Double agent Kaji has revealed to Shinji the terrible knowledge Gendo and his erstwhile secret masters have long possessed--and awakened Shinji's memory of the rice his mother paid to create the Evangelion. Now the next sacrifice demanded for the program is Shinji's best friend...
Eva Vol. 6 contains a Japanese sound FX glossary plus Part II of a special bonus dossier on the mysterious and occult sources of the Evangelion story!
Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (貞本義行) is a Japanese character designer, mangaka, and one of the founding members of the Gainax anime studio.
His notable works include Neon Genesis Evangelion character design and manga. He is also the character designer for the .hack//Games and the Package designer for the .hack//GU games. Also publishes with the doujinshi pen name 45yen.
The first part of this volume was great fun and hilarious. Character development is impressive. Toji became star in this volume.... ...and what the hell with the ending! It wasn't like that in the anime! No just no! That Gendo Ikari bastard! I hate him more than Shinji hates him. Poor Shinji, receiving more shock and pain as he tries his best. He is right about being depressed. I AM depressed now.
Noooo nooooo noooo. Non è giusto. Sto male! Questa volta è inizato già col botto della rivelazione avuta a fine volume precedente. Abbiamo un attimo di pausa, per poi sprofondare in un vortice di situazioni che mi hanno devastata.
Non ce la faccio devo leggere immediatamente il prossimo!
Migod, I'm shaking. This volume trampled all over my feelings like I'm just some weed on an abandoned empty lot. I adored Toji so much, and may have cheered a little when he was contacted by NERV to be the fourth child for Unit 03 disregarding again the tragedy that happened to Nevada. And I was so ready and touched when Toji finally let himself on Shinji, I'm all for male friendship and its beauty. But the climax trashed my feelings. Forcefully, deliberately, and naturally, like it's some kind of dummy system that purges girls who have fun, (because they don't deserve it) it squeezed the remaining oxygen out of my lungs. This is plain torture. And I thought I was ready for what will take place. I'll die here. I just love Toji so much... and yet...
Also, I like the Spear of Longinus and Second Impact biblical allusion on the extra.
I've seen both the anime and rebuild films, so Evangelion is not new to me. But even so this was still a huge roller coaster ride.
I enjoyed the series previously, but I found them a bit like a David Lynch film. Fantastic at the time, but my memory of what happens fades quickly.
So, now that the manga is finished I've picked it up.
There's nothing quite like Evangelion when it comes to try to find something to compare it to. It has the giant fighting "robots" but it's so much more than that, and this volume is where it really steps up to the next level (not that it hasn't been great so far).
The artwork is fantastic, I find it pretty easy to follow what's happening when there are any fight scenes.
And the character building is fantastic. To be truly invested and affected by a story I need to feel like I know the characters, and with Evangelion Sadamoto does exactly that. I don't have to like them, yes I'm looking at you Gendo! And Kaji, I have my eye on you too.
What an ending to a volume. I need a bit of time to digest and process that, and then onto the next volume. Here's hoping for a bit more cheer in the next book, but it's Evangelion so who am I kidding.
Definitely recommended to anyone who likes character driven manga, and aren't adverse to giant robots.
El tomo más crudo e intenso de lo que va en la serie. Las emociones de los personajes se transmiten de una manera realista que al final uno termina por tomarle cariño a los personajes sin saber lo que se avecina.
Este todo es un parteaguas para lo que se aproxima.
El volumen que mas me ha impactado hasta el momento, ya que es el mas crudo e intenso de lo que va la historia.
Las emociones de los personajes se transmiten de una manera muy realista que al final uno les va tomando cariño a cada uno de ellos, sin saber lo que se aproxima.
Otro tomo excelente, en este tomo Sadamoto construye paso a paso el mayor, más cruel, y más duro golpe bajo que he leído en un manga o un cómic. Te deja como a Shinji, agotado y agobiado y con ganas de irte a dormir la siesta hasta el otro día.
The Story: Ugh! It's such a good volume, that contains another major deviation from the anime, but it breaks my heart. And the final pages of Hikari daydreaming are the gut-punch topping on a beatdown sundae. As if Gendo at the helm wasn't enough to convince the reader, Nerv is confidently stepping into the light as a morally bankrupt entity. God, I already miss last volume. It starts off about as light as the last one did but ends much darker. It's great to see our main trio operating in synch, too. Not only does Shinji attempt to diffuse the situation without suffering permanent loss, but Asuka and Rei do as well, despite orders from above. We love to see it, just... not like this. I don't remember the plot point of Shinji's traumatic amnesia concerning his mother's accident, so maybe I'm experiencing my own repressed memories now. For reasons like this, I'm glad to be returning to Evangelion. Also, I've literally, physically enjoying these books, burying my nose in the book and inhaling the pages every so often. I love it. I love my books! (Btw, what does ECTA stand for on pg. 89?)
Going to try to keep it more succinct this time. I need to step up my pace.
Quote appreciation!
1) Mr. Kaji... that's easy for you to say. But I can't do that. That's not... how I've ever lived. You don't understand. I don't care about the truth. It's too large a burden for me to shoulder. - Shinji, whether responding out loud or just processing what Kaji told him, is saying how he and many other people cope. By burying their heads in the sand. I'll admit it of myself. It's a cold reality that when the going gets tough, we can turn to escapism or just tuning out. (pg. 10)
2) Is the pilot still inside..!? I can't tell from here... but... if he is inside, we've got to help him... - Asuka, showing character; though she knows Toji is The Fourth Child, or at least a candidate, she doesn't necessarily know who is piloting the Angel Unit-03. And regardless of her distaste, she's bent on safely retrieving the him. (pg. 127)
Art appreciation!
1) Thank you for putting this pig-faced expression of Asuka in this arc, Sadamoto, for a much needed laugh. (pg. 39, panel 4)
2) The whole three-panel page 133. The possessed Unit-03's demonic expression and posture after the Angel's takeover. Rei's look of terror. And the insect-like, tactical maneuvers demonstrated by the corrupt Eva. It's a page straight out of Ito's library.
Moment appreciation! In lieu of last review's hybrids, where there was a junction of perfect quote and art crossover, I'm making this new sub-section.
1) I-I'm so sorry. I... I didn't even know how you felt... an' I hit you like I understood... anything... - Toji; the previous page ends with him clinging to Shinji outside of his father's home, feeling the heavy weight of responsibility, alongside enormous fear. It's a humbling moment for both. Shinji exercises empathy and tries his best to reassure his friend that everything will be okay. The closing scene's panel, with Shinji's hands resting on Toji's shoulders is very touching. Just as Kaji held onto Shinji in the aquarium, Shinji pays it forward comforting his friend, and Sadamoto is not afraid to show male characters showing affection towards one another. (pg. 86)
2) What the hell is this crap? - Kensuke; A running gag now that it's been said by him and Asuka. Last volume, Kaji gifted Asuka with a beckoning cat (招き猫, maneki-neko), and, here, Kensuke questions the creepy/cute Toji doll Hikari left in the bento box meant for him. The trinkets merited the same judgmental response from both of them. Again, any humor we can squeeze in this volume is necessary. (pg. 106)
The Extras: I'm back in an Action Edition! The series must have been between phasing out old AE copies, and I possibly nabbed this one before I got my Viz Media Edition of volume 5. Either way, got it before AEs ran out of print or the copies on the store shelves vanished. Haven't checked to see if VMEs are considered second printings. Brb. Aaand a swift check of my volume 5 does indeed show both first and second printing dates (June 2006 as opposed to July 2004). This volume was published August '04. I'll be checking these with each VME I have as that label will eventually end up carrying first printings of the later volumes.
We now have character bios for Ryoji Kaji and Hikari Horaki. I'm surprised the former's was missing from the last volume given how pivotal a presence he had in it. I wish, like the glossary, they would update the information as necessary, because the straight copy / paste jobs do a disservice to the continuity, can confuse the reader and quite a few needed a facelift. (1) For two volumes now "Shinji has already defeated four Angels [...]". Update it to five and you're golden! Pretty easy to stay on top of when each volume typically only has one Angel a pop. (2) The editor of the dossier in the last volume was keen to point out that the third Angel in the anime, Sachiel, is actually the second in the manga, and it needed to be updated in Rei's biography to reflect that. Even better, they could sidestepped any confusion, counting, etc. by using just using the name of the Angel. (3) Captain Katsuragi is now Major Katsuragi. It was the focal point of a whole chapter in the last book. It's all small potatoes, but they could have QA'd some of these items.
Sadamoto is 38, finished six volumes and has taken up cycling again as he did when he was a child. Golf claps for him!
The SFX glossary has some interesting notes not in the forward but in the actual translations. For instance, Kensuke's speech for 20.2 is described as being more manly. Bizarre that Hikari's cookbook title is translated here too, as it's not a sound and other Japanese signage hasn't typically been translated for us in this series.
Some of the extras feel like post-story content (as in post-final volume) as they contain minor spoilers in the dossier. For example, we are primarily getting fed Gendo and NERV's history prematurely in volume 6's extras instead of after volume 8, which is the most concentrated source of that history. It's not a big issue for someone who's already read the series, like myself, but it might be more distracting than anything to attempt an understanding of these materials without context. Maybe one should read through NGE first, determining their enjoyment of the series before deciding to a perform deep dive in any supplemental offerings. It can be quite easy to fall down the rabbit hole of some of the real world inspiration: The Masons, Rosicrucians, Christian mysticism, the ten sephirah, hell, the UN's Antarctic Treaty of 1959 - it's all wildly fascinating. Though it might be harder to digest before one's first time visiting Evangelion.
In other meaningless news, I've been reading Seele wrong in my mind this whole time. Don't remember the anime pronunciation, but my American is really showing with "seal" running autopilot through my brain.
Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. - Genesis 32:2, KJV (Thanks, Biblehub.com.)
apparently, each of volume of this surpasses the last and volume 6 is no exception. I couldn't put it down. this volume marks the emotional shift in Evangelion, revealing the true stakes with the first live death in the manga. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Shinji's portrayal in the manga is miles superior than his anime counterpart. despite grappling with his own internal struggles, he's always supporting his friends.
Незважаючи на таку велику кількість скла, я ставлю 5 зірок. Мені дуже шкода Тодзі… Дивлячись на останню сторінку тому, де староста уявляє їх разом з їжею, яку вона приготувала для нього, мені ставало все гірше. Я не могла зупинитись плакати, мене це дуже вразило. Це перший серед томів, який мене настільки засмутив!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Imma be real. I completely forgot about the 4th Child stuff. This was the most uncomfortable and traumatic thing, I swear. It's even worse in the manga cause they REALLY play up the connections between the characters. It feels bad in the best way. I'm gonna have to keep reading.
... and this is where it goes back down to three stars. It wasn't a bad volume, very interesting in fact. There was just more exposition rather than great character moments but that ending...