Cartoon Cabal

Toy Story 3 is one of the most nefarious movies of all time. I've been saying this for over a decade, and I finally feel vindicated since many of the points get brought up in this Season 2, Episode 7 of China, IL called "Total Validation"

This isn't your grandpa's sonic the hedgehog. Sonic X was a Japanese anime that was re-released in the US. This episode jumps right into the middle of the series where Sonic discovers an artificially created hedgehog named Shadow. This one goes deep!

So here's the actual end of the series. Last episode we covered the movie called "The End of Evangelion" but really, this is the end. Confusing? Welcome to the Neon Genesis Evangelion club!

It all finally makes sense! (or does it?) The End of Evangelion is a 1997 Japanese animated apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Hideaki Anno and Kazuya Tsurumaki, written by Anno, and animated by Gainax and Production I.G. It serves as an alternate ending to the television series Neon Genesis Evangelion, which aired from 1995 to 1996.

The Human Instrumentality Project begins, merging the souls of humankind into a single entity. Shinji, Rei, Misato, and Asuka struggle with their reasons for existence. Shinji discovers that he has created a solitary existence for himself, a world in which he alone can exist.

As Asuka's depression has grown to the point that she is reduced to catatonia, SEELE sends Kaworu Nagisa to NERV in order to be the replacement pilot for Unit-02. At first Shinji and Kaworu bond and quickly become friends. However, it is soon revealed that Kaworu is in fact the final Angel and has been sent to merge with Adam in Terminal Dogma at the bottom level of NERV headquarters. Kaworu commandeers Unit-02, and Shinji engages it with Unit-01 in a fierce fight while in free-fall as they descend to Terminal Dogma. Kaworu reaches the Angel in Terminal Dogma as Shinji defeats Unit-02, but realizes that the Angel is not Adam but Lilith. Realizing it is the way things are meant to be, he then implores Shinji to kill him to prevent humanity from being destroyed. Shinji hesitates, but finally kills Kaworu. Later, traumatized by the day's events, Shinji tries to talk to Misato, but she is too distracted by her own struggles to be of comfort to him.

Following the last Angel's assault on her mind, Asuka sinks into clinical depression. The next Angel, Armisael attacks, and attempts to merge itself with Unit-00, causing it to make contact with Rei's mind, as past Angels did with Shinji and Asuka. In order to save Shinji, Rei self-destructs Unit-00 in order to destroy Armisael. Rei is revealed to be "recovered" after a supposed near-death experience. Misato forces Ritsuko to reveal to her, as well as Shinji, the dark secrets of NERV and the true nature of Rei.

After being defeated yet again by an Angel, Asuka's synchronization ratio continues to drop, affecting her ability to pilot Unit-02. Flashbacks reveal Asuka's tragic childhood, which shaped her current abrasive personality. A new Angel, Arael, appears in Earth's orbit, well outside the range of any Earth-based weaponry, including the Evangelions. Asuka is told that she will be Rei's backup for the confrontation with the Angel. Infuriated, she launches herself and confronts Arael on her own, however Arael uses a telepathic attack which forces Asuka to relive traumatic events from her past, causing such mental distress that Asuka completely loses synchronization and Unit-02 shuts down. Gendo orders Rei to go to Terminal Dogma, retrieve the Spear of Longinus, and use it against the Angel. The Lance succeeds in penetrating Arael's A.T. Field and destroys it, but the Lance achieves escape velocity and enters a lunar orbit. Asuka is again angered by her defeat, worsened by her hatred of Rei.

Ryoji Kaji begins to make clandestine investigations into NERV's dark secrets, after which he, Misato, and Ritsuko attend a wedding. Meanwhile, Rei and Shinji stay after class to clean up while Asuka goes on a blind date. Shinji meets Gendo at his mother's grave. Later that night, at Misato's apartment, Asuka kisses Shinji out of boredom, nearly suffocating him. Misato finds out that Kaji is a spy, but he shows her that NERV is hiding things from her. He shows her what he believes to be Adam, the first Angel, which is being kept in NERV headquarters.

The first half of this episode is a clip show, in the form of a report by SEELE reviewing Gendo's actions, summarizing the first season of episodes and the story up until this point. In the second half, Ritsuko conducts an experiment to determine if pilots can be switched between the Evangelions they normally pilot. Rei can synchronize with Unit-01 fairly well, but when Shinji attempts to synchronize with Unit-00, it goes violently berserk inside of the base, in a manner identical to the failed activation test that took place before Shinji's arrival in Tokyo-3. As before, Unit-00 attacks the hangar's observation booth, smashing the window. However, Rei was standing at the window instead of Gendo, as was the case in the first test, causing Misato Katsuragi to wonder if Unit-00 was trying to kill Rei. Meanwhile, Ritsuko feels that Unit-00 was trying to attack Ritsuko herself. At the end of the episode, Rei uses Unit-00 to bring the Spear of Longinus recovered from Antarctica to the deepest level of NERV's base, Terminal Dogma.
 Episode description: https://evangelion.fandom.com/