This was mentioned a few times in-thread already, but again: "4 = death" is the Chinese reading of the word, not the Japanese reading. Please keep that in mind in your analyzing/etc, folks! ;)

Thanks for the reminder, SSD! I do recall someone here mentioning that before, which is why I never built any actual theories on it. I mostly think the numeric title has something to do with tying 3.0 with 1.0 somehow, and even then mostly in thematics and motifs. I remember Shinji had a moment in the climax of Jo where he had suddenly realized the massive responsibility of saving the world, and in Eva Shin those themes might be tied with the themes in Q in order to reach a resolution.

The 1.0 and 3.0 for the Eva: FINAL title have been pretty obvious to me, at least, as callbacks. Both the 1.0 and 3.0 films are new beginnings for Shinji, so where will he go from here in the final film? So that he's not alone and since he can't redo?

Then again, as soon as the "You can (not) redo" international title was revealed, it was obvious to me it'd have to do with Shinji learning/moving on from causing Near Third Impact*, though we didn't know the exact details at that point.

*Which, if I remember right, the term "Near Third Impact" was first revealed in the 2.0 Complete Records Collection, no? Just like how "Spear of Cassius" was revealed to us in a pachinko game sometime before 3.0 debuted.

I think the debate about Anno avoiding 4.0 (because it could be read as death) for the movie is superfluous, since it's the English title, which should be read in English. And as far as I know, the number four doesn't have connotations of death in English.

Sailor Star Dust wrote:This was mentioned a few times in-thread already, but again: "4 = death" is the Chinese reading of the word, not the Japanese reading. Please keep that in mind in your analyzing/etc, folks! ;)

It's not? I was under the impression that the number four could be pronounced as either yon or shi, the latter being the same as the pronunciation for death.

Sailor Star Dust wrote:The 1.0 and 3.0 for the Eva: FINAL title have been pretty obvious to me, at least, as callbacks. Both the 1.0 and 3.0 films are new beginnings for Shinji, so where will he go from here in the final film? So that he's not alone and since he can't redo?

That seems pretty obvious to me.

You Can (Not) Redo.

but

You Are (Not) Alone

so

You Will (Not) Lose Hope

^ That............actually makes a whole lot of sense.

Shinji does indeed have those who still care for him (Asuka, Rei, Sakura, etc.), so that could be what Anno is going for in the title.

Bagheera wrote:You Will (Not) Lose Hope

If it would be anything like this I'd suspect the word "Can" involved, but I have a suspicion we might not get a "You X (Not) Y" title at all. Just to make the final movie even more final and mysterious. I'm at least prepared for it.

FYI the "basic plots" thing is the literary analysis version of a manipulative clickbait article and reductive to the point it has no value.

Chuckman wrote:FYI the "basic plots" thing is the literary analysis version of a manipulative clickbait article and reductive to the point it has no value.

I agree, certainly. There certainly is more to narrative than message, plot devices, and mcguffins. Therefore being able to predict such things doesn't in it of itself lessen the quality of the film.

Sailor Star Dust wrote:This was mentioned a few times in-thread already, but again: "4 = death" is the Chinese reading of the word, not the Japanese reading. Please keep that in mind in your analyzing/etc, folks! ;)

"There are several unlucky numbers in Japanese. Traditionally, 4 and 9 are unlucky. Four is sometimes pronounced shi, which is also the word for death."


(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_superstitions)

I don't know if someone told this already, but I think the new title for FINAL, implies to continiue the kyu act and also ends the whole story of NTE as being the forth in this tetralogy. How the subtitle 'll be, if it follows the same pattern as the previous films, or having a different one, is left ambiguous. The : || in the Japanese title could imply, that it 'll finish the rest of the piece.

You are (Not) Unforgiven ?

Ray wrote:You are (Not) Unforgiven ?

*Metallica plays*

Someone at /a/ posted a rather unsettling interpretation of the title.



I'll just post what I thought of it on another thread. Hopefully my opinions won't anger you guys (remember this is only if he turns out to be correct):

I must say, if that turns out to be true, then that really doesn't paint a very good picture of Anno in my eyes. It's basically him deliberately taking this series down a darker and more depressing path just to spite the audience because they don't see the characters and setting exactly the way he sees it.

Not to mention that I highly doubt that the characters were liked in 2.22 because they were lighter and softer. To me at least, I enjoyed them more because I saw them develop, gain character arcs, and overall become much more relatable. Plus, the ending wasn't completely triumphant, but instead rather ambiguous in terms of morality. Yes, while Shinji did nearly trigger TI, he was finally starting to fight for what he believes in, and affirmed Rei's status as her own person worth giving a rip about.

Should the analyst be correct, 3.33 just does away with all this because Anno apparently doesn't like seeing this sort of stuff be enjoyed by the audience since "that's not Eva". To him, Eva is all about characters suffering, the themes and symbolism, and the message that he thinks we don't understand. Subtlety in not in his vocabulary it would appear.

That comes across to me as being incredibly shallow, and being unable to accept that your work is going to be viewed in different lights by your viewers. Alternate Character Interpretation and Death of the Author do exist after all. To deny any and all views except your own just screams of George Lucas.
Sorry if I come across as being rather frustrated there. It's just that, should the analyst be right, I'm not exactly all that approving of Anno's choices here.

LightDragonman wrote:Someone at /a/ posted a rather unsettling interpretation of the title.

[url]https://i.4cdn.org/a/1416424410930.png[/url]

I'll just post what I thought of it on another thread. Hopefully my opinions won't anger you guys (remember this is only if he turns out to be correct):

I must say, if that turns out to be true, then that really doesn't paint a very good picture of Anno in my eyes. It's basically him deliberately taking this series down a darker and more depressing path just to spite the audience because they don't see the characters and setting exactly the way he sees it.

People also though he was trying to spite the audience with EoE's ending, he was not.
Basically the fans just take stuff way too personally and think anno is out to get them.

Also, Anno directly stated in several interviews (the latest now later than at the latest Tokyo Retrospective Show) that he doesn't want to send a message to otakus in Rebuild, that the "community" decided to carve its own path and interpret things in a certain, and he accepted that, that the message he wants to convey in Rebuild is a different one, one that we'll certainly learn in Shin Eva.

I have a lot of sympathy with that analysis actually, and it explains some puzzles in my mind. So I don't see the conclusion as being a problem, neither when looking at what we already have, nor with the prospects for the last film.

I'm inclining myself to the idea that the last film need not be a full-on happy ending as some are hoping for to round off the franchise. I'm not so much expecting Shinji to find hope early on and then act on it, as to have a journey which ends up with him finding hope, somewhat in the manner of EoE, but probably a bit (a lot?) less ambiguously stated. After all, EoE was already the original + what Anno wanted, wasn't it!

That link just leads to a stock 4chan image for me, so I have no idea what's being discussed.