Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Shinji Ikari Raising Project vol. 14

“Plot development?  In MY The Shinji Ikari Raising Project?”  Is part of what’s said on the back of this latest volume in the series which I’ve referred to in the past as my guiltiest comic book reading pleasure.  The problem is that there actually has to be some kind of plot first before there can be any development to it.  Yes, Shinji is kidnapped (or rather, “deliberately misplaced” as we eventually find out) and is put under SEELE’s mental control to attack NERV’s Magi system.  This leads Rei and Asuka to confront his avatar in more of the virtual reality shenanigans this title loves to employ.

Does anything significant come of this event?  Unless you count Rei and Asuka’s plugsuits getting ripped to show off their breasts AGAIN and Shinji falling on them in extremely suggestive fashion AGAIN, then the answer is an emphatic, “OH HELL NO!”  I know I’ve given a pass to these antics before, but that’s all this volume has to offer as far as comedy goes.  There’s nothing to the comedy in this particular volume except Shinji’s stupid pratfalls and the nudity and awkward situations that result from them.  Sidelining Gendo from most of the action here also feels like a mistake as well.  Even Carl Horn’s adaptation lacks the comedic zest of his previous volumes, though there is still several funny lines throughout the script here.  I might have been more forgiving of what I got here had Plot Development not been hyped as one of its major selling points.  This series may have been very entertaining in spite of itself for quite a while, but everything on display here makes it feel like it’s well past it’s sell-by date at this point.