[EVA] Religion and Gainax was RE: [EVA] Moura interviews

[Peter Svensson]

> The Lance was found by the *Katsuragi* expedition, and who else was
> involved, but the Japanese-to-the-core Gendo? And SEELE is headed by
> 'Keel Lorenz' and the other German person is 'Kyoko Zeppelin'. Yes,
> NGE is doing a real good job of evoking the Nazis or making
> SEELE/GEHIRN seem German in any respect but a few throwaway bits of
> dialogue and 4 names.

NERV/SEELE/GEHIRN being German names is pretty important, and does factor into every single episode. That the only NERV bases we hear of are the US base that goes kaplooie and the German base, where Asuka is from, and where ostensibly their leader Keel is from, well, it's noticeable. It fades into the background easily, yes, but to say that there's no German influence on NERV is ridic. SEELE has a German name, a German leader, a base in Germany, and one of the main characters is likewise German. 

> Just like Japanese warships. And do not dismiss extratextual
> motivation: the Japanese are as prejudiced as anyone else. 

Yes, but saying "Asuka is German because Japan likes Germany!" feels off. Otherwise we should go "Asuka should be Portuguese because Japan loves Portugal!" or the such. 

> Germany isn't exactly known for its red-hair; that's more northern and
> western (Ireland, Scotland etc.). In fact, if that's the reason, Asuka
> should be half-American:

It is possible for natural red hair to be found in foreigners is what I was getting at. You can theoretically get red haired Germans, so Asuka's hair color is fine. Evangelion really does put effort into making the hair colors realistic. Ritsuko's eyebrows being the best example of this.

> She would not be very popular, that's for sure... Keep an eye out for
> black characters in anime; I think I can safely say they would raise
> some eyebrows in the US.

Well, Gainax did pretty well with Nadia considering the time. But yes, black characters in Japanese culture rarely are done well. 
 
Peter Svensson