043 - Neon Genesis Evangelion vol. 1

043 - Neon Genesis Evangelion vol. 1

Author: We Appreciate Manga™ April 4, 2020 Duration: 50:59

This is it! The cultiest of cult 90's anime, the daddy of the sekai-kei genre! And maybe Elon Musks favourite anime? It kickstarted the popularity of angsty teen anime heroes. Skip synopsis talk @ 6:52

 

Special thanks to 'Eagle8burger' for our intro.

 

043: Neon Genesis Evangelion vol. 1

Chapters 1 to 6

 

By Yoshiyuki Sadamoto

Adapted to English by Mari Morimoto, Fred Burke + Carl Gustav Horn

 

Topics:

  • The Western Anime boom, the days of collecting VHS tapes and trading with friends, which Evangelion's first American dub came to us during that time.
  • Shinji's "daddy issues", sometimes you just learn that you don't need your daddy's approval, sadly the main character, Shinji Ikari, has a long way to go.
  •  Rei Ayanami being possibly "albino"
  • The concept of the "Angels" and the originality of how aliens are depicted in Neon Genesis Evangelion.
  • The ending to chapter 6, which differs from the original anime and clues us in on things to come.

 

Synopsis:

 

In the year 2015, fifteen years after a global cataclysm known as the Second Impact, teenager Shinji Ikaritravels to Tokyo-3 at the behest of his estranged father, Gendo. While meeting with Misato Katsuragi, a woman who works for Gendo, the city is attacked by a giant creature known as an Angel. Misato takes Shinji to NERV, an organization headed by Gendo that has developed giant bio-mechanical mecha known as Evangelions. As Evangelion Unit-01's pilot, Rei Ayanami, is wounded, Gendo asks his son to take her place. Shinji decides to fight the Angel, named Sachiel, but panics when he first sees it. During the fight, Shinji makes Unit-01 furiously attack Sachiel, which self-destructs, causing minor damage to the Eva. Next day, Misato discovers that Gendo is not planning to live with Shinji. Therefore, she decides to become Shinji's legal guardian to keep him from being isolated.

 

Pop culture and other references:

  • The Christian cross is used to depict a flashy death state of the defeated Angel, over the next volumes there will be many allusions and references to not only Christianity but all Abrahamic religions, and even kabbalah.
  • Group A10 is the largest group of dopaminergic cells in the ventral midbrain tegmentum of rodents and primates. The cells are located for the most part in the ventral tegmental area, the linear nucleus and, in primates, the part of central grey of the midbrain located between the left and right oculomotor nuclear. Not to be confused with T10 which is found in the human spine.

 

"On the floor of the midbrain is the ventral segmental system, that neurobiologists call region A10. Cells soaked in dopamine, certain emotions are processed here: such as the thoughts of two lovers - or a parent and a child. And it is the synchronization of the threads and bundles of A10 that splice pilot and Eva together; to become one entity, to fight. In other words, the power of love drives this weapon of mass destruction." – Yoshiyuki Sadamoto

 

 

 

Instagram – weappreciatemanga.co.uk

Twitter - @RealJamesFitton

Website – Weappreciatemanga.com

Email – Weappreciatemanga@gmail.com


There's a particular kind of magic that happens when a friend hands you a book they love, especially when that book is a manga. We Appreciate Manga captures that exact feeling, beginning each conversation with a personal recommendation before letting the discussion wander into deeper territory. Hosted by the team at We Appreciate Manga™, this series is less a formal review and more like eavesdropping on a thoughtful, sometimes rambling, chat between enthusiasts. You’ll hear them explore how specific stories resonate, why certain artistic choices matter, and the very real comfort these illustrated narratives can provide during difficult periods. It’s a celebration of the medium that goes beyond plot summaries to appreciate manga as a unique and powerful form of visual storytelling. Think of it as your audio companion to a vibrant, anime-adjacent book club where the panels come to life through conversation. New episodes of this podcast have been available since August 2022, offering a consistent space to connect with the art and heart of these stories.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 136

We Appreciate Manga
Podcast Episodes
136 - Petshop of Horrors: Flowers and Detective [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:54
Is this the final episode of 'We Appreciate Manga'? I guess we will have to see… Either way James has an announcement to make but first we give a quick review of Godzilla minus one and talk about side chapters of Petshop…
135 - Petshop of Horrors vol. 10 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:51
Author Matsuri closes out the final chapters and leaves no stone unturned, Chris speaks, Q-Chan shows off their human form and a climatic meeting with D's father finally happens. In a clever way, Matsuri switches from an…
134 - Petshop of Horrors vol. 9 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:05
Listen with discretion and care since on today's episode we speak about intergenerational trauma, modern slavery, and human trafficking. Pretty intense stuff for a fantasy manga but Akino Matsuri is an expert anthologist…
133 - Petshop of Horrors vol. 8 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:30
Come join our book club and listen as we read Akino Matsuri's horror stories, one that is about a mermaid. Another about a family that move into a house that has a dark history. And a woman who seems to have looks, fame…
132 - Petshop of Horror vol. 7 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:42
Today we talk about the importance of character-based story telling superseding social and political commentary, be it human trafficking, weight loss and police brutality. Albeit a fantasy story, there is an argument tha…
131 - Petshop of Horrors vol. 6 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:33
Continuing with their book club podcast, Will and James talk about volume 6 of the surreal fantasy horror josei manga, Petshop of Horrors! Today's stories are very much a reflection on the chaos of childhood and the pres…
130 - Petshop of Horrors vol. 5 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:36
A poignant volume that introduces a new character to the lore and explores feelings around death and childhood. And it may come as no surprise that even a horror Shoujo manga somehow has to reference ballet, we all seen…
129 - Petshop of Horrors vol. 4 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:13
Does anyone remember Tamagotchi? Or maybe you had a Giga-Pet growing up? Whatever the case a virtual pet goes by many brand names and today we read one story that is both inspired by the virtual pet craze of the 90's and…
128 - Petshop of Horrors vol. 3 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:17
Dog lovers will love this one yet we are now seeing author Akino experiment with the characters. She also explores some social commentary and posing morally difficult questions. It goes without saying, today is a heavy e…
127 - Petshop of Horrors vol. 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:15
Cat lovers will enjoy the continuation of our spooky season read along, as James and Will experience multiple stories from the Petshop of Horror. There's one about a dangerous mermaid that resembles someone's dead wife,…