Rei II
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Rei II” | |
|---|---|
| Neon Genesis Evangelion episode | |
 |
|
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 6 |
| Written by | Hideaki Anno |
| Original airdate | November 08, 1995 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Rei I" | "A HUMAN WORK" |
"Rei II" is an episode of the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion.
[edit] Plot
The Angel Ramiel is boring down through the upper layers of Tokyo-3 to reach NERV headquarters in the geofront below. Possessing a strong beam attack and the strongest AT field ever observed, a direct assault by an Evangelion would meet with failure. A plan is devised in which Eva Unit 01 will use an advanced prototype positron rifle, which will use the entire electrical output of Japan in order to operate, while Rei uses Eva Unit 00 to shield it. The shield Eva Unit 00 uses is actually the bottom heat shield plate of a space shuttle, but it will hold against Ramiel's energy beam for 17 seconds.
At night, as the Angel is about to finish drilling into the GeoFront below Tokyo-3, Shinji and Rei are deployed in what is code-named "Operation Yashima". The entire country's electrical power is diverted to Unit 01's positron rifle, which snipes a shot at Ramiel. Ramiel tries to fire its own energy blast at the Evas, and when the energy beams from each side pass each other they end up warping off target because of the other beam and missing. As Shinji reloads the positron rifle, the Angel fires a full blast which Unit 00 tries to block with its shield. Just as Unit 00's shield is melting completely away, Shinji is able to make a direct hit on the Angel with the positron rifle, killing it.
Unit 00 is badly melted from the Angel's energy beam despite the shield it was using, and Rei is still trapped inside the superheated Eva. Shinji uses Unit 01 to pull Rei's entry plug out of Unit 00, then personally opens up the hatch on her entry plug to free her. Upset and crying, but also overwhelmed with relief that Rei is alright, Shinji tells Rei never to say "goodbye" before leaving on a mission, because the idea of never coming back is too sad. Rei says she has no idea how to react in a situation like this, and Shinji suggests that she start by smiling. At first Rei is apparently confused how to smile, until she remembers Gendo Ikari smiling at her, and then Rei smiles at Shinji.
[edit] Notes
- It will take a considerable amount of time for NERV to cleanup after the Angel Ramiel's corpse. At the end of some fights, an Angel conveniently explodes, requiring little cleanup. However, Ramiel did not explode when it died, and it was a rather massive Angel. For the next 3 episodes, shots will show Ramiel's corpse being slowly demolished.
- Shinji's rescue of Rei by opening her entry plug's hatch to reach her and then leaning inside is intentionally mirroring the shot in the previous episode, when during a flashback Shinji's father saved Rei the same way.
- First time Rei smiles in the series
- First time more than one Evangelion unit is fielded at the same time.
- The LCL fluid that fills an Eva's entry plug is oxygenated. When Shinji is being "boiled alive" inside his entry plug from the Angel Ramiel's energy beam hitting Eva Unit 01, you can see that the heat is causing all of the oxygen in the LCL fluid to bubble out of solution.
- The footage of the forest being destroyed is reused from the Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water episode "The Tower of Babel" (a series also directed by Anno).
- Eva Unit 00 survives the sortie against Ramiel, but it is so badly damaged by its energy blast that its outer orange-colored armor has to be completely replaced; in later episodes it has new, blue-colored armor, and a set of the distinctive shoulder "blade" armor fins which were used on later Eva models will be added on.
- The scene in which Shinji manually opens Rei's entry plug would later be reworked with new animation for inclusion in the film, Evangelion: Death and Rebirth.
