Re-Take

ReTake

Evangelion Retake is a dojinshi written by studio kimigabuchi, trying to present a plausible ending to End Of Evangelion. The story is considered well written and although it does contain some hentai (pornographic material), it is relevant to the story, expressing emotions and feelings of the characters as well as the plain obvious.

ReTake vol 1

Opening Scenes

Retake Volume 01 begins where End of Evangelion left off with Shinji strangling Asuka on the beach after Third Impact. Asuka mutters her final words which are "Kimochi warui", (translated into English in the as "I feel sick", and as "How disgusting" in the EOE dub). From there Shinji wakes up in the hospital just after the 12th angel attacks with Rei sitting by the bed and Asuka behind the door (just as in the anime). From this point on Shinji has seen all the events of the future take place and wishes to change these events. The first thought of this, however, comes in a synchro test where Shinji's synchro rate sky rockets but when he is made aware of this he suppresses his true power so he doesn't make Asuka feel like she is losing to him.

Angel Bardiel

The next events are the same as the anime/manga from the same time window, Toji is selected as the next Eva pilot and Kensuke has his little whine about not getting picked. Although all of this is happening, Shinji acts differently towards Asuka, being a more positive and welcome friend to her , trying to do the correct thing and not being the wimp he was before, which he does quite well. As all of this is happening, Rei is being pushed aside and starts to get depressed, and shows affection towards Shinji. But he has seen everything and knows exactly what she is, and this scares him.

The battle of the 13th Angel is different from the original story. Asuka still wanting to show off ends up charging in and attacking Eva-03/Bardiel, The roles are reversed from the original story as now Asuka is getting choked instead of Shinji. As her vital signs fade, Eva-01 charges in to save her and Shinji succeeds not only in saving Asuka but retrieving Toji with only a dislocated shoulder, at the cost of showing his true strength in the process. This makes Asuka extremely enraged and she ends up having a fight with him in Misato's apartment. After the fight Asuka storms off leaving Shinji by himself where he says, "I didn't want for that to happen... Is it okay to let her be like that?" Then he has a flash back of the 14th Angel, Zeruel.

Angel Zeruel

The battle with Zeruel begins the same with the Angel breaching the 18 layers of armor protecting the Geofront. Shinji already rushes into fight, Asuka launches herself in Eva-02 in a fit of rage as she still doesn't want to lose to Shinji. Stunned, she watches Eva-01 fight the Angel, asking herself how Shinji is able to control his Eva so well; "There's no way Shinji can move that way..." Not wanting to lose to Shinji she opens fire with her rifle on the Angel and once again their roles are reversed.

Zeruel attacks with a blow that decapitates Eva-02's head in the anime/manga but Shinji jumps in front of her and Eva-01's head is removed (This scene is different from the anime/manga where Asuka would have run at Zeruel and had the nerve connections disconnected before the blow hit. In Retake she didn't run and the blow would have been fatal) but somehow Eva-01's nerve connections are disconnected just prior to the blow hit. With Eva-01 now headless and Asuka in a hysterical state, Shinji manages to reactivate Eva-01 and defeat Zeruel. Throughout this scene Rei is pushed to the side as Asuka is shattered and this clearly shows in her facial expression of her belief of Shinji's death.

Change of the Story

From here the story changes for the original. At this point in the original story everything went down hill leading to the outcome of EOE. Just like the second scene in retake Shinji once again wakes up in the hospital but this time Asuka is standing over him. Once again a reverse of events this time Rei is standing at the door listening to the conversation. Asuka starts off being her typical self but almost snaps when he says the following to Shinji "I'm here to tell you something... Th... Th...Think you're so good hah?! Stop getting in my way!" She then proceeds to say to she could have taken down the Angel by herself and she didn't need his help. Sarcasm is the next thing that she starts uttering to Shinji when he yells "SHUT UP". Shinji finally tells Asuka why he was always acting the way he was in front of everybody, not to show off but to protect her. Rei still stands at the door and listens.

Rei part 1

The next Synchro test Shinji and Asuka both excel but Rei's scores begin to fall. Misato and Ritsuko begin to discuss the matter when the topic of Rei acting strangely starts. Ritsuko explains that she wanted to borrow some blue contact lenses which shocks Misato but Ritsuko says the following. "Isn't it amusing? Rei's thought pathways... Are infantile in relation to love".

Kaji

Shinji now in a mess as what to do is sitting by himself when Kaji happens to walk in. Shinji expresses his views on the situation to Kaji who in a very grown up way explains females to Shinji. This is very similar to the talk in the anime Shinji and Kaji have but this time Shinji has it explained to him that he is the one running the show. This is where one of the most important lines in retake are said. Kaji explains to Shinji all the choices are his to make now "I'm acting like a know-it-all, but in reality... the one who makes the final decision is... yourself". With these words of wisdom Shinji leaves.

Rei part 2

Shinji rushing through the corridors of Nerv running late is confronted by Rei. With a very blank look on her face (she actually looks distressed) grabs Shinji and proceeds to drag him away whilst he questions her "Why're you doing this? Tell me what's wrong". Whilst this is happening Asuka happens to walk around the corner and notice Rei dragging Shinji down the hallway, where she proceeds to follow (keeping out of sight).

Shinji:"Hey! Where are you going?"

Rei:"Room... ...My..."

Shinji pulls away explaining to her he needs to get going which starts Rei (another reverse of roles) off down hill. She questions him on where it is he needs to go asking about Asuka and if its her he is going to see. which he reply's simply "Yes". Now very upset and almost about to cry. Shinji notices her blue eyes. Rei then proceeds with the following as she brakes down into a mental state of stupidity (like Asuka). "Blue eyes are... like the Seccond's... The eye color that Ikari-kun likes... But... It's still not enough".

Behind Shinji a new NERV logo is being pained on the wall with a bucket of red paint on the ground next to the wall. He picks up the paint and tips it all over her head. "Red... hair The hair color Ikari-kun likes... Just like the Second. Anta Baka".

She continues to ramble on until Shinji screams her name at the top of his lungs "AYANAMI REI!!!" Asuka is still watching and becoming distressed herself. Shinji then proceeds to tell Rei he likes Asuka and there is nothing that can replace her. A few more exchanging of words results in Asuka bursting out crying and leaving Rei in a state of shock Shinji proceeds to hug her"I cant... come to your room" She then says Anta Baka once more.

During that whole conversation Misato and Ritsuko had been watching on the cameras. Which leads to events further on.