Week 2 Anime Notes

• Neon Genesis Evangelion

In episode two of Evangelion, we see Shinji and Misato’s relationship deepen. Even though they have only known each other for about 24 hours, Shinji already feels closer to Misato than he does to his own father. Part of this has to do with the fact that Gendo only perceives Shinji as a tool. This is a trait that Gendo will display more and more throughout the series. Misato, on the other hand, identifies with Shinji, perhaps because she herself lost her mother at a young age, and had a strained relationship with her own father up until his death.

This episode is also the first time we get a hint at what the Eva units really are, and what their AT fields actually do. When Shinji’s Unit 01 goes into berserker mode, we realize that the Evas have a life of their own, and may even be more dangerous than the Angels themselves.

• Berserk

The Golden Age story arc begins in the second episode of Berserk. Guts meets Griffith for the first time, and the parameters of their relationship are defined. Griffith is much like Gendo Ikari in that he considers his men to be little more than tools for his own use. He doesn’t care at all about Guts at first until he sees how easily Guts dispatches his best men. Then Griffith tells Guts that he “desire to have” him. There are homosexual overtones to this statement, but the homosexual aspect of Griffith and Guts’ relationship is never fully realized in the scope of the show. It is better to simply focus on the master-and-servant relationship that eventually leads to their falling out at the end of the series.

Another thing to note in this episode is that brute force does not work on Guts. Caska is forced to use a bow to wound him, and even that barely fazes him. Only Griffith’s skilled swordsmanship and unmatched speed can defeat Guts.

• Lupin III

This episode demonstrates a typical archetype in Japanese television of the time period – that of the “invincible foe”, who exhibits supernatural powers, but who always has a single weak point (thanks to Eckelkamp sensei for this tidbit!).

The relationship between Lupin and Fujiko is elaborated on in this episode. Fujiko turns to Lupin for help when she fears that Pyker will kill her, but later claims that she doesn’t want to involve him in this dangerous business. Lupin knows that he is being played for a sap, but goes along with it anyway. His love for Fujiko surpasses all her betrayals, and he is even willing to kill Piker in cold blood to prove his love for her.

• Gurren Lagaan

Episode three of Gurren Lagaan is devoted to Kamina, and his relationship with his father. Kamina is at first derisive of the skull found in the desert, saying that someone who died so close to home must have been weak or cowardly. He later discovers that this skull belongs to his own father, who Kamina idolizes. The fact that even his father was killed in a place like this forces Kamina to question his own reasons for being on the surface.
Kamina also comes to grip with his own mortality in this episode. When he is attempting to take over the enemy Ganmen, he is confronted by images of skulls on the monitor. Then, in an interesting sequence, the skull is imposed over Kamina’s face as the animation flashes back and forth between images of life and death. Kamina is forced to accept that here on the surface, he might die at any moment; this is the price and adventurer must eventually pay. When he realizes this fact, the Ganmen accepts him as a pilot.