c/o Viz Comics P.O. Box 77010 San Francisco, CA 94107
First of all, my face is red like the Eva Unit-02; I just discovered this letter dating June 18, 1998 from Metro Manila:
Dear Dudes,
Mabuhay! I have just read the last issue (book two #3). It was great! Shinji had real guts to save Kensuke and Toji from danger. He destroyed the Angel and didn't obey Katsuragi's orders. Wow! hey, was the destroyed part of the Angel its power source? Or somewhat like a brain? Hey, about the comics. Sure had great covers, eh?...I used to have the trading cards, got no posters or action figures, but I'm thankful to get the comics, dude! Where, or more precisely, when is the coming of the Neon Genesis Evangelion graphic novel? I gotta have my Eva! About the Eva. Does the Eva have special fighting skills or techniques? Can it do combo? Special powers? About the others. Can Pen-Pen do tricks? What about Gendo? He looks like an Oasis vocalist singin' "Stand By Me", and I wish he was. He was quite a cold man, freezing like Freeza (from Dragonball Z)... How about Asuka Langley, when will she appear in the comics? I thought she was more active than Rei because Rei was some kind of a silent dudette? Is Langley Toji's best friend? Hikari's? I think not. How old is she? Gusto ko siyang pakasalan dahil mahal ko siya at "age doesn't matter". Is Kensuke a nerd or somewhat Albert Einstein? By the way, where the hell did the Angels come from? Is it some kind of an underwater probe-station? or a cyberdude underwater fortress? If not, then where? Tell me, please! Hey, did you notice something? My letter was full of question-marks. Isn't it cool? So, I am looking forward to the next-next issues and the graphic novel! Paalam!!
Sincerely,
Vincent "Krimen" Josue
Pasig City, Philippines
P.S. I wish to be an artist like Mr. Sadamoto. Take a look at my own drawing. Isn't it cool? Thank you, Mr. Carl.
As Wood-Yi would say, "hoofah". Starting from the first two question marks, a.) and b.) it's sort of both, emphasis on the "sort of". c.) Yes, great covers. This one's pretty coy, isn't it? d.) The first two Eva graphic novels are out now—don't miss Sadamoto's comments at the end of Vol. 2! e.) Skills and techniques depend more on the pilot than the Eva; f.) Yes: as a matter of fact, the combo issue is the major plot wheel of Book Four; g.) The Evas do have special powers, based on their mysterious nature. h.) The only trick Pen-Pen has ever been observed to do is swipe other people's food; i.) "what about Gendo", indeed, and yes, you're right about his resemblance to the Gallaghers; as far as I know, the first person to point that out was Ed Hill; j.) like, now; k.) Asuka is more noisy than Rei; l.) Asuka thinks Tojo is a dumb jock; m.) Asuka and Hikari get along pretty well; n.) Asuka is 14 years old; o.) probably more the former; p.) the Angels don't "come from" anywhere; q.) no; r.) nix; s.) they're part of creation; t.) yes, u.) Well, sort of; and finally, v.) your drawing is indeed cool.
By the way, James Abellar here took one look at your letter and said, and I quote, "Asuka Langley? No way! Hindi pwede asawa ko na siya at hindi siya bagay sa-iyo. Kay Rei kana lang okay naman siya kahit na experiment lang siya (ha! ha! ha!)"
Dear Editor,
Ulterior motives.
As this cynical world approaches the new millennium, it seems that trust is hard to find. And everyone is seeking the ulterior motives behind good deeds. "What's the catch?" is heard more often than "thank you". I sometimes find this attitude frightening. I always find it disheartening.
In my job as a pediatrician, my first goal is to establish trust with the patient. Remember, it is much easier for a doctor to discuss matters with an adult who can understand everything that is going on. Trying to explain to a 4 year-old why you are inserting an I.V. or why they need to stay in this strange building called a hospital is a much harder task. I am often able to achieve a bond with my patients easier than my colleagues because of my outside interests. With teens I can discuss Magic: The Gathering and anime. With younger kids Animaniacs and Rugrats are all the rage. Regardless, I know about this stuff and a common interest can help establish a friendly relationship. I find that kids don't often look for ulterior motives; they trust what you tell them.
So, you must understand my reaction to the letter in your manga that was looking for ulterior motives in my asking you for promo material: a long sad shake of my head. My friends were angry; my comic book store owners asked if they could write a letter for me confirming my good intentions. It didn't matter. You defended my honor better than I could have. What did strike me is that someone felt that the nature of man was such that an individual would use "sick children" as a way for personal gain. As if I really could have a personal use for the (literally) dozens of Dragon Ball Z posters you sent me (and thank you very much, by the way). They were placed in the clinic here at work and given out to the patients. They brought smiles to kids who have lived more in their 7 years than I have in my near 3 decades.
Which nicely segues me into the reason I have a relationship with you: Neon Genesis Evangelion. Obviously, Evangelion is a dystopia. Why else would people be hurtling themselves towards an uncertain "Instrumentality Project"... No one trusts anyone in this show... and why should they. Certainly Gendo is playing by his own rules; almost everything he does has an ulterior motive. Kaji certainly has his own agenda and is willing to double (or is it triple) cross anyone he can. Even Ritsuko turns out to have been fooling her friends throughout the show. As a result, characters like Misato and Shinji, people who are trying to make do in this harsh future, have to always cast a suspicious eye at everyone. Even in (Book Two, Chapter Five), we see that Shinji can't understand why Misato would want him living with her. He fears an ulterior motive until she finally tells him that what is apparent (she cares for him, and wants to care for people in general) is not an act or a ruse, but is the truth.
Evangelion is a fabulous anime in that it has always made me think. It pushes you to ruminate over the issues it raises while trying to solve the riddles inherent in the show. One thing I do know, I do not want to live in such a distrusting society as Misato and Shinji live in. The sad thing is... I think I already do.
Sincerely yours,
Andrew J. Capraro
Connecticut Children's Medical Center
Another letter that I am afraid was long overdue in printing. Both Yoshiyuki Sadamoto and Hideaki Anno have made clear that they intended Eva to be as much a statement on today as a fictional vision of tomorrow. Dr. Capraro is a very interesting correspondent for a number of reasons—one, it seems appropriate to note, would be that he is about the same age that Gendo would be now. Yet, shall we say, unlike Gendo, Dr. Capraro works to save people, not "humanity".
There's a new fellow in the office, former Electronics Tech 1st Class/Reactor Operator Joe Bankhead, who served on hunter-killer submarines out of Pearl Harbor. Because of his background—he was not unlike Scotty on Star Trek, the way I thought all "engineers" were when I was a kid—I asked him about the positron rifle used by Shinji against the Angel Ramiel. Mr. Bankhead points out that while a stream of positrons (which create a powerful matter/antimatter explosion when they encounter the electrons of normal atoms) might be a practical weapon in the vacuum of space, a positron beam used in Earth's atmosphere would be the equivalent of putting the barrel of your grenade launcher right up against a wall. The matter/antimatter reaction, in other words, would start to occur within nanometers once the positrons leave the (presumed) magnetic containment field within the barrel. Boom. Bankhead adds that in theory you could prevent this from happening by surrounding the positron beam with some kind of generated neutrinos. I feel like Noriko getting a science lesson from Kazumi. But perhaps we're worrying too much. This is NERV in 2015, so we're talking that Jack Kirby SUPER-SCIENCE. Mr. Bankhead, by the way, is also a crystal (dilithium?)-carrying Wiccan. Our office is so diverse that I sometimes think we could reconstruct all human knowledge and culture after Y2K. For example, I know how to jiggle the handle of a broken parking meter to get your quarter back.
Carl Gustav Horn