Asuka: Are you sure? Shinji: I'm so sure.
"You're erasing her from me! Just like my father erased the memories of my mother. Just like he must have erased me from her mind! You're erasing Asuka! Right? Please don't do it. I.... I... love her! But I won't when I wake up ... right? I won't know her, so... please, just leave me alone! Please."
— Shinji Ikari
I don't want to forget is a Neon Genesis Evangelion continuation fanfic created by NidokingBR, set after the events of The End of Evangelion in a post Third Impact world. The fanfic plot is also heavily based in the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Shinji and Asuka's story is over. The world will soon forget about them. They must also forget everything about each other to be able to move on. Or... maybe not?
It is avaliable in Fanfiction.net
and in Ao3.
While it does contain its own regular and unique plot, the fanfic was expressly stated by the author to be an homage to the extensive lore and romance in "LAS/Asushin" - the fan names for the relationship between Shinji and Asuka.
The author notes list more than a hundred Shout Outs to both canon materials and Shinji/Asuka fan works created since 1996, all of them hidden as easter eggs in the text.
Compare with other Eva continuation fics like The Second Try or Ghosts of Evangelion.
This fanfic provides examples of:
- After the End: The story happens after Third Impact. Instrumentality wrecked the planet and Shinji and Asuka had to survive on their own for several weeks. After a while people start returning and rebuilding society, but this is not an easy task because the world is facing war, famine and competition for scarce resources. That new scenario allowed Gendo Ikari to gather the remaining of Evangelion Unit 02 and try to rebuild it to be the receptacle of an artificial S2 engine, which would be used to aid in the several tasks needed to ensure humanity's survival. Of course, he has other plans.
- Amnesiac Resonance: Shinji and Asuka had some moments with that during the battle, when they remembered key moments and things about each other without really understanding why.
- Anachronic Order: The fic opening scene has Shinji and Asuka meeting on the train after having the memory-wipping/soul-splicing procedure performed though this isn't immediately apparent. In the following chapters, the fic shows amnesic Shinji and Asuka waking up right after the procedure, but that also will only be explained in the latter chapters, when a lot of the memories revisited during the erasure procedure are visited out of order, particularly when Shinji and Asuka starts to remember things when the remaining of their souls merged with the rest of their souls while they were inside the Eva's core.
- An Aesop: Loving someone is worth the pain of bad times with them, ripping them out of your memory is a lot more trouble and pain than remembering them, and even against the odds its possible to find a way to solve even the most difficult problems, like the Hedgehog's dilemma.
- And I Must Scream: It's not that the procedure can't be stopped... it's just that Shinji and Asuka can't tell tell them to.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Asuka to Shinji "At any point... besides serving as a material to satisfy your fantasies or a lifeline that you only sought out when you had no one else available... did I, really, ever mean anything to you? Did I ever do something good for you? Was there at least something good about me that you could genuinely... love?. And also, Shinji to Asuka "After all, I guess I really deserve your hate. I was always a fool to even think that you could have liked me at some point. I don't even deserve to be near you. Because, as you said, all I ever did was hurt you, right?. Both questions weren't answered, but played a crucial role in making them remember the best moments that they shared with each other.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Shinji and Asuka had some conversations after the events of The End of Evangelion and realized that, even though they want to love each other, they had screwed up so badly and see the worst moments of each other during instrumentality that they can't make it work. In their last conversation in the real world with their memories untouched, Asuka said that "maybe" they could have made it work if they had had a different meeting. Later, they had the chance of meeting each other again and the answer was "yes", since Shinji and Asuka both meet up inside the Evangelion's core while they were amnesic and then start to fall in love all over again..
- Fond Memories That Could Have Been: Asuka talks to the image of Shinji in her mind about how their lives could have been if they had the opportunity to live as regular children.
- Gainax Ending: The destiny of Shinji and Asuka, apparently trapped forever inside Unit 02 or of the humanity, still struggling to rebuild the world from the events of Third Impact, is unknown. This ambiguity is also present on the Epilogue, but partially subverted because even if it's not shown if Shinji and Asuka managed to get out of the Evangelion's core, it can be inferred that they lived a long and happy life together
- Go Out with a Smile: The last memory that Shinji had about Asuka was in fact a representation of her image on his mind, that said good-bye to him at the train station. After he told the Asuka in his mind his true feelings, she gave him a smile before [spoiler:disappearing].
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: The memory-wipping/soul-splicing procedure conveniently only erased certain memories, from Shinji and Asuka, notably their memories about each other,. Partially subverted, because there were some unexpected collateral side effects of the procedure, like Shinji forgetting how to play Bach Cello's Symphony #1.
- Reference Overdosed:
- The fanfiction obviously references Neon Genesis Evangelion, the movie The End of Evangelion and the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but also references other works and official spin-offs from the franchise, such as Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days, Evangelion -ANIMA-, Petit Eva Nintendo DS Game, Rebuild of Evangelion (New Theatrical Edition).
- Some lyrics from songs used in those official releases are also referenced. The list of the songs referenced are: A Cruel Angel Thesis, Beautiful world, Everything you've ever dreamed, Fly me to the moon, Komm Susser Tod, One Last Kiss, Soul's Refrain, Thanato (If I Can't be Yours) and What If.
- A lot of fan works were also referenced, notably the following doujins and circles: Air, Epilogue of Evangelion, Evangelion 303, RE-TAKE, Gran (Peppy Angel), Girlhood, Happy End of Evangelion, Kuro Tengu.
- The homages to artists and famous fan artworks were made in a curious way. All of the original characters created by the author that appeared in the story had the name of artists that created fan-arts about Shinji and Asuka being together. Here is the list of artists that were referenced: Amai Yadoraki, Amelie Sabo, Arin (Baumku_techen), Avil (avil_m11), CC (cccccc6512), Dan (dan_da_dan86), Holly (Holi_day_las), Ienekko, Illust Acqua, Jason Yossarian, Jima, Kawatoo, Kazumi Minagawa, Kiru, Kyo, Rot, Samuel, Shark, Yubbi-Kami, Yutakku, Yuko, Zack-Rey Lin (Haruka).
- Perhaps the most impressive feat in terms of easter eggs was to put references to 150 fan-fictions about Shinji and Asuka, using the title of those works in as actual phrases and dialogues in regular passages and scenes of the main story. Here is the full list of fanfictions mentioned: 30 kisses, 30 ways; 60 seconds for Asuka and Shinji; A brighter future; A Crown of Stars; A different meeting; A Glass of Wine; A light that never goes out; A promise made, a promise kept; A reminder that I hated you; A strange duet; A stroll through my dreams; A thousand cranes; A throne of bayonets; Absence; Addiction; Advice and Trust; Afraid of the dark; Algunas cosas que nos regalo el tiempo; All I have to take your heart away; Alone with you; Amarantos; An insider's look; Another night; As we move on; Ashes; Asuka and Shinji's infinite playlist; Asuka in the bardo; At the other side of the dream; Avanzando de alguna manera; Be safe; Before tomorrow; Blood Red; Blood tears; Broken Devil; Broken hands; Care; Children of an Elder God; Cliches; Consequences; Conspiracy; Count the stars in the sky; Coupled effort; Cracking skulls and stealing hearts; Dark Kaballah; Dead-end job; Defense in depth; Do you know I trust you?; Doublethink; Downpour; Dreams of a distant god; Errors and successes; Neon Genesis Evangelion R; Everlong; False fingers and real bruises; Fireworks; Foe; Forget me, let me go; Futures Freak Me Out; Neon Genesis Evangelion: Genocide; Ghosts of Evangelion; Herz; Higher Learning; I'm not here; In doubt where to go; In Other Words; In tune; Inheritance; Initial Perturbation; Legacy; Life after Eva; Likewise; Little angel; Long Time No See; Look at me; Masquerade; Meant for one another; Momento mori; No room in her heart; Nobody Dies; Nothing will ever change that; Operation Unsinkable; Orchestrating the Silence; Plan-E; Play to remember; Porcupine embrace; Pothead's Dilemma; Practice; Propinquity; Prove It; Proximity to elation; Read The Fine Print; Rebirth; Reconstruction; Redemption song; Relapse; Relapse: End, Repeat; Remember me; Renaissance; Rosenrot; Samsara; Scar Tissue; See you again & goodbye; Sincerely yours; Slip Out; Somewhere out there; Sound of rain; Spawn of Adam; Stargazers; Substance; Swelter; Tacking Starboard; That night; That which could (not) happen; The Second Try; The accident; The catalyst; The Child of Love; The creative principle; The Division Bell; The human equation; The last test; The long and winding road; The one in your life; The quiet moments; The shout that buzzed their hearts full of solace; These scars we bear; Till Booze Do Us (Not) Part; To bridge the gap; To my dearest honey; Toppling the Walls of Jericho; Two of us; Two souls; Un cambio está por llegar; Unbroken; Underneath; Unreal; Until you come to me; Veering Left; Wake; Walls of Jericho; Wet sand; What else is there; When She Smiles; Where are you?; You Are (Not) At Fault; You can not redo; You can not run so far away; You may dream dreams come true; Yui's words.
- Screw Destiny: Shinji's plan to try to find a way to keep both him, Asuka together and the world safe at the same time is doomed to fail, since he wasn't able to achieve that in any of the several alternate realities that he saw during Instrumentality. Also, his plan was based on the belief that his mother, Yui Ikari, the scientist that created the Evangelions, was wrong. The rational and cynic mind of Asuka simply couldn't believe that this plan had a chance to work, but made a leap of faith and decided to join Shinji and try to make his plan work. And apparently they succeeded.
- Title Drop: Every title of each chapter is a phrase that is part of a key moment of the chapter. Also, Asuka eventually says the title of the fanfiction in one of the latter chapters.
- Why Isn't It Attacking?: Asuka thought about that when confronting the New Jet Alone. She took a while to realize that it was trying to buy time, hoping for Unit 02 inner batteries wear down over it's time limit instead of try to make a direct confrontation.
Asuka: "You know what Shinji? You're right. Yes. We will do it. It won't be easy. Nothing has ever been easy for us after all. But we will make it work. You and me. Together. Until the end of this universe. Until the end of times. Even after the end of all Evangelions. ''Per aspera, ad astra'', right?"
