Geektionary

Note: You will notice that The Geektionary occasionally uses first person references in violation of this site's standards and practices. This is the exception that tests the rule. Don't anyone else do this.

Introduction

Like anything else, geeks have their own unique subculture, and Evangelion geeks are no exception. The aim of the Geektionary is to provide a little guide to the incomprehensible geek-culture saturating the entire commentary (the FGC community in particular). People who actually have lives are bound to ask these kinds of questions: “What the heck do all those acronyms stand for? What is this ReDeath they keep on mentioning, or Thumbnail Theatre, for that matter? And what's all that weird Japanese they keep on throwing in? I speak English, goddamit!”

Some terms, like “AMV” and “shipping”, are hardly specific to NGE geekdom, but we will explain their significance to the fandom nonetheless. For explanations of various other Internet geek memes you might see in use (like the omnipresent “n00b”), I recommend Urban Dictionary and Wikipedia.

Acronym Quick-Reference Guide

Acronyms/abbreviations/TLAs are a running joke at the ANF Evangelion forum. Terms from the show quickly become TLA (three-letter acronyms), but then, inevitably, new acronyms need to be invented for any often-referenced idea — and sometimes merely for their own sake. Many of these are self-explanatory, but those marked by asterisks will be further explained in the lexicon section.

2I: Second Impact

3I: Third Impact

AATF: Anti A.T. Field

AEL: Artificial Evolution Laboratory

AMV*: Anime Music Video

ANF*: AnimeNation Forums

ATF: A.T. Field (Absolute Terror Field)

AU*: Alternate Universe

AWL*: Amanda Winn Lee

BIB*: Big Irony Bomb

CE: Contact Experiment

CI: (NGE2) Classified Information

CP: Commentary Page

D&R: Death & Rebirth

ED*: Ending

EGK*: Evil Gekijouban Kyoko

EMF*: Eva Monkey Forums

EMK*: Evil Manga Kaworu

EoE: End of Evangelion

EoTV*: End of TV

EU*: Expanded Universe

FAR*: First Ancestral Race

FGC: (Evangelion) Fan-Geeks Commentary (Project)

FMttM: Fly Me to the Moon

FoK: Fruit of Knowledge

FoL: Fruit of Life

GGNR*: Giant Giant Naked Rei

GNK*: Giant Naked Kaworu

GNR*: Giant Naked Rei

GOS*: Girlfriend of Steel

GOS2*: Girlfriend of Steel 2

GSF*: Genetically Similar Facsimile

HCP: Human Complemention Project (see HIP)

HIP*: Human Instrumentality Project

JA: Jet Alone

JSSDF: Japanese Strategic Self-Defense Force

KFR*: Kentucky Fried Rei

LAEM*: Live Action Evangelion Movie

LCL*: Not what you might think

LnY*: Longinus no Yari

LoL*: Lance of Longinus

LTP*: Literal Translation Project

MGNR: Mini Giant Naked Rei

MP*: Mass Production (Model Evangelion)

MPB*: Metaphysical Biology

N²*: No(n) Nuclear

NGE: Neon Genesis Evangelion

NPC*: New Production Cut

OP*: Opening

P3II*: Pre-3I Instrumentality

RCB*: Red Cross Book

REGK: Really Evil Gekijouban Kyoko (see EGK)

RIAO*: Rei in Appearance Only

RNR*: Regular Naked Rei

S²*: Super Solenoid

SoL*: Source of Life

SDSS: Secret Dead Sea Scrolls

ToL: Tree of Life

UBF*: Über Bitch Fight

Lexicon

Addition Drama Track

To save Reichu's phalanges some effort, look [1]. Then, go [2] and download the picsub. There is little more to say.

ADV

A veritable empire in the realm of anime localization, which acquired the NGE TV series when the Texas-based company was still young and localized it for western countries*. The English dub they produced remains — as part of the bigger, perpetually futile Dubs vs. Subs debate — an apple of discord within the NGE community. Their pre-Platinum releases were not, like many domestic anime releases of that time, up to par with the expectations of today. While the horrendous picture quality was not their fault, the translations used for both the subtitles and the dub obscured, distorted, or outright erased many of NGE's finer points — thus making deeper understanding of an anime that so heavily utilizes subtlety more unobtainable than would a reliable translation. (And the dub, by the very nature of dubs, exacerbated the problem.) Other strikes against ADV include:

• The promotion of misinformation via the descriptions on the video packages and “supplemental” materials included in their releases.
• Their failure to wait for the Japanese video releases of the final TV episodes, resulting in an unnecessarily long wait for the NPC episodes. (But as an unintended “bonus”, this meant that we did get the original TV cuts of these episodes. ::p)
• The utilization of overlays in the Collection volumes.
• Their decision to release Platinum in such close proximity to the long-delayed release of the “Directors' Cut” episodes. Getting the pre-Renewal NPC episodes locally is still a boon for completists, but this bad commercial decision — “bad” as in “respectibility meter down another point”, not “bad” from the cold and inhuman money-milking POV — was still a peeve for many.
• No need to go on with various other minutiae… Despite the bad timing of Platinum, ADV has largely redeemed themselves with it. See Platinum for more details.
• I'm only certain about the US, UK, and Canada. Not sure about elsewhere, or how releases lacking the ADV label were, or weren't, connected to ADV. Anyone?

Akira

A fanon name for Dr. Katsuragi, coined by Reichu, and sometimes used as a shorthand identifier. Borrowed from Akira Ishida (Kaworu's seiyuu) due to speculation that Kaworu was cloned from Misato's father. That it is buried, in reverse order, in the string "Katsuragi-hakase" (= Dr. Katsuragi) is coincidental.

AMV

Anime Music Videos. A popular pastime of gaijin (i.e., non-Japanese) anime geeks is editing together video from one or many anime to go along with a song. The resultant monster is an AMV, and making these things is an art in and of itself. Evangelion music videos are extremely commonplace, but only a few are truly great; a couple of fan favorites are Kevin Caldwell's Engel and ShonenDizzyCow's Evangelion Opus. Go to animemusicvideos.org for more info (along with tons of shiznat to download).

ANF

AnimeNation Forums, the popular anime-centered forum community of www.animenation.com. Over the years, its "Evangelion" subforum has been a great place to talk Evangelion and was, during its Golden Age (possibly starting Summer 2003), arguably the best NGE community on the Internet. It saw the birth of the Commentary Project, and the vast amount of discussion that has been generated there (or by the associated people, in general) acts as the heart and foundation of everything FGC. The "good ol' days" appeared to be officially over towards the end of the prior August 2005, when commentator thewayneiac began to mourn the forum's death. While the forum is not actually dead, a lot of old favorites have either vanished, gone irregular, or become lurkers, but, at least, some of the vets are still around, and enough newbies flow in to keep things from going altogether stagnant.

Angel Tower

The grotesque form that bubbles out of EVA-00's back in episode #23', a conglomeration of Armisael's dead siblings, immediately after Rei's metaphysical interchange with the 16th concludes, and a matter long perplexing fans. Infrequently referenced by its Japanese equivalent, "shito no tou" 使徒の塔. Coined by Reichu.

Angelic Days

See Love Eva.

Anti-shipping

See Shipping.

AWL

Amanda Winn Lee, the dub voice of Rei and ADR director for the English adaptation of the two movies (and unofficially for parts of the TV series). She has earned a harsh reputation among most of us geeks for a number of reasons — most highlighted by her Commentary of Evil. This acronym is particularly useful because, as tv33 put it, “Her true name is too evil to be typed in full.”

Apostle

The literal translation of "shito" 使徒, although "Angel" is used instead as the official English-language counterpart. (See e.g. the OP sequence and computer screens throughout the show.) The term "Angel" creates significant confusion among fans due to the fact that, for the majority of the time, it's used to reference Adam and her offspring (it's "us vs. them" = "humans vs. Angels") -- sometimes implicitly just the latter -- only to have Misato later reveal that "we humans" are the 18th Angel. (And Lilith is, of course, the 2nd, though never directly stated in the show.)

• The entire issue of what "human" and "Angel" actually mean aside, we are left with one other problem: There isn't any term that refers specifically to Adam's children, Angels #3 through #17. As I thought it would lend some long-needed clarity to fan discussion, I proposed the utilization of "Apostle" as the easiest and most straightforward option.

AU

Alternate Universe. This acronym is certainly nothing new, but in NGE fandom it specifically refers to the infamous sequence from episode #26, wherein we get a frightening glimpse of what NGE might have been like were it a teenage school romance/comedy… without Evas or Nerv, and with a Rei who is Rei in appearance only. A lot of people seem to think that this sequence is the pinnacle of the series, but Reichu thinks that said people are all missing the point. This particular AU was elaborated upon in the video game Girlfriend of Steel 2, but… well, look here.

• The live action sequence that was cut from EoE could also be considered AU.

BIB

Big Irony Bomb. I.e., this.

Bridge Bunnies

The operators of the command center in general, but more specifically Maya, Aoba, and Hyuga. No one seems to remember where the term originated.

Bridge Entity

Coined term used to describe a being who physically spans, in essence, the gap between Adam and Lilith. According to the premises involved: Kaworu is one, resulting from the fusion of Lilim genes into one of Adam's ova, thereby producing a hybrid organism via "immaculate conception". EVA-01 is the other, as, here, suggestions that she is merely a "clone" or "copy" of Lilith are rejected, and instead she is considered a surrogate daughter -- an otherwise normal Eva (i.e., based on the Adam template) generated by Lilith.

Commentary of Evil

A term, popularized by Dr. Nick, that refers to the notorious commentary track spanning Manga Entertainment's two NGE releases (Death & Rebirth and End of Evangelion), featuring the ever-insightful Amanda Winn Lee, Jason C. Lee (her husband and dub voice of Aoba), and Taliesin Jaffe (who does… something or other). While the track has some comedic merit, it is good for little else, packed head-to-toe with misinformation and shameless endorsement of the movies' dub (which even NGE dubbies tend to agree is a disappointment!) and the oftentimes horrifying decisions she made producing it (including this one). Jaffe gets a break because he at least attempted to present some worthwhile material, even if he wasn't 100% on track either (“Samhel”?). For something meant to accompany a very complicated and serious work of art, their commentary is offensively inadequate. Adding insult to injury, of course, is the fact that many of the poor n00bs who listen to it will, not knowing any better, parrot the commentary's BS until set straight by more wisened geeks.

Duel of the Seeds

The theory that the dominance of Lilith-based life on Earth was determined by the outcome of a primordial battle that took place between Lilith and Adam (with the name referring to the battle itself, as well). We know that Lilith is essentially an imposter on Earth, whose Black Moon collided into the planet (= First Impact) after Adam's own arrival, and that, obviously, the "true successors from the lost White Moon" (Adam's offspring) got the short end of the stick. The show contains an image of Adam being exhumated, wherein the tines of the Spear of Longinus are visible emerging from her back -- i.e., she's skewered on it -- and Shin-seiki offered, way back, that Lilith is the one who did the skewering. The concept of a full-fledged duel -- perhaps echoing that between EVA-01 and EVA-02 in #24 -- gained further momentum later, spurred on by glimpses into the NGE2 Classified Information (intimations that every Seed was sent with her own Spear, for example) and various theoretical dabblings. However, once the relevant parts of the CI were fully translated, the only thing that seemed certain was uncertainty.

ED

Ending. I.e., the ending sequence of an anime (you know, the one that has credits and stuff). Genuine anime industry shorthand, BTW.

EGK

Evil Gekijouban* Kyoko(-sama). EGK — which probably resembles a gagging noise on purpose — is the EVA-02 who resulted from a most unfair design overhaul that was somehow deemed necessary for EoE. At best, gekijouban EVA-02 has a slightly modified head design, shrunken pylons, a slight slouch, and the body proportions of a harpy. At worst, the animator of a large number of cuts for the UBF turned her into THIS. :screams in horror:

The latter is so completely abominable, it merits a new acronym: REGK (REALLY Evil Gekijouban Kyoko). What's really strange is that Takeshi Honda did the cited illustration of REGK, along with an illo for the Reprise of Evangelion CD where EVA-02 has the same frelled-up head design. Is he the one responsible for those dodgily-drawn cuts in #25′?!?

• For those not in the know, gekijouban means “theatrical edition” and is generally used in reference to, well, a theatrical adaptation of something that wasn't theatrical to start with — sort of like saying “<title>: The Movie” or “<title>: The Motion Picture”. With regards to NGE, it refers to both D&R and EoE — but, here, we specifically mean EoE, since it's, you know, the NGE movie.

EMF

Eva Monkey Forums. Although an "Eva"-exclusive forum with Reichu as a mod (always a good thing, right? …right?) and notable member overlap with ANF, it doesn't see as much activity and suffers from some problems, like frequent downtime (due to some unfortunate technicality), a rather fragmented layout, and an emoticon selection that stinks like a Vogon's armpit. On the plus side, you can actually use curse words and mention things like Amazon and E-bay, and there is no thread culling!

• EMF is currently down, and the latest word from EM himself is that it might not be back.