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

[Peter Svensson]

> My view is that Shinji's turnabout leading up to it sets the context.
> I mean, if he's being congratulated for deciding to reject pain &
> suffering & life and for merging with everyone else, why is Pen-Pen
> rawk-rawking there?

Why is Kaji? 

*SPOILERS*

Kaji died!

*END SPOILERS*

Any explanation that isn't purely metaphorical or metaphysical will fail to explain a physically whole Touji, or a living Kaji in that sequence.

> (And again, why would Gainax/Anno go to the
> trouble of making everyone move & speak differently, separately, at
> the ending - rather than a single unified statement _en masse_?)

To reinforce the creepy factor? Personally I find the way they did it, with everyone giving the illusion of independence but still a collective a lot more insidious than just having everyone deliver a monotone "Congratulations."

> Instrumentality is for humans, not animals. It is, even back in the
> Cordwainer Smith stories, the 'Instrumentality of *Mankind*'.

Human Complementation Project. 

Though I believe SEELE mentions all life as being affected in the film by it. I don't think Gainax was worried about complete fidelity to Smith, or to the actual name of the event. Also, metatextually the whole point of the scene is to do a full cast shot at the end of the show. Had they neglected PenPen there would have been sad viewers. (Of course, they're able to do said full cast shot because they're not in the real world anymore.)

Plus, what if that's the PenPen in Shinji's mind? Huh? HUH?!

> On the other hand, if we take seriously the 'I want to go back because
> our feelings were real!' lines as a reason for going back to the real
> world & rejecting Instrumentality, his presence makes sense: one of
> the brightest spots in Shinji's life was his home life with Misato,
> Asuka, and - Pen-Pen.

Heh. I have to love the idea of Pen^2 being the proof of how the ending functions. But as I mentioned, if Gainax wanted us to think Shinji returned to reality, Kaji wouldn't be there, nor would Touji be unmaimed. Also, big blue void in space. Just saying.

> I find myself wondering whether we aren't making a mistake by loosely
> using 'Instrumentality' and 'Complementation' interchangeably. 

I said the same thing. The problem we run into is that there is no difference in the actual scripts. Instrumentality is just Anno forcing an in-joke on the translation, despite the fact that Complementation is a more accurate description. 

> The scripts are very vague; in one place, it implies that one must be
> complemented to be part of the instrumentality, and in another, that
> one undergoes instrumentality in order to be complemented!

Evangelion vague? How can that be?!

Seriously though, the scripts are so awkward and contradictory that it's amazing we're able to even discuss them rationally.

> Perhaps one term means just the thorough self-analysis and
> understanding, and the second refers to choosing, after that analysis,
> to no longer be an individual. If we say the first is
> 'complementation' and the second is 'instrumentality', then that
> neatly explains much.

I used Complementation to refer to the process in the TV series, where the emphasis is much greater on human souls being inherently broken and requiring others to fill in the gaps, and Instrumentality for the film, as it puts the emphasis on AT fields/human interaction causing pain and removing barriers to remove pain. 

I think that while these might be more accurate, introducing more jargon to Evangelion discussions is probably detrimental.

Peter Svensson