Mr. Tines: Like times and dates, distances are "as long as they need be". He's had the chance to turn this into a road movie, but he's just been moving in circles (literally as well as metaphorically).
Reichu: We're viewing Tokyo-3 from the northeast (note the Mirror System in the background, by the lake's edge). Kind of makes one wonder just how much walking Shinji is doing, to have gone through Owakudani, walked alongside Ashinoko, and ended up at this vista when he was through.
