Misato's Fan Service Center: Book 7, Issue 2

Misato's Fan Service Center

c/o Viz Comics P.O. Box 77010 San Francisco, CA 94107

misato@viz.com

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who came by the Evangelion-related panels at Anime Central and Fanime Con, including but certainly not limited to Taliesin, Brendan, Alex, Hotaru, Tiffany Grant and Matt Greenfield. There is still such a tremendous and serious interest in Eva, even five years after the initial release of the TV series in the United States through A.D.V. Films. I can only expect that it will increase with the imminent release of the Eva movies through Manga Entertainment.

On that note, let's jump to our freshest letter (sent via e-mail April 22—this column's being composed on May 7, so this is, as always, a message to the future)

hi. im not sure if evangelion is still going, cuz im kinda new to this manga stuff.

im making a web site about evangelion. its an online game where you get to be an eva pilot. but i thought id better mail you to find out if its ok with you. i wasnt sure so i figured i better, just in case.

my mum has started taking me to the psychiatrist, because ive developed an "un-healthy" like for rei. i have pictures of her all over my wall. she is by far my favourite character, and also the most beautiful <>. my website will be called "eva-battles.com".

im also creating a comic about these 5 children who have a special gift, as their soul is a live creature, and at the age of 13, it breaks loose, and they can use it to help people out.

please e-mail me back! and if youre still making the evangelion comic, could you print my address? thank you.

I LOVE YOU REI!!!!

john stuart
katsuragi1@yahoo.co.uk

Dear Mr. Stuart,

I'm sorry I didn't get back to you earlier; thank you for your letter. As for your plan to make a site, if you feel you need permission, it would be better to contact Gainax, the creators of the series, at the site www.gainax.co.jp. They have certain guidelines for the use of Evangelion imagery for those who wish to use them in an authorized manner.

Well, when I heard you say that Rei was your favorite "character," I wasn't too worried. Early on in the manga I got some letters from fans who didn't give me any indication they knew Rei was a two-dimensional object, as opposed to their presumably three-dimensional selves. But you don't seem to have that problem. And Rei Ayanami was a very popular character among millions of Japanese, being practically Japan's "It" girl of 1997; even people who didn't watch the show recognized her image and some Japanese girls adopted the "Rei look."

I should say that an infatuation with Rei's image isn't so strange in of itself; after all, not only are we not likely to meet, much less go out with "real" pop stars and actors, but usually the part of them we really like is their image. We're attracted to the glamour and beauty, this ideal; if we stop to think about it, what we're attracted to is this person at their "best," and to their best look, at that. One doesn't want to see a picture of Kylie Minogue where she's shopping for biscuits in a tatty robe (although I'm sure the version of VIZ they have in the U.K. would run it). Like Kaji told Asuka in the manga, the "person" she thought she was in "love" with was just this idealized caricature of a real person.

Rei is an illustration, both literally, and figuratively, of my own take on anime—that anime is not fantasy, but a way of looking at reality. By that I mean that I feel it is impossible to really "escape from reality." Certain people with serious mental illnesses may act in a disassociative and disorganized fashion that impairs their ability to get along in reality. But they haven't "gone" anywhere; the problem is with the interface, as it were. Rei is based on someone's idea of a real girl, their idealization of a real girl, but behind that must actually be somewhere a real girl—a real person.

In other words, imagination doesn't just come out of nowhere; it uses reality as its raw materials (and better anime, like Evangelion return again to reality to freshen their substance—as opposed to anime who get reality third-hand by copying other anime). So Rei began a real girl—someone, somewhere—or perhaps more than one person, and got filtered, distorted, and reflected through Anno and Sadamoto's set of lenses and prisms until you get Rei Ayanami the Evangelion character. Eva should of course encourage us to think about the impulse to re-shape and re-color reality that underlies much of human art and expression.

And by contrast, one can't simply congratulate one's self for the mere fact of having a "real" relationship as opposed to an infatuation with an imaginary or distant image, because the question will remain—how much of that real person's "reality" are you really interested in? Are you in fact only having a relationship with an image of this person, one you yourself have chosen, which will eventually "fail you" or "disappoint you?" Or do you actually decide to maintain the relationship based on these illusions?

The advantage of anime, is that, the fact of the perspective is more obvious. In some ways it is less dangerous to us because it is so; we can examine it in isolation. Anime, especially more thoughtful series such as Evangelion, should encourage us to think about how our view of reality affects our sense of self and happiness (indeed, this is an explicit theme of the series).

On the other hand, if your mum simply feels you are spending too much cash on Evangelion goods, that may indeed be a problem. I'm reminded of the incident several years ago where the rumor went around the Arab Gulf States that Pokémon was anti-Christian. Having read both the Bible and the Koran, and having lived in largely Christian and largely Islamic countries, I should say that I don't think Pokémon is against either faith. Knowing human nature, I'm inclined to consider the possibility these rumors were started by parents who despaired of the demands their children made to buy Pokémon goods and gear, and perhaps understandably decided to save themselves from impoverishment by seeking to make the tat culturally unacceptable. It does seem rather a debased use of the revealed word.

Anyway, I think things will work out all right for you, Mr. Stuart. A person I met at Anime Central told me that watching Evangelion helped him get through his parents' divorce, which I think is not only a good example of anime providing perspective, but a reminder that (like almost anything) we can use it to make things better and worse for ourselves. I would be dishonest if I said that it isn't always so clear as to what is better and what is worse.

Now, back to the back-log: via e-mail from June 6, 2001 (Thank you for waiting a whole year! Honto ni gomen nasai!)

Hi, Carl.

Thanks for writing back. I actually got a 'user unknown' when I tried sending it to 'misato@viz.com' so didn't think you'd get it (it went through to 'animerica@viz.com' fine though).

Year, I wasn't certain it was censored [the last page of Eva 5:5, "Nerv Blackout,"] but really looked like it considering the next panel too. Maybe it was edited originally back in Japan (similar came up with Video Girl Ai not long ago I recall). Though yeah, seemed odd they'd censor that, then leave a few pages back with them nude in bed. Or could be like you said, Sadamoto slipping it in for those that caught the change.

As for the dialog, I did notice where 'effed-up' was in there, as it kind of struck me, but harder to tell if been changed, yes, unless the dialog just didn't make sense (like Bulma freaking out and clobbering young Goku because he noted a girl wore a dress; I wasn't aware that was such a big taboo in Japan *smirk*).

And since it's translated, you do have some leeway as to what word(s) to put in there. Though personally, if the original used the equivalent strong language, then I'd say translation should have it too. Though of course if the book was aimed at particularly young minors I could see otherwise, or at least warning at the front of language content, so parents could have the choice. But I don't believe that comes into play with Eva much.

I am glad to hear you'd point it out if anything had been censored. Means we can rest a little easier. It wasn't just that in Eva, but more of a culmination that got me to write. But I did mean what I said. There isn't nearly as much a point in buying censored manga or anime.

Eva is definitely one of a rare breed. It's fun, it's thought provoking, it's very beautiful to look at, and even a bit controversial in its time (and perhaps still today). Yet still lets you interpret it based on your own beliefs. It'll be hard, but I certainly hope they can come up with another like it. I figure someone will. It's more a matter of when and who.

And I definitely understand the lack of time part! And I just program computers, not put out translated manga on a deadline. I hope you'd get to read my own letter to you, but didn't figure I'd get a response, much less so soon, with how busy I figured you were. I really appreciate your taking the time to do so. I think censorship is one of the most important issues in anime and manga imports. We don't like it when places like China censor stuff to meet their viewpoints; why should we censor others' to meet 'ours'?

Thanks again, and best of luck with all that work there! If I have anything more to add after getting to 5:7, I'll write ya' then. Take care!

Jamie Wilmoth
wilmoth@mail.msen.com
Warren, MI

Thank you for your letter, and again, your patience. Again, we have never censored anything visually in Evangelion and in the case where I turned down the cussing (insert enraged Kathy Bates voice from Misery here), I discussed the fact and would certainly do so again if something like it came up.

I don't know. It really doesn't seem to me that Sadamoto himself changed anything. I think he's just trying to reach further while Misato is staring at Shinji and Asuka. This sort of gag is not exactly under-the-counter material in Japan, and considering the controversial reputation of Eva (and the fact that the Japanese magazine it originally runs in, Shonen Ace, has run much more explicit works than Evangelion, like the rather harsh MPD Psycho and even stuff by Oh!Great.

Heh. If you put the two versions of Evangelion together, it was Viz's best-selling monthly manga in May, behind only Dragon Ball Z. That's pretty good, considering Dragon Ball Z is on national TV and Eva ain't. Of course, the people we have to thank for it are you, the readers.

I'm pleased to say there's been some good common-sense rulings against censorship from the courts lately, including areas of expression that affect anime and manga as well. No, we sure don't want to be like the PRC government. I like their space program (Ganbatte Shenzhou V and VI!!!), but the rest needs the high colonic of liberty.

Also via e-mail, from June 15, 2001:

Msr. Carl,

I decided to write you guys because I was reading a couple of Evangelion comics that I got last year, and I really appreciate them a lot. They got me thinking that Japanese Manga seems more in touch with American culture than we are in our American comics. I felt like I was reading what I was supposed to be reading all along. The pages glowed with warm characterization, intelligence, and they just seemed right to me. The way Misato said to Asuka that she didn't have to be a good girl, and when Shinji said "SHUT UP!!!!!!" to his friends was just perfect.

Great job ya'll (I'm from Texas)

Luke S.
catskywalker7@yahoo.com

P.S. I guess I missed out on song suggestions to be in the place of "Fly Me To The Moon", but being the music fan I am I just had to share mine. "Pyramid Song" by Radiohead from Amnesiac would be perfect.

When you call me "Msr.," I picture myself in Jesuitical robes like my man St. Francis Xavier. When I was in St. Sulpice over the New Year, I thought it was a raw deal that Francis's altar had been ganked from his sanctuary, like a ripped-out sink. Nevertheless I asked him to intercede on behalf of my Japanese lessons. Yeah, I liked the way that "SHUT UP!!!" line came off, too. And, having spent about eight-and-a-half years fourteen feet above sea level in Houston, I'm always glad to hear from Texas, our Texas (The trick Pee Wee Herman used in the movie to prove he was in Texas really does work, you know).

And finally, a genuine letter printed on paper, from November 14, 2001 (at 10:30 P.M.)—

Dear MFSC,

I have been a fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion for 3 1/2 years, and what can I say? It is awesome! I was so intrigued with the storyline that I needed to know what the outcome would be on the true finale of the series because in video 13, it was sorta complex. I mean, it only showed fragments and pieces in the result of the end of NERV, or the end of the world? I even went on the Internet to look for some info on a more sufficient end, but to no avail. I work in a toy store and hang out with my friends these past 3 years, so I haven't had time to investigate any recent info about a manga release of a more understandable conclusion to my dilemma.

But during this time, I have written a storyline on my own for the series to keep it living on from what I have discovered from the existing series, and I've called it "Evangelion: To Wake The Dead." So far it's been revised, and it's 21 pages long since there's more than just one NERV branch creating EVAs all over the world; I even designed a few EVAs and new characters who blended in the story to keep the series going. Hopefully, when I get my Internet service online, I would share it with other fans of the series. But for me, no matter what ending to the series the creators come up with, EVANGELION WILL LIVE FOREVER!!

Sincerely a true fan to Evangelion,
Lisa Ortiz, age 23
Hartford, CT

Word. They're still hard at work on fan endings in Japan, too. Hey; last month we announced the civil ceremony of Hideaki Anno's wedding to Moyoco Anno; now you can see photos and footage from the formal ceremony at kodansha.cplaza.ne.jp/hot/people/2002_05_08/

Carl Gustav Horn