Mari Makinami's age...

[TraxXavier]

So.... many sources write that, according to the manga, Mari Makinami was 16 in 1998 so how could she remain so young?
That would only be possible if she had synchronized with an EVA around that time, but there were no EVAs around than.

Whats your thoughts on that?

Could it be that she somehow participated on the experiment that blew up the south pole, and she also survived that?

[jcmoorehead]

So.... many sources write that, according to the manga, Mari Makinami was 16 in 1998 so how could she remain so young?
That would only be possible if she had synchronized with an EVA around that time, but there were no EVAs around than.

Whats your thoughts on that?

Could it be that she somehow participated on the experiment that blew up the south pole, and she also survived that?

The manga continuiity isn't the same as the Rebuilds, so the Mari we see in the manga is completely different to the one we see in the movies. I kinda feel like the Mari seen in the manga was more something of a fun little reference for people.

[pwhodges]

Lots of mangas end each volume with a short sketch or story or some four-panel chibi strips which are not even really part of the continuity of the manga itself. I view the extra chapter as simply an isolated bonus and nothing more - it need not be canon, nor relate to anything else at all.

[BlueBasilisk]

The Mari in Rebuild probably isn't any older than 15 or 16 biologically and chronologically. If 1.0 is set in 2017, then Second Impact took place in 2002 rather than 1999. Manga Mari would be around 20 before any contact would be possible and 22 before Yui is lost to Unit 01. But she's much shorter than Misato and barely taller than the other kids. The manga doesn't mesh with the movies anyway thanks to the Ayanami/Ikari/Rokubungi thing.

[StrokeMeGoat]

If 1.0 is set in 2017, then Second Impact took place in 2002 rather than 1999.

Whoa, where is this coming from? Is it a hypothetical musing or something? I've never heard anything about Rebuild starting off in 2017, rather than 2015. Source for info, please.

[Sachi]

Whoa, where is this coming from? Is it a hypothetical musing or something? I've never heard anything about Rebuild starting off in 2017, rather than 2015. Source for info, please.

This theory is based off a brief glimpse of a calendar date in Rebuild, and matching it with the closest year with the corresponding date (Friday, September 9th, for example). Give me a few minutes and I'll try to find the original discussion about it.

EDIT: found it: thread/9213/Rebuild-of-Evangelion-timeline/

[ChaddyManPrime]

Unless the last name thing is a lie.

[Sachi]

Unless the last name thing is a lie.

What is the context of this response? What are you talking about?

[ChaddyManPrime]

Who told Shinji that that his mother's last name was I an army?

[BlueBasilisk]

There's a bit about it in the wiki too: http://wiki.evageeks.org/Neon_Genesis_E ... Evangelion

Other than Yui's gravestone (2004), there's no mention of a year anywhere in the movies. They even took the 2014 stamp off the chairs in the entry plugs.

Unless the last name thing is a lie.

What would be the point of lying about that? Shinji had already drawn the connection between Yui and Rei right from the moment he saw her and it was immediately followed up by the clone bombshell which is true. The last names being changed was probably a combination of streamlined storytelling and Seele being changed to a smaller group of non-humans.

[xfs]

Could it be that she somehow participated on the experiment that blew up the south pole, and she also survived that?

I find a similar theory in this fanfic thread/18510/New-FanFic-Neon-Genesis-Evangelion-Legacy/ which plausibly connects the Manga's continuity with Rebuild.

SPOILER: Show

Mari had a timeskip same as Shinji's when she was 16.

She went to England as a "special research student" and was "accidentally" absorbed into a core in an early contact experiment.

She was probably recovered from the core same as Shinji some time around the start of Rebuild and had gained the curse of Eva so she did not age during Shinji's timeskip.

[Sachi]

That's actually an interesting theory, and would make the Curse of Eva a less contrived plot device in Q. However, given what we've seen of Mari so far in Rebuild, the reveal that Mari has been around since the time when Yui was alive seems like it would be out of left field, even for Eva's standards.

[ChaddyManPrime]

In my humble opinion, they are using the plotline where the hero failed to save someone in the past so in order to redeem themselves they save a similar-looking person. To strengthen this desire they added more similarities between Rei and Yui. Gendo wanted Shinji to tear Rei out.

[Sachi]

In my humble opinion, they are using the plotline where the hero failed to save someone in the past so in order to redeem themselves they save a similar-looking person. To strengthen this desire they added more similarities between Rei and Yui. Gendo wanted Shinji to tear Rei out.

What does this have to do with Mari's age? Please try to keep the topic focused. If this somehow relates, you'll need to tie it in a bit more to the point of the discussion. If it isn't related, then I must ask you to please refrain from continuing off-topic tangents.

[ChaddyManPrime]

Oh it was about the reasoning behind why the manga and the rebuild could not relate. Blue mentioned it that's why I said unless it was a lie.

[xfs]

the reveal that Mari has been around since the time when Yui was alive seems like it would be out of left field

How so? Being a PhD student under Fuyutsuki at the age of 16 (as in the Manga), Mari would be highly intelligent but emotionally immature, which is the case as in how she identified herself as a teenager in Rebuild. Also the timeskip in a core means she is not exactly "around".

[Sachi]

How so? Being a PhD student under Fuyutsuki at the age of 16 (as in the Manga), Mari would be highly intelligent but emotionally immature, which is the case as in how she identified herself as a teenager in Rebuild. Also the timeskip in a core means she is not exactly "around".

I just feel that Mari hasn't gotten the proper development in Rebuild in order to lead up to this. What would having her be that age, and a student of Fuyutsuki's add to the films? And what I meant by "being around" is being among Fuyutuski and Yui before her personal timeskip. I'm sure there's ways to make this all work, but all I'm imagining is her somehow being in cahoots with Yui, which rubs me the wrong way.

[ChaddyManPrime]

Well technically all she got from Yui was an inspirational speech and some Clark Kenting gear.

[Reichu]

The manga doesn't mesh with the movies anyway thanks to the Ayanami/Ikari/Rokubungi thing.

Yarp. "Ikari-kun" (@ Yui) and "Gendo Rokubungi" are even mentioned in the dialogue of the bonus chapter. (The original Japanese dialogue, at that.)

The actual NTE continuity establishes that Mari's first time in an Eva was at the beginning of 2.0. Nothing conflicts with this. It's also been pointed out before that her too-tight Eva-05 plugsuit strongly hints that she is exactly as old as she looks. That is, the suit was fabricated while she was on standby at Bethany Base, prior to a growth spurt that saw her bust expand dramatically; and her new gear, alluded to in dialogue with Kaji, did not arrive on time for her first sortie. Furthermore, all that hubbub about Mari risking her humanity by engaging Eva-02's beast mode during the 10th Angel battle only has any real payoff if THAT is the moment the Curse of Eva starts to affect her.

[DarkBluePhoenix]

That's actually an interesting theory, and would make the Curse of Eva a less contrived plot device in Q. However, given what we've seen of Mari so far in Rebuild, the reveal that Mari has been around since the time when Yui was alive seems like it would be out of left field, even for Eva's standards.

Well the theory pertains to my fanfic only. How she actually exists just in the timeline of rebuild is a mystery that will probably never be solved due to the already abondent plotholes present in Rebuild.

SPOILER: Show

however, in my fanfic, xfs is right. Mari was sent from Kyoto University to the U.K. to work on Project Alcion. Alcion was a precursor name for Evangelion according to an interview with Sadamoto I believe.

In my continuity, Mari is responcible for the soul transfer theory, and is placed in contact with a fragment of Lilith's soul inside the mostly empty core and is dragged in by Lilith.

Subsequently she is tortured both physically and mentally by Lilith without any concept or passage of time for her. She is able to snea out an see the dreams of her two friends, Yui and Kyoko, and is finally released in 2015 by Lilith to fight against Adam and help turn the tide. She then comes out of the Core of the newly completed Unit-XP (what I call Unit-05P in my continuity).

That was my best solution, sans the "Curse of the EVA" I could think of to include her in the story and still have her be young. For more details, feel free to read my fic, or PM me.

But that is just my theroy in my re-write fanfi, as I said, in rebuild, maybe she's just some character that never made it to NERV HQ, or was killed in the S2 overload/Sea of Dirac incident.