c/o Viz Comics P.O. Box 77010 San Francisco, CA 94107
Dear Misato's Fan Service Center,
I think Neon Genesis Evangelion is the best series I've ever seen. The night after I first watched it, I couldn't sleep because it was all I could think of! Ever since last year, I've been collecting cards, postcards, tapes, CDs, models, and comics (of course...) of Evangelion. By the way, I have an Eva game for PlayStation and I was wondering about this new character named Mana Kirishima or something...
Is she supposed to be Shinji's girlfriend or what?! I sent in a drawing of her. Mana looks like a cross between Rei and Asuka, because she has the same color hair as Asuka, and the same hair style as Rei. I just want to know who Mana Kirishima (or whatever...) is.
Thanks
Bianca Calvo
Vallejo, CA
P.S. Where can I find Pen-Pen and/or Shinji stuffed toys?
P.P.S. I love you Shinji!!!
Bianca Calvo! Seriously, that's a great name—it sounds like a Nobel laureate in literature. That's a good question about Mana Kirishima. As you say, she's from a computer game, in this case Gainax's Neon Genesis Evangelion: Girlfriend of Steel, originally released in 1997 for Windows 95 and then for the Macintosh, Sega Saturn and Nintendo PlayStation in 1998. The majority of Gainax's staff—currently, about 100 people—work not on anime, but on computer games and CD-ROM art collections based on a fairly wide variety of subjects: everything from (of course) Evangelion itself to the traditional demons of Japanese folklore, to the history of the Jeep in the military. Software is something Gainax got into years ago, for the reason that unlike their anime, which needs production deals and many other studios in partnership to put together, software can be created entirely in-house, offering the studio more control over content and rights (it wasn't until Eva that Gainax actually ever owned even a partial share in one of their anime productions, as opposed to their previous works done on a "work-for-hire" basis).
Software also provides opportunities to do "spin-off" stories outside the strictures of the original story, and so is Girlfriend of Steel such a spin-off from the Eva TV series. Its plot derives from three mysterious new students at Shinji's school: a girl, Mana Kirishima, and two boys, Lee Strasberg Musashi and Keita Asari. Mana, who appears as you describe her, starts coming on to Shinji, and Shinji, surprisingly enough for him, actually asks her out for a date. Asuka (although not Rei) is highly suspicious of Mana, which brings up the question of whether she thinks she's dangerous to the security of NERV, or if she's just jealous? Lee Strasberg (he is named, by the way, for the famous theatrical director under whose "method acting" approach actors such as Marlon Brando studied) and Keita dress exactly alike; but they appear complete opposites, Lee being fierce and Keita quite mild in expression. Since who these three are and what they want is the point of the game, it doesn't seem quite right to discuss it here. Is Girlfriend of Steel part of either the anime or manga version of Eva, or a still third version? As far as I know, there are no references to its characters to be found in the TV show, movies, or comic—although it may relate to the "version of events" suggested in episode #26.
Shinji stuffed toys exist, at least what the Japanese call "UFO Catcher" (those games at arcades where you try and fish for prizes with a remote-controlled claw) dolls—and look closely at the dolls Asuka is fish for in Book Four, #1! And there are stuffed Pen-Pen dolls of various sizes, ranging up to life-size. You'll want to try your local anime shop or go to an anime convention (in Northern California, try Kimono My House in Emeryville or Nikaku in San Jose—or FanimeCon '99 in March, also in San Jose). Unfortunately, these things aren't easy to lay hands on. But don't let that stop you!
Dear Viz Comics,
I saw something in one of your Evangelion comics about a "Misato's Fan Service Center". I was wondering if this was a Misato fan club or something. If it is a fan club, would it be possible for me to join? Same goes for any of the other characters like Asuka or Rei. Anyway, I think this manga series is the best out there, so keep it up!
Sincerely,
Seth Chaps
Louisville, CO
"...characters like Asuka or Rei." I notice you didn't mention any male names. It's a good thing Shinji is so popular with the ladies, because he doesn't seem to have any pals here! Just kidding, or as Asuka would say, "naaaaaaan chatte!" Well, this isn't really a fan club for Misato, although you might think so with that great portrait of her Alvin Yeo did in Book Three, #3. What would you do at a Misato fan club meeting, anyway? I don't think you should be allowed to join until you're old enough to drink. Mr. Chaps, may I put in a word for my friend Alf Kremer and his "All-Request Retro Show" on KTCL 93.1 Denver? Even in college, he called himself the "otaku 'bout pop music", and was into the '80s well before Adam Sandler. He's kind of like Kaworu.
Did any of you dress up as Eva characters for Halloween or Day of the Dead? (ow!)
Here's a great Dr. Akagi from the great Anime Weekend Atlanta. I'd like to give her some credit, so if you know her name, please let me know. One more thing I'd like to say, and that's about Gainax's new TV series, currently running on Japanese TV, called Kareshi Kanojo No Jijoo ("His And Her Situation"). It's written and directed by Eva's Hideaki Anno, based on the manga of the same name by Masami Tsuda. J.C. Staff, the studio behind the eye-catching series Revolutionary Girl Utena (now available from Central Park Media), is fulfilling the production role on "KareKano" (as Gainax has nick-named the show) that on Eva was done by Production I.G.
KareKano, which began on Oct. 2, seems very different at first from Eva, but it may represent a natural progression from the thoughts and ideas Anno developed in the course of the series. Visually, first of all, its characters (designed by Tadashi Hiramatsu) are a step away in look from Eva, having that "softer" shōjo appearance (although it's perhaps not that much of a departure from Sadamoto's theories on Shinji—DON'T MISS his essay in the collected Book Two of Eva, out this month from Viz!). KareKano is a romantic comedy, and Anno employs all the tricks, techniques, and styles that were associated especially with the latter portions of Eva right from the beginning of KareKano, but this time in the service of comedy. The first episode (all I've seen thus far) is VERY funny—the humor is so well-directed that it (and the "situation" of the story) is clear even without translation. The fast pace is intercut with the kind of realistically painted and lit, and obliquely angled, background paintings (often, used in a rhythmic fashion) already well-associated with Eva.
What is the "situation" of this "his and her"? It's a high school love affair between Yukino Miyazawa, whose single-minded goal is to always be the center of attention, and Souichirō Arima, a handsome, brilliant boy who, without really seeming to mean to, has knocked her out of the spotlight for the first time in her life. By the end of the first episode, Yukino has made a total and complete fool out of herself in front of Arima—not in public, but in private! In Eva, feelings between characters and their secrets inside are suggested only later, when it becomes clear that the main theme of the show is the war inside, not outside. In KareKano, the secret self is a monkey screeching on your back as you walk down the hall (half of the dialogue in the first episode is what a character says, the other half is what they really think) and the boy tells the girl he lovers her twenty-three minutes into the story. So KareKano doesn't fool around! I'll let you know more about it next time.
Carl Gustav Horn