Speaking of the Adams = Children thingy, from the same thread, there's something Reichu quoted from the 2.0 CRC that quite piqued my interest and it's about Asuka's doll:
Reichu wrote:- Doll played with since or during childhood
- Named "Asuka"
- The only one she [child Asuka] had to talk to
- Something received when she left town for the first time since [leaving] the lab
- Red hood to evoke a German flavor?
- Already raggedy, but should appear treasured (no fewer than ten years of use).
- Is small and intended for a 4- or 5-year-old, so is difficult for 14-year-old Asuka to put her hand in it
The notes make me think that this shot from the trailer will be from a scene that will finally reveal from where and who did she receive the doll. I once speculated that this shot is a flashback from Asuka's childhood in Europe and you know what? Almost everything from the notes supported it.
Now, for my pre-release headcanon:
We have a very young-looking Asuka in a snowy-looking place presumably around 4-5 years old, that would make it around 10 years before 1.0 begins. (
I'm 99% sure it's Asuka, as the section in trailer has shots that each represent a character)
It could possibly be in German (
Remember, parts of the world are still snowing after 2I and even 3I in Rebuild, Wille's temporary base at the beginning of 3.0 proves that) and apparently she's looking at somebody while being flustered, perhaps she's being given something (
the doll). Then there's the doll name; "Asuka", either she named it herself or the giver did. But the simplicity of the name implies that the one who did is either carefree or simple-minded.
Gee, I wonder who that is? Now, it's basically impossible to know who gave her the doll at this point because there's no concrete evidence or hints that could help us pinpoint who, but hey, this is EGF and I can speculate as long as I believe what I'm saying, so from me, there are three potential candidates:
1. Misato, because her lines in 2.0 confirmed that they've both met in the past, although it seems to be pretty recent and their relationship seems to be on a mere professional level before she moved out to her apartment.
2. Shinji, through a twist that they've actually both met as children. and got their memories wiped out for some reason, although there's no evidence, foreshadowing, or whatsoever about this, other than her expression in this shot looks like the classic "Baka Shinji" reaction face.
And for the last one, wait for it.
TA-DA!
3. Mari.
What? Why are you looking at me like that? Hear me out first!
Ahem, so. Both are of Japanese-European descends with Asuka and Mari having German and British blood, respectively, so they lived in the continent at some point early in their lives. They could either be from the same lab and making them childhood "friends" or perhaps half-sisters, with the mysterious lady in Fuyutsuki's old photo who looked like Mari with hair accessories similar to Asuka's being their mother, who we can assume as Japanese because the photo was taken in Japan and that makes her either Fuyu's old friend or student like Yui. The doll was given by Mari, perhaps as a farewell gift before she goes away somewhere because the notes mentioned that it's the only "friend" Asuka had to talk to during her childhood.
It's easy to think that the close partnership they have in 3.0 is the result of being Wille's pilot sisters in arms for the last 14 years, however I feel that the timeskip and their banters also meant to mislead us to believe that, to hide the fact that they've know each other long before post-NTI times and it's something the films want to keep secret until the final one.
If we want to go deeper, some of the early scenarios for Mari are to either have her completely replace Asuka's role after the latter got killed off midway into 2.0, or they both piloted Unit-02 together during the climax of the film (kind of a progenitor for the idea of them "overlapping" in Shin Eva, isnt it?), indicating that whatever scenario Anno and co. have written for both Mari and Asuka in the final script, both were always meant to be connected or paralleled in some ways. As crazy as it might sounds, I think there'll a big reveal about them in Shin and it's probably in this scene.