[EVA] Concurrency tangent (WAS: Alternate Rei on DVD cover)

[Peter Svensson]

> Anyway, just because there is a statement of "they're smiling due to
> Instrumentality" or what have you, doesn't mean it's because Instrumentality
> was actually accepted.

There really isn't any dialogue in the TV ending that seems to imply that there's a way to return to having physical form. That's part of my argument for the two being separate mind you, that the two versions of Instrumentality we see don't entirely mesh up on the logistics.

Also, if you're going to argue that the filmbooks are irrelevant, do that rather than the "Well, it says that they're smiling because of the Instrumentality but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are Complemented in that scene!" as it's rather weak to argue from. I'm okay with saying that the filmbook at that point is just the personal interpretation of the person compiling it. That I happen to agree with it is irrelevant. ;)

I think that the final scene makes a lot more sense if you take it as "Shinji is finally able to join the collective after realizing his self-worth, the limbo he was in shatters as he becomes one with the Complemented Humanity." rather than "Shinji realizes his self-worth, Instrumentality shatters and he is reunited with his loved ones."

> Why in the world would
> Shinji feel the need to say goodbye to Yui if everybody stayed as one being
> in Instrumentality? And for that matter, Shinji would have lost his
> individuality had Instrumentality been accepted.

Well, my take on the final scene of Episode 26 is that he has in fact lost his individuality, given that everyone now has the same reactions and the same words of praise, and that at the end Shinji transcends his individual form to speak as a faceless narrator. That the entire point of him being the tel-op is that he's no longer Shinji, but part of a greater whole. He's joined the chorus.

As to why he said goodbye... well, he no longer exists as Shinji Ikari anymore. A major theme of the series is that we are defined by our relationships with others, and primarily that between ourselves and our mothers. By saying goodbye to his mother Shinji then disconnects himself from her as Yui, Shinji's Mother and reconnects to her as Yui, part of the amalgamated humanity.

> I say it's not considering the parallels between The Case of Rei Ayanami
> with Rei's decision of betraying Gendo at the start of 26', as well as the
> fact that throughout the series ending, the characters say that
> Instrumentality occurring is Shinji's choice and is the empty world he
> wanted (which is more directly mentioned in 26' with the LCL Sea). The TV
> ending (and EoE) wouldn't emphasize that so much if it wasn't the case.

But there's also differences that you're ignoring as well. Where is Kaworu during all this, why is it that Gendo has the authority to rebuke the telop. Shinji may have chosen this world, but he doesn't ever get the option to un-choose it like he does in the film.

> (most important of all, thematically having a
> completely different message for one ending versus another when the series
> ending WAS going to be the flim ending really makes no sense, IMO.

If you consider that the staff had to prepare an alternate ending within a week, and that they were crunched for time, probably not in the best emotional place due to stress, and that we have proof that Anno was tooling around with changing the ending of EoE up until the last minute, it's reasonable. Also, remember that they were pretty much guaranteed to have an OVA to cover the "real" ending with due to the overwhelming success of the series at the time. It's possible that with the knowledge that they could cover their original plans later that doing an alternate take on things seemed to be the best option. 

Also, as far as we're aware, while Air is for the most part a polished up version of the originally planned TV 25, Magokoro wo kimi ni is NOT the original planned version of TV 26 but Anno coming up with something else after having almost a year to go over the details and think about how best to handle things. It is very possible that between the airing of TV 26 and the release of End of Evangelion that Anno changed his mind about how the series should end and on what sort of note it would go out on. 

> Especially when you take into account Anno "burned his feelings on flim"
> with Eva and that it's his personal therapy for Depression: Take care of
> yourself, keep on living, remember that people need each other.) it is the
> same ending, just a different way of showing it.

My personal view is that the TV series ending's message is "You can be happy." while the film's is "Life is painful, but worth it."

At the end of the day, Evangelion is about the Hedgehog's dilemma. The TV series ending subverts it, by explaining that the pain we suffer can be avoided by altering one's perceptions. The hedgehogs can find alternatives to hugging. The movie ending embraces it, by explaining that while personal relations are painful, the alternative is worse. The hedgehogs embrace, knowing the pain is better than being alone.

Now, that's my two cents. I think that looking at the TV ending, and at the hopeful speech at the end and going "Shinji escapes and returns to the real world and the final scene is just a metaphor for a real reunion scene that they couldn't animate!" is a perfectly fine take on things. I disagree with it, and I think that it loses a lot of the emotional impact, but I can understand where you come from in that regard.

As to whether there are "All the secrets of Evangelion revealed!" books, there aren't really. Anno and Gainax have been pretty solid on the "Evangelion is to be personally interpreted" camp, and the most we've gotten is Anno's after-the-fact explanations on the greater elements of the setting for the Evangelion 2 game. I don't think we're ever going to get a "This is what EoE means" interview or the such. Heck, Manga tried to get him to record a commentary track for the Region 1 DVD and he refused. And mind you, they had done such things before with Royal Space Force. Which made Manga's DVD of it superior to the R2 in bonus content, if not in production value.

Peter Svensson