these episodes, everyone has one and almost everyone is different. ^_^
Thanks for all the email's, I enjoyed them all, and as I said before they are almost all different ^_^
There were a lot of questions about the movies, so if I have time I'll be putting that up at a later date. Again, thanks for reading my page, its nice to know I didn't spend all this time for nothing ^_^
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