Evangelion Mythos and the Plot You Thought the Show Forgot Anime Is - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Evangelion Mythos and the Plot You Thought the Show Forgot

Anime Is Lit Podcast Twitter: @animeislitpod

What this panel will be...

• Part 1.0
• Adam and Lilith
• Human Instrumentality
• The Impacts
• Q&A
• Part 2.0
• Symbols
• Tracking Shinji’s journey
• The psychological/thematic thread of the story and how it

connects to the external narrative

• Q&A
• Part 1.0 + 2.0
• Extras

What this panel will not be...

• Exclusively memes

No need for bibles...

What’ What’s included: A Lot. s included: A Lot. What it means: Not much. What it means: Not much.

Religious symbolism

Assistant Director Kazuya Tsurumaki on religious symbolism in NGE: “Because Christianity is an uncommon religion in Japan we thought it would be mysterious. None of the staff who worked

• n Eva are Christians. There is no actual Christian meaning to

the show, we just thought the visual symbols of Christianity look cool...”

http://web.archive.org/web/20020622231224/http://www.akadot.com/article/ article-tsurumaki2.html

Anno: “I am not familiar with many things in Christianity, and I have no intention of approaching it or criticizing it either.”

http://www.gwern.net/docs/eva/1997-animeland-may-hideakianno-interview- english

Lilith

• Seed of Humanity
• DNA -> Unit-01
• Kept in Terminal Dogma
• Soul -> Rei
• Bleeds LCL

Adam

• Seed of the Angels
• DNA -> All other EVAs
• Kept in Gendo’s Suitcase
• Soul -> Kaworu
• Everyone mistakes Lilith

for Adam 

• Confusing af

!"#$ %&'&()

*+( ,-" ./"

,DDD2 !S0S

,D*U2!S0S W1XIY WI-"27Z2 IP#-F@'&7-Y 45$#-2 ?-+(/5$@-(#'&(6

• Initiated by the First Ancestral Race
• Beginning of life on Earth ~5 Billion years ago
• Results from the 2 Seeds of Life landing on Earth
• Adam arrives (“White Moon”)
• With Lance of Longinus (on/off switch)
• And Dead Sea Scrolls (instruction manual)
• Lilith crash-lands on earth (“Black Moon”)
• No lance (not subdued).
• Subdues Adam, becomes dominant Seed of Life.
• Creates life on Earth/humanity.

Which Soul is Where?

• Lilith’s soul -> Rei
• Adam’s soul -> Kaworu

Lance of Longinus

• On/Off Switch for Seeds of Life
• Really cool fork
• Lilith & Adam each had one
• Lilith’s is lost, so humanity was born
• Adam’s was with him
• They pierce AT Fields

Human Instrumentality

• Driving the plot of the show
• Goal of Seele and of Gendo/NERV for different reasons
• Breaking down of barriers between human

consciousnesses (AT Fields)

• “Final stage of human evolution”
• Return to “primordial soup” (LCL)
• Collective consciousness
• Lots of folding chairs
• Result of Third Impact

Gehirn

• Proto-NERV, formed after Second Impact
• Built MAGI System and EVAs under “Adam Revival

Project”

• Under UN jurisdiction, backed by Seele
• Gendo, Yui, and Ritsuko’s

mother were all research scientists there

NERV

• Gehirn turned into NERV the day after Naoko

strangled Rei and killed herself.

• Under UN jurisdiction, authorized to build EVAs and

fight Angels

• Pawn of Seele via Gendo

That’s ¡a ¡fig ¡leaf, ¡not ¡a ¡ maple ¡leaf ¡ (Excessive ¡religious ¡ symbolism, ¡not ¡Canada) ¡

Seele

• “Religious organization”
• Discovered Dead Sea Scrolls
• Funded Katsuragi Expedition that

uncovered Adam & Initiated 2nd Impact

• Seele’s goal is Instrumentality
• “Final Evolution of Humanity” for humans

to become like gods

• Gendo operates under them, but with his
• wn goal of Instrumentality thru Unit-01

Central Dogma and Terminal Dogma

• The basement where they keep the Secrets
• They built the geofront in Lilith’s black moon egg

• Adam lies dormant under the South

Pole

• Uncovered by Katsuragi Expedition

(Seele/UN)

• Contact Experiment

Contact Experiment by removing the Lance and fusing human (Lilin) DNA with Adam

• Adam awakens, nearly destroys all life.
• Wipes out 1/3 of Earth’s population
• Stopped with Lance of Longinus, reverts to

Egg (Adembryo)

• Seele’s cover story is a meteorite.

Records of the Contact Experiment are secret.

• Good one, Seele.

EVAs

Unit 00 Unit 00

Rei’s soul ????

Unit 01 Unit 01

Shinji’s mom’s soul Made from Lilith, not Adam Extra Human

Unit 02 Unit 02

Part of Asuka’s mom’s soul

!"#$ %&'&()

*+( ,-" ./"

,DDD2 !S0S

,D*U2!S0S W1XIY WI-"27Z2 IP#-F@'&7-Y 45$#-2 ?-+(/5$@-(#'&(6

Kaworu

• 17th angel in a human body
• Born at 2nd impact, has Adam’s

soul, Vintage White-Haired Anime Boy™

• Sent by Seele to cause the third

impact and HI

• Intended to fuse with Adam to

destroy humanity and reclaim earth for the angels, but found Lilith in the basement instead

• Planned for Human Instrumentality
• Initiated by Gendo fusing Adam with

Rei -> Lilith

» Shown in EoE, takes place during NGE ep 25 & 26

• All of humanity returns to Lilith & becomes Souls in

LCL™ primordial soup

• Meanwhile Shinji is offered the choice to continue HI or

return to being human

Q&A

SECOND HALF SECOND HALF

Buckle up!

What is this show trying to do?

• The physical plot supports the psychological narrative
• The themes and motifs in the show (should) guide the viewers

understanding of the internal struggles of the characters

• (Whether the show is completely successful in this is up for

debate)

• Themes:
• Heavy existentialism
• Defining reality (subjective meaning)
• Defining self
• Connection to others
• Emotional attachments (especially parental)
• Loneliness, fear of abandonment
• Intimacy

The psychological narrative

• Tension between internal and external
• If the angels invade central dogma, humanity will be destroyed
• If Shinji allows his internal psychological space to be invaded,

he runs the risk of destruction (pain, destruction of self)

• Human Instrumentality
• Blending of internal and external
• Breaking down physical and psychological barriers
• The psychological plot blends with the physical just as Human

Instrumentality breaks down the barrier between physical and mental realities

Barriers

• Barriers cause suffering,

provide protection

• Emotional barriers between

characters

• Sleeping arrangements
• Represents breaking down

barriers, invading intimate spaces

• AT Fields

Absolute Territory Terror Fields

• Literal boundaries between souls
• Everybody’s got one!
• Even angels’ve got ‘em!
• Links the external and psychological “battles”

thematically

The shore

• Bridging barriers, gradual shift
• Kaworu
• His name means beach
• He’s fusion of Lilith and Adam
• The end of End of Evangelion
• The aftermath of a world

without boundaries

Trains

• Trains of thought!
• Dissociation,

self-examination

• It’s a pause in the action
• Characters can’t act while

they’re on the train

• Honestly, who doesn’t dissociate

when they’re on a train, amirite??

Shinji’s Psychological Journey

• Early in the show, what Shinji wishes for is something like

Human Instrumentality

• No one understands him and he can’t connect with others
• He goes back and forth between seeing the value in trying

to understand others and being hurt when the tries to connect

• Just like he waffles on piloting Eva
• The physical battles mirror his relational ones of advance/

withdrawl

• Episode 20 - Shinji melts into LCL/won’t come back
• The closest he comes to giving up completely
• He comes back after remembering Yui/hearing Misato
• The hope of being loved unconditionally

Shinji’s Journey 2.0

• Shinji uses others to try and define his sense of self
• This results in a fractured and painful identity
• He waits for instructions; tries to prefer nothing, yet craves

validation

• In the last 2 eps he realizes he must define/love

himself

• He accepts that no one can understand his truest self, nor he

theirs

• But he can come close, and it’s worth trying

Shinji gets the choice...

• God lets a 14-year-old boy decide what to do

with humanity. Twice.

• He chooses the struggle of loneliness over

complete loss of self

• Reverses human instrumentality
• Yui: “If you have a will to live, anywhere can

be heaven. He’ll have plenty of

• pportunities to be happy.”

Episode 4

• Mini version of the whole show
• Shinji wanders and self-examines
• Last-minute decision to not get on the train

Yui’s vs Gendo’s goals

• A better humanity
• Understanding and

unity

• In EoE, Yui wins out

through Rei

• To reunite with Yui

through Unit 01

• Forget everyone else

Both are looking for a shortcut out of human loneliness and isolation

• Shinji rejects both and chooses to stay sad

and human

In defense of Kaworu

• Integral to Shinji’s breakdown and eventual

decision and the entire goshdarn show

• Through meeting Shinji, Kaworu understands

human connection and suffering

• Points out Shinji’s inherent

value

• Kaworu as a wish-fulfillment of every type of love

Shinji was looking for.

• Parental, platonic, romantic, divine
• Offered Shinji the Choice
• Not just for the Fujos

Kaworuwu

Connections of Other Characters

• Misato
• Pen-Pen
• Ritsuko
• Naoko
• Gendo
• Taking the “Ikari” name
• Obsession, loss of self

Q&A

[TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF CARD]

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