Why is Classified Information accepted as gospel?

[TehDonutKing]

FAR were hinted at in episode 21? SAUCE, please.

[thewayneiac]

FAR were hinted at in episode 21? SAUCE, please.

Gendo tells Fuyutsuki, speaking of the Geofront, "It was built by someone who wasn't us".

[TehDonutKing]

Gendo tells Fuyutsuki, speaking of the Geofront, "It was built by someone who wasn't us".

And it would be almost impossible to connect that to the FAR without prior knowledge of them. That could refer to anyone! FAR, Seele, Nazis, the Knights Templar, anyone.

[Sachi]

Kaji (who wears Misato's clothes to teach Shinji how to get girls >_> ) and Fuyutsuki (who dresses Shinji up in various outfits because of his Yui-obsession)

Now I want this game even more.

[Sailor Star Dust]

Wait, what? Whaa...

You've been warned.

Kaji: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enD-D9mMV1g

Fuyutsuki: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r26VFYHj1dY

[Azathoth]

And it would be almost impossible to connect that to the FAR without prior knowledge of them. That could refer to anyone! FAR, Seele, Nazis, the Knights Templar, anyone.

The sci-fi cliche of "ancient construct from space buried within Earth" doesn't suggest the sci-fi cliche "mystical race of vanished precursors" to you?

[TehDonutKing]

The sci-fi cliche of "ancient construct from space buried within Earth" doesn't suggest the sci-fi cliche "mystical race of vanished precursors" to you?

No, not really.

[NemZ]

Where in the RCB does it say that Naoko is in Unit-00?

Yeah, what he said.

[Ornette]

And it would be almost impossible to connect that to the FAR without prior knowledge of them. That could refer to anyone! FAR, Seele, Nazis, the Knights Templar, anyone.

The context of that statement in episode 21 is that the geofront is identical to the one found in Antarctica, which was built by someone "not us". So you're left with the choice of either reconciling the possibility that some other human beings (like the Nazis, the Knights Templar, or anyone) built a gigantic cavern that is made of a material unknown to mankind in the 21st century (neutrino scan screenshot), placed a gigantic space alien in it, then buried it in a barren Antarctica; or you can assume it was built by aliens. I guess it would be easier to reconcile that Seele could have possibly built it, but then you'd have to make sense of the entire Katsuragi Expedition. Seems the easiest choice to interpret "someone not us" is that it was alien.

[Azathoth]

No, not really.

You could always read more crappy paperback sci-fi, I guess, but that trope is old - the most obvious instance being that favorite of Anno's, 2001, albeit TMA-1 is on the moon and not Earth when discovered.

Yeah, what he said.

I'm almost positive it doesn't say that anywhere. RCB is pretty coy on the subject of resident souls other than Yui's.

[Ornette]

You could always read more crappy paperback sci-fi, I guess, but that trope is old - the most obvious instance being that favorite of Anno's, 2001, albeit TMA-1 is on the moon and not Earth when discovered.

Or the protoculture from SDF Macross (which Anno worked on as a key animator) who was an ancient race that created both the humans and Zentradi, who happened to be fighting a war against each other (not much unlike the Angels and humans in NGE) throughout the TV series.

[Hyper Shinchan]

Actually in the first place the FAR was mentioned in the Evangelion Proposal, probably they were only hinted in the series to add more "mysteries" (to a series that was already filled with half-truths and mysteries) but they're definitely not a post-added explanation/addition.
Anyway to Reichu's post (poor Reichu and especially poor SSD that must act as intermediary XD); that game can offer many interesting explanations for many of our long debated discussions or give more material to discuss about points that haven't been touched yet; overlooking them would be really a bad move (I've expressed myself on this issue other times in the past so I think that it's not necessary to add anything more that could generate some unnecessary debate).

Now I want this game even more.

Buy a PSP, I suppose that they're not that expensive right now (or you could wait some other months and maybe they'll become even more cheap if they're really going to release a PSP2/PSPhone; if they don't repeat the same move of the PS2 which is still really overpriced for a 10 year old console); the game itself isn't expensive except the special edition which included a UMD of EoE (I've seen it for around 100€).

[Kendrix]

BTW is that Game available in english?

[NemZ]

Nope.

To answer the original question, it's percieved as cannon by many people because it pretty much goes along with everything in the show but adds a few little new bits of info along the way, just enough to keep the "it's all a big puzzle!" types drooling.

Personally I try to stick to just what happens on the screen when discussing in-series info. Anything that wasn't important enough to be written in can generally be considered just an abandoned draft.

[Shinji]

I think one of the most important things to remember is that, not everything is going to be completely hashed out and explained from A to B. For a number of reasons.

One of these is obvious. If there was a clear or obvious (or even an existent) answer for every plot hole, it would become a lot less interesting. It's like beating a game with 100% completion, are you really gonna keep trying to find hidden easter eggs after that? No, because you know that you found them all, and now you're bored.

Second, if a million fan geeks (myself included) can't figure something out, it's very likely that it was intentionally left open ended. Are they (spoilers comin here) really gonna explain within the realms of science why Rei grew giant crystal looking wings for no apparent reason in EoE? No, of course not. So why did they do it? Cuz it looks cool, and it's enticing (or disturbing, which is a form of enticement).

Another third, very possible explanation, is that the creators either ran themselves into a corner plot wise or financially, and either weren't able to come up with an acceptable explanation or didn't have the time or money to animate such an explanation.

For example, I'm not saying that Gendo didn't say anything to Ritsuko (before he capped her), I'm just saying that it was purposefully left up for debate, simply because anything that Gendo could've said, wouldn't have been as dramatic as him saying something inaudible. You knew that whatever he said was... well, a lie I'm guessing. I know what came to mind when I first saw it, which further proves my point of how much more memorable it was.

Anyway what I'm saying is, it's not a huge deal if some of the facts don't line up the way they should. NGE's entire franchise and plot encompasses the whole world and more or less all history of life on Earth. We don't even know how it happened in real life, much less in a fictional world. You'll see continuity errors in any storyline, you have to separate the little things from the big important things and find a happy medium.

[Azathoth]

Are they (spoilers comin here) really gonna explain within the realms of science why Rei grew giant crystal looking wings for no apparent reason in EoE? No, of course not. So why did they do it? Cuz it looks cool, and it's enticing (or disturbing, which is a form of enticement).

You don't need to mark spoilers, the movie came out thirteen years ago and contains probably the most notorious images in the entire otaku universe. Everybody knows that Rei becomes enormous and grows wings.

As to why they did it: wings/flight = godlike power (specifically, the S2 engine). NGE hammers this in again and again, and EoE runs with it. It also does look very cool indeed.

[Shinji]

You don't need to mark spoilers, the movie came out thirteen years ago and contains probably the most notorious images in the entire otaku universe

Hah good point

[Eva Yojimbo]

Why is it accepted as canon? Because Anno had a hand in it, and the majority of the fandom is more obsessed with plugging up the holes in the literal narrative and mythology than appreciating the work on an artistic level.

Should it be accepted as canon? Read the arguments from both sides HERE and decide for yourself.

If there was a clear or obvious (or even an existent) answer for every plot hole, it would become a lot less interesting. It's like beating a game with 100% completion, are you really gonna keep trying to find hidden easter eggs after that? No, because you know that you found them all, and now you're bored.

I think far too few people really appreciate this fact. Reminds me of John Donne's Love's Infiniteness which could be summarized by the lines:

Yet I would not have all yet.
He that hath all can have no more

[nomis1242]

(inspired by NemZ's post)

Why is it accepted as canon? Because Anno had a hand in it, and the majority of the fandom is more obsessed with plugging up the holes in the literal narrative and mythology than appreciating the work on an artistic level.

Should it be accepted as canon? Read the arguments from both sides HERE and decide for yourself.

Assuming the "alpha's stance vs Gainax's comment" quote is correct, then I will concede that CI is a separate continuity, so we can't claim it as Canon. I still like it, though, and choose to incorporate it in interpretation of Eva stuffs.