Fanfic: Garden Of Eva by Jim Lazar

Fanfic: Higher Learning

Author: Strike Fiss

Reviewed by: Jon L.

Date: 10/13/02

Revised: n/a (may revise, may not)

Rating: 10 (Brilliant piece of work)

(This review is being written while listening to Kanon D-Dur (quartet without harpsichord))

This is a review of a fanfiction titled Higher Learning by Strike Fiss.

What can I say in this first paragraph? Never before have i seen such a well-written piece of fanfiction ever to be published on the web. It ranks up in the high spots with TOILI (The one I love is), Garden Of Eva, and Eva:R. As a matter of fact is some ways it equals Eva:R, but in a few other ways it surpasses it in beauty. Said to have taken two years to write, I joined up a little over a quarter of the way in. I can't remember what lesson it was that had been last released at the time, but the moment I started reading Lesson 1 (it was in a teachers edition at the time) I had this feeling that it was destined to be interesting (and I wasn't let down).

Interesting was an understatement I found out. Spanning a total of 51 Lessons (the last six being Exams) the reader get to read about all of the lessons the characters learn on the way to the exam, mainly Shinji since it is his exam that matters the most in the end. The lessons I speak of are the lessons of life that a new teacher presents to them after the normal school teacher for class 2-A had fallen sick. He became the teacher for the rest of the school year. The story picks up at about the middle of the TV series and does follow the basic line of events with little modifications to the characters here and there during the progression to the end. At no point did I think the writer had hit a slow point, every single bit was equally important to the development of the character for the original end result to be different. The purpose to learning the lessons in life was to try and correct what Gendo Ikari and Seele had done. Everyone got a total revamp in this story. As was stated in the story at one point, something was missing from the TV series and EoE that would have made a difference in the end, but what that is you will have to find out for yourself since it is a part that should not be revealed here.

(Higher Learning TV Series)

Though some things were changed in the story line to fit the new set of events, it didn't take away from the brilliancy of Eva itself. Toji doesn't lose any limbs this time around, Kaji survives, Rei develops into a real person, and Shinji and Asuka get closer after the event of one night (no, this event isn't what some of you might think). It was Shinji's Birthday and Misato had left for the night to go to work. This left Shinji and Asuka to be alone for the night with Pen-Pen, whom had bought Shinji a present (a bottle of Sake). This had allowed for Shinji and Asuka to get a bit closer for the night (in an impaired state). All the while everything seems to happen in the normal sense according to the series. Character development is done gradually enough to allow for the lessons to make sense. While you read in the beginning you pretty much get the sense the author is following along with the episodes and that not much has been changed, when in fact it is entirely an illusion. Fiss knew what he was doing when he began the story in the first place and never hinted as to what he was doing and the relations between everything within.

By keeping his secrets (even in the emails that he received) he made the story all that much better. Not until you get to the activation tests for Unit-03 do you really see the change in the pathway the episode walked along. Though the new path continued to run parallel to the original. The detail used in the description of the battles with the Angels gave me a sense of awe in understanding what the character was thinking and what the Angel had in mind. I was especially affected by the way he described the battle with the Fifteenth Angel and what Asuka had started going through afterwards. Even his choice to adding on to the end of the lesson a detail that shared a special intimacy component which was destined to happen at some point, but happen during a time of particular importance. The development of Rei also gave a wonderful feeling during the battle with the Sixteenth Angel, even though it still stayed true to the series, mostly. When it came time to battle the Seventeenth Angel, I started to get a feeling for what was planned from the start by the author. Yes, Tabris was still Koaru Nagisa, and yes he was killed, but a few hints were dropped during that time as to second chances. Second chances is what the story really focuses on, in order to understand what happened the first time you would have had to seen the movies and TV series in their full glory (TV episodes 25 and 26, plus EoE).

(Higher Learning Movie)

This is where every primary event happens as it did in the movie. I say primary because when the alterations from the previous 49 lessons are factored in it allowed for changes in a few key components, but still kept their meanings intact. Asuka was still reawakened in Unit-02 and Third Impact went as planned. When you read these final six lessons keep in mind they are meant to be Shinji's final exam, but I won't say what the exam is here, that would give away some of plot that is based on reading the first 49 lessons. Third Impact is exactly what it was said to be in Eva, a return to nothingness. In this nothingness Shinji is still, shall we say, the teacher, but venturing through this nothingness provided me with a whole new definition of what Instrumentality meant. Just as it is a return to nothingness, a state where all becomes one, Humanity is still given the choice to return to the real world, or stay in the dream.

To help drive the point home as to Shinji's role in it, a new character is introduced for the sole purpose of making Shinji understand what he must do after renewing his hope in Mankind. I shall quote a line from Episode 24 to punctuate this final component, "A song is good." Words spoken to Shinji by Kaoru Nagisa, and it held very true throughout the entire story, all the way up to the final moments where a song is what renews everyone's will to live.

And not by mere coincidence, that very song was Kanon D-dur, one of the greatest songs ever written as one of the greatest achievements of Mankind. It was a song written by Bach centuries ago and it still is just as beautiful now as it was back then. Classical music is used in Higher Learning as a type of medium to provide meaning to the lessons in life. At the end of the final lesson, I was so amazed by the story that when it came time for Kanon D-dur, I felt as if I was actually there listening to Shinji play it, I even heard the song flow through my inner being without using my ears. Fiss had done such a great job in the detail that in the end I felt as if I was living inside the story.

As I stated above, this story, or as I will begin calling it "Lesson in life" is equal to Eva:R, which is a masterpiece in itself, but also exceeds Eva:R's greatness in vivid detail. I only have four favorite Evafictions right now and this is the most realistic one I have read so far, and probably ever will. Strike Fiss, I congratulate you in your excellent achievement and hope to see more stuff from you in the future. As for leaving stuff unanswered in your story, I think it should be left in that way since expanding on it through another writer may very well downgrade it. Some things are better left undone.

I give Higher Learning a 10 for creative plot, smooth continuation, vivid detail, and careful character development.

&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;&endash;

(An extra component to this review)

Third Impact and what it means to me (According to Higher learning).

Third Impact is what allows everything to return to nothingness for Humanity. A state of being where memories fade away as the will to live becomes lost. Only one person has the ability to persuade a person to see otherwise in this state. But, that person must show himself that life is better than the dream Third Impact is. Not everyone will agree at first that being reborn is the right thing, which is why the controller of the dream will need to lead by example after finding the will to live themselves.

Such was the case in Higher Learning, where Shinji became the teacher for all without knowing it until he showed one boy that life doesn't end when something bad happens. This one boy was the first to leave the dream. Soon, Shinji started performing a song for all to hear, which had the desired effect of returning hope to others as they left one by one, passing by Shinji beforehand. Surrounded by two very close friends, he kept playing the song all through the end, at which point he heard a fourth, and familiar, sound. His true love, Asuka, had joined in and waited for Shinji to leave with her. Though his two friends, Rei, and grandson, Koaru, could never leave, and some people still remained, Shinji knew he had made the right choice and "Passed his exam on life". Third Impact doesn't have to be the end if you have the will to live. Shinji's siren song happened to be one of the greatest songs in the history of Mankind, Kanon D-dur, a song that I repeatedly listened to while writing this meaning of Instrumentality.

"A song is good."

-Kaoru Nagisa-

You can find it here: http://www.studioshinnyo.com