Craziest 3.0 Thoughts You Had (Pre-Release)

[Gendo'sPapa]

We all know 3.0 was not what anyone expected before it's cinematic release in November 2012. My question is what was the most far-out idea that formed in your head pre-release that you thought 3.0 might have pursued?

For me, I'd say that for about two months or so I was really certain that in 3.0 Shinji & Rei would come out Unit 01 having fused together. That for the final movies we would literally have a whole character for an entire film called Rei Ikari OR Shinji Ayanami. ShinRei? I was positive that was what the first mindtrain sequence in 1.0 was intentionally hinting at.

Of course then Shinji showed up in the marketing and I put that silliness to rest. And was kinda relieved I could put it to rest too.

Anyone else have any fun and kooky pre-release thoughts?

[Reichu]

My question is what was the most far-out idea that formed in your head pre-release that you thought 3.0 might have pursued?

I'm not sure I would say I actually thought the movie would "go there"... but I did entertain the notion that Eva-08 would be literally born from Eva-01 and contain the soul of Shinji or something. You know, all that talk about it "quickening", plus the anchor on the head linking it to "Ikari".

[Mr. Tines]

Expecting something more along the lines of episode 20-21, with Shinji introspecting with Rei, and some interaction between Asuka and Kaworu, as well as Gendo's donkey trekking holiday and other bits of "what's really going on, this time around".

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

"The Adventures of Gendo and Fuyutsuki" was certainly something I was interested in beholding.

[pwhodges]

The run-up to 3.0 was before I joined this forum; and I still did not fully appreciate the importance of the descent arc. So I had pictured that it would be essentially EoE, but with the two strands of 25' and 26' running side by side. 4.0 was then going to follow with the affirmation of the future which was missing from the previous endings.

Way to miss the point! My excuse is that I found the show when I was long past the events in my life that Eva would have related to (indeed, I was way past them when it was written), so I didn't get the very personal connection that I have since seen described here.

[Ray]

That Shinji might actually get out of this with a happy ending and his character and sanity intact.

Glad to see that wasn't the case!

[Arcadia's legacy]

I'm rather confused as to why you'd think that Q would have such an ending to begin with. Q is more-or-less a the theatrical edition of NGE's decent arc and we all know how that turned out

[Sachi]

That Shinji might actually get out of this with a happy ending and his character and sanity intact.

Glad to see that wasn't the case!

And start the final film with zero stakes? Would be rather clumsy to resolve the main character's struggles before the final part even begins.

[Bagheera]

I'm rather confused as to why you'd think that Q would have such an ending to begin with. Q is more-or-less a the theatrical edition of NGE's decent arc and we all know how that turned out

Oh, you and your silly rationality! What are you thinking?

[BlueBasilisk]

I thought we might get an ensemble piece that fleshes out the other characters and their dramas while Shinji was sealed away, and that all the plotlines would converge when he returned. Sadly, the real thing was almost the opposite.

[zlink64]

That's a pretty cool idea. I would've been into that.

[Bagheera]

I thought we might get an ensemble piece that fleshes out the other characters and their dramas while Shinji was sealed away, and that all the plotlines would converge when he returned. Sadly, the real thing was almost the opposite.

That would have been the conventional approach, and it's one that could have been done very well. But, for better or worse, Anno has never been very good at doing conventional!

[robersora]

I thought we might get an ensemble piece that fleshes out the other characters and their dramas while Shinji was sealed away, and that all the plotlines would converge when he returned. Sadly, the real thing was almost the opposite.

Yeah, I also thought that the reemergence of Shinji and Rei would be the climax of 3.0, with lots of time for characterization of the other cast members leading up to their retrieval. I also had a weird dream of Unit 2 diving through the ruins of old Tokyo, fighting an Angel... I mean, in Q there /was/ a sequence of 02 under water, so that idea kind of became true

I still think, a 6-piece OVA, after the movies are done, each fleshing out the time skip stuff would be kinda neat...

[Arcadia's legacy]

I still think, a 6-piece OVA, after the movies are done, each fleshing out the time skip stuff would be kinda neat...

If not, fanfiction ahoy

[robersora]

If not, fanfiction ahoy

I'd rather see it in glorious technicolor, though.

[Arcadia's legacy]

Then go the way of The Bridge and have your spouse be the story's artist

[Ray]

I'm rather confused as to why you'd think that Q would have such an ending to begin with. Q is more-or-less a the theatrical edition of NGE's decent arc and we all know how that turned out

The difference is that during the descent arc in the original series, we more or less understood WHY things were starting to fall apart. In 3.33, we have no idea why things are falling apart, exactly why people hate Shinji, how the mechanics of the impacts work, why the world is the way it is etc.

[Arcadia's legacy]

That still doesn't end my confusion as to why you think things would be resolved for the characters after Q and, as Sachi already said, begin Final with zero stakes

[Ray]

There's a difference between 'raising the stakes' and 'why should I still care?". The 'Game Of Thrones' example is overused, but it bears repeating. No matter what the heroes of that story try to do, the bad guys are actively rewarded for their actions, and the heroes despite their benign intent, are either killed or made to suffer things far worse than death for their actions. The damage done to both the characters and the setting is pretty much irreversible, no amount of crying will make the situation better, not even trying to make the situation better amount to much more than cause more undue suffering, so why should the reader/viewer even f*cking bother empathizing if he or she is never going to get any emotional payoff?

In a similar case, no matter what Shinji chooses, the only end any and every choice he's made so far has beenn tragedy and misery for everyone around him, why should that change in Final? Misato rejected him for making her relive her worst nightmare, Asuka blames him for her deformity, it's heavily implied everyone else he ever loved and cared about it either dead or has outgrown/come to resent him during the 14 year time skip, his father is even worse than he was before, he's been made guilty of/framed for the unforgivable (Genocide and Gaiacide), he recklessly endangered the entire human race TWICE, fraternized with the enemy, and the only person he had left that didn't reject him or hate his guts for it died in an explosion of gore that he set off, and even he wasn't being completely honest or kind for the right reasons.

Empire Strikes Back raised the stakes with Han getting Carbonited, Luke getting his arm lopped off, Threepio getting torn apart, but I'd still call that movie hopeful. Because at the end of it Luke had Leia, Chewbacca, Lando and the Droids there to support him in his darkest hour. Reminding the audience that the fight will go on and things will get better by the finale.

Shinji on the other hand has noone. Noone that will do anything beyond compound the problem further by pointing fingers and assigning blame.



and honestly even if they don't what life does he honestly have to look forward to after what he did in 3.33? Nothing worth living, I can tell you that much. He was better off never having even bothered, at least then it would be someone else's fault or the world would be dead and he'd be out of his misery. It's similar to the way quite a few people feel about Rebuild right now and 3.33 in particular, if there's no hope for anything even slightly resembling a happy ending for Shinji, then why even bother caring for Shinji? Life after what Shinji suffered only has two words to describe it. LIVING. HELL. Yeah, an audience cares more for a character trying and failing more than succeeding. But if he or she NEVER succeeds, no matter what he or she tries to do, then why did the audience even bother caring for the character in the first place?

You can't fix what's broken beyond repair. Sometimes all you can do is finish breaking it.

TLDR?
I wasn't expecting there to be no stakes for Final. I WASN'T expecting 2.0 to be followed up by 'Grave Of The Fireflies" with giant robots. Anno was restarting from ground zero, here was a chance to give the character a happy ending to make a better series with an overall more positive message! But now there is no hope for a happy ending. At least not for Shinji.

Edit: that's all I have to say. I'm done talking about it.

[pwhodges]

It's similar to the way quite a few people feel about Rebuild right now and 3.33 in particular, if there's no hope for anything even slightly resembling a happy ending for Shinji, then why even bother caring for Shinji

We are reminded in the film itself that there is always hope.

As for what good could possibly follow - well, many of us can see the possibilities, and have tried to show them to you; it's your own blinkers that are limiting your imagination in this regard.