Evangelion 2.0 CRC: Enokido Interview

[Lucretius]

It's really baffling that Asuka was even more of a minor character in the drafts, but was still the pilot of Unit 03. Though I suppose "Asuka makes miso soup" could be a primitive version of the cooking rivalry with Rei, it looks like she just spent the whole movie floating around with no connection to the rest of the cast.

Like essel said, I'm not sure why they didn't just call Mari "Asuka" and have done with it. As much as I dislike 2.0, these drafts are even more lacking in focus.

[Azathoth]

Like essel said, I'm not sure why they didn't just call Mari "Asuka" and have done with it.

Same...and I'd love to know now what motivated her addition in the first place, since it seems like she was already involved somehow before Enokido got on the bus. I really hope it wasn't just money, but I honestly can't see any real role for her outlined in these memos. She's just an overflow reservoir for attributes of the NGE versions of the other characters that they apparently didn't want to give them.

As much as I dislike 2.0, these drafts are even more lacking in focus.

Most drafts are. That's why they're drafts and not the finished product.

[Lucretius]

Most drafts are. That's why they're drafts and not the finished product.

Well yeah, but I was sorta hoping that 2.0 was originally a much better movie that got edited to death. Looks like the opposite may have been true.

[Nonoriri]

Well I sure am glad none of that happened. Seems as though Asuka as an even more redundant character was too much (ha!) even for them.

Though it does beg the question of what exactly did stick concerning Mari's character? Guess that's just another thing we'll have to wait and see.

[SaltyJoe]

I should have included the Japanese for that line, since it's really ambiguous, especially in the context, and I might not even have correctly understood it. It's "そんなにレイに心を許していたのね, シンジ君". There's no indication who it is that says it.

Strange. Thank you, though i can't really do anything with the line by myslef . Anyone else?

You'd think it would have been the other way around, since the only big-time Asukafag [s]in Japan[/s] at Gainax is Anno himself.

1731298478 mentioned something about Tsurumaki advocating for Asuka during the meeting sessions, so whether he likes her or not, he was her appointed attorney, so to speak.

I really hope it wasn't just money, but I honestly can't see any real role for her outlined in these memos.

What's even weirder is that her eventual role has almost nothing to do with what's in the memos. If anything, this suggests to me that unlike Asuka's piloting of Unit-03, Beast Mode really was a last minute asspull. And it shows. Cause it sucks (i don't think i could ever forgive that hideous design).

Well yeah, but I was sorta hoping that 2.0 was originally a much better movie that got edited to death. Looks like the opposite may have been true.

Well, at least now we know that it could have been a lot worse.

[esselfortium]

Also, didn't Enokido say that when he was asked to come aboard, they had most everything planned out and only needed to cut 20 minutes or so from it? Which makes me really wonder, where the hell did all this come from? Their idea of "almost done" apparently involved drafts even earlier than these, from before Enokido's arrival.

Anno is evidently attempting to recapture the success of his "scribble something on a napkin the night before the broadcast" technique used for plotting out NGE episodes.

[1731298478]

Strange. Thank you, though i can't really do anything with the line by myslef . Anyone else?.

Reichu pointed out to me that in the Rei/Unit-01 "make out" scene this line is attributed to Ritsuko. Also, as the thread has been upped, I see that there was some prior discussion of it here ([url]http://forum.evageeks.org/viewtopic.php?t=9863&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=40[/url]). As SSD points out there, "心を許す" has the set meaning of "trust," "lower one's guard," "place faith in." That scene seems to be intended as a recreation of the Armisael scene where Rei tries to merge with Shinji, and Ritsuko makes the comment when she sees that Shinji is not resisting Rei. So I think it could be rendered as something like, "So, you came to trust Rei that deeply [to that extent], Shinji-kun..."

Edit: One more comment. My kanji dictionary provides the following gloss on this sense of 許す: "他人の自由にまかせる (to leave to other's control). 例 心を許した友." I would want to render 心を許す as "to entrust someone with your heart" with the common meaning of "to place trust in a friend/family member/lover." How "literally" we want to translate Ritsuko's observation might depend on how we choose to understand the scene.

[NAveryW]

When we were gathering information from (Kazuya) Tsurumaki-san before the premiere, he told us that, in "destroying" Eva, your ideas are being incorporated everywhere [1].

So the goal really is to destroy Eva? Well heck, I'm surprised they didn't hire Yoshiyuki Tomino.



He would have been glad to help.

[1731298478]

Part 3 of the Enokido interview.
Same disclaimers regarding the quality of the translation apply as before. ^__^

"Boarding 'Eva' Again After Sixteen Years"

--- This memo you put out, with what kind of feeling was it made use of?
[It seems that this memo is not reproduced in the CRC.]

Enokido: That was mainly a list of scenes to be cut. At that time we were still wondering whether scenes like the pilots going to eat Ramen together should be left in. I not only participated in the original TV series but watched it as a fan, so I knew which scenes were my favorites. However, as far as the film was concerned, I thought it was best to focus on Shinji-kun's scenes. In addition, I would comply with (the producer) Ootsuki's order to bring the film under 120 minutes. Therefore, I rapidly cut sequences which, although famous, did not have a strong relation to the main story. However, as I did this everyone naturally saw favorite scenes being cut, one by one, and because of this I was becoming increasingly shut out by the group (laughs). For example, Anno-san lost his favorite Misato scene...

--- Which Misato scene?

Enokido: There were many scenes at the start of the script showing a deeper friendship between Misato, Ritsuko, and Kaji that were discarded. They were "film-like" scenes and, from the dramatic perspective, very good; however, because I thought it was best to organize the film around Shinji, I proposed that they be cut. Because Anno is the chief director, if he hates a cut he can prevent it by saying "I want that scene to stay." However, he doesn't do so. Nevertheless, when he's displeased the atmosphere becomes very oppressive (laughs).

Furthermore, when even Tsurumaki-san, the one person I expected to support me, started saying things like "I'm an Asuka fan, and I won't be happy if this scene gets cut," I had a feeling like, "Huh?" (laughs). At that time, Masayuki-san came to my rescue, saying "Look, we should just do as Enokido-san says, okay?" I had the impression that I had just barely kept my place [at Atami] (laughs). Masayuki probably decided to bring "balance" to the sessions (laughs).

--- It was difficult, wasn't it? (laughs)

Enokido: Only, once we had cut a few scenes, naturally the next problem was the opposite one; owing to the cuts you could begin to see gaps detracting from the organization of the whole. As these gaps arose from cuts I had made, naturally I, as the person responsible, had to fix them. For example, while in the first half of the film Asuka appears as a character who strongly repels others, in the second half she becomes a little kinder, and develops into a character who is concerned with Shinji's feelings. This development is crucial, but I had a feeling that, due to my excessive cuts, the basis for this change became too thin. Trying to make up for that loss, I had the idea for a scene where Asuka, unable to bear her loneliness, enters, uninvited, the room of the sleeping Shinji. The scene used in the film was translated from the concept almost exactly. By inserting this scene, it seemed likely that something of a connection between the "first half" Asuka and the "second half" Asuka could be skillfully established.

Because I had broken off my journey aboard the TV series in the middle of the voyage, this time I had the privilege of boarding the "New Theatrical Edition" in the middle of the voyage, and I have the profound impression that Eva, [for me,] is finally connected by a single line. I had the privilege of a rare personal experience of which few other examples exist (smiles).

--- There's not many stories of people bridging a gap of ten years or more.

Enokido: Near the beginning of "Break," Asuka says: "It's not just the color that's different. (...) This is the world's first 'true' Evangelion, designed for real combat." 16 years ago I wrote those lines of dialogue for episode eight of the television series. When I heard those lines spoken in the movie, I was so overcome with emotion I couldn't speak. There were two sides to the feeling: "At last, the line is connected," and "The journey isn't over" (smiles). I have the impression that the train I departed from has returned as a high-speed express, and, just as before, I am a passenger once more (smiles).

[Nonoriri]

However, as far as the film was concerned, I thought it was best to focus on Shinji-kun's scenes.

For example, while in the first half of the film Asuka appears as a character who strongly repels others, in the second half she becomes a little kinder, and develops into a character who is concerned with Shinji's feelings. This development is crucial, but I had a feeling that, due to my excessive cuts, the basis for this change became too thin. Trying to make up for that loss, I had the idea for a scene where Asuka, unable to bear her loneliness, enters, uninvited, the room of the sleeping Shinji. The scene used in the film was translated from the concept almost exactly. By inserting this scene, I thought that something of a connection between the "first half" Asuka and the "second half" Asuka could be skillfully established.

[Seele00TextOnly]

...

[esselfortium]

The bed scene was supposed to...replace the scenes developing Asuka's character? Dammit, Enokido, the reason it falls flat is because there's barely anything else to give it context or meaning! I can't remember if Asuka and Shinji even spoke to each other a single time onscreen after the bed scene.

This is not brain surgery, Khara. Goddammit.

[Lucretius]

Oy weh.

[esselfortium]

It's a good thing important scenes like the hilarious decontamination gag and Kensuke and Toji eating popsicles were kept at the expense of throwaway junk about Misato, Kaji, and Asuka.

It's even more of a relief that they didn't bother with any of these worthless additions for the extended 2.22 cut, instead opting for Eva-03 air transfer footage and yet more imperative development of Kensuke and Toji.

They really could have screwed this up.

[LiLi]

Wow.

And here I thought the futon scene was just some adaptation of the similar scene from the series.

I even like the movie*. And Shikinami. But. Wow.
That surely didn't make Asuka's development come across as smooth to me.

Edit Fail much?

Also, if you're going to remake Eva of all things after 15 years... maybe you better not give too tight time constraints? Just my humble opinion.

*I have not yet seen 2.22. I have the BD but my BD player is in the wrong continent. *sob*

:edit: I succumbed to temptation... I ordered the stupidly expensive sexy book(s)...

[Lucretius]

I'm honestly not at all surprised by the contents of this memo--the scene always smacked to me of "Let's try to give Asuka some sort of relationship to Shinji in under two minutes!" But yeah, it's pretty disheartening.

[SaltyJoe]

Why... why did they have to cut so much? Why couldn't it just be over 120 minutes? Why'd they allow the movie to become so shredded... dammit. I don't care about the answers. I want a better film.

In addition, I would comply with (the producer) Ootsuki's order to bring the film under 120 minutes.

Even if you don't care, the answer is there. They probably feared that making the film be over two hours long would prove too much to handle for their audiences. They were probably anxious about production costs, too.

Oh well, i hope the fact that 2.0 made several metric tons of cash, coupled with the precedent of the Haruhi movie's success, despite being almost three hours long, will alleviate such concerns for the final movie(s).

.It's even more of a relief that they didn't bother with any of these worthless additions for the extended 2.22 cut, instead opting for Eva-03 air transfer footage and yet more imperative development of Kensuke and Toji.

But Touji and Kensuke are ABSOLUTELY crucial to the plot AND to Shinji's development! Like when they.... and... uhm...

[Hatsumi92]

*I have not yet seen 2.22. I have the BD but my BD player is in the wrong continent. *sob*

I assume you're talking about the Hong Kong BD and not the Japanese BD?

Because Japanese ones are all region free.

[LiLi]

I assume you're talking about the Hong Kong BD and not the Japanese BD?

Because Japanese ones are all region free.

Actually, I am talking about the Japanese BD. My BD player is *physically* in a different continent since I moved to Japan from Europe. I need to buy a new one.

I'm not sure about ALL Japanese BDs being region free though?

[esselfortium]

I would more expect the Hong Kong one to be region-free, though that might just be due to my inherent mental association with HK bootlegs :P