The Beast (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

"The Beast"
Neon Genesis Evangelion episode
Shinji Ikari staring at the ceiling in Misato Katsuragi's apartment
Episode no.	Episode 2
Directed by	Kazuya Tsurumaki
Written by	Hideaki Anno Yoji Enokido
Story by	Gainax
Original air date	October 11, 1995 (1995-10-11)
Running time	22 minutes
Episode chronology
← Previous "Angel Attack" Next → "A Transfer"
List of episodes

"The Beast", known by the Japanese title "Unfamiliar Ceilings",^[a] is the second episode of the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, created by Gainax. The episode was written by the series director Hideaki Anno and Yōji Enokido and directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki. It aired originally on TV Tokyo on October 11, 1995.

The series is set fifteen years after a worldwide cataclysm, particularly in the futuristic fortified city of Tokyo-3. The protagonist is Shinji Ikari, a teenage boy who is recruited by his father Gendo to the organization Nerv to pilot a giant bio-machine mecha named Evangelion into combat with beings called Angels. During the episode, Shinji faces the Angel Sachiel but freezes with fear and fails to defend his Eva-01, which is left damaged and inoperable. Shinji wakes up in a hospital the next day and is taken in by Nerv's Captain Misato Katsuragi, who becomes his new legal guardian.

Production of "The Beast" began in September 1994 and ended in May 1995. Staff used Christian religious symbolism in the episode, with the intent of differentiating the show from other mecha series. The title itself, "The Beast", references the beast from the sea from the Book of Revelation. The episode scored a 5.3% rating of audience share on Japanese TV and received critical and public acclaim focused on its visuals, direction, and sound.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).