EVERYDAY EVA Episode 21: The Dark History of NERV | Mecha March

Welcome back to EVERYDAY EVA, the blog series where I aim to cover one episode of Evangelion every single day for Mecha March 2022!

We travel back to the past to see how the world came to hang in the precarious balance that it does. Unsurprisingly, NERV’s history holds the answers.

Episode 21: “He was aware that he was still a child” opens without our angelic opening—that’s how you know things are starting to get serious. The “real-time” footage of the 2000 incident in the Antarctic sets a serious tone, but also once again adds unique directorial flare to this treasure box of cinematic animation tricks. SEELE’s ominous floating prisms are also introduced in the interrogation of Gendo’s right hand, Fuyutsuki. It’s about time we got spotlight on the one man who can rightfully criticize and critique NERV’s reclusive commander. Arguably the most needed episode at this point in the series, if you ask me.

These rare shots of the world between 1999 and 2015 have been a treat for Eva fans for decades. They satisfy that which we’ve been dying to see, incidents about the past that construct our precarious present, the conspiracies and the science alike. Fuyutsuki’s life is intricately woven with Yui’s, Gendo’s, Misato’s, and NERV’s own histories. At the heart of it all lie the secrets of the geofront, the Magi, and Naoko Akagi—the woman who coded the foundation of NERV HQ. As eternal summer shines on Japan, information becomes power and a curse for those tied to the shadowy side of the organization.

Naoko Akagi, to me, holds within her the darkest aspect of NERV’s history. The organization, formally known as Gehirn, literally wipes this old name away following her shocking and mysterious suicide, as if to sweep the evil under the rug. Absolutely chilling the way the scene pans out to show the white tape marking the body and the trail of blood dripping from the Magi. Watching this episode again, I am inspired to propose a new way to watch Eva for those who intend to only stick to the Rebuild films. I’ll probably write more about this in a future post, though you can definitely count on this episode making the cut.

The future looks bleak as Kaji sacrifices himself for Misato. From here on out, only one hue paints the path ahead: red, the color of blood. Action returns to this fourth and final part of the series in Episode 22: “Don’t be.” Thanks for reading, and ‘til then!

– Takuto