Misato's Fan Service Center: Book 3, Issue 1

Another letter from Jason Green, Fairview Heights, IL - yes, Sadamoto does reveal Eva's secrets at a different pace. Thanks to Vincent D'Elia of Schuyler Falls, NY, who sums up the series as "Believable characters in a powerful, human story" ("Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?" -I Corinthians 6:3) and who did this heroic drawing of Rei. Matthew Treusch - address lost in the rinse cycle - is collecting the models of the Eva units. My personal favorite is the original, yellow Unit-00; I think it's unadorned and elegant, much like its pilot. If you're fascinated by the design of the Eva Units and the other mecha of the series, you might want to check out a new book by series artists Ikuto Yamashita and Seiji Kio, called Sore o Nasu Mono ("That Which Makes"), also known as Neon Genesis Evangelion Design Works. It's 1400 yen, published by Kadokawa, and contains all the behind-the-scenes discussion (with many sketches and illustrations) about the designs that were used (and the designs that weren't used - Yamashita's own, unmade ideas for the Eva movie are also included here). Thanks to Dave Van Domelen for his online review of Eva Book One, Number Six. Also giving greetings from online land (Sacramento, CA actual) was Paul Dale Roberts, president of Jazma Universe.

Greetings...

O.K., I suppose it is too late; so I gather from the latest issue of Neon Genesis Evangelion. In any case, "NERV Center" seems way too obvious, and probably is on half of the entries! "EVopcenter"? Goofy acronym, as you'd expect from a grunt who's spent 20+ years dealing with DODACs, FEBAs, MREs, and EAs (we once launched a virtual tactical nuke in the middle of California!) Yeah, I used to have the equal of Misato's job, although at a sufficiently low level that it only required a Staff Sergeant, not a Major; Major is the proper rank for a S-3, of course.

Anyway, here's my next best offer: "S-3, NERV". Unless NERV is considered a little more like Division level, or higher, in which case it should be: "G-3, NERV".

I got started with a "so goofy it's really cute" shōjo anime which made U.S. broadcast - Sailor Moon. I went looking for the comic on which it was based, and while I ultimately did find it (untranslated, then, no less!), I found a slew of neat stories along the way. Some available in English (Oh My Goddess! and Inuyasha), others not (Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō and Gogo San-ji no Mahō).

Now, I've got a new imaginary crush. No, the crush is real, the character is imaginary. My solution to, "The Hedgehog's Dilemma", I think! Now Rei Ayanami is both sweet and enigmatic, while Asuka Langley Soryu is feisty and fragile. However, as soon as I got a look at the inside of Chez Katsuragi, my heart was undone; I'd go anywhere with Misato Katsuragi! (sigh)

Norman S. Miller
Sheridan, CA

How nice to hear from someone who likes imaginary older women! ("I don't want a phone that never rings / I want your love" --Everything But The Girl, "Before Today"). I'm still two years before the mast of Ritsuko and Misato, who both get more time on stage in this issue. Of course, Misato has not yet made Major at this point in the manga... My favorite part of the MRE is that little package of condiments, which always seems to have more choices than a Swiss Army knife. I appreciate your restraint on the tac-nuke, but you could have probably used a real one anywhere along I-5 and no one would notice. Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō I'm not familiar with, but I understand Gogo San-ji no Mahō is another manga by Narumi Kakinouchi, whose New Vampire Miyu (done in partnership with Toshihiro Hirano, who did such wonderful work on Mako: Sexy Symphony), is published in English by Kuni Kimura's Studio Ironcat. Kuni loves MREs, so that includes this installment of Connections.

Agreeing with Vincent D'Elia is Nate "TG" Cothran of Shelby, NC, who calls Eva "the most HUMAN of anime as whole", and who sent along this picture of perhaps the most human of its characters, Ka-Ka-Kaji. Keith Greene of Kelowna, B.C. Canada, has been hitting the scrolls - Dead Sea, that is, and came up with some very interesting quotes, including, from the "Community Rule", this one which he relates to Gendo and SEELE (which is pronounced "zay-leh", by the way): "...no man shall argue or quarrel with the man of perdition. He shall keep his council in secrecy in the midst of the men of deceit and admonish with knowledge, truth, and righteous commandment those of chosen conduct..." Greene also gives a quote from Enoch that should lead you all right to Genesis 6:1-4, a little passage which will make you think. Corinthians also says, "the saints shall judge the world"; on that note, John Doud of Salt Lake City, UT sends this picture of Misato and Pen-Pen chillin' in the heat. Can you really see things like this by the Great Salt Lake? Mr. Doud is one of the man people who miss Biobooster Armor Guyver, and wants to know if there will be any more. I'm sorry, but it is still - as we like to say around here - "on hiatus".

Carl Gustav Horn