Yoshiyuki Sadamoto

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

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

This volume adapts what I'd describe as the "First Asuka Arc", with Asuka's arrival at Tokyo 3, and the "dance fight".

Asuka's characterization is slightly different from the anime, as she acts like much more like a bully problem child, putting on a goody-two-shoes air in front of the adults, but a much more abusive face when they're not looking. It makes for a different take on the character. Whether it's one for the better I'll have to see.

Also, all the problems with how Sadamoto draws the show more fights are completely gone in this volume. The dance fight is one that, in the wrong hands, could have failed horribly, but here it just works. That said, it also is lessened a little bit by the fact that we don't have the music, which would really help. That said, I mentally went with "Dance of the Hours" by Amilcare Ponchielli. show less

Una mirada muy interesante al arte de Sadamoto, que incluye también obras de otros proyectos aparte de Evangelion. Me gusta mucho su estilo.