Neon Genesis Evangelion (manga)
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| Neon Genesis Evangelion | |||
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 The Neon Genesis Evangelion logo. |
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| 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン (Shin Seiki Evangelion) |
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| Genre | Drama, Mecha, Psychological, Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction | ||
| Manga | |||
| Author | Yoshiyuki Sadamoto | ||
| Publisher |  Kadokawa Shoten |
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| Demographic | Shōnen | ||
| Magazine | Shōnen Ace | ||
| Original run | February 1995 issue (December 26, 1994[1]) – ongoing | ||
| Volumes | 11 (currently) | ||
Neon Genesis Evangelion (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン Shin Seiki Evangelion?) is a long-running manga series by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto and published by Kadokawa Shoten; begun in the February issue of Shōnen Ace in December 1994[1], it is still running and consists of 11 volumes, each comprised of several "stages" or chapters, out of a planned 12 volumes. It was released before the anime of the same name, Neon Genesis Evangelion and was intended to increase public interest[2] although Sadamoto's authorship of the manga caused problems for Gainax as multiple publishers felt "that he was too passé to be bankable".[3]
The Japanese printing of the manga uses the anime's logo imagery for its title, while the American printing simply uses the English title.[4]
While both the anime and the manga contain language that would normally be censored for television broadcast, the manga uses "fuck" twice (vols. 4 and 5), although abbreviated to the first letter of the word. The word was not used in the English subtitles or dub of the original series, but appeared in the subtitles and dub for The End of Evangelion.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
The manga's plot follows the anime's plot fairly closely although there are some differences.
| Volume | Title | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||||
| Rei's injuries at the beginning of the story are revealed to be due to a failed attempt to battle Sachiel in Unit 01. Ristuko brings Shinji and Misato to the EVA hanger where the damage from the failed activation test of Unit 00 is still evident. | ||||||
| 2 | "The boy and the knife" | |||||
| Misato decides to take Shinji to stay with her and introduces him to Pen Pen. Shinji is a little shocked about Misato's lack of cleanliness. After a battle with an Angel where Shinji disobeyed Misato, she questions his motivation to be an EVA pilot and sends him back to his uncle. However Misato has a change of heart, realizing Pen Pen and Shinji are her attempts to have a "family" to come back to after work. She convinces Shinji to stay. | ||||||
| 3 | ||||||
| Shinji must work together with Rei to defeat a new Angel by drawing on the power of all of Japan. | ||||||
| 4 | "The mark of Lilith" | |||||
| Gaghiel is defeated by Asuka in Unit 02 with very little effort. This is depicted through a video playback with Unit 02 using the progressive blade rather than in the anime which uses the combined weaponry of the a few naval warships. Shinji meets Asuka Langley, a new EVA pilot. | ||||||
| 5 | ||||||
| Shinji goes with his father to visit his mother's grave. Asuka, while trying to display her love for Kaji, discovers the identity of the Fourth Child. | ||||||
| 6 | "It has been known . . . from the beginning . . ." | |||||
| Toji is selected as the next pilot however Unit-03 is discovered to be an angel. Shinji refuses to attack Unit-03 in fears of Toji safety. Commander Ikari activates the dummy plug system and controls Unit-01 to defeat the Angel, but killing Toji in the process. | ||||||
| 7 | ||||||
| After Toji's death, Shinji vows never to pilot an EVA again. However, with the appearance of a new Angel with the strongest AT Field yet, Kaji must convince Shinji to return once again to battle. | ||||||
| 8 | ||||||
| Shinji is taken into the Eva after his 400% sync ratio. Rei communicates with the Eva to urge it to let Shinji go. He comes back afterwards and then Rei asks Shinji if she could hold his hand. | ||||||
| 9 | ||||||
| Kaworu is introduced as a new EVA pilot. Asuka fights against Arael but is put into a coma when she remembers her past. Kaworu is made the new pilot of Unit-02 in Asuka's place. | ||||||
| 10 | ||||||
| It is revealed that Naoko Akagi's death was a suicide after she kills the first Rei. Her daughter Ritsuko nearly kills Rei II but stops after the realization that she is following her mother's footsteps. Rei sacrifices herself in a battle against Armisael and comes to realize her deep feelings for Shinji. Rei III comes to life. | ||||||
| 11 | ||||||
| After Shinji is forced to kill Kaworu, the manga begins to loosely follow The End of Evangelion as opposed to the TV series ending (Do you love me? and Take care of yourself.). Gendo attempts to initiate Third Impact and consumes Adam's embryonic body. The invasion of NERV has begun. | ||||||
[edit] Characters
Sadamoto was the original character designer for the anime with Hideaki Anno as the supervisor.
- Shinji Ikari
- Shinji Ikari's eyes are brown instead of blue. He is also less introverted and expresses himself more, although he is still plagued by self-doubt and hatred for his father to the point where while dissolved in his Eva (episode 20), he imagines that he actually kills him. Also, his cello playing (as of vol. 11) is not a part of the story.
- Rei Ayanami
- Rei Ayanami is more of a "human" character, in that she is slightly more talkative and becomes more connected with the people around her, largely through her interactions with Shinji. The manga also shows her thoughts and feelings, and indirectly shows that she is in love with Shinji.
- Asuka Langley Soryu
- Asuka Langley Soryu's hair is strawberry blonde instead of reddish-brown. She is not as verbally abusive toward Shinji, but is still as difficult to get along with and slightly more of a brat. Her feelings for Shinji are not quite as obvious, though it is hinted in various chapters that she is attracted to him. She is a test-tube baby of genius parents, her first meeting with Shinji and his friends is different, and she is left in a comatose state after being defeated by Arael.
- Kaworu Nagisa
- Kaworu Nagisa is introduced earlier in the storyline. He fights Armisael alongside Rei in Unit 02. Kaworu is portrayed as being ignorant of many aspects of social interaction, creating some comic relief, but is also colder and more of an unsettling presence than in the anime. Because of this, Shinji dislikes and distrusts Kaworu, while Kaworu makes advances toward Shinji and is upset that Shinji does not return his affections.
- Toji Suzuhara
- Toji Suzuhara's English-translated dialogue is heavily accented (due to him being from Osaka), and his hair color is changed. He is more verbally abusive toward Asuka, calling her "bitch" multiple times. He is killed during Volume 6 of the manga series instead of being crippled.
- Ryoji Kaji
- Ryoji Kaji is given more of a back story; he tells Shinji of his past to motivate Shinji to return to NERV after the fight against Bardiel (this takes place in a hidden supplies cellar rather than a watermelon patch). Also, although he and Misato Katsuragi rekindle their romance, they do not take it as far as they do in the anime.
- Yui Ikari
- In addition to the presence of Yui Ikari's soul inside Unit 01, the Eva's Angelic aspect has its own identity, depicted as the unarmored Eva. This being shows itself to both Shinji and Rei while they are synchronized with the Eva, and it attempts to trap Shinji inside the Eva with itself after the battle with the Angel Zeruel by taking Yui's form and manipulating Shinji's desire for contact with his mother. Rei is able to establish a mental link with this Angelic part of Unit 01 while outside the Eva, and the two acknowledge that they are directly connected to each other.
[edit] Publishing History and Critical Success
With the success of the anime, the manga has also become very successful; the first 10 volumes have sold over 15 million copies[5], and the 11th volume taking the total to over 17 million[6]. In particular, as the manga has drawn closer to its conclusion, attention surrounding it has reached new heights, with the 11th volume staying atop the Japanese Comic Ranking charts for 4 straight weeks, a remarkable achievement even for long-running series.[7]
While the manga has been running for more than 12 years, only 11 relatively modest volumes have been published. The reason for this is that while ostensibly publishing one "stage" a month in Shōnen Ace, Sadamoto's actual publication schedule has been irregular: for example, between the publication in Japan of volume 4 and volume 5, two years elapsed[8] (volume 5 consisted of stages 27–29, published in January, March, and May 1998, then 30–33 published between July/October 1999).
[edit] Bibliography
NOTE: This information is for the English-translated printing.
- Sadamoto, Yoshiyuki; GAINAX (Firm) (2004). Neon Genesis Evangelion, volume one, Viz Graphic Novel; Neon genesis evangelion;. San Francisco, CA : Viz, Tokyo : Kadokawa Shoten. ISBN 1591164001.
- Sadamoto, Yoshiyuki; GAINAX (1998). Neon Genesis Evangelion, volume two, Viz Graphic Novel;. San Francisco, CA: Viz Communications, 161. ISBN 1569313415.
- Sadamoto, Yoshiyuki (1996-04). Neon Genesis Evangelion, volume three. Tokyo, Japan; San Francisco, United States of America: Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co. (Japan), Viz Media (Canada). ISBN 1-59116-401-X (Viz).
- Sadamoto, Yoshiyuki (1997-06). Neon Genesis Evangelion, volume four. Tokyo, Japan; San Francisco, United States of America: Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co. (Japan), Viz Media (Canada). ISBN 1-59116-402-8 (Viz).
- Sadamoto, Yoshiyuki; GAINAX (2001). Neon Genesis Evangelion, volume five, Viz Graphic Novel;. San Francisco, CA: Viz Communications, 182. ISBN 1569316465.
- Sadamoto, Yoshiyuki; GAINAX (2002). Neon Genesis Evangelion, volume six, Viz Graphic Novel;. San Francisco, CA: Viz Communications, 181. ISBN 1591160251.
- Sadamoto, Yoshiyuki; GAINAX (2003). Neon Genesis Evangelion, volume seven, Viz Graphic Novel; Neon genesis evangelion;. San Francisco, CA: Viz Communications, 179. ISBN 1569318875.
- Sadamoto, Yoshiyuki. Horn; Fred Burke (2004). Neon Genesis Evangelion, volume eight, Viz graphic novel;. San Francisco, CA: Viz, LLC. ISBN 159116415X.
- Sadamoto, Yoshiyuki. Horn; Fred Burke (2004). Neon Genesis Evangelion, volume nine, Viz graphic novel;. San Francisco, CA: Viz Communications, 173. ISBN 1591167078.
- Sadamoto, Yoshiyuki (2006-04). Neon Genesis Evangelion, volume ten. Tokyo, Japan; San Francisco, United States of America: Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co. (Japan), Viz Media (Canada). ISBN 978-1-4215-1160-3 (Viz).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Timeline (pg 16), Takeda 2002. pg 162 of Fujie 2004.
- ^ See Takeda 2002.
- ^ pg 167 of Takeda 2002.
- ^ See here and here for distinctions in the covers
- ^ "In that time new things with story have happened and Sankei Shimbun has interesting new information on the project already. First off they mention the original 3 Eva films made 4.5 billion Yen in total at the Japanese box office. The manga published by Kadokawa Shoten has exceeded 15 million copies sold over the existing 10 volumes." from "9-9-06 (8:55AM EDT)---- Further Evangelion Shin Gekijou Ban Details" [1] [2] by the Anime News Service.
- ^ "Sadamoto designed characters for the legendary anime but was more involved in drawing the manga adaptation of Evangelion, which began its print run in Gekkan Shōnen Esu, a monthly magazine for boys, in February 1995--before the anime series was launched on TV. As of 2008, the anime series has already receded more than a decade into the past, and two movie versions have come and gone, but the manga series has not ended yet. It still continues, though irregularly, in the same magazine. So far, the manga episodes have been compiled into 11 volumes in Japanese, while San Francisco-based Viz Media has translated 10 of them into English. In Japan, the book form has sold more than 17 million copies in total." from The Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo) March 7, 2008 Friday. "Grim, complex 'Evangelion' easier to digest in print form"; by Shigefumi Takasuka, Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer, Yomiuri; Pg. 13
- ^ Japanese Comic Ranking, June 26–July 16. AnimeNewsNetwork.com (2007-07-18). Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
- ^ ""You've been anxiously waiting for two years! Vol. 5 is finally here! First, I'd like to give a heartfelt "thank you" to those of you who bought this book and are reading it now. I know you kind souls won't ask any questions about why it's so late, and will wait just as patiently for Vol. 6. Yes... I know you'll wait. I think you'll wait. Probably." (Emphasis in the original. Author's note in Viz's volume 5, ISBN 1-59116-403-6).
- Fujie, Kazuhisa; Martin Foster (2004). Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Unofficial Guide. Tokyo, Japan; printed in the USA: DH Publishing, Inc.. ISBN 0-9745961-4-0.
- Takeda, Yasuhiro; Yu Sugitani, Yasuhiro Kamimura, Takayoshi Miwa; translated by Javier Lopez, Jack Wiedrick, Brendan Frayne, Kay Bertrand, Gina Koerner, Hiroaki Fukuda, and Sheridan Jacobs (2002, 2005). The Notenki memoirs: studio Gainax and the men who created Evangelion. ADV Manga, 190. ISBN 1-4139-0234-0.
[edit] External links
- EVA
- Neon Genesis Evangelion (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
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