Misato:“Sortie!! Isn't EVA-00 still being frozen?
(A quick glance at the Eva.)
No, you plan on using EVA-01?”
Dream: And now begins one of my favorite scenes and songs from NGE. I believe this is easily the most Shinji-centered scene in all of NGE (well, maybe) The pacing, the direction, the dialogue, the sheer intensity with this feeling of tragedy and... Fate, what he has to do, an unavoidable sacrifice Shinji has to perform and he has no idea why, why they chose him, why he has to do it, and how they can think this worthless cowardly child (his assumed feelings, yet they are true to a certain extent) can possibly do something, anything, good without fucking it up.
Reichu: The first major Renewal alteration is a musical one. Originally, I. SHINJI starts at 214 and ends at 246. Personally, I think it's a shame that they changed this, if only because of the neat way that the song is “sandwiched” by the same shot. The changes in Renewal will be treated like the default on the commentary pages, but you can see the way things were originally here.
Gundampilotspaz: The song title, I. SHINJI, considering Anno's habit of naming episodes after sci-fi novels and movies, could be a take on Isaac Asimov's I, Robot. Not likely, but possible.
Additional Commentary
Reichu: Personally, I always thought the “I.” part was “Ikari” abbreviated. Sort of like how I could be referred to as “Rachel C.”, except in Shinji's case the “I.” comes first because he's Japanese. Of course, the Japanese tend to put their surnames last (Western-style) whenever they write their names in the Roman alphabet, which punches a giant hole in my theory.
Incisivis: I. SHINJI (which I used to mistakenly refer to as “Shinji's Theme” for some reason) is a good piece of BGM. It nicely conveys a sense of hopelessness with its slow pace and sad tones. Oddly, it also reminds me of “Taps”.
Reichu: Interestingly, this BGM was originally intended to be the theme of the Angels. I'm not kidding. On the other hand, E-6, which ended up being the obligatory“angel attack” music (hence the title Anno eventually gave it), was composed for “desperate situations!” (zettai zetsumei!).
On a completely random note… I have a strange and powerful desire to see this scene turned into a musical number, with Shinji and the others singing an angsty lyrical version of this BGM. It would be the coolest thing evar.
Sephizim: I always felt like the melody of this song sounds like the song "America" in a minor key. Now that I've said this, you're all going to start singing "My country 'tis of thee..." somberly every time you hear this song from now on.
thewayneiac: Of course, that only works on this side of the pond; on the other side they'd be singing "God Save the Queen".
