A Look at the Lift Scene from Evangelion

In 1995 neon genesis Evangelion came out in Japan for tv Tokyo. Evangelion is now considered an extremely influential show in the development and history of anime. Despite that, Evangelion when in a strange direction, with very abstract imagery, long dialog-less pauses and shifting art styles, the last half of Evangelion is weird. Due to the unusual nature of the last half of Evangelion manny critics of the show have attributed these unusual moments to budget problems or directive issues, and well the show did have directorial issues in the last two episodes, having the twenty-fifth episode needing a complete rewrite because of a national tragedy in Japan. Manny critics look to these moments as evidence of the low points of the series, but these scenes are actually some of the most brilliant directing not only in anime but in filmmaking in general. One scene, in particular, that really shows off the unusual brilliance of Hideaki Anno’s directing, a scene that fully encapsulates this shows brilliance and critical dislike.

The plot of episode 22 revolves around Asuka’s inability to pilot her Eva and the mental hardship and emotional trauma that comes from and contributes to her breakdown in the next episode. For some background, Asuka was first introduced to us a third if the way through the series to breathe some much-needed life into a cast of characters that desperately needed some spice. Asuka was nothing like any of the main characters, all the main character in the series before this point was quiet, introverted and polite (polite doesn't mean nice.) Asuka was none of these, she was loud, extroverted, and brash. At this point in the series, both Shinji and Rei had been ineffective with there Evas, with rei unable to even pilot her Eva at the time. On the other hand, Asuka demonstrates amazing skills the minute we see her in her Eva. She operated her Eva with more fluidity and reflex than we had ever thought possible. She also brought a renewed sense of positivity and hope to a cast of really depressing characters.                

In the scene of interest takes place midway through the episode right before the emotional climax of the episode. In the scene, asuka has just faced another failure with her Eva and is dealing with the failure. She just got out the bathroom after yelling at herself in the mirror, and she's was standing in front of the lift door. The door opens and her face flashed surprise then shifted over to a scowl as she enters. This cues the scene of significance.   

This image plays for a whopping 53 seconds. Asuka blinks a couple times, rei does not. In the HD re-release, asuka nods her head slightly. But in all versions of this scene, the time remains the same.     

Rei breaks the long silence with. “if you don't open your mind to her your Eva will not move.” this pisses Asuka right the hell off so she says in an angry tone “your saying this is my fault? I'm blocking myself?” “yes, Eva has it’s own mind” Rei responds calmly. “it’s just a big toy,” Asuka says super snotty. “then you don't know” we don't know whether this is rhetorical or not. Asuka assumes an aggressive posture “HA, now I know somethings up when wonder girl starts talking to me” she's even angrier now  “what's up, are you happy that I'm” she puts her hand over her heart “having trouble with my ava now. Well don't worry.” her voice cracks in angry sadness “cause when the next angle comes to our invincible Sinjie will ride up, destroy it. We little girls won't have to fight no more.” Asuka is holding herself  “they'll be mean to pathetic Shinji. I thought it was bad when Shinji was nice, but when an emotionless wind-up doll like you starts being sympathetic, I'm doomed.” rei says in the smallest voice “I am not a doll.” Asuka continues to yell more at herself then Rei ”you are, you do anything you're ordered to don't you? You'd kill yourself if your commander told you to. Wouldn't you?” rei says with absolute certainty as if it was just a fact “of course.” Asuka slaps Rei off-screen as the door opens still yelling. “then you are a robot like I thought you an unthinking emotionless puppet. I hate you.” she looks at Rei and breathes sharply “I hate you, I hate everyone.”

There's a lot going on in this scene. So first from there dialog, you can tell that even though they're talking to each other neither of them are really hearing each other. Rei is genuinely trying to help Asuka with a problem that she can relate to and Asuka is to wrapped up in her own head and self-hate to hear her. During the pause, Rei doesn't blink once so you would be forgiven to view her as kind of a robot and this scene and this is addressed in the scene. Asuka accuses Rei of being an emotionless robot and ask Rei if she would die if they ordered her to and she responds with yes. Neither of them is really hearing each other but they are both feeling the same thing. Fear is the commonality between these two. Asuka is afraid of her own failure, she is afraid that if she fails that she will die, but she's more afraid that no one will love her if she fails. Ultimately she is afraid of being alone, and so is Rei. Rei doesn't offer to give her life because she wants to die, but because she too is afraid to fail the ones she loves. Two people who are terrified of being alone, but who are unable connect and get the love and connection desperately they need.

So this long pause expresses this conflict of animosity and needs that these two feel towards each other. In the frame, there is this tangible line between the two of them that pulls between the two focus of this image. If you look the rule of three division for this image you can see that there are four points of attention. Asuka's legs in the bottom right which give insight into her desire to communicate with rei. Asuka's arms in middle right are crossed portraying that she is angry and closed off. And lastly there are there faces, they both look like there thinking deeply, but their eyes just barely looking at each in their peripheral vision. The background is as minimal as an elevator can believably be, with nothing more than a stripe on the wall and some minimal texture. This keeps your eyes on the characters, so you can't escape the emotional build up. There are a brightness and color contrast between the two characters. A common trope of anime is that hair color. Rei has dull blue hair which represents a calm and introverted. Asuka has fiery red brunet witch represents extravert, temper, and passion. In a similar way, Rei’s face is cast in shadow and Asuka face is light up. The shot is angled just above the scene to make the observer have to view from a distance. The primary power of this scene is its use of time. The incredibly long pause is unsettling because it prevents the audience and the characters from experiencing catharsis. Dragging out the moment before the climax makes the climax makes the climax feel more real. When bad things happen in real life, you don't get catharsis until you go make it and if you've ever experienced a rough argument the build-up before the argument is so much worse than the argument itself. When you cut it down to its roots Evangelion is about the pain people go through. It’s ultimately an exploration of human suffering and connection.