UrsusArctos: This shot of the moon opens the Director's Cut version of Episode 22 in lieu of A Cruel Angel's Thesis. Episode 22' adds the most extra scenes and runs longer than other episodes, coming off as very different from the original Episode 22. Incidentally, I first thought that it was a rare instance of the Moon being associated with Asuka (rather than Rei) but Dr. Nick's comment in Cut 309 made me realize that the moon - which subtly bookends this sequence with the broken doll in moonlight - stands in for Rei, Asuka's hated "doll", like it usually does. Asuka is lit up by the symbolic representation of who or what she hates, and her fears and hatreds boil up to the surface in a way that they didn't when we first saw her in sunlight.
