[First part of post was moved here as part of split. - Monk]I forgot that I typed this up a while ago so I'll post it now
Some observations on the differences between these two encounters between Asuka and ReiIn terms of body language, Rei’s essentially standing the exact same way, where as 2.22 Asuka is posing defiantly after just killing the Angel. It’s a nice visual precursor to how she’ll interact competitively with Rei in the film while Rei remains indifferent. I include the faces at the bottom to show what I think is the main difference between the two interactions.
In the 3.33 Asuka speaks to her almost casually, asking if she’s from an early batch of Ayanami types. The way she says it, she’s expecting Rei to be aware of her status and lets out a sigh when she doesn’t respond. Its partially because not only does she have to drag around comatose Shinji, but will also have one more clueless person in tow.
But I also think Asuka, in contrast to the opening of 2.22, pities Rei in this instance. Her silence tells her a lot about what she doesn’t know. Rei is no longer someone to compete with for recognition, but some poor girl who’s getting cloned a lot and being kept in the dark.
I wonder too how I will read this scene differently if Asuka, similarly to Rei, ends up being a clone-able person. A recent post in another thread where Yuko said there was a secret reasoning behind the name change makes me wonder if this will actually come to be true. Granted I think we’ll be working with the one same Asuka the whole time (the missing eye, plus they went through a lot of trouble to keep her alive, but they also did that with Rei).
I think the Ayanami types line leaves the door open for their being other types (Shikinami, Makinami, ya feel me?) as well. If Asuka does end up being a clone like Rei, I could see it being interesting in two ways. One is that it will give her a new way to relate to Rei. If Asuka became aware at some point in the 14 years that there were clone bodies of her at the ready in case she snuffed it, she’d recognize herself to a degree in Rei Q's not knowing about the clones. Also, holy shit can you imagine finding that out? I picture it like the truth about the Ayanami types getting out, and Asuka wondering from there "Could I...?", then having it confirmed to her horror. Living with the typical clone questions of "Do I matter?" "Am I the original?" would embitter anyone.
It would also make the “Do what you want to do!” line more resonant since she has been in Rei’s position before.
It would also give an interesting new spin to her “one life is expendable” attitude, namely that its probably a surface way of coping with the idea that she’s replaceable. Maybe since Shinji is going to have to learn to not let his emotions carry him away and act selfishly (I assume), Asuka will learn that she as an individual does matter outside of the function she serves for Wille. Or something.
One last note about the picture I posted: despite how much of a downer that last scene is in 3.33, I found it kind of funny that solemn, hangdog Shinji kinda lines up visually with the Misato's wrecked car in the 2.22 pic.
ElMariachi wrote:Yes, both Shinji and Kaworu have a marking on the back of their plugsuit : Kaworu is uppercase alpha("Α") and Shinji is lowercase alpha("α").
