[EVA] Is that the real Asuka

[greg]

>It was awful. Ok, the nine "production EVA" units _were_ foreshadowed,
>as were their S2 cores, but *copies* of the Lance? No way. Regeneration?
>Where the hell did that come from? Tha whole scene was there purely to
>destroy Asuka and Shinji. (As were the 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th 
angels.
>Number 14 _should_ have been a morale booster.)

Makes you wonder why they were holding back with the mass-production 
EVA's the whole time. You'd think it would have been safer to use 
them directly to stop the Angels and then initiate Third Impact in 
a more controlled fashion. 

Those EVA's were a hell of a lot more advanced than the existing 
EVA's but I would point out that Unit-01 regenerate in the second 
episode. Sure, it was a broken arm, not a severed torso or gouged 
face or anything else like Asuka did, but the arm did regenerate.
:) 

As for the lances, we really don't know what sort of technology is 
involved there. It does seem rather high tech, though. 
>
>The actual "event", in the second half, was mind-boggling in its
>surrealism - whoever chose the music was severely twisted. Towards the
>end of the sequence, I was almost ready to just skip forward - get it
>over with, already, they're dead anyway, you don't need to show us all
>of it.

I don't agree with the hopeful interpretation. I am familiar with 
the arguments, that people are supposed to be coming back and the 
world gets a second chance but the visuals just don't follow through.


I think the ending as is remains very powerful but unfocused. If 
they could have driven it to a more focused end, either positive 
or negative, I think it would have made for a better ending. The 
very matter of Shinji aborting Third Impact out of petulant spite 
and the apparant death of all humankind as a result just seems wasted.

>
>And the final end, where you're starting to think it might be okay
>anyway (as in the TV ending), is the main character trying to choke the
>only other survivor? Ick!

Right. I didn't really understand the whole point of it. 
>
>(Plus, the sexual references had nothing to do in that film whatsoever.
>Why put them in, they didn't _add_ anything?)

There was the assumption that this was a big fuck you to the fans.
Shinji's behavior in the film was despicable and I never could fathom 
the point of making him so. The masturbation scene in the beginning 
was over the top, even by Anno's standards. Seriously, what is the 
point of having a hero who is a spineless, despicable waste of a 
human being? What sort of point is Anno trying to make?
>
>I don't think there'll be any sequels - and I'm not hoping for any. The
>few possible continuations to _that_ have already been done, one way or
>another. I simply want to erase that thing from my mind. So there.
>
>(I think I've sprouted enough horns and cloven feet for today. )

Do you mean continuations within the context of the nasty Third Impact 
ending or total fan rewrites? I think the rejection of Third Impact 
by the fans <grin> is proof that there probably would have been a 
better way to handle things. Most of those rewrites come from a deep 
love of the story and characters and a desire to give the story a 
positive end and a meaning. I find this reaction very uplifting, 
especially in light of the movie ending. Anno built a magnificent 
castle and decided to kick it apart like a child at the beach. The 
fans who were touched by the show decided to mend the damage and 
bring the story back. I think it's nifty. 

(Yeah, positive or negative third impact, it's just a matter of opinion.
You have yours, I have mine.)