The Angels have returned with their third messenger of death, Sachiel, who is laying waste to Tokyo-3, home to NERV HQ, and the feeble resistance put up by the entire UN force present. All of which, however, proves to be of no avail, even the devastating power of the UN's latest addition to their arsenal, the N2 non-nuclear mine, proves to be laughable when faced with the wraith of the Angels. As a result of the UN's ineffectiveness, command of the defence operation is transferred to NERV.
NERV respond to the dire situation by preparing the launch of mankind's last hope for survival; Evangelion, a bio-mechanical giant specialising in close combat and capable of generating its own AT, Absolute Terror, field. EVA-01 is ready, all that NERV require now is a pilot. Only children born in the aftermath of the second impact, exactly nine months after the massacre, have the ability to synchronise with an Evangelion and thus pilot it. The first child was found and underwent the process of synchronising with her Eva, however, the doomed test pilot, Rei Ayanami, lost control of her prototype Eva, EVA-00, in a mysterious accident which left her seriously injured.
All is not lost, however, as a potential new pilot is found, the third child Shinji Ikari, estranged son of Gendo Ikari; Commander and head scientist at NERV. Shinji is picked up by Captain Misato Katsuragi on the day of Sachiel's attack, however, both are caught up in the cross fire between the Angel and the UN whilst enroute to NERV HQ. Fortunately though both Shinji and Misato make it through with only a few scratches and Shinji is brought before his father for the first time in three years.
Despite his reluctance to pilot EVA-01, Shinji finds himself being railroaded into synchronising with the Eva having been alerted to backup pilot Rei's critical condition. The synchronisation process between Shinji and EVA-01 goes surprisingly well, Unit 01 is activated and the battle for Tokyo-3 is set.
Genesis 0:1/Episode 02 - The Beast
Shinji finally awakens, only to find himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling from a hospital bed, but with no idea as to how he came to be there. He has no recollection of the recent past events, including that of his battle with the third Angel.
Whilst Shinji recovers from his ordeal, Misato and Ritsuko Akagi, one of NERV's leading scientists, head up the salvage operation for the battle of Tokyo-3 in which Unit 01 sustained moderate damage. Meanwhile Gendo defends himself and the existence of NERV against extensive criticism from the UN committee who believe that Eva was used inefficiently, and that certain top secret projects associated with NERV are falling behind schedule.
With emotions still running high between Shinji and his father due to past events, Shinji chooses instead to accept the sisterly Misato's invitation to stay with her, despite Ritsuko's dim view of the whole idea. Misato takes Shinji to get his first real glimpse of Tokyo-3, mankind's fortress against the Angels, the city he saved, after which she takes the third child to his new home. It soon turns out, however, that Misato isn't quite the ideal roommate Shinji had in mind.
Later that evening, having drowned his sorrows in the bathtub, Shinji starts to reflect on his stressful first day at NERV. In doing so he abruptly starts to recall the memories of his first sortie in Unit 01; the battle that took place in Tokyo-3, the heavy damage sustained to Unit 01's arm and head component and how it eventually went berserk killing Sachiel in an all out killing frenzy. Now his only comfort are those few words from Misato, telling him to hang in there, as she turns in for the night.
Genesis 0:2/Episode 03 - A Transfer - The Phone That Never Rings
In order to improve his combat skills, Ritsuko's having Shinji participate in simulated training exercises in Unit 01. It would seem though, that Shinji isn't really interest in piloting Unit 01, he simply does as he is told, it seams to be his way of dealing with what life has to offer. This kind of attitude towards life and people in particular is starting to worry Misato.
Shinji turns up for his first day at his new school, however, it appears that most of his classmates have either transferred schools or remained at home due to the latest attack on the city. Toji Suzuhara isn't one of them though, despite having been away for several days caring for his little sister who was injured during the attack and hospitalised as a result. Toji is by far from being impressed with NERV's efforts to protect the city; he blames the pilot of Unit 01 for his sister's current condition.
Word of Shinji piloting Unit 01 soon gets out, which puts Shinji in the spotlight having to deal with all kinds of awkward questions from his classmates, something that he's not accustomed to and finds hard to deal with. Meanwhile war enthusiast Kensuke Aida takes note of Shinji's every word in an attempt to learn more about NERV. Later that day Toji catches up with Shinji, now knowing him to be the pilot of Unit 01, and expresses his anger towards Shinji, but not just in a verbal way.
Last time humanity had fifteen years to prepare for the return of the Angels, now only three weeks since the third Angel's attack the fourth Angel, Shamshel, is headed towards Tokyo-3 resuming the Angels' attack on the city. Knowing this, NERV once again launch Unit 01 to engage the enemy and evacuate the city's inhabitants to the designated underground shelters. They are not, however, prepared for the intervention of Toji and Kensuke, who intend on getting a little closer to the action, and that of the awesome new power displayed by the latest Angel.
Misato lectures Shinji after ignoring and going against a direct order issued by her during his last encounter with an Angel. Rather than dealing with the situation though, Shinji chooses instead to escape his problems by running away from them. Having taken the Tokyo-3 loop line, he wanders aimlessly around the city and then up into the foot hills surrounding Tokyo-3 where he unintentionally meets up with Kensuke who's out camping alone. Shinji accepts Kensuke's hospitality and the two talk for quite some time before turning in for the night.
The following morning NERV intelligence agents arrive to pick up Shinji and escort him back to NERV HQ. There he finds himself again having to answer to Misato, however, this time it would seam that she's more or less given up on him. Misato feels that she is unable to help a child who is unwilling to adapt to new situations, if Shinji is unwilling to continue to pilot Unit 01 then forcing him to do so would be a waste of time.
Due to his reluctance to pilot Unit 01, Shinji chooses to leave NERV and is formally dismissed from the organisation. But before heading off to the train station intent on taking the next train out of Tokyo-3, Shinji is caught up by Toji and Kensuke who wish to see him off. Toji regrets his earlier behaviour towards Shinji and apologises.
Now preparing to leave Tokyo-3, Shinji finds himself running away from reality yet again. Misato realises that letting Shinji leave is a mistake and so heads off to the station hoping to catch up with him, but arrives too late only to see the train pull away from the platform. To her delight, however, the train pulls away leaving Shinji standing opposite her on the station's departing platform. They stand opposite each other for quite some time before Shinji breaks the silence with a couple of well chosen words, 'I'm home'. Misato welcomes Shinji back with a smile and the two head back home.
Genesis 0:3/Episode 05 - Rei, Beyond Her Heart
It's been twenty two days now since the pilot of the Eva prototype, EVA-00, mysteriously lost control of her Eva during her first attempt to synchronise with the Unit. Twenty two days since Rei was seriously injured, despite having been rescued by commander Ikari who opened the super heated hatch on Rei's entry plug with his bare hands, a courageous action which left his hands permanently scared. Now Rei is preparing herself to re-undergo the synchronisation process with Unit 00.
Ritsuko heads up the salvage operation for the fourth Angel which, due to the manner in which the Angel was disabled, NERV have been fortunate enough to obtain as it's a near perfect specimen for which to study. Analysis of the Angel reveals its structural composition, although being composed of different matter, to be almost identical to that of humans. Whilst Ritsuko and Misato analyse the data, Shinji notices the scaring on his father's hands whilst he examines the Angel's corpse. Misato arrived at NERV after the incident with the prototype Eva, however, Ritsuko knows all to well the events in question and agrees to fill Shinji and Misato in on the details.
Later that evening, having agreed to join Misato and Shinji for dinner, Ritsuko gives Shinji Rei's new security card to pass on. Apparently Ritsuko's forgotten to pass on the card in person, at least that's the story, and so Shinji gets the job, along with an excuse to go over to Rei's place. The following day Shinji takes the card over to Rei's, however, it doesn't quite go as planed when the third child manages to elegantly end up on top of a naked Rei on her bedroom floor. Matter aside though, the two of them proceed together to NERV HQ where Shinji discovers that Rei appears to have the kind of relationship with his father that he has always longed for.
The fifth Angel, Ramiel, arrives in Tokyo-3. As the successful synchronisation between Rei and Unit 00 has only just been completed, it's decided that Rei is still unfit to fight and so Shinji in Unit 01 is launched. With little or no data on the new Angel, however, this soon proves to be a huge mistake.
Genesis 0:3/Episode 06 - Showdown In Tokyo-3
The fifth Angel fires upon Unit 01 immediately after having surfaced. The attack is made using an extremely high powered energy discharge which, due to Misato's quick thinking to retrieve the Eva, manages to only burn through Unit 01's front defensive armour melting it down to the third layer. Given three more seconds though, would have resulted in the Angel shooting right through the Eva, fortunately, however, the rest of Unit 01 remains undamaged and Shinji looks set for a quick recovery.
To learn more about the new Angel's offensive and defensive capabilities, Misato has UN forces move an inflatable to scale sized Unit 01 decoy into the Angel's estimated firing range. She also has the Angel attacked with a German type 12 self-propelled mortar, both of which are vaporised instantly. The results show the Angel to be equipped with a large firing radius and an exceptional AT field. It's also learned that the Angel is positioned directly above the geo front, home to NERV HQ, and is boring towards the instillation intent on attacking NERV directly.
Due to the Angel's remarkable offensive and defensive capabilities, Misato comes up with a plan to attack the Angel with a sniper. Commander Ikari approves the plan and Misato is put in charge of the operation. As NERV's positron rifle is unable to handle the massive output required to penetrate the Angel's AT field, Misato requisitions the SSDF's new prototype self-propelled positron cannon, meanwhile Ritsuko comes up with a novel form of temporary shielding against the Angel's fire.
Besides the poor estimated success rate for the mission, there is also another drawback to Misato's plan. With so much electricity being required to power the positron cannon, at half past eleven that night the whole of Japan is scheduled for a large scale power blackout so that NERV can get enough power to the cannon.
With Shinji now ready as the sniper and Rei providing the defensive backup, the plan is set and put into operation, but in a war against the Angels, even a predicted eight point seven percent success rate isn't guaranteed.
Genesis 0:4/Episode 07 - The Human Creation
Spending so much time around the sisterly Misato is starting to have an influence on Shinji's behaviour, he's now become accustomed to her ways, is starting to express his feelings more freely and has even gained a little self confidence. Again Toji and Kensuke arrive that morning with the hope of catching a glimpse of Misato before they and Shinji, who can't understand their love towards Misato, head of to school.
Whilst sitting in the cockpit within Unit 01's entry plug during routine tests, Shinji becomes distracted with his past experiences with Eva and finds himself questioning Eva's existence. Later Ritsuko reveals the truth behind the second impact, in that a mere meteorite striking Antarctica wasn't the cause. She states that man discovered the first Angel in Antarctica and that this discovery lead to the second impact caused by the Angel. After the disaster NERV was established to prevent a probable third impact and knowledge of the Angel's existence was covered up, Misato still, however, isn't convinced that NERV's definition of the truth is to be trusted.
On behalf of NERV, Misato and Ritsuko attend the initial activation of the Jet Alone project, an intended low budget replacement for project Eva. The creators of the potential Eva substitute boast its one hundred and fifty days of continuous power supplied by an on board nuclear reactor, however, Ritsuko is far from being impressed with the idea of a walking nuclear bomb.
NERV's scepticism is soon proved well justified as the activation of the Jet Alone unit goes horribly wrong. It fails to respond to the commands of its creators, which leads to the monster walking through the observation building intent on heading towards the centre of Tokyo. With nuclear melt down imminent, the unit out of control and failing to respond, Misato soon finds herself heading up an operation to prevent the destruction of the city. As ordered by Misato, Shinji piloting Unit 01 is flown in to carry out her plan, that is Shinji will place Misato on the Jet Alone and attempt to restrain it whilst she dissables the machine manually from within. Misato is soon in for a surprise, however, as Jet Alone's on board computer rejects its password meaning only one thing, sabotage!
Genesis 0:4/Episode 08 - Asuka Strikes!
Misato's put in charge of over seeing the safe arrival of EVA-02, along with its new pilot Asuka Langley Soryu, to NERV HQ in Tokyo-3. The new cargo is being transported aboard a UN destroyer, which in turn is being escorted by a massive UN fleet. Shinji has also been assigned to the escort as a backup pilot and Misato kindly agrees to let Toji and Kensuke tag along for the voyage.
Having exchanged reluctant pleasantries with the fleet's admiral, Misato has the misfortune of running into old flame Kaji Ryoji, who's also along for the ride on urgent business, but when he starts bringing up the past in his own charismatic way, Misato's day can only go from good to bad. This is true also for Asuka who has her eyes set firmly on Kaji. To make matters even worse, the sixth Angel, Gaghiel, shows up, or rather under as it's an aquatic type, in search of Adam.
Despite the wishes of the fleet's admiral, Asuka, along with Shinji, engage the new Angel in EVA-02, although all does not go quite according to Asuka's plan when Unit 02 is knocked off of its transport's flight deck and sinks into the ocean. Submerged and equipped only with B-type equipment, Unit 02 becomes unresponsive and is subsequently eaten by the Angel leaving the Eva's umbilical cable trailing out of the Angel's mouth up to the flight deck.
This bizarre situation gives Misato a novel idea as to defeating the Angel. She plans to force open the Angel's mouth with Unit 02 whilst sinking the two remaining battle ships in line with the Eva's umbilical cable and reeling in the Angel. Once inside the Angel's body the battle ships will then fire all barrels before detonating. Unusual is an understatement, but the plan is put into operation with the successful sinking of the two ships, now all Misato needs is for Unit 02 to prise open the Angel's mouth.
