Postby Teague » Mon May 31, 2010 7:44 pm
When 'four' and 'souls' are used in the same context, I can't help but think of the Japanese concept of 'mitama', the four aspects of a living soul,
Ara-Mitama: Violent and coercive.
Nigi-Mitama: gentle and pacifying.
Saki-Mitama: imparts blessings.
Kushi-Mitama: causes mysterious transformations.
Saki and kushi are considered to be the two parts of Nigi-mitama, however they are still referred to as four things collectively.
The notion of a 'violent soul' and a 'gentle soul' was used in Shinto to explain why nature kami would sometimes impart blessings (bountiful harvest, cure disease, etc) or lash out for little or no reason (natural disasters, plague, famine etc), it depended on which of the mitama was 'manifesting' at the time, so to speak. To grossly oversimplify, shinto saw all things as being inherently bipolar.
Now how can this be related back to Rebuild?
Well, one is the 'Adam split in four' theory, which then would imply each of the 1/4 Adams would behave according to the archetype implied by each mitama,
Second, one could correlate the mitama to different characters, most likely the pilots.
Ara-Mitama would be Asuka. She's the most blood-lustful and violent, in both her behavior and her actions. What's more, in both Old Century and Rebuild, she always goes down fighting to the bitter end.
Nigi-Mitama would then be Rei. She's the most passive, and she rarely acts in violence outside of piloting. Even when she does, she tends to take a passive role; holding the shield in the battle against Ramiel, and restraining Sahaquiel so Asuka could land the finishing blow. What's more, her primary motivation for much of 2.0 is 'pacifying' the tension between Shinji and Gendo. Not the mention the whole 'red oni, blue oni' thing going on between Asuka and Rei.
Saki-Mitama could be considered Mari. She aids in the battle against Zeruel, as well as saving Shinji's life. In addition, she reveals to NERV Japan 'BEAST mode'. Finally, she is speculated to be a non-human entity, possibly even a FAR, which would make her something in a position to give out blessings.
Kushi-Mitama would then be Shinji. His presence causes changes in many of the people around him; Rei begins to act more human-like, and Asuka starts to consider other people more. Then on the supernatural scale, Shinji undergoes a 'mysterious transformation' in the fight against Zeruel, achieving an angel-state with Shogouki, transforming Zeruel back into Rei and then joining with her inside 01, and one way or another they are now in an 'unknown state' inside 01 together.
But what, if anything, does this mean? I have no idea, I'm just fanwaking.
"Don't you touch a hair on that boy's head! Have you no respect? He's mine! Get your own human play-thing, you quartz-brained little creampuff!"- Bernard Black
"Kaji was the most heartbroken and shattered over Kaji's death besides Misato." -AuraTwilight
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