WiC Watches: Neon Genesis Evangelion

Episode 12: “A Miracle’s Worth”

Our little group is starting to coalesce. While Evangelion does a fine job of making every new Angel attack feel genuinely threatening (give or take the one with the synchronized dancing), it’s also doing a fine job of outlining the dynamic between the three Eva pilots, with Rei and Shinji preferring to keep to themselves and the incredibly social Asuka banging her head against the wall trying to get a reaction from them. More and more, it’s seeming like the show was just incomplete without her.

She might be making progress, though. I liked the moment where she and Shinji commiserate over Misato’s humble idea of a reward for killing the latest Angel: a steak dinner. I like the idea of there being a “Second Impact generation” who thinks in Depression-era terms. It’s little details like that that make the show’s world easier to swallow.

Speaking of Misato, this is her episode. We’ve always known she was excellent at her incredibly high-pressure job, which contrasted with her slovenly lifestyle. We get some insight into her backstory here that helps explain her contradictions. Like Shinji, she had a distant scientist father she resented but also desperately wanted to please. Her father is dead, so she can never get closure. All she can do is get revenge on the Angels who killed him, and hope that will give her closure. There’s a sadness to Misato that was always there, but this episode gives it clarity.

Shinji’s father, on the other hand, is still alive, although their relationship is a mess I’m not sure can be cleaned up. Dare Shinji try?

On the action front, our pilots fight a massive Angel that appears in the sky over Tokyo-3, a primary colored floating eye that drops parts of itself onto the world below, creating massive craters. Again, I’m impressed with how unique the monsters are on this show. Where are the artists pulling this stuff? Dreams? Shrooms? Are they just more creative than me? Probably that last one.

Evangelion has been on a role of good standalone episodes lately. I wonder when the arc will inevitably kick in.