[EVA] Rei's Origins (repost)

[Brian Haynes]

>Yes, but they were intentionally developing S2 engines for the EVA's, 
>placed
>on in Unit-04, and made use of them in the mass-production series EVA's.
>While I do agree that safety measures are needed to prevent the crazed
>behavior the EVA's are so famous for, I would think that this sort of thing
>would be terribly crippling in combat.

Considering that the combat area is basially always the same, the umbilical 
cables really aren't all that crippling, I don't think.

You would think that a more assured
>method would be something akin to the range safety devices used in modern
>launch vehicles. Rather than explode the entire EVA, though, you would 
>think
>they could simply place pyrotechnic charges at key areas within the mecha,
>cutting the connection between the internal batteries and the electrical
>system.

You'd think.  Of course, considering all the holes in NGE, you have to 
wonder how much planning REALLY went into it.  Certainly not enough to have 
it stand up well to the kind of critical analysis a lot of fans put it 
through.

>But all logic aside, the majority of what they do visually in EVA is done
>for drama, not for the practical end. Consider the launch sequence. Ain't 
>no
>way in hell something that heavy is gonna move that quickly.

I don't know, the space shuttle moves pretty rapidly, and that's probably 
heavier than an Eva.  Of course, you're right, the speed in the launch 
sequence is done for dramatic effect.

Certain tactics
>such as the one used against the underwater angel, that's completely 
>absurd.
>There's no way in hell that battleships could perform in such a fashion 
>with
>months of prep time, nobody could throw that together in 30 seconds.

If you had some remote control of the battleships from the carrier, it's 
conceivable.

Also
>the whole bit with the 5 minute power supply, it's a simple device to
>increase the tension of the combat scenes. Even with all that in mind, the
>strength of the mechancial designs and the approach to the project make it
>seem real, and the character development allows the show to transcend the
>mere form of a giant mecha toon.

Of course.  In an early episode, Ritsuko actually says 1 minute, but GAINAX 
later abandonned that and used 5 minutes from then on.  Some people claim 
that maybe the batteries were upgraded in the series and we don't hear about 
it, but I think it was just a mistake and they fixed it partway through.

>BTW there's another problem that makes sense in context: the EVA weapons.
>Oversized rifles, handguns and the like? WTF? Why don't they build these
>weapons into the mecha? Integrate the gun with the arm, mount a rocket
>launcher on the back, etc. This makes sense when you discover that those
>aren't robots, they're something alive wearing armor. The EVA's weren't 
>even
>designed for combat, and since they are a poorly understood design I doubt
>that humans could easily modify the bodies to use super-duper gun arms and
>the like. Thus, they have to carry their weapons like humans. Still, the
>thought o fusing an oversized revolver on an angel strikes me as a bit
>silly. If an N2 device won't penetrate the AT Field, how will a frickin'
>bullet, no matter how big?

I've always wondered about that too.  We see in Shinji's fight with the 4th 
angel that his bullets do nothing but hide the angel in smoke.  Although 
that's another thing that doesn't make sense, Misato tells Shinji to 
neutralize the angel's ATF and then fire at it.  As far as I know, the Eva 
has to get pretty close to neutralize the angel's ATF, so at that range he 
wouldn't be able to fire at it, he would just have to grapple with it.  BTW, 
we do see the N2 mine penetrate the 3rd angel's ATF, it just doesn't kill 
it.  It only stops the angel momentarily while it regenerates.
          -Deus


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