Reichu: That brief blurry distortion is apparently an effect of the A.T. Field being deployed. This "blur motif" will actually utilized throughout the series (although not on a totally consistent basis) in situations involving the employment of the ATF's "higher functions" — i.e., the cool stuff that Angels and Evas can do, but pathetic little humans can't.
OMF: I totally missed this for the first, like, five times through the series! Strangely enough, though, I still attributed the Eva's feats to the mysterious A.T. Field, so I must have copped it at some stage that the ATF wasn't just referring to the giant octagonal barriers that appear from time to time.
Reichu: The ATF blurs are rather more difficult to spot in the original print. But even with Renewal, they are often quite easy to miss.
Gundampilotspaz: It is important that at this point the presence of the A.T. Field is forced upon the viewer. If they do not understand it now, they will be lost later on.
