Danball Senki
Alternative title:
Cardboard War Chronicles
Danball Senki (Japanese)
Danbooru Senki (Japanese)
ダンボール戦機 (Japanese)
Official website:
http://www.lbx-world.com/anime/index.html
This volume, which covers episodes 15-17, includes only one conflict with an Angel (albeit a very novel one), so action is sparse even though dramatic tension isn't. These episodes instead concentrate heavily on character and plot development, especially the relationships between various characters. A smattering of underlying NERV secrets—some of them startling—are revealed, but nowhere near enough information is available at this point to even make a guess as to what they ultimately mean. Amongst character developments, we get a full dose of Misato's insecurities and Shinji's ongoing internal dialogue.
It is also becoming clear that Asuka may have some serious issues which are going to be real trouble for her later on. Lesser characters Toji and Hikari also get some attention, and even Rei is starting to show signs that she may be capable of more emotion that she's shown so far, though she understands poorly what she's feeling. Ultimately the purpose of these episodes, and all the developments in them, is to position all the key players and set up circumstances to exploit during the intense end run of the series. Even something as seemingly innocuous as Asuka's interesting way to kill time takes on greater meaning when one looks back after seeing the later episodes. For those who haven't already seen the rest of the series, a piece of advice: nothing that happens in these episodes is coincidence. Even the smallest details matter.