I remember reading an interview with Hideki Anno in an early volume of the Evangelion manga a year or so after I’d seen the anime. In it he made the simple statement that Misato is the second protagonist of the show, and my hardcore fandom has yet to feel so vindicated. I sat there nodding like a fool, feeling smugly superior to all the Rei and Asuka fanboys who infuriated me online with their ignorance of Misato’s towering significance. At least the creator wasn’t completely preoccupied with a glorified sex puppet or some mouthy ginger bitch; at least Anno knew exactly who mattered in his show.
My love for Misato knows no bounds. She is completely fundamental to my Evangelion fanaticism. Rebuild: 01 loves her, too, and every new or improved scene acknowledges how essential she is to the show’s success. Her friendship with Risuko; her awkwardly maternal connection to Shinji; her fierce sense of duty. They’re all accounted for and accentuated in fantastically moving ways.
Specifically, there’s one scene that really hit me hard. Shinji, having almost died in a previous battle, is apprehensive to fight again. Misato, knowing there’s no other choice, takes Shinji to Central Dogma to see the crucified Lilith and explain his worth and that, most importantly, he is not alone. The camera frequently cuts away to the pair holding hands throughout their descent and in this final scene of encouragement it cuts away again to Misato’s hand tightening around Shinji’s after he accepts to fight ‘one more time’. His hand seems limp under her conviction yet he slowly reciprocates and the camera lingers on their hands firmly in one another’s grasp. The impact of this scene, its structure, the dignity and compassion it depicts, had me in tears.
Scenes like these validate Rebuild’s existence for me. It feels like Anno has taken all the brutally candid Misato-Shinji moments of End of Evangelion and transplanted their sensibility into these earlier events. It’s phenomenally successful and enough for me to ignore the overt cynicism Rebuild inspires as a concept. Everything else is adequate in its reproduction – this first film does little to rock the boat – but these minor bits of refinement make all the difference. If Hideki and chums can keep up their promise of ‘less wankery, more humanity’ and keep doing it like this then I will be satisfied.
I’d be a fool liar if I denied the simple pleasure I get from seeing everything so lushly animated. FLCL and Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo demonstrated that it verges on a hate crime not to animate Yoshiyuki Sadamoto’s character design to the highest possible standard, and Rebuild: 01 joins their ranks comfortably. Plus, the promise of original content in the next film does actually excite me. It suggests Anno has new things to say in his world and I’m inclined to listen when the man speaks. Whether this makes me a complete tool or not is unimportant. Kaworu is coming from the moon in a new Evangelion unit for Christ’s sake. The goddamn moon.
