Neon Genesis Evangelion 1.05

Rei, Beyond the Heart

The story flashes back to the day (a few weeks before) when Rei was injured testing her Evangelion. Ikari, Shinji's father, put himself at risk and burned his hands getting her out of her damaged unit.

Shinji (in the present) wonders about Rei. He doesn't really know her very well. Some of his classmates notice him checking her out and tease him about it. He insists that it is just that he doesn't understand why he barely knows her.

Katsuragi invites Ritsuko Akagi, one of their coworkers, over for dinner. She gives Shinji Rei's new ID card and asks him to give it to her. Akagi and Katsuragi, but mostly Katsuragi, tease Shinji about the interest he shows in Rei.

Shinji goes to Rei's apartment the next morning. The door is open but no one seems to be home. Shinji walks in and is walking around when Rei walks out of the shower wearing nothing but a towel. Shinji is shocked. He trips into her. They fall to the ground. She loses her towel. He watches her get dressed (a) realizing how inappropriate it is and (b) without giving her the new ID card until they get to the subway. He tries talking to her on the way to Nerv but she is very unresponsive.

Rei begins to test her Evangelion for the first time since the accident that injured her. Everything goes well but then an angel is sighted. Shinji's father orders Rei to power down and instead sends Shinji out to deal with the latest threat.

Thoughts

The scene in Rei's apartment was very awkward. It was not a good look for Shinji. Why was the door to her apartment unlocked? What's next for Shinji and Rei? He's jealous of her because his father seems to care about her more than he does Shinji. Will that change? Why is Shinji's father so protective of Rei?

I didn't realize how much happened in this episode until I wrote it all out. I'm roughly 1/5 of the way into the series. I will probably stick with it but I'm not sure if I will watch it straight through. I might take a break around the midpoint.

This episode added some new twists in the tale. The most interesting is Shinji being jealous of Rei. Will that be a one-off or will this become a recurring motif?