Neon Genesis Evangelion:
Girlfriend of Steel

Iron Maiden or Girlfriend of Steel?
This game is known by both names in English, but since the Japanese title includes “Garufurendo” in Katakana, I’m sticking with “Girlfriend of Steel.”

Either way, Girlfriend of Steel was released by Gainax on multiple platforms (Mac, Win, PSX, Sega Saturn) in 1997. It’s an interactive game where your options are fairly limited; at breaks in the story, you can either “look,” “think,” “talk,” or “move.” Most of the time, however, you watch a series of static pictures accompanied by recorded dialogue featuring the original Eva cast.

Story
The game starts out with a mysterious explosion tearing through Tokyo-3, and the next day, a young girl named Mana transfers into Shinji’s class. She’s instantly drawn to Shinji, much to Asuka’s displeasure, and the two share some romantic moments. It turns out, however, the Mana is a spy and involved with the mysterious mecha.

Any good?
I will always love the End of Evangelion, but dammit, there’s a definite appeal to seeing Shinji experience some simple happiness in a way that doesn’t involve the end of the world. Girlfriend of Steel is an enjoyable story, Mana is a likeable character, and it’s a pleasure to hear the Eva cast perform this little side-story. Sadamoto himself designed Mana while Yamashita Ikuto (mecha designer of Eva) designed the game’s mecha beast, giving the work some authenticity. The real problem is the game’s primitive controls. Sometimes the story chunks go on for over ten minutes, but there’s no way to pause. That said, hardcore Eva fans should definitely experience Girlfriend of Steel.

Fansub
An English fansub hack of Girlfriend of Steel for Windows surfaced in June 2003 and can be found here and there. It was translated by “EclipseZeta” and hacked by “roxfan.” Although the game originally took up four CDs, these guys managed to squeeze it all into one disc by compressing the audio. For whatever reason, it installed fine on my PC, but would not play the dialogue audio. You get what you pay for, I guess.

 

Links:

Girlfriend of Steel Official Site – from 1997, when Gainax still updated its site in English as well.

Absolute Evangelion: Girlfriend of Steel pics – features 86 GoS images

Vlad Anime Gallery – a slow website that hosts every single image from Girlfriend of Steel

Evangelion.ca on Gos - a good plot summary and game walkthrough

Juzzam's Mana Kishirama page - info and pics on Mana and GoS