[EVA] Re: Kowaru's Origins

[Gwern Branwen]

On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 8:36 PM, ObsessiveMathsFreak
<obsessivemathsfreak at obsessivemathsfreak.org> wrote:
> I had forgotten about the shot during Rei's monologue, but that wasn't the
> shot I was talking about. The shot in the tunnel or shaft is the exact same
> composition from the shot in the OP and from earlier in the episode. Here's
> a side by side comparision:
>
> http://obsessivemathsfreak.org/stuff/eva/images/misc/kaworu-OP-24-compare.jpg
>
> It seem fairly clear to me that the OP shot served as the basis for the
> second cut. Right down to the placement of Kaworu;s hair strands. The left
> shot is clearly what the right shot was based off. It's practically a trace.

Ah; looking at them side by side the resemblance is uncanny. His eyes
are the wrong color, but that's probably just the blue-white palette
versus red-black (kind of like with Asuka's eyes in the end of EoE).
Yes, that second cut definitely looks like it was based off the
sketch.

> This is the moment where we are told that the AT field is not just a
> floating octagonal barrier and that indeed _everyone_ has an AT field. It's
> a major plot point; the "barrier of the heart" being what is broken down in
> the complementation project.
>
> While the Kaworu flash coming directly after the At field caption in the OP
> _might_ be a simple coincidence, I'm inclined to think it suggests that
> Kaworu was _at least_ going to be the character who eventually revealed this
> vital detail. That is, it points to Kaworu being reasonably significant in
> the overall plot. Does it show that he was intended to be the final angel or
> the avatar of Adam? Not by itself. But I'm inclined to think it shows
> something.

And don't forget that shortly after Kaworu is a moon-silhouetted Rei,
and the 'ANGELS' caption. Definitely suggestive, I agree.

(But unfortunately, the resemblance doesn't buy us any more than the
description of Kaworu did: it doesn't push the timing all the way back
to before episode 1, and the OP is a confusing item in other respects
- like all the moon symbology when if Kaworu is the last Angel,
there's no last Angel coming down from the moon.)

-- 
gwern