Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Recap: Both of You, Dance Like You Want To Win!



Hello again. I am sorry I have not been able to write as many recaps as I'd like to
this year, but my family is in the process of moving and most of my time has been spent
packing. I've been wanting to do recaps of mecha anime for some time, and now I've finally
gotten a chance to.

Mecha anime. One of the genres that is deeply ingrained in the medium. Even in a market that is now full of simpler slice-of-life series, the mecha genre seems to be the genre
that is one of the most accessible and recognizable to western anime fans. The idea of giant
robots being part of the medium of anime has been around as early as the 1950s series
Gigantor, if not earlier than that. Even to people that have never watched an anime in their
life, someone in the room knows what a Gundam is because of how recognizable it is as part
of the mecha series (there is even a real Gundam statue that is 30 feet tall to commemorate
the 30th anniversary of the franchise).

Even so, it wasn't always so ubiquitous. In fact, the original Mobile Suit Gundam series
was canceled after airing only 39 of its 52 intended episodes due to poor ratings; and a fan
campaign was able to get four more episodes made to wrap up the story. It wasn't until the
series did well in reruns that it became one of the anime series that is most deeply rooted
in both Japanese and Western anime fandom. In a sense, it became the Japanese equivalent
of Star Trek, which was canceled due to poor ratings but became a cultural phenomenon years
later and one of the most well-regarded franchises ever.

As more Gundam TV series and movies were made, it also became a merchandise goldmine; with every thing from action figures to model kits becoming big sellers (I have
a binder from Gundam Wing). By that proxy, most subsequent mecha series while also
merchandised aggressively.

So, I've definitely wanted to do recaps of mecha anime for some time, and now that time
is upon me. I've already done a recap of my favorite anime, Gurren Lagann; but I want to do
more mecha series. Which one have I chosen? Why, none other than the famed Studio Gainax
deconstruction of the genre, Neon Genesis Evangelion.

After the failure of Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water, Studio Gainax was in danger of
closing. On top of that, one of their founding members, Hideaki Anno, was suffering from
a serious case of depression because of the losses of Nadia. Even so, he was pressured by
his superiors to make another series. That series is Evangelion. It is a dramatic series, a 26- episode epic that is a look at how things would go if we really were invaded by aliens and
used giant robots to settle the conflict. The protagonist, Shinji Ikari, often feels down under
pressure, effectively mirroring Anno's feelings while working on the series. Because of
Anno's mood steadily declining, the series gets progressively darker as it goes on; with the
series finale movie, End of Evangelion, plunging full force into this.


 

With a series like this, what could I find in it to recap? Well, I did mention before that
anime tends to run on concentrated nonsense; and the mecha genre is a prime example of that.
I started watching the series again after I took a break from it; seeing if I could find an episode
that had material. Sure enough, I did. That episode is “Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win.” So, let's open it up.








The opening is “Young Boy, Become a Legend.” I have some of the best love for this theme song, as I explained in my top 13 anime openings. “Young Boy, Become a Legend” may
not be my favorite Studio Gainax theme, but it's up there.






 

We open on Shinji's school, with everyone in awe at the new student: Asuka. I may
have a preference of Rei, but I can say that Asuka is not without merit. It turns out she was
born in Japan, but raised in Germany. That explains a lot.

Anyway, two of Shinji's friends (I forget their names) are selling pictures of Asuka.
Nowadays, any teenager can snap a photo of a girl on their cell phone and put it on their Facebook page for nothing. Maybe it's just a hobby that's lost in translation with me.

Asuka greets Shinji with a “guten morgen” and asks why he's so gloomy. This is nothing. Given that this anime was directed by a man who was suffering from depression
at the time of production, things don't get gloomy until everybody's a puddle of orange juice.







 

Asuka goes over to Rei, my favorite girl in Evangelion, and introduces herself. She offers to make friends, since she's another EVA pilot. Rei agrees if it's necessary. Well, given
the reason I chose to recap this episode, I think it's very necessary to make friends with the
people you pilot giant robots to fight abominations with.









 

Back at NERV, the emergency alarm klaxon starts blaring. They receive word of an
attack from Battle Cruiser Haruna. An Angel appears from the Kii peninsula, and a first
stage alert is issued.








We then get our title card. Nice and simple characters on matte black.



It's like, how much more black could this be? The answer is none, none more black.





After the battle of the previous episode, which was Asuka's introduction; not much
of their defensive forces remain. Nevertheless, they decide to mobilize anyway. Offensive
capability is even worse, with chances slim to none of success. Yes, it's just another typical
day for NERV.









A command is issued to Shinji and Asuka to intercept the Angel en route, taking turns
to attack while evading the enemy attacks.

Asuka is dismayed that she can't fight alone for her first battle in Japan, but Shinji
replies that it's standard procedure. Asuka fires back not to get in the way. As you can see,
Asuka's behavior is one of the reasons I decided to recap this episode, but it's not the only
reason.










 

Asuka turns off the communicator and wonders how Shinji became an EVA pilot.
Yeah, Rei almost got killed testing the prototype, so there's that.

Anyway, the EVA are deployed at the shore in order to intercept the Angel before it
reaches the waterfront. Asuka calls the use of two EVA on one Angel unfair, and her superior
tells her they have no choice. Your opponent has the capacity to turn the world into a charred,
radioactive husk, so I wouldn't call it a toss-up. The battle is in your favor with both of you
against the Angel, so why complain?








 

The Angel comes within range, and the fight begins. Asuka wants to lead, and Shinji
promptly calls her on her lack of combat experience as he fires at the Angel.

Asuka continues to charge in, even blocking Shinji's line of fire. Look, Asuka, this isn't
Virtual On. There are no continues and extra lives in war. You die, that's it. You don't come back
and your friends and loved ones can only mourn you. Is that how you want to be remembered?

She leaps off of a sunken building and slices the Angel in half with her lance. Wow. She
may be overzealous, but she's good behind the controls of a robot.





 

Even so, the two halves become separate bodies. This is why your CO said you need
to work together, you twit! Their CO is astonished, and it just uses a lens flare wipe back to
NERV as Shinji and Asuka watch a news report of the attack.







The images show that Shinji and Asuka got their asses handed to them by the Angel. You're going to see where I got the material for this recap soon. Naturally, Shinji and Asuka
start arguing over who's to blame for that petty excuse for a battle.








 

It seems the report was being shown in a private movie theater that NERV has. That's
nice. Even when the world goes kaput, the finest soldiers we have to offer still have
a place to watch Star Trek Into Darkness.

The report goes on to say that the task of defeating the Angel was then handed to
the United Nations; and they fared no better, if not worse than NERV, since the Angel is still
at large.

Another man, a Vice Commander in Gendo's employ, says that they need to work together to stop the Angel. Shinji and Asuka are, of course, less than pleased by this.





 

Misato, their CO, goes over requisitions for damage control on this embarrassment.
It's mentioned that the Vice Commander is not amused by what happened. I imagine neither
he, nor Gendo will like hearing about Pacific Rim, then. Dr. Akagi gives Misato a game plan
for Round 2. Misato then decides to get to work on implementing it.

Shinji arrives home to find that there are boxes everywhere, full of Asuka's possessions.
This is pretty funny, given that I'm still in the middle of moving and I could use a laugh like this.









 

That's not all. Asuka is there in a tank top and tight shorts, both parties being very
flustered at each other. She says that she's moving in, and laments how small Japanese houses
are. Hey, that's actually reasonable. Even with all the boxes of stuff, it's still bigger than my
bedroom right now.








So, as you can imagine, most of the material I got from this episode is from Shinji
and Asuka living together while training to fight the Angels again. It's silly, it's stupid, and it's
funnier than most sitcoms I've seen in recent years. Asuka is not happy that there's no privacy.
She says this after putting all of Shinji's belongings in a box; and you know, moving into his
house without so much as a phone call. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDrfHj3j398


Misato arrives to inform them of what they will do while they co-habitate: learn to
work together and fight the Angels, starting with the one that's causing so much grief.
Misato begins briefing them, saying they need to attack both bodies' cores at the same time
to take them out. How? They need to attack with their EVA in perfect time and sync.
In order to do this, she is having them live together. As I said, it's funnier than most
sitcoms today. For that matter, it's funnier than most anime that try to be intentionally funny.
Asuka whines that she doesn't want to do this; but Misato replies there's no time to argue
as the EVA will be operational again in six days. One last detail: the attack will be keyed to
music. So, ready or not, the next attack is in six days!

She's a maniac, maniac on the floor, and she's dancing like she's never danced before!







We skip ahead three days as Shinji's friends come to see him. Once again, I forget their
names. It's not that I'm not making an effort to learn them, it's just that if I don't see or hear
them often, I can't. They are aghast at the fact that not only are Shinji and Asuka living together,
but are wearing matching clothes and speaking in unison. Shinji and Asuka aren't too thrilled
either, blaming Misato for their predicament.



Things are about to get very silly. Here, look at this penguin.





 

Misato and Rei arrive to explain what's going on to their friends. Naturally, they're




Shinji and Asuka are playing a strange hybrid of Twister and Dance Dance Revolution
to learn the musical attack pattern. Just think: this will be in every arcade in the future! Nah,
people don't play video games to exercise! They'd go outside if they wanted to do that!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwjDELYIEmE




Shinji and Asuka are having trouble coordinating their attack, but Shinji and Rei are
on the same wavelength when Rei takes Asuka's place. Once again, Asuka is surprised.

Asuka goes to the pantry, angry at Shinji. Since I started moving, I've been making
similar trips to deal with the stress. Lots of fountain drinks and cream-filled oatmeal cookies.




With their snacks firmly in hand, they opt to keep at their training. Asuka says the
battle didn't just damage the EVA. It damaged her pride, and she wants to complete the
training to get it back. This whole scene plays like a commercial for sports drinks. 

 
With only two days left before the attack, Shinji and Asuka continue their training.
There's even a scene where they fight over what to watch on TV.


Wonder Years! Deep Space Nine! Wonder Years! Deep Space Nine!









Asuka is distraught that she has to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor. I had to skip a
lot of this scene due to content Google won't let me show. In the middle of the night,
Shinji wakes to the alarm klaxon blaring again. I don't blame him, most of the work done
on this recap was when I couldn't sleep.

Asuka apparently sleepwalks, and she's now beside Shinji. As I said, I will have to move
on. Shinji also discovers Asuka talks in her sleep, and he decides to move to the floor.

The morning of the attack, Misato and Dr. Akagi chat over their morning coffee. As day
breaks, the UN and NERV mobilize again. The Angel appears over the horizon in Gora.

Misato gives Shinji and Asuka a run through of their training, to do it exactly as
rehearsed when the music starts. As the Angel comes within range, they only have 62 seconds
to take it out. The EVA launch, and the dance begins.

And... it's a thing of beauty. A choreographed dance battle with a pair of humongous
mecha. Every movement, every strike is wonderfully animated. It's stupid and stupendous at
the same time.




The Angel is defeated with the EVA intact. All of a sudden, I want to fund a stage
musical and dance production about giant robots.

Yet, even though they won, they're back to arguing. Oddly, there are landline phones in
the EVA, but it can also display holographs of the speaker on the other end. It was 1998, and
they were trying to predict the future. What more do you want? We end on one of the many
covers of “Fly Me to the Moon”, this time in a '90s samba style.










“Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win” is a glorious example of how the mecha
genre is one of the predominant genres of anime to this day. The animation from Studio Gainax
is stellar as always, and the humor of Shinji and Asuka living together is hilarious. The next
mecha recap will be on another series that has crossed the zeitgeist to Americans. See you



8 comments:

  1. Shinji's friends were named Kensuke and Touji. At first they didn't like him, but after realizing that he had to pilot Unit 01, they felt sorry for him and warmed up to the kid. By the way, have you finished the series by now? I was able to see Eva 1.11 on Toonami, and I really liked how polished the animation was that time around.

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    Replies
    1. Regrettably, I have not. I've been trying, but I've kind of been stretched thin with a lot of the series I started, and the move and job-hunting have not helped. However, I intend to finish it and watch End of Evangelion. Another thing: I'm going to start work on the next mecha recap as soon as I can. I'm watching both the sub and the dub of the piece I've chosen (my recap will most likely be based on the dub, I'm mostly watching the sub so I have a frame of reference).

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  2. Ever heard of Samurai Champloo?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have. I've just never seen it. I may look into it once I've finished some of the other series that I'm watching right now. I will start work on the next mecha recap today.

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  3. The biggest surprise about last night's Toonami was that SARA came back, and is here to stay.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OK. I am working on the next mecha recap now. It's on a Transformers anime, though I'm not saying which one yet. It will probably be out late due to the move.

      Delete
  4. I never found out, but how funny is Code Ment?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's absolutely hilarious. It's that series that got me to start following Purple Eyes WTF. I personally can't wait till he gets to R2, but most of his energy is on None Piece, which is also very funny. I am in the process of posting my Transformers anime recap, I just have a few more paragraphs, links, and photos to post.

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