Get In The Podcast, Shinji | Ep. 2: The Huge Hog Dilemma / If You Can't Handle Me At My Mommy

Transcript

Speaker: can i Can I leave my business entity separate from my fan fiction and anime podcast? Well, if i wanted to dox you, we'd give you full name, which is Hannah. Oh, and her address over at...

Speaker: Welcome to Get In The Podcast, Shinji. This is not a rewatch. As always, our host, Sonny. Hello, mech heads and fans of distant father figures to the premiere Neon Genesis Evangelion Rewatch podcast. Join myself and special guests as we watch all of Hideki Anno's mech versus kaiju versus clinical depression versus teenage horniness anime series and accompanying film franchise.

Speaker: I am Sonny, joined by Quagglar Yo-Yo, what's up? It's me, it's me. It's Quaglar the IV, a.k.a. Disillusion Shinji.

Speaker: ah And Brock of Pewter Town. That's me. I have on an unfathomable game, and I only use two Pokemon.

Speaker: Charles Booktalk. Aficionado? Chapters! You didn't describe his voice as sultry. Sultry, Charles, book talk, chapters.

Speaker: Go on. And for the first time, Hannah, the yogi. the sultry yogi. but Oh, I forgot we're all sultry coded now. I can't have two sultry people on the pod. We can probably convince Charles to re-roll um for like a different like a different spec. I can start talking like this, actually. That might make more sense in this anime.

Speaker: Oh, I have been asked to record a bumper by one of our sponsors. So here we go. The Get in the Podcast, Shinji. This is not a rewatch. Proudly sponsored by Subway Sandwiches. Subway, we have the new hero sub.

Speaker: And we are no longer associated with Jared Fogle. Please stop mentioning Jared Fogle in relationship to Subway on your podcast. Subway, no longer associated with Jared Fogle. When you're here, you're not Jared.

Speaker: Home of the $8, $5 foot long.

Speaker: $8, $5 foot long. Except for in Alaska and Hawaii, prices may change and vary. I will say that I've been looking at the returns. The dailies are in and we are the number one, uh,

Speaker: Oh, gosh. We're the number one, the UnGenesis Evangelion rewatch podcast based in Alaska. And I do worry that calling in Hannah from remote is going to throw off our numbers.

Speaker: I am willing to gamble with that because I think that we can probably like use a a VPN or something to kind of just skew the traffic. Yeah, that should work.

Speaker: Which brings up our next sponsor, VPN. Don't get caught jerking off at work. Yeah. Unless that's your thing. yeah Don't or do whatever. We're not cops. um yeah ah you Listen, if the VPN is the only thing keeping you from being caught, your game is immeasurable.

Speaker: um Hannah. Good to have you on the pod. i mean, i I realized, you know, before we started recording that you've listened to the first two episodes and possible and I didn't think this was. I believe your respect for us collectively has dropped further. Is that correct?

Speaker: Yes. However, and so I mentioned to Sonny earlier in a message, I could not tell the difference between Brock and Charles' voices.

Speaker: for whatever reason, on the episode one. And so my respect is a little mixed right now. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. That is crazy. That is the craziest thing ever. In real life, you guys sound very different. But for some reason on the recording, unless Brock made a joke, I couldn't tell who was speaking.

Speaker: that's Get fucked, Charles. Sorry, Charles. One of you is far more serious than the other. The weird thing is, it doesn't make Charles white-coated. It makes Brock... ah Cooler. i Yeah, i okay, I do realize. So I've been playing around with a lot different mics. This is the third episode re-recording. This is the third mic I'm using. I will say that i I did find out after that I did have the Salvadoran voice filter turned on on the first one.

Speaker: And that could have been part of this. That'll do it. Yeah, it was like at the beginning of the episode when I was sounding like a robot. yeah's just It's just the most specific filter.

Speaker: So, ah Hannah, ah you know, you listened to the first two episodes, so you you kind of know where we're at with um the hit tie-in anime for one hour photo called Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Speaker: um But what's your background with it? Well, i I pretty much had zero background for this show. at all until maybe a month or two ago when Sunny has started to force me to watch it. I vaguely may have dated someone that talked about it, but I'm not too, not so sure. Maybe he had a roommate that watched it, but I had heard of it, never seen it.

Speaker: that's I feel like Ava is tangentially in a lot of people's lives and they don't exactly know what it is that that tracks. And what's your relationship with anime in general? I'm so glad you asked, Sunny, because this is the true test on all four of you and your anime knowledge.

Speaker: I will admit I do not have much history with anime, especially the big ones I have not seen. But there is one that I found on TV in high school called Boogie Pop Phantom.

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Was that Brock who said yeah? Yeah. yeah No, it was Charles. Did you watch it in high school? i know so i i talked a lot about the stuff that was swapped around. i never personally watched Boogie Pop, but I want to say my friends, ah Catherine and Lorna and Anya probably all watched it back in North Carolina.

Speaker: um probably i think it was discussed a fair bit. They were a bigger like Slayer's heads, but Boogie Pop did get some play, I believe. Yeah, well then I am impressed with one of three of you.

Speaker: Boogie Pop Phantom was really cool. I just stumbled upon it on TV, having no history with anime. And it was one of those things where i kept watching and it got real confusing. And I don't think I ever saw the final episode or two because I had no clue what was going on. And that seems to be the trend. I do have the DVD box collector set and have not watched it in 20 That's about right. I was going to say, i'm I was kind of shocked to learn that you you hadn't been exposed to Eva at all. Again, besides, I think, a pretty common ah through a friend or through ah a significant other who has made that like a fixture.

Speaker: ah Because you've always had, I think, pretty good media tastes. I was thinking before we we got on the call, the things that you you turned me on to...

Speaker: And like the closest one I'll pick on to this is Aeon Flux, the the animation. Okay, yeah. i um I guess that is a big one that I'm missing here. Yeah, that was probably my first anime then, not Boogie Pop Phantom.

Speaker: i don't I don't know Aeon Flux counts. I mean, definitely adult animation. it has the same animation as Rugrats. Right. It's classy super? show It's not a classic Japanese i I think that it's because when MTV was doing their whole liquid television era, that's Daria. They were really trying for they were trying to become the new thing. And that was the era that the Matrix was big. So there was a bunch of these Japanese imports going on and they didn't they weren't willing to go full into anime, but they were going willing to throw money to a Korean animator to make something anime esque.

Speaker: Okay. Yeah. And they succeeded. That's a fantastic show. Absolutely loved Aeon Flux. It was a mind flux, if you know what i'm saying. Oh, he did it.

Speaker: It's a good introduction one. I would say that would be kind of like a foot in the door for someone who is hesitant about anime.

Speaker: So where are you and Sunny at on your current rewatch? I think you're a few episodes ahead of us, but have you finished the season yet? We are on episode 19. Okay. yeah So I actually...

Speaker: violated the rule. i rewatched episode three and four today to refresh my memory on what I should know and should not know yet for this episode. That's good. Yeah. ah we We wouldn't have to heavily redact the entirety of your commentary, especially with all of the foreshadowing. Like there's stuff stuff now in a revisit, I bet ah is, is like a, such a major callback. There's actually one of those,

Speaker: that I clocked in my notes that we'll get to, I think, in episode four, but I do not remember the basis for it. So maybe we have a sidebar about it and then just get get the heck bleeped out of it.

Speaker: Yeah. and And I have a few notes that I think are probably me getting close to figuring out things that i shouldn't have figured out yet, but I have not been spoiled. So we'll see when that those come up. Yeah.

Speaker: Well, before we get into the episode, I wanted to, because my brain works on, oh, this is something that I can deeply research. I wanted to give a little bit of ted tidbits about the creator of Eva.

Speaker: um So Hideki Anno is a Japanese creator, animator, was born in ah May 22nd, 1960. He went to school, started working on some small anime shows in the early 80s, but didn't gain fame until he worked on Hayao Mizuki's 1984 film, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

Speaker: Has anyone else seen this movie? I have not. No, I haven't. I had heard i haven't either. and it's available on It's available on HBO. It's it's commonly and oka yeah yeah i've seen that Okay.

Speaker: Commonly associated with Studio Ghibli, even though was before Studio give with Ghibli actually existed, and watching this for the first time, ah Anno's portion of the animation is a distinctly... If you watch it, you'll understand, because it's all about a giant, monstrous creature coming to life.

Speaker: But it... Add this to your... If you have a free afternoon this week or a free evening, watch it, because it is amazing.

Speaker: Just like every other Studio Ghibli movie, you know... Miyazaki never misses, but this one is... It's way more action-oriented. Like, I know Mononoke is probably one of his more action-y shows. This blows it out of the water as far as action goes, and there's this sense post-apocalyptic dread that I don't think Miyazaki ever touches again.

Speaker: and isn't doesn't the main female character in this one have this, like, giant non-lethal gun that she uses? ah Not a gun, but she is very non-lethal. I actually think she's really similar to Lore in that she annoys everyone with talking about the plants and is objectively right all the time and is dedicated to pacifism.

Speaker: Huge shout out for the... ah women with large non-lethal guns in anime. big Big ups to my girl Millie Thompson from Trigon. Trigon, yeah, that's right. I was going to say, that's the one. We got to give a shout out to her.

Speaker: He later became one of the founders of Ganex Studios and worked on a number of series. The first feature-length film, Royal Space Force, The Wings of...

Speaker: Honeis, because there is absolutely no sense in Japanese anime naming conventions, um and became their studio's premier anime director, but fell into a deep depression for four years after the failure of their series, Nadia, The Secret of the Blue Water.

Speaker: And... Guys, would it surprise you to know that his dad was both verbally and physically abusive? Well, as long as he's doing something to work through it. Whoever made this show came from a loving and caring household, and their mother was definitely involved in their upbringing.

Speaker: I'll sprinkle more of the creation of this series as it goes on, but... As Brock Pewtertown said, we need to cut the fat, and let's get into it. Well, no, i got I got a couple things we got to start off with. We got Ava news, boys and girls.

Speaker: um First of all, Yoko Takahashi performed Cruel's Angels thesis at the 2026 Crunchyroll Anime Awards. Look it up. She's still got it.

Speaker: And Neon Genesis Evangelion is coming to the Criterion channel on September 1st. This comes courtesy of IGN, the Internet Gaming Magazine. ah yeah The 1995 to 1996 series Neon Evangelion will be available on Criterion and will also feature the films The End of Evangelion 1997 and Evangelion Death True Squared 1998.

Speaker: ninety ninety eight what All three titles come from North America distributor GKids. The original 26 episodes will be available in both Japanese language version and the classic English dub. First time the latter will be available on streaming.

Speaker: And that's your Evangelion News of the Week.

Speaker: Do we know they they'll restore we know if they'll restore the the closing Fly Me to the Moon? I doubt it highly. ah bumer I guess we'll just have to go on and go into the studio again and offer to to do our fully featured re re-record of that. All right, Sonny, let's get into episode three titled a Transfer, a.k.a. The Silent Phone.

Speaker: Which ah which title do you guys like better?

Speaker: ah Wow, these are both solid. um i think yeah I think a transfer just for the themes of the episode makes more sense. No, a silent phone, I think that that totally makes sense. It's even it's even mentioned. I guess both of them are mentioned inside of episode three.

Speaker: But like personally, a silent phone, that hit me. Yeah. I'm going to go with the transfer. Yeah. Well, kind of split. what's What's your tiebreaker, Sunshine? Yeah.

Speaker: oh A transfer is a really good title. The silent phone, I feel, is more evocative because a silent phone immediately puts you in the headset in that mindset to watch this episode. A silent phone, okay, why is it not ringing?

Speaker: But a transfer also, it's tough. I think my biggest but my biggest problem with both of them is that... Basically, we know he's alienated from his peers before we ever see him at school and see that alienation.

Speaker: So we get really heavy handed ex exposition, at at least in the dub, as he leaves for school. It's just like, yeah, I got him a phone that doesn't ring because he doesn't you know enjoy the company of others. Oh, but then right talking about how the phone doesn't, Masato says that the phone doesn't ring. Not just does it not ring because he's a transfer student and doesn't make friends easily, but he comes from somewhere else, right?

Speaker: Nobody from his past is calling him either. You know what? Fair. Like this kid is utterly alone. And I have some other things i want to touch on, but we'll get there.

Speaker: The episode starts with what is revealed to be a Eva VR training sequence. We are given a look at Shinji as he, ah Charles, do you want to repeat your and earlier statements? Center target, pull trigger. Center on target, pull trigger.

Speaker: Center on target, pull trigger. Yeah, Sinji is disassociating hard in this scene. Blank look as he is doing, as he is operating. What would, you know, when I was 14, be the coolest thing I have ever experienced in my life, a giant ah murder robot.

Speaker: Well, and I think the thing is, is like, dude, ah in in episodes one and two he got his ass handed to him so hard and was like so traumatized going into this. All he's trying to do is like learn.

Speaker: He does not want that to happen again. So he's just like whatever repetition I need to do, whatever I need to learn to make sure that that doesn't happen to me again. I'm going to do it. And that's why you he has like that that disassociative look is because he's locked.

Speaker: in it's automated at this point huge shout out to um the checkoffs gun of the episode is the incredibly specific and thorough mention that you have about a minute at most five if you come unplugged uh before you run out of power We also see Ritsuko looking over his training, and her and Masato are talking about what kind of person Shinji is, and the phrase, he does whatever he he's the kind who just does whatever he's told.

Speaker: Yeah, I got that written down too. That was that was cold, but i've I've seen that, you know, that's... they you Listen, in the workplace, you're getting if you tip your hand that you you are that person, you get exploited. And it is just there too on a kid.

Speaker: So even though Shinji was completely like out of it for his first battle, it's still leaving scars. And we are seeing... as he's becoming this weapon to learn what this machine can do, he's still not, there's still no joy in it. There is nothing that is driving him other than this is what I was brought here to do and I'm going to do it.

Speaker: He is still trying to buy for the affections of his father. ah This is later on, but he did say, like, my dad's not even watching. Why am I even doing this? That's exactly what I want to touch on. Yeah.

Speaker: Yeah. So he is doing this. I mean, because he's the only one who can and because he does want to make his daddy proud of him. But don't know. That ain't happening. Yeah.

Speaker: I think he's still just trying to figure everything out. So it totally makes sense. He's going to do whatever they tell him to. He's been thrown into this strange world, strange situation and put in life and death situations instantly.

Speaker: Really? what What else is he going to do? I mean, he had the illusion of choice, but I mean, it was never really a choice. It was just manipulation and do this damn thing. You little piece of crap.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: Yeah, and anytime he does have the thought, well, I don't want to do it, it's instantly, well, then all these people are going to die. It's going to be your fault. We'll just choose someone else who's brave. you know awesome We'll just put, listen, what we'll put this broken girl in. It's fine. She's fine. Yeah, it's been three weeks and she's still bashed the hell up.

Speaker: She's walking, though. That's an improvement. Yeah, she can go to school. yeah I do think um for at least mine and Sonny's end, we need to get a ah ah whiteboard that says ah this many days since a minor was horrifically injured.

Speaker: That's not fair. You're not going to need two digits on that. Should we be tracking their injuries? You have one at the hotel, right? And it's never gotten above two? No, but them kids, it's clumsy. So that's not on us.

Speaker: Fuck them kids. Michael Jordan. You get too many stairs in that place. Is that what it is? Yeah. It's crazy that they're icy in August, but what are you going to do ah we are We go back to the apartment where we see that Masato has, or I'm guessing probably Shinji, has cleaned up a little bit.

Speaker: Yeah, Masato is like ah tuckered out. She's like cooked. She's like completely, her room is still trashed, but um yeah, the rest of the apartment is cool. She's just like covered in a blanket and is just like,

Speaker: ah are you making friends? Is it Thursday? Take out the burnable trash.

Speaker: She's allowed to have burnout. She has a very stressful job. Yeah. um I did write Masato isn't on her usual Masato shit. like No. seems like she Yeah. She really chilled out a bit, at least for these two episodes.

Speaker: Well, i one thing that we see with her as well, which is like kind of I don't I don't know how to take it exactly yet, but she's the she seems to be the only character with some empathy, at least adult, I should say. She seems to be the only adult with some empathy specifically for shin Shinji and what he's going through. But then at the same time, like she's pulled between having that empathy and then having the duty to her job.

Speaker: agreed yeah i think if you compare her to it ritsuko names just over funny they are very different as far as their priorities with work and yeah like you just said she cares about shinji much more than the other people there do Yeah. ah I did clock that Rissoko has a ashtray just full of cigarette butts, like with ah two different colors of lipstick on. So she's been, she smoked like a chimney.

Speaker: Oh, and those two different colors of lipstick probably indicate that it's like from multiple days. Yeah. Yes. Right. She hasn't emptied that ashtray in probably like a week. And that's probably ah the amount of cigarettes that she smokes in her office.

Speaker: Multiple times. Glad I can't smell this anime.

Speaker: rose Really? You wouldn't buy Misato's bathwater? No, i like like ah burnt burning trash, cigarette butts. I'm good. I want what the inside of the evas smell like then.

Speaker: Right? ah Orange tang. That's my final offer. For some reason, I feel like chicken broth is the answer. ah Why is it savory?

Speaker: We could have made it any flavor we wanted.

Speaker: Gendo's trying to be a dad. is like chicken Children like chicken soup, right?

Speaker: Quigelab, I'm glad you focused on the cigarette, ah the ashtray, because I feel this this and the next episode do a lot of subtle world building. Because when we get to school, there's a lot of conversations going on about why the world is the way that it is. It's never the focus of the episode, but it is we do start seeing the blank spaces filled in a little bit.

Speaker: So we get to Shinji's class. After being told, Shinji has a phone, which, remember, 1995, about the time, not a whole lot of people had a cell phone, even in whatever the 2015 of Eva.

Speaker: So it's a big deal, but no one calls him. No one. Not his dad, not anyone from Neuve, not any of his friends at school, which... Friends? Friends? And it is established that it's been three weeks. So he's been there for a minute, like should have made a friend by now.

Speaker: I mean, maybe yeah some of that time he was in the hospital, but. What's also been established is that 15 years ago was the second impact, which wiped out half of the world and destroyed all of the economies.

Speaker: Yeah. Climate change. They said it was a, a meteor hit the earth and wiped out half of all living organisms and plummeted the world into chaos, which honestly, to have that happen and have like all of these economies collapse in the world fighting for resources and then have like this kind of organization within 15 years is quite astonishing, I would say.

Speaker: Also, Charles, did you pick up the fact that that information came immediately after we were found that they're not being completely honest about the casualty counts?

Speaker: Actually, and you make a good point, too, because in in episode two or one, I don't remember, they said that it's been 15 years since the last angel attack. And then in class, he says it's been 15 years since the second impact, which was a giant meteor.

Speaker: So yeah they aren't telling you the truth either about what happened during the second impact. and And the thing, too, that I picked up from that second impact description, hit the South Pole and vaporized the ice sheet on Antarctica arcctica instantly. That is a staggering amount of energy.

Speaker: Which is why the world is flooded. So this stuck out to me, too, when I was watching the episode, because you can see on the subtitles, the teacher lecturing in the background, yeah saying all this information that is actually probably really important to the plot.

Speaker: And i found it interesting that all the kids in class were just sitting there dazed out, not caring because all this happened before they were born. They're 14. It happened 15 years ago. They've never even really had to deal with the fear of an angel coming and attacking until very recently.

Speaker: Yeah. So the timeline is kind of strange to realize, okay, it's been 15 years and now suddenly we're getting all these attacks as soon as Shinji shows up. Yeah. Everyone is way more interested in Shinji than they are like learning about history.

Speaker: i think that matches my experience with like with, with my kids at least as I can tell them about something, but it, it is far different to have something like crazy big happen.

Speaker: um Another thing I'll point out. Like, yeah, like, again, I... Exactly. it you know my my Speaking of things that they're not telling us the truth about... Yeah.

Speaker: this This episode brought to you by the real truth. ah No, like the thing that I always, that the second impact bit that really stood out too is how specific they are with the numbers, right? And it happened 15 years ago. We haven't seen angels in 15 years.

Speaker: You can only pilot an Eva if you are 14 or younger. Yeah, right? What's with that? They're all 14. Yeah. They're all born post-second impact. Yeah.

Speaker: That's a very keen observation. and And one of the things about that scene that I kind of like, it's it's like a direct it's an intentional directed ah like direction that they're taking here, where Hannah had mentioned it, the teacher is saying all of this important plot information, but he's subtly saying it off screen in the background.

Speaker: And while all of the kids are huddled around Shinji because they just found out he's the pilot and they're curious about it and they're asking all these questions. And so like visually you're focused on that and you're kind of seeing what's happening with Shinji.

Speaker: And then suddenly in the background, you get all of this plot information that's happening. So it's easy to miss. i I really liked um him just getting a message on his a computer, like ah passing a note in class, like, hey, do you like me?

Speaker: YN. And it's like, hey, um are you the pilot for that big robot? And he's just like, yes. And then everyone flips out. Everybody turns around. And there are so many shades...

Speaker: of theme going on in that scene. We can see, you know, the youth obsessed with celebrity culture as opposed to learning about history. We can see how kids just like don't care about what is going on. And we also see something going on with some new characters that we've just been introduced to. We have Toji and we have Kensuke and we have Class Rep.

Speaker: who that's the only name that has given her so far. And Toji is someone whose sister was hurt in the angel attack a few weeks ago. We find out that this, you know, ah framed as a big, tough kid, is going and so spending every single day with his sister.

Speaker: He's actually a parentified child. Yeah. With his best friend, Kensuke, who is just obsessed with anything Eva-related. He's also kind of like, ah we find this out in the next episode, but like kind of paramilitary cosplay bro. Oh yeah. yeah huge Huge amateur film filmmaker.

Speaker: And I'd like to say something about Toji as well is that dude's got mad drip.

Speaker: uh that's that's a question before we get too far yeah farther along toji's parents what was the reason why they weren't at the hospital with the sister scientist said that they were like working at like the lab or like the lab yeah yeah and um his mother isn't mentioned so it's assumed she's dead Yeah. So there's there's definitely a trend in all these kids that their parents aren't very active in their lives. They're either busy working on this global lab catastrophe thing that's been going on for 15 years, or maybe they're dead because they died in the second impact or... There's just a lot of absence there that I've noticed.

Speaker: I have a question. in these In these four episodes that we've seen so far, I know we're kind of jumping the gun with with you talking about four episodes, but have we seen a single mom yet?

Speaker: No. Where's the cicada sound? I mean, listen, we've seen one. who no biological moms. Okay. Who's the mom that you were thinking of?

Speaker: ah We'd have to bleep it heavily. You mean mommy? Don't tell me. No spoilers. And I think that like says something again about like the story that he's telling. it a but That comes out especially in this episode. We are seeing very...

Speaker: very like ah paternal view view of parenting. It is all about, well, isn't the kid fed? Yeah. Then what the fuck do you need me for?

Speaker: Like, there's no maternal energy going on. The only one who's been showing any of that is Masato, who is not good at it. is it Yeah. That brings me to to a question. I want to, I want to get back to something we were talking about talking around.

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Is Masato Mami? Well, you've just guessed the secret shirt of the week. I want to get up that shirt made. It's a picture of Masato. And it's going to say, is Masato Mami?

Speaker: ah Can I get the bumper sticker? That's going to be the first original merch from this podcast. It'll have her from episode two where she's leaning over the table.

Speaker: You said it. All right. I didn't. You said it. She is not mother. We can agree. I believe. Right. But she's not mother. Is she mommy? But is she mommy?

Speaker: i mean That changes the i the dynamic at home, for sure. Oh, well, we can get back to that. But the ah the the call-out that I have... um You know what? we'll We'll do it next episode when he goes on Walkabout.

Speaker: But yes. Oh, yeah. her the Series of Masato incidents around the house. Masato with ah spider legs crawling out front of the table or whatever, like in in the movie. But she is the wrong mommy in the years I can tell. But she is the most caring individual that I've seen. And I don't i don't think that we can say... So here's the question.

Speaker: as well, is we we were we're speculating that there are no surviving birth mothers. I mean, don't know if I'm speculating yet. I am just saying I haven't seen any.

Speaker: And I'm trying to remember in in episode one or two when those two girls are talking in the market about moving, did she say my parents? No, she just husband. my mom or my dad?

Speaker: Or my husband? Or was it my husband talking about moving? I think... she got She only said husband. She didn't mention any kids or parents. I do think that there is the expectation that mothers are present. Like, I don't think that there's just the universal truth that they're done because I think it gets treated like a You know, when Kinsuke and Shinji are talking later, he you know, he goes to ask about Kinsuke's mom and gets told that she's not in the picture. If it was anything else, I feel like if that's the status quo, then everyone just goes, well, yeah, you know, I don't have to say anything because of course my mom's not around. just know. Yeah. Yeah. i

Speaker: I think it's making a statement in these episodes about like, what, what do we look, what does the world look like when we don't have mothers? And maybe that's, you know, and Eva is famous for having a lot of themes and not following up on all of them. But definitely think like the lack of maternal influence or a maternal love, maybe not even of a mother, but of the maternal presence, like is felt by like all of these characters as we're seeing them interact.

Speaker: Like Charles... called out good about the hypersexuality that happens in trauma but also we are looking at ptsd at a global scale what historical trauma does it is it makes a generation unable to care for the next generation so what we are seeing is in all of these children these children after the impact That yeah they are coming from torn apart families and they are doing the best they can, but their parents can't give them what they need and they can't give themselves what they need. So they're trying to figure stuff out.

Speaker: We also introduced to a theme that goes hard in the next two episodes, the hedgehog's dilemma. Oh yeah. i I'm glad you brought that up, Sonny. I've been sitting here like a tiger ready to pounce, but continue. Go for it.

Speaker: Oh, no, no. like ah you know The Hedgehog's Dilliman, they call it out a bunch. They explain it. um you know You're so prickly that you know you you you can't hold anyone close ah for fear of hurting them.

Speaker: I would like posit... I thought it was that ah no 3D Sonic game was going to be any good. that's That's the Hedgehog's universal truth. That's a different thing.

Speaker: I would posit another dilemma to you. I mean, has anyone, I guess, experienced the hedgehog's dilemma? Yes. In adults, it's known as borderline personality disorder. That's fair.

Speaker: but Because the hedgehog's actual dilemma is is, you know, like them gators got all them teeth and he got ain't no toothbrush. But the dilemma of part is the fact that you want comfort in closeness, but you can't get it. So the entire thing is a push-pull. I want you to get close to me, but I have to keep you away.

Speaker: And because what human beings do... Goodwill hunting. Is... Yeah. What human beings do is we seek out connection. Everything we do is about trying to connect and keep ourselves safe. And what we see is Shinji is like, Shinji is desperate for connection. Like Quaggler pointed out, he wants his dad's love even though he doesn't know how to ask for it. He wants to get along with Masato, Even though, because she's the only positive influence in his life, he wants to be accepted by his class, but he doesn't know how. And he feels they're going to hurt him or he's going to hurt them by getting in the robot. So it's all a push-pull. They're surrounding him. They love him. They're so excited. And he cannot take any credit for it. He's just like, I do it because I'm the only one who can. Okay. He already experienced that with Toji, where he got socked in the gob because Toji blames him for injuring his sister.

Speaker: So he's already felt, you know, they asked me to do this. I saved the city, but I'm already getting rejection from from this guy And I want to and i want to highlight Toji for a second because I feel like he, in this episode, exemplifies something that is going on. Like, Toji has to do something. He feels like, i couldn't live... think he says, I couldn't live with myself unless I... Hit you. Unless I hit you. Yeah.

Speaker: Like, he is just this avatar of toxic masculinity trying to figure out... Because... To ask him to do nothing would be cowardice. Like, what am I supposed to do?

Speaker: Even though it doesn't help his sister at all, it doesn't help anyone. He is punishing the person who saved everyone. But for him, like, I got to do something with all this energy. Yeah, and then immediately after, s Sinji is like, I never asked to do this. And then it makes him so irate, ah Toji, that he just has to run off and sock him again.

Speaker: Like, that one was uncalled for. So Toji suffers from something... i i'm glad you asked. don't quite understand the second punch. So Toji suffers from something very similar to the Hedgehog's Dilemma. They don't address it here, but it's sort of... I think Hannah could probably speak to this from from her sort of subject area um in the the creative writing space. ah yeah toji Toji suffers from the Huge Hog's Dilemma.

Speaker: I have a ton of experience with that

Speaker: with that. So, Hannah, I'm really interested in your perspective on these boys being boys because we're all boys being boys.

Speaker: but what did you see? Mm-hmm.

Speaker: Well, the hedgehog's dilemma definitely hits hard when you compared it to borderline personality. um Because i've known which she has it thank you I've known boys that I've dated that have had that um defensive mechanism where they put their spikes out whenever they feel like they might be unsafe or they might get hurt. They've got to hurt everyone around them first. And so I can see that. Hurt people. people.

Speaker: And we kind of see that in Shinji in a way. Like he's so sensitive and caring and afraid to hurt people until he just reaches his limit and he doesn't care anymore and he kind of goes berserk. And I can't remember if that's the third or the fourth episode, but we see something like that. Yeah.

Speaker: Yeah. He does mention ah in the classroom scene, ah he's like, ah someone's like, do you have any special attacks? And he's like, I think I have a knife. Yeah. I've got an ultrasonic vibrating knife.

Speaker: So I do also want to take another opportunity to pick on um to Toji and Kinsuke. ah Because all I can see every time i look at these two guys is ah Joey and Tristan from Yu-Gi-Oh!

Speaker: And I don't know that Maybe they were archetypes to that. It's right. the yeah These guys walk so that Joey Wheeler can can hey you! see I put down um after he gets punched a second time, ra just trolls up and could not care less about this little dirt.

Speaker: I wrote Ray has... Literally, I wrote Ray got that brain implant because she she told him she tells him there's an attack and then the alarms go off.

Speaker: it might known as me ray be weird It reminds of that meme of Speed Racer where he's like, what are you doing and crying? That won't help anything. Plus, there's much of work to do.

Speaker: But since we mentioned it, ah that knife, right? And we talked about Shinji just kind of like going berserk, which is kind of maybe a callback to episode one or two. But is is he's they're he's fighting this angel and he pulls out. Oh, hold up. theres There's a lot that happened before we get to the angel fight. There is a long panning shot of urinals.

Speaker: Yeah. also And one that was very dirty. saw that too. I appreciate that detail. Yeah. yeah I want to know what the sign on it said. Cause why can't you clean the broken one?

Speaker: i It no no i has a limit in shame. I have that the the the the the shelter scene where the urinal takes place. Sorry, the shelter where the urinal scene takes place.

Speaker: There is no real urinal scene, although in my in my fantasy rewrite, i have as I'm slowly panning and Toji is standing at the urinal, pants completely around his ankles, shirt completely up around his chin.

Speaker: I saw a little bit of crack from Tochi. It's definitely a urinal scene. The crack was disturbing. I have to admit Why do that? But here's the thing. The crack, honestly, like when I saw that, it just made them seem so much more boyish.

Speaker: So much more childlike. You know what I mean? Like I saw that and I was like, this kid obviously has his pants either one, they're too big, or pulled down slightly too far. Like he's, like it just seemed like something a child would do, you know?

Speaker: Well, and Toji, previous to this, had his toes out, which makes him the Toe OG or the Toe G. So he's living up to his name.

Speaker: I'm sending the assassins now. but Also, yeah all brothers rocking sneakers with no socks. Those is because things gotta be stanky. I have... I also started calling out that, thanks to you guys, I cannot not hear the absolute English they put on Nerve.

Speaker: Yeah. I also it. follow up there It's very unique. I think follow up from the pod last week where we talked about the how the evacuation procedures work, we actually get to see how the evacuation procedures work in this episode.

Speaker: And we see Toji and Kensuke absolutely violating bro code. Full on conversation at the urinal. yeah. And they're standing right next to each other. like You have 40 urinals in there. Not cool, man. Not cool.

Speaker: But one piece of dialogue stood with me about how Kinsuke is so excited to like, hey, god we got we got to see an angel fight just once. We have to get out of here. And Toji says, you're such a slave to your passions.

Speaker: Oh, yeah. That stuck with me. That was kind of ironic. Toji, you just hauled off and double tapped, like, the weakest boy in class because you were upset and you couldn't do anything.

Speaker: Talk about a second impact. Hey-o! Hey-o! Hey-o!

Speaker: And then we're introduced to ah we introduced to the angel for the episode, Sam Shell, who is, in my opinion, a flying penis monster.

Speaker: Yes! I saw the fallacy, the fallicness too. it ah tentacles? It also ah showed up in the form of a cross, which did cause me to take my first prayer break of the episode.

Speaker: Do you make sure you would do it towards Bethlehem? Always. good boy Hannah instantly started writing new fanfiction. yeah Yeah, no, I have... ah i Gosh, i I have all kinds of notes about the penis angel.

Speaker: ah i had it originally as the claw shrimp angel. Claw shrimp was um what my old guild insisted on calling the lobster on our tavern. um And then I just landed on bondage dick angel.

Speaker: um this is This is a creature that is... the sum of a lot of choices. Mm-hmm. in an episode rife with toxic masculinity, and then the monster turns out to be a penis monster?

Speaker: Hmm. a What would Freud be doing right now? Honestly, and probably watching Stepmom on Pornhub. Yeah, probably. Still...

Speaker: So I would rank this angel as um the worst so far that we've seen. um That's just my angel ranking of the week.

Speaker: Midway through this episode, Allison did get derailed watching with me. And we looked up and found that Kinsuke is the voice actor from Fire Emblem Three Houses and several ah a bunch of other credits. I'm scrolling through it now.

Speaker: ah ben Benjamin Diskin. And Golly, he's Arguman. Like, what a delightful little boy. Pepper breath.

Speaker: ah All right. ah Charles, I believe you were talking about the fight. Yep. So, okay. ah The dick monster shows up and they proceed to fight. And again, right?

Speaker: ah we've We've got Toji and that little boy with glasses filming it and checking it out. And Shinji, again, is kind of getting his ass whooped. You know, ah he... he he Fire. He full on penetrated.

Speaker: He rapid fires his gun, which is a mistake because he obscures his vision and and Masato even mentions it. So this tentacle monster comes out, whips him real hard, and knocks down a building, grapples him and then throws him like 16 miles away and coincidentally lands right next to i Toji and that boy with glasses. I can't remember his name. I keep Ken's game. And I wrote Eugene from Hey Arnold.

Speaker: And he they he they they barely miss his hand because they end up in between his two fingers. And i thought the funniest part about this is after Shinji gets thrown 16 miles into a mountainside and gets like embedded into the mountainside. He's laying there and the image of him is just completely like knocked out on his back.

Speaker: it obviously in pain and they say, what are how are his vitals? They go, he's fine. There's no damage. And the you look at him and he's thinking, hell nah, bitch. I'm fucked up.

Speaker: We even see damage reports going on in headquarters. They're flying by about like how much he had how much energy he has left, what parts are non-responsive.

Speaker: Because he's unplugged. He got unplugged, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that timer is rapidly decreasing, right? It starts off at five minutes.

Speaker: ah He decides to go forward with the attack. and And so... Against orders. Against... Well, was it's not against orders yet because he's he's attacking. But then he gets thrown into the mountainside and he ends up putting those two... Well, actually, those two got themselves in danger.

Speaker: But those two end up jumping into the Eva with him, right? Because that's what... So that way they can extract him because after they get loaded into the um Eva, his orders are to return back to Nerv so they can figure out what to do next ah in this angel attack.

Speaker: And Shinji says, don't run, don't run, don't run. Right? Like he's backing. Retreating is not an option. And mind you, there's about 40 seconds left of energy.

Speaker: Inside of his Eva suit. And so what does he do? He pulls out the progressive knife, which is the coolest looking mech combat knife I've ever seen that starts to glow this like beige color and proceeds to charge down after this angel who skewers him through the chest with both to both tentacles.

Speaker: And he combat thrust this thing into what I believe is the is the crystal heart of this angel. And is like crying and screaming. And when, when he was screaming during this scene, like the, the, the voice acting in it, I'm telling you, it just, it felt so visceral to listen to. And I can just see, ah his two friends sitting in the Eva, looking at him. They're not even his friends at this point. Honestly, they're just two kids from his class looking at him and thinking to themselves, like, uh,

Speaker: We were wrong about this kid. yeah Shinji's the only motherfucker who stabs you and he screams. Yeah. and and and And by the way, that doesn't instantly kill the angel.

Speaker: The angel's still fighting back. The energy is still plummeting. And then finally, when it hits zero, his Eva goes dark and loses power. Then the angel, the crystal also stops being red. And then you don't quite know if it's dead or not, but they say there's no movement from the angel. And there's this cool ass pan around the two of them as they stand in this like forever encased fight combat mode.

Speaker: Well, that, the thing too, you gotta put yourself in the shoes of all three. First of all, you know, ah my boys, Toji and Kinsuke are locked in a in a dark tube of what we presume to be chicken broth um with a yeah a classmate who they now know is hanging on by a thread who is sobbing. Like, just full, like, shaking the bed, crying. ah Full on crash out.

Speaker: while they are suspended in a black void mid-fight, as far as they're aware, with this monstrous entity. And they don't know, because it went dark you know at the same time the power ran out.

Speaker: They don't know if like death is coming. They have no idea. that that that That tube has got to, I think, be like a mix of chicken soup and also ah absolute terror. Chicken pee.

Speaker: Yeah. Honestly, that's not too far off to how I first hung out with you and Hannah, Brock. That is true, but we were in a trunk and it was safe.

Speaker: I was in a trunk and I was not safe. There no chicken involved. It was a soup kitchen.

Speaker: At Billiton Northern Lights. Yeah. We have the fight, and it's not a heroic example of combat. It is brutal and terrible. And before the Ava went berserk, now Shinji when goes berserk. And he is just, as you guys have illustrated, screaming, crying,

Speaker: sobbing while he's doing his murder. I mean, quite frankly, it was suicidal. It was suicidal. And the only thing that kept him from dying was the un... Like, the the fact that you can't fight fight the need for human preservation or self-preservation.

Speaker: Then we get to the ending and Toji is... You know feels like he has to call Shinji and like let him know that he was wrong. But he gets to the phone and we get yet another silent phone.

Speaker: Mm hmm. The 10 100. Also, that phone is crazy.

Speaker: All right, that's that episode, right? I mean, we we got anything else? the The ending of the episode, i i watched the credits, and it does with Masada's voiceover again, and it promises in the next episode lots more fan service.

Speaker: And what I can say after watching this episode, I don't know what part of that was supposed to be fan service. ah All of episode four, or episode three or episode four? Four. Four was all fan service for me, which I'll get into when we get to it.

Speaker: um Three was all fan service for me because i love i love an array of of incredibly upsetting to look at urinals. An array?

Speaker: right. yeah Episode four, Rain After Running Away, a.k.a. The Hedgehog's Dilemma. Oh, they called this one The Hedgehog's Dilemma. Mm-hmm. Oh.

Speaker: Or rain after running away. I think that's the American one. Yeah.

Speaker: So we're introduced to empty rooms.

Speaker: As Shinji faces military discipline for Masato, someone who is not equipped to do military discipline, but is doing her damnedest by explaining to him listen, you like you can't do that.

Speaker: Yeah, you want to get orders.

Speaker: And I can't give you ah i and have you pulling that shit. Well, in the beginning of episode four, Shinji's not even home anymore. No, he ran away. Yeah. with What did he leave to communicate that he was running away?

Speaker: He left his ID. Mm-hmm. End of note. End note.

Speaker: Just like how his dad summoned him. So i I'm rewatching this opening scene. The episode opens with Misato's alarm going off.

Speaker: And her feet. And her snoozing it with her feet. With her foot. And ah you know what i I turned to my wife and said in this moment?

Speaker: said, Misato's.

Speaker: Take the shot. Take the shot. The good news is I can see that there's nothing outside my basement. um Oh, wait. Hold on. There's a laser pointer. trigger One of these days we're going to be recording and I'm going to look out the window and just see you in a ghillie suit with a 50 cal.

Speaker: yeah

Speaker: Instead of winter, why is he wearing that? it It's just a green ghillie suit in the middle of of December. Yeah. um But yeah, she gets she gets woken up, she gets ready, and then boom, gets to the door, and our boys are there.

Speaker: Toji and Kisuke. You can call him Ida, his last name, if that's easier. Ida, that's easier. ida and Shijuhara?

Speaker: Suzuhara.

Speaker: I'll just call him Koji. to Yeah, Toji and Aida. That's where I i landed on. In the name of brevity. Yeah, so so they're there because they want to see where Shinji has been. he hasn't shown up to class for three days.

Speaker: Yeah. um Yeah, and ah so ah they're down bad for Masato. They are. Yeah, because they're acting like normal 14-year-olds. This is a good time to bring up the pH scale.

Speaker: Oh, yeah. Oh, yes. I distinctly remember one of them saying something about her being a hottie. I think it was Ida was the like on a pH scale of horniness was like an 11.

Speaker: Yep. That is where I put Kensuke.

Speaker: Now, even though Toji was horny, I also put a... i felt like he was more depressed because of everything that was going on. agree He was more concerned about, like, i I want to see what's going on with with Shinji.

Speaker: You know? This chick's a total babe, but also I'm still concerned with my... Are we friends?

Speaker: Yeah, ah we do find out later in the episode that he got chastised by his little sister for beating up the guy who saved the city. Yeah. So why that's probably weighing on him a bit. That brings down the horniness.

Speaker: Yeah, his sister's upset with him, kind of had to put him in his place, beat up by an elementary school kid.

Speaker: so is his sister the mommy? Oh, no no, no, no, no. I think I think I think he's i think you's been parentified. So then I guess the question is, is Toji is Toji daddy?

Speaker: Absolutely not. Yeah, no, he seems like weird cousin, right? Toji actually is mommy and daddy because he is the parent figure in that household. I don't think. right Hannah, I can hear you biting things back.

Speaker: If you can't handle me at my daddy, you don't deserve me at my mommy. Oh, I need to write that one down. Is that a writing prompt? yeah Yes, that is. That is a very good Draco writing prompt. can see that was a polyjuice portion copter and alley.

Speaker: Oh, the stories for Cocktail Alley did release today. I just want to throw out there the advertising. Is it on Wattpad or 5.0? oh Oh, AO3. AO3, that's what I mean. AO. Oh my gosh.

Speaker: All the shots. What can't Bartender? Senator? Fanfiction platform? All the shots we have seen. It's called being Go ahead. Have been really effective at showing...

Speaker: distance No one is connected here other than Kensuke and Toji. Like everyone is just feeling like lost.

Speaker: Yeah. The scene where he's at the movie theater, where is definitely a place you would go to get a sloppy hand job. Like you've got four people, including Shinsuke. You got five people in this movie theater. Some drunk dude passed out in the front row. some homeless guy.

Speaker: Again, some feet for Brock. Thank you. And then ah two people on a date where a ah sloppy hand job is definitely in play and then Shinji like in the back.

Speaker: Yeah. It's just so like depressing, like this theater. And I think the scene before that was Shinji riding the train like to its completion because he had nowhere to go. Also, again, great shots of just like Shinji immobile, not moving while every while life is happening around him. And then he ends and he's like, I got to go home. And then where does he go?

Speaker: the, you know, movie theater that's showing a porno next door. The same theater where Fred Willard it. I do the next key Shinji ride to completion, honestly. i do want to unpack riding a train to completion. i do want to unpack Shinji's synthwave mixtape.

Speaker: Yes. um I also, I also, it got me thinking about like, I don't know if this was as unique or as shared an experience, but what do you think, uh, what do you think Shinji's Winamp skins looked like?

Speaker: Cause like, I definitely. Pictures happy families. God, that's just so sad. Yeah. like kids' crayon drawings of mommies and daddies with their children. This is devastating. Yeah.

Speaker: Did you guys notice that all the music in this episode were Dianetic? Yes. No. Is it? Explain more. so ah He's glad you asked.

Speaker: I'm glad you asked. All the bits of music you hear, either from Shinji's ah player or... Walkman. Walkman, probably. walkman Or car radios. or just like They move in and out of scene. The episode itself has no music.

Speaker: It's just things that are playing. dia me that I did notice the car radio music and I guess maybe there's probably sound on one of the trains too but yeah non-diegetic Sunny oh sorry non-diegetic Dianetics is Scientology that's when you watch it in reverse by Masami Okua it It hit.

Speaker: I enjoyed Misato's city pop. um I think that that's an interesting thing. in fact but you know Talking about the space, I never... It never clocked as weird before when I watched the show.

Speaker: and And it took me a while now, even in this one, to really get, especially it wasn't until he starts you know the journey he's about to undertake, the sense of emptiness in Tokyo 3, right? And the outlying areas wherever he is.

Speaker: It's a sterile city. assume still in the metro. And yeah, there's I think being up here, I'm so used to they're not so there being places you can go where there's just nobody around.

Speaker: And in you gotta think too, even the the crowded-ish train at peak on his commute is nowhere near any of what you know modern train ride in Tokyo looks like.

Speaker: Yeah. I noticed the quiet of the city. I noticed that it was juxtaposed by the cicadas that blew out my goddamn eardrums. Always. They're always the loudest thing in every scene.

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I would like to point out that you hear the other kids talking about how their families are leaving town. They're evacuating. They're moving away.

Speaker: And he hears all this in the background as he's contemplating running away and quitting everything, feeling like a failure. That's got to really be tough for him, just feeling yeah like even more isolated.

Speaker: Well, and more than like, I think also about like being what's more isolating is the fact that he He can't really run away based on who he is because he can't like. And I think that's what's important about the theater scene is there was a sense of like longing of like, wow, I wish I could. That could be me. Not because that they're making out with each other, but I want a normal life.

Speaker: But I'm the only person who can operate this Eva. And these people don't get to have this normal carefree life if I run away. yeah I think like while I was watching, which also good use of world building as we see more stories about the second impact happening on the movie screen, the the empty the loneliness he was feeling was so palatable. And he's looking at this and he is seeing just people connecting.

Speaker: and you know considering Anno's depression, and I don't know about you guys, but I know when I'm at my worst, the thing I want most is someone to care about me, but the thing I want to do least is put myself in a position where I'm going to get hurt.

Speaker: And it feels like Shinji is just like, he he's there. Like, he wants to do something, but it seems like everything he does ends up hurting him. He he fights and he goes in the Eva, and then he ah saves his friends, but also at a huge cost to himself. He chooses not to go in the Eva, and then people reject him. His dad doesn't love him. Every choice he does is wrong, so it feels like the only choice he can do is not make a choice. It's the only safe thing, but also it causes him pain. So there is nothing that this kid can do that is right. And I you know i feel that in an ah atomic level where it just feels like I...

Speaker: I want to do something. like That's what depression is. you It's not just sadness. It's to feel like nothing I do actually matters. It's going to be the same no matter what I do. So why do anything?

Speaker: Well, if nothing is going to make me feel better, then why not feel terrible while I am helping others? And I think that's what leads him back to Nerv.

Speaker: Well, hold on. We're not back to Nerv yet. No, not close. I think those ah four dudes in suits who showed up led him back to Nerv. Yeah. I want to take this moment to talk about like his walkabout, right? like um All I had in all of this empty space is, i you know, i it it got me thinking about, you know, ah liminal spaces, you know, real hot right now.

Speaker: um got me thinking about Dream Corps. ah But there's a a couple movies I wanted to cite here that this this this reminded me of with the huge empty landscapes and and and and everything.

Speaker: i'm I'm going to go for two. i got Robin Williams' is um Toys, a Dream Corps masterpiece, worth revisiting if you haven't, an absolutely insane movie. Yeah.

Speaker: And then ah ah there's a Japanese movie I really like that is actually about the same age as Eva. It's called Kikujiro no Natsu. I think it's in America as Kikujiro. And it's this... um this boy's trip through you know rural Japan to to reconnect with his estranged mom.

Speaker: um it it the The scenery, the the you know journey through an empty space, all of it really, really hit home, especially with those two.

Speaker: And I just, I love this episode. I hate to say that I'm so easy to to hit, but huge empty space just activate the the good brain chemical for me.

Speaker: I got really into just the the framing of all the scenes. I just i thought ah like when Ida is playing war and it's like silhouetted and everything, he's playing both roles of like,

Speaker: Sergeant, oh, I'm down. Leave me. I'm never going to leave you. ah it it just looks really, really good. And then there's some other shots coming in later that we're going to talk about. But I just think as a whole, this is like one of the better framed episodes.

Speaker: If that makes sense, like all the composition is really well done. What do you think? Oh, yeah. exactly What do you think Ida's top four is on Letterboxd?

Speaker: ah Saving Private Ryan The Thin Red Line Black Hawk's Down Enemy at the Gate o and And number five The Notebook Toy Story Yeah, yeah gotta put in a robot movie there Robot Jocks I find it really interesting that you guys like this episode so much because coming into this show, not knowing the plot, not knowing where it's going, when you're new to it, it feels like, oh, another battle, another angel showed up. Now he's hurt again. Now he's sad again. And so this episode is kind of refreshing. Yeah, he's sad, but there's not just a bunch of fighting. It's the aftermath. And you really see some progression in his his journey, I think, internally.

Speaker: You have time to take a breath and let it sit.

Speaker: It's nice too, right? it's it's It's filler episode in in like traditional shonen anime style. It would be they go to the beach or whatever.

Speaker: And in this one, filler episode becomes I'm going to go on a sad walk while abandoning my duties and you know pondering what it means to fulfill one's obligations.

Speaker: In addition to the the references that and referrals that Brock gave, I also want to do a shout-out the old 60s British show, The Prisoner. Ooh,

Speaker: ah Shinji's walkabout also feels very... Because he quit in that show and then proceeded to just walk around. And, of course, um ah Miyazaki, My Neighbor Totoro, where the the shots of nature...

Speaker: I love how we've all picked in on it, but like when it's just doing the pastoral scenes, it honestly felt more like watercolor than I had seen anything else in the show.

Speaker: Nerev, the Tokyo Three, they're angular, they're stark white, they're sterile, but these feel, you know, done with a paintbrush.

Speaker: just all the, and the colors haven't changed much, but they, they're, they're faded a little bit. I didn't know they use fog to a great accent, but just felt more, okay, this is more real than anything we've been in yet. Even with that dreamlike quality.

Speaker: Yeah. Sort of like how you have those dreams that feel realer than a real life does like this right now. And when you compare those colors, that art style with the Evas and the Angels, they're usually these strong, bright, flat colors.

Speaker: It's very different from what you just described.

Speaker: So Shinji ah walks into Kinsuke, who is fighting the good fight. and he's like, oh, no, he doesn't walk into him. Kensuke sees him. He's like, hey, what are you doing?

Speaker: And they hang out for a bit. MREs, I assume. yeah Be a little weirdo in the grass. yeah But no, this point he says something to him that really stuck out to me. And it I mean, we, we kind of already mentioned it, but he says, I'm like you, i don't have a mother.

Speaker: And Shinji just stares at him like, it's this big epiphany. Oh, where are all the moms? Yeah, he he seems to really idolize Shinji because he gets to pilot an Eva and Shinji is just like, bro, you don't want this heat. um Just live your life and, you know, be a kid like I don't have that option.

Speaker: um So yeah, it's it's rough for Shinji, if we haven't already established that. Yeah, this is when you finally accept it, right? Like, gosh, because somehow, some way, they found him. Like, I don't know if he's chipped or there's only like six people in Tokyo 3, so he wasn't that hard to find.

Speaker: You don't have a family? Family hurts. All right, so ah nerve agents show up and bring Shinji back. Nerve agents. Oh, okay, sorry. I thought there was an organization. yeah a plate It's a car going by. near near near Like, finish the fight, since Shinji. And... ah ah He has a confrontation with Miss Sato. She is heated here.

Speaker: it would be very funny if he did quit here and the show was over. Once again, we go to we go to guilt. Manipulation. Well, the irony is that doesn't he quit right after this scene?

Speaker: We kind of skated. Yeah, he does. we kind of Oh, you're right. i My notes are bad. Masato doesn't even want him to come back really like because of her empathy she's like yeah like doesn't she say something like he's doing more harm than good or and that you know ah what's her name Ritsuke?

Speaker: Ritsuko? Yeah Ritsuko is talking about like do you even want him to come back and she's like no not really ah He'd be doing more harm than good with him doing it for the wrong reasons.

Speaker: Which, you know, is empathetic ah ah but wrong because I think he'd be doing more harm by letting the kaiju destroy things.

Speaker: But it it just like seems like at this point he doesn't care. He's just like, I'm doing this because you told me to do it. what does it matter that I didn't follow orders? I got the job done, right?

Speaker: And she's like, you need to be doing this the right way. You're really getting lost in the sauce here. and Meanwhile, there's there seems to be less and less connections that Shinji's willing to have. like He's even talking about, like you know family hurts, I don't want that connection.

Speaker: Even though you know he definitely wants someone to care about him. Yeah, he absolutely... Let's look back to what you said earlier. He he needs it, but he he wants it, but he doesn't... and or isn't able to acknowledge that he wants it.

Speaker: i don't think he feels he deserves it.

Speaker: We get a jump scare from Gendo's dad... from Gendo showing up. Hey, here's dad. Oops, old daddies. And while Gendo may be father, he is definitely not daddy.

Speaker: ah Agree to disagree.

Speaker: Depends on his glasses. Are white or are they tinted? o yeah White, he's daddy. Tinted, he's Ringo Starr.

Speaker: Remember the Beatles? Can go behind a drum kit. Get in the... Get in the... Eva, Shinji! are Are you slow are you rushing, Shinji?

Speaker: I'm JK Simmons now, Shinji! can Bring me pictures of drums? They do exist! We've lost the thread. Okay. Wow, yellow M&M, really?

Speaker: I'll pick up the thread. What about Rey? Because I feel like the person nobody's can yet no one's concerned about her. Can we talk about her hurt the scan on her?

Speaker: ah Labeling her as sample 001? Was that a label of her was that a label of the scan? because I can't imagine that. up Yes. unimmaginative Yeah, exactly. what Is she made of flesh or is the house made of her? we do not know.

Speaker: Also, please put on more clothes. Yeah, that was a lot.

Speaker: Here's your fan service and a a completely dispassionate, ah completely clinical sexual experience. You filthy, filthy monsters.

Speaker: Yeah, I didn't. I didn't. I didn't like that. It's ah I think it just gets back to how they leverage Ray as a weapon like throughout the show. We're going to see the strains in the production as the season goes on.

Speaker: But in looking at it, this was the only episode not written by Anno. He has a co-writing credit on every single episode except this one. And it turns out that they were originally going... This episode...

Speaker: was not going to exist or exist in a far different format when everything was going to jump to all the boys being friends again. But then they realized, much like um the classic best of both worlds follow-up in Star Trek The Next Generation, wait, actually, we need to slow down a little bit to act to deal with the fallout of what just happened. Yeah, it needs to be earned.

Speaker: Yeah, that was a ah great choice too because I think, like Hannah said, this episode just lets the show breathe. It's not just full-on robot combat.

Speaker: it's It gives more humanity to Shinji to like kind of kind he can contemplate like what he is actually going through when he's just thrust into this role that he does not want and is very... ah ah Pretty with selfless of him, but it's just through so much guilt that he has to do it.

Speaker: Can

Speaker: i go ahead Go for it. Oh, okay. i I think... and this is more of a wider scale thing, but I think we've lost something in the fact that now in the and days of peak TV, we're entering probably the last days of the streaming era and really the last days of history where...

Speaker: All of our media is eight to ten episodes, and we get it once every two years, maybe three years. Where every episode has to be part of this bigger story, there is no more room for these smaller one-offs. When TV shows could produce 26 season every year,

Speaker: in every year And not all those episodes are going to be serving the overall narrative. Some of them are going to be, all right, now we're just going to slow down and deal with feelings and look at some pictures.

Speaker: And it we we lose something. Like the all the Disney Plus shows, all of Amazon shows, there's so much. we We have a story and we're trying to like ram you through that story. There's no time to stop and be like, oh, I want to follow this bug for an hour. Yeah.

Speaker: Or you know in Star Trek terms when, oh, I wonder what weird shit Geordi and Data are gonna get involved into. into Yeah, oops, I created a person. Yeah, but those episodes were about were about the people.

Speaker: Now we have so much that are about the the stories that we fail to build the people who live in it. And I feel like that sort of thing is going on, not just in a media level, but also as a society level, as we get so focused on things rather than people and those connections, which this show is arguably all about, start to fall to the wayside or apart.

Speaker: Well, that and and in the... I mean, you know, and I don't want to turn this into that kind of ah show, but we can probably see like that going on in our political so system right now where the people who are making waves are the people who are like, hey, let's treat people first.

Speaker: It's, yeah, the the degradation of media is is something I've run up to against a lot lately. I mean, again, you you're familiar with my media consumption habits, and I have a real problem with short form vertical video content, like truly. but Yeah. But the way that movies and just media now is being produced to be split into thirds for upright cropping, the dialogue is using essentially essentially a simplified English that is overexpository so that you don't have to pay attention to what's going on.

Speaker: They will just constantly narrate and re-narrate what's happening on screen. And then things will happen in roughly 15 to 30 second chunks that can then be clipped out to to further drive engagement.

Speaker: Eva can sit there and have its 30 second shot of boy being sad in woods, boy being sad on bicycle trail, boy being sad on train, ah boy being sad near other boy doing military reenactment exercises. And I just think that's great.

Speaker: right um I wrote down, ah they mention the fourth children. They did. They keep saying it that way too. The third children, the fourth children. It's making me mad.

Speaker: It's one of those translations for the new edition because I distinctly remember it was fourth child, third child, which again goes when you're focusing on one-to-one translation as opposed to catching vibes.

Speaker: Yeah. Letter the Law, Spirit of the Law. ah Can we talk a little bit about... ah Shinji's ah ah reconciliation slash confrontation with Shinji's revenge.

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah, we can. That is easily the highlight of the episode for me. It's just so funny. where he's like you can put It's the most boy thing, right? is Hey, I punched you.

Speaker: You can punch me. I literally wrote a true boy's moment. Yeah. Just but guys being dudes. But the the moment where Shinji winds back and Toji hits him with the, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait!

Speaker: And then he does. Don't hold back. Don't hold back. It's just so funny. It is very much a ah boy's moment. And again, like going from the but psychological perspective,

Speaker: Men and boys, they bond by doing things together. they don't They don't have the same relationship with communicating feelings or even communicating in general. I know so many times when I go hang out with Quaglar, I go hang out with you guys, I'll come home and my wife will ask, so what'd you guys do? don't know. I played video games. What would you talk about?

Speaker: Video games. Oh, okay. So did you have a good time? Yeah, it was great. How are they doing? i don't know. Fine. It's like, how did you spend four hours over there playing video games? like Easy.

Speaker: Well, if something important happens, like when you got hit by a car, you just texted me. Yeah. Lol. Got hit by a car. I did not get that text. Hello. Wow. I'm so sorry. My bike got hit by a car. It was fine.

Speaker: yeah And that's more of a text you send to boys. Yeah. I was probably sleeping. Different time zone. Boy text be like, got hit by car, LOL. Girl text be like, no, Hannah, for the 14th time, I will not read that 700,000 word story.

Speaker: um My feelings got hurt by that car hitting me. Hannah, what was your take on male bonding? I'm so glad you asked. So Shinji goes through a whole cycle here.

Speaker: He's lonely. Some kids finally approach him at school and they just punch him instead of making friends. Right. And then he goes and is at his wits end, flips out and is Ava with those two boys stuck in his pee juice with him, watching him have the worst moment of his life.

Speaker: So far. So far. dentta duh And now they're approaching him going, hey, ah yeah, you can punch me back so that we're even.

Speaker: It's um like you said, it's it's it's boys. That's how they make friends. And moving forward, they now know like, oh okay, he's going through really tough stuff and have a different view of him.

Speaker: And they've seen him flip out and don't seem to care. And so hopefully he feels a little less alone. But also with yeah Approaching Ray with her bandaged eye and broken arm going, hey, I'm What's up with Should we punch you with the face?

Speaker: yeah Also with that, by the end of that scene where he's being dragged off, like, Shinji regrets what he did. Because he's like, I shouldn't have done that. I'm the one who should have gotten hidden. I'm a coward. I'm weak. Like, so even the male bonding that is supposed to be like, okay, now we're friends. Shinji can't really connect because he's still, like, in this self-loathing, in this, like, black pit of depression where even the things that are, like...

Speaker: to get him out, he can't really feel. so if we think of the hedgehog's dilemma in this, I do think he has made some improvements.

Speaker: He didn't put his spiny things out in response to this.

Speaker: Yeah. So at this point in the episode, Shinji is full on fired from Nerve. His credentials are revoked. He wants to say goodbye to Masato, but they're like, ah she's a government employee, my man. like ah Her location is classified.

Speaker: So he says goodbye to his boys. you know He's getting shipped back to bumfuck Japan, wherever he came from. Yeah.

Speaker: Did he just leave alone? Like, do we ever find out yes what it was like? Okay. Yeah. and the first In the second episode, he talks about, ah yeah, he likes living alone. We get Masato talking about Shinji, but also feels like she's talking about herself.

Speaker: ah So I've come today to report to you that at some point within the last few minutes, my microphone died. Good thing you didn't have anything worth saying. Or were you speaking the whole Sorry. it's I think I had Charles. no time Charles kept talking, so we couldn't tell the difference. Yeah.

Speaker: Charles, are you there? You're very quiet now, too. I am here. Yeah, I've just been listening and giving everybody an equity of voice. So we're we're at the... He's leaving. He's not allowed to see Masato.

Speaker: i yeah yeah At some point, she shows up right? ah Oh, her car is all fixed up. Her car is all fixed up. And I have the note here that I guess Toji or Aida says, it's that hottie we saw at Shinji's.

Speaker: Yeah. we Bump up the horniness, that full scotch. Which makes me think that they don't understand that She's like a woman he lives in the apartment of that is to to their mind his apartment and she is, you know, his girlfriend or something. wait It's very weird to to frame it as she lives with him, not he's living with her, I guess. Right.

Speaker: and Great catch. Yeah. in episode three, after she shuts the door, um one of them does say, well, I was not expecting that. Yeah. What a strange development. What a babe.

Speaker: So do they idolize him even more now because of his living arrangements? God dang it. Yeah, i I think that adds to like his his mystique, right? Because not only is he this Ava pilot, before that he was this mysterious new transfer kid that nobody knew anything about who was super quiet.

Speaker: They found out he's an Ava pilot and then his buddies already think that's cool, especially Ida. And then they show up and Ida gets super horny looking at Masato and then is just thinking like this kid could not be any cooler.

Speaker: yeah Giant robot crushing mad puss. Wow. They haven't even seen the penguin yet. Yeah. Yeah, those two are not traumatized at all from their near-death experience.

Speaker: We get the depressed version of the sight gag from episode two. With Shinji being hit by Masato's head and then slowly revealed as she turns her head. Yeah, great framing it once again. Yeah. And then we get probably the longest sustained shot throughout all of these episodes.

Speaker: does i actually I actually timed it. Does anyone want to guess how long this shot was? Thank you for timing it because honestly tried timing it like six different times and kept getting distracted and eventually gave up.

Speaker: I'm going to say 27. 35? Anyone else? this price right? I'll say 36. 48 seconds. I'm going to say 48

Speaker: forty eight seconds a forty eight second but Oh, no. you were on the leg, right? No, shit. He's going to edit it in. He's going to edit it in. Oh, no. It's teeter.

Speaker: ah Son of a bitch. So this scene is just... So Shinji doesn't get on the train, the subway, whatever. And he's just standing there. Masato turns to look at her over the hood of her, over the roof of her car.

Speaker: And they just look at each other for 48 seconds. well it's just a static shot. They're just looking at each other.

Speaker: i forget if it was Charles or Brock, but brought it up. Like he just is trying, he doesn't know what to say. And it just kind of ah represents like,

Speaker: I don't know, what does it represent? It represents something. Well, I think it could be so much like Charles points out like, Shinji is a moral character. He is driven, like he wants to protect people, but it doesn't know how. We can also look at it as like, cause the entire episode is based around Shinji trying to make a choice and he feels like all of his choices are wrong.

Speaker: And in this, and i can't remember if the last words are I'm home or I'm back. I wrote this down. but i mean I'm home. I'm home. But like home, like home represents so much. Like home is not just like, you know, the house where you live, but home is where your family is, where your connections are, where you get to feel safe. I think God damn, boy, homo, where you make it?

Speaker: You want to see homos naked? Home is where you make it, boy. God damn, everybody know that. All right, I don't care if you want to see homos naked. That's fine. um So right I went and just checked in the other tab to to check the Japanese audio.

Speaker: And the original line is to daima, which is, i it's I'm home, but it's literally what you say when walking in the door at home.

Speaker: So it's a very, yeah, is a very, very homecoming ah thing. Because in that that moment, he is, everything is home. Yeah. So in that moment, like, it is Shinji saying not just that he's back, he's back home, but he's like, I'm making a choice to be home. I'm making a choice to be safe. I'm making this choice. Yeah, this where he's lost. Yeah, he's making a choice is kind of the key element there.

Speaker: And i think that, you know, thinking about how like the the the pork, and I mean, the hedgehog dilemma is Shinji doesn't know how to let people in, but he overcompensates by trying to protect everybody.

Speaker: And i think that, you know, him choosing to come home is the only way he can really show his his affection that he has towards these people that have kind of like given him more familial relations than anybody has in his entire life.

Speaker: Bringing that up again, Charles, like he's making the answer to the hedgehog's dilemma. He is because the answer to the dilemma is you still reach out, even though it's scary, even though it it can hurt, you still reach out.

Speaker: And he's making that choice. I do want to add with this is looking at what's happening right now. Dare I be so bold to say that this is some type of commentary on post World War two ah Japan and what society and the end that culture went through ah after the bombing of the Hiroshima.

Speaker: Because well, not to put too fine a point on it, but because check this out. Check this out. This the second impact was 15 years ago, right? Anno was born in 1960. Yep.

Speaker: yeah the The World War Hiroshima happened in 1945, 15 years before he was born. And he grew up essentially at this time where like are the angels – like does the the angels represent this society that he grew up in that was gen that was passing down a generational trauma?

Speaker: Yeah, I mean, i think it's it's it's an easy thing to say in in Japanese media especially. um Is this about nuclear rearmament?

Speaker: you know Is this about weapon proliferation? He is a child in a society that faced an incredible apocalypse. 15 years in the past, just in the past enough that none of the kids in class were alive when it happened.

Speaker: And they find about about it academically, and then one day they all wake up and like the threat of you know like the you know the Cuban Missile Crisis or like the threat of any you know nuclear rearmament, like Cold War stuff...

Speaker: Oh, great, the threat's back. Now, except here, it's it's manifest. It showed up on the front step of Tokyo 3, walked basically all the way up to where they were hiding, and started just beating the door in.

Speaker: ah A lot more heavy-handed, I think, than the threat of a weapon. well While at the same time juggling the you know It's very modern for the time because at this time, otaku culture was huge and otaku culture is also you know marked by a love of anime, but also disconnect from society. Like otaku's, you know, what anime was, even in Japan, andim being super into anime wasn't cool. and it would say like, oh, you you can't connect with other people, but you're connecting in this way.

Speaker: Also, there's like the universal sense of loneliness and isolation. Like you're talking about needs? Education.

Speaker: Employment or training. Yeah, employment or training.

Speaker: But again, like we are going to, if we're to... Guess all the themes that are going. We're going to be and entering a new box every single episode. Yeah, I'm glad we tightened up this episode at a good hour and 43 minutes so far. We haven't even discussed the power rankings.

Speaker: Yep. Speaking of, right. Dun, dun, dun. The horny and depressed pH ranking. Does anyone want to take, ah should i just go through them or do you want take guesses? let's Let's go through them. We got to wrap it up. And I will, like you said, if he I guess I got it on the on the link. i can I can pull the image and I'll see what I can do about getting it to fit the, yeah at the very least, a very weird crop of it will be the episode thumbnail.

Speaker: I'm guessing almost everyone went down except for our two new boys, Ida and ah to Toji. Okay. Shinji, ah would you be surprised? a three.

Speaker: So, and we, as once again, the horny depressed scale is based on the pH scale and one is absolutely depressed. 14 is absolute horny. Yeah. Zero is the lowest one.

Speaker: Fine. sorry Sorry. As we discovered as I made this graphic on canvas today, zero is part of the pH scale. Get in the podcast, gene brought to you by Canva.

Speaker: Canva, you can use it for pornography. What? So he's a three. He's depressed. Sounds accurate. Yeah. I gave Ray a four because she's still depressed, but she's moving around and she's there.

Speaker: Yeah, sure. I'm getting like no horniness from her. Yeah. And she had to go through that ah invasive scan. Masato I put as a six.

Speaker: I'd go a little lower. These two episodes, she I really did enjoy her little, like her not being so Masato. um But yeah, maybe she's probably baseline six. Okay. So that's probably the least horny she gets.

Speaker: Ritsuko, an eight. She was the only person to not really catch depression from everyone.

Speaker: Fair.

Speaker: Toji, I also gave a three.

Speaker: think that's, wait, what? Really? Toji? Yeah, I'd give him more than that. He's the one who called Masato a babe, and he's the one that... And Hottie. Yeah, and Hottie. Right.

Speaker: But I feel like while he had moments of horniness, overall, his whole thing was more depressed. Like, his whole dealing with his sister, dealing with his own feelings of inadequacy, dealing with his feelings about Shinji, like, reaching resolution with Shinji. It all balanced out to There wasn't enough... Like, I could go up...

Speaker: but i feel Yeah, I'd go at least four or five. Okay. he can't He can't be the same number as Shinji. I'd say closer to neutral, but maybe like a six.

Speaker: Or a five. I think he was more depressed than Misato. Yeah, he was more depressed. A five. um Kemsuke is an 11.

Speaker: That sounds right. Yeah. Gendo is a strong, powerful seven. Mm-hmm, he's still a horny for the job, but he was in this step in these two episodes for like a minute. Yeah, just to be disappointed in his son, and class rep in eight.

Speaker: Sure.

Speaker: I don't have class rep on my image here on Canva.

Speaker: Wait till she gets a name, and then we can put her up. Okay, sounds good. All right, ah this has been your depressed to horny. All right.

Speaker: Final thoughts. ah

Speaker: I don't know. Anyone got anything? I was surprised at the the audacity to make such a quiet episode so early in the run, because this is when you're trying to build your audience.

Speaker: And you advertise a kaiju mech show. No matter how weird it's going to get, you expect your first couple episodes to handhold you in and just say, like, all right, we're going to...

Speaker: We're going get the boys we're gonna make who are going to buy the toys, and then we make the money, and then we can do the weird stuff. But no, fourth episode in, buts let's just slow down and do some character building. So I love it.

Speaker: it's I can see how people can go like, well, this isn't exactly for me, but this is you know I feel like we're off to the races now. you i um There's a thing I wrote down when Hannah was talking about this being ah a slow episode in like a positive way.

Speaker: and And there's a thing I think i thought about. I think I talked a little bit about in one of the previous episodes about how they're really good at setting up And in this case, I was thinking about dynamics, right?

Speaker: They can do the loud, they can do the action, they can do the high stakes, fast paced stuff. And they can then very adeptly shift into a, you know, not quite slice of life, you know, moment ah of an episode, like a big, long sort of pondering exploration of, of loneliness and separation.

Speaker: And then I imagine we're probably If I was a betting man, because I don't remember the episodes, I feel like we've got an angel attack coming probably pre-title card next episode.

Speaker: Definitely.

Speaker: Okay, final thoughts from me, since I have never seen this before. Conspiracy theories here, just throwing it out. I think that it is significant that the pilots are 14, younger than from when the second impact happened, and they have mysteriously like no moms.

Speaker: Just going to make a note of that right now. is think it's a safe called shot. Yeah. ah Yeah, I've already discussed it discussed it a bunch, but I just really loved the composition of these two episodes. The silhouettes and the colors that were used were awesome.

Speaker: um I liked Masato's kind of... I'm sure she'll go back to, as Brock would put it, Masato shit, but ah just her being more empathetic, not trying to seduce Shinji or like act all... ah you know hot for teacher with them. Uh, that was a good change. And, um, yeah, just brought some empathy into a show where it's all been depression and giant robots and, uh, biblical imagery.

Speaker: charles Charles, let me feed you something. Let me hit you with this real quick. This is you, you, will you just edit it. Just drop my voice into your track. Uh, I got a literary for you It's not really literary, except if you think about it through the lens of it is printed.

Speaker: But the exploration in this episode, the use of what we believe to be watercolors to take and explore a large amount of space, a break from the regular action, I cannot help.

Speaker: but think of the goat Bill Watterson and the Sunday pages for Calvin and Hobbes where he would just rip on the watercolors and make some of the most beautiful shit you would see in the newspaper.

Speaker: you have blown his mind and now he's dead. yeah Or his mic is not working. All right. ah Spot for plugs. Hannah, let us know where people can find you.

Speaker: On AO3, check out The Blot Thiggins for some really fun fan fiction.

Speaker: Charles? Check out BookTalkMedia.com for all of our BookTalk interviews where we interview authors and content creators across the TikTok space. And check me out on all social media platforms as Charles Chapters.

Speaker: Quaglar? Quaglar the IV. don't know. Add me to... Xbox or PlayStation or Quaglar on Switch 2. Play some Splatoon Raiders.

Speaker: Do not detect or perceive me. You can find Sonny at ah handle Blood's End at most things. That's true. He does be using that. I can put out there, you know, hit me up in the World of Warcraft. I am Caslow. There you go. you can You can come raid with me.

Speaker: please seek me out on Synth Riders on MetaQuest 3. I just, I'm not sure my handle is. think it's NN12. Yes, play Grydly Games with me.

Speaker: To close out the episode, we'll leave you with the sultry voice of the late, great Bobby Willey. you have there? Evangelion. Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Speaker: Thank you for listening to Get In The Podcast, Shinji. This is not a rewatch. See you next time.