Pilot Responsibly: Mari^2, Miso Soup & Manvangelion 2

Impressions of Eva Reboot 2.22

{Spoiler warning}

The mood of Evangelion Reboot is markedly different from the series that first broadcast in 1995 (abbrev. Eva 95) [1]. The characters have fewer and less deep hang-ups. I actually loved the Eva 95 version of the cast despite and because of their deep flaws. I preferred the intensity of the battles against Leliel, Bardiel, and Zeruel. The music was amped up, the mystery thickened, and the protagonists moodily struggled against the angels and themselves. In the Reboot, childrens' songs make Asuka's fall to Bardiel more twisted and tragic than the spare battle music deployed in Eva 95.

Speaking of the red devil, Asuka's affinity to Shinji seems like a quick turn around from her prior footsweep. Asuka Sohryu was multi-faceted and more intense. Her berserker tendencies and grandiosity have been transferred to Mari Makinami, making Asuka a simpler and less expansive character. These steps were understandable, given the movie format. However, I still preferred many of the developments in Eva 95 over the Reboot.

For all these complaints [2], there was still a lot to appreciate in the Reboot. Hideaki Anno and company were not arbitrary in bringing on board Maaya Sakamoto [3] and limiting Asuka's role. Renaming her Shikinami actually helps to remind us that we have seen Asuka in her full glory back in Eva 95. Reboot covers new ground in many ways.

Beyond the first impressions, Reboot retunes the series into a more action packed, brighter, and more optimist adventure with a healthy dose of WAFF. To realize this new vision, Hideaki Anno & Co. employed two Mari's and miso soup.

Mari + Mari

I admit to being deeply suspicious of, in addition to being deeply appreciative of, Mari Makinami's addition to the cast. Before watching the movie, I thought that bringing on board another beauty was a transparent and successful ploy to add to the excitement of the reboot. After all, the American Rei versus Asuka conflict in Evangelion raged for well over 8 years and may still smolder to this very day in the deep, dark bowels of the internet.

After watching it, I realize that Mari Makinami plays a pivotal role in the Reboot's direction. Her primary function is to take Asuka's place in the battle against Zeruel, after Shikinami was defeated by Bardiel. The apparent reason for Asuka replacing Toji was Rei's get together. The destruction Unit 04 led to the sudden transfer of Unit 03 to America. The surprise activation test conflicted with Rei's party [4], which leads to the softer, gentler Asuka Shikinami to volunteer for test duty.

This still doesn't fully explain the use of Asuka over Toji. The answer lies in the other Mari: Mari Suzuhara. In Eva 95, Toji agreed to pilot Unit 03 in exchange for his sister transferring to a better hospital. In Reboot, Toji's little sister makes a full recovery. By making a full recovery, she frees Shinji to make a clean choice of whether or not to pilot Unit 01.

In Reboot 2.22, Shinji asks Asuka why she pilots an Eva. Rei tells Asuka that there is more to life than piloting an Eva. Mari Makinami tells Shinji that she is surprised that anyone would question piloting. The question was presented earlier in the story in the first scenes, when Shinji confronts his father before his first battle, after Touji socks Shinji over his sister's injuries, and when Shinji runs away from home. In all of the versions of Evangelion, this question is central to Shinji.

In Reboot, Shinji's responsibility to Mari is completely absolved by her full recovery. His is not burden's by Toji's fall as well. So when he decides to never pilot Unit 01 again, his choice is not clouded by the responsibility to the one he hurt. Recall that in Eva 95, Shinji pleads with Unit 01: "... If you don't move now, if you don't do it now, everyone's going to die! I don't want anymore of that..." The anymore refers to Toji and, perhaps, to Mari.

Also, Shinji never leaves the platform when Zeruel attacks in Eva 95. By contrast, Shinji distances himself from Misato's outreached hand and is in motion, leaving Tokyo-3, when the alarm sounds; these symbolize a cleaner break from Nerv. We do not need Misato's commentary to realize that his words are starkly assertive. And when the boy returns, it is for the singular reason of rescuing Ayanami Rei. He has taken full responsibility for his actions.

Miso Soup, the power thereof

In Eva 95, Rei remained moon distant and mysterious, especially after she goes kamikaze on the helical Armisael and has her memories wiped. One fanfiction reader once interpreted that Rei was emotionless. It is possible to have impression if one passively watches Eva 95. Indeed, Rei seldom demonstrates emotions. A deeper reading reveals that she is moved by the Ikaris.She becomes angry enough to slap Shinji for criticizing his father, later caring enough to protect him from octohedral Ramiel, and and then staring down Asuka after Unit 01 is swallowed by the shadowy Leliel. Rei demonstrates her mastery of stream of conscience during her sync test with Unit 01. She has a strong dislike of meat and the color red. Rei lives as tightly introspective life that is largely, but not completely aloof from others.

This distance is temporarily bridged in the harrowing aftermath of Shinji's and Rei's battle against the octohedral Ramiel. In Eva 95, Sohryu the Red Comet strikes and drowns out Rei's presence for the rest of the series. Reboot sharply diverges when the gang visits to the eco restoration project. Shinji puts his culinary arts to good use by cooking bentos. Rei can't eat hers, because she can't stomach meat. Shinji comes to her rescue with a cup of hot miso soup.

The miso soup is a powerful gateway drug that leads Rei to accept Shinji's next bento, which leads the impression young girl to wonder why such a simple act makes her feel warm inside. She empathizes with Shinji and Gendou. We can surmise that from her earlier conversations with Shinji, she realizes that he wants to be closer with his father and tries to bring them together with a simple meal.

These small acts of giving are a sharp break with Eva 95. The pilots are forced together by battle and interact during these battles. Doing the chores for his wayward household comes from a sense of duty and a lack of jan-ken-po skills. By contrast making bentos and giving miso soup are all of his freewill. Similarly, Rei's reciprocation is a free choice. It is not an order from Gendou or an act led by desperation like her self immolation against Amrisael in Eva 95.

In short, Shinji does not stop reaching out to Rei even after she takes his hand from the wreckage of her entry plug. He reaches out to her once again with miso soup.

This Shinji that reaches out also pulls away when Misato wants to convince him to stay in Nerv and with her. While the pacing of Reboot 2.22 did not have the same climax and denouement of part 1, the details and scenes culminate in Shinji and Rei pushing forward and growing despite the harshness of war and the barren expanses that lie between the hearts of Lilim until they are pinned by Kaoru's spear and fulfill the film's subtitle: "You cannot advance".

= = =

[1] I am loathe to call it Eva TV or the original series. The movies Death & Rebirt and End of Eva finished the series, so TV doesn't exactly fit. Sadamoto's manga came out before the TV series, as the Rei-ists like to point out. Eva '95 is non-controversial, accurate, and quick to type.

[2] As an original Misato-fan, I prefer the iron woman who continued to glare at Kagi until it was too late. The pseudo-rivalry between Misato & Asuka was also fun, but -ah- the limits of movie screen time.

[3] The idea of a berserk, be-fanged Hitomi fans my fanboy flames.

[4] Never thought that I would type those words this side of a fanfic.

Epic, but accessible: a fogey rants

It's kind of like great taste, less filling. I've had a new copy of Escaflowne for a few months now (Vol 1 & 2 got microwaved from my collector's set), but I haven't watched them. I watched my old fan subs and my first DVD collection about six or seven times all together and certain scenes and episodes several times over, so its so firmly embedded in my memory that my eyes gloss over the screen and my mind wanders.

Still, the idea of the Earth in the sky as the Mystic Moon, empires clashing, magi-tech, an ancient civilization, and Sir Isaac Newton, makes for a true epic. Even with the breadth and scope, the entry point (Hitomi Kanzaki) and the flow of the story makes it accessible to the average viewer. Yet the accessibility did not translate into simplicity or shallowness, there was plenty of layers, mysteries, and character development to engage the audience.

Gaia was big enough to immerse the audience, but did not drown it.

Despite my limited exposure and criticisms of the franchise, Final Fantasy unabashedly offers both of these elements. However, they seem to be a prisoner of their own success. I accuse Square-Enix of crossing the fine line from storyboarding to formula. Here's a checklist:

• A conflict between magic & technology
• A race against time
• A female character of unusual power needs your support
• Girly men abound
  

Gainsay me if you will, if you can.

I believe that few anime in recent years have had the ambition to create a work of the scope of Escaflowne, fewer yet have suceeded in it.

The most popular series in recent years have been manga transplants: Naruto, Bleach, Death Note, and Inu Yasha. Let's not talk about the endless Inu Yasha, I don't consider it to be a story telling success. Bleach lost its characters in the multitude of battles. Death Note was intense in a different way. Naruto is a competition manga, which is an extension of the sports genre and is an illegitimate child of the murdered DBZ. While various serious works have tried to double down on the obfuscation that marked Evangelion. Even successful inheritors to Eva are markedly different from the sweeping adventure of Escaflowne.

That is not to say that there haven't been successful works. Ghost in the Shell, Haruhi, Gankutsou, & Mushi-shi readily come to mind. Yet these are not in the same vein. Dark cyberpunk, otaku madness, psychedelic remake, Twilight Zone avec les bugs are very different.

Though the tones were far different, 12 Kingdoms is a transfer story into another world. Last Exile hung a whole new world in the balance (in a race against time, of course). While I haven't watched much of it, the world of Full Metal Alchemist seems to be complete. So, there are a few big adventures spread over the years, but sometimes I sit at my computer and wonder when will the next Mystic Moon wax in the sky.

I feel like I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth. Square doesn't do it right, because it's become too much of the same. Yet this fogey complains that there isn't enough out there like the, now, venerable Escaflowne. But the gist of my argument is that the grand adventures seem to be missing, yet there must be enough new to make the trip worthwhile. Also heart is not an option. Without soul, there is no vigor, we might as well be watching Mahoromatic or Diamond Daydreams.

So I ask the anime makers: When will my Mystic Moon rise again?

Paprika: The Spice of a Fulfilled Life

Warning: reading this post will spoil the movie so rotten that a neo-otyugh wouldn't touch it.
Credit: First, Paprika is the work of Kon, copywritten by Sony, the original author Tsuitsui, and everyone else in the credits. Second, most of this post came from discussions from causeiambetta, a modest man with a modest handle.

In the anime movie "Paprika", script-writer and director Satoshi Kon explores the themes of wholeness and mental health through dreams.The movie uses a fictional device called the DC mini, which allows the user to enter another person's dreams. The technology is supposed to be used for psychotherapy. However, the it is corrupted to invade the dreams of others. As REM dreams invade the waking world, the sleeping yearnings of three characters are awakened: the Chairman, the scientist Chiba, and the detective Konakawa. By using these three foci, a nuanced view of wholeness is explored.

The Chairman is the the force that corrupts the DC mini to draw the waking world into the dream world. He does this so that everyone else can live in his dream where he is physically whole and powerful, as opposed to his wheelchair bound body in the waking world. The fact that this wish fulfillment consumes Himuro and draws others onto the parade to oblivion is irrelevant to him. To the Chairman, his fulfillment is the world's fulfillment: le monde, c'est moi.

When the DC mini prototypes first goes missing, the Chairman wanted to shut down the project and all of the psychotherapy machines to preserve the sanctity of dreams. He talks about the emptiness of science in the face of dreams. Yet, he hypocritically uses the DC mini in his plot. This could be dismissed as a convenient lie, but the Chairman later tells Paprika that his garden is a sacred space where science cannot trespass.

The idea that the Chairman considers his dreams sacred is consistent with his overall arrogance. When Osanai is dying, the Chairman clings to his body, because Osanai's able and handsome body is needed to complement the Chairman's noble soul. The Chairman is stricken over what he will loose, not what Osanai looses or that Osanai is a human. During another scene, after Osanai pins Paprika, the Chairman invades Osanai's body and becomes outraged when Osanai refuses to kill Praprika/Chiba over "petty" love.

After his apotheosis, Paprika comments that his image of totality lacks a female component. It is implied that the Chairman's homosexuality is an extension of his narcissism. The implication is that his ideal is a male form that is similar to his own and because it is similar to his own.

The Chairman's wholeness ignores the needs of others and, therefore, becomes destructive when his wishes are fulfilled. Wholeness is necessary, but not sufficient for mental health.

Chiba's conflict is far more innocuous, but touches all of us: romance. She is outwardly cool and professional. Her beauty is intimidating. Yet, she feels constrained from revealing her feelings for Tokita.

Throughout the movie, clues are given to the depths of her emotions. The elevator scene gives off a sense of an onee-san type character with her bumbling surrogate brother. In the diner, after they investigate Himuro's apartment, she scolds Tokita for his gluttony. This could also be taken as the care of close friend, but the evidence mounts. However, her argument with him, while he is fiddling with another DC mini, has the heat and passion of a lover.

During the argument, Chiba touches on the idea of responsibility and selfishness; she wants him to improve. She also strikes the DC mini out of his hands. By contrast, an eminently professional boss, which is the usual Chiba, would order or reprimand him. The uncharacteristic heat of her blow and tone sounds more like a lover having a spat with her clueless man rather than a manager dressing down her subordinate.

It is only in the dream world that she can re-write the dialogue for the elevator scene. Then she can tell him that she loves his mind, despite his body, and that she can tolerate a spare tire, but he can't be a Michelin warehouse. And through Chiba, the film explores the idea of romance as a part of the fulfillment of life.

It is this union that lets Paprika defeat the Chairman in the end. Tokita and Atsuko/Paprika's union produced something bigger and better than themselves. While the unified girl resembled Chiba, it had Tokita's all-consuming creativity. The sums were greater than the parts and their dreams were bigger and stronger than the Chairman's insular vision of me, me, me.

While Chiba's growth focused on romantic connection, Konakawa's development examines fulfillment on the life path. His nightmare takes the form of movie scenes: Tarzan, a spy film, and then seems to take on real life at the murder scene. However, the murder scene turns out to be a movie scene from the movie that he made with his best friend, who Konakawa calls his other self. Even the bar scene is taken from "The Shining".

These movie scenes comes from his love of cinema that was suppressed following his best friend's death. They were to become directors together, but Konakawa gave up the dream. His best friend died from sickness before he could fulfill his dream, and the guilt lay heavy on Konakawa for abandoning filmmaking and leaving their film unfinished. By being plunged into the dream world and meeting Paprika, he acknowledges his past and comes to terms with the path he took.

In psychoanalysis, mental illness is believed to be born from the frustration of desires. The human mind shields itself from the conflict between desire and deprivation, but the coping mechanism often becomes the problem itself. The cure becomes worse than the disease that it was intended to cure. In Paprika, these subconscious desires were excavated by the DC Mini and brought to fruition.

Where many movies explore a concept through the actions and consequences on one character, the film "Hanabi" contrasted two lives on crossing trajectories, and "Paprika" used three movers-and-shakers as a sampling of the different aspects of fulfillment. And we are reminded that to find a whole and satisifying life, we all need at least a little spice in it.

[1] causeiambetta pointed this out to me. [2]
[2] other references pop up in the movie. The posters at the end were obvious. Also his pose after rescuing Chiba is probably from Golgo 13: the Professiosional. Finally, I believe that the pin scene was another. Megumi Hayashibara was the voice talent for Chiba and Ayanami Rei, who suffered a similar trespass from Ikari Gendou in "End of Evangelion".

The Identity of Kiel Lorenz

There is no proof that the character Kiel Lorenz from Gainax's "Neon Genesis Evangelion" is based on any figure from myth or history. However, there is a good chance that the Gainax crew ran across the name Rabbi Joseph della Reina during their research of the sephiroth (tree of life), Lilith, elemental angels (as opposed to guardian angels), and Kabbalism in general.

In the myths, della Reina is a powerful mystic who uses Kabbalistim with good intentions, but fails. One version tells of della Reina trying to trap Samael (Satan) and Lilith to bring for the Messiah. Though mighty in magic, the demons trick him into breaking his asceticism (which in needed to harness the spiritual energy for the ritual) or interrupting the ritual. The demons then corrupt the Kabbalist and make him their minion. Another version has della Reina attempting to create a superbeing. [1] This superbeing is reminiscent of the joining of minds, the oneness that is the human complement project. There seems to be a general consensus that this oneness is drawn from a Buddhist tradition, but this does not preclude influences from della Reina's legend.

Joseph della Reina's stories warn against hubris. Modern Kabbalist Rabbi Chaim vital from Kabbala Online writes this warning:

"This is the significance of the Practical Kabbalah. It is forbidden to make use of it, since evil necessarily attaches itself to the good. One may actually intend to cleanse his soul, but as a result of the evil, he actually defiles it... Learn a lesson from Joseph Della Reina and Rabbi Shlomo Molcho, who made use of the Practical Kabbala and were destroyed from the world." [2]

Mystic Judaic and Christian imagery and references are used throughout the series, so it is easy to read too much into the mash of Western symbols. "Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water", which was also written by Hideaki Anno and Gainax, mentions (Red) Noah, the Tower of Babel, and Adam, though these references bears little resemblance to the original source material. [3] There are connections, but the references are mainly for visual impact, as opposed to exploring Judeo-Christian themes or using a Judeo-Christian framework to explore other themes. It is widely agreed that the ideas behind Evangelion came from Hideaki Anno's personal crises, the accompanying psychology, science fiction, and other sources. [4]

A very rough analogy would be the campy TV show "Hercules", which used an ancient Greek setting, but featured little of the violent ethos that characterized the time.

With that being said, there was a method behind Gainax's madness. The original series came out in 1995. The new millennium inspired apocalyptic fiction and cults that even infected science. News stories speculated about the Y2K bug creating mass disaster. The post-apocalyptic milieu of "Evangelion" was reinforced by the Judeo-Christian imagery and the strong emphasis of these traditions on the endtime. The popularity of "Evangelion" shows that this imagery and atmosphere were striking to the Japanese viewer. Likewise, it would be easy to read too much into the potential connection between della Reina and Lorenz.

Nevertheless, the connection informs us of how to view Lorenz's failure. In episode 21, Prof. Fuyutski tells us that 2nd impact is a disaster for humanity. He intended to unmask Seele as criminal against all of humanity. Kaji reveals a more personal view of the tragedy in the manga Vol. 7 stages 3-4 to Shinji, but echoes the younger Fuyutski's sentiments. Yet in the movie, Lorenz's final moments paint him sympathetically, as he creates these tragedies not for personal gain, but to save humanity. That is the downfall of della Reina. Though he tried to save humanity by bringing forth the Messiah, his venture is ultimately of human will, not divine, and therefore doomed to fail in the end.


[1] "Reimagining the Bible: the Storytelling of the Rabbis" by Howard Schwartz, pg. 70 from NetLibrary.
[2] http://www.kabbalaonline.org/Meditations/jewishmeditation/Practical_Kabbala_Today.asp
[3] Noah is a spaceship that became an island, the Tower of Babel is an energy cannon, and Adam is a giant prototype of man.
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion_%28TV%29

The Big O Effect: the Voice Acting Constraints of a Japanese Paradigm

I first watched "The Big O" in English on the Cartoon Network. Back then, I called it a dub. The showing was contemporary with Fox-scaflowne, which dared to turn down the volume on Yoko Kanno's dulcet tunes. Evagelion featured a bitchy Asuka and a teeny-bopper Misato-san, and the horrendous yak-yak performance of "Lily Cat" still grated on my ears years after I'd last seen it. I was impressed by the emotion and humor injected into the acting in "The Big O". That was the first time that I started using the term "English Language Version" without the irony.

When I bought the DVD, I didn't expect to like the English language version so much more than the original Japanese dialogue. The voices sounded flat in the Japanese. Dorothy sounded like a young girl and Roger Smith was a tough guy. The performances were straight forward, plain and simple. There was nothing wrong with them, but Lia Sargent and Steven Blum interacted with a snarky and dynamic chemistry.

Part of magic came from the American voice talents, and part of it came from the advancements in the voice directing, but I believe that much of the difference was cultural familarity. Here in America, the Speak Easies, G-men, and the tommygun are stock settings. The era was popularized in the "Dick Tracy" comic, lionized in "Scarface", and then parodied in "Looney Tunes" and "Guy Noir: Private Eye"[1]. The tradition continued on the big screen on the dark streets of Gotham City in "Batman Begins". The charged exchanges between Sargent and Blum are played to an audience comfortable with the Noir milieu.

Just as the Meiji Era feels foreign to most Americans, I conjecture that mood, style, and accepted imagery of film noir is foreign to the Japanese audience. Many Japanese have probably seen Scarface or another gangster flick, but even as a single samurai flick gives a gaijin only a taste of the Shogunate, a single gangster flick does not convey the glitz and grit of 20s Chi-town. Therefore, Dorothy and Roger were played straight as the girl and tough hero to convince a teenage Japanese audience to buy into mood and milieu of Noir.

The cultural gap between the audience and the milieu caused the voice directors and actors to play the roles safely and flatly. Instead of an impertinent waif, Dorothy was a girl first and foremost and a sarcastic side kick as a far second. That is what I call the Big O Effect.

[1] A skit on Public Radio International's "Prairie Home Companion".