Misato's Cross hole

[Analyzor]

Just something I've noticed. In NGE her cross has the hole going through the side and in EoE it's going through the face. Necklace also changes.

NGE








EoE









In Rebuild it's back through the side. I don't think it's anything relevant but there it is.

Rebuild

[IgRAzm]

Can't get the rusty nail through it unless the hole is through the front. Nail on the cross is a reference to the crucifixion. I think that's the reason. The imagery for post Instrumentality scene came before the continuity with the series, in this instance.

[Analyzor]

The hole is prior to the Third Impact.

Can't get the rusty nail through it unless the hole is through the front. Nail on the cross is a reference to the crucifixion. I think that's the reason. The imagery for post Instrumentality scene came before the continuity with the series, in this instance.

Can't get then why the sudden change of holes, until EoE.

[Berserker]

Anno suddenly thought merchandising would reach a whole new level if the cross had hole through front. Had a change of mind prior rebuild.

Can't get the rusty nail through it unless the hole is through the front. Nail on the cross is a reference to the crucifixion. I think that's the reason. The imagery for post Instrumentality scene came before the continuity with the series, in this instance.

I don't think there's any other explanation besides this.

[Analyzor]

Anno suddenly thought merchandising would reach a whole new level if the cross had hole through front. Had a change of mind prior rebuild.

I don't think there's any other explanation besides this.

Do you have the source of this?

[Berserker]

That was just a joke. You surely do know about how they merchandise evangelion, do you? They don't let anything go waste. Maybe try knowing some history of gainax's merchandising. For example:
3.0+1.0 spoiler:

don't click if you don't want spoiler  SPOILER: Show

One of the reason they made ritsuko wear plugsuit in the trailer is of course for merchandising.

And the explanation can't get any better than what igRAzm said. If it does,then bravo.

[IgRAzm]

Yeah, yeah, I can be brilliant at times. One could say I hit the nail on the head with my explaination right there... Well, and now it ended.

[BusterMachine4]

Holy crap, I never noticed that until now! However, I don't really think it was a result of attempted Christian symbolism. It was probably just because EoE was animated by a different team than the rest of the show, and they just drew the cross from memory without checking to see what it actually looked like. Just look at EVA-02's weirdly beefy redesign for another example of this.

Also, that Yebichu can floating in the ocean of LCL is really funny for some reason.

[Berserker]

It was probably just because EoE was animated by a different team than the rest of the show

Then what about NTE? They suddenly noticed it or the team got changed again?
I think it's symbolical because EoE is full of symbolism and references more than the show comparatively. Just so that they could refer the crucifixion with the cross, they made that hole infront of the nail. It's just like eva's variable size. In the show, it's the size of an aircraft carrier. In EoE,the size of GNR's eye,which could possibly be the size of a whole country. So yeah, either a voluntary mistake or reference.

[BusterMachine4]

Then what about NTE? They suddenly noticed it or the team got changed again?

I think that's it, yeah. Unlike EoE, the animation of the Rebuild movies has been under the personal supervision of Anno, so there was probably more attention paid to minor details like that.

I think it's symbolical because EoE is full of symbolism and references more than the show comparatively. Just so that they could refer the crucifixion with the cross, they made that hole infront of the nail. It's just like eva's variable size. In the show, it's the size of an aircraft carrier. In EoE,the size of GNR's eye,which could possibly be the size of a whole country. So yeah, either a voluntary mistake or reference.

But I think they still could have achieved the same effect by having the nail hold up the necklace, instead of the cross itself. There was no dramatic need for Misato's necklace design to be changed, so it was probably a genuine oversight.

[dzzthink]

Misato's cross didn't seem particularly interesting at first, but then it's kind of like how she got it from her dad and that mirrors how Shinji got his SDAT from his dad. It represents tokens of familial love, I guess. Interestingly in the rebuild, Shinji's sdat has 28 tracks compared to 26 in the series, so there are always these small changes.

If these small changes actually represent crucifixtion parallel in the end, it might be a bit elaborate. However, I do understand the Christian parallel of sacrifice (dad gives her the cross and sacrifices his life for her, she gives the cross to Shinji and sacrifices her life for him). This all ties quite well with the religious analogy of Jesus Christ sacrificing His life for our sins (Anno must really love the bible).

[StrokeMeGoat]

The string of the necklace could've been fastened to either side of the cross by some means other than running it through the hole. There may not have ever been a hole going completely from one side of the cross to the other, but rather two shallow hallows on either side. There is never a shot of the necklace string being tied off in the back, behind Misato's neck, so it's not likely it was fastened by simply running the string through a hole in one side and out the other of the cross and tying the loose ends together.

It's more likely there were some kind of tiny pieces of metal or plastic were attached to the ends of the string, there were two shallow holes on either side of the cross (honestly it could still just be a single hole going from one side to another, doesn't really alter the process of fastening the ends of the string this way), and glue was put inside the hole(s) before inserting the ends of the string + metal/plastic end pieces into either end of the hole(s) to keep it all in place.

If at some point the string was cut or otherwise broke, then she may have drilled a hole through the top and the ends of the string through and tied the knot we see to fix it. Honestly I think this was probably considered a trivial detail that wasn't worth worrying about next to the symbolism, etc., especially considering in the unlikely event someone (like you, lol) even ever noticed the change, it's pretty easily and plausibly explained away with whatever head canon the fans that noticed it arrive on. I.e, the explanation I came up with despite lacking any evidence suggesting something ever cut or broke the necklace string.

[Analyzor]

There are no visible holes/marks left after the sudden change, one suggestion could be that I.G Production (co-production) just changed it for the final scene; or Anno was indeed trying something. It is one of the main essentials in the whole series (even in EoE) just to let that mistake happen. IDK.

[Blockio]

That was just a joke. You surely do know about how they merchandise evangelion, do you? They don't let anything go waste. Maybe try knowing some history of gainax's merchandising. For example:
3.0+1.0 spoiler:

don't click if you don't want spoiler  SPOILER: Show

One of the reason they made ritsuko wear plugsuit in the trailer is of course for merchandising.

And the explanation can't get any better than what igRAzm said. If it does,then bravo.

Offtopic, but that is plain and simply untrue. If you look at existing Eva merch, you will very quickly notice that the overwhelming majority of it that isn't wow cool robot figures or random things in the colors of the Evas or plug suits are fashion lines that by their very nature are a complete overhaul of character outfits that have nothing to do with existing character designs. What you're saying there is complete and utter nonsense.

[UrsusArctos]

Somehow, I like StrokeMeGoat's explanation for the physical change in the cross, but as for the symbolic change... yeah, having a hole drilled through it would make it easier to nail to a stake, I guess. It's an interesting little detail and I'd have to look, but I don't recall that anyone's brought it up before.

Just look at EVA-02's weirdly beefy redesign for another example of this.

From what I know that weird redesign was necessary for Asuka's fight with the Mass-Production Evas, because the classic Eva-02 design would have been nigh-impossible to animate in such a complex battle sequence. "Evil Gekijouban Kyoko" is the price we pay for having one of the best, most intense mecha fights ever put to screen.

[BusterMachine4]

From what I know that weird redesign was necessary for Asuka's fight with the Mass-Production Evas, because the classic Eva-02 design would have been nigh-impossible to animate in such a complex battle sequence. "Evil Gekijouban Kyoko" is the price we pay for having one of the best, most intense mecha fights ever put to screen.

I've heard that argument before, but I don't really buy it. There's really no scene in the entire battle that couldn't have been done with the original design. They could have easily kept the design the way it was, but instead they unnecessarily made her robot look really weird the whole scene.

[Berserker]

Offtopic, but that is plain and simply untrue. If you look at existing Eva merch, you will very quickly notice that the overwhelming majority of it that isn't wow cool robot figures or random things in the colors of the Evas or plug suits are fashion lines that by their very nature are a complete overhaul of character outfits that have nothing to do with existing character designs. What you're saying there is complete and utter nonsense.

Okay, i apologize for everything last night. I was being an idiot. Sleep deprivation's surely taking its toll.

Somehow, I like StrokeMeGoat's explanation for the physical change in the cross, but as for the symbolic change... yeah, having a hole drilled through it would make it easier to nail to a stake, I guess. It's an interesting little detail and I'd have to look, but I don't recall that anyone's brought it up before.

I second this. You guys surely surprise me every day. That's rather a more interesting explanation.

[UrsusArctos]

I've heard that argument before, but I don't really buy it. There's really no scene in the entire battle that couldn't have been done with the original design.

Maybe you don't buy it, but do the animators not buy it? Animation isn't as easy as it looks, and the late 90s were predominantly hand-drawn animation, with CGI just being introduced. Animators needed reference to the human form to make something this complex look convincing. Show me solid evidence that something as out-of-proportion as Eva-02 can be animated moving in a convincingly humanoid fashion while retaining those distinctive classic Eva proportions (enormously exaggerated shoulders, tiny wasp waist) and I'll concede the point.

Besides, look at this old thread comparing Eva-02's redesign in Rebuild to previous iterations of Eva-02. Neither Anno nor his Gainax animators could have forgotten the classic Eva-02 look, but they chose to stick to a model much closer to the one in End of Evangelion. Even compare 1.0 to Episodes 01 and 02, Eva-01 has much more humanoid shoulders and shrunken pylons in 1.0 when compared to the original Eva-01. This isn't mere sloppiness or a change in artistic tastes, it's a deliberate, consistent change for the sake of better animation.

[BusterMachine4]

I guess you might be right. It's just that the original Eva designs are so iconic to me, that whenever they're redesigned to look more human it just seems weird. At least the Rebuilds have the excuse of being set in a different universe than the original show, while EVA-02's EoE redesign is just a blatant contradiction.

It doesn't bother me in the end though, that battle scene was still awesome.

[UrsusArctos]

Believe me, I'm with you about the redesign, as are most other posters whenever it's brought up; I think it looks awful right next to the powerful, iconic original design and the change really does stick out. I don't like it any more than you do, but I do understand why they did it.