[EVA] If it weren´t for Sadamoto -- Redux

[immano at katamail.com]

> Is it just coincidence that, after getting a sex
> change, the main protagonist ended up being 
> something of a gender-bender? 

He did? I was under the impression he was just ephebic. 

> 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"?

Not really an answer to your question, but in reality, pretty much all the characters are Anno's avatars, though they represent different sides of his persona as he may have perceived it to be through the filter of various philosophy and psychology books which he read either as part of the research to develop ideas such as the mother-son connection, or when he actually decided to pour his depression into the show. 
 
> What is meant by "setting drawing"?

It's the step that comes before the proposal draft.
 
> She does have a variable wardrobe in the show, 
> so I wonder what he means?

Home attire, wedding attire, command attire (=sleeveless tube dress with Nerv jacket on top), formal uniform, maybe one or two more...for a story spanning various months to almost one year, this is not what I'd call variable.
 
> 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?

Mispelling of Halcyon.
 
> What are these?
 
A series of interviews made by Kodansha and published on their website with various Gainax members, happened between 2003 and 2004 IIRC. Never saw them thoroughly translated, but as far as Sadamoto and Anno went IIRC we got some kind of summary by M back in the day. The links may still be around in the archives, assuming they're still live.
 
> Where was that image published, anyway?

Wasn't that on the NewType 100% Eva, in the second half, the one with the sketches?
 
> 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?

Not entirely sure what you mean here. Eva as a project saw the manga and the tv series running parallelly from the start. The latter went on much faster than the former for a number of reasons (schedules, Sadamoto taking a sabbatical once he saw his ideas for the ending of the series used in the movies), but the manga actually started first. It's not really that uncommon that projects go multimedia like that, when they're original ones. 

Besides this, by the time book 5 was out Sadamoto had decided he wanted to use the manga to explain and further explore the bits that he felt the tv series left unexplained or unexploited, and then there's the fact that he always said he runs the manga as the same basic story with characters that reflect his own personality rather than Anno's, and knowing (because of the very interview on topic here) his degree of involvement in this project, this is pretty understandable.

Ebj

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