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Episode 2: Unfamiliar Ceiling/The Beast
This episode continues the excitement and intrigue of the last episode and begins to show us the "true nature of Evangelion" (as Ritsuko says). With episodes like this, I can't wait to see how the series progresses. This episode begins with Shinji in his EVA 01 fighting the Angel. Surprisingly, his synch ratio (ability to control the EVA to its fullest potential) is over 40%, which shocks Ritsuko. This excitement is soon erased as the Angel begins to beat up on EVA 01. Shinji realizes that the pilot feels the same pain as the EVA does and he goes into shock when the EVA's arm is broken. The next scene has Shinji waking up in a hospital room while his Evangelion is being cleaned off the road by NERV. Gendo meets with a group of men, all representing different countries, in a secret meeting. He is told that NERV needs to put a different media spin on the events with the 3rd Angel that Shinji fought and that he had better be more careful in later fights. They remind him that the "Human Enhancement Project" should be his main concern. Back at the hospital Shinji leaves his room and sees Rei on a stretcher. While Misato and Ritsuko discuss Shinji's lack of memory of the fight, Shinji sits alone at the hospital, staring at the arm he thought was broken by the Angel the day before. Misato picks up Shinji from the hospital and the two run into Gendo at NERV central. Gendo says nothing and later it's revealed that the two don't want to live together. Misato decides to get Shinji to live with her and jokingly tells Ritsuko she wont hit on Shinji. On the way to her apartment, Misato takes Shinji to a lookout where he sees a huge city rise from the ground: Tokyo-3. Misato tells him this is the city Shinji "saved" and that it is a city that will be used to stand up against the Angels. They arrive at Misato's apartment, which is extremely messy: garbage and empty beer cans decorate the place. Shinji opens the fridge to find it lined with junk food and 50 gallons of beer. When he goes to shower he notices he has company: a penguin! Shinji runs out of the shower scared and Misato tells him to calm down. The penguin is named Pen-Pen and he is one of the new warm water penguins. We soon cut to NERV Central where Gendo and Ritsuko talk about the EVA and more importantly we see an orange Evangelion damaged in a room. Later, Shinji is lying in bed and begins to question his existence. As the youn boy introspectively deconstructs him, he begins to remember the battle he had in the EVA. The Evangelion was brutalized by the Angel but as defeat seemed inevitable, the 01 suddenly regenerated and went berserk. It destroyed the Angel as Ritsuko said "so this is the true nature of EVA" while Gendo and Kouzou looked on, seemingly unfazed by this situation. As the EVA was being re-docked, Shinji looked at his damaged robot and suddenly an eye grew in it and looked at him. As Shinji lies down in bed, now remembering the battle, Misato walks in and tells Shinji he did a very good thing by defending the city. This was another stellar episode, as the mysteries keep piling up and the characters continue to be enthralling. However, this episode had some very interesting symbolism in two cases. Firstly, when the Angel was destroyed, the explosion caused a Christian cross to form. Considering the term "angel" is associated with heaven and goodness, its a very interesting contrast. Secondly, Misato tells Shinji to have a shower to wash away the worries of life. While in the shower, Shinji says he is always haunted by bad memories. Later, when Misato showers, she also has less positive thoughts. It is interesting how showering, an activity considered relaxing, brings out negative thoughts and emotions in people. When these characters are allowed to be alone and in normally comforting situations, they become morose and full of sadness. Overall, another standout episode and I just hope we learn a bit more about these characters soon.