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DrizzlingEnthalpy



Joined: 13 Oct 2005
Posts: 255
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 1:01 am Reply with quote
Here are a couple of questions about Eva that have been popping up in my mind lately.


1) I have heard that there are subtle insinuations that Gendo is involved sexually with Rei. However, I have never been able to find any evidence of anything other than that Rei was closer to Gendo than most others, and that she, until EoE, obeyed him without question.

2) Why was Asuka in a coma at the beginning of EoE? She was very mentally unstable up to that point, but she didn't appear comatose. Can severe stress/trauma trigger coma?

3) The titles of some of the episodes of Eva were clearly lifted from similar titles ("The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still" from "The Day the Earth Stood Still", "The Beast that Shouted 'I' at the Heart of the World" from "The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World"); were these intentional nods to these titles that people were supposed to catch or "stolen" because they looked dramatic?
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Chiroptera Rex
Space Cowboy



Joined: 08 Mar 2005
Posts: 262
Location: The Batcave, Gotham City, Wisconsin.
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 3:06 am Reply with quote
Gendo was close to Rei, and Rei to Gendo, because spoiler[Rei was created partly from the DNA of Yui Ikari, Gendo's wife.] As for any sexual insinuations, I haven't seen any.

I think that you could see in episode 24 that Asuka had completely lost it. That much severe stress could quite possibly lead to a coma. I think that in ep 24 she was also shown on video in a hospital room.

The titles you mentioned are allusions to past movies. It's a lot like Cowboy Bebop with their tremendous amount of references, including episode titles, to music.
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DrizzlingEnthalpy



Joined: 13 Oct 2005
Posts: 255
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 9:43 am Reply with quote
Thanks for your reply. However, I don't know if it makes any difference, but "The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World" was the name of a book of a collection of short stories and one of the stories therein, but was never made into a movie.
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miu



Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 63
Location: Denver, CO
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 11:12 am Reply with quote
I thought 'The Beast that shouted I at the heart of the world" was a tribute to 'The Beast that shouted love at the heart of the world' and a bit of word play since the "I" is "ai" in katana.

Been a while since I read the story, but if I remember correctly it had a "difficult" structure like Eva. I don't think I ever did fully understand that series...
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Chiroptera Rex
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Joined: 08 Mar 2005
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Location: The Batcave, Gotham City, Wisconsin.
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 4:01 pm Reply with quote
That's true. The Japanese script used to spell out 'I' in the episide title is the katakana アイ or 'ai'. Ai is also the Chinese (ON) reading of tha kanji 愛 for 'love'. Katakana is used primarily to write out non-Chinese foreign words, but I think that 'Ai' can be seen as both 'I' to signify Shinji and 'Love' to show a reference to the book.
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GospelX



Joined: 22 Jan 2005
Posts: 185
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:01 pm Reply with quote
DrizzlingEnthalpy wrote:
Thanks for your reply. However, I don't know if it makes any difference, but "The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World" was the name of a book of a collection of short stories and one of the stories therein, but was never made into a movie.

It's the name of a short story by Harlan Ellison, and the title was co-opted to run as the name of an anthology. I haven't read the story in years, but ultimately its plot has little or nothing to do with the plot of Evangelion. The title was just good, and the double-meaning employed by the katakana works very well within the context of Evangelion.
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Kazuki-san



Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 2251
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:27 pm Reply with quote
DrizzlingEnthalpy wrote:


1) I have heard that there are subtle insinuations that Gendo is involved sexually with Rei


Chiroptera got it.
DrizzlingEnthalpy wrote:
2) Why was Asuka in a coma at the beginning of EoE? She was very mentally unstable up to that point, but she didn't appear comatose.

spoiler[By that point, she had come to the realization that she was no longer the pilot of unit 2. This was basically what she considered her singular purpose for existing, so this resulted in her having a severe mental break. Part of it also has to do with her unconscious realization that the Eva was inhabited with the soul of her mother, hence she was no longer able to be with her mother. ]
DrizzlingEnthalpy wrote:
Can severe stress/trauma trigger coma?
It can trigger just about anything the mind can have a hand in.


DrizzlingEnthalpy wrote:
were these intentional nods to these titles that people were supposed to catch or "stolen" because they looked dramatic?


It's done quite often actually, and I don't believe should be interpreted as anything special. I once had a list that compared the episode titles of Bebop to songs of the same name they were taken from.

Last edited by Kazuki-san on Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:22 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Chiroptera Rex
Space Cowboy



Joined: 08 Mar 2005
Posts: 262
Location: The Batcave, Gotham City, Wisconsin.
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:04 pm Reply with quote
[quote="Kazuki-san"]
DrizzlingEnthalpy wrote:
I was [sic] had a list that compared the episode titles of Bebop to songs of the same name they were taken from.


The trivia section in the ANN encyclopedia for Bebop does mention a few references.
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Kazuki-san



Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 2251
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:25 pm Reply with quote
Chiroptera Rex wrote:

The trivia section in the ANN encyclopedia for Bebop does mention a few references.


I found the link (see below). It's under influences. I'm having a problem linking to it with BBCode though.

http://rfblues.aaanime.net/Omake/
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Chiroptera Rex
Space Cowboy



Joined: 08 Mar 2005
Posts: 262
Location: The Batcave, Gotham City, Wisconsin.
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:43 pm Reply with quote
What the? The Real Folk Blues website is still alive!?! I hadn't realized that since I saw their other web address close down over two years ago. Thanks, Kazuki-san!
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