"Gendo’s appropriation of various Christian elements is also interestingly Christ-less, even though there is crucifixion imagery etc."
Could Shinji be the Christ character? Both in the sense that he's Gendo's son, but also it seems like a key part of the human instrumentality process requires Eva-01 to be sacrificed while he is inside it.
This is based a little on my understanding of the links between Ultraman and Evangelion. A lot of the same Christian imagery occurs in that story, but its a lot clearer (at least based on what I've read and what I saw in the Anno-based Shin Ultraman movie) that Ultraman is a messianic figure. He's an alien from like, a pure race, and he comes to Earth and incarnates as a human to battle the sins of mankind personified as giant kaiju monsters.
The two main interesting differences between Ultraman and Evangelion are A) the monsters in Eva don't seem to be responding to the evil intentions of mankind. Whether they are specifically trying to thwart Gendo or they just generally don't like Mankind, either way it doesn't really seem humanity at large's fault that they are around wreaking havoc. This is a pretty big change from almost every other kaiju series where the monsters almost always symbolize some kind of a way humanity is destroying itself, whether through nuclear weapons or environmental destruction.
The other of course is that instead of having this perfect alien being that trades places with a normal person, instead you have this poor child piloting a Frankenstein monster and having to deal with the psychological fallout. That's where the influence of Ultraman ends and the influence of Yoshiuki Tomino begins I guess.
Part of why I'm a little resistant to Shinji-as-Christ-figure (even though he does get crucified in EoE) is that Shinji is mostly ignorant up until the very end, which to me makes his position more ambiguous—he can't be a willing sacrifice for the world etc. Even if Shinji occupies the position of the sacrificed son in Gendo's plans, he doesn't know this. (Actually, how much does Shinji ever really figure out in EoE lol… I feel like Events Are Happening but he doesn't get a lot of time to put them together. eta: the TV show is different in that he does figure something out though whatever that is is not "the plot")
Rei is also (sort of) a child of Gendo that is designed to be sacrificed but she doesn't have enough agency to work as a Christ figure to me… if you add them together you sort of get one Christ figure I guess. Though there's also a lot about the mechanics of what Rei does and what happens to her in EoE that I don't remember very clearly, so when we get to that all of this will be worth revisiting. I wonder if EoE will end up needing to be split into multiple posts.
However, one thing you and Rob are making me think is I should really watch some Ultraman (or at least Anno's Ultraman movie).
Hmm. I wonder what Ultraman's relatioship with Buddhism is. That might be a direction that could clarify things further along the ways you've outlined here.
Your question last week “is Misato the protagonist of the adults?” got me thinking about the parallel trios: Shinji, Asuka, and Rei and Misato, Kaji, and Ritsuko, two women and one man. Misato and Asuka are both beautiful, magnetic and loud; Shinji and Kaji are both reserved and hard to read (with very different results.
What you pointed out here about how Ritsuko always looks the part and is cool under pressure—might we say she’s a bit of a Little Miss Perfect?
"Gendo’s appropriation of various Christian elements is also interestingly Christ-less, even though there is crucifixion imagery etc."
Could Shinji be the Christ character? Both in the sense that he's Gendo's son, but also it seems like a key part of the human instrumentality process requires Eva-01 to be sacrificed while he is inside it.
This is based a little on my understanding of the links between Ultraman and Evangelion. A lot of the same Christian imagery occurs in that story, but its a lot clearer (at least based on what I've read and what I saw in the Anno-based Shin Ultraman movie) that Ultraman is a messianic figure. He's an alien from like, a pure race, and he comes to Earth and incarnates as a human to battle the sins of mankind personified as giant kaiju monsters.
The two main interesting differences between Ultraman and Evangelion are A) the monsters in Eva don't seem to be responding to the evil intentions of mankind. Whether they are specifically trying to thwart Gendo or they just generally don't like Mankind, either way it doesn't really seem humanity at large's fault that they are around wreaking havoc. This is a pretty big change from almost every other kaiju series where the monsters almost always symbolize some kind of a way humanity is destroying itself, whether through nuclear weapons or environmental destruction.
The other of course is that instead of having this perfect alien being that trades places with a normal person, instead you have this poor child piloting a Frankenstein monster and having to deal with the psychological fallout. That's where the influence of Ultraman ends and the influence of Yoshiuki Tomino begins I guess.
Part of why I'm a little resistant to Shinji-as-Christ-figure (even though he does get crucified in EoE) is that Shinji is mostly ignorant up until the very end, which to me makes his position more ambiguous—he can't be a willing sacrifice for the world etc. Even if Shinji occupies the position of the sacrificed son in Gendo's plans, he doesn't know this. (Actually, how much does Shinji ever really figure out in EoE lol… I feel like Events Are Happening but he doesn't get a lot of time to put them together. eta: the TV show is different in that he does figure something out though whatever that is is not "the plot")
Rei is also (sort of) a child of Gendo that is designed to be sacrificed but she doesn't have enough agency to work as a Christ figure to me… if you add them together you sort of get one Christ figure I guess. Though there's also a lot about the mechanics of what Rei does and what happens to her in EoE that I don't remember very clearly, so when we get to that all of this will be worth revisiting. I wonder if EoE will end up needing to be split into multiple posts.
However, one thing you and Rob are making me think is I should really watch some Ultraman (or at least Anno's Ultraman movie).
Dr. Akagi… in many ways The Realest.
Hanging out at NERV drinking coffee with the crew would be sick (aside from the angels showing up)
I also really want to see the cafeteria situation there.
Hmm. I wonder what Ultraman's relatioship with Buddhism is. That might be a direction that could clarify things further along the ways you've outlined here.
yeah I don't really know Ultraman at all
Your question last week “is Misato the protagonist of the adults?” got me thinking about the parallel trios: Shinji, Asuka, and Rei and Misato, Kaji, and Ritsuko, two women and one man. Misato and Asuka are both beautiful, magnetic and loud; Shinji and Kaji are both reserved and hard to read (with very different results.
What you pointed out here about how Ritsuko always looks the part and is cool under pressure—might we say she’s a bit of a Little Miss Perfect?
haha… Ritsuko and Rei also are emotionally entangled with Gendo in ways that bring them only grief.
It’s canon that Ritsuko dyes her hair! In the Birth of NERV episode we see her as a child and she has dark brown hair
"i must have remembered it but thought it was my own bright idea"—socrates
omg! i hadn't reached that in my rewatch yet.… i must have remembered it but thought it was my own bright idea lol