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They're not lovers?


He doesn’t cry when he finds out his father called him back just because he needed his skills or when he tells him to leave him be when there’s a parent-teacher conference. He doesn’t cry when Rei II dies. He doesn’t cry when he finds out his lover betrayed him and he has to kill him. It takes Misato dying to defend him and putting on a brave face to hide it to really break him up.\\

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He doesn’t cry when he finds out his father called him back just because he needed his skills or when he tells him to leave him be when there’s a parent-teacher conference. He doesn’t cry when Rei II dies. He doesn’t cry when he finds out his lover the only person who genuinely told him "I love you" betrayed him and he has to kill him. It takes Misato dying to defend him and putting on a brave face to hide it to really break him up.\\
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misuse


* Take a look at the trope description for ScaryShinyGlasses: ''"Traditionally, one's eyes are an indicator of the soul... If you can't even see their eyes because of the Scary Shiny Glasses, beware — for these are individuals who deliberately wall themselves off from the people around them."'' Now on one obvious level, we know that describes Gendo. However, it becomes more brilliant when you take a look at the color of Gendo's glasses. The amber/orange tint to his eye-wear matches perfectly to the tinted light of an A.T. Field! In effect: both share the same color, both are used to hide or separate one's "soul" from the world, and, as stated on Gendo's entry in that page: ''In the manga version, the readers - and implicitly Shinji - began to see Gendo's eyes behind his glasses more often as we learned more about him.'' Interestingly enough, he only begins to wear his tinted glasses after his old ones break while rescuing Rei. In other words, the only time he's shown to let his emotional guard down (as mentioned above), is when Rei is in danger (his glasses break). Afterwards, he becomes even ''more'' closed off from the world. These are all perfect analogies to Gendo's personal A.T. Field. Therefore, it can't be coincidence that the mindscrew-filled scene involving Gendo's "death" in EOE show Gendo as the only one not being "tanged" (it's ambiguous whether he died or joined Instrumentality - use your own judgement there) and also gives one last focus to Gendo's glasses. In a way, this can be even used as a metaphor for additional ScaryShinyGlasses wearers in other series: They all close themselves off from other people emotionally by hiding their eyes - the windows to their souls. This is also often what many people do in RealLife: wearing sunglasses if they are shy, introverted, or NotGoodWithPeople to avoid having people make eye-contact. Keep in mind that Gendo's shades have been around since the first episode, as was the color of the A.T. Field. It only makes perfect sense upon understanding the whole "light of the soul" thing that Kaworu tells us, as well as knowing the ins-and-outs of the ScaryShinyGlasses trope, which is very popular in Japanese works. Anno, who developed ''Eva'' as a critique of social isolation, and as a deconstruction of anime tropes, undoubtedly knew all this... the clever bastard.

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* Take a look at the trope description for ScaryShinyGlasses: ''"Traditionally, one's eyes are an indicator of the soul... If you can't even see their eyes because of the Scary Shiny Glasses, beware — for these are individuals who deliberately wall themselves off from the people around them."'' Now on one obvious level, we know that describes Gendo. However, it becomes more brilliant when you take a look at the color of Gendo's glasses. The amber/orange tint to his eye-wear matches perfectly to the tinted light of an A.T. Field! In effect: both share the same color, both are used to hide or separate one's "soul" from the world, and, as stated on Gendo's entry in that page: ''In the manga version, the readers - and implicitly Shinji - began to see Gendo's eyes behind his glasses more often as we learned more about him.'' Interestingly enough, he only begins to wear his tinted glasses after his old ones break while rescuing Rei. In other words, the only time he's shown to let his emotional guard down (as mentioned above), is when Rei is in danger (his glasses break). Afterwards, he becomes even ''more'' closed off from the world. These are all perfect analogies to Gendo's personal A.T. Field. Therefore, it can't be coincidence that the mindscrew-filled scene involving Gendo's "death" in EOE show Gendo as the only one not being "tanged" (it's ambiguous whether he died or joined Instrumentality - use your own judgement there) and also gives one last focus to Gendo's glasses. In a way, this can be even used as a metaphor for additional ScaryShinyGlasses wearers in other series: They all close themselves off from other people emotionally by hiding their eyes - the windows to their souls. This is also often what many people do in RealLife: wearing sunglasses if they are shy, introverted, or NotGoodWithPeople to avoid having people make eye-contact. Keep in mind that Gendo's shades have been around since the first episode, as was the color of the A.T. Field. It only makes perfect sense upon understanding the whole "light of the soul" thing that Kaworu tells us, as well as knowing the ins-and-outs of the ScaryShinyGlasses trope, which is very popular in Japanese works. Anno, who developed ''Eva'' as a critique of social isolation, and as a deconstruction of anime tropes, undoubtedly knew all this... the clever bastard.
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* The [[NotAllowedToGrowUp "Curse of Eva"]] has several different symbolic meanings:
** How trauma can stunt social and emotional development, especially during childhood or adolescence. Everything about piloting an Eva is traumatic, affecting the pilot mentally ''and'' physically, and Shinji and Asuka were not particularly stable individuals to begin with. This is most emphasized in 3.0+1.0 when Shinji is still 14 when all his friends have become functional adults and some even have kids. Then, at the end, Shinji has finally moved on, and he and the other pilots become adults.
** A meta-commentary on Anno himself creating a landmark anime franchise, but feeling shackled to it and the impact it had on his own mental well-being, then finally coming to terms with it and moving on.
** A less flattering meta-commentary on the segments of the fandom being unable or unwilling to move on after the conclusion of the series.
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* The [[NotAllowedToGrowUp "Curse of Eva"]] has several different symbolic meanings:
** How trauma can stunt social and emotional development, especially during childhood or adolescence. Everything about piloting an Eva is traumatic, affecting the pilot mentally ''and'' physically, and Shinji and Asuka were not particularly stable individuals to begin with. This is most emphasized in 3.0+1.0 when Shinji is still 14 when all his friends have become functional adults and some even have kids. Then, at the end, Shinji has finally moved on, and he and the other pilots become adults.
** A meta-commentary on Anno himself creating a landmark anime franchise, but feeling shackled to it and the impact it had on his own mental well-being, then finally coming to terms with it and moving on.
** A less flattering meta-commentary on the segments of the fandom being unable or unwilling to move on after the conclusion of the series.
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Armor Piercing Slap is no longer a trope


** Episode 22: Asuka is pissed at Rei, but doesn't [[ArmorPiercingSlap snap]] until Rei states that [[ExtremeDoormat she would kill herself if commanded to.]] Well, that's pretty much what Kyoko did...

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** Episode 22: Asuka is pissed at Rei, but doesn't [[ArmorPiercingSlap snap]] snap until Rei states that [[ExtremeDoormat she would kill herself if commanded to.]] Well, that's pretty much what Kyoko did...
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** Guess that would [[FridgeBrilliance explain]] the [[ILoveNuclearPower Jet Alone]] project's goal: having a nuclear mecha able to hold the power of a city to take out the problems of the future. Turns out NERV [[NuclearWeaponsTaboo had their own agenda,]] [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic eh]]?

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** Guess that would [[FridgeBrilliance explain]] the [[ILoveNuclearPower Jet Alone]] Alone project's goal: having a nuclear mecha able to hold the power of a city to take out the problems of the future. Turns out NERV [[NuclearWeaponsTaboo had their own agenda,]] [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic eh]]?
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Up To Eleven is a defunct trope


* Furthermore, it seems the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah Kabalá]]'' imagery and even the ''[[UpToEleven air dates]]'' have significant meaning that elaborate on the Biblical {{Shout Out}}s:

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* Furthermore, it seems the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah Kabalá]]'' imagery and even the ''[[UpToEleven air dates]]'' ''air dates'' have significant meaning that elaborate on the Biblical {{Shout Out}}s:
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fixed a quotation mark


* The phrase "God·s in his heaven , all·s right with the world shows up in another series , Magic: the Gathering ; in the 1999 novel The Thran , the same line is used to describe the bloodsucking genetecist Yawgmoth and his apparent love of The Viv .

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* The phrase "God·s in his heaven , all·s right with the world world." shows up in another series , Magic: the Gathering ; in the 1999 novel The Thran , the same line is used to describe the bloodsucking genetecist Yawgmoth and his apparent love of The Viv .
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Added section on poem used in both Evangelion and Magic the Gathering .

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* The phrase "God·s in his heaven , all·s right with the world shows up in another series , Magic: the Gathering ; in the 1999 novel The Thran , the same line is used to describe the bloodsucking genetecist Yawgmoth and his apparent love of The Viv .

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Continuing to remove spoiler tags from the page, as per Spoilers Off policy.


'''As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''



'''As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''



* The battle between Eva 02 and the Mass Produced Evas might be a nod to the classic [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam anime that kick-started]] [[RealRobot a whole new genre of robots]] on two levels. One is the coloring of the respective mechs. Red and White are associated with Char and Amuro respectively. Although the sides are wrong, Asuka's personality and desires of being the Ace qualify her for the spot of being the closest thing to Char. The second level is that it's a reverse of what'd usually happen in a show like ''Gundam''. Instead of [[ConservationOfNinjutsu one lone mecha taking out hordes and hordes of enemy mechs]] like in Gundam, it instead shows [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome the reality of taking on a squadron of]] [[MechaMooks literal mindless metallic foot soldiers]].

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* The battle between Eva 02 and the Mass Produced Evas might be a nod to the classic [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam anime that kick-started]] [[RealRobot a whole new genre of robots]] on two levels. One is the coloring of the respective mechs. Red and White are associated with Char and Amuro respectively. Although the sides are wrong, Asuka's personality and desires of being the Ace qualify her for the spot of being the closest thing to Char. The second level is that it's a reverse of what'd usually happen in a show like ''Gundam''. Instead of [[ConservationOfNinjutsu one lone mecha taking out hordes and hordes of enemy mechs]] like in Gundam, ''Gundam'', it instead shows [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome the reality of taking on a squadron of]] [[MechaMooks literal mindless metallic foot soldiers]].



* The choice of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" as the soundtrack for Asuka's MindRape. The entire "Messiah" is about Christ's life, and that particular part is about the Second Coming...and Asuka's world is ending. Also, the choice of "Ode to Joy" as the soundtrack for the last Angel fight, since the poem is about the oneness of mankind, taken literally with [[spoiler:[[AssimilationPlot the Instrumentality]]]].
* The ending theme song ''Fly Me to the Moon'' may not seem to have any relevance to the plot at first glance, but if you analyze the lyrics closely, it does contain some subtle foreshadowing that doesn't become apparent until the very end. Of particular note are the following lines: ''Fly me to the moon/And let me play among the stars'' and ''Fill my heart with song/And let me sing forevermore''. [[spoiler: These lines more or less allude to the ultimate fate of Unit-01 in ''The End of Evangelion'': It floats away from Earth, past the moon, and into outer space; where it will forever drift among the stars as an eternal testament to humanity's existence (in accordance with Yui Ikari's personal goal for the Evangelion project)]].

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* The choice of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" as the soundtrack for Asuka's MindRape. The entire "Messiah" is about Christ's life, and that particular part is about the Second Coming... and Asuka's world is ending. Also, the choice of "Ode to Joy" as the soundtrack for the last Angel fight, since the poem is about the oneness of mankind, taken literally with [[spoiler:[[AssimilationPlot [[AssimilationPlot the Instrumentality]]]].
Instrumentality]].
* The ending theme song ''Fly Me to the Moon'' may not seem to have any relevance to the plot at first glance, but if you analyze the lyrics closely, it does contain some subtle foreshadowing that doesn't become apparent until the very end. Of particular note are the following lines: ''Fly me to the moon/And let me play among the stars'' and ''Fill my heart with song/And let me sing forevermore''. [[spoiler: These lines more or less allude to the ultimate fate of Unit-01 in ''The End of Evangelion'': It floats away from Earth, past the moon, and into outer space; where it will forever drift among the stars as an eternal testament to humanity's existence (in accordance with Yui Ikari's personal goal for the Evangelion project)]].project).



* When looking at the opening theme ''A Cruel Angel's Thesis'', you'd think that the titular "Cruel Angel" could be any one of the Angels encountered by Shinji and the rest of Nerv, right? Funnily enough, the entire song is about the condition of the characters in the series and about humanity in general. [[spoiler: In ''End of Evangelion'', humanity is revealed as having been born from Lilith in the same way that the other Angels that were born from Adam. That means that the titular cruel Angel, in fact the cruelest of them all, is ''mankind'' itself.]]

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* When looking at the opening theme ''A Cruel Angel's Thesis'', you'd think that the titular "Cruel Angel" could be any one of the Angels encountered by Shinji and the rest of Nerv, right? Funnily enough, the entire song is about the condition of the characters in the series and about humanity in general. [[spoiler: In ''End of Evangelion'', humanity is revealed as having been born from Lilith in the same way that the other Angels that were born from Adam. That means that the titular cruel Angel, in fact the cruelest of them all, is ''mankind'' itself.]]



** [[Recap/NeonGenesisEvangelionEpisode08AsukaStrikes Episode 8]], in which FieryRedhead Asuka is introduced, [[http://wiki.evageeks.org/Episode_08 aired on Nov. 22, 1995]], on [[https://www.hebcal.com/converter/?gd=22&gm=11&gy=1995&g2h=1 the week of]] ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledot Parashàt Toldót]]'', in which FieryRedhead Esau and [[SiblingYinYang his twin brother Jacob]] are born. Later on they are said to be Isaac’s and Rebecca’s [[ParentalFavoritism favourites]], respectively, so Rebecca helps Jacob cheat Esau out of his birthright, making Esau declare [[ThisMeansWar he will kill Jacob for it]]. The Biblical SiblingRivalry has a lot of {{Foreshadowing}} regarding Asuka’s hostility towards Shinji (in particular after [[spoiler:his sync rates exceed hers]]), and also relates to why Shinji and Asuka had such issues with their father and mother, respectively.
** In [[Recap/NeonGenesisEvangelionEpisode19Introjection ep. 19]], Shinji reacts violently to a moral outrage and leaves his position, only to be convinced to return by an older, more experienced man to go back. This, along with his reluctance to accept his role, might be an analogy to the story of [[Literature/BookOfExodus Moses]], the most humble person in the world (Numbers 12:3), who struck to death an Egyptian abusing a slave (Exodus 2:14-2), ran off, and took refuge with Jethro before going back and doing what he needed to. This might also {{Foreshadow|ing}} how [[spoiler:he effectively [[Recap/NeonGenesisEvangelionEpisode26INeedYou ‘parts’ the Red Sea]]]] in ''The End of Evangelion''.

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** [[Recap/NeonGenesisEvangelionEpisode08AsukaStrikes Episode 8]], in which FieryRedhead Asuka is introduced, [[http://wiki.evageeks.org/Episode_08 aired on Nov. 22, 1995]], on [[https://www.hebcal.com/converter/?gd=22&gm=11&gy=1995&g2h=1 the week of]] ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledot Parashàt Toldót]]'', in which FieryRedhead Esau and [[SiblingYinYang his twin brother Jacob]] are born. Later on they are said to be Isaac’s and Rebecca’s [[ParentalFavoritism favourites]], respectively, so Rebecca helps Jacob cheat Esau out of his birthright, making Esau declare [[ThisMeansWar he will kill Jacob for it]]. The Biblical SiblingRivalry has a lot of {{Foreshadowing}} regarding Asuka’s hostility towards Shinji (in particular after [[spoiler:his his sync rates exceed hers]]), hers), and also relates to why Shinji and Asuka had such issues with their father and mother, respectively.
** In [[Recap/NeonGenesisEvangelionEpisode19Introjection ep. 19]], Shinji reacts violently to a moral outrage and leaves his position, only to be convinced to return by an older, more experienced man to go back. This, along with his reluctance to accept his role, might be an analogy to the story of [[Literature/BookOfExodus Moses]], the most humble person in the world (Numbers 12:3), who struck to death an Egyptian abusing a slave (Exodus 2:14-2), ran off, and took refuge with Jethro before going back and doing what he needed to. This might also {{Foreshadow|ing}} how [[spoiler:he he effectively [[Recap/NeonGenesisEvangelionEpisode26INeedYou ‘parts’ the Red Sea]]]] Sea]] in ''The End of Evangelion''.



** [[Recap/NeonGenesisEvangelionEpisode23Tears Ep. 23]], in which Rei [[spoiler:[[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices herself]] to [[TakingYouWithMe stop Armisael]]]], is [[spoiler:replaced by her lookalike Rei III]], and Shinji can’t bring himself to cry, [[http://wiki.evageeks.org/Episode_08 aired on]] [[http://www.hebcal.com/converter/?gd=7&gm=2&gy=1996&g2h=1 Purim]], a holiday commemorating how Queen Esther almost pulled a HeroicSacrifice to save her people, is commemorated by wearing disguises, and [[http://www.biu.ac.il/JH/Parasha/eng/purim/stern.html mourning is forbidden]].
** ''The End of Evangelion'' was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_Evangelion released on July 19th, 1997]], on [[https://www.hebcal.com/converter/?gd=19&gm=7&gy=1997&g2h=1 the week of]] ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balak_(parsha) Parashàt Balák]]'', in which a man’s donkey disobeys his orders and [[TalkingAnimal chastises him]]. And... ‘[[spoiler:[[Recap/NeonGenesisEvangelionEpisode26INeedYou I’m not your puppet.]]]]’ Gendo, standing before an angel in the final stages of mankind’s redemption, tries to [[spoiler:keep Instrumentality to himself]], but at last, [[spoiler:Rei rejects Gendo when she hears Shinji scream in terror]]; continuing from the Isaac & Rebecca analogy above, [[spoiler:Gendo, who stands for Isaac, who stands for ''Gvura'', decides to keep the Devine Grace to himself, but is foiled when Rei unleashes her MamaBear instincts to defend her son]].
** At the end of the film, [[spoiler:Lilith, who is also the progenitor of all of humanity (including Gendo), tries to bring Instrumentality to everyone as a way to end their sorrow of misunderstanding one another]], but [[spoiler:Shinji rejects it]]. Continuing the Shinji-Jacob-''Tif'eret'' and [[spoiler:Gendo-Isaac-''Gvura'']] interpretation, [[spoiler:Lilith is Abraham-''Khesed'', and Shinji, representing the balance between the other two, reins them both in]]. This fits in perfectly with the message given in the original ending (or at least one of the main ones): ultimately you need to find a balance between extreme ''Khesed'' (i.e. altruism to the point of being an ExtremeDoormat) and extreme ''Gvura'' (i.e. reserving one’s altruism to the point of LackOfEmpathy and ItsAllAboutMe).
** Then, to complete the BookEnds with the Yom Kippur episode, in the final scene of ''End of Evangelion'', [[spoiler:everyone has to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Red_Sea cross the Sea of LCL]], which appears [[http://wiki.evageeks.org/images/5/5c/End_of_Evangelion_poster.jpg red]] in the poster and in [[http://i.stack.imgur.com/shQq7.png the final scene of the film]], to finally free themselves from emotional bondage]]. Finally, [[spoiler:there are crucified figured in the background, mirroring the crucifixion of Jesus as sacrifice for humanity’s sins, symbolising that the sacrifice for redemption is complete, and the (somewhat twisted) rainbow, mirroring the one after the Deluge and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Laws_of_Noah the new laws]] given thereafter, heralds the good news of a new creation (or a ''[[TitleDrop Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''). [[EarnYourHappyEnding It won’t be easy, but mankind is on its way to redemption]]]].
* Many of the trios formed ([[EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether school-related]] or not) have their members reach the same fate by the end of the movie. [[spoiler:The university trio (Misato, Ritsuko and Kaji) are shot dead, the BridgeBunny trio (Maya, Makoto and Shigeru) are met by the people they admire (except for Shigeru) through Instrumentality, and the Children's friends' trio (Hikari, Kensuke and Toji) have disappeared off-screen by the time the TV series has come to a close (in this instance, episodes 25 and 26 wouldn't count, due the MindScrew[=/=]GainaxEnding nature of the TV finale). The Children (Asuka, Rei and Shinji) are an exception, although the girls' penultimate scenes involve the nature of the show (the Evangelions and the Angels).]]

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** [[Recap/NeonGenesisEvangelionEpisode23Tears Ep. 23]], in which Rei [[spoiler:[[HeroicSacrifice [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices herself]] to [[TakingYouWithMe stop Armisael]]]], Armisael]], is [[spoiler:replaced replaced by her lookalike Rei III]], III, and Shinji can’t bring himself to cry, [[http://wiki.evageeks.org/Episode_08 aired on]] [[http://www.hebcal.com/converter/?gd=7&gm=2&gy=1996&g2h=1 Purim]], a holiday commemorating how Queen Esther almost pulled a HeroicSacrifice to save her people, is commemorated by wearing disguises, and [[http://www.biu.ac.il/JH/Parasha/eng/purim/stern.html mourning is forbidden]].
** ''The End of Evangelion'' was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_Evangelion released on July 19th, 1997]], on [[https://www.hebcal.com/converter/?gd=19&gm=7&gy=1997&g2h=1 the week of]] ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balak_(parsha) Parashàt Balák]]'', in which a man’s donkey disobeys his orders and [[TalkingAnimal chastises him]]. And... ‘[[spoiler:[[Recap/NeonGenesisEvangelionEpisode26INeedYou ‘[[Recap/NeonGenesisEvangelionEpisode26INeedYou I’m not your puppet.]]]]’ ]]’ Gendo, standing before an angel in the final stages of mankind’s redemption, tries to [[spoiler:keep keep Instrumentality to himself]], himself, but at last, [[spoiler:Rei Rei rejects Gendo when she hears Shinji scream in terror]]; terror; continuing from the Isaac & Rebecca analogy above, [[spoiler:Gendo, Gendo, who stands for Isaac, who stands for ''Gvura'', decides to keep the Devine Grace to himself, but is foiled when Rei unleashes her MamaBear instincts to defend her son]].
son.
** At the end of the film, [[spoiler:Lilith, Lilith, who is also the progenitor of all of humanity (including Gendo), tries to bring Instrumentality to everyone as a way to end their sorrow of misunderstanding one another]], another, but [[spoiler:Shinji Shinji rejects it]]. it. Continuing the Shinji-Jacob-''Tif'eret'' and [[spoiler:Gendo-Isaac-''Gvura'']] Gendo-Isaac-''Gvura'' interpretation, [[spoiler:Lilith Lilith is Abraham-''Khesed'', and Shinji, representing the balance between the other two, reins them both in]].in. This fits in perfectly with the message given in the original ending (or at least one of the main ones): ultimately you need to find a balance between extreme ''Khesed'' (i.e. altruism to the point of being an ExtremeDoormat) and extreme ''Gvura'' (i.e. reserving one’s altruism to the point of LackOfEmpathy and ItsAllAboutMe).
** Then, to complete the BookEnds with the Yom Kippur episode, in the final scene of ''End of Evangelion'', [[spoiler:everyone everyone has to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Red_Sea cross the Sea of LCL]], which appears [[http://wiki.evageeks.org/images/5/5c/End_of_Evangelion_poster.jpg red]] in the poster and in [[http://i.stack.imgur.com/shQq7.png the final scene of the film]], to finally free themselves from emotional bondage]]. bondage. Finally, [[spoiler:there there are crucified figured figures in the background, mirroring the crucifixion of Jesus as sacrifice for humanity’s sins, symbolising that the sacrifice for redemption is complete, and the (somewhat twisted) rainbow, mirroring the one after the Deluge and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Laws_of_Noah the new laws]] given thereafter, heralds the good news of a new creation (or a ''[[TitleDrop Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''). [[EarnYourHappyEnding It won’t be easy, but mankind is on its way to redemption]]]].
redemption]].
* Many of the trios formed ([[EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether school-related]] or not) have their members reach the same fate by the end of the movie. [[spoiler:The The university trio (Misato, Ritsuko and Kaji) are shot dead, the BridgeBunny trio (Maya, Makoto and Shigeru) are met by the people they admire (except for Shigeru) through Instrumentality, and the Children's friends' trio (Hikari, Kensuke and Toji) have disappeared off-screen by the time the TV series has come to a close (in this instance, episodes 25 and 26 wouldn't count, due the MindScrew[=/=]GainaxEnding nature of the TV finale). The Children (Asuka, Rei and Shinji) are an exception, although the girls' penultimate scenes involve the nature of the show (the Evangelions and the Angels).]]



* The original ending of the End of Evangelion consisted of Shinji lying alone on a beach, holding someone's hand. Sounds perfectly fine, until he squeezes that hand and he sees a vision of Rei, and you remember [[spoiler: Rei lost an arm at the beginning of the movie. ]]

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* The original ending of the End ''End of Evangelion Evangelion'' consisted of Shinji lying alone on a beach, holding someone's hand. Sounds perfectly fine, until he squeezes that hand and he sees a vision of Rei, and you remember [[spoiler: Rei lost an arm at the beginning of the movie. ]]



** [=EVAs=] don't need to violently cancel AT fields. Although violently attacking an AT field is done in the majority of times (with the visible light warping), including during combat with Kaworu, it can also be done when the angel and Eva want to, well, merge. This is evidenced when Armisael resisted violent attacks, but had no AT field effect to speak of when it tried to merge with Unit-00 or Unit-01. Since we never actually saw Kaworu's AT field breaking, but saw the consequences of it, this means that Kaworu let down, or synchronized, his AT field voluntarily. What's a common term for the feeling and urge to merge souls with another? [[spoiler: Love.]]
*** This becomes FridgeBrilliance as a prime example of [[spoiler: the hedgehog's dilemma discussed in the beginning of the series; humans and Angels really are not so different.]]
** Dummy Plugs contain [[spoiler: soulless Rei clones.]] The Mass-produced [=EVAs=] in The Movie have Plugs with [[spoiler: Kaworu]] written on the side. Eva pilots and [=EVAs=] are synched so that the pilots feel everything their [=EVAs=] feel. [[spoiler: Asuka was essentially eaten alive by a bunch of mindless Kaworus.]]
* All the Angels mount offensives on NERV hoping to infiltrate the facility to its deepest layer. [[spoiler:The final Angel is mankind. The last attack on NERV is by an army of humans. SEELE's invasion of NERV is no different from any other Angel Attack.]]
** More horror. During said invasion, Maya protests that NERV is supposed to fight Angels, not humans. [[spoiler: The above means she's wrong: ''NERV '''is''' supposed to fight and kill humans'']]. This also applies to Misato's reveal that [[spoiler: the other Angels are actually humans that rejected human form]], meaning that in fighting the Angels, [[spoiler:''NERV has essentially been fighting and killing humans the entire time!'']] In that light, [[spoiler: the JSSDF's invasion of NERV could be viewed as a kind of poetic justice]]. This doubles as fridge brilliance in that [[spoiler: given the end result of the human instrumentality project, killing humans is ultimately what NERV was established for]].
* [=EVAs=] are [[spoiler: in some part, powered by souls.]] Now, did we ever hear about [[spoiler: Toji's sister]] after the Unit-03 incident...?
** [[spoiler: It is implied that Toji does not have a mother, like most of his class. Ritsuko tells Gendo that they have a core for EVA-03 that can be prepared immediately. Toji was chosen as the Fourth Child because of his connection to EVA-03, not the other way around.]]
** [[spoiler: Related: Shinji (or Berserker Unit-01, either way) injured Toji's sister, cripped Toji, and destroyed Toji's mother's soul via EVA-03's core.]] Talk about guilt trip fuel.
** After she went insane, [[spoiler:Asuka]]'s mother ended up completely not acknowledging her daughter as a person, instead replacing her with a [[spoiler:doll]]. This mother committed suicide and hung the replacement right along with her. In her mind, she was killing her kid and herself.

to:

** [=EVAs=] don't need to violently cancel AT fields. Although violently attacking an AT field is done in the majority of times (with the visible light warping), including during combat with Kaworu, it can also be done when the angel and Eva want to, well, merge. This is evidenced when Armisael resisted violent attacks, but had no AT field effect to speak of when it tried to merge with Unit-00 or Unit-01. Since we never actually saw Kaworu's AT field breaking, but saw the consequences of it, this means that Kaworu let down, or synchronized, his AT field voluntarily. What's a common term for the feeling and urge to merge souls with another? [[spoiler: Love.]]
Love.
*** This becomes FridgeBrilliance as a prime example of [[spoiler: the hedgehog's dilemma discussed in the beginning of the series; humans and Angels really are not so different.]]
different.
** Dummy Plugs contain [[spoiler: soulless Rei clones.]] clones. The Mass-produced [=EVAs=] in The Movie have Plugs with [[spoiler: Kaworu]] Kaworu written on the side. Eva pilots and [=EVAs=] are synched so that the pilots feel everything their [=EVAs=] feel. [[spoiler: Asuka was essentially eaten alive by a bunch of mindless Kaworus.]]
Kaworus.
* All the Angels mount offensives on NERV hoping to infiltrate the facility to its deepest layer. [[spoiler:The The final Angel is mankind. The last attack on NERV is by an army of humans. SEELE's invasion of NERV is no different from any other Angel Attack.]]
Attack.
** More horror. During said invasion, Maya protests that NERV is supposed to fight Angels, not humans. [[spoiler: The above means she's wrong: ''NERV '''is''' supposed to fight and kill humans'']]. humans''. This also applies to Misato's reveal that [[spoiler: the other Angels are actually humans that rejected human form]], form, meaning that in fighting the Angels, [[spoiler:''NERV ''NERV has essentially been fighting and killing humans the entire time!'']] time!'' In that light, [[spoiler: the JSSDF's invasion of NERV could be viewed as a kind of poetic justice]]. justice. This doubles as fridge brilliance in that [[spoiler: given the end result of the human instrumentality Instrumentality project, killing humans is ultimately what NERV was established for]].for.
* [=EVAs=] are [[spoiler: in some part, powered by souls.]] souls. Now, did we ever hear about [[spoiler: Toji's sister]] sister after the Unit-03 incident...?
** [[spoiler: It is implied that Toji does not have a mother, like most of his class. Ritsuko tells Gendo that they have a core for EVA-03 that can be prepared immediately. Toji was chosen as the Fourth Child because of his connection to EVA-03, not the other way around.]]
around.
** [[spoiler: Related: Shinji (or Berserker Unit-01, either way) injured Toji's sister, cripped crippled Toji, and destroyed Toji's mother's soul via EVA-03's core.]] core. Talk about guilt trip fuel.
** After she went insane, [[spoiler:Asuka]]'s Asuka's mother ended up completely not acknowledging her daughter as a person, instead replacing her with a [[spoiler:doll]].doll. This mother committed suicide and hung the replacement right along with her. In her mind, she was killing her kid and herself.



* ''The End of Evangelion'': Yui's soul being [[spoiler: locked inside of a human-grown replication of Lilith and forced to spend all eternity floating through space as a testament to human existence.]] AndIMustScream is an understatement.
** When you understand that [=EVAs=] are sentient beings with a soul which are trapped and imprisoned inside 'restraints' for use as weapons, ok. Disturbing, but you can live with it...and then you realize that all the pilots are synchronizing with the [=EVAs=]. As in they are matching neuronal responses to achieve the best reaction, and are, as a consequence, melding their minds into the [=EVAs=]. So you have the kids melding their minds with the [=EVAs=] to a point where they have so fully intertwined their mental states, ego and identity into the Eva that they can't separate one from the other. An example? Shinji constantly screaming at Gendo "You used my hands to kill him!" when the dummy plug in Unit-01 destroyed Unit-03. Also, remember how Shinji lost it when he saw Asuka mutilated in EOE?
** Also in End of Evangelion, after [[spoiler:Shinji and Asuka are left alone on the hellish version of Earth]], there doesn't appear to be any liquid left apart from [[spoiler:the LCL that everyone on the planet has been reduced to.]] Humans need to drink and all...
*** Well, that or [[spoiler: [[{{Squick}} water that's been contaminated by GNR blood...]]]]
* Asuka playing with the doll in 2.0. If you've seen the original series, you'll appreciate why this is so messed up.
* It's stated that for humans, the AT Field is just powerful enough to allow them to hold physical form. The field serves as an EMOTIONAL barrier for humans. Harsh words and hate are more of a violation than physical contact in that context. Still...does that mean that Asuka's cruelty to Shinji was equal to [[MindRape Mind Rape]]?

to:

* ''The End of Evangelion'': Yui's soul being [[spoiler: locked inside of a human-grown replication of Lilith and forced to spend all eternity floating through space as a testament to human existence.]] existence. AndIMustScream is an understatement.
** When you understand that [=EVAs=] are sentient beings with a soul which are trapped and imprisoned inside 'restraints' for use as weapons, ok. Disturbing, but you can live with it... and then you realize that all the pilots are synchronizing with the [=EVAs=]. As in they are matching neuronal responses to achieve the best reaction, and are, as a consequence, melding their minds into the [=EVAs=]. So you have the kids melding their minds with the [=EVAs=] to a point where they have so fully intertwined their mental states, ego and identity into the Eva that they can't separate one from the other. An example? Shinji constantly screaming at Gendo "You used my hands to kill him!" when the dummy plug in Unit-01 destroyed Unit-03. Also, remember how Shinji lost it when he saw Asuka mutilated in EOE?
''EOE''?
** Also in End ''End of Evangelion, Evangelion'', after [[spoiler:Shinji Shinji and Asuka are left alone on the hellish version of Earth]], Earth, there doesn't appear to be any liquid left apart from [[spoiler:the the LCL that everyone on the planet has been reduced to.]] to. Humans need to drink and all...
*** Well, that or [[spoiler: [[{{Squick}} water that's been contaminated by GNR blood...]]]]
]]
* Asuka playing with the doll in 2.0.''2.0''. If you've seen the original series, you'll appreciate why this is so messed up.
* It's stated that for humans, the AT Field is just powerful enough to allow them to hold physical form. The field serves as an EMOTIONAL barrier for humans. Harsh words and hate are more of a violation than physical contact in that context. Still... does that mean that Asuka's cruelty to Shinji was equal to [[MindRape Mind Rape]]?



* The ending to ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is [[GainaxEnding so weird that you might not get it at first]]. But when you do... [[spoiler: AssimilationPlot was originally called Instrumentality.]]

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* The ending to ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is [[GainaxEnding so weird that you might not get it at first]]. But when you do... [[spoiler: the AssimilationPlot trope was originally called Instrumentality.]]



** So, she wasn't just calling her a mindless toy, she was calling her [[spoiler: a mindless thing that steals away the affection of the person you love. And will probably end up hurting them/ making them hurt themselves.]] Deep.
** It goes deeper when you consider that the person that Asuka "loves" in this scenario could very well be Shinji. On a basic level, it refers to Rei being Asuka's rival for Shinji's affections, but [[spoiler:considering what we learn about Rei and her relation to Gendo, it could also be seen as Asuka accusing Rei of stealing ''Gendo's'' affections away from his son, thereby causing Sinji to become the reclusive loner that he is. In other words, ''Asuka is blaming Rei for what Shinji has become, which inadvertently had brought her down as well due to the UnresolvedSexualTension between them .'']]
* The entry plug/Eva relationship: once you figure out that [[spoiler: Eva-01 contain Yui's soul]], it's hard to avoid the idea that, by piloting an Eva, Shinji is living out a giant Oedipal metaphor. This becomes even more obvious when, during his introspective experiences, Shinji decides that he pilots an Eva because only piloting makes him feel needed.
* Asuka was saved from her MindRape (a bit late mind you) by the Lance of Longinus. [[spoiler: [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice Now what weapon is used to kill her?]]]]

to:

** So, she wasn't just calling her a mindless toy, she was calling her [[spoiler: a mindless thing that steals away the affection of the person you love. And will probably end up hurting them/ making them hurt themselves.]] Deep.
** It goes deeper when you consider that the person that Asuka "loves" in this scenario could very well be Shinji. On a basic level, it refers to Rei being Asuka's rival for Shinji's affections, but [[spoiler:considering considering what we learn about Rei and her relation to Gendo, it could also be seen as Asuka accusing Rei of stealing ''Gendo's'' affections away from his son, thereby causing Sinji to become the reclusive loner that he is. In other words, ''Asuka is blaming Rei for what Shinji has become, which inadvertently had brought her down as well due to the UnresolvedSexualTension between them .'']]
''
* The entry plug/Eva relationship: once you figure out that [[spoiler: Eva-01 contain Yui's soul]], soul, it's hard to avoid the idea that, by piloting an Eva, Shinji is living out a giant Oedipal metaphor. This becomes even more obvious when, during his introspective experiences, Shinji decides that he pilots an Eva because only piloting makes him feel needed.
* Asuka was saved from her MindRape (a bit late mind you) by the Lance of Longinus. [[spoiler: [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice Now what weapon is used to kill her?]]]]her?]]



** It gets somewhat better when you remember [[spoiler:the Dummy Plug based on Rei’s brainwaves, and it still attacked Toji while Rei refused to]], which could mean that [[spoiler:the real Kaworu would ''never'' do anything like that]].

to:

** It gets somewhat better when you remember [[spoiler:the the Dummy Plug based on Rei’s brainwaves, and it still attacked Toji while Rei refused to]], to, which could mean that [[spoiler:the the real Kaworu would ''never'' do anything like that]].that.



* Don't all the parts hinting at a relationship between Shinji and Rei seem a bit weird after you find out [[spoiler: she was cloned from his mother?]]

to:

* Don't all the parts hinting at a relationship between Shinji and Rei seem a bit weird after you find out [[spoiler: she was cloned from his mother?]]mother?



** The implication is that the First Impact was [[spoiler: Lilith, landing on the planet, creating the Moon as well as preventing Adam's Angel life from spreading across the planet via spreading Lilin instead.]]
* Kensuke’s father works for the JSSDF. It’s quite likely he participated in [[spoiler:the mass purge the JSSDF tried to pull on NERV]].
* Think you're safe from a traumatic backstory and/or experience if you're a minor ''Eva'' character? ''Wrong!'' Take Shigeru Aoba, for example: [[spoiler: during the Tang-ification scene, he doesn't see ''anybody'' before he turns into Tang. Rei/Lilith has to ''force'' him to do it. What does that mean? It means that all throughout his entire ''life'', he never found a person who truly loved him. ''Damn''.]]
** It seems to be more based on if the person being [[spoiler:Tang-ed had anyone they themselves loved. While it's sort of unclear whether this love ''had'' to be romantic or sexual, there's still two possible unfortunate explanations for what happened to Aoba: a) He had the capacity to be attracted to others, but ultimately found no one who interested him, which is depressing for the reasons the original troper mentions. b) Aoba was asexual, meaning that all asexual people, globally, each underwent the assault of a horde of floating, naked Rei's before they exploded into goo.]]

to:

** The implication is that the First Impact was [[spoiler: Lilith, landing on the planet, creating the Moon as well as preventing Adam's Angel life from spreading across the planet via spreading Lilin instead.]]
instead.
* Kensuke’s father works for the JSSDF. It’s quite likely he participated in [[spoiler:the the mass purge the JSSDF tried to pull on NERV]].
NERV.
* Think you're safe from a traumatic backstory and/or experience if you're a minor ''Eva'' character? ''Wrong!'' Take Shigeru Aoba, for example: [[spoiler: during the Tang-ification scene, he doesn't see ''anybody'' before he turns into Tang. Rei/Lilith has to ''force'' him to do it. What does that mean? It means that all throughout his entire ''life'', he never found a person who truly loved him. ''Damn''.]]
''Damn''.
** It seems to be more based on if the person being [[spoiler:Tang-ed Tang-ed had anyone they themselves loved. While it's sort of unclear whether this love ''had'' to be romantic or sexual, there's still two possible unfortunate explanations for what happened to Aoba: a) He he had the capacity to be attracted to others, but ultimately found no one who interested him, which is depressing for the reasons the original troper mentions. b) Aoba was asexual, meaning that all asexual people, globally, each underwent the assault of a horde of floating, naked Rei's before they exploded into goo.]]



* The End Of Evangelion has a rather unsettling variation on the SexIsViolence trope involving the MP Evas. note For those who really want to know, they stab themselves with copies of the Lance of Longinus in their most vital organ (their S2 engines) under the influence of Rei/Lilith while climaxing. This is foreshadowed in the beginning with Fuyutsuki's comment that SEELE's attempt to hack the MAGI was "merely foreplay," before it becomes more Squick-inducingly obvious throughout the movie. The aforementioned Lance of Longinus has its repeated phallic symbolism. The subtext it adds to Asuka's death scene where she's speared in the face with it is particularly creepy, especially when you consider that most of the movie focuses on Shinji's desire for her.

to:

* The End ''End Of Evangelion Evangelion'' has a rather unsettling variation on the SexIsViolence trope involving the MP Evas. note For those who really want to know, they stab themselves with copies of the Lance of Longinus in their most vital organ (their S2 engines) under the influence of Rei/Lilith while climaxing. This is foreshadowed in the beginning with Fuyutsuki's comment that SEELE's attempt to hack the MAGI was "merely foreplay," before it becomes more Squick-inducingly obvious throughout the movie. The aforementioned Lance of Longinus has its repeated phallic symbolism. The subtext it adds to Asuka's death scene where she's speared in the face with it is particularly creepy, especially when you consider that most of the movie focuses on Shinji's desire for her.



* We see Unit-01 reject Rei, and we later find out that [[spoiler: Yui is inside EVA-01, and Rei is in fact a clone of Yui, but she looks somewhat different and has a different personality. When Unit-01/Yui rejects Rei, it's because she's being confronted with an imperfect copy of herself, and is understandably disturbed and upset, so she refuses to let Rei pilot.]]
** This sort of rejection of a duplicate could also explain why Rei can have trouble with Unit-00, especially how it went berserk during an early trial. If we go with the popular theory that [[spoiler: the soul inside Unit-00 is the original Rei that was killed by Naoko Akagi. The Rei we see in at the start of the series is a clone of this original, and Rei's trouble piloting might stem from the original reacting to seeing a copy of herself.]]

to:

* We see Unit-01 reject Rei, and we later find out that [[spoiler: Yui is inside EVA-01, and Rei is in fact a clone of Yui, but she looks somewhat different and has a different personality. When Unit-01/Yui rejects Rei, it's because she's being confronted with an imperfect copy of herself, and is understandably disturbed and upset, so she refuses to let Rei pilot.]]
pilot.
** This sort of rejection of a duplicate could also explain why Rei can have trouble with Unit-00, especially how it went berserk during an early trial. If we go with the popular theory that [[spoiler: the soul inside Unit-00 is the original Rei that was killed by Naoko Akagi. The Rei we see in at the start of the series is a clone of this original, and Rei's trouble piloting might stem from the original reacting to seeing a copy of herself.]]

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Removing spoiler tags from the page, as per Spoilers Off policy. Added a courtesy warning to the top of the page. Cleaning up spelling and grammar.



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'''As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
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* A lot of people assume that the name of Central Dogma, [[spoiler:where Lilith and the Lance of Longinus are kept]] is a reference to the idea of dogma, or the text of a religion. It turns out that Central Dogma is the name for the theory that genetic information is copied from DNA by RNA. When you consider [[spoiler:that the [=EVAs=] are copies of either Adam or Lilith, piloted by the genetic descendants of Lilith]], this makes a great deal of sense. Or, to put it in biologist terms, [[spoiler:Lilith and Adam are the original DNA. The [=EVAs=] are the RNA, or copies, of the original DNA. Depending on how you want to look at it, either NERV or the pilots are the mRNA (NERV arrange for the [=EVAs=] to be made, but the pilots tell the [=EVAs=] what to do)]].
* Watching the series and movies multiple times can reveal certain details and [[MindScrewdriver make confusing scenes more understandable]]. An easily missed one is the final line in End Of Evangelion: [[spoiler:"I feel sick." These are the first words that Shinji says inside EVA-01.]]
** In the foreground during [[spoiler: Ritsuko's]] death scene is the [[spoiler: boat she]] was riding in her first appearance.
** Episode 22: Asuka is pissed at Rei, but doesn't [[ArmorPiercingSlap snap]] until Rei states that [[ExtremeDoormat she would kill herself if commanded to.]] [[spoiler:Well, that's pretty much what Kyoko did...]]
** [[spoiler:If we accept that young Shinji inside Leliel is a representation of Leliel itself, then the last shot we see after Yui inside Unit-01 'saves' Shinji is of Leliel]] ''[[spoiler: [[FaceDeathWithDignity holding out its core to Shinji.]]]]''

to:

* A lot of people assume that the name of Central Dogma, [[spoiler:where where Lilith and the Lance of Longinus are kept]] kept is a reference to the idea of dogma, or the text of a religion. It turns out that Central Dogma is the name for the theory that genetic information is copied from DNA by RNA. When you consider [[spoiler:that that the [=EVAs=] are copies of either Adam or Lilith, piloted by the genetic descendants of Lilith]], Lilith, this makes a great deal of sense. Or, to put it in biologist terms, [[spoiler:Lilith Lilith and Adam are the original DNA. The [=EVAs=] are the RNA, or copies, of the original DNA. Depending on how you want to look at it, either NERV or the pilots are the mRNA (NERV arrange for the [=EVAs=] to be made, but the pilots tell the [=EVAs=] what to do)]].do).
* Watching the series and movies multiple times can reveal certain details and [[MindScrewdriver make confusing scenes more understandable]]. An easily missed one is the final line in End ''End Of Evangelion: [[spoiler:"I Evangelion'': "I feel sick." These are the first words that Shinji says inside EVA-01.]]
EVA-01.
** In the foreground during [[spoiler: Ritsuko's]] Ritsuko's death scene is the [[spoiler: boat she]] was riding she rides on in her first appearance.
** Episode 22: Asuka is pissed at Rei, but doesn't [[ArmorPiercingSlap snap]] until Rei states that [[ExtremeDoormat she would kill herself if commanded to.]] [[spoiler:Well, Well, that's pretty much what Kyoko did...]]
did...
** [[spoiler:If If we accept that young Shinji inside Leliel is a representation of Leliel itself, then the last shot we see after Yui inside Unit-01 'saves' Shinji is of Leliel]] ''[[spoiler: [[FaceDeathWithDignity Leliel ''[[FaceDeathWithDignity holding out its core to Shinji.]]]]'']]''



** Shinji is the epitome of meek. He inherits the earth[[spoiler: [[CrapsackWorld or what is left of it]]]].
* SEELE (which is German for "soul") is a word prominently mentioned in a certain significant musical work:[[spoiler:Ode to Joy]].
** Also in the lyrics: "Your magic binds together again/what custom strictly parted/All men become brothers/where your gentle wing rests." Hmmmmm. "Be embraced, millions! This kiss for the whole world!" ...This is disturbingly apropos.
* All AT Fields (barring Iruel's), are octagonal. They also happen to be used to halt an attack against them. Now...what ''else'' is octagonal and calls for an approaching object to arrest its movement?...[[DontExplainTheJoke Or "stop", if you will?]]

to:

** Shinji is the epitome of meek. He inherits the earth[[spoiler: earth... [[CrapsackWorld or what is left of it]]]].
it]].
* SEELE (which is German for "soul") is a word prominently mentioned in a certain significant musical work:[[spoiler:Ode to Joy]].
work: Music/OdeToJoy.
** Also in the lyrics: "Your magic binds together again/what custom strictly parted/All men become brothers/where your gentle wing rests." Hmmmmm. "Be embraced, millions! This kiss for the whole world!" ... This is disturbingly apropos.
* All AT Fields (barring Iruel's), are octagonal. They also happen to be used to halt an attack against them. Now... what ''else'' is octagonal and calls for an approaching object to arrest its movement?...movement?... [[DontExplainTheJoke Or or "stop", if you will?]]



*** When using the mortar to test Ramiel's defenses, if you watch the scene where Misato, Ritsuko, ''et al'' are analyzing the results of testing, they freeze-frame footage showing that Ramiel's AT field is hexagonal.
*** This is commonly attributed to animation error. Episode 6 is one of those episodes, along with Episode 4 and others, that are animated by the "B" team.
* During the sequence where Arael conjures multiple Asukas while probing Asuka's memories, each Asuka is voiced by a different actress, to show that what Arael's conjurations are saying are both bizarre and unsettlingly wrong. What brings this into fridge brilliance is that each successive voice actress is actually trying to imitate Asuka's VA's style of speech, almost as if Arael is trying to make his conjurations as close to the real thing as he can.
** Unfortuantely, the English dub completely ruined this scene by only using Asuka's VA for this scene. So instead of Asuka being assaulted by imitations of herself, it's just her repeating the same few lines over and over and breaking down because... she doesn't like the sound of her own voice?
*** A lot of people hate hearing recorded playback of their own voice. It wouldn't sound strange to us as the audience, but imagine you're hearing multiple recordings of your voice playing at once. That would be utterly ''maddening''.

to:

*** When using the mortar to test Ramiel's defenses, if you watch the scene where Misato, Ritsuko, ''et al'' et al are analyzing the results of testing, they freeze-frame footage showing that Ramiel's AT field is hexagonal.
*** This is commonly attributed to animation error. Episode 6 is one of those episodes, along with Episode 4 and others, that are were animated by the "B" team.
* During the sequence where Arael conjures multiple Asukas while probing Asuka's memories, each Asuka is voiced by a different actress, to show that what Arael's conjurations are saying are both bizarre and unsettlingly wrong. What brings this into fridge brilliance is that each successive voice actress is actually trying to imitate ''imitate'' Asuka's VA's style of speech, almost as if Arael is trying to make his conjurations as close to the real thing as he can.
** Unfortuantely, Unfortunately, the English dub completely ruined this scene by only using Asuka's VA for this scene. So instead of Asuka being assaulted by imitations of herself, it's just her repeating the same few lines over and over and breaking down because... she doesn't like the sound of her own voice?
*** A lot of people hate ''hate'' hearing recorded playback of their own voice. voice; one's voice sounds a certain way to them while speaking, and sounds completely different to the same person when being played back. It wouldn't sound strange to us as the audience, but imagine you're hearing multiple recordings of your voice playing at once.once, and they're saying things like that. That would be utterly ''maddening''.



** This idea is subverted by the fact that [=EVAs=] are shown going out of control even AFTER their batteries are out. The battery limit is basically to make people feel safe. If the pilot's will is strong enough, they are no longer bound by it. [[spoiler:Now take a look at Shinji's fight with Zeruel in [[Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion Evangelion 2.0]].]]
*** More to the point, it becomes fairly clear later in the series that only the control systems of the Evangelion require external power. It's just that the entry plug is placed in such a way as to replace most of the Evangelion nervous system. If it loses power, the Evangelion is essentially paralyzed. An awakened Evangelion, however, seems to be able to get around this by either powering the entry plug itself, or brute-forcing the nerve connections through the dead space somehow.
* The original ending is about [[spoiler: how Shinji STOPS being a wimp.]] It gets better when you realize that Shinji's wimpiness is a common complaint about this show.
* NERV's motto is a quote from the poem 'Pippa Passes': "God's in His heaven, all's right with the world". Consider this: when its core is [[spoiler: pierced by the Lance of Longinus, Evangelion-01 apparently ''becomes a god''. This is moments before the initiation of the Third Impact, which wipes out all of humanity.]] How right is the world now?

to:

** This idea is subverted by the fact that [=EVAs=] are shown going out of control even AFTER their batteries are out. The battery limit is basically to make people feel safe. If the pilot's will is strong enough, they are no longer bound by it. [[spoiler:Now Now take a look at Shinji's fight with Zeruel in [[Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion ''[[Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion Evangelion 2.0]].]]
0]]''.
*** More to the point, it becomes fairly clear later in the series that only the control systems of the Evangelion require external power. It's just that the entry plug is placed in such a way as to replace most of the Evangelion Evangelion's nervous system. If it loses power, the Evangelion is essentially paralyzed. An awakened Evangelion, however, seems to be able to get around this by either powering the entry plug itself, or brute-forcing the nerve connections through the dead space somehow.
* The original ending is about [[spoiler: how Shinji STOPS being a wimp.]] wimp. It gets better when you realize that Shinji's wimpiness is a common complaint about this show.
* NERV's motto is a quote from the poem 'Pippa Passes': "God's in His heaven, all's right with the world". Consider this: when its core is [[spoiler: pierced by the Lance of Longinus, Evangelion-01 apparently ''becomes a god''. This is moments before the initiation of the Third Impact, which wipes out all of humanity.]] How right is the world now?



** Just like Adam and Eve before they ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. And if we remember that Rei [[spoiler:possesses Lilith's soul]], this only makes it more symbolic, being as [[spoiler:Lilith]] did not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and thus also had no sense of shame. FridgeBrilliance at its finest.

to:

** Just like Adam and Eve before they ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. And if we remember that Rei [[spoiler:possesses possesses Lilith's soul]], soul, this only makes it more symbolic, being as [[spoiler:Lilith]] Lilith did not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and thus also had no sense of shame. FridgeBrilliance at its finest.



** For those of you (such as myself) who take a while to grasp the above, the daughters of Lilith in regular mythology are the demon race. Now, in NGE, it's humans. Now the math is little clearer.
** Furthermore, in the Alphabet of ben Sirach, the oldest known text dealing with marriage of Lilith and Adam, Lilith's punishment for disobeying God is that hundreds of her children would have to die every day. Now compare the mass births and deaths of Lilith's children in Evangelion to the children of Adam who appears to be unable to reproduce and could well be immortal until killed.
* This may or may not have been intended by the writers but; regarding the failed Unit-00 test that resulted in Rei's injuries from the first episode, more specifically the seemingly out of character reaction Gendo has, that amount of concern and near panic are so unlike anything you ever see from him any other time. At first you could think it's because he needs Rei to enact his version of Instrumentality, till you remember how easy it seems to be to replace her with a new clone when she does die. Then it hit me, Yui "died" during a test of Unit-01, and more specifically while inside an entry plug, and Rei was more or less a clone of her. It was this near replication of the most tragic event of his life that broke Gendo out of normal stoicism and drove him to desperately try and rescue Rei.

to:

** For those of you (such as myself) who take a while to grasp the above, the daughters of Lilith in regular mythology are the demon race. Now, in NGE, ''NGE'', it's humans. Now the math is little clearer.
** Furthermore, in the Alphabet of ben Sirach, the oldest known text dealing with marriage of Lilith and Adam, Lilith's punishment for disobeying God is that hundreds of her children would have to die every day. Now compare the mass births and deaths of Lilith's children in Evangelion ''Evangelion'' to the children of Adam who appears to be unable to reproduce and could well be immortal until killed.
* This may or may not have been intended by the writers but; regarding the failed Unit-00 test that resulted in Rei's injuries from the first episode, more specifically the seemingly out of character reaction Gendo has, that amount of concern and near panic are so unlike anything you ever see from him any other time. At first you could think it's because he needs Rei to enact his version of Instrumentality, till you remember how easy it seems to be to replace her with a new clone when she does die. Then it hit me, Yui "died" during a test of Unit-01, and more specifically while inside an entry plug, and Rei was is more or less a clone of her. It was this near replication of the most tragic event of his life that broke Gendo out of normal stoicism and drove him to desperately try and rescue Rei.



* While the [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9e/Eoeposter.JPG theatrical poster]] for ''The End of Evangelion'' seems like nightmare fuel (bodies floating in a red sea, apparently dead), looking closely reveals the sight of Rei floating above the red sea. [[spoiler:At the end of the film, Shinji sees an apparition of Rei floating above the sea of LCL in the exact same way as she does in the poster. Since Shinji allowed humanity to retain corporeal form by rejecting instrumentality, the film's poster actually depicts humanity's '''rebirth''', rather than their death.]]
* FridgeBrilliance[=/=][[FridgeHorror Horror]]: [[BSODSong Komm Sus]][[SanitySlippageSong ser Tod]]. [[MoodDissonance At first, it seems the song is out of place]], then it hits you, [[DespairEventHorizon depressed people who decides to]] [[DrivenToSuicide commit suicide would feel suddenly happy]]. This song perfectly describes this image [[spoiler:ESPECIALLY DURING THE THIRD IMPACT!]]

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* While the [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9e/Eoeposter.JPG theatrical poster]] for ''The End of Evangelion'' seems like nightmare fuel (bodies floating in a red sea, apparently dead), looking closely reveals the sight of Rei floating above the red sea. [[spoiler:At At the end of the film, Shinji sees an apparition of Rei floating above the sea of LCL in the exact same way as she does in the poster. Since Shinji allowed humanity to retain corporeal form by rejecting instrumentality, the film's poster actually depicts humanity's '''rebirth''', rather than their death.]]
death.
* FridgeBrilliance[=/=][[FridgeHorror Horror]]: [[BSODSong Komm Sus]][[SanitySlippageSong ser Tod]]. [[MoodDissonance At first, it seems the song is out of place]], then it hits you, [[DespairEventHorizon depressed people who decides to]] [[DrivenToSuicide commit suicide would feel suddenly happy]]. This song perfectly describes this image [[spoiler:ESPECIALLY ESPECIALLY DURING THE THIRD IMPACT!]]IMPACT!



* In EOE Shinji [[spoiler:sets off Instrumentality by strangling Asuka in his mind]] and at the end of the film he does it again [[spoiler:with the real Asuka.]] most people assume he was just off rocker by then. But what if he [[spoiler:was trying to bring everybody back by finishing Instrumentality]] the way it started?

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* In EOE Shinji [[spoiler:sets sets off Instrumentality by strangling Asuka in his mind]] mind and at the end of the film he does it again [[spoiler:with with the real Asuka.]] most Asuka. Most people assume he was just off rocker by then. But what if he [[spoiler:was is trying to bring everybody back by finishing Instrumentality]] Instrumentality the way it started?



* Remember how Misato notes that [[spoiler:the Angels were all what humanity would have been had things been different]]? Well, taking that in mind, then remembering some of the attacks the Angels did (Arael is a good example) causes a sort of revelation: [[spoiler:That's how we would have communicated if that Angel was the human race]]. Mixes in with FridgeHorror.
* It is mostly assumed that the term "First Children" is used in the plural when refering to the pilot, not singular as it should have been, because of a translation error. It isn't. This is clearer in the manga, but taking into account that every single student in Shinji's class is a potential pilot, it isn't that there is a first ''child'', but the chosen representative of the potential "First Children" since, if this pilot was to be fired or put out of action, he can be replaced by the other "First Children." The chosen pilot represents the available talent pool, hence is not just a single child. Mind? Blown.

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* Remember how Misato notes that [[spoiler:the the Angels were all what humanity would have been had things been different]]? different? Well, taking that in mind, then remembering some of the attacks the Angels did (Arael is a good example) causes a sort of revelation: [[spoiler:That's That's how we would have communicated if that Angel was the human race]].race. Mixes in with FridgeHorror.
* It is mostly assumed that the term "First Children" is used in the plural when refering referring to the pilot, not singular as it should have been, because of a translation error. It isn't. This is clearer in the manga, but taking into account that every single student in Shinji's class is a potential pilot, it isn't that there is a first ''child'', but the chosen representative of the potential "First Children" since, if this pilot was to be fired or put out of action, he can be replaced by the other "First Children." The chosen pilot represents the available talent pool, hence is not just a single child. Mind? Blown.



* In the first episode, the EVA activates and protects Shinji. No one has any idea why or how the EVA was able to protect Shinji without a pilot being inside it and are just as surprised as Shinji. This is foreshadowing the how and why of an EVA. Ritsuko's reaction has more shock and surprise, [[spoiler:since she actually knows ''how'' an EVA works [[OhCrap and reacted like how someone would react to a robot becoming self-aware]] and the foreshadowing comes in the fact that there's the reason for ''why'' the EVA saved Shinji. [[MamaBear It shared a sort of bond with him]].]]
* All the MindScrew in the series, as well as any FridgeLogic (most notably [[spoiler:Kaworu still appearing in the ending, despite being a dead ''angel'']]) is explained very neatly if you consider that the whole thing is [[spoiler:[[AllJustADream Shinji’s dream]]]]: in ''Evangelion: Death'', [[spoiler:Shinji, Rei, Asuka, and Kaworu are all playing music together at school. Rei and Asuka chat among themselves, hinting they’re good friends]]; this hints that [[spoiler:the whole series was nothing like what was going on in the real world]]. A DeletedScene from ''[=EoE=]'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwBs3VsNfdY shows]] [[spoiler:a world without Shinji, appearing perfectly normal, in which Asuka is in a relationship with Toji and, more importantly, friends with Rei, like in ''Death'']], and, according to a brief piece of dialogue in ep. 26':

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* In the first episode, the EVA activates and protects Shinji. No one has any idea why or how the EVA was able to protect Shinji without a pilot being inside it and are just as surprised as Shinji. This is foreshadowing the how and why of an EVA. Ritsuko's reaction has more shock and surprise, [[spoiler:since since she actually knows ''how'' an EVA works [[OhCrap and reacted like how someone would react to a robot becoming self-aware]] and the foreshadowing comes in the fact that there's the reason for ''why'' the EVA saved Shinji. [[MamaBear It shared a sort of bond with him]].]]
him]].
* All the MindScrew in the series, as well as any FridgeLogic (most notably [[spoiler:Kaworu Kaworu still appearing in the ending, despite being a dead ''angel'']]) ''angel'') is explained very neatly if you consider that the whole thing is [[spoiler:[[AllJustADream [[AllJustADream Shinji’s dream]]]]: dream]]: in ''Evangelion: Death'', [[spoiler:Shinji, Shinji, Rei, Asuka, and Kaworu are all playing music together at school. Rei and Asuka chat among themselves, hinting they’re good friends]]; friends; this hints that [[spoiler:the the whole series was nothing like what was going on in the real world]].world. A DeletedScene from ''[=EoE=]'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwBs3VsNfdY shows]] [[spoiler:a a world without Shinji, appearing perfectly normal, in which Asuka is in a relationship with Toji and, more importantly, friends with Rei, like in ''Death'']], ''Death'', and, according to a brief piece of dialogue in ep. 26':



-->'''Rei:''' [[spoiler:You cannot find happiness anywhere but your dreams, can you.]]
-->'''Shinji:''' [[spoiler:So, this is not reality, this world where there is no-one.]]
-->'''Rei:''' [[spoiler:That’s right, it’s a dream.]]
-->'''Shinji:''' [[spoiler:So, I’m not ''here''.]]
-->'''Rei:''' [[spoiler:You took revenge against reality in your convenient fabrications.]]
-->'''Shinji:''' [[spoiler:Is that wrong?]]
-->'''Rei:''' [[spoiler:You ran off to your imaginations and fooled reality.]]
-->'''Shinji:''' [[spoiler:Can’t I dream I’m alone in the world?]]
-->'''Rei:''' [[spoiler:That’s not a dream, that’s just compensating for reality.]]
* It seems weird that Shinji is so freaked out by being asked to pilot Eva-01. Then you find out that when he was 4 (too young to remember but old enough to form impressions) he [[spoiler: watched that thing kill/'absorb' his mother.]] He's afraid the same thing will happen to him.

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-->'''Rei:''' [[spoiler:You You cannot find happiness anywhere but your dreams, can you.]]
you.
-->'''Shinji:''' [[spoiler:So, So, this is not reality, this world where there is no-one.]]
no-one.
-->'''Rei:''' [[spoiler:That’s That’s right, it’s a dream.]]
dream.
-->'''Shinji:''' [[spoiler:So, So, I’m not ''here''.]]
''here''.
-->'''Rei:''' [[spoiler:You You took revenge against reality in your convenient fabrications.]]
fabrications.
-->'''Shinji:''' [[spoiler:Is Is that wrong?]]
wrong?
-->'''Rei:''' [[spoiler:You You ran off to your imaginations and fooled reality.]]
reality.
-->'''Shinji:''' [[spoiler:Can’t Can’t I dream I’m alone in the world?]]
world?
-->'''Rei:''' [[spoiler:That’s That’s not a dream, that’s just compensating for reality.]]
reality.
* It seems weird that Shinji is so freaked out by being asked to pilot Eva-01. Then you find out that when he was 4 (too young to remember but old enough to form impressions) he [[spoiler: watched that thing kill/'absorb' his mother.]] mother. He's afraid the same thing will happen to him.



* Remember that cute dog that was on an off-screen TV giving one-bark answers to mathematical problems that equal [[{{Stealth Pun}} "wan"]]? Well, let's hope that dog and all other beings with a degree of sentience are [[spoiler:affected by the global anti-AT field in the same way humans are, else they'll likely either be trapped with no way of feeding themselves, die from the destruction, or die slowly from long-term starvation!]]

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* Remember that cute dog that was on an off-screen TV giving one-bark answers to mathematical problems that equal [[{{Stealth Pun}} "wan"]]? Well, let's hope that dog and all other beings with a degree of sentience are [[spoiler:affected affected by the global anti-AT field in the same way humans are, else they'll likely either be trapped with no way of feeding themselves, die from the destruction, or die slowly from long-term starvation!]]starvation!
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Dewicking Not So Different as it is now a disambig.


*** This becomes FridgeBrilliance as a prime example of [[spoiler: the hedgehog's dilemma discussed in the beginning of the series; humans and Angels really are NotSoDifferent.]]

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*** This becomes FridgeBrilliance as a prime example of [[spoiler: the hedgehog's dilemma discussed in the beginning of the series; humans and Angels really are NotSoDifferent.not so different.]]
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* The battle between Eva 02 and the Mass Produced Evas might be a nod to the classic [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam anime that kick-started]] [[RealRobot a whole new genre of robots]] on two levels. One is the coloring of the respective mechs. Red and White are associated with Char and Amuro respectively. Although the sides are wrong, Asuka's personality and desires of being the Ace qualify her for the spot of being the closest thing to Char. The second level is that it's a reverse of what'd usually happen in a show like ''Gundam''. Instead of [[ConservationOfNinjutsu one lone mecha taking out hordes and hordes of enemy mechs]] like in Gundam, it instead shows [[RealityEnsues the reality of taking on a squadron of]] [[MechaMooks literal mindless metallic foot soldiers]].

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* The battle between Eva 02 and the Mass Produced Evas might be a nod to the classic [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam anime that kick-started]] [[RealRobot a whole new genre of robots]] on two levels. One is the coloring of the respective mechs. Red and White are associated with Char and Amuro respectively. Although the sides are wrong, Asuka's personality and desires of being the Ace qualify her for the spot of being the closest thing to Char. The second level is that it's a reverse of what'd usually happen in a show like ''Gundam''. Instead of [[ConservationOfNinjutsu one lone mecha taking out hordes and hordes of enemy mechs]] like in Gundam, it instead shows [[RealityEnsues [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome the reality of taking on a squadron of]] [[MechaMooks literal mindless metallic foot soldiers]].

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* This may or may not have been intended by the writers but; regarding the failed unit 00 test that resulted in Rei's injuries from the first episode, more specifically the seemingly out of character reaction Gendo has, that amount of concern and near panic are so unlike anything you ever see from him any other time. At first you could think it's because he needs Rei to enact his version of Instrumentality, till you remember how easy it seems to be to replace her with a new clone when she does die. Then it hit me, Yui "died" during a test of unit 01, and more specifically while inside an entry plug, and Rei was more or less a clone of her. It was this near replication of the most tragic event of his life that broke Gendo out of normal stoicism and drove him to desperately try and rescue Rei.

to:

* This may or may not have been intended by the writers but; regarding the failed unit 00 Unit-00 test that resulted in Rei's injuries from the first episode, more specifically the seemingly out of character reaction Gendo has, that amount of concern and near panic are so unlike anything you ever see from him any other time. At first you could think it's because he needs Rei to enact his version of Instrumentality, till you remember how easy it seems to be to replace her with a new clone when she does die. Then it hit me, Yui "died" during a test of unit 01, Unit-01, and more specifically while inside an entry plug, and Rei was more or less a clone of her. It was this near replication of the most tragic event of his life that broke Gendo out of normal stoicism and drove him to desperately try and rescue Rei.



* The ending theme song ''Fly Me to the Moon'' may not seem to have any relevance to the plot at first glance, but if you analyze the lyrics closely, it does contain some subtle foreshadowing that doesn't become apparent until the very end. Of particular note are the following lines: ''Fly me to the moon/And let me play among the stars'' and ''Fill my heart with song/And let me sing forevermore''. [[spoiler: These lines more or less allude to the ultimate fate of Unit 01 in ''The End of Evangelion'': It floats away from Earth, past the moon, and into outer space; where it will forever drift among the stars as an eternal testament to humanity's existence (in accordance with Yui Ikari's personal goal for the Evangelion project)]].

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* The ending theme song ''Fly Me to the Moon'' may not seem to have any relevance to the plot at first glance, but if you analyze the lyrics closely, it does contain some subtle foreshadowing that doesn't become apparent until the very end. Of particular note are the following lines: ''Fly me to the moon/And let me play among the stars'' and ''Fill my heart with song/And let me sing forevermore''. [[spoiler: These lines more or less allude to the ultimate fate of Unit 01 Unit-01 in ''The End of Evangelion'': It floats away from Earth, past the moon, and into outer space; where it will forever drift among the stars as an eternal testament to humanity's existence (in accordance with Yui Ikari's personal goal for the Evangelion project)]].



* In the final episode of the TV series, Shinji gets a glimpse of a world where he is not an Eva pilot. While that was just meant to illustrate that he can define himself however he wants, a world in which Shinji is not an Eva pilot technically becomes reality in ''The End of Evangelion'': By the end of the film, Unit 01 has drifted off into space and the rest of the Evas have either been destroyed or rendered inert. In other words- Shinji now exists in a world where he is not an Eva pilot by virtue of there being no more Evas to pilot.

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* In the final episode of the TV series, Shinji gets a glimpse of a world where he is not an Eva pilot. While that was just meant to illustrate that he can define himself however he wants, a world in which Shinji is not an Eva pilot technically becomes reality in ''The End of Evangelion'': By the end of the film, Unit 01 Unit-01 has drifted off into space and the rest of the Evas have either been destroyed or rendered inert. In other words- Shinji now exists in a world where he is not an Eva pilot by virtue of there being no more Evas to pilot.



* Just how many people died when Unit-00 self-destructed to save Shinji? Were they all protected by the shelters or did they all get killed by the blast? The only mention we have of anyone other than the NERV crew surviving is Misato talking to Pen Pen about sending him to live with Hikari, so for all we know Toji, Kensuke and all the rest could be dead.
** I watched Eva recently, and they mention Toji and Kensuke moving after their homes (including Hikari's) being destroyed. So they're alive. I may have heard wrong, but they're mentioned on episode 24. I hope that helps some.
* While we're on the topic of civilian casualties, it's pretty understandable how Shinji is shocked when Unit 02's head crashes into his shelter: Asuka may have died. But watch the scene again closely. [[http://projectenthalpy.com/theygotdead.png You notice that a bunch of people get killed by the impact]], [[NightmareFuel including a baby who was giggling only a few seconds before.]] ''Now'' it’s understandable why Shinji is so reluctant to pilot, and his shock may also be from the realization that ''he could have saved these people if he hadn't quit.''

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* Just how many people died when Unit-00 self-destructed to save Shinji? Were they all protected by the shelters or did they all get killed by the blast? The only mention we have of anyone other than the NERV crew surviving is Misato talking to Pen Pen about sending him to live with Hikari, so for all we know Toji, Kensuke and all the rest could be dead.
** I watched Eva recently, and they mention Toji and Kensuke moving after their homes (including Hikari's) being destroyed. So they're alive. I may have heard wrong, but they're mentioned on episode 24. I hope that helps some.
blast?
* While we're on the topic of civilian casualties, it's pretty understandable how Shinji is shocked when Unit 02's Unit-02's head crashes into his shelter: Asuka may have died. But watch the scene again closely. [[http://projectenthalpy.com/theygotdead.png You notice that a bunch of people get killed by the impact]], [[NightmareFuel including a baby who was giggling only a few seconds before.]] ''Now'' it’s understandable why Shinji is so reluctant to pilot, and his shock may also be from the realization that ''he could have saved these people if he hadn't quit.''



** When you understand that [=EVAs=] are sentient beings with a soul which are trapped and imprisoned inside 'restraints' for use as weapons, ok. Disturbing, but you can live with it...and then you realize that all the pilots are synchronizing with the [=EVAs=]. As in they are matching neuronal responses to achieve the best reaction, and are, as a consequence, melding their minds into the [=EVAs=]. So you have the kids melding their minds with the [=EVAs=] to a point where they have so fully intertwined their mental states, ego and identity into the Eva that they can't separate one from the other. An example? Shinji constantly screaming at Gendo "You used my hands to kill him!" when the dummy plug in Unit 01 destroyed Unit 03. Also, remember how Shinji lost it when he saw Asuka mutilated in EOE?

to:

** When you understand that [=EVAs=] are sentient beings with a soul which are trapped and imprisoned inside 'restraints' for use as weapons, ok. Disturbing, but you can live with it...and then you realize that all the pilots are synchronizing with the [=EVAs=]. As in they are matching neuronal responses to achieve the best reaction, and are, as a consequence, melding their minds into the [=EVAs=]. So you have the kids melding their minds with the [=EVAs=] to a point where they have so fully intertwined their mental states, ego and identity into the Eva that they can't separate one from the other. An example? Shinji constantly screaming at Gendo "You used my hands to kill him!" when the dummy plug in Unit 01 Unit-01 destroyed Unit 03.Unit-03. Also, remember how Shinji lost it when he saw Asuka mutilated in EOE?



* Just how many people died when Unit-00 self-destructed to save Shinji? Were they all protected by the shelters or did they all get killed by the blast? The only mention we have of anyone other than the NERV crew surviving is Misato talking to Pen Pen about sending him to live with Hikari, so for all we know Toji, Kensuke and all the rest could be dead. This is somewhat supported in Rebuild 2.0 when Eva-02's head comes flying into the bunker where Shinji is. There was a bunker right there in the combat zone. It was empty, but a) there's more, and b) how about the collateral from the N2 mine? Or the eva fight? Or the incipient Third Impact?



* In ''The End of Evangelion'' Asuka fights the Mass-Produced [=EVAs=] and disables all of them in a truly spectacular battle. Then it turns out they're NotQuiteDead, they reactivate and then proceed to devour Unit-02 with Asuka in it. Right, so the MP [=EVAs=] enjoy playing with their opponent (since they played dead, although those injuries would not stop them attacking) and once their opponent is down, they ''completely annihilate and eviscerate it.'' Keep in mind that the Dummy Plugs of the MP [=EVAs=] are modeled of the brainwaves of Kaworu Nagisa, the nicest character in the show. So that means that somewhere in that guy's mind is the capability for cannibalism and to be absolutely cruel and sadistic. I am a Kaworu fan and I found that intensely disturbing.

to:

* In ''The End of Evangelion'' Asuka fights the Mass-Produced [=EVAs=] and disables all of them in a truly spectacular battle. Then it turns out they're NotQuiteDead, they reactivate and then proceed to devour Unit-02 with Asuka in it. Right, so the MP [=EVAs=] enjoy playing with their opponent (since they played dead, although those injuries would not stop them attacking) and once their opponent is down, they ''completely annihilate and eviscerate it.'' Keep in mind that the Dummy Plugs of the MP [=EVAs=] are modeled of the brainwaves of Kaworu Nagisa, the nicest character in the show. So that means that somewhere in that guy's mind is the capability for cannibalism and to be absolutely cruel and sadistic. I am a Kaworu fan and I found that intensely disturbing.



* We see Unit-01 reject Rei, and we later find out that [[spoiler: Yui is inside EVA-01, and Rei is in fact a clone of Yui, but she looks somewhat different and has a different personality. When Unit 1/Yui rejects Rei, it's because she's being confronted with an imperfect copy of herself, and is understandably disturbed and upset, so she refuses to let Rei pilot.]]
** This sort of rejection of a duplicate could also explain why Rei can have trouble with Unit-00, especially how it went berserk during an early trial. If we go with the popular theory that [[spoiler: the soul inside Unit 0 is the original Rei that was killed by Naoko Akagi. The Rei we see in at the start of the series is a clone of this original, and Rei's trouble piloting might stem from the original reacting to seeing a copy of herself.]]

to:

* We see Unit-01 reject Rei, and we later find out that [[spoiler: Yui is inside EVA-01, and Rei is in fact a clone of Yui, but she looks somewhat different and has a different personality. When Unit 1/Yui Unit-01/Yui rejects Rei, it's because she's being confronted with an imperfect copy of herself, and is understandably disturbed and upset, so she refuses to let Rei pilot.]]
** This sort of rejection of a duplicate could also explain why Rei can have trouble with Unit-00, especially how it went berserk during an early trial. If we go with the popular theory that [[spoiler: the soul inside Unit 0 Unit-00 is the original Rei that was killed by Naoko Akagi. The Rei we see in at the start of the series is a clone of this original, and Rei's trouble piloting might stem from the original reacting to seeing a copy of herself.]]



** Ramiel was stated to have one of the most powerful A.T. Fields of any Angel. Also, the primary reason the rifle was used was that Ramiel automatically targeted any hostile party within a certain radius with a highly accurate and destructive energy beam, making close combat virtually impossible. If every angel had such a strong A.T. Field, I doubt Unit-01 would've been able to tear through Sachiel's with its bare hands in Episode 1.

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** Ramiel was stated to have one of the most powerful A.T. Fields of any Angel. Also, the primary reason the rifle was used was that Ramiel automatically targeted any hostile party within a certain radius with a highly accurate and destructive energy beam, making close combat virtually impossible. If every angel had such a strong A.T. Field, I doubt it is doubtful that Unit-01 would've been able to tear through Sachiel's with its bare hands in Episode 1.



** Also, wasn't it mentioned in-episode that Ramiel had to lower its AT-field in order to attack? Besides, it wasn't a rail gun. A rail gun uses a powerful electromagnetic field (by way of two rails, hence the name) to fire a metal projectile at speeds up to Mach 7. Shinji's gun fired [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]]. Not a rail gun.



** Additionally, since the Positron Cannon was a Rail Gun, which accelerates an electrostatic projectile with an ELECTRIC CURRENT, the Cannon would've just [[StuffBlowingUp exploded as soon as you turned it on]]. At this point, though, we will refer you to the [[MST3KMantra premise that governs this world of ours]].
*** It's not a rail gun. Nobody ever says it's a rail gun. It's an anti-matter cannon, basically. It shoots a beam of positrons. It does not accelerate a projectile.
** A single, sufficiently powerful, well aimed shot COULD have killed Ramiel. The problem is that all the equipment, from the prototype positron cannon to the power lines plus power equipment are very very vulnerable, ESPECIALLY since they were built overnight. In this case, I assume you WANT an AT field between your jury rigged equipment and an Angel firing insanely powerful particle beams.
** Ignoring all that, it wasn't the only Angel killed by mundane weapons (remember Gaghiel got exploded by a couple of battleships in its mouth), and one was killed without any Eva involvement (Ireul). It isn't that Evas are necessary to kill Angels, its just that they are the only things that could do it reliably. The AT field can take a lot of punishment, but they aren't invincible.
** They used the Evangelion to fire a giant gun because they didn't have time in the ten or so hours to build an entirely new system capable of moving the thing around. Additionally they needed the Evas and their AT-fields present to defend the thing if they missed. Which they did. If they had just mounted it to the ground and fired without the Evas there, the cannon would have been destroyed by the Angel's retaliatory shot.
* At first, I was wondering why Kaworu was able to so perfectly sync up with Unit 02 following [[spoiler: Asuka running away following her MindRape in episode 22]]. Then I remembered that [[spoiler: he was the final angel]] and since the Evas [[spoiler: are made up of part of the angels, particularly of Adam]], it became clear to me why he was able to match up to it perfectly.

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* A lot of people assume that the name of Central Dogma, [[spoiler:where Lilith and the Lance of Longinus are kept]] is a reference to the idea of dogma, or the text of a religion. But after studying molecular biology, I learned that Central Dogma is the name for the theory that genetic information is copied from DNA by RNA. When you consider [[spoiler:that the [=EVAs=] are copies of either Adam or Lilith, piloted by the genetic descendants of Lilith]], this makes a great deal of sense. Or, to put it in biologist terms, [[spoiler:Lilith and Adam are the original DNA. The [=EVAs=] are the RNA, or copies, of the original DNA. Depending on how you want to look at it, either NERV or the pilots are the mRNA (NERV arrange for the [=EVAs=] to be made, but the pilots tell the [=EVAs=] what to do)]]. I guess not all of NGE's symbolism is religious!
* The Evangelion units are wearing restraints that obviously restrict movement right? Then they must be extremely tight and constricting. Its no wonder then, that when an Evangelion gets wounded, HighPressureBlood comes spurting out. The tight restraints are increasing blood pressure!

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* A lot of people assume that the name of Central Dogma, [[spoiler:where Lilith and the Lance of Longinus are kept]] is a reference to the idea of dogma, or the text of a religion. But after studying molecular biology, I learned It turns out that Central Dogma is the name for the theory that genetic information is copied from DNA by RNA. When you consider [[spoiler:that the [=EVAs=] are copies of either Adam or Lilith, piloted by the genetic descendants of Lilith]], this makes a great deal of sense. Or, to put it in biologist terms, [[spoiler:Lilith and Adam are the original DNA. The [=EVAs=] are the RNA, or copies, of the original DNA. Depending on how you want to look at it, either NERV or the pilots are the mRNA (NERV arrange for the [=EVAs=] to be made, but the pilots tell the [=EVAs=] what to do)]]. I guess not all of NGE's symbolism is religious!
* The Evangelion units are wearing restraints that obviously restrict movement right? Then they must be extremely tight and constricting. Its no wonder then, that when an Evangelion gets wounded, HighPressureBlood comes spurting out. The tight restraints are increasing blood pressure!



** Though the original line was actually very different, and that they had the voice actor change the line because they had trouble with its execution.



* I swear to you, this managed to escape me until the third runthrough of the series: All AT Fields (barring Iruel's), are octagonal. They also happen to be used to halt an attack against them. Now...what ''else'' do we know of that is octagonal and calls for an approaching object to arrest its movement?...[[DontExplainTheJoke Or "stop", if you will?]]

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* I swear to you, this managed to escape me until the third runthrough of the series: All AT Fields (barring Iruel's), are octagonal. They also happen to be used to halt an attack against them. Now...what ''else'' do we know of that is octagonal and calls for an approaching object to arrest its movement?...[[DontExplainTheJoke Or "stop", if you will?]]



** This idea's kinda subverted by the fact that [=EVAs=] are shown going out of control even AFTER their batteries are out. The battery limit is basically to make people feel safe. If the pilot's will is strong enough, they are no longer bound by it. [[spoiler:Now take a look at Shinji's fight with Zeruel in [[Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion Evangelion 2.0]].]]

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** This idea's kinda idea is subverted by the fact that [=EVAs=] are shown going out of control even AFTER their batteries are out. The battery limit is basically to make people feel safe. If the pilot's will is strong enough, they are no longer bound by it. [[spoiler:Now take a look at Shinji's fight with Zeruel in [[Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion Evangelion 2.0]].]]



** Another thing to keep in mind is that, in Judeo-Christian mythology, after Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden God sent down an angel to guard the entrance to the garden and to kill anyone who tried to enter. That angel was named Shamshel and took the form of a flaming sword. Of course, this means that Shamshel is a weapon and you all have dirty minds... Sickos. //end:sarcasam

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** Another thing to keep in mind is that, in Judeo-Christian mythology, after Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden God sent down an angel to guard the entrance to the garden and to kill anyone who tried to enter. That angel was named Shamshel and took the form of a flaming sword. Of course, this means that Shamshel is a weapon and you all have dirty minds... Sickos. //end:sarcasam//end:sarcasm



* After reading the trope description for ScaryShinyGlasses for the umpteenth time, I suddenly realized a small piece of brilliance thanks to these statements: ''"Traditionally, one's eyes are an indicator of the soul... If you can't even see their eyes because of the Scary Shiny Glasses, beware — for these are individuals who deliberately wall themselves off from the people around them."'' Now on one obvious level, we know that describes Gendo. However, it becomes more brilliant when you take a look at the color of Gendo's glasses. The amber/orange tint to his eye-wear matches perfectly to the tinted light of an A.T. Field! In effect: both share the same color, both are used to hide or separate one's "soul" from the world, and, as stated on Gendo's entry in that page: ''In the manga version, the readers - and implicitly Shinji - began to see Gendo's eyes behind his glasses more often as we learned more about him.'' Interestingly enough, he only begins to wear his tinted glasses after his old ones break while rescuing Rei. In other words, the only time he's shown to let his emotional guard down (as mentioned above), is when Rei is in danger (his glasses break). Afterwards, he becomes even ''more'' closed off from the world. These are all perfect analogies to Gendo's personal A.T. Field. Therefore, it can't be coincidence that the mindscrew-filled scene involving Gendo's "death" in EOE show Gendo as the only one not being "tanged" (it's ambiguous whether he died or joined Instrumentality - use your own judgement there) and also gives one last focus to Gendo's glasses. In a way, this can be even used as a metaphor for additional ScaryShinyGlasses wearers in other series: They all close themselves off from other people emotionally by hiding their eyes - the windows to their souls. This is also often what many people do in RealLife: wearing sunglasses if they are shy, introverted, or NotGoodWithPeople to avoid having people make eye-contact. Keep in mind that Gendo's shades have been around since the first episode, as was the color of the A.T. Field. It only makes perfect sense upon understanding the whole "light of the soul" thing that Kaworu tells us, as well as knowing the ins-and-outs of the ScaryShinyGlasses trope, which is very popular in Japanese works. Anno, who developed ''Eva'' as a critique of social isolation, and as a deconstruction of anime tropes, undoubtedly knew all this...the clever bastard.

to:

* After reading Take a look at the trope description for ScaryShinyGlasses for the umpteenth time, I suddenly realized a small piece of brilliance thanks to these statements: ScaryShinyGlasses: ''"Traditionally, one's eyes are an indicator of the soul... If you can't even see their eyes because of the Scary Shiny Glasses, beware — for these are individuals who deliberately wall themselves off from the people around them."'' Now on one obvious level, we know that describes Gendo. However, it becomes more brilliant when you take a look at the color of Gendo's glasses. The amber/orange tint to his eye-wear matches perfectly to the tinted light of an A.T. Field! In effect: both share the same color, both are used to hide or separate one's "soul" from the world, and, as stated on Gendo's entry in that page: ''In the manga version, the readers - and implicitly Shinji - began to see Gendo's eyes behind his glasses more often as we learned more about him.'' Interestingly enough, he only begins to wear his tinted glasses after his old ones break while rescuing Rei. In other words, the only time he's shown to let his emotional guard down (as mentioned above), is when Rei is in danger (his glasses break). Afterwards, he becomes even ''more'' closed off from the world. These are all perfect analogies to Gendo's personal A.T. Field. Therefore, it can't be coincidence that the mindscrew-filled scene involving Gendo's "death" in EOE show Gendo as the only one not being "tanged" (it's ambiguous whether he died or joined Instrumentality - use your own judgement there) and also gives one last focus to Gendo's glasses. In a way, this can be even used as a metaphor for additional ScaryShinyGlasses wearers in other series: They all close themselves off from other people emotionally by hiding their eyes - the windows to their souls. This is also often what many people do in RealLife: wearing sunglasses if they are shy, introverted, or NotGoodWithPeople to avoid having people make eye-contact. Keep in mind that Gendo's shades have been around since the first episode, as was the color of the A.T. Field. It only makes perfect sense upon understanding the whole "light of the soul" thing that Kaworu tells us, as well as knowing the ins-and-outs of the ScaryShinyGlasses trope, which is very popular in Japanese works. Anno, who developed ''Eva'' as a critique of social isolation, and as a deconstruction of anime tropes, undoubtedly knew all this... the clever bastard.



* And of course, the one everyone knows already. The last line in EOE (Asuka saying "I feel sick"): does it mean "I'm sickened by you, Shinji" or does it mean "I am pregnant"?
** It has been suggested by Asuka's voice actress, yes. However, I think things would precisely not have turned that bad if [[YouNeedToGetLaid Shinji and Asuka had sex]] time ago.
** Actually, Yuuko Miyamura, Asuka’s original VA, said that Anno asked her what her reaction would be if [[spoiler:a man broke into her house at night, saw her lying defenseless, and just masturbated and left instead of raping her]]. She said she would find it strange, but feel disgusted. In other words, [[spoiler:Asuka was very much aware of what Shinji had done at the beginning of the film]].

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* And of course, the one everyone knows already. The last line in EOE (Asuka saying "I feel sick"): does it mean "I'm sickened by you, Shinji" or does it mean "I am pregnant"?
** It has been suggested by Asuka's voice actress, yes. However, I think things would precisely not have turned that bad if [[YouNeedToGetLaid Shinji and Asuka had sex]] time ago.
** Actually, Yuuko Miyamura, Asuka’s original VA, said that Anno asked her what her reaction would be if [[spoiler:a man broke into her house at night, saw her lying defenseless, and just masturbated and left instead of raping her]]. She said she would find it strange, but feel disgusted. In other words, [[spoiler:Asuka was very much aware of what Shinji had done at the beginning of the film]].
pregnant"?



* Before the final scene of ''End of Evangelion'' (and the series' episodes 25-26 that run concurrently with it), Shinji has sorted out all of his mental anguish. When he sees Asuka on the beach, he does the one thing he's been meaning to do to her for a long while. Since it's explicitly stated everyone went through their own Instrumentality inner dialogue, Asuka went through one too…and finally does the one thing ''she's'' been meaning to do to ''him'' for a long while.

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* Before the final scene of ''End of Evangelion'' (and the series' episodes 25-26 that run concurrently with it), Shinji has sorted out all of his mental anguish. When he sees Asuka on the beach, he does the one thing he's been meaning to do to her for a long while. Since it's explicitly stated everyone went through their own Instrumentality inner dialogue, Asuka went through one too…and too… and finally does the one thing ''she's'' been meaning to do to ''him'' for a long while.



* All the MindScrew in the series, as well as any FridgeLogic (most notably [[spoiler:Kaworu still appearing in the ending, despite being a dead ''angel'']]) is explained very neatly if you consider that the whole thing is [[spoiler:[[AllJustADream Shinji’s dream]]]]: in ''Evangelion: Death'', [[spoiler:Shinji, Rei, Asuka, and Kaworu are all playing music together at school. Rei and Asuka chat among themselves, hinting they’re good friends]]; this hints that [[spoiler:the whole series was nothing like what was going on in the real world]]. A DeletedScene from ''[=EoE=]'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwBs3VsNfdY shows]] [[spoiler:a world without Shinji, appearing perfectly normal, in which Asuka is in a relationship with Touji and, more importantly, friends with Rei, like in ''Death'']], and, according to a brief piece of dialogue in ep. 26':

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* All the MindScrew in the series, as well as any FridgeLogic (most notably [[spoiler:Kaworu still appearing in the ending, despite being a dead ''angel'']]) is explained very neatly if you consider that the whole thing is [[spoiler:[[AllJustADream Shinji’s dream]]]]: in ''Evangelion: Death'', [[spoiler:Shinji, Rei, Asuka, and Kaworu are all playing music together at school. Rei and Asuka chat among themselves, hinting they’re good friends]]; this hints that [[spoiler:the whole series was nothing like what was going on in the real world]]. A DeletedScene from ''[=EoE=]'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwBs3VsNfdY shows]] [[spoiler:a world without Shinji, appearing perfectly normal, in which Asuka is in a relationship with Touji Toji and, more importantly, friends with Rei, like in ''Death'']], and, according to a brief piece of dialogue in ep. 26':



** As someone who grew up listening to the Frank Sinatra version of the song (which was never used on the show, presumably because of the royalties being too expensive for an already strained budget), this troper also noticed the lyrics "You are all I long for/All I worship and adore/In other words, please be true/In other words, I love you." This could also allude to Yui's maternal love for Shinji, or vice versa.
*** Or that line could be referring to Kaworu's love for Shinji. After all, in the trailer, guess whose face appeared when "In other words, I love you" comes to play.



** Speaking of Cruel Angel's Thesis, if you freezeframe through the latter half of the opening, you will clearly see an image of Kaworu. Yes, you can see this even in the first episode. The guy was in the anime since the beginning.



* It dawned upon me just how pivotal Shinji’s relationship with Misato really is.\\

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* It dawned upon me just how pivotal Shinji’s relationship with Misato really is.is pivotal.\\



* Shinji’s problems stem first and foremost from having to put his own well-being aside for the sake of others, put up for the task by his father. His problems are representative of a major issue in Japanese society, where it is extremely rude to burden others with your complaints and problems: you’re basically supposed to not make a fuss. Shinji epitomises this, piloting the Eva despite the huge toll it takes on his emotional well-being because everyone needs him to, but he’s not the only one knuckling under the ‘no fuss must’, everyone is. And what better way to symbolise this but using the image of Jesus on the cross, who made the ultimate sacrifice for absolutely '''''everyone'''''? Yeah, the cross imagery might not have been FauxSymbolism after all.

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* Shinji’s problems stem first and foremost from having to put his own well-being aside for the sake of others, put up for the task by his father. His problems are representative of a major issue in Japanese society, where it is extremely rude to burden others with your complaints and problems: you’re basically supposed to not make a fuss. Shinji epitomises this, piloting the Eva despite the huge toll it takes on his emotional well-being because everyone needs him to, but he’s not the only one knuckling under the ‘no fuss must’, everyone is. And what better way to symbolise this but using the image of Jesus on the cross, who made the ultimate sacrifice for absolutely '''''everyone'''''? Yeah, the The cross imagery might not have been FauxSymbolism after all.



** In [[Recap/NeonGenesisEvangelionEpisode21TheBirthOfNerv ep. 21]], Gendou appears with a child version of his wife. This is disturbingly reminiscent of Isaac’s and his wife Rebecca’s marriage, when, according to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashi Rashi]], [[https://books.google.co.il/books?id=ozDS55z_ciIC&pg=PA130&dq=Isaac+Rebecca+three+Rashi&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false the former was 40 and the latter was THREE]].[[note]]Note that Jewish commentators have been thoroughly {{Squick}}ed by the notion, to say the least, and have tried to find ways to explain why it was not exactly so, and ''really'' tone down the {{Squick}} factor.[[/note]]

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** In [[Recap/NeonGenesisEvangelionEpisode21TheBirthOfNerv ep. 21]], Gendou Gendo appears with a child version of his wife. This is disturbingly reminiscent of Isaac’s and his wife Rebecca’s marriage, when, according to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashi Rashi]], [[https://books.google.co.il/books?id=ozDS55z_ciIC&pg=PA130&dq=Isaac+Rebecca+three+Rashi&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false the former was 40 and the latter was THREE]].[[note]]Note that Jewish commentators have been thoroughly {{Squick}}ed by the notion, to say the least, and have tried to find ways to explain why it was not exactly so, and ''really'' tone down the {{Squick}} factor.[[/note]]



** ''The End of Evangelion'' was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_Evangelion released on July 19th, 1997]], on [[https://www.hebcal.com/converter/?gd=19&gm=7&gy=1997&g2h=1 the week of]] ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balak_(parsha) Parashàt Balák]]'', in which a man’s donkey disobeys his orders and [[TalkingAnimal chastises him]]. And... ‘[[spoiler:[[Recap/NeonGenesisEvangelionEpisode26INeedYou I’m not your puppet.]]]]’ Gendou, standing before an angel in the final stages of mankind’s redemption, tries to [[spoiler:keep Instrumentality to himself]], but at last, [[spoiler:Rei rejects Gendou when she hears Shinji scream in terror]]; continuing from the Isaac & Rebecca analogy above, [[spoiler:Gendou, who stands for Isaac, who stands for ''Gvura'', decides to keep the Devine Grace to himself, but is foiled when Rei unleashes her MamaBear instincts to defend her son]].
** At the end of the film, [[spoiler:Lilith, who is also the progenitor of all of humanity (including Gendou), tries to bring Instrumentality to everyone as a way to end their sorrow of misunderstanding one another]], but [[spoiler:Shinji rejects it]]. Continuing the Shinji-Jacob-''Tif'eret'' and [[spoiler:Gendou-Isaac-''Gvura'']] interpretation, [[spoiler:Lilith is Abraham-''Khesed'', and Shinji, representing the balance between the other two, reins them both in]]. This fits in perfectly with the message given in the original ending (or at least one of the main ones): ultimately you need to find a balance between extreme ''Khesed'' (i.e. altruism to the point of being an ExtremeDoormat) and extreme ''Gvura'' (i.e. reserving one’s altruism to the point of LackOfEmpathy and ItsAllAboutMe).

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** ''The End of Evangelion'' was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_Evangelion released on July 19th, 1997]], on [[https://www.hebcal.com/converter/?gd=19&gm=7&gy=1997&g2h=1 the week of]] ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balak_(parsha) Parashàt Balák]]'', in which a man’s donkey disobeys his orders and [[TalkingAnimal chastises him]]. And... ‘[[spoiler:[[Recap/NeonGenesisEvangelionEpisode26INeedYou I’m not your puppet.]]]]’ Gendou, Gendo, standing before an angel in the final stages of mankind’s redemption, tries to [[spoiler:keep Instrumentality to himself]], but at last, [[spoiler:Rei rejects Gendou Gendo when she hears Shinji scream in terror]]; continuing from the Isaac & Rebecca analogy above, [[spoiler:Gendou, [[spoiler:Gendo, who stands for Isaac, who stands for ''Gvura'', decides to keep the Devine Grace to himself, but is foiled when Rei unleashes her MamaBear instincts to defend her son]].
** At the end of the film, [[spoiler:Lilith, who is also the progenitor of all of humanity (including Gendou), Gendo), tries to bring Instrumentality to everyone as a way to end their sorrow of misunderstanding one another]], but [[spoiler:Shinji rejects it]]. Continuing the Shinji-Jacob-''Tif'eret'' and [[spoiler:Gendou-Isaac-''Gvura'']] [[spoiler:Gendo-Isaac-''Gvura'']] interpretation, [[spoiler:Lilith is Abraham-''Khesed'', and Shinji, representing the balance between the other two, reins them both in]]. This fits in perfectly with the message given in the original ending (or at least one of the main ones): ultimately you need to find a balance between extreme ''Khesed'' (i.e. altruism to the point of being an ExtremeDoormat) and extreme ''Gvura'' (i.e. reserving one’s altruism to the point of LackOfEmpathy and ItsAllAboutMe).



* [=EVAs=] are [[spoiler: in some part, powered by souls.]] Now, did we ever hear about [[spoiler: Touji's sister]] after the Unit-03 incident...?

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* [=EVAs=] are [[spoiler: in some part, powered by souls.]] Now, did we ever hear about [[spoiler: Touji's Toji's sister]] after the Unit-03 incident...?



** After she went insane, [[spoiler:Asuka]]'s mother ended up completely not acknowledging the original as the person and instead doing it for a [[spoiler:doll]]. This mother committed suicide and hung the replacement right along with her. In her mind, she was killing her kid and herself.

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** After she went insane, [[spoiler:Asuka]]'s mother ended up completely not acknowledging the original her daughter as the person and a person, instead doing it for replacing her with a [[spoiler:doll]]. This mother committed suicide and hung the replacement right along with her. In her mind, she was killing her kid and herself.



* Just how many people died when Unit-00 self-destructed to save Shinji? Were they all protected by the shelters or did they all get killed by the blast? The only mention we have of anyone other than the NERV crew surviving is Misato talking to Pen Pen about sending him to live with Hikari, so for all we know Touji, Kensuke and all the rest could be dead.

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* Just how many people died when Unit-00 self-destructed to save Shinji? Were they all protected by the shelters or did they all get killed by the blast? The only mention we have of anyone other than the NERV crew surviving is Misato talking to Pen Pen about sending him to live with Hikari, so for all we know Touji, Toji, Kensuke and all the rest could be dead.



** When you understand that [=EVAs=] are sentient beings with a soul which are trapped and imprisoned inside 'restraints' for use as weapons, ok. Disturbing, but you can live with it...and then you realize that all the pilots are synchronizing with the [=EVAs=]. As in they are matching neuronal responses to achieve the best reaction, and are, as a consequence, melding their minds into the [=EVAs=]. So you have the kids melding their minds with the [=EVAs=] to a point where they have so fully intertwined their mental states, ego and identity into the Eva that they can't separate one from the other. An example? Shinji constantly screaming at Gendo "You used my hands to kill him!" when the dummy plug in Unit 01 destroyed Unit 03. Also, remember when Shinji lost it when he saw Asuka mutilated at the EOE? Yeah it's not a nice way to view the world...

to:

** When you understand that [=EVAs=] are sentient beings with a soul which are trapped and imprisoned inside 'restraints' for use as weapons, ok. Disturbing, but you can live with it...and then you realize that all the pilots are synchronizing with the [=EVAs=]. As in they are matching neuronal responses to achieve the best reaction, and are, as a consequence, melding their minds into the [=EVAs=]. So you have the kids melding their minds with the [=EVAs=] to a point where they have so fully intertwined their mental states, ego and identity into the Eva that they can't separate one from the other. An example? Shinji constantly screaming at Gendo "You used my hands to kill him!" when the dummy plug in Unit 01 destroyed Unit 03. Also, remember when how Shinji lost it when he saw Asuka mutilated at the in EOE? Yeah it's not a nice way to view the world...



* The AT Field is "the light of [the] soul, a sacred territory in which no one may intrude". So every time an Eva penetrates an Angel's AT Field, it's effectively violating the Angel's soul. In fact, ''everyone'' has an AT Field. By merely touching someone else, you are penetrating his or her AT Field.
** Incorrect. It's stated that for humans, the AT Field is just powerful enough to allow them to hold physical form. A touch isn't violating someone else's AT Field. It actually serves more as an EMOTIONAL barrier for humans. Harsh words and hate are more of a violation than physical contact in that context. Still...does that mean that Asuka's cruelty to Shinji was equal to [[MindRape Mind Rape]]?

to:

* The AT Field is "the light of [the] soul, a sacred territory in which no one may intrude". So every time an Eva penetrates an Angel's AT Field, it's effectively violating the Angel's soul. In fact, ''everyone'' has an AT Field. By merely touching someone else, you are penetrating his or her AT Field.
** Incorrect.
It's stated that for humans, the AT Field is just powerful enough to allow them to hold physical form. A touch isn't violating someone else's AT Field. It actually The field serves more as an EMOTIONAL barrier for humans. Harsh words and hate are more of a violation than physical contact in that context. Still...does that mean that Asuka's cruelty to Shinji was equal to [[MindRape Mind Rape]]?



* Just how many people died when Unit-00 self-destructed to save Shinji? Were they all protected by the shelters or did they all get killed by the blast? The only mention we have of anyone other than the NERV crew surviving is Misato talking to Pen Pen about sending him to live with Hikari, so for all we know Touji, Kensuke and all the rest could be dead. This is somewhat supported in Rebuild 2.0 when Eva-02's head comes flying into the bunker where Shinji is. There was a bunker right there in the combat zone. It was empty, but a) there's more, and b) how about the collateral from the N2 mine? Or the eva fight? Or the incipient Third Impact?

to:

* Just how many people died when Unit-00 self-destructed to save Shinji? Were they all protected by the shelters or did they all get killed by the blast? The only mention we have of anyone other than the NERV crew surviving is Misato talking to Pen Pen about sending him to live with Hikari, so for all we know Touji, Toji, Kensuke and all the rest could be dead. This is somewhat supported in Rebuild 2.0 when Eva-02's head comes flying into the bunker where Shinji is. There was a bunker right there in the combat zone. It was empty, but a) there's more, and b) how about the collateral from the N2 mine? Or the eva fight? Or the incipient Third Impact?



* Ever wondered why Rei never really develops emotionally after the initial signs of promise early on in the series? When she dies, we can presume the replacement Rei does not have those experiences, and is the earlier, emotionally null version. Shinji's small amount of success in getting through to her on a human level all comes to naught.

to:

* Ever wondered why Rei never really develops emotionally after the initial signs of promise early on in the series? When she Rei II dies, we can presume the replacement Rei III does not have those experiences, and is the earlier, emotionally null version. Shinji's small amount of success in getting through to her on a human level all comes to naught.



** It gets somewhat better when you remember [[spoiler:the Dummy Plug based on Rei’s brainwaves, and it still attacked Touji while Rei refused to]], which could mean that [[spoiler:the real Kaworu would ''never'' do anything like that]].
** The Dummy plugs mimic their brain waves, but not their souls. They could be described as animal instinct unmoderated by higher morality.

to:

** It gets somewhat better when you remember [[spoiler:the Dummy Plug based on Rei’s brainwaves, and it still attacked Touji Toji while Rei refused to]], which could mean that [[spoiler:the real Kaworu would ''never'' do anything like that]].
** The Dummy dummy plugs mimic their brain waves, but not their souls. They could be described as animal instinct unmoderated by higher morality.



*** This is taken directly from the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_impact_hypothesis Giant Impact Hypothesis]] that proposes that the Moon was created when Earth collided with a Mars-sized rogue planet. So the Giant Impact became 'First Impact' after the cataclysm that came to be called 'Second Impact'.



* We see Unit 1 reject Rei, and we later find out that [[spoiler: Yui is inside EVA-01, and Rei is in fact a clone of Yui, but she looks somewhat different and has a different personality. When Unit 1/Yui rejects Rei, it's because she's being confronted with an imperfect copy of herself, and is understandably disturbed and upset, so she refuses to let Rei pilot.]]
** This sort of rejection of a duplicate could also explain why Rei can have trouble with Unit 0, especially how it went berserk during an early trial. If we go with the popular theory that [[spoiler: the soul inside Unit 0 is the original Rei that was killed by Naoko Akagi. The Rei we see in at the start of the series is a clone of this original, and Rei's trouble piloting might stem from the original reacting to seeing a copy of herself.]]

to:

* We see Unit 1 Unit-01 reject Rei, and we later find out that [[spoiler: Yui is inside EVA-01, and Rei is in fact a clone of Yui, but she looks somewhat different and has a different personality. When Unit 1/Yui rejects Rei, it's because she's being confronted with an imperfect copy of herself, and is understandably disturbed and upset, so she refuses to let Rei pilot.]]
** This sort of rejection of a duplicate could also explain why Rei can have trouble with Unit 0, Unit-00, especially how it went berserk during an early trial. If we go with the popular theory that [[spoiler: the soul inside Unit 0 is the original Rei that was killed by Naoko Akagi. The Rei we see in at the start of the series is a clone of this original, and Rei's trouble piloting might stem from the original reacting to seeing a copy of herself.]]



** This troper would just like to point out that Ramiel was stated to have one of the most powerful A.T. Fields of any Angel. Also, the primary reason the rifle was used was that Ramiel automatically targeted any hostile party within a certain radius with a highly accurate and destructive energy beam, making close combat virtually impossible. If every angel had such a strong A.T. Field, I doubt Unit-01 would've been able to tear through Sachiel's with its bare hands in Episode 1.

to:

** This troper would just like to point out that Ramiel was stated to have one of the most powerful A.T. Fields of any Angel. Also, the primary reason the rifle was used was that Ramiel automatically targeted any hostile party within a certain radius with a highly accurate and destructive energy beam, making close combat virtually impossible. If every angel had such a strong A.T. Field, I doubt Unit-01 would've been able to tear through Sachiel's with its bare hands in Episode 1.



** My interpretation: a single, sufficiently powerful, well aimed shot COULD have killed Ramiel. The problem is that all the equipment, from the prototype positron cannon to the power lines plus power equipment are very very vulnerable, ESPECIALLY since they were built overnight. In this case, I assume you WANT an AT field between your jury rigged equipment and an Angel firing insanely powerful particle beams.

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** My interpretation: a A single, sufficiently powerful, well aimed shot COULD have killed Ramiel. The problem is that all the equipment, from the prototype positron cannon to the power lines plus power equipment are very very vulnerable, ESPECIALLY since they were built overnight. In this case, I assume you WANT an AT field between your jury rigged equipment and an Angel firing insanely powerful particle beams.



** They used the Evangelion to fire giant gun because they didn't have time in the ten or so hours to build an entirely new system capable of moving the thing around. Additionally they needed the Evas and their AT-fields present to defend the thing if they missed. Which they did. If they had just mounted it to the ground and fired without the Evas there, the cannon would have been destroyed by the Angel's retaliatory shot.

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** They used the Evangelion to fire a giant gun because they didn't have time in the ten or so hours to build an entirely new system capable of moving the thing around. Additionally they needed the Evas and their AT-fields present to defend the thing if they missed. Which they did. If they had just mounted it to the ground and fired without the Evas there, the cannon would have been destroyed by the Angel's retaliatory shot.
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** It seems to be more based on if the person being [[spoiler:Tang-ed had anyone they themselves loved. While it's sort of unclear whether this love ''had'' to be romantic or sexual, there's still two possible unfortunate explanations for what happened to Aoba: a) He had the capacity to be attracted to others, but ultimately found no one who interested him, which is depressing for the reasons the original troper mentions. b) Aoba was asexual, meaning that all asexual people, globally, each underwent the assault of a horde of floating, naked Rei's before they exploded into goo.]]
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** The Dummy plugs mimic their brain waves, but not their souls. They could be described as animal instinct unmoderated by higher morality.

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