[EVA] Rei's Origins (repost)

[Greg Muir]

> whatever we find, the arguement "its a matter of faith" can be used.  That
> was a very smart idea and is common in scifi these days, such as the force
> in star wars until that damned meticlourian crap.

You check out the manga yet? According to it, Touji has a mitaclorian count
as well. :)

Just from what I can see, the religious elements were used to establish a
mood but were not really important in a broader sense. Or to state it
differently, they were important only in a personal sense. From what I
understand of eastern religions, they're more focused with individuals, not
the masses of humanity. Christianity's approach is "you are not just
responsible for yourself but spreading the gospel." Furthermore, the
conflict between God and Satan means that everyone has a part to play in the
war. Plus, there is a big emphasis on the afterlife and getting your ass
there. The end of the world is the most significant event remaining to occur
according to the christian timeline.

Eastern religions, from what I understand, are generally less dramatic than
this. (I may be making too broad of generalizations, if so it's through
ignorance, not intent.) There is no big war in heaven, there is no
apocalpyse, there is no great comission to convert the heathen masses, the
focus is on you and your own spirituality. Get your own house in order, then
help others, but the goal is not prostyleizing. When you look at something
like Buddism there's less focus on what westerners would call "religiousy"
stuff such as rigidly defined doctrines and dogmas.

What we see in EVA is while the trappings of Christianity are used and it
looks like something huge and wicked cool is going to come down, everything
is really internal on Shinji. "What does the rest of the world matter? It is
external. You are a person and what is important is your own spirituality.
Let us focus on your own soul for it is the only thing you truly possess."

So while a westerner looks at religion more like wagnerian opera, the
easterner takes a more internalized look. It's a personal apocalypse in the
original greek sense, of revelation.

That's my guess as to what is going on. So in the grand scheme of EVA, while
spirituality is at the heart of the entire story, the symbols and events of
the main storyline are really extraneous. Instrumentality is only important
as a device to get into Shinji's soul. The purpose of Seele, their goals,
Gendo's schemes, everything else in the series is unimportant.

Personally I'm not completely satisfied with that ending. I think that we
could have had our cake and ate it to, have Shinji go through his personal
instrumentality and then resolve the series in a more satisfying manner.
Well, there's always the mangas. :)


> In general, I veiw Shinji's role as God meaning the god of his
> own domain in
> his psyche.  The less external influence he allows to seep in, the more
> control he seems to have over the world inside his head.  He
> would ressurect
> his mother by making what he remembers of her the only definition
> of woman,
> but you see that in the beginning of EoE his hormones dont agree.

That's a trippy way to read into it. Makes both of the Ikaris all the more
disturbing now. :)

> I find it to be an endless source of inspiration, and it speaks volumes of
> the human condition.  I think many of us should stop argueing and
> referencing the RCB and try to discover why it captivates us so
> absolutely.

Flawed characters struggling for meaning in life, in some cases for
redemption. The character interactions are far beyond the normal for anime
and for much live-action for that matter. The strange religious elements are
also very intriguing from a WTF perspective? Add in some neat mecha fights
and you've got icing on the cake. I still discount EoE as being the true
ending. I think the mangas are doing an even better job of telling the story
now and there are actually quite a few excellent fanfics out there now that
explore more of the themes from the show and bring forth fascinating ideas.
There's also many a fanfic that's just funny as hell, which is another
aspect of the show I enjoyed.

> For me, it practically provided a roadmap to shed the angst left from my
> years around the age of 14.  I approach human relationship and
> personal duty
> much differently since watching the series.  It is kind of like
> my 'talking
> cure.'  Of course I am an [out of work] animator who loves visual
> metaphor,
> so I guess I squeeze a little more juice out of animated programming than
> the average joe.
>
Well, I think that the problem most people have with EoE is a variation of
the problems people have with 2001. Too much is left for interpretation so
that you actually have to get a cliff notes of the movie to understand what
you saw. I never would have figured out WTF was going on in 2001 if I hadn't
read the book beforehand. Things were just left too open for interpretation.
I think that interpretation is good up to a point but if guidelines are not
given to the viewer they will not think along the lines you intended and
will instead be mired in obscure and pointless areas of speculation.