Analyzing Evangelion’s Greatest Episode (Not the One You’re Thinking Of)
Let’s review Shinji Ikari, shall we?
He’s a people-pleasing pushover with no real ambition, and every chance to overcome his flaws is squandered with obstinance and cowardice, as he’d rather abandon his future than rectify his present. It isn’t until he wrestles with himself, with a little help from Misato, and fully commits to developing his character, that we see him integrating into society and facing his father, his fear, and his inner demons.
Through Asuka, Shinji learns to adapt and assert himself more confidently. This confidence isn’t enough to contend with his father—remember the flexing hand at the phonebooth—but it’s a start, and we see the steady progression of his stature as he further connects with Rei, reaches out to Gendo, and is more open with Misato.
Shinji, realizing the value of relationships, begins relying on others, steadily overcoming his social anxiety and irresponsibility. But, as we’re about to see, underlying trauma makes for quite the unsteady foundation.
And sometimes, you have to tear it down to build it up.
[Intro]
Previously, we’ve investigated the first three acts of Evangelion, chronicling Shinji’s decision to stay with NERV, his establishing relationships with those around him, and how those relationships have evolved over the months. In a typical narrative structure, we’d expect to see a grand conflict at this point, usually a finale, and we do, but another two distinct acts afterwards outline a thematic shift following that engagement. It’s a sort of extended denouement. In my eyes, Evangelion has not one but three finales, the first two mirror images of each other investigating Shinji’s character, and the third a grand and all-encompassing conclusion of our series, including its unique overall messages and themes.
Today, we’re taking a deep dive into Episode 16, my personal favorite, and seeing how it not only blends the plot threads we’ve seen before but provides an expectation for what comes next.
Episode 16: The Splitting of the Breast
Beginning in the apartment, we see Shinji and Misato getting along perfectly well—a prosperous evolution of their morning routines we saw back in Episode 7—that is, until Asuka storms the kitchen complaining about her bath water. She’s not actually upset about that, though: it’s a front for her growing frustrations stemming from last episode’s romantic failures. She criticizes Shinji because of her embarrassment in opening up to him and his lack of reciprocation, and criticizes Misato because she has, in her eyes, stolen Kaji from her. More than this, Asuka claims she’s never herself been in an indecent relationship—we’ll see later in Episode 24, that’s not for lack of trying, making her calls of hypocrisy here, well, hypocritical.
My biggest takeaway from this scene is Shinji and Misato’s connection. After overcoming their emotional obstacles in Episodes 4, 7, and 12, they’ve solidified a durable if not healthy emotional codependency, as shown in Misato’s brushing off of Asuka’s insults towards him, and next scene’s applause.
Here we receive out first title card: “In Sickness unto Death,” a reference to existentialist Soren Kierkegaard’s work about despair, a clear focus we’ll see with Shinji later.
The testing sequence reuses shots from Episode 12, where Misato was overly concerned about Shinji and the results caused Asuka to balk at Shinji’s talent. Here we see those same beats replayed with greater exaggeration, with Shinji not just accepting but expecting Misato’s praise, and Asuka growing so impatient with Shinji’s success that she even confides in Rei, her self-appointed nemesis. Rei, of course, is completely unresponsive and unwilling to belittle the boy she is quickly coming to respect, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
When Misato contacts Shinji following the test, he leans forward to fill the frame, one of the first notable times we see him growing instead of diminishing, a visual that correlates to his self-esteem. Even as Misato gives him the thumbs-up, the camera quickly cuts back to his face, focusing on his lighting up to her news. It’s a beautiful and innocent moment between the two of them, and I can’t help but contrast Misato’s freely given encouragement against Gendo’s single compliment. While Shinji is still hoping for a repeat of his father’s acceptance, he’s now at a point where he can rely on Misato’s.
Asuka moves from arrogant to self-destructive as she complains about this to Rei, and I really think this is the start of her ultimate collapse as she’s unable to even face us while trying to steal the spotlight. We see plenty of Rei’s face, however, emotionless as usual as she closes the camera into her locker, indicating she’s disconnecting from this conversation. It feels cliched to highlight at this point, but Asuka and Rei are framed opposite each other, Asuka to the left, Rei to the right, heightening the dissonance between them until Asuka violently inserts herself into the shot, showing her true feelings to no one but the audience.
The following seven shots do way more lifting than they deserve, as Shinji, for the first time, courageously clutches his right hand, the signifier of his confidence. His moment of strength is interrupted by a gaggle of little boys who cast doubt on whether Shinji’s confidence is genuine or superficial, and it’s not the last time a child will force him to reevaluate himself. You could also interpret this as the show making fun of stereotypical action protagonists, casting shade on the comically overexaggerated motions and declarations of ambitious main characters.
Day after, the 12th Angel, Leliel, arrives in Tokyo-3, and it’s the first one without an immediately identifiable blood type, indicating early on that this one might be different from the rest. Leliel is, in fact, the first of what I’ll call the four “Introspective Angels,” hyperintelligent aberrations more interested in learning about humans than in fighting them, which might explain why it spontaneously appeared above Tokyo-3 and not just within Terminal Dogma. We’ll also see it takes more than a well-placed prog-knife to kill these Angels, but Shinji is about to find that out the hard way as Asuka in all her brilliance suggests he take point on the operation, even goading him with a prod at his confidence to see if he’ll budge.
Shinji agrees, much to everyone’s chagrin, and his blatant overconfidence shows that while self-esteem is important, pride cometh before the fall. He’s overcompensating for his previous sheepishness, and his decision to lead is driven also, I suspect given this shot, by a need to prove to Asuka he’s not as intropunitive as she thinks.
[“Shinji being more confident is a good thing, right?”
“Absolutely not. He’s gonna need a good talking to when he gets back.”
“I see. Well, you’re his guardian, so you know best.”]
Sorry Ritsuko, you wanna say that again?
Shinji organizes the others, but they’re unable to back him up properly, so to prevent Leliel from escaping, he moves in alone. With a final clench of his fist, he makes the overconfident move, and gets completely blindsided, instantly forced to deal with the fallout of his mistake as the Angel begins swallowing him. Blood type is blue, and we get a brief close up of Shinji’s bullets piercing with an orange blowback, showcasing this is indeed an Angel as it bleeds LCL fluid.
At Shinji’s cries, it’s Misato, then Rei, then Asuka who respond to him, and the entry plug fails to eject, keeping Shinji trapped inside. At this point, you can rely on the plug not to eject, and while this seems like a major engineering issue they should really fix, I’ve seen theories that it’s an intentional defect implemented by Gendo to keep Unit-01 from being abandoned.
As they’re unable to rescue Shinji, Misato issues a retreat. Asuka is unwilling to abandon him, but more importantly, neither is Rei. In fact, this is the first time Rei deliberately disobeys orders. We’re not the only ones to pick up on this, as a very pointed shot of Asuka shows her taking note of Rei’s exceptional attitude.
Hours later, sunset plunges the rest of the city in shadow as seen against a church’s cross. Now, while I’ve previously discounted Christian iconography throughout the series, I do have to admit the cross shows up frequently to represent a burden or sacrifice. Here, you could assume the symbol is hinting at the burdens Shinji is about to bear inside the Angel as 16 hours are declared before his life support is set to fail.
Away on a rooftop, Rei confronts Asuka as she mouths off about Shinji’s overconfidence. The faceoff pulls no punches, Asuka’s entire face darkened as Rei stands in the light, a clear indication of who’s in the right here as Rei poses Shinji’s signature question to Asuka:
[“Tell me, do you pilot your Eva to be praised by others?”
“No! Not by others, by me! I praise myself for what I do!”]
Asuka inches back into the light as she confesses the truth, and it is a clear callback to the elevator scene of Episode 12, where Asuka’s answer to Shinji was in fact to gain the praise of others. She also in that scene asked if Rei and Shinji were “lovey dovey,” and forces you to wonder here if Rei’s support of Shinji is just a good-natured move for a friend. Or, maybe’s it’s a sign that she’s beginning to fall for him? Huh? Hm?
We get a reminder that Katsuragi will scold Shinji when he returns, and cut to our second title, the “Splitting of the Breast.” The title has numerous intonations: firstly, the word “breast,” which is reminiscent of a mother, important given what we’re about to see. Secondly, and more importantly, the “splitting” of the breast, or “splitting” in general is a psychological term used to describe basic binary associative conceptualization. The Wikipedia page on the term is very informative, but here are the highlights: “splitting is the failure in a person’s thinking to bring together the dichotomy of both perceived positive and negative qualities of something into a cohesive, realistic whole.” In other words, it’s black-and-white thinking—yes, black and white: the inability to see things in shades of gray, believing in only absolute good or absolute evil. It’s a major factor in narcissism, depression, and borderline personality disorder. It also affects relationships, damaging interpersonal relationships if a party can only oscillate between absolutes dependent on another party’s treatment of their immediate needs.
Long story short, it’s the fragile and incorrect mindset that Shinji harbors, and we’re about to see it attacked.
Within Unit-01, Shinji is floating in a vast sea of empty white void, much like the one he’ll spend most of the series finale within. A brief explanation as to the Angel’s nature, and the hopelessness of the situation is spelled out as Unit-01’s filtration fails, and Shinji smells blood within the entry plug, not only a callback to Rei’s Vision in Episode 14, but further allusion to the Evangelion representing a womb. Shinji undergoes a breakdown, calling out to Misato twice, the other supporting characters once, and even calling for Gendo.
We’re treated to a starkly lit scene where Misato is, literally, in the dark. Ritsuko, by contrast, sees exactly what’s going on as symbolized by her illuminated glasses. The metaphor is hard to miss, but what many viewers might’ve is the inspiration for this lighting: Japanese director Akio Jissoji, and his renowned work on Ultraman. Now, comparisons between Ultraman and Evangelion can be drawn all day, but what we’re looking at particularly here is a reference to episode 23 of the hit 60’s monster series, where a nearly identical setup evokes similar tension. Anno uses many of Jossoji’s pioneered techniques throughout Eva, especially during surrealist sequences, but even in more standard shots, like our proto-trio in Episode 6, and the various cargo-lift shots. There’s a whole article outlining these influences which I will happily link down below, and I encourage you to check it out.
Now where were we? Oh right.
Misato is pushing Ritsuko for answers—literally, a push-in from the right—and her realization that Shinji’s safety is going to the wayside prompts powerlessness, as shown with the forced perspective with Ritsuko looming over her. This culminates in Misato’s slap, punctuated with a flash of passing light. It is a deafening and sudden end to their friendship.
As Ritsuko retreats into shadow, Misato says herself she’s being kept in the dark, but strands are weaving together, and answers are on the horizon.
The piercing red beyond the warped windows of the following scene is an instant indication that something is unnervingly, grotesquely wrong. Shinji’s warped face harkens back to a similar uncomfortable shot in Episode 2, during his painful first experience in a soon to be berserk Eva. This yields to his jumbled inner monologue and the song Borderline Case, the same used in Rei’s vision, to confirm what we’re seeing is in Shinji’s mindscape.
This first vision sequence, two and a half minutes long, establishes some very important ground rules for what’s to come. Firstly, see two Shinji Ikaris; teenage Shinji, in the light, and young Shinji, in the shadow. We also have two rough white lines cutting through the dark as they begin interacting, a vertical one for teenage Shinji, horizon for young Shinji. Why represent them differently, especially if we can already distinguish their voices? Well, it might be a hint that young Shinji, the one hiding in shadow, wearing a striped black and white shirt, isn’t Shinji at all: it’s Leliel. This is the first intelligent contact from an Angel, and it’s not only probing Shinji’s mind, but actively challenging his selective memory, his choice to focus on positives and ignore the detrimental in his life. Leliel then, as you might guess, represents split thinking, immaturity, and is to this point Shinji’s greatest adversary.
Leliel posits to Shinji what we the audience have already surmised: that Shinji is terrified of others’ perception of him, which the Angel refers to as the “Shinji within others.” Through Leliel’s interrogation, Shinji confesses he’s afraid of others discovering his self-believed worthlessness, an inadequacy he concludes from Gendo abandoning him. This drop in self-esteem is challenged by recollections of Asuka, Misato, and Rei. When he recalls Gendo’s praise, however, we see a shift in the vertical line, a bend, as he points out a moment when he was good enough for his father, a spark of hope that his initial fear may be wrong. Leliel rejects this attempt at justifying his social anxiety, correctly pointing out that cherry-picking positive moments is a form of self-deceit and enables weakness, which is, bizarrely enough, also where we learn that Shinji can’t swim.
[“People aren’t meant to float!”]
See? I wasn’t making that bit up.
Leliel further attacks Shinji’s selective memory, saying he avoids bad things in life by covering his eyes and ears, and recalls negative moments to contrast Gendo’s praise. It’s this time at Misato’s voice that we see another variation in the lines, now a cross, implying these negative memories and emotions are a burden Shinji bears. Shinji, of course, isn’t willing to face this, choosing to run from those harsh truths by doing what? Covering his eyes and ears, just as Leliel accused him of.
I’d be remiss not to mention the setting of this entire scene: a train car, which has, up to this point, been Shinji’s primary vehicle for escape, as it was in Episode 4. It was also the absence of a train in Episode 1 that stranded him in Sachiel’s path, forcing him to face his father, the Eva, and his fear and begin this whole journey.
A brief cut showing Ritsuko, running the salvage mission, willing to make adjustments on the chance that Shinji can be saved.
And right back into the fever dream as things get weird. A heavy focus on family as Shinji interrogates Gendo on whether he’s wanted, all in vain, before we’re shown a collection of newspaper snippets—here are those translations from the EvaWiki:
[“Expedition Team Returns Second Impact’s… “Crystallized DNA” Theory Pride of Our Nation’s DNA Field Dark Side of the U.N. Undisclosed Organization’s Corrupt… U.N. Undisclosed… Bio-Pharmaceuticals… What is the secret of the “Dead Sea Scrolls” that the sanctuary of science “AEL” Artificial Evolution Laboratory is researching? The Light and Shadow of the Tokyo University Academic Clique Enterprise and Adhesion Year 2004 DNA Manipulation”
TEXT: “At the Artificial Evolution Laboratory A Critical Accident? Fear of Biohazard Engineers Eating Away at God’s Domain Fear One Dead Dead …to conduct research for… …researching in the same lab… …Ms. Yui Ikari (27)… …fell victim to it. …mistake in control. …Mistake! Questions of Human Experimentation Man-Made Calamity Bioinformation… Out of Control Estabilished Risk Former Research Colleagues Criticized”
TEXT: “Bribery Director Gendo Ikari Genome Biology Supreme Court Rules Not Guilty The Deficiency of Bioethics God’s Art”]
Atop this, we hear suspicions from strangers that Gendo killed his wife, Yui, but Shinji refutes this, knowing it to be false even if he doesn’t remember why he knows. That is, of course, because he was present the day her Evangelion test went awry. Most interestingly, however, is the image we see as he says this: not just a frame of Yui and baby Shinji, but a photograph. In the previous episode, Gendo said no photographs of Yui remain, so either he was lying, and this is a photo Gendo kept for himself, or it’s a memory of a photo from the Ikari household, or perhaps any other number of explanations; regardless, it’s an interesting detail I haven’t noticed others discuss. This is also the first time we see Yui, and the biggest takeaway is that she’s smiling, as Shinji says, happy, giving no indication that she feared Gendo or abandoned Shinji.
Now that final point, that Yui didn’t die or run away, might be the key to everything, because if you follow Shinji’s logic, he realizes at this moment his mother didn’t leave him like he thinks his father did. And if she didn’t leave, he can’t use her as an example or excuse to do so himself. She stayed till the end; so should he.
We cut to Misato, the surrogate mother, and her encouragement from Episode 2, the very words that kept Shinji from running away back in Episode 4. So we have two instances of a mother of Shinji bolstering him to stand his ground, and then a bit of wisdom from Gendo on the same thing. These images shrink away before he relapses into contemplation. In reality, we see him curl into the fetal position as warmth and oxygen—the two things a womb is meant to provide—run out, and he dies.
I don’t mean that metaphorically. The life support ends, his suit’s heartbeat goes silent, and he expresses, for a final time, that he’s tired of everything. He wants it all to end, and it does, as he finally succumbs to despair. This is the sickness unto death, and it has claimed him.
At that moment, he’s embraced by a spectral figure, and made vulnerable. He identifies the spirit as his mother, and that single word opens up a world of possibilities. It’s the first confirmation that Yui’s soul exists in the Evangelion, that she’s been assimilated into Unit-01; but just moments before, we saw Yui had short hair, whereas here it’s long. This could indicate Yui has undergone a transformation within the Evangelion, finally growing into a complete, unshackled potential of herself, but my personal interpretation is that this figure is as much an embodiment of maternity as it is the literal manifestation of Yui’s soul. Which is to say, this spirit isn’t just representative of Yui, but Misato.
This fades into a four-shot conclusion, with Yui asking if Shinji is now prepared to return to reality. The real question she’s asking, of course, is whether Shinji has realized that neither running away, avoiding, or lying to oneself is any way to properly deal with life. She’s asking if he’s willing to mature and accept responsibility—the hallmark of manhood.
Yui is still featureless here, the light bloom distorting her proportions to that of Eva Unit-01, as young Shinji offers a small red orb—his soul—to her. Now Leliel, up to this point, has taken young Shinji’s form, so is this child representative of Shinji, or the Angel? Well, it’s both at once.
Shinji, now wearing a shirt without stripes, has been purified, no longer split by indecision as he accepts responsibility over his own life—his soul and all its choices; and many speculate this is also Leliel being satisfied with Shinji’s acceptance, now allowing Unit-01 to destroy it, suicide by Eva. This is another quirky characteristic of all Introspective Angels: once they receive an answer to the question they ask, they consider their existence fulfilled, willing thenafter (more or less) to die. Yui’s next words reciprocate to both of them, saying “good for you” as Shinji progresses his destiny, and the Angel accepts theirs. In one motion, immaturity vanishes, and Shinji’s mother is proud of him.
What are the consequences of this?
Outside, as the salvage mission begins, Leliel cracks, bleeding, dying, with Misato expressing hope that the cause is Shinji, and Ritsuko saying that’s impossible because Unit-01 is dead, out of power. They’re both correct, Shinji, having successfully connected with Unit-01, with his mother, on such an intimate level that they’ve begun self-generating energy, breaking the laws of thermodynamics as a casual sign of their connection.
The berserk Unit-01 bursts from Leliel’s shadow, blood and viscera spilling out, in a violent scene reminiscent of a newborn emerging from the womb. Shinji quite literally died inside the Eva, but here he is reborn, renewed, pushing through pain into a life he is now more capable of experiencing. At the same time, we have a pointed shot of the sun rising, bathing the city in the light of a new day, as if Shinji is himself driving out the darkness as he emerges. Drawing further on Christian allegory, the coinciding of the sunrise with the rebirth is reminiscent of Christ’s return to life as described in the gospels. This is more than a rebirth; it’s a resurrection.
Also note the difference in the reactions of his fellow pilots, Asuka stunned at the brutality displayed, now questioning her relationship with her own Eva, whereas Rei stares on unphased, not only having seen Unit-01 go berserk before, but understanding a fragment of her soul is responsible for it. She knows what the Evangelions are capable of; she’s part of them.
Misato begins to wonder what the true nature of the Evas are, what NERV will do with them once the Angels are gone, as Shinji crashes down defiantly on the very shadow that swallowed him earlier.
Then we see a soul…like a flame behind the surface of water, it undulates peacefully, a sign of unity, as Misato’s voice calls out for Shinji. Is this his soul, or Yui’s? We never get an answer as, from Shinji’s perspective, it fades and Misato comes into view, the light bloom bending her body into the proportions we saw with Yui, a brilliant visual comparison equating the two. As a good mother, she embraces him, tears of joy running down her face as Shinji whispers “I just wanted to see you one more time.”
Shinji didn’t endure for Asuka, or Rei, or himself. He endured for Misato, the one who most supportively, most caringly, most obviously…loves him. Asuka offers a bit of levity as she points out the ironic dueling nature of passion, and a quick cut to Unit-01’s cleansing solidifies this experience not just as rebirth or resurrection, but baptism, a washing away of past sins in preparation for a new life.
Ritsuko and Gendo discuss more secrets as this occurs, and we cut to Shinji awakening in the hospital, Rei beside him. Unlike their first interaction in the hospital way back in Episode 2, Rei is completely attentive, telling Shinji to rest after what he’s endured. Contrary to what we might suspect, however, he says he’s fine. The turmoil of his transformation may have been taxing, but it freed him. He recognizes, maybe for the first time, that this growth has healed him, made him better, and Rei, just like Yui, says that’s good for him, that she’s proud of him. This verbatim expression of pride isn’t lost on Shinji, and he begins connecting dots in his head as we see Asuka embarrassedly recoil from listening at the door. She’s concerned for Shinji, but unable to get over her own pride and stubbornness to actively support him.
This elicits a laugh from him, his complete understanding clear, before he sniffs himself and realizes, despite the cleansing, he still smells blood. His toil, his trauma, his transformation was invigorating, enlightening, and powerful…but he’s not done yet. This rebirth is an ongoing process, and he’s yet to face his greatest challenges.
But that’s a battle for another day.
[Outro]
Thank you all so much for watching! This was a joy to make—I’ve spent nearly a year waiting to get to this episode, and it was an absolute blast to deep dive into one of my favorite cinematic experiences. I hope you learned something new, maybe saw things in a new light; if you did, be sure to let me know.
Anyway, Christmas is coming up, and if you’re still looking for that perfect anime-themed gift for your fellow weeb, maybe check out what we’re offering on Etsy; there’s some Evangelion merch still available, some more on the way, and some of it will be on sale as we get deeper into the holiday season. Be sure to join the Discord as not to miss out on secret discount codes, exclusive community content, which I’m really excited about, and reliable upload notifications. Or if you’re just looking for that last one, you can always subscribe.
Until then, thank you all again; I’ve been Jir0, y’all have been amazing, and I’ll see you all on the bright side.
God bless.
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