Neon Genesis Evangelion, Vol. 4

新世紀エヴァンゲリオン [Shin Seiki Evangelion] #4

by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto

As a carrier fleet steams towards Japan containing a mysterious embryonic form linked to the true origins of the human race, a hurricane is about to blow away Shinji's momentary peace: the wind through the red hair of Asuka Langley Soryu, the new Eva pilot arriving in Tokyo-3...

Eva Vol. 4 contains a Japanese sound FX glossary plus a special bonus interview with the voice of Asuka, Battle Royale's Yuko Miyamura!

Genres: Manga, Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comics Manga, Japanese Literature

180 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 1997

About the author

Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (貞本義行) is a Japanese character designer, mangaka, and one of the founding members of the Gainax anime studio.

His notable works include Neon Genesis Evangelion character design and manga.
He is also the character designer for the .hack//Games and the Package designer for the .hack//GU games.
Also publishes with the doujinshi pen name 45yen.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just when Shinji was getting comfortable, Asuka, the brash pilot of Eva 02, shows up and throws a wrench into the works. Can she and Shinji get along well enough to work together?

Things are coming together. Asuka really livens things up in Shinji's life, both in the Evangelion and out. After some mishaps, they're forced to live in the same quarters and learn a choreographed dance routine in order to learn to work together. Hilarity ensues.

The addition of Asuka to the cast is a huge improvement on previous volumes. While I was originally interested in the series because of the giant robots, the characters have me hooked. I guess I'll grab a few more next time I'm at the used bookstore. Four out of five stars.

[Keiko the manga enthusiast ♒︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asuka is a fine addition to the team—the character archetype that looks high and mighty but hides a deep scar. It made the story rowdier than ever! And the monkey boys (Kensuke, Shinji, and Toji) are so hilarious! Also, the dance practice is so fun to read. Also, I adore the love-hate vibe going on with Katsuragi and Kaji (if only Kaji wasn't so flirty with girls, I'd love him even more, but I kinda ship them.)

[ami · Rating 5 out of 5]

ASUKA YOU ARE MY BABY THAT I BIRTHED.

[Nərmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asuka's arrival made a new comic relief after Misato. Asuka & Shinji relationship is hilarious, though Asuka sometimes bullies him and is absolutely mean to him. At least they are open in front of each other and that makes me smile. Personally, I think Asuka is more interesting character than Rei.
And one more thing: while Shinji seem cowardly and passive, he is actually quite clever. He seems to understand people's feeligs well enough.
I was sad about Asuka's "family". That was unexpected.

[Pflanzis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wie der Titel verspricht, wird Asuka eingeführt. Hier weicht der Manga vom Anime ab. Ebenso beim Kampftraining für den 5. Engel. Ich finde beide Varianten gut, finde die Mangaversion aber irgendwie passender. Asukas verschiedene Seiten kommen darin viel besser zum Ausdruck.

[Gebanuzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sincronización, sinergia perfecta. Un personaje nuevo, identidades que se van descubriendo y complementando. Bailarines al compás.

[José · Rating 5 out of 5]

En este tomo ya se notan algunas diferencias respecto al anime.

Tiene mucho más fan service que la serie, pero los extras son excelentes y la calidad de la edición también.

[Gustavo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asuka es insoportable y Kaji me cae pesado, pero el tomo es muy divertido. Que ASuka y Shinji tuvieran que practicar baile para derrotar a un angel doble es una de las cosas que más recuerdo que me divirtieron mucho de la serie, y en el manga es casi tan divertido (se extraña múcho la música).

Una cosa que no he dicho aún es lo increíbles que son las entrevistas al final de estos mangas, los actores de voz y los artistas son geniales y tienen cosas muy profundas para decir, es algo muy interesante de esta edición.

[Ari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un nuevo personaje con mucha personalidad que me encanto ya que me hizo reír.

La sincronización me encanto, cada volumen me sorprende demasiado

[Δανάη Ιμπραχήμ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't a huge Asuka stan at first, but as the story goes on, she gets more vulnerable and relatable and I feel for her.

[Gabriel Benitez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Llega la nueva niña al proyecto y ahora Asuka y Shinji no solo deberán aprender a coordinarse y pelear juntos, sino también, a bailar.

[Ark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hello Asuka :) I'm sure everything will be totally fine

[Milena · Rating 3 out of 5]

ta nowa babeczka jest najwięskszą czerwoną flagą for real

[Yukino · Rating 5 out of 5]

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION n. 4

Rispetto allo scorso volume questo è molto più disteso e divertente.
Arriva Asuka, il Third children. Un vero tornado! Troppo divertente. Mi ha fatto morire dal ridere e al tempo stesso mi ha fatto fatto proprio tenerezza. C'è di più in lei...lo so. Staremo a vedere. Al momento ha scosso un pò l'equilibrio che si era creato. Bene!
Arrivato anche Kaji l'ex di Misato...fuori come un terrazzino anche lui, ma non solo ;)

Non vedo l'ora di leggere il prossimo ^^

[Siew Hok Rui Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This masterpiece has taken a special spot in my heart. After watching the anime, I thought how about read the novel. So I did it. Since it was soo good that it left an impact on me. I decided to go on and research about Evangelion. This leads me to discover the depressing things author Hideaki Anno had to go through. He mentioned in an interview that Evangelion is a way of expression Hideaki Anno was using to burn down his feelings of depression. I wouldn't say that Shinji Ikari is my favorite protagonist, but I can't help it but feel relatable to him. During this novel as well as the anime it almost feels like I am Shinji, I felt like I was betrayed. My feelings were betrayed. Shinji will always be the most unique protagonist I will ever see, because the protagonist is not the ideal version of himself, as if Evangelion is telling me that Shinji is the person you would never want to be. This is my review of Evangelion as a whole.

[Saphirablue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Soryu even though sometimes *rolls eyes*.

I'm just curious why everybody made such a big deal of Shinji and her being able to work together when they did nothing like this in regards of Shinji and Rei? I mean, I get that they had to be in synch for the battle with the Angel but in general?

Also, it's interesting that Soryu has some different information on what happened with Second Impact.

[MajesticalLion · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the portion of the show I was most critical of, so we'll see how the manga performs. So far it's been pretty darn good. I like Asuka's vibe a lot more in the manga. Between the stuff at the beginning when she beats up all the guys, or her living with Shinji and learning to dance, this volume put Asuka in a real good light. Let's see if the manga can keep this momentum.

[Met · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mi piace moltissimo il fatto che Asuka qui sia analizzata in modo più approfondito… e lei è sempre una bomba.

[k1tzzkah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Манга стає все цікавішою, адже з‘явилась Аска! Спостерігати за її діями, намагатись зрозуміти їх досить захоплююче.

[Alejandro Sierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Asuka es una niña normal después de todo..." Aunque la historia de su concepción es muy... emmm, Asukiana? Jajaj

[Monnie♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 :)

[bri]

asuka and shinji are soooo special to me

[Grace Arango · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS VOLUME!

We get introduced to the character everyone hates (but somehow, I find them quite entertaining). Had a lot of fun with this one :)

[Miguel Lugo · Rating 5 out of 5]

No me gusta la comedia pero he reído un poco con el nuevo personaje un tanto desesperante pero su comportamiento tiene un gran porqué y es cuando comprendemos su personalidad un tanto petulante.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

{2nd readthrough}

The Story: Even though they practically arrive at the same time, the stage 20 introduction of Asuka is more pronounced than the stage 21 introduction of Kaji. I love them both and find that they bring much brevity to a more serious story. Even if Asuka's personality is abrasive, we find her involved in plenty of humorous situations (that she may or may not have instigated). And reflecting on the manga so far, there is humor aplenty, especially in this first half of the series. It just feels extra good to get it while we can before things get too dire. Maybe that's just another part of why I prefer it over the anime, even though I remember some shining examples from Asuka's debut in the anime, too. See: "Wunderbar." See: The inflated plugsuit slapstick, etc. I don't particularly remember this atmosphere of humor from when I read it before, since it was always the heartwarming moments that seemed noticeably more powerful than as executed in the anime, but I'm glad to see the sense of humor so abundant.

For example, on pg. 16, after witnessing Asuka charismatically defeat an Angel, and after an unsolicited mugging down of the droll Rei and Shinji, Misato comments that the arriving Third Child might be the most normal of the bunch. The expressions drawn are priceless, and you ask yourself what the pilots did to deserve the critique.

I also got an unintentional laugh out of reading Misato's, "Nice fight with the Angel! We saw it on videotape..." line on pg. 42. The sound effect, ガタッ (gata'), of Misato setting down her food tray, is practically a ba-dum-tss. For a world set in 2015 to still be using that format, that I got a kick out of.

This book truly centers around Asuka's arrival. Her disingenuousness put on in the face of authority figures is a source of contention for Shinji. He's privy to it after seeing such behavior in his old self. She calls Shinji out on his father complex but seems to have one about her own mother. They are different personality types, but they mirror eachother and feed off one another in many ways. Even after seeing her whoop a mob of thugs, Shinji matches her backbone and steps in to protect Rei from a slap. "Cut it out!" he cries sternly. Rei seems to be developing more as well, as her an impression of Asuka, read all over her face, seems to be less than stellar. (pg. 58)

The stones tumble against eachother and start to sharpen into gems. Again, two child soldiers (learn to) march on in tandem. By the end, the conflict with the Angel sees resolution, and I come to like Asuka. Even though Rei was in the background during the first two volumes we didn't really explore her until the third, and when we did it we were rewarded. Similarly, exploring her in this one volume, Asuka's already become three dimensional. So, once again, more great character development and the buttoned up arc conveniently ends along with the last chapter of this tankōbon.

However, this volume raises an important question: Who is this mystery woman found on pg. 75, panel 2!? I dismissed her in an earlier volume, but now she makes an appearance again! I must find out.

Fanservice notification! Kensuke fetishizes being ordered around by powerful women. (pg. 22) I know this was brought up in a previous volume, but I hadn't noticed a pattern until this read-run. (A-ha! It's first sighted in vol. 2, pg. 146, panel 1.) Also Shinji thinks, "There's something wrong with a 14-year old girl talking about all this sperm..." (pg. 128) These authors and projecting their wishful thinking.

The Art: It's so good. I gotta have more of it! He doesn't do many interiors, he does mostly character design, and the most recent manga he's done was over 20 years ago - and they were ONE-OFFS! Ugh!!! Also, I went back and cleaned up my first three reviews, because I could not believe I had been misspelling the author's name my whole life! It's SadamOto, not SadamAto. How embarrassing.

Quote appreciation!

1) Yeah, if you were by yourself. But of course you wouldn't have any intention of adjusting your pace for me. - Shinji, pg. 121

2) I hate him. So much that I wonder why he's my father. But... I don't really want to hate him. - Shinji, pg. 126

3) If I was chosen from among many to become an Eva pilot... and I fight and defeat the Angels... and everyone acknowledges those accomplishments... then I'd be happy. - Asuka, pg. 130

4) There's something about her drive... unstoppable. Not like me. - Shinji, pg. 153 (I admire her passion and pride in her work too, Shinji.)

Art appreciation!

1) The gazebo Asuka retreats to in the underground NERV facility. We rarely get to see the GeoFront outside of the military grade HQ. It's nice to be reminded it exists and is beautiful to boot. (pg. 141, panel 6)

2) The closing page of chapter 25. *smiles*

3) The entirety of pg. 174. Very dynamic. I love it when Sadamoto does what would be considered "animation keyframes" to give a scene more movement. And to do it with those intricate Eva designs at that? Mad respect.

The Extras: In a cute little reminder of the times, pg. 66 uses an eyeglasses symbol along with arrows pointing from right to left to inform the reader of how they should be reading. This is my first notice of them in these books. I think it's unnecessary given the disclaimer that's been at the back of all the volumes, where American audiences would normally start reading, and also because.. if they've made it this far, not just in this volume but in the three other volumes before it, I think they get the picture. But again, it's a time capsule reminder of when this was made, and in that regard it's kind of fun to see.

They cleaned up the character bios section, and there are no longer any quirky editor blurbs, aside from the literature recommendations for fans of Eva, which is slightly different from the standard publisher panhandling done by the normal advert pages which are still present in the back, of course.

Sadamato's - AAAH! misspelled out of habit - SadamOto's shortcomings sound like my own. In his follow-up, he spilled some autobiographical tea. He describes himself as a good-for-nothing entirely empty of self-management skills. It hit very much close home. He does make it a point to reward himself whenever he gets his work in on time, though. Paraphrasing, the harsh lashes of the whip are worth the sweet licks of the lollipop. Let's get some dreams done, Ben!

As far as the SFX glossary goes, no I haven't actually been comparing the kana to the romaji in the back as I had with some other books, like 20th Century Boys back when I first learned the phonetic system, but there's really no need (or time) for that. There's bound to be minor errors, but imho they're no big deal. Even the example for hiragana SFX, panel 19-1, where Kensuke adjusts his glasses to look at Ayanami, is slightly off. It's spelled as "ounnn..." in romaji, but it should actually be "onyaa". A slip up of the translation here or there is definitely worth preserving the original art and sounds to keep us purists (and the original artist) happy. This new glossary's examples at least correspond with the pages it links to, unlike last time, and it also explains the usage of ellipsis as drawn out sounds.

Lastly, an quote from the interview of the せいゆう (seiyuu) for Asuka, Yuko Miyamura: "[...] life isn't one exam, one that determines everything. Don't try and think everything all the way through to the end. Decide you'll try and learn instead." I feel like I need to point out that nobody is being questioned in these "interviews", and the speech is very flowery. So, they're really more like poetic essays.

Also, note to self: These reviews are really slowing down my reading. Let's try to keep it to what I can right in under an hour, a few sentences per feature (one quote, one art panel) because this is becoming work, and I could have probably read the whole saga by now! lol

The woman whom thou gavest to be with me. And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. - Genesis 3:12, KJV (Thanks, Biblehub.com.)

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

We're starting to see the manga series diverge from the original anime in more than just occasional moments - in particular, Asuka's introduction to the series sees her defeating an Angel alone at sea before meeting Shinji unawares in a civilian context, and their relationship afterward is made more nuanced - and overall, this works really well for me. What I couldn't stand about the book, and what lowered the score for me, was the way things seem to devolve into slapstick every time Kaji is around. It's interesting watching Asuka try to balance a hyper-assertive attitude toward her peers against a "good girl" facade in front of the grown-ups, and watching her and Shinji get to know each other. It's *not* interesting watching Misato devolve into a rom-com *tsundere* girl.

An indispensable part of the series, given Asuka's presence in the main cast, but not the strongest part of the story.

[CountZeroOr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume adapts what I'd describe as the "First Asuka Arc", with Asuka's arrival at Tokyo 3, and the "dance fight".

Asuka's characterization is slightly different from the anime, as she acts like much more like a bully problem child, putting on a goody-two-shoes air in front of the adults, but a much more abusive face when they're not looking. It makes for a different take on the character. Whether it's one for the better I'll have to see.

Also, all the problems with how Sadamoto draws the fights are completely gone in this volume. The dance fight is one that, in the wrong hands, could have failed horribly, but here it just works. That said, it also is lessened a little bit by the fact that we don't have the music, which would really help. That said, I mentally went with "Dance of the Hours" by Amilcare Ponchielli.

[Jeridel Banks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Evangelion die-hard fans will hate me for saying this, but I think Evangelion is OK. It really isn't a timeless story, especially for mature manga readers. For kids who love mecha, great, go crazy. I'm really tired of little teenagers being the world's "last hope".

[Yumiko_Youku · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow... Asuka is one abusive piece of s*it.. I don't care if she has trauma, this is no way to treat anyone - much less people who didn't do anything to her...
Suppose she is supposed to be a 'strong female character' written by men...

[Jordan West · Rating 3 out of 5]

Purchased after I had first watched the series and was obsessed with all things Evangelion, it's a decent enough adaptation but doesn't come close to attaining the power of the anime.