As a Headscratchers subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
Why do people keep living in Tokyo3?
And what's more, why keep rebuilding the city when it's located above the GeoFront? I understand that that a lot of rebuttals to idiotic details is "It was predicted in the Dead Sea Scrolls/Seele planned it this way", but they can't honestly want millions of dollars worth of collateral damage every couple of weeks due to Angel attacks, especially when they complain about the cost of repairing Evas. And the city's population only finally moves out after Rei self destructs and floods half the city, even though at least 5 angel fights have actually taken place IN the city.- This is even worse in Rebuild 2.0 when Sahaquiel and Zeruel practically level the city.
- Isn't it hinted in the teaser at the end of Rebuild 2.0, that they won't rebuild after Zeruel's attack?
- It's not exactly a normal city, but a fortress-base used against Angels. Everybody who lives there either works for NERV or knows what they're in for. As for your average civilian... somebody needs to run the infrastructure.
- Something that is often missed in Sahaquiel's attack is that there appears to be a gigantic dam against the tide of blood around the central (read: important) part of the city. Only the outskirts of Tokyo-3 got destroyed. Whoever was in charge of building that city was one of the most Crazy-Prepared people in fiction, if they could predict and plan for a tidal wave of blood coming their way.
- It seems like the safest place on Earth if you look at it one way. It has more defenses than any place on Earth probably, with the tradeoff that it holds the Macguffin that all the angels are trying to get to. If Tokyo-3 falls, everyone on the planet is fucked anyway, so why NOT live there?
- Of course they also bring their children to the (very) dangerous city and even if the Angels do get beaten the damage caused means that you could very well get killed regardless.
- But in Rebuild, we know for sure that angels are also attacking other places in the world. It's never made clear in the original series, but Marie was somewhere else fighting SOMETHING at the start of Rebuild 2. So just moving to another city doesn't mean you won't have to put up with angel battles.
- Nope, the Third Angel was just trying to escape. They were experimenting on it. It didn't attack Bethany Base at all.
- In the first movie it is mentioned by several civilians that people have been leaving. Apparently just not enough to close down things like schools or stores.
- Just an interesting note... why did the Jews stay in Germany until it was locked up even though they KNEW some shit was going down? Because it's their home.
- To expand on this a bit, there are any number of practical and sentimental problems with leaving your home in long-term dangerous situations like this. The local housing market is presumably in the toilet (because nobody wants to move there), so you are gonna have to lose all the money you spent on the house and sell it for peanuts if you want to find a buyer at all. You lose your job. Your children are taken away from their school and into a new one, forcing them to adjust. You have to convince all your friends and family to come with you, or you have to decide to leave them behind to the horrors you are escaping. And so on. It wasn't just the Jews in Germany, look at any population in a dangerous place (like the Londoners during the blitz) and you will see that, while some may leave, a large number stay.
- In fact, forget short-lived man-made crises; the fact that places like San Francisco, Tokyo, and New Orleans still have large populations despite being regularly hit by things like earthquakes and hurricanes prove that humanity in general is extremely hard to root out of a particular spot.
- On the other hand, Tokyo-3 is a fairly new city. According to the timeline construction started in 2005, and only became functional in 2010 when the Magi system became online. Even the very first inhabitants at most have been living there for 5 years at the beginning of the series.
- The shelters seem safe enough and the evacuation procedures seem to work given that there is no people on the streets by the time an angel comes. Also many of the new buildings are elevated and viceversa at will. You may risk loosing your car or losing your house but personal safety doesn't seem to be thaat low for civilians.
- Remember in one of the earlier episodes in the series Shinji is reading a screen that talks about the wars that happened after Second Impact. The rest of the world may be a terrible place to live with parts of Japan being one of the only stable areas. Even if countries such as the USA and Germany are capable of producing Evas, they might be terrible places to live.
- In Rebuild 1.0, there is a scene after Sachiel's defeat showing Misato and Shinji stopping at a convenience store to buy some food. There two unseen women are heard speaking on this very same matter: one says that her family is leaving because Tokyo-3 has turned into a battlezone, the other replies that her husband is seriously considering to do the same, and comments that they know at least 100 people who also plan to abandon the city.
- I always assumed that the entire city was built to serve the needs of NERV. Like the whole city is just full of factories building random equipment that NERV needs, plus schools that train people to do NERV stuff. A lot of those employees and subcontractors have their own families, and they need to buy groceries and whatnot, and that fills out the rest of the city. The city is there because NERV is there. And people work for NERV because it's a good paycheck and/or they believe that NERV is the only thing that can save the world from Angels.
What's with the red water?
- Second Impact flooded the entire world instead of just Antarctica in this continuity.
- Some people consider it as evidence of the series being a continuation from Eo E, rather than just a retelling of the original series. Alternativelynote :
Spoilers galore
Mari piloting Unit-02. No, I'm not talking about the fact that she could actually use it or knew the cheat code for "Beast Mode". Rebuild is a different kind of animal, so let's suppose that the Evas themselves work differently. No, my gripes are much more nitpicky. Namely: How the hell did she get into the Entry Plug? Who started up the nervous connections? Who started up Unit-02 itself, for that matter? Who flooded the cockpit with LCL? Who electrolyzed it? Last time I checked, these things were done by a large technical staff under the supervision of Ritsuko. And the pilots couldn't do these things from inside the entry plug. It's all an externally guided process. Further, how the hell did Unit-02 get put on that elevator platform that carried it out to the battlefield? The only person who might have done these things is Kaji... so he could do ALL this alone? Honestly, I have the creeping suspicion that the writers just didn't care. And to be frank, the lesser rules of the universe like logistics being ignored when something cool needs to be done is one of the main Mary Sue indicators in my book.- The process of entering the Eva and starting it up isn't that complex. Ritsuko was absent at the end of episode 19 and 2.0; Shinji got into the Eva and came in to save the day à la Big Damn Heroes fairly quickly. Save for location and the issue of the elevator platform, Shinji and Asuka did just about the same thing as Mari in episode 8, with Asuka issuing all of the commands from inside the entry plug.note I agree that there's the issue of the elevator platform and transportation, but overall it's not that contrived.
- It's not implausible that most of it can be done automatically too, in case the majority of the staff are indisposed somehow. Hell, Shinji got into his Evangelion in End without any support, and with the plug emplacement system completely non-functional.
- In both those cases however 01 was already prepped for launch ahead of time. Gendo already had staff prepping but with a dummy plug that didn't want to function, so all he had to do was switch the plug. In End, (ignoring the fact that 01 had the S2 engine which mean it no longer needed to worry about any external power source or outside maintenance) Misato orders both Eva units readied as soon as the attack begins, it just takes her about 20 minutes to actually get Shinji to it.
- It's not implausible that most of it can be done automatically too, in case the majority of the staff are indisposed somehow. Hell, Shinji got into his Evangelion in End without any support, and with the plug emplacement system completely non-functional.
- ...wait, what are you complaining about? She didn't hijack the Eva, the NERV European branch took over control of Unit-02 and she was sent in to pilot it.
- Indeed: she did have support staff, they just were on the other side of the globe.
- In fact, it's a bit of a Chekhov's Gun. The only reason that Asuka got sidelined earlier was because the European branch still had complete control over the operation of Unit 02.
- The fact that Mari knows and does things she shouldn't be able to is a completely deliberate part of her character in 2.0; all the other characters are just as baffled as you when she suddenly brings out 02.
- 3.0 + 1.0 shows that she's friends with Yui, meaning that she's been around NERV and the Eva project from the start.
Another nitpicky bug... how is Kaworu supposed to pressurize/clingwrap/whatever his plugsuit IN SPACE?
Why does it even billow and baloon out when there is no air in or surrounding it? Unless that suit (and any other plugsuits for that matter) is made of Unstable Molecules I just can't see it happening on the Moon (and on lesser scale, on Earth... shrink-wrapping doesn't quite work that way).- I take it is because he is a angel,he is more or less a Demigod so he could if he want,grown the plug suit out of his body.
- How do you know there's no air trapped in it? We don't know where he put it on, even if he's in vacuum right now.
- Because the plugsuit is baggy, baggy means not a good seal, which means that the air in it should have escaped the moment that he hit vacuum. A possible explanation is that the plugsuit does not actually vacuum-wrap itself but does some sort of electro-shrinkage thing.
- I agree with this; I think that they actually expand and contract rather than being filled with air. When they're put on in an environment with air, the air just wooshes out, and when they're put on in an airless environment they shrink to fit.
- I always assumed that the plugsuits got rolled into the hardparts, such as at the wrists, neck, waist, etc.
- How do you know there's no air trapped in it? We don't know where he put it on, even if he's in vacuum right now.
- I think its a memory material, like the fibre the Bat cape is made off in The Dark Knight. And it doesn't need to behave as in the moon, remember Kaworu can use his AT Field at will, and its pretty obvious the AT Field can generate a gravity field.
Why did Gendo have to maximize the LCL pressure after Shinji threatens to destroy the headquarters? Why couldn't they just keep the Dummy Plug active until the power shuts down?
- Dummy Plug has limited activation time. They mention it before they activate it. That's how Shinji got control back.
- Because he is shall we say, kind of a dick.
- Also God only knows what the Axe-Crazy dummy system might decide to do if it got bored waiting to shut down.
- Because Shinji was well, threatening to crush HQ, and Gendo was trying to keep himself and his employees safe from Shinji's rampage, but whoever previously applied to this one is right, he was being rather cold about it.
In Rebuild, the Second Impact affected all the oceans in the world, so how can people breath? I mean, microscopic blue algae are the main generators of atmospheric oxygen (no, the Amazon Rainforest is not the lungs of the world), so if they all died, that means the oxygen supply in the entire world is comprised. And for that matter, how come the rivers and lakes weren't contaminated by the Second Impact, even if they have a direct link with the seas?
- Kaji explains that there was a lot of work done off-screen just to make sure that humans could survive post-Second Impact. As for the second question, not all lakes have a direct link to the sea, and the rivers wouldn't necessarily be contaminated, for the same reason rivers are fresh water and the ocean is salt water.
- Your second answer doesn't answer the question; freshwater algae isn't enough to keep the atmosphere oxygenated enough even for a post-second impact population size, only saltwater algae is enough to keep the earth breathing. So even if the rivers aren't contaminated, everyone should still be gasping for breath like they had just climbed the Himalayas all the time at the very least. Maybe what the answer is that the algae isn't affected by the red ocean water, or, if Rebuild is a sequel, LCL preforms the same function of oxygenating the atmosphere and somehow acts like a desiccant, but only for CO2. Or something...
- ... the second answer isn't to the oxygenation question. It's a response to why the rivers and lakes aren't red while the oceans are.
- I'm literally going to guess this one got completely forgotten by our dear friends at Gainax. The best thing to do is to recite the MST3K Mantra if you can and try to enjoy it, though now I'll be staring at the red water too and going "that's not right."
- ...Kaji explains that there was a lot of work done off-screen just to make sure that humans could survive post-Second Impact. There's also a few mentions about artificial food. It's all said during the field trip in 2.22.
- Hey remember in the original series where they said Second Impact was caused by a meteor crashing into the earth, but we find out it really wasn't? Nerv has lied to the public before, perhaps there's really another reason for the oceans being red that they don't want the public to know about.
- The red water is all angel blood. Given angels have similar molecular structure as humans (see neon genesis - DNA is a 99.9% match), and given the red water is bright red, rather than dark red, it's oxygenated blood. So although it killed all normal marine life, there's plenty or oxygen which can be released by decomposition (whether by humans or by wild organisms) of the blood. And even if oxygen levels drop to 10%, that's equivalent to living in Bolivia. Annoying to get used to, but perfectly survivable to humans in the long term. Only at 6% or so does it start to get deadly. Also note that blue algae absorb red light (using Phyococyanine), which is not absorbed by the red waters. Therefore they would be less affected than green plants in a red environment.
- Another thing to note is that, after Second Impact, something like 90% of all life on Earth was annihilated. I dunno what that means in a strict scientific sense, but a hand-wavey explanation could be that there's less stuff breathing so they don't need as much oxygen in the atmosphere to survive.
- Your second answer doesn't answer the question; freshwater algae isn't enough to keep the atmosphere oxygenated enough even for a post-second impact population size, only saltwater algae is enough to keep the earth breathing. So even if the rivers aren't contaminated, everyone should still be gasping for breath like they had just climbed the Himalayas all the time at the very least. Maybe what the answer is that the algae isn't affected by the red ocean water, or, if Rebuild is a sequel, LCL preforms the same function of oxygenating the atmosphere and somehow acts like a desiccant, but only for CO2. Or something...
- It's even simpler than all of the above. The simple fact is that, even were all oxygen production from all sources to immediately cease, it would still take hundreds, if not thousands, of years for the buildup of carbon dioxide to reach lethal levels. It's only been fifteen years since the Second Impact. There's still plenty of time to fix things, hence the facility that is working on a way to restore the oceans.
The Vatican Treaty
Okay, I get 3 Evas per country. Makes sense, these are powerful weapons of mass destruction. However, why hasn't other countries sent their Evas piloted by their troops? I may be wrong here, but after WWII, America disbanded Japan's army, so they are responsible for them too. Why aren't there American Evas running around? I'm kinda thinking about how in Stargate they had some Russian troops running around in the later series for political shenanigans.- Unit 02 is European. The American Evas tend to have horrible things happen to them. Anyway, that's how Mari took over Unit 02, Europe sent her over as reinforcements. At least, that's one way to look at it, we haven't found out her deal yet.
- Which, uh, just goes to show how nonsensically the Vatican Treaty was written into Rebuild 2.0. It's a law that allegedly exists so no single country can create a monopoly over Evas, yet it's implemented in such a way so Europe shuts down its only Unit so Japan can run the three that they fully own. The Vatican Treaty is really just a plot contrivance Studio Khara invented specifically so Mari would wind up in Eva-02's cockpit, and for no other reason. You guys did notice that, right? ...right?
- Yeah, but the entire idea of the Vatican Treaty is stupid, also in the sense that, you'd think that repeated Angel attacks at [1] Tokyo]]-3 would cause the world authorities to be like, "Hey! Let's develop the EV As IN JAPAN, FOR JAPAN!". But no. So, every country is limited to three EV As, even though they'll never even use them and will probably end up shipping them to Japan anyways, because of EVA-00 and 02's lack of Plot Armor.
- ...what. The Europeans had seconded Eva-02 to the Japanese branch, which means that for all intents and purposes it's operating under the Japanese flag. When NERV HQ decided to attempt activation of Eva-03, they had to deactivate one. How is this difficult to grasp?
- The movies also never make it clear how various nations have actually fared post-2nd Impact. For all we know, America could be a third world hellhole at this point.
- It possibly has to do with avoiding a third impact until "when planned". In this continuity duing the second impact flashback we see four adams (or giants of light), which could mean that in this continuity to trigger the third impact four EV As or something along are needed instead of the MP Evas (which would explain why gendo got impressed when Shinji nearly triggered third impact for Rei. (I actually took this theory from Evageeks btw).
- The very characters that initially mention the Vatican Treaty in conversation also say that the law is poorly written. Though, as we all know, there has never been a poorly written or otherwise ill-intended law in the history of the world.
- It's at least implied that, due to Second Impact, the destruction of Tokyo, and the resulting chaos that Japan gave up on the "War is abolished forever" clause in their constitution (the JSSDF seems to be its own branch of the JSDF and acts very much like a real military rather than the extension of the national police it serves as IRL). This is actually something that has been (very controversially) discussed at certain times in Japan. It may have taken an event like Second Impact to make it feasible, however. As well fanfics (based on logic) like to point out that some countries have the majority of their population on their southern shorelines facing Antarctica. This is why it's pretty much canon that India and Pakistan didn't recover by 2015 and that some fics joke that Australia isn't a country anymore. The initial tidal wave would've wiped them out before anyone realized what was happening. A new world order with old countries destroyed, new ones established, and many militaries and governments completely changed forever, that the geopolitics of the world may be very different from what we're used to IRL.
- I always assumed the Vatican Treaty was an example of SEELE's political manipulation - a law that was introduced to give the illusion of a safeguard. It would serve to set the minds of politicians and world leaders at ease, which in turn would make it easier to negotiate for resources, manpower, and anything else that might be needed. If accusations are leveled that NERV and Japan are effectively in control of the majority of EVA units, they can simply use the fact the Angels keep attacking that location as an excuse to keep the pretense intact for as long as possible. Meanwhile, they'll just discard the treaty the second they can't afford to play along any longer - after all, if all the functional EVA units are in NERV's possession and SEELE simply overrides whatever remote access or failsafes their 'owners' have to guarantee compliance, what exactly can anyone else really do about it? Best case scenario they'll be able to field a single EVA unit in functional condition against at least three enemy EVA units, and then they have the logistical problems like supplying their sole EVA with power to contend with. It's an unenforceable law that SEELE probably has no intention of obeying for any longer then is convenient.
- Unit 02 is European. The American Evas tend to have horrible things happen to them. Anyway, that's how Mari took over Unit 02, Europe sent her over as reinforcements. At least, that's one way to look at it, we haven't found out her deal yet.
What does Kaworu mean with "the third again"?
Seriously. It's been bugging me since I watched 1.11. It ended with him saying "the third again" or something along those lines, as if this is actually a reset version of the original Neon Genesis Evangelion. It would fit, if you watch End of Evangelion, because the oceans have turned red by the end of Eo E, and there's a white outline of an MP EVA in the beginning of 1.11. Is this going to turn out like Battlestar Galactica ("All this has happened before, and all this will happen again.")?- It certainly is possible, and it wouldn't surprise me to find out that time had reset itself (at least to some extent) after the events of End of Evangelion. Though it's impossible to be sure. For all we know this could be an Alternate Universe too.
- This also might be something of a Canon Immigrant deal, as in the Super Robot Wars games Kaworu is hinted to be some kind of dimensional traveler that moves between the various SRW parallel universes.
- Pretty sure he was talking about how Shinji's the Third Child again. Whether or not Rebuild happened after Eo E, the movie pretty much confirmed Kaworu's time looping abilities. So yeah, that's referring to Shinji right there.
- It certainly is possible, and it wouldn't surprise me to find out that time had reset itself (at least to some extent) after the events of End of Evangelion. Though it's impossible to be sure. For all we know this could be an Alternate Universe too.
[[WMG: Why weren't Rei and Kaworu made with CG?That would have fit with the other Angels and looked freaky cool.
- Or they would have looked creepy. Also, those two are partially-human, and are supposed to be able to pass for human without incident. Making them CG would have totally defeated that purpose.
How is Mari still alive?
So Mari hijacks Unit 02 and has a high enough sync rate to control it. Then she enters Beast Mode, which appeared to drive her further into Unit 02 and enhances the sync rate before fighting Zeruel. And then Zeruel went out on the town with her and partially lobotomized Unit 02. Shouldn't she be dead?- Asuka was pretty damn into it in the original series against Zeruel, though Unit-02 didn't go berserk. And 02 got dismembered and decapitated after she failed. Her shots of rage cut off after the decapitation, so sync ratio comes into it - however, it's probably only the massively-high sync ratio Asuka managed to achieve against the MP-Evas in End and Shinji's own saving of Rei in 2.0 that would cause literal physical damage to the pilot, and note just 'phantom' pain or the illusion of suffering the same damage as the EVA.
- That's true, and I didn't really think about EOE and Asuka. But I'd still expect the "phantom pain" of getting patially lobotomized/de-eyed would be pretty damn shocking. Plus, if I remember corectly, Mari's eye was bleeding. And have you ever heard how some people die in dreams due to the shock that their brain actually thinks they're dying? I'd assume the same could happen to the pilots.
- If somebody dies in their sleep, how could we possibly know what they were dreaming about?
- Err... it's not possible for a healthy person to die from a dream. And I've gotten the impression that Mari is insane and a bit of a masochist, so the phantom pain wouldn't be that terrible, but maybe that's just me. Why her eye was injured and not anything else? I don't know. Maybe she cut her eye on something in the entry plug? Maybe her eye had gotten injured before and the wound... reopened? I'm just guessing though.
- When she pushed the berserker mode, her glasses shattered. I always assumed she got cut by shards flying around/floating in the lcl in the cockpit.
- Asuka was pretty damn into it in the original series against Zeruel, though Unit-02 didn't go berserk. And 02 got dismembered and decapitated after she failed. Her shots of rage cut off after the decapitation, so sync ratio comes into it - however, it's probably only the massively-high sync ratio Asuka managed to achieve against the MP-Evas in End and Shinji's own saving of Rei in 2.0 that would cause literal physical damage to the pilot, and note just 'phantom' pain or the illusion of suffering the same damage as the EVA.
How is Evangelion: 3.0 going to start?
For all the people who've never watched 2.22, but only 2.0, it's going to cause a lot of confusion if suddenly, Shinji is no longer on the verge of annihilating mankind. If I recall correctly, 2.0 didn't have the 30-second round-up that 2.22 had, where Kaworu descends and throws a lance at EVA-01, so odds are they will have to start 3.0 with these 30 seconds.- It'll probably start with a flashback from Misato or Ritsuko or something. If not, it'll definitely be referenced by a flashback at some point during the movie, or explained while Shinji and Rei are being "saved".
- It starts with Asuka and Mari recovering Unit 01 and its prison from space and fighting an Angel after a 14 year time skip.
What is Mari doing?
- She shows up in Japan, jacks Unit 02, and fights that Angel, then brings Shinji to his Eva. Why is she doing this? Why did Euro Branch send her to Japan, and order her to enter the country covertly?
- Would you like us to tell you how the next two movies are going to end as well?
- The third movie doesn't tell us either.
- Would you like us to tell you how the next two movies are going to end as well?
Shinji out of the loop?
- Does nobody bother to tell Shinji he didn't kill Asuka after all? He repeatedly yells that Gendo killed her, and acts as if Rei is the sole remaining friend he has left in the world to the point of not caring if he destroys the world so long as he can save her. He basically acts like he does in End of Eva when the MP Eva's take her apart. Was Gendo trying to trick him in order to break him further or something? Heck they even pack her stuff up, like they aren't expecting her to ever come back.
- Classified information, considering the potential complications with her status. When he was first going off, they still wouldn't have known if she was going to survive or not. Afterwards, he was under arrest then expelled/resigned from NERV so they wouldn't tell him anything. As to why Misato didn't say anything... maybe she didn't know either?
- In the dub, it's hinted that he knows. There are two lines. When stomping on HQ, Shinji yells "That bastard tried to kill Asuka, and he used my hands to do it!" And then, before Shinji leaves, Misato says "You haven't even asked about Rei or Asuka. Apparently, Funimation thought he should have known too. . .
What's the deal with Asuka's GBA?
Yeah, yeah, I know it's a very trivial thing to ntipick about when there's so much to especulate about Rebuild... But, the GBA-like haldheld Asuka L. Shikinami seems to be so devoted to, is it an analogue to Shinji's sentimentally-upgraded SDAT Player? And, more importantly, why the hell does she holds it sideways? She doesn't know how is that supposed to be used? (Of course, the last one brings the inevitable Fridge Logic about Shinji having no problem with his tape player)- How is that Fridge Logic? Shinji knows how to operate a tape player, some people don't. A mechanic knows how to fix a car, that doesn't mean I do.
- It's not a GBA, it's a Wonderswan. Look it up, it's a neat little game system from the inventor of the Game Boy that you can hold two ways.
- It can also be a reference to the original series in episode 23 where Asuka is seen playing Seca at Hikari's house as a means of escapism.
About Rei...
Is Rei II truly dead? She is still stuck inside Unit 01. Yet, everybody makes it out that she is gone for good.- It has been 14 years since she disappeared. Given the circumstances, it is probably logical to assume she is gone for good.
- Yet the same could be said for Shinji, yet after 14 years, he was retrieved. Why was he able to get out and not Rei?
- If we go by the rules set by the original series, only one Rei can exist at a time because they share the same soul between them. Rei Q sees a brief vision of Rei II while in the LCL tank, further supporting this. As she experiences fear and self-doubt near the climax, she clearly isn't just an Empty Shell, so she definitely has the potential to develop a functional personality and perhaps even regain the memories of her former self.
Neo-Nerv staff...
...or rather lack thereof. Seriously, where the hell are they? Gendo, Fuyutski and Rei can hardly maintain the Evas they possess themselves, and it's not like they blew the support staff budget on security personnel given how easy Asuka and Mari got into Terminal Dogma...- By the looks of it they are all dead, and NERV indeed only has the personnel of four. But the systems have become so far automated that it's not much of an issue, any more, either. The EV As that we see can shift shape and function perfectly even with their heads blown off. We can safely say that routine maintenance has become a non-issue.
- But all of the facilities are decrepit and ruined on top of being abandoned! Even if the production automation works perfectly fine with no human input, popping out EV As and Nemesis drones and the like, supplies would still need to be delivered so the factories can make stuff. I suppose it's possible that the four people we see at NERV manage with the help of very complete environmental automation so the hundreds of things that they need to do in order to keep the base running mostly do themselves(such as manage plumbing; where does Rei Q get her water?), except the base is blasted wreckage in most places. And there's a gazillion teeny little things that make no sense without some kind of support staff. For instance: how (and, more perplexing, why) Shinji's clothing is folded when freshly laundered. Or how Gendo's dramatic lighting cues work out perfectly.
- Robots. Off-screen. Most of the base probably doesn't need repairs for what is functional to work properly. It's doubtful that New NERV HQ is the only NERV base in existence, either.
- But if there are other NERV bases, are they also unstaffed? If not, why is the headquarters, tasked with organization and direction, not have enough people to organize and direct the rest of NERV? If the other bases are unstaffed, how did this come to be in the fourteen years since the world ended (again) and most of the staff rebelled (as in, who did the grunt work to set up the whole automated shebang)? It would be less jarring, except that 1) everything is so specifically labor-intensive in 1.0 and 2.0 (and even for Wille) with lots of infrastructure and comm chatter and work, then 2) NERV HQ is dead quiet, visibly containing five people (including Shinji), none of whom apparently do anything besides have cryptic conversations or play the piano; yet NERV is nonetheless a nefarious organization capable of deploying weapons of mass destruction, may well be bent on the end of humanity, and is somehow a viable, credible threat. It's possible, I suppose, for this to make sense in itself, but (sans visible support) is too thematically inappropriate, or at the very least highly unexpected, not to grate on my nerves.
- All the other bases are probably automated like One's containment cocoon. You don't need staff if your entire industrial base is automated and self-repairing. It's been 14 years, WILLE did not break off immediately after Near-Third Impact and Gendo looks like a cyborg now who just sits at his desk and gets his robots and drones to work. How else do you think he turns on the stage lights? It's entirely dehumanizing; mankind has no place in NERV's future.
- It occurred to me while writing an earlier entry that NERV doesn't follow any of the rules that human organizations follow; it instead follows the rules that angels follow. So perhaps it's not as thematically inappropriate as I initially thought it was.
- But all of the facilities are decrepit and ruined on top of being abandoned! Even if the production automation works perfectly fine with no human input, popping out EV As and Nemesis drones and the like, supplies would still need to be delivered so the factories can make stuff. I suppose it's possible that the four people we see at NERV manage with the help of very complete environmental automation so the hundreds of things that they need to do in order to keep the base running mostly do themselves(such as manage plumbing; where does Rei Q get her water?), except the base is blasted wreckage in most places. And there's a gazillion teeny little things that make no sense without some kind of support staff. For instance: how (and, more perplexing, why) Shinji's clothing is folded when freshly laundered. Or how Gendo's dramatic lighting cues work out perfectly.
Unsecured NERV??
Considering that Wille is a highly-motivated and well-equipped organization with obvious amounts of material support, why don't they drop a nuke (or an N2 mine) on NERV HQ and be done with it? During 3.0, Asuka and Mari demonstrate no problems whatsoever in penetrating what used to be the most secure, fortified place in the Geo Front, so it can't be NERV HQ's defensive supremacy, abandoned, decrepit ruin that it is. Even if the bombing accomplished nothing else (NERV personnel could evacuate to a hardened shelter or find some other protection), destroying NERV's industrial facilities would be priceless. And it's not like Wille can't cover the distance without its Cool Ship; prior to the Wunder's having an engine, Wille manages to get two EV As into space. The sleeping Eldritch Abomination at the bottom of Terminal Dogma happens to be sealed off by an impenetrable barrier, so it can't be worry that they'll somehow disturb the twelfth angel. For serious: why not have Asuka or Mari hand-deliver an obscenely powerful explosive to NERV HQ's tenderest parts? They wouldn't even be hurt; they have AT fields, which buildings, machinery, and unattended EV As, sadly, do not.- Probably the fleets of NEMESIS drones hunting them before Wunder's final activation. I doubt the Wunder was just flying around and doing nothing during the Geofront incursion mission either. Also, don't underestimate whatever that inverted pyramid is made of; it appears to be part of the Black Moon's structure and survived Fourth Impact entirely unscathed. It's also unknown if New NERV HQ is the sole industrial base NERV has.
If Gendou cares for Rei why is she treated so poorly?
- Just...look. Is the idea to keep her beaten down so that she doesn't maybe get a clue that his plans are wrong and interfere?
- Because in this continuity, except for a single Big Damn Heroes moment and his Pet the Dog scenario with the family meal, Gendo sees her as literally nothing more than a tool, one more cog in his grand scheme. Hell, for all we know, he could be FAKING all those positive interactions just to keep her loyal, with the occasional flash of Yui's face pushing him into actually not being a jerk.
- Fun fact: if we look at the whole "clone" issue the way real-life genetics work, Rei being Yui's clone pretty much means that Rei is Yui's daughter (and thus Shinji is her half-brother and Gendou her stepfather). Another fun fact: as far as being a father to Shinji goes, Gendou is pretty crappy, and had it been possible for him to get a spare Shinji I have no doubt he would be willing to let Shinji die if it helped him accomplish anything. And yet another fun fact: Rei reminds Gendou of Yui (well, duh, daughters tend to resemble their mothers) and Gendou would do anything for Yui. With all that, Gendou's simply being as great a parent for Rei as he is for Shinji, and the only care you can find there is because she reminds him of Yui.
- Pretty much explained in the final movie: Rei is still kind of Yui's daugther, and Gendou is utterly oblivious about the fact something of Yui resides in her offspring. Pretty much, Rei and even Shinji in his own ways are a living remainder of the fact Yui is no longer in this world and until he starts to move on, everything remembering her won't be a treasure to cherish but a living monument to his Greatest Failure.
Rei can't cook?
- That alone might be reasonable, but why does she have so many cuts on her hands? If she was on Hell's Kitchen she'd be sent home, not out of anger but concern she'd kill herself. Did she try using the knife on herself or is she really that uncoordinated?
- Remember when she had dinner with Gendo? He had a big, succulent steak. She had... Supplements. She doesn't know how to cook or handle cooking knives and devices because she's never eaten a normal meal.
Okay, I have to ask: Why (in 3.0) did Fuyutsuki tell Shinji about his mother and Rei?
- I know it's odd to be bugged by this, but we're talking about Gendo's right hand man, with more knowledge on what Gendo's doing than anyone except Gendo himself. If it was just for exposition, It would've been talking between Gendo and Fuyutsuki. Was this all part part of Gendo's master plan? Did Fuyutsuki grow a conscience in his twilight years? It's bugging me.
- Yui might have set something up as she did in the original series. Fuyutsuki here may be in on it, and working towards some other goal by trying to help Shinji along a little.
- Figuring what happened to "his Rei" was Shinji's entire motivation for coming to SEELE with Rei Q. Just giving him the info he wanted (and there are no reason not to anymore) would make him both more trusting of SEELE and more cooperative. Also this would channel his attention from figuring out what happened to her to finding out how to save her, which in turn would make him easier to manipulate into "fixing" Third Impact.
- It might also have been to destroy the last hold Shinji had to sanity, the knowledge that at least he managed to save Rei, to throw him into complete despair, so he'll be desperate to find a way to be forgiven and refuse to abandon taking the spears once Kaworu realized that they are two of the same and that Gendo tricked them, as Shinji pulling out the spears no matter what was an essential part of Gendo's plan to double-cross SEELE and get rid of then and Kaworu. This is supported by Fuyutsuki's comment that he's playing a "wretched role" after Shinji left the room where he revealed the truth behind Rei.
Kaworu and the choker
For what reason would Kaworu need to put the DSS choker on in Shinji's stead instead of disposing it besides to symbolically back up his words? If it was for failsafe for whatever disaster that might happened, given his ability to manipulate technology (ie. removing the choker and controlling Eva in the series), he could have taken control of Unit-13 operating system even if it was dual-piloted to stop its movement or escape or eject the entry plug.- The idea was to have Shinji trust him. By taking Shinji's sin onto himself, he showed Shinji that he did care for him as more than a tool like everyone else had. He was also aware of the possibility that the Fourth Impact could happen, with himself becoming the Thirteenth Angel, so in such a situation he would die to protect Shinji.
AAA Wunder's first victory
When the Wunder launches, it is soon attacked by the Nemesis Evangelions (whatever the hell they are). The Wunder moves upwards and pulls them out by their tendrils. The Wunder then spins around, dragging the Nemesis with it, and sharply brakes. At this point, the Nemesis ram into each other, making them a prime target for the Wunder's cannons. How did they end up going in opposite directions? Shouldn't they have wound themselves around the Wunder before colliding with it at the center of their rotation? Kaworu's demotion
How exactly did Kaworu get demoted from the 1st Angel to the 13th? As far as I know, Angels have never had a ranking system, and they certainly never interacted with each other enough to do so. Plus, if there is a system, it certainly isn't by power if the clock Angel was any indication.- It's hinted during the times he went silent that something else was happening at the time. Perhaps he was having some kind of conversation with the other angels/SEELE? Only 4.0 can tell.
- The English dub of 3.33 (the one revised by Khara, so we can probably assume it's accurate) alters the line slightly: Kaworu says "I, the First Angel, so easily defeated by the 13th?" Whatever is happening in that scene with Kaworu, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with an Angelic ranking system.
Causalities of the Third Impact
When Shinji triggered unknowingly the Third Impact by saving Rei, by which circumstances did the majority of humanity die? They couldn't have been turned into orange goo, otherwise Misato and the others, which were far closer to the ascending Eva-01 would have died as well.- Well, comparison between what we saw at the end of 2.0 and what Kaworu said about Third Impact suggest that another event happened after the end of 2.0 that left Tokyo-3(and maybe the rest of the world) in the nightmarish state we saw in 3.0 : when Kaworu stopped Near Third Impact in the Stinger of 2.0, the Moon was still intact and in orbit, and NERV's HQ still inside the Geofront and not floating above the landscape. Also Kaworu designed Lilith's Chamber in Central Dogma as the epicenter of Third Impact, and the 12th Angel's presence heavily imply that it had a part in whatever happened down there, while Shinji's Near Third Impact happened in the Geofront, kilometers above, and involved the 10th Angel(Zeruel). All of this suggest that Near Third Impact was stopped by Kaworu with the Lance of Cassius and EVA-01 put in lockdown, and that the 12th Angel managed to reach Lilith and start a "proper Third Impact" that what stopped by the two lances, but not before it had the time to heavily affect the surrounding landscape, and maybe the rest of the world. Since according to the preview for 3.0, Misato and all of NERV's staff was put into custody by the UN to be interrogated about the events surrounding Near Third Impact, then they were probably out of Tokyo-3 when Third Impact happened, therefor far from the worst effect of it, explaining how they could survive. That would also mean that none of the people still around the city when the Impact happened survived. Also, we're not even sure if most of mankind really died from Third Impact : Kaworu's words were very ambiguous, talking about mass extinction helping driving evolution in Earth and how mankind can't adapt themselves to the world and need a ritual of artificial evolution (Instrumentality) for that, but never outright confirmed that mankind outside of Tokyo-3 suffered mass extinction. Also, the numerous resources WILLE has at their disposition (huge fleet, giant flying flagship, advances in Evangelion technology, the big helicopter fleet carrying supplies for the Wunder fleet...) suggests that there's still a lot of humans and resources available. The meaning and implications of the discrepancy between what we saw in 2.0 and what Kaworu told Shinji, and thus why are WILLE still so hateful and mistrusting of Shinji are yet to be revealed in FINAL.
- There's a pretty good chance they were forcibly mutated into the giant red Eva corpses littering the landscape, the so-called "Failures of Infinity." Notice how some of them are phasing out of the apartment blocks? The huge number of them in the NERV base would also explain where the rest of the staff went.
How did Shinji gain the ability to trigger impacts?
He's just a normal human being, isn't he? But then in 2.0 his eyes went red trying to save Ayanami, and 3.0 shows the Door of Guf didn't close until Shinji's plug was ejected.- It seems like Impact events involve the pilot and the Eva joining together on a mental/spiritual level, becoming one being (a similar thing happened in the original series, when Shinji dissolved in Unit-01's cockpit). Right after this starts happening, Ritsuko screams "Stop it Shinji! You won't be able to become human again!", supporting this. In other words, it wasn't Shinji's power that was causing that, it was the Evangelion's, being wielded through Shinji. Presumably, any Eva/pilot set could have created an Impact in that situation. Also, an Eva needs a pilot to operate at anything more than a bare minimum level, so when Unit-13's plug was ejected, removing the pilot, the entire thing shut down.
Extra EV As
The four armed EVA in 3.0 is numbered 13. Since they started numbering at 00 that means there's been 14 EV As. But I only count 10, where were the other 4 and what have they been up to? Did they just die off screen?- It's currently unknown, since they aren't even mentioned in the movie. Maybe they were deployed and destroyed during the time skip, or are deployed in other battle groups of WILLE or to protect important Lilin infrastructures, every possibilities are open.
- They all appear in 3.0 + 1.0. Mark.07 is a mass-produced model distinguished by its humanoid skull for a head, while Mark.09, 10, 11, and 12 are associated with the Adams and piloted by the "Advanced Ayanami Series." (The Mark.09 seen in 3.0 + 1.0 is a recreated version of the one from the previous film.)
The "Rebuild is actually a sequel" theory
How does that supposed to work? OK, let's pretend that everybody went back after the third impact, and they don't have memories of the tang and the giant rei in the sky and whatnot. Shouldn't there be plenty of physical evidence lying around about the events that happened in Tokyo-3?- Off the top; one of the very first scenes in 1.0 is near-identical to one of the final scenes in EOE (red waves). There’s also the red ocean and a streak of dried blood on the moon (presumably from where Giant Naked Rei was killed), as well as Kaworu’s cryptic dialogue implying he’s aware of what’s happening, as if he’s seen it before. Never mind that Seele was constructing the Mark 6 on the Moon, which seems like a big stretch of their capabilities...but one of the concepts for Unit 1’s Fate in EOE was for it to rest on the moon. Growing an Eva in space might be far fetched...but stripping and replacing its armor? That seems reasonable. It also has a Spear of Longinus that Kaworu used to stop Near Third Impact...and Unit 1 did have it in its possession at the end of EOE. Well, this is all circumstantial evidence, but it was popular in Eva fan fiction for Shinji, Asuka, etc. to be sent back in time and try to avert Third Impact. The theory goes that Shinji or Rei somehow rewound time on Earth (but forgot the Moon...), and are trying to do better the second try.
- 3.0+1.0 reveals that Rebuild is not a direct sequel to the series, but part of a cycle of timelines. Previous installments in the franchise are simply previous timelines which ultimately failed and were reset, thus perpetuating the cycle. The cycle is only broken for good when Shinji writes Angels and Evas out of existence.
Kaworu's sacrifice
Is there a specific reason Kaworu had to die to stop 4th Impact? Wouldn't it have been enough if his entry plug was removed like Shinji's? There were at least two scenes that showed pilots can eject their entry plug in case of emergency. Unless Unit-13 was built without this function this should have been an option. Or was his death necessary because he was an Angel and his sheer existence kept the Impact running? What's with Sakura?
Maybe, maybe, I missed something, but... in 3.0+1.0, we find out that Touji, Sakura's brother, is ALIVE and well. And yet... she treats Shinji with nothing with disdain? Excuse me? Her brother is ALIVE, she could go visit him any time... but she continues to want to try to be absolutely spiteful towards Shinji... I don't understand. Can someone explain?- You must be confusing her with another character. Sakura has shown Shinji nothing but kindness and respect during the during 3.0 and 3.0+1.0. It's only during the climax, where she's willing to wound Shinji to prevent him from piloting Unit-01, she shows any hostility towards him, and that's due to her conflicting emotions about Shinji being the cause of Near Third Impact which killed her father, and his status as Toji's friend.
- And even if this weren’t the case, they believe Shinji plunged the whole world into its current hellhole state. With or without one’s treasured sibling, that’s a pretty big deal.
- You must be confusing her with another character. Sakura has shown Shinji nothing but kindness and respect during the during 3.0 and 3.0+1.0. It's only during the climax, where she's willing to wound Shinji to prevent him from piloting Unit-01, she shows any hostility towards him, and that's due to her conflicting emotions about Shinji being the cause of Near Third Impact which killed her father, and his status as Toji's friend.
Misato having Shinji wear a DSS Choker in 3.0 + 1.0
Why, exactly? Didn't Misato just finish a whole speech about how, yes, she's just as responsible for the current events as Shinji is? Why then did she put a choker on him, despite him getting into the Eva? Is it because she's taking precautions? Does it mean that, while she accepts her role in everything going on, she secretly is still paranoid that Shinji would accidentally cause another impact? Conflict Between Message And Show?
This is more a question about the theme/message of Eva more than anything. Both Rebuild and the original series carried this similar theme about confronting your problems head-on, not just shutting away or running away from your problems. But every single time Shinji finally stops running away and actually does something, or works for a goal he genuinely wants (Like saving Rei), EVERYTHING ends up going to hell and Shinji gets crapped on for doing anything. He gets crapped on for doing nothing and then insulted for doing something. What exactly is Anno trying to say here? Stop running away and keep fucking things up for everyone? I honestly don't get this because both series seem to work against the concept that is claimed to be the overall central message that all of Eva has tried to get across.- I think it's trying to reach a point of balance of the two extremes. Shinji's issue in Rebuild is that he tends to rashly do things without really thinking of everything else going on, as a result he often plays into other's hands, though completely rendering 2.x's victory absolutely hallow is rather harsh.
- The actual message in Evangelion is that while it is true that life is a pitiless struggle against almost impossible odds where even if you do everything right you can still lose... and yet it is worth all the pain and misery because it is real and no form of escapism can replace it.
- That seems like a terrible message, especially when you take Eva into account that EVERY instant of real-life in the series being absolute crap. There's no actual support as to why reality is better or why it should be picked over escapism because when you show reality as being constantly unappealing, that's just building more support for escapism. Or at the very least, Eva does a very crap job in actually delivering this message.
- Just because it is harsh doesn't make the message any less true, reality doesn't have to be nice especially if you avoid it by immersing into escapism instead of trying to change it. You can find easy solace in a cartoon waifu but at the end of the day it's just a hollow effigy, no susbtitute for a real human relationship. Of course the message DOES get muddled by the fact that people pushing the message also don't mind selling those cartoon waifus to masses of people looking to indulge in escapism.
- My point is, if you make real-life unappealing and terrible constantly, there's no support as to WHY escapism should be rejected. You can't just say "You should choose reality because of reasons". Also, what matters is if a person is happy or not. Other people don't have the right to dictate that a person is being happy the "wrong" way? If you wanna make real life the better choice, give an actual REASON as to why it's better. And as far as Eva is concerned, it's done nothing but constantly make reality endlessly shit on Shinji.
- Shinji isolating himself ultimately only made things more miserable for him. Those months interacting with Misato, Kensuke, Touji, Kaworu, Rei and Asuka (complicated as she was) were undoubtly the happiest moments of his life, even if he also experienced a lot of grief during those same months. That's why in Eo E he choses to reject instrumentality, finding that those brief moments of real happiness were worth the pain.
- Except that the final of the saga goes completely against these messages by having Shinji reject the current (admittedly shitty) reality so hard that he rebuild it to a world where the entire ecosystem is good as new and the Evas and Angels are retconned out of existence and resurrects everyone who died (Rei, Kaworu and maybe even Kaji and Misato)... and then deciding that he was the problem in their life and then leave their life.
- He's not deciding that he is the problem with their life, he is deciding to grant closure to his relationship with each of them so that they can ALL move on with their lives, as well as giving them the chance to move on in a world free from EV As. It's a parallel to how Anno himself is getting closure for this series and moving on to other endeavors. Rebuild isn't making some grand statement for everyone, it's an intensely personal reflection of Anno's life and struggles with depression.
- That seems like a terrible message, especially when you take Eva into account that EVERY instant of real-life in the series being absolute crap. There's no actual support as to why reality is better or why it should be picked over escapism because when you show reality as being constantly unappealing, that's just building more support for escapism. Or at the very least, Eva does a very crap job in actually delivering this message.
- It's the obligatory low point for the hero before he defeats the villain once and for all. Also, Anno said once that NGE was about how "sometimes you have to escape". Take that as you will. It's possible Anno found this plot point would convey this theme better than it was conveyed in the original show.
- The main point was that even though Shinji stepped up to confront his problems head on in 2.0, the main issue is that the moment he finds out it didn't succeed or it didn't turn out the way he wanted to in 3.0, he immediately regresses back to his old self in an effort to avoid taking responsibility or admitting fault. This comes together in 3.0+1.0, giving us the message that while it is better to confront your problems head on, you have to be willing to admit your mistakes and take responsibility if something goes wrong, as can be seen with both Shinji and Misato coming to terms for their combined roles in Near Third Impact.
Why are the DDS Chokers so easy to take off?
At first it seemed like it locked on, but then Kaworu just took it off Shinji like nothing, so did Shinji just not know how to take it off when he tried?- I assumed that Kaworu used some sort of Angel power to do that. A normal human wouldn't have that ability.
