Evangelion: Housou 30-shuunen Kinen Tokubetsu Kougyou

The best thing coming out of Eva since EoE. A reinvigorating appreciation for who Asuka is, not a proxy for anyone, she doesn't need to long for a world without Eva, and I don't need to stomach any more nauseating rebuild shenanigans desperately trying to sell characters that are not those I fell in love with back when I watched Evangelion and EoE for the first time. She accepts the debt she has to her ideals without any ounce of remorse or disquiet towards the future, because she is not Shikinami, she is Soryu. Leaving her pride behind might as well mean ego death, andher pride lies in the cockpit of the Eva. Have you ever thought about your entire experience of the universe and infinity being just a few seconds? Coming out of a hole covered in blood and cunt mucus, until mere second laters, feeling an excruciating pain despite your incapability of sensing what's surrounding you, being torn limb from limb. What is a character who leaves every part that makes it that character behind? That's the infinity rebuilds sold, an infinity not fit for complex characters because it would deny them the right to exist. Man, I'm writing too much, and I feel like I could write even more. Anyway, great short, it's silly and fun, full of fanservice but at the same time it was also really important to me.

Hands down the best thing Hideaki Anno has made since the end of the original series (including his awful live-action movies, tokusatsu and not), which is still to this day the only thing worth of experiencing from the entirety of the Evangelion IP. 12 storyless (as it was already storyless the main series) minutes focused on the best girl of the main trio and best character of them all period (proud card of the Asuka Soryu Langley fan club since 1999 here) which give her justice after the awful treatment she recieved in the terrible End of Evangelion movie, by showing that she's a strong,passionate woman with no time to waste in pointless romantic relationships with the worst character of the whole franchise, Shinji "Hideaki Anno in the 90's when he was making Fushigi No Umi No Nadia" Ikari, as her interest is in defending earth (and in loving the real-life men who consider her one of their wives, of course) through the use of mechas that can perform kamen rider kicks. It's also great to hear that Yuko Miyamura never lost it at the voicing department during these thirty years, despite her health problems. I can't recommend it enough, including to those who have been there since the very first inception of the Urutoraman/Gojira Tribute with hot chicks....errrr, I mean Evangelion back in the 90's and have been disappointed in both the director and the direction of the franchise since then.

NGE does comedy???? It really isn't that deep of a piece, but it is honestly quite comedic, and includes plenty of story beats, references, and of course new memes, for our fanbase to enjoy. I like how it finally shows us what Auska's perfect world view is, and also shows how she better understands and accepts her role in reality than Shinji. For me, it would have been a 7 just for existing because of my love of Evangelion, but the fact it was entertaining, came from new perspectives, managed to stay truthful to characters, and still found some depth of emotion, shows just how timelessthe story of Evangelion is, and will continue to be.

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