EYECATCH B

Inside Kensuke's tent.
Light shines in from a fire outside.

Schedule written on blackboard:
Outline of Summer Training Practice Operations
Japan's Mobilization Schedule
15:00 Deploy for combat
16:00 Prepare for attack, commence firing
19:00

Kensuke (OFF) "Toji was sorry about that."

Open fire in front of the tent. Kensuke and Shinji prepare food with a cooking pot.
Kensuke "His kid sister scolded him, apparently."

Shinji behind the flame. He wears a jacket borrowed from Kensuke.
Kensuke (OFF) "‘That robot saved us all!’"

Kensuke looks at the open flame.
Kensuke "Pretty embarrassing that he was scolded by a low grader from elementary school, isn't it?"
He finishes speaking and peers at Shinji's face.

Shinji is silent.

For a moment Kensuke gets a perplexed look in his eyes, but he returns to normal and picks at the fire.
Kensuke "I like it at night because those noisy cicadas don't chirp. Although it was nice and quiet when I was a kid, there've been more of them each year."
Shinji's voice can be heard
Kensuke looks at Shinji.
Shinji (OFF) "‘The ecosystem is returning to its former state.’"

thewayneiac: At last, the cicada explanation I promised back in episode #01!

Reichu: Initially, this explanation didn't come from Kensuke, but from the elderly couple (axed in the final production) I mentioned earlier. The woman says something like, "Fifteen years since that great disaster, cicadas have returned to this city."

Shinji is tepid.
Shinji (ON) "That's what Misato-san said."

Kensuke speaks, feeling a little relieved by this confirmation.
Kensuke "Hmm… Misato-san, eh?"

Kensuke assumes a comfortable pose.
Kensuke "I really envy you. Living with such a beautiful woman and getting to pilot Evangelion."

OMF: Kensuke's envy of Shinji's situation will gradually seem more and more idiotic as the series progresses. Eventually his desperate urge to pilot Eva will seem like a man asking to drink hemlock. Kensuke holds onto the dream of piloting, despite the nightmare that the reality actually is.

Incisivis: I think it's interesting to note that Kensuke's attitude is one often expressed by non-NGE fans, albeit in a more hostile way than his: that since Shinji lives with a beautiful woman and gets to pilot a "robot", he has no right to complain. That's bullshit, really. Whatever thrills Misato and the Eva might provide in someone's fantasy have nothing to do with what helps people with their problems and restores their strength.

His attitude also begs the question whether or not Kensuke is a spoof or a wreck. I want to say a little bit of both, but the truth is I'd rather concentrate on "wreck". More than once I've wondered if his warphilia is a way of coping with his situation.

Looking at Kensuke, he seems to want to say, "I don't have a mother… How pitiful I am."
Shinji "You'd better not. Your mother would be worried."

Mr. Tines: For the first time this episode, some genuine eye-contact by Ikari-kun.

Incisivis: Shinji's attitude towards Kensuke's war games is one of distance and slight confusion. He says that Kensuke's mother might be worried if he piloted an Evangelion, and can't seem to grasp that Kensuke would do these things for fun (hence the "guerilla warfare" question, which I think is willfull ignorance). This happens because at this point in the story Shinji is basically pacifistic. He's had hatred and now violence, but his surface self still dislikes them. It illustrates Shinji's lack of masculinity, but also that it's hard to romanticize something once you've experienced it firsthand.

Kensuke stops for a moment and smiles.
Kensuke "… Ah, that's okay. I don't have one."

thewayneiac: Plot point!! Plot point!!

Mr. Tines: Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, and three times is enemy action…

OMF: I think Kensuke is the only other non pilot we know for certain has lost his mother. We can deduce it for Toji and Hikari, but Kensuke's the only one who confirms it beyond doubt.

Reichu: NGE's not the sort of show that would come out and tell you that every kid in Class 2-A is motherless. It gives you just the clues that you need. It's sort of how with the Angels, only one is confirmed as being genetically similar to humans, and only one is shown to be humanoid before ve assumes ver final form — and you're basically supposed to assume that it holds true for all.

Shinji takes this lightly shocked.
Shinji "Ah…"

Hexon.Arq: Is it a big shock for a kid to be without a mother, or is he just stunned by yet another coincidence?

Kensuke channels affection into Shinji
Kensuke "I'm the same as you, Ikari."

thewayneiac: He has no idea how true that is.

OMF: How the hell does he know so much? Something tells me those security blokes we meet presently should have dragged him off as well.

Reichu: 1337 hax0r!!11

Shinji is speechless.
Shinji "…"

OMF: Someone who's lost his mother, and is actually a cheerful and balanced individual. No wonder Shinji is so speechless. That said, Kensuke probably never got quite as cold a paternal shoulder as Shinji.

Dr. Nick: "Balanced"? :P

Food being cooked.
Kensuke (OFF) "You'll have something to eat, right?"
Shinji (OFF) "Yeah."

Night. The tent.
Shinji (OFF) "Do you usually do this sort of thing?"
Kensuke (OFF) "Huh? Well, sure."
Shinji (OFF) "Is this training for guerilla warfare?"
Kensuke (OFF) "What could I do with toys like these? It's just for fun."
Fade-out.

Treize X: I'm curious, why does Shinji actually think Kensuke is guerilla training? Because of the fatigues and the apparent realism of the gun ?

Otaprince: It's worth explaining that Kensuke is not simply "playing soldier" as most boys do, but that Japan has a certain type of otaku who are totally into uniforms and gun replicas: military otaku. I suspect that a number of Gainax creators have been some shade of military otaku, including Anno, who seems to be very interested in submarines and WW II-era naval ships in particular. Military otaku are satirized, along with other otaku types, in Gainax's earlier work, Otaku no Video.

Shinji is probably confused because, even in Japan, military otaku are a rare breed.

OMF: He probably doesn't understand regular playing soldiers. He's more into cooking, cleaning, writing, sewing…

Reichu: …knitting sweaters, playing bridge…

Fade-in. Morning. Shrouded in mist.

Dr. Nick: Considering that's just a normal two-man tent with no kind of heating whatsoever, it must have been one helluva cold night for the boys.

The ground from a slightly overheard perspective.
Several men are walking forward.
SE (until C-149) <<Rustling grass>>

Kensuke becomes aware of them. (He only opens his eyes.)

Shinji notices too, his eyes already open.

Kensuke flies out of the tent.

Man A, who seems quite muscular, standing.

OMF: The MIBs' one weakness! Morning fog! Only then will they remove their protective sunglasses. Strike now, Kensuke!

Reichu: Too bad his Neuralizer is only a replica, too.

Kensuke stops short. Inside the tent, Shinji has a matter-of-fact expression.
Kensuke "Ugh."

Mr. Tines: Kensuke's battle plan in 130 didn't cater for unscheduled MIBs.

Hexon.Arq: A kid pops out of a tent with a fairly realistic gun and doesn't get shot? You know you can't pull that shit in L.A.!

The men stand in a circle around the tent. Kensuke stands with his gun lowered.
Shinji comes out, too.
Man A "Shinji Ikari, correct?"
Shinji "Yes."
Man A "We are from Nerv's Department of Security Intelligence. In accordance with Clause 8 of the Security Regulations, we are taking you to Nerv Headquarters. All right?"
Shinji "Yes."

Dr. Nick: Am I the only one who thinks the Nerv security agency is overdoing things a bit?

OMF: Shinji seems to have been anticipating something like this. His resigned "Hai"s are reminisant of Rei's in #01/249. Duty calls, at gunpoint.

Shinji walks by in front of Kensuke.

Kensuke's gun dangles limply.
Toji (OFF) "So you just stood there and watched…?!"

Kensuke averts his eyes.
Toji is reflected in his glasses, scowling. (We're back inside the classroom already.)
Kensuke "Easy for you to say. They were from Nerv Security Intelligence. Pros."

Incisivis: When we return to the classroom, the roles of Kensuke and Toji are switched from the previous episode: Now Kensuke is the level-headed one and Toji looks foolish.

Toji leans forward on the desk coercively.
Kensuke dangles his arms, unamused.
Toji "So what!? Don't you have any balls!?!"

OMF: Toji is just so charmingly uncouth at times.

Reichu: Toji's talking about MATANKI here. I wondered for a while what the hell this was, and then someone suggested reading it backwards… (マタンキ→キンタマ Or, for those of you who can't read that, MA-TA-N-KI→ KI-N-TA-MA.) Ohhhh… Reversing the syllables of words seems to be a common thing among Japanese youth; I remember Tsukasa from Hana Yori Dango doing this.

Kintama literally means "gold ball" — sort of equivalent to the slang "family jewels", if you think about it…

Incisivis: In what I think is pure coincidence, Toji looks like a parody of people who would demand the best from everyone at everytime when he demands to know why Kensuke didn't resist the NERV MIBs, showing the kind of overzealous accountability that's just as ludicrous as allowing no accountability.

Reichu: Also, I love the way Toji throws his head around when he talks. Very emphatic. ^_^

Toji in front. The girls express their distaste.
Girl A "No way!"
Girl B "Pervert."
Girl C "Ape."

thewayneiac: What exactly did they expect Kensuke to do?

Reichu: Are the girls insulting Kensuke, or Toji? I could never really be sure.

tv33: I thought the girls were talking about Toji, for being so lewd with his previous comments.

Hexon.Arq: These insults were especially confusing in the dub, in which one girl shouts, "Girl!"

Kensuke, unamused.
Kensuke "Only an idiot fights when he knows he can't win. Balls have nothing to do with it."

Mr. Tines: Psychologically, this guy is way and above the best qualified for Eva piloting — and yet never gets the chance.

Reichu: Well, you never know. Even for someone who seems to have their shit together, Eva piloting — or just being involved with Nerv, for that matter — seems to have a rather deconstructive effect on one's psyche. Kensuke should be glad he was never put behind the controls.

Treize X: Kensuke's answer here has amused me for quite some time. It's almost like he's insulting Toji, in a way.

Mr. Tines: Yep, it's a nerd put-down for a jock.

Reichu: The best insults are indirect ones. If you're dealing with someone as thick-skulled as Toji, the receiver won't even know he's being insulted. ^_^