Recent months have seen the appearance of NGE-in-space fics like this reviewer's 'NEGEV' (shameless, shameless plug!), Mekat's Warhammer 30K-influenced 'Birthright' and Dante Abbey's 'Blasphemy'.
The author claims many influences in Blasphemy's genesis, amongst them, 'Evangelion, Serial Experiments Lain, the CIA, Descent: Freespace 1 and 2, Children of an Elder God,' fanart and old conversations.
The setting is the future, amidst star systems in the aftermath of a vast human war between the United Nations and the Sirius Compact. An Angel has appeared within the tail of Halley's Comet and guardian warships are deployed. After an engagement, the existence of the hitherto secret Evangelion unit is revealed. U.N.NERV stretches forth its hand to bring pilots to its base.
There is considerable and innovative inversion from the anime canon - Shinji and Rei are the adults whereas Misato and Ritsuko are the fourteen year old pilots. Gendo and Kozo remain adult. It is fascinating to see how the adult Children interact with the teenage Misato and yet how the changed circumstances till echo and resonate with anime canon. This piece of fanart may be an indication of things to come - and is also testament to the growing presence of Myssa Elaine Rei in anime fandom - also evidenced by her artistic collabration with Chairman Gravel in his fantasy take on NGE in 'Chosen'.
Stylistically, it is unusual in employing a present-tense third-person narration. This probably enhances the impact of the exceedingly rich descriptions. The scent of death and destruction in the prologue, the desperate poverty and contamination of the first chapter, and the the clinical, metallic feel of the second chapter comes through so strongly that the text is almost sensuous. Definitely not a minimalist style. This reviewer was reminded occassionally of the NFTZu's 'Chronicle of the Black Wind'.
In these three chapters, a framework has been established but the story has yet to fully crank up its gears. Am looking forward to more of this very bold interpretation of NGE.
SEELE-06
December 28th 2000
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