Episode 22

Episode Information
Episode #22
Title 1: せめて、人間らしく Semete, ningen rashiku At least, be human Title 2: Don't be.
Written By	Hideaki Anno, Hiroshi Yamaguchi
Directed By	Akira Takamura
First Aired	2-28-1996
Video Release Date	2-5-1997 (Japan-Video/LD), 5-29-2001 (US-DVD)
Angel Appearances	Arael, Lilith(Crucified)
Eva Sorties	Eva-00, Eva-02
Episode chronology
← Previous	Next →
"Episode 21"	"Episode 23"

Overview

Asuka's synch rate is on a downward spiral after her defeat at the hands of the Fourteenth Angel, Zeruel, and her frustration with Rei, Shinji, Misato and (unknown to her, dead) Kaji is on the rise. Angrier and more disturbed than ever, she is forced to relive her dark, traumatic past during the encounter with the Fifteenth Angel, Arael.

Synopsis

The Episode begins with Asuka and Kaji aboard the Aircraft Carrier on their way to Japan. Asuka talks to Kaji about Misato and tells him that he is the only person she loves, in what amounts to an excessively strong schoolgirl crush. Kaji rebuffs her as gently as he possibly can, saying, "You're only a child." Asuka tries to prove him wrong, ripping open the top of her dress while insisting that she is grown-up enough, desperately begging him to look at her.

Other dark images of Asuka's past abound, including images of her mother lying in hospital and holding a doll. The real Asuka watches as her previously neglectful mother refuses to recognize her and treats the doll as her daughter, while her father (Langley), speaks to and then makes love with the lady doctor in the next room. Asuka refuses to cry at her mother's funeral after she commits suicide.

Back in the present, Asuka's sync rate is on a downward trajectory. Ritsuko notices that it could be a major problem, with the Evas still in repair after Zeruel's attack. She orders Maya to see to it that Eva-00 get the most attention for now.

Meanwhile, Misato has a covert meeting with Hyuga, who has learned from his sources in Shanghai that the other branches of Nerv have started production work on Evas all the way up to number 13. Misato notes that it is strange that they are starting mass production at this stage. Hyuga guesses that the reason is either to ensure they have enough reserve parts or it is a way to defend against multiple Angels attacking at once, but Misato points out that is still rather suspicious that the Committee is trying to keep the production a secret, and believes that they might have some other objective in mind.

Asuka glares at Shinji at the train station.

Late in the afternoon, Asuka is on her way home from the sync test and waits for the train at a station. She tries calling Kaji on her phone, but an automated message tells her that the number is no longer in use. Frustrated, Asuka takes a look around at the station and spots Rei and Shinji on another platform, with Shinji talking casually to Rei. Asuka is annoyed at this, feeling that she has lost to Rei.

Asuka ignores Shinji and there is visible tension between her and Misato at dinner. Soon afterwards, her stepmother (The doctor) calls up and both of them speak in German for a while before she hangs up, with a dark expression on her face. Shinji fails to notice this, and tries asking her about the conversation, noting that it must nice to have some family to talk to. Asuka, in a rare unguarded moment, opens up to Shinji and tells him the truth about her stepmother, namely that she doesn't hate her, but only really talks to her to keep up appearances, before getting angry and wondering why she is telling all this.

Asuka's mood worsens as the night goes on, culminating in her screaming out her hatred of Shinji, Misato, Rei and herself in the bath. Misato notices this with some concern.

The next day, Asuka undergoes a new test, with her score even worse than the day before. Misato tells Risuko that Asuka is on her period, and that her bad results have something to do with that, but Ritsuko says that superficial physical conditions shouldn't normally affect the score, and guesses that the problem is of a psychological nature. Her and Ritsuko talk afterwards, with Misato noticing that things between Asuka and Shinji are close to the breaking point, that she is considering to have them live separately.

Elsewhere, an exhausted Asuka is rinsing herself off in a bathroom, asking why she has to go through menstruating when she doesn't want to be a mother. On her way back, she runs into Rei in the elevator, and after a long silence, Rei speaks, telling Asuka to treat the Eva like a person. Enraged at Rei trying to help her out, Asuka slaps Rei and storms out of the elevator. She talks to Eva-02 for a while, telling it that it's her puppet and therefore should do as she tells it, before deciding, "This is stupid."

Right then, the Angel Arael arrives, holding its position in Low Earth Orbit very far from Tokyo-3.

With Eva-01 on freeze and Shinji placed on indefinite standby under orders from Gendo, Misato plans for Rei and Eva-00 to take point against the Angel, with Asuka and Eva-02 acting as her backup. Asuka, however, takes it as an insult to be relegated to Rei's backup and immediately launches her Eva on her own, and Misato reluctantly allows her. Maya is worried that it might be Asuka's last chance, and Ritsuko mentions to her that they need to think of a replacement pilot for Eva-02. Asuka attempts to attack the Angel with the Positron Rifle, but it remains too far out of range and the targeting computer is unable to get a lock on it. Suddenly, a beam of visible light shines down from the Angel upon the Eva. Asuka is caught off-guard and screams as she fires in blind panic causing damage all over Tokyo-3. Looking at the readings, Ritsuko realizes that the Angel's attack is similar to an A.T. Field, and it is trying to penetrate the Eva's mind.

A view of the Spear and Arael from Earth's orbit

Asuka screams in pain, as Eva-02 convulses in sympathy, as the Angel tries to enter her mind. Misato orders her to retreat, but Asuka stubbornly refuses despite the obvious pain she is in, declaring she would rather die than fail again. The Angel continues to chip away at Asuka's resolve, and soon succeeds, revealing even more of her inner trauma, her pathological fear of being replaced, her feelings of having lost Kaji to Misato and having been ignored and rejected by Shinji, and how she constantly desires for attention by being the best in everything. With Asuka being sapped of the will to live, Eva-02 shuts down, as the Angel's attack continues to wither her mentally, now causing her body to slowly begin to give out too. Rei is ordered to shoot the Angel with a sniper version of the Positron Rifle (Similar in appearance to the one used against Ramiel), but the beam is too weak to penetrate the Angel's A.T. Field at that range.

Shinji wants to be send out in Eva-01 to rescue Asuka, but Gendo refuses his request, saying that he won't risk contamination, and orders the Eva to remain in lockdown. Gendo instead orders Rei to retrieve the Spear of Longinus from Terminal Dogma (where it lies driven into the crucified Lilith). Misato asks Gendo if an Eva making contact with "Adam" wouldn't risk trigging Third Impact. When Gendo only answers her question with silence, she realizes that it too was a lie, and wonders what really caused Second Impact. Fuyutsuki, meanwhile, questions Gendo's reasoning for this action, asking if they are not getting ahead of themselves, and telling him that Seele will undoubtedly be upset by it. Gendo, however, insists that Eva-02 is still an asset Nerv cannot currently afford to lose, and with Seele having begun mass-producing the Eva series, they need to make countermove against them, and he believes the situation at hand represents the best opportunity to get rid of the Spear.

Meanwhile in Terminal Dogma, Rei pulls out of the spear from Lilith's chest. At this, the white giant's legs spontaneously regenerates, but otherwise it still appears as dead as ever. Returning to the surface, Rei uses the Spear to deadly effect on the Angel. The Spear, however, is lost into orbit, and can't be retrieved.

In the aftermath, Asuka is placed in temporary quarantine on the roof of a nearby building as Eva-02 is extracted from the field. Shinji shows up and hesitantly tries offering her some consoling words, but even more upset after the mental attack making her relive her trauma and furious at the idea that Rei saved her, she angrily rebuffs him.

On-Air Version Differences

For a detailed comparison of the redrawn scenes, see Guides:Episode 22 OA vs. DC

• The only scenes the audience sees of Asuka's mind-rape in the original version is of her wondering why she's crying when little (Presumably at her mother's funeral after deciding she wouldn't cry anymore) up until her telling the 15th Angel to stop making her remember all that "bad stuff" since she'd "forgotten about it".
• Material absent from the On Air version:
  • The attempted seduction scene on the Aircraft carrier.
  • The scene in the bathroom where Asuka declares her hatred for everyone including herself.
  • The scene where Asuka sees Shinji talking to Rei and reacts with jealousy.
  • Most of the mind rape including important flashbacks to Episode 09, Episode 10, and 15.
  • The last few seconds of the hospital scene where we hear Langley and the Lady Doctor thrashing around in the next room.
  • Lilith's legs regenerating once the Spear of Longinus is removed.
  • The Spear of Longinus morphing as it penetrates the Angel's AT Field.
• The On Air version includes the opening credits; they are missing from the Director's Cut.

Notes

• The sequence where Asuka sees her introduction repeated five times has Asuka voiced by different voice actresses in the original Japanese, lending credence to Asuka's "This is not me!" reaction. The voice actresses, in order, are Kotono Mitsuishi (Misato), Megumi Hayashibara (Rei), Miki Nagasawa (Maya), Yuriko Yamaguchi (Ritsuko) and Junko Iwao (Hikari).

• In the expanded Director's Cut version of Episode 22, Anno also took inspiration from a 1996 doujin by author Nobi Nobita called Bridal Veil, which depicted an expanded mindrape scene itself. Curiously, while making his own scene, Anno made it clear that Asuka's feelings were directed at Shinji, having supplanted her crush for Kaji. It also adds more lines for Asuka bemoaning Shinji and makes this context even clearer by adding additional past scenes with Asuka and Shinji, like him rescuing her in Episode 10. This isn't made clear in the doujin, wherein it seems ambiguous if she's talking about Shinji or Kaji. This doujin has been translated on Evageeks and a full scanlation is also available on its thread.
• In Japanese, "to hold [someone]" is a double entendre of "having sex with". In effect, Asuka is not only lamenting that Shinji won't support her and hold her during the kiss, but that he didn't even at least give her affection through sex. Incidentally, to amplify the Misato/Kaji and Ritsuko/Gendo parallels, in Episode 25, during Misato's Instrumentality section, she is questioned by Ritsuko why she slept with Kaji. Ritsuko uses the same euphemism as Asuka: "Is that why you slept with him?" (itself an euphemism in English), in the Japanese literally "Is that why you held/embraced him?". Likewise, Misato replies, "No, I embraced him because I loved him.". Similarly, in Episode 24, when Ritsuko is confronted by Gendo during her imprisonment, she tells him, literally: "Now that I ain't happy even if you hold me. You can do anything you like to my body, as you did at that time.". In the English dub, the context here is more obvious, so it's outright translated as "when you make love to me". Along with the accompanying screenshots to flashbacks of important scenes in Episodes 09, 10, and 15 respectively, it appears that Asuka has feelings for Shinji and has been trying to get him to notice her all this time. See [Shinji and Asuka's Relationship] for details.

Analysis

• Based on Asuka's reaction at seeing Shinji in her mind during the attack ("What are you doing there?! You won't do anything! You won't help me! You won't even hold me!") along with the accompanying screenshots to flashbacks of important scenes in Episodes 09, 10, and 15 respectively, it appears that Asuka has been seeking Shinji's attention all this time. See Theory and Analysis: Shinji and Asuka's Relationship for details.
• When Gendo orders the use of the Spear of Longinus, Fuyutsuki questions its use, being worried about the possible backlash from Seele. Their conversation makes it clear that Gendo was looking for a convenient pretext to get rid of the original Spear. Why Gendo wanted the Spear removed or how it could have interfered with his scenario for Third Impact is unclear.
  • The Spear is depicted as having landed on the Moon in The End of Evangelion. Since the Spear is recalled in a matter of seconds and merges with Eva-01 during Third Impact, it is an open question whether its use against Arael fulfilled Gendo's original objective or ultimately proved futile.
• Arael and the succeeding Angels, Armisael and Tabris (Kaworu), form a triad of Angels that try to understand or communicate with humans. However, Leliel in Episode 16 was the first to attempt this, and, although it is never shown onscreen, it is even possible that something similar occurred with Bardiel.
• Arael and the next two Angels seem to form the three parts of a classical Angel: Arael representing the wings, Armisael the Halo, and Kaworu the body.

Quotes

• Asuka remembering her seducing Kaji before arriving in Japan: "Asuka, you're still a child. Those things can wait until you grow up a little." "What?! That's no fun! I'm already grown up enough! I'm already a grownup! I'm a grownup! I'm a grownup! So look at me!"

• Asuka thinking how Misato, Rei, Hikari, Ritsuko, and Maya see her (In that order): "Soryu Asuka Langley, pleased to meet you! Are you stupid? (It's my) Chance! So look at me!" "No (it's different), this is not me!"

• Asuka, upon seeing Shinji in her mind: "Why are you there?! You won't do anything! You won't help me! You won't even hold me! No one! No one! No one!" Asuka crying when little: "So look at me!"

External links

• Bochan_bird translation of DC added scenes

Episodes & Films
Television Series	Episode 01 | Episode 02 | Episode 03 | Episode 04 | Episode 05 | Episode 06 Episode 07 | Episode 08 | Episode 09 | Episode 10 | Episode 11 | Episode 12 | Episode 13 Episode 14 | Episode 15 | Episode 16 | Episode 17 | Episode 18 | Episode 19 | Episode 20 Episode 21 | Episode 22 | Episode 23 | Episode 24 | Episode 25 | Episode 26
Movies	Death | Rebirth The End of Evangelion: Episode 25' | Episode 26'
Rebuild of Evangelion	Evangelion 1.0 | Evangelion 2.0 | Evangelion 3.0 | (-46h) | (-120min) | Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0