EoE Sandbox Scene, Asuka Scenes?

[sadsadshinji]

I have been looking at the sandbox scene in EoE (starting at 9:02 of the second part), and I was wondering if anyone has deciphered the overall symbolism of the layout of the area. I feel like the hills represent breasts, and for some reason, the playground seems like a face to me. Of course, the swing and seats could be interpreted as a phallic reference, but I kind of doubt that. The setting sun between the hills, I do not understand either.
Then, there is the fact that Shinji says "Its just like when I started playing Cello. I thought if I came here, I would find what I was looking for". Considering he builds a NERV pyramid, is this hinting at how he sought EVA to define himself and it has just been a disappointment?
The doll-girls are also something I find interesting- one of them seems to be modeled after Asuka, but the other seems to be based from Misato, which is strange, as the "mother" seems to be Misato as well. There is also the gulf between Shinji (and his sandbox) and the girls and their mother. Does this represent the fact that Shinji does not have his mother anymore?

There are also two scenes based in scenes from the series involving Asuka. The first represents a spin on Asuka and Shinji's kissing scene, while the second is a great expansion of the scene where Shinji tells Asuka that Kaji is dead. In both, I assumed that it is actually Shinji controlling everything (rather, it is the Asuka in Shinji's mind who appears, not the real Asuka). Why would Shinji want such confrontation?

[ZapX]

Wait...you're joking, right?

If not, try that search thingy.

[AuraTwilight]

I'm not sure I'd take the SCENERY to be sexual imagery. Trust me, the sex symbolism in Evangelion is WAY more apparent than that. The dolls are probably just facsimile children, with a facsimile mother. Their childhood is "unreal" because of the shitty one Shinji possesses.

[Enki v.2]

Meh. The scenery is such thinly veiled sexual imagery that it's the first thing noticeable. The hills are breasts (the floodlights become nipples at times), the setting sun is the head, the other set of hills are legs. As for what it means, I won't bother debating. It's just one of Anno's freudian fanwank triggers. It's probably either something very simple that we're all overthinking, or it's something that Anno never decided on an official meaning for and just stuck it in to get otaku's pantsu in a twist.

[ZapX]

http://www.evageeks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3761&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

First thread in search. This shit's been discussed to death. Sayin'.

[Shin-seiki]

There are also two scenes based in scenes from the series involving Asuka. The first represents a spin on Asuka and Shinji's kissing scene, while the second is a great expansion of the scene where Shinji tells Asuka that Kaji is dead. In both, I assumed that it is actually Shinji controlling everything (rather, it is the Asuka in Shinji's mind who appears, not the real Asuka). Why would Shinji want such confrontation?

Go back and watch those scenes (from the end of the sandbox scene to where Shinji strangles Asuka, but keeping the idea in mind that everyone involved (i.e. Misato, Asuka, Rei, and even Ritsuko) are just as much "there" and actively participating as Shinji is; that is to say, it's sort of like a mind-trip that they're all having together. If you look at it that way, the sequence tends to make a whole lot more sense (than say, for example, trying to explain how Shinji would be seeing very vivid, precise memories of Misato with Kaji that he had no prior knowledge of...)

[sadsadshinji]

So what you mean to say is that Asuka's actions are her own, rather than a mind construct of Shinji's? I suppose that would make sense (especially considering how Asuka just saw Shinji's memories of the hospital room). I also noticed that the position of the strangulation roughly parallels EVA 01 on dummy plug strangling Bardiel/EVA 03

[Zuggy]

--

[sadsadshinji]

7:44 rain on concrete “rain, just like my mood, I don’t like that” Shinji
7:52 sunsets “sinking sun, fading life, my hope, I don’t like that” Rei
7:58 sunrise “morning, the beginning of a bad day, I don’t like that” Asuka
8:05 sun in blue sky “something warm, unusual, horrible, useless” Shinji
8:15 street surface, “I hate everyone” Asuka
From 26 (EoTV)
I was looking at the sun and swing as an image of Shinji's mental state and the manifestation of his destructive tendencies (in darkness, without lively motion from the swing). Its a complete stretch, but the path traveled by the swing in motion would be like a smile. Yea, a stretch.
Currently what I have of the sandbox-swing scene is this:
9:02 image of lighting camera, swing
9:12 Shinji playing in sandbox, sunset between two hills, possible image? “I used to come here thinking I would find what I was looking for”
9:23 girls ask Shinji to build a sand castle
9:39 girls revealed to look like dolls, Shinji smiling, one has purple hair (or black?) and the other has orange hair
9:43 their mother arrives (looks like Misato), sitting on fold-out chair, four other chairs sitting around, empty, can see foundation of entire stage
9:53 Shinji in foreground in darkness, gulf between him and girls and their mom, them in light
9:55 Shinji looking across gulf, turns back
10:20 Shinji building castle, sun setting between two hills, swing swinging along
10:36 street lights turn on
10:40 Shinji standing by completed castle, pyramid (like nerv headquarters)
10:47 Shinji stomps on castle
10:49 swing stops moving, blocks out sun
11:10 destroyed castle (somewhat like nerv pyramid after Shinji exits)
11:16 Shinji staring at castle, two hills in background, lights by each hill illuminating the scene
11:19 Shinji begins rebuilding while crying

As a side note, the sandbox appears (in very different form) in Episode 26
4:15 sandbox “don’t desert me”—same scene at 6:50 of episode 18

[Sailor Star Dust]

In terms of the "Mother", keep in mind it's actually Misato:




Just mentioning that because it goes along with the fact the sandbox scene is the start of Pre-Instrumentality in EoE: the characters that are dead or near death (Near death in Shinji's case, his response being at 0 once we're back in the real world @ NERV HQ) at this point are interacting each other's minds and all that.

Anyway, if you're confused about this scene, read that ANF discussion Zap linked to. Ornette was really on the ball with his thoughts, I think.

[sadsadshinji]

Well, I still have some questions regarding the swing, the significance of Shinji's statement at the beginning of the scene (its just like when i started cello. I thought if I came here, I could find something).
I kind of viewed the entire pyramid thing in a similar way to Ornette. If you look carefully, when Shinji is saying the above line, you can see him and the two doll-girls in the sand box. Again, I think there might be some imagery with the placement of the sand box, but this could all be speculation.
When Shinji first gets there, the swing is moving back and forth at a relatively slow rate. Once the doll girls talk to her (I presume one of them is Asuka, the other, I dont know if I can identify), the swing begins moving faster (Shinji is happier?). When they leave with Misato, however, the swing slows down again. At the same time, there is an unbridgeable gulf between him and the other side of the stage (btw, are the other seats supposed to represent the other characters who are involved at this point, namely, ritsuko, Asuka, etc?). The swing finally comes to a stop when Shinji destroys the pyramid, representing the lowest point in his emotional state/ego.
In addition, I feel that the pyramid represents how Shinji's life has become defined by Eva. His destruction of the pyramid and subsequent efforts to rebuild the pyramid reflect how Shinji tried to run away from EVA (in episode 19?) and failed, forced to return to save humanity. On another level, I suppose the pyramid destruction could also be foreshadowing of Shinji's actions in Instrumentality; he firsts decides that everyone should die, and then chooses to exist as a separate human again.

Something that doesnt seem to have been discussed very much is the loudspeaker and light that appear in the background of the sandbox. I feel like there should be some significance attached to the presence of these two objects, but I cant quite place it. Perhaps the loudspeaker represents the orders of his father? The light could just be there to emphasize how Shinji is never picked up by anyone.

Who is the black-haired doll-girl anyways? I initially thought it was Misato, and that way, the sandbox kind of represented Shinji's home in Tokyo-3, with him, Misato and Asuka. That would, however, contradict directly with Misato being the mother, right?

BTW, does anyone know what song is playing in the background? It sounds like some kind of kid's song

[EvaCub]

BTW, does anyone know what song is playing in the background? It sounds like some kind of kid's song

A children's folk song called "Go Tell Aunt Rhody" also know as "Close hands, Open hands"

[sadsadshinji]

Thanks!~
Do you happen to know if they are singing in Japanese or English? I cant seem to tell...

[Sailor Star Dust]

It's in Japanese, you can find information about it here:

http://evageeks.org/FGP/Episode_26%27#Notes

[sadsadshinji]

Gah...
I realize that I'm being rather stupid with asking about a song like that....

[FallenTabris]

There are also two scenes based in scenes from the series involving Asuka. The first represents a spin on Asuka and Shinji's kissing scene, while the second is a great expansion of the scene where Shinji tells Asuka that Kaji is dead. In both, I assumed that it is actually Shinji controlling everything (rather, it is the Asuka in Shinji's mind who appears, not the real Asuka). Why would Shinji want such confrontation?

Go back and watch those scenes (from the end of the sandbox scene to where Shinji strangles Asuka, but keeping the idea in mind that everyone involved (i.e. Misato, Asuka, Rei, and even Ritsuko) are just as much "there" and actively participating as Shinji is; that is to say, it's sort of like a mind-trip that they're all having together. If you look at it that way, the sequence tends to make a whole lot more sense (than say, for example, trying to explain how Shinji would be seeing very vivid, precise memories of Misato with Kaji that he had no prior knowledge of...)

Remember ep.25?

"I'm the Misato that exists in your mind, Shinji."
"but then, I'm the Shinji that exists in yours."
something like that.

part of instrumentality is the merging of every individual with the images every other person bears of them, in their own minds. I think that was the whole point of that dialogue in 25.. to emphasize that instrumentality is the filling out of gaps, and the merging of every individual with the image of them that exists in the mind of every person they know.

but instrumentality doesn't really begin until Shinji strangles her, does it?

so I wonder if that scene is only Shinji's personal decision without Asuka really there, based on how he feels at the time.

[sadsadshinji]

Thats kind of what I was getting at. The scenes in the entire sequence before Shinji strangles Asuka seem to push Shinji towards accepting instrumentality; essentially, these scenes all show him how having AT fields sucks. At the same time though, I dont know if the two scenes with Asuka are so much her as they are him criticizing himself. If it is Asuka, clearly the whole mind-meld thing has gone off already, as she knows about his jerking off episode. I feel like the green tone utilized in that scene (opposed to the orange tones Shinji uses when he brings up memories of Asuka), suggest that it is indeed Asuka who is there, but I still cant make much sense out of the whole thing.

Concerning the sandbox scene, could the scaffolding gap represent the divide of the AT field?

[FallenTabris]

I think it might just represent death, or the isolation he felt towards the end of the series. if he saw Misato as a mother figure, the scene might indicate that he felt on some level her abandoning him (dying) paralleled his mom disappearing.

[Evangelion217]

Great post! I still don't completely understand that scene. But I think Yui decided to put Shinji backed into her womb during instrumentality, and take a good look at him. She hasn't really seen him in over 11 years, and I think she wanted to spend some quality time with him. The swing represents her joy, and love for her son. She's kinda playing with him. But when Shinji starts destroying the sand castle, she starts to see how tortured he is. Which is why the swings stops swinging. It starts to represent Yui's guilt. I think she realized that she abadoned Shinji, just like Gendo abandoned him, and that she is probably the main reason to why Shinji became a tortured soul.

Of course, this is only my interpretation, after three viewings. And I think the OP's interpretation of this scene is far superior to mine.

P.S: I find it so weird that I'm posting about Yui Ikari, and she was only in the series/film for about.................30 minutes?? I guess that's the great thing about "Evangelion." Almost every part of it can be discussed, and interpreted in different ways.

[Squirrel Ninja]

I think the rythmic movement of the swing is meant to display the passage of time, Shinji is alone at first and time passes slowly, from 24 "It was calm and boring in those days I wasn't really doing anything." The dolls come, standing in for people, and the swing of time moves faster. When Shinji breaks the pyramid time stands still, he's removed himself from life at this point, it's where he begins to practice the celo.

In regards to the water, I think it represents the distance Shinji fells with other people, as Kaji says "The gulf that seperates men and women is deeper than any ocean.

The figures could be taken as Rei and Asuka for the dolls, and Misato for the mother, however I think the seen is more reflective of his childhood. Dolls, and the stage that they leave on are both common experimentalist metaphors. The dolls in that case don't have any sort of identity, rather this scene and there existence is to show how Shinji relates to other people.