The lunch scene at the school is very simply character interaction. It doesn't really establish anything other than introducing Cirus to Shinji's friends, and is really there to give Rei a pleasant surprise (and show that she finds it as such). And, of course, having other characters comment on Cirus is always fun for me. I particularly enjoy Toji's reaction ("that pale guy"), and Cirus' rather cold response to Kensuke's camera reveals the more grave side of his personality better than most small events. Asuka's abrupt defense of Cirus shows the last remnants of her crush on him acting up, regarding why he wears his glasses in the shade. The scene ends quite sharply with the introduction of the next Angel.

Though I was pleased with the idea for what this Angel could do, I never felt quite pleased with its design. A tall, spike-haired humanoid bores me quite a bit. This is probably the main reason for the transformation later, with some elements of the plot supporting the idea. (Even so, it's a stretch, I admit.) Being as Unit 01 is the real method for Third Impact, it made sense to me that the Angels would start targeting 'her', yet along the S2 organ and supreme powers it has when 'berserk'. This battle also maintains the more realistic balance in combat, with Cirus paying for his direct-confrontation style rather painfully.

I imagine the Angel's ability is rather obvious to a reader who is familiar with other anime and such sci-fi, but maintaining the feel of the story seemed appropriate, since the first suspicion would be something related to the AT field. The really important plot element of this Angel battle is Gendo's ordering Rei back to base. He no longer considers her expendable, even compared to his own son, which I found a perfectly logical leap for his character, though some may argue that he really did care for his son's life.

Again, Shinji gets a little demonstration of real ability in a fight, but is still overwhelmed. Of course, Unit 01 going all but berserk changes the flow of things, and reveals the Angel's major weakness for the first time. Multi-tasking at with high-level forces stresses its telekinesis to the limits. The fight abruptly ends with the Angel's retreat.

The brief interaction following 'round one' with the Angel between Cirus and Rei is, of course, fluff, but this fluff is the real point of Kenosis. The mild humor in response to Asuka's insult keeps the mood lighter, which I enjoy doing in an otherwise depressing story-line.

The report on the status of the Angel is only there for logical flow in the story-line (since it happened often in the series), and to establish that Ikari and Fuyutsuki are acting oddly for such a dangerous situation. Again, I use Kaji to make this explicit to keep him involved in the story this time around.

Cirus' assault on Asuka in the following scene is harsh. Perhaps more than I intended, but that produces the feeling I wanted. Cirus doesn't always react to Asuka appropriately, she really gets under his skin (like she does mine...), and so he goes overboard on more than one occasion. He has his reasons, and his sharp response to Shinji when he defends Asuka is one of my biggest 'author thesis through character' moments in all of Kenosis, but it was still overboard.

Cirus manages a mild apology before storming out, leaving a very hurt Asuka with Shinji. This further improves Shinji in Asuka's eyes (especially compared to Cirus), and starts to really form a bond between the pair of them when Shinji tells her what she needs to hear. The idea I took on with Asuka by this point is that she is very young emotionally, and simple confidence-building means a great deal to her. When someone else peps her up, she doesn't have to be so arrogant for herself. Read on!