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: 100

We Appreciate Manga
Podcast Episodes
096 - Death Note vol. 9 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:15
James tells Steven all about the Netflix Death Note movie whilst sharing opinions on volume 9 of the manga. And some talk around the effects of the Death Note and the how it functions as a magical almost Lovecraftian obj…
095 - Death Note vol. 8 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:43
Did you know there was a musical based on the Death Note manga? And that Demon Kaka (formerly Kogure) made a Death Note tribute song? James tests Steven by seeing if he can connect the characters to their respective song…
094 - Death Note vol. 7 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:04
A turning point in the manga's original run spurs conversation around what Hirohiko Araki (Author of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure) called "a return to zero", or as the boys like to call it, "the Dragonball problem", a proble…
093 - Death Note vol. 6 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:17
Steven and James share their thoughts on the Yotsuba arc of Death Note. Particularly showing appreciation on how character's thoughts can create plenty of twists and turns, in what is an undoubtedly seminal non-battle ma…
092 - Death Note vol. 5 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:52
Ever wondered why the English names in Death Note sound so odd? Well today's episode has Steven and James talk about why that is as well as the "Yotsuba arc" of Death Note, besides expressing their thoughts and opinions…
091 - Death Note vol. 4 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:23
Today the guys talk about the impressions they have from the characters Rem and Misa Amane, the latter arguably being the most iconic alternative emo / gothic chick to ever step off from the pages of manga and into a hot…
090 - Death Note vol. 3 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:23
The dudes talk about the Death Note's impact as a "non-battle" manga and their feelings to what can be best described as the "Dragonball problem" James and Will also describe the very first panels they saw of the manga a…
089 - Death Note vol. 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:15
Will, James and Steven talk about the controversy around Death Note at the time of its translation as well as the character Naomi Misora. Skip synopsis @ 7:47 Listeners and readers may also find the following subject mat…
088 - Death Note vol. 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:26
For the Halloween holidays all 3 dudes, James, Will and Steven talk about one of the most successful manga of all time, and that is Death Note! Wherein a bored schoolboy picks up the grim reaper's notebook. It reads "The…
087 - All You Need is Kill vol. 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:32
Steven and James return to talk about Takeshi Obata's vision of 'All You Need is Kill', and in turn compare the changes to the original light novel as well as the Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt movie adaptation, 'The Edge of…