[EVA] If it weren't for Sadamoto -- Redux

[Rachel K. Clark]

Apologies for responding to this months after the fact (it was originally 
posted in late November last year). It came to mind in an archetypal 
manga-bashing discussion elsewhere, and there are some things I want to 
address...

> The following is an excerpt from the "Interview with Sadamoto  Yoshiyuki" 
> first published in the Deluxe Edition of the artbook "Der  Mond" in 
> September 1999, and then again in the "Osadabon (Book of  Sadamoto)" 
> included as a supplement to the December 2000 Ace-A manga  magazine.

I have no clue on its availability and all, but would the "Book of Sadamoto" 
be worth picking up on Yahoo! Auctions (whenever I have opportunity to go on 
another shopping spree there...)? What sorts of stuff does it have? Anything 
besides the interview reprint?

> At that time the media venue also had not been decided yet, but I  really 
> wanted to do it as a TV series or movie instead of as an OVA.

An OVA? Interesting. (By the time NGE got to the Proposal stage, at least, 
it was already set on being a 26-episode series.) Is there any more info on 
this?

>  The character design request from Anno was  that "the lead character is a 
> girl" ....  I couldn't see why a young girl would  pilot a robot...  So I 
> remember saying to Anno, "It's a robot story,  so let's make the lead 
> character a boy."

Is it just coincidence that, after getting a sex change, the main 
protagonist ended up being something of a gender-bender? In the interview 
published in the manga, Sadamoto speaks of initially going for the image of 
a "hero" or bishounen, so that makes me curious.

Another (somewhat tangential) question that comes to mind is, how exactly 
_did_ Shinji end up being Anno's "avatar", as it were? Was that just 
"something that happened"?

> And just about that time, I  was watching the NHK [public TV channel] 
> program "Brain and Heart"  and learned about the existence of the A10 
> nerve, and I told Anno  about the idea that popped into my head at that 
> time.  That was the  idea where "the dead mother is inside the robot, 
> which is operated by  mental/psychical bonding with the child.

Considering the maternal nature of the Evas is one of my favorite things 
about them, major props for that.

> I just whipped out a setting drawing.

What is meant by "setting drawing"?

> It was my idea to have her wrapped in bandages.

Big surprise there... @_@

> I really wanted to make [Misato] a  character who changed her clothes 
> constantly, but I have no fashion  sense so I wasn't able to do it. 
> (laugh)

She does have a variable wardrobe in the show, so I wonder what he means?

> One of the names proposed by Anno was "Alcion (Arushion)".

Well, this sheds some light on why the Proposal had "Neon Genesis 
Evangelion" labeled as a "tentative title". Does "Alcion" mean anything in 
particular? A reference to something?

> And the interview goes on and on for pages...
> But that is the relevant part.

Thanks for that -- very educational. Would you ever be able to do a 
translation of the full thing? Materials relevant to NGE's production 
history translated into English are extremely shortcoming, and I've always 
thought it was a pity more weren't available. The deficit is responsible for 
the large amounts of ignorance that pervade the foreign fan community, I 
would imagine.


Ebj wrote:

>Anata to watashi no Gainax series of articles

What are these?


Shinji Kakaroth wrote:

<< Note in this image
http://img209.imageshack.us/my.php?image=evaothers033db6.jpg
the similitude of Nadia (protagonist of FnUnN)
and Shinji (protagonist of NGE)! ^_- >>

Where was that image published, anyway?

On a final note, one thing I'm not entirely clear on is why Sadamoto 
undertook the manga. What are the details behind its origins?

--Reichu