Sunday, June 28, 2009

Evangelion 2.0 summary

The movie begins in a dark Nerv base near the sea and the alarm of the apparition of an angel. Everyone speaks in English with strong Japanese accent, so I relied mostly on the Japanese subtitles. Kaji also is present and says in English something that I didn't understood at all.
Mari
goes to battle in the Eva-05. She seems to be in pain during the initialization but she doesn't care because she really enjoys piloting the Eva. The Eva itself feels very rushed, and the name of "provisional" is fitting.
The angel is very odd, moves very quickly and the dark tunnels makes difficult to see, but his body resembles a Nautilus with legs on the bottom part and the tail and the head coming from the top part.
Mari chases the angel in the dark tunnels while singing and moving the Eva-05 lanced arms forth and back, and in one moment the angel stops, makes a brilliant halo that cuts the ceiling and flies to the upper floor. The Eva-05 and the angel clash a few times, the Eva-05 looses 2 of the 4 legs but manages to thrust it with the lance in a side of a tower.
Mari struggles to destroy the angel core, the jaws of the Eva-05 opens, the Entry Plug ejects and self destructs. In the middle of the sea, a wounded Mari sees the two cross shaped explosions and says goodbye to his Eva. Meanwhile, Kaji flees in helicopter.

Shinji and Gendoh are at Yui's grave talking in a similar way from the TV series. A plane comes to pick Gendoh and Shinji sees Rei inside. Shinji says to Gendoh that he was happy to talk with him.
Shinji returns with Misato by car, but a turret of a battleship falls in the road in front of them because of a new angel attacking all the ships around him with cross shaped beams. The angel is metallic like, and walks in the sea frosting it. It resembles a giant drinking bird.
From an airplane, Eva-02 is released using a jetpack and attacks using something like a crossbow. The angel seems to break in pieces, but reconstructs himself and counterattacks using spear shaped appendixes coming from his face.
02 manages to break the face but the angel flips his body, so the pendulum-like part of the bottom becomes the head. 02 charges with a flying kick that breaks through the At-Field and kills the angel.
Asuka introduction is similar to the anime (even Kensuke and Touji are present). She asks who is the 01 pilot and criticizes Shinji for being too weak to be a pilot.

Meanwhile, Kaji gives Gendou the suitcase he is carrying. Inside is a key, that one part of it seems a piece of yellow metal and the other part seems a human nervous system. Kaji also talks with Ristuko in front of a pissed Misato.

Like in the anime series, Asuka comes to live to Misato apartment, filling it with her belongings and trashing Shinji's stuff. She criticizes the small Japanese houses and the unlocked doors until Misato comes saying that both Asuka and Shinji will live together.
Asuka also is scared when for the first time sees Pen-Pen in the bathroom, dashing to the main room nude. Cans and a straw covers the bare minimum of Asuka to the viewers, and when she realizes that is nude in front of Shinji, she gives him a flying kick. At night she plays with an eerie puppet saying that all will be all right alone because she is special.
Kaji brings Shinji, Asuka, Rei, Touji, Kensuke and Pen-Pen to the Maritimal Preservation Zone, that is a huge purifying plant where the last marine animals are kept alive (in the red sea there is no life). After a long sterilization process (shower, heat room, immersion in purifier liquid, cold room, immersion in purifier liquid, hot room...) they hang around acting more or less like in the aircraft carrier of the original series. Rei, alone with Shinji, comments that she is like the fishes in a tank, and Asuka sees them from a corner and began to play a video game.
Shinji prepared a obentou for everybody, but Rei can't eat it because she doesn't eat meat, and Shinji gives her miso soup instead, she tastes it and says that is delicious.
After that Shinji and Kaji talk about the past of Misato and the second impact. Several flashback images appears: the 2nd Impact is the sky turning red and a black hole appearing in the middle. Four light bodies with halos appears (the Adams), as well as several red Longinus spears. Gendou and Fuyutsuki are visiting the base in the moon. They see Kaworu outside the window sitting shirtless in one of Eva-06 fingers, and while Fuyutsuki says that a human outside is impossible, Kaworu turns (to Gendou?) and says "Welcome, father."
Sahaquiel appears. At the beginning is just a rotating multi-eyed ball, and the N2 doesn't harm it. Misato and the rest realize that is a living bomb that will drop at Tokyo-3, and makes the plan to intercept it with the Evas. Ritsuko argues about how foolish the plan is. Asuka is also not happy because she wanted to do it alone.
Sahaquiel unfolds himself and becomes a multicolored eye with big hands before the landing.
The Evas rush to the impact zone with the help of special buildings (
ramps, jumping spots...) and Shinji is the first one to arrive.
01 stops it, but from the center appears an humanoid shape with a Gaghiel-like face and impales Eva-01 arms with drills.

Asuka tries to stab the core, but it begins to move, so she is unable to hit it until Ayanami appears and holds the core with her hands. The angel is destroyed and the enourmous amount of blood floods the city. Via a voice only communication, Gendou praises his son.

At night, Asuka is unable to sleep because she can't do everything alone, and goes into Shinji's room. She asks him why he pilots the Eva and he respond that he doesn't know but he's happy when his father praise him. Asuka says that he's an idiot.
A lot of daily life begins here. Shinji makes daily obentou for Misato, Asuka and himself but one day was unable to do it and Asuka yells at him, making Touji joke that they seem a married couple, so Shinji and Asuka blush. The next day she also makes obentou for Ayanami, that surprized says thanks while a pissed Asuka is watching.
After a session in the LCL tube, Rei and Gendou goes to eat together. Rei wants to have a dinner with everyone and asks Gendou to come too. He looks at Rei and for a moment he sees Yui's face, so Gendou accepts.
Rei, learning how to cook, have several finger cuts. Asuka sees it and she tries cooking too. Rei sent out invitations to the party to everybody, even to Asuka.
Mari comes by parachute to Japan and drops over Shinji, that is in the roof of the school listening music. She talks by the phone in English saying that the landing point was diverted and before leave, says to Shinji that smells nice, like LCL.

Shinji, sitting near the vending machines, is looking to his music player that doesn't work after the clash with Mari. Kaji appears and approaches to Shinji's face as if he's going to kiss him, scaring Shinji. They go to the watermelon field and Kaji asks if he likes Misato. An ashamed Shinji says "yes, no... I mean..." and Kaji asks to protect Misato because with his current position he's unable to do it himself.The Eva-04 disappears along with the American Nerv base, and they decide to bring Eva-03 to Japan. They enclose Eva-02 in some kind of lava pit because Nerv is not allowed to have more than 3 Evas in the same base.
Asuka is very pissed for it, and meets with Rei in the elevator. After a brief silence, Rei begins to speak about what means to be an Eva pilot, and an angry Asuka tries to slap her. Rei intercepts it with a hand full of strips, compared to the only 2 that Asuka have. Asuka stops and asks what she feels for Shinji, and Rei says that she doesn't know, but when she is with him she feels warm. An angry Asuka leaves, calling her an idiot.

Eva-03 arrives and Asuka is the test pilot.
While changing in the semitransparent testing plugsuit, she talks by phone with Misato, that seems to be in pretty good terms with since this Asuka is not interested in Kaji, so they are not rivals.

Inside the Entry Plug, all becomes red, then blue and Eva-03 is taken by the angel making a blue explosion.
Shinji was in the middle of the way to go to Rei apartment for the party when receives the emergency call, as well as the black car of Gendou, that does an U-turn and Rei, that was cooking for the party, is interrupted by Nerv employees.

Bardiel battle is similar to the series, but this time only 01 is in the battle.
Shinji refuses to fight because Asuka is inside. Being choked, Shinji manages to hold Bardiel hands, but another couple of arms grows from the shoulders and continue his job. Gendou orders to activate the Dummy System. Inside the entry plug the image is jammed in red, Shinji arms are locked and some kind of monitor appears in front of Shinji face.
A berserker Eva-01 begins to tear Bardiel in a feral way, punching, biting and shredding, and at the end, chew the entry plug.

The scene cuts, and begins again with a crazied Shinji stomping on the top of Nerv pyramid until is taken down increasing the pressure of the LCL. Asuka is seen in a red chamber with pillars, with machines that resembles the ones used when Shinji was injured vs Ramiel with Ritsuko and Maya looking outside.
Only Asuka's hair can be seen, the rest are tubes and lights.
A dream scene of Shinji in a train begins. He talks with Rei and, after a while, with a younger self. They talk about how Shinji doesn't try to understand his father, and that the music player that he carries was a belonging of his father. When he awakes, is being handcuffed and brought in front of Gendou. Shinji doesn't want to pilot anymore and leaves Nerv.
In the apartment, Misato tries to convince to stay, but Shinji leaves. Around this moment, Rei finds the music player trashed in a bin and takes it.Zeruel attacks. With a single beam pretty much destroys Tokyo-3 and for a moment we see Kensuke, Hikari and Touji, the latter trying to cover Hikari.
At first is like a mummy shaped version of the old design, but when unfolded it reveals tentacle-like things that can be united to form drills.
The only picture of Zeruel in the whole pamphlet. Those are not arms and legs, but the tentacle-like things.

Mari puts a pink plugsuit and takes Eva-02, and attacks with regular weapons. All those acrobatic jumps from the trailer are from this scene.

Because is unable to do any harm to it, she stands up inside the entry plug and begins the "Beast Mode"; several cillinder-things emerges from Eva's back and shoulders, Eva-02 becomes berserker and Mari is grinding like a beast with glowing green eyes too. But Zeruel easily defeats her, cutting one arm and piercing the body.

Fan-art of Mari by the Pixiv artist Uー. In the movie is exactly like this, but green eyed.
Another one, by Pixiv artist jont. This scene sure is popular.

Rei appears with a missile that is blocked by the AT-Field. For a moment, we see the music player inside the entry plug. An agonic
Eva-02 crawls to her side and bites the field until it breaks. At the last moment, Zeruel blocks it's core with the tentacles. Rei yells "Pilot of 02, escape!" throws the body of Eva-02 away and all explodes.
An incredible trashed Eva-02 lands in Shinji shelter, and manages to take an unwilling Shinji outside.
He sees all the field burning, with a completely burnt 00 in the middle.
Another Gaghiel-like face emerges from Zeruel and eats Eva-00 knees up, spits Eva-00 head and becomes a giant naked white girl with Zeruel face and the tentacles that resembles a wig.
In shock, Shinji yells that he wants to save Ayanami and goes to pilot Eva-01.
Meanwhile Gendou is trying to activate 01 with the Dummy System, but is rejected. While he is saying "Why you do this, Yui?", Shinji appears begging to pilot 01.
Like in the series, when Zeruel appears in front of Misato and the rest in the main bridge, 01 appears, loosing an arm in the process and splashing Gendou with blood.
Eva-01 drags Zeruel back to the surface with the lifter, and begins to attack until it runs out of power. Zeruel impales 01 and the black silhouette of Shinji spitting blood appears on screen. In a pitch black entry plug, the eyes of Shinji glows red and yells to give Ayanami back, and Eva-01 goes berserker
The missing arm is now a modified At-Field, the green stripes became orange and a halo appears.
Zeruel attacks but is easily blocked by 01's At-field. Eva-01 eyes sparks and Zeruel is cut in half.
01 slowly approaches the half dead body of Zeruel, while Misato and the main bridge crew, Kaji and a wounded Mari looks in awe (and Gendou watching
stoically).
Both 01 and Zeruel begins to float, and 01 makes a hole in Zeruel core trying to takes Ayanami back. Eventually he finds her crouching naked in the darkness. Rei is reluctant to go, but at the end she gives her hand to Shinji, that drags her to the now completely bright entry plug. They embrace, and Shinji says "Thank you" for her efforts to do a dinner party with Shinji and Gendou. Ayanami apologizes because was unable to do it at the end.
The body of Zeruel, now a completely red giant Ayanami (included the head) fuses with Eva-01. The sky turns red making a black hole in the middle and Misato and the rest realize that this is the
beginning of the 3rd Impact.
Credit rolls.

A spear coming from the sky impales Eva-01, that remains motionless. Kaworu in Eva-06 descends in the scene of the previous movie preview. He says "Shinji, this time only you will find happiness".

To be continued.

Preview. I pretty much forgot all the images, but Asuka appears wearing an eye patch. Not a bandage like Ayanami but a black pirate-like one, so the eye seems to be missing for real.
In the pamphlet, there is the full transcription of the preview:
"Eva-01 frozen with Shinji and Rei trapped inside. The fortress which is disposed. Nerv personal confined. Eva-06 dropped in Dogma. Quickening (fetal movement?) Eva-08 and his pilot. Children fated to meet gathered at last. Where does the story of people wishing to live leads?"

17 comments:

Jacky said...

Hi, I would like to translate your summary to chinese. Is that ok? It will be posted in my eva fans site.

Soth said...

Of course! For me is a compliment, so go ahead.

Sirsus said...

Hey Leo, how's it going?? Drop me an email when you've got time!

Jacky said...

Thanks, I've posted it here and my blog.

Koi said...

I was really looking forward to seeing Leliel this time. I guess I'll just have to wait for a year or two. *Fingers crossed*

Anonymous said...

What? so there's an Eva 07 and an Eva 08? the story seems to lead to the 3rd impact too soon... I guess..

MasterSe7en said...

Soth! i am so jealous, First off i would like to say i got recently addicted to Evangelion series, i bought some Models of Eva 02 and Eva 04(Which i havent seen in any of the TV SEries, i hear Eva 04 is in the new Rebuild Movies, ive only heard of 04 during the explosion, but never seen) second im english, i cant read japanese but thank god for subtitles, i would just like to thank you so much for all this new information! Keep it up!

Soth said...

@MasterSe7en

You're welcome. Until not so long ago I also had to read summaries from others to understand stuff in Japanese. Now it's my turn to help others.
The poor Eva-04 is also ill fated in this movie, it just appears a cross shaped explotion and Misato and the others says that 04 dissappeared.

Will said...

Pardon my bluntness but you understand Japanese right? If so I think you should help out with the efforts to do a complete translation of the movie. Me and a friend need a complete translation in order to work on a project of ours.

Soth said...

@Will

Sorry for the late reply.

With my current Japanese skill I can only undestand about the 70% of the dialogs of the movie. I can understand the overall, but I'm unable to translate line per line without taking an enourmous amount of time...
Also I'm not a native speaker of English, so I think I'll be a fail as a translator...

sweetiev0812 said...

um when do you think evangelion 3.0 will be coming out? oh and what was asuka do with her eye putting in a contact or something?

Soth said...

@sweetiev0812

I don't like to make crazy speculations. There's not a single clue about the answers to your questions, so I don't know.

Anonymous said...

What is this?! Kaworu Showed up at the end of 1.0!

Why's he only on the moon in this one?!

What's with Mari?!

Fanservice, is what.

Dammit, I was hoping to see more of him in this one, in the manga he and Shinji were a lot closer ...

Maybe in 3.0?

???

*Cries*

Evangelion 2.0 said...

Wow. Very detailed summary of the movie with picture. Thanks a lot. Gonna give my time reading this all. :)

Deni Tri Hasta said...

Nice review, But i wonder how about eva 3.0 will it ends the same with the previous eva chapter?? (Asuka together with Shinji) or will it ends with another plot.. But seeing at the sneak peek (Asuka lost one of her eye) it would be wise that the ending would be differ

Tantono said...

Wow nice review... Keep posting.

acep said...

wow,,nice picture.i hope i can see the movies