Yoshiyuki Sadamoto

Man, Shinji & Asuka can't catch a break. This time Asuka gets saved from death (a death that got played in the movie a lot like a rape) at the hands of the Mass Production Evas by Shinji, and Shinji gets his one triumphant moment where he manages to save someone, only for the trigger to get pulled on Third Impact anyway.

Also, poor Maya. She finds what is potentially a great job, with a boss she greatly admires in Ritsuko, to the point of falling for her, only to discover that Ritsuko is show more morally compromised, the giant robots she's helping to maintain are horrific monsters (leading to at least two occasions where she tosses her cookies), and Lilith sends her almost-but-not-quite-incorporeal-enough hand through Maya, which I have no doubt would have been a horrific sensation.

I've got to say, though, Ritsuko getting the last laugh by shooting Gendo through the throat was quite satisfying. If the characters who have died aren't going to get to join the Great Link in Third Impact, then I'd consider Gendo's death to be justice. Though again, if the characters who died don't get to join the Great Link, then I'd say that Misato & Kaji deserved far better - even if they don't get to come back out afterwards, then I'd say that they at least earned eternity together - but that's my inner romantic talking. show less

It's kind of a weird experience reading a story set in a post-apocalyptic 2015, when it is 2015 in reality and we didn't have a global cataclysm at the turn of the millenium. Ignoring the obvious dissonance between the fictional and alternate realities, the story of giant robots battling alien angels is one which I am less interested in now as I was in high school (when anything anime was a novelty) and I first watched some episodes of the series and added this book to my reading list. show more Technically, it's a good story as far as mecha-based anime goes, since the focus is less about the post-apocalyptic world and robot battles and more about the character development of the young pilots, but I still don't really have any interest in pursuing the entire series. show less

Whew! What an exhilarating read. I've been a fan of the anime for quite some time and I think it's a hot mess, but glorious and stunning in its own way. Reading this manga was a pleasure and I feel it's certainly different enough from the anime to warrant a read through for fans.

This manga seemed to make a little more sense to me than the anime. Maybe it was because I could take my time digesting the ideas, or maybe it's the simple difference between the two different art forms? Who knows. show more

The idea of the Human Instrumentality Project attempting to create a "perfect" world by taking away pain and suffering without realizing the pain and pleasure is what makes life worth living and frankly, makes life - life. There's a line from Shinji where he says something like "It doesn't feel bad, but it's not good, either." That kind of sums it up for me. You need bad and good to make up a whole of experiences in life. Bad stuff sucks, but it needs to be there to make the good that much better. (...or something like that....) Highly reccommended. show less

I don't know what I was expecting when I grabbed this, thinking, "Maybe this will help me finally understand some of the parts of the NGE anime and movies that I don't get!" I mean, same author...it's really just a doubling down, so far, on exactly what I saw on screen. Maybe the later issues will be more helpful.

I did appreciate the little "author's note" at the end, which gave a little weird glimpse into Hideaki Anno's brain. It actually did sort of explain some things, though not in the show more way he intended, I think. "I feel I am being irresponsible." Ok, then. show less