RitsukoвЂ™s presentation in this scene intentionally keeps her distant, concealed either through the view screens and dials of the control module or the dim lighting of the room. вЂњIвЂ™m getting used to it,вЂќ he tells Ritsuko. Eyes dulled, mouth holding a half-open line, forehead prominent, these shots naturally convey a sense of not thinking about anything, about simply existing, and nodding when youвЂ™re told to nod. With the camera so high on his forehead, we can draw almost nothing else out of this shot, and so we are inevitably led into a similarly blank mindset. Like Shinji himself, we have no context for these flashes of colors вЂ“ theyвЂ™re just noise. That portrait of depression and alienation begins with this episodeвЂ™s very first shot, as we hone in on ShinjiвЂ™s eyes while the Eva unit runs its diagnostic checks. Evangelion doesnвЂ™t become a portrait of depression only when it starts directly interrogating its charactersвЂ™ psychology вЂ“ in fact, the day-to-day experience of depression seems even more clear in these early episodes, where itвЂ™s conveyed almost entirely through sound and imagery. That assessment seems misguided to me, or at least, it ignores the fact that even at this point, Evangelion is more a bracing articulation of the lived experience of isolation, depression, and self-loathing than anything else. ItвЂ™s often said that Hideaki AnnoвЂ™s experiences with depression (he fell into a four-year rut following his unhappy experiences directing Nadia ), or disillusionment with anime fandom (heвЂ™s made his frustration with the вЂњotaku lifestyleвЂќ clear endlessly over the years), were what ultimately led Evangelion to вЂњbecome darkвЂќ at some point during its running time.

This episode is about ShinjiвЂ™s own personal alienation, and its illustration of ShinjiвЂ™s headspace is as tense and immediate as any terrible monster could be. Episode three does indeed ramp up to a new angel attack, but this episode isnвЂ™t really about that fight, or rather, the fight is just one final illustration of the points it makes all throughout. After barreling out of the gate with what was essentially a two-part opening episode, EvangelionвЂ™s third episode sees us slowing down for a moment, and adopting what you could theoretically call the showвЂ™s вЂњneutral mode.вЂќ EvangelionвЂ™s narrative builds over time, but its episodic angel attacks echo many of its giant robot predecessors, with Shinji as the not-so-gallant hero defending Tokyo-3 from an inventive range of new horrors.

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