It's one of the most easily recognizable images of anime on the internet. You may have seen it before without knowing who it was, or even what anime it comes from. A man, sitting at a desk, his hand's steepled over his mouth, glasses glaring against some artificial light, leaving us with only two stark white ovals where his eyes would be. This image of Gendo Ikari, father to Neon Genesis Evangelion's protagonist Shinji Ikari, presents him as an imposing, calculating, and stoic figure. He always has a plan and he's always in control. Turns out, that is all a front to a man who's low emotional intelligence constantly puts the people around him in grave danger, and all for a plan that he and he alone knows the true ramifications to. We discuss Gendo, the true nature of the Eva Units, and more on this extra long episode of Waypoints. You can listen and read an excerpt below:
Hey all, this is just a heads up for: in Episode 22 of Neon Genesis Evangelion, called âStaying Humanâ on Netflix, the English subtitles on Netflix use the word âr*peâ. This is not in the English dub, or the original Japanese, just the English subtitles. (Itâs a pretty questionable translation of the text.) Putting this out there for people who need to know.
You guys are probably going to get a few replies to this affect, and itâs been a while since Iâve studied any of this so my memory is very hazy, but Danielle hit the nail on the head when she said a Dirac sea is kind of a conceptual way of dealing with the consequence of mathematics.
The Dirac equation, which is a quantum field theory model of `matterâ particles like electrons, admits solutions with both positive and negative energies. This conflicts fundamentally with the âprinciple of least energyâ in physics; if thereâs an infinite sea of negative energy values, then particles would want to lose energy and decay away into these negative energy states (also releasing an infinite amount of energy as radiation as they did so, would be a problem.)
Diracâs solution to this is a conceptual one; the negative energy levels must all be occupied. Matter particles have an interesting property that no two can have exactly the same âstateâ (i.e. energy, momentum, and other properties) at any given time. (This is the âPauli Exclusion Principleâ) If all the negative energy levels are full, then its impossible for particles to lose energy and drop into a negative state, and the paradox is resolved. Dirac further stated this âseaâ of fully occupied negative energy levels is basically just âthe vacuumâ, regular empty space as we observe it in the absence of any matter.
I guess when Eva evokes the Dirac sea it basically wants to suggest that some localised hole in it has opened up and just swallowd up all the regular matter particles into its low-energy states.
Edit: Further cool things: this also explains the phenomenon of âpair-creationâ, the fact that sometimes a pair of anti-matter/matter particles can be created from a very energetic photon. In the Dirac Sea model, the photon was absorbed by one of the negative energy particles, which was then âexcitedâ up to a positive energy level. We observe the resulting âholeâ in the dirac sea as an antiparticle.
Edit 2: Just a note, the Pauli Exclusion Principle might sound arbitrary but itâs very important. Again, the least energy principle might suggest that everything would want to occupy the lowest energy level possible. But the PEP basically rules this out and explains why we observe any kind of structure in matter at all.
I have no idea what the imaginary number space is supposed to be though??
I really liked Robâs analysis of Gendo as an Agamemnon-like figure who relishes in irredeemable actions he takes. I recall Gendo smiling as he activates the dummy plug being where I made my only note for all of Episode 18: âGendo loves this shit.â
Dude is literally just a petulant child. Heâs those kids laughing at Shinji on the bus but with a stoic mask. I think because of this my reading of the Command staff trying to calm Shinji after Episode 18 is a little more sympathetic than Austinâs. For me it was less âBut Mr. Gendo said!â and more âShinji you need to calm the fuck down because youâre not having a tantrum. Your anger is justified. Gendo is having a tantrum and he will take it out on you.â It was the only reading I could have after the shots of literally everyone except Gendo completely horrified at what theyâve just seen. I dont think it was even the correct response, I just found it hard to read as them more explicitly siding with Gendo
Is anyone here reading Sadamotoâs manga adaptation of NGE? The one that debuted before the anime but didnât finish publishing until 20 years later? I think itâs an interesting companion piece in that it presents a different vision of how Eva could be if Shinji were just a smidge better socially adjusted with the rest of the cast.
Apparently it goes off the rails of the anime toward the end? The changes arenât mind boggling at this pointâan extra slice of life scene here, some deeper character backstory thereâbut I find it adds texture and slows down the breakneck pace that the anime gets wrapped up in, particularly in this set of episodes. Kaji is less shitty in this version?? And so is Asuka??? The manga sells the relationship between Shinji and Kaji much better and gives him reason to look up to him as a mentor figure. The biggest change thus far from the anime is that Toji dies instead of surviving by a hair. Also Shinji is contrived to be present when Kaji reveals the giant Angel hidden under Nerv to Misato. I imagine this will have Ramifications.
For those who want to follow along, Vol1-3 correspond to the first pod, Vol4-5 are second pod, and Vol6-7 are pod three.
4 + hours ! Thanks for this , had a long painting job today and the time flew by.
I can not stop thinking about the connection between Caddyshack and NGE, the train of thought that leftthe station in the last thread just kept going.
Warning spoilers for NGE and a suggestive screencap from Caddyshack.
Its all very dumb and i couldnt think of a Ritsuko equivalent, but I really like the image of Misato and chevy chase looking cool in a car.
Man Iâve really loved this rewatch series so far. So much so that this is my first post (hi!)
I got into EVA a couple years ago on my friendâs insistence and we marathoned it over a couple of days. I think the ideal way to watch this show is to go in as blind as possible and have someone to go WTF? to. Itâs kind of a cliche at this point but there was nothing Iâd ever seen like it before. Itâs a show thatâs stuck with me the most out of almost anything since then, flaws and all and I adore hearing first timers thoughts and reactions. This is my third time watching it (I followed the rewatch last year on reddit) and Iâm still noticing new details and foreshadowing in throwaway lines and those super quick cuts.
One thing I do want to push back on is the crewâs assessment of that short little scene with Kaji and Shinji in the garden in ep 17. Theyâve (rightfully) had it up to here with Kajiâs bullshit at this point and mock his attempt to reach out to Shinji. To me though this scene is the first time I can think of that anyone has talked to Shinji or befriended him, just to be nice, no ulterior motive. Every relationship Shinji has is varying degrees of transactional. Gendo clearly could give a fuck about his sonâs well-being. Misatoâs âgotta keep this kid on the level so the robot keeps workingâ is unofficially part of her job. Even Kennsuke is constantly mining him for details on NERV and access to Misato.
Shinji is (rightfully) skeptical when Kaji asks him to get tea. Shinjiâs not a girl to hit on, what could Kaji possibly get out of this? Nothing. I think Kaji is genuinely reaching out here.
They didnât even mention it but when Kaji asks âis there anything you do like?â and Shinji says nothing its heartbreaking. Shinji doesnât even bother to front with something clearly made up. If Misato had asked him the same thing he probably would have felt compelled to lie to spare her feelings and assuage her fears. But Kaji accepts his answer and doesnât admonish him for it like Asuka certainly would.
None of this is to try to rehabilitate Kajiâs âproblematicâ to put it extremely lightly behavior but I do think Kaji has an arc in this show, its just his character is by FAR the most outdated stereotype and it gets harder to watch him every year.
Feel free to push back on this, if we werenât reading too much into little inconsequential things, we wouldnât be discussing EVA would we?
Kaji also gets a slightly better arc in the Rebuild films. It fleshes out his relationship to both Misato and Ritsuko, and shows him being a lot more supportive to the children.
He is still a problematic character with issues, but it at least makes him seem like a real person and not just a shitty stereotype
It has been a treat to rewatch NGE and listen to yâall discuss. I especially like the mix of new viewers and old.
Cado, your synopses for the pods are great. I like to read them before getting into the episodes because they give me something to hone in on. So please proof read them! Now, I may be the only one to fret about the following, so bear with me. Do take note of the difference between contractions and possessive versions of âwhoâ and âit.â âWhoâsâ is a contraction for âwho isâ or âwho has,â while âwhoseâ is the possessive. The former is like âthereâsâ and the latter is like âtheirs.â Likewise, âitâsâ contracts from either âit isâ or âit has,â and âitsâ is the possessive that my phone may autocorrect annoyingly disregards : / Again, I hope I donât come off as a grammatical disciplinarian.
Iâm glad we finally got some pushback on Asuka this episode, but I still think the crew are vastly underselling just how toxic her behavior is. I have no doubt she has been through some shit. But you could say the same about literally every single person on the planet, doubly so for the other NERV agents. Still, Asuka is the only one who tries to build themself up by tearing down everyone they come in contact with.
They keep giving her the excuse that âthatâs how she shows affection.â That doesnât make it okay. It would be bad enough for her to rationalize her own guilt at goading Shinji into attacking the Dirac angel unprepared to herself. But she canât keep her complete lack of empathy to herself. She has to inflict it on everyone around her. Sheâs more than happy to goad people, even people she ostensibly likes, to their potential deaths to mask her own petty jealousy and insecurity, and then mock anyone who dares show concern. Her toxicity is radioactive.
Iâm sympathetic towards Asuka. Like I said, I am sure sheâs been through some shit. But she is the absolute worst kind of friend and teammate.
Starting to remember why I always unironically felt bad for Maya. I donât remember if the show ever explores it but the fact that her life seems like itâs comprised mostly of âsomething bad is happening we need you do to this thingâ only to have a computer be like âuhhhhhnopeâ 100% of the time must suck.
I donât think they go into it because they are pretty fed up with Kaji by the time they get to that point, but for me the reason him reaching out feels so flat, is because heâs dodged a lot of responsibility up til that point.
Misatoâs relationship with the kids may be somewhat transactional, but she also has the responsibility of caring for two teenagers while also more or less running a major organization thrust upon her. Kaji is like that âcool uncleâ who you like and wanna hang out with, but who only gets to be the cool uncle because he only has to see you a couple times a year.
He doesnât have to make good on any of his motivational posturing because his relationship with Shinji is really just that conversation, then heâs done.
I find Asuka to be a deeply frustrating character, but I think the reason they cut her a lot of slack is because she is only 14. Thatâs like⌠barely high school. Maybe not even depending on where you are. She is for real a child. And a child thatâs dealing with a lot.
