One of the most mysterious aspects of how Evangelion became the show we know today is the Tank Images. When the home video version of Episode 23, known as episode 23' or the Director's cut or NPC version, was prepared, mysterious images were added which flashed off and on in the Rei Tank in the background. When they went back and remastered Ep. 23 for Renewal, these images were removed, making the scene resemble the Originally Aired version. We have been unable to find the reason they were removed, but it could simply be because they were hard to see and distracting. The other changes still stood, e.g. there were still many more Reis in the tank. Thus the Renewal/Platinum version of Episode 23 is sort of 23'.1. This article will examine the Tank Images, identifying the easy ones, (these are mostly ones that were lifted from elsewhere in the series, or re-used in the Extended Opening), will theorize about the ones that aren't so easy, and will admit that some can't be made heads or tails of. Ritsuko's dialog will also be provided.
The Images
Ritsuko: "The things here are dummies. And nothing more than parts for Rei."
Note
"Humanity found a god and, in their joy, tried to make it theirs. And so they were punished."
This first one is easy: Adam being excavated in Antarctica.
Note
A closer angle on the above.
Note
This is the above image as it appeared in the Full Opening.
Note
"That was fifteen years ago. The god they had gone to such lengths to find also vanished completely."
This is Adam in Giant of Light form during Second Impact.
The above image as it appeared in the series opening.
Note
The Wings of Light unfold over the doomed Katsuragi Expedition.
Note
The Wings as they appeared in Episode 12.
Note
A satellite view of Second Impact.
Note
And the above as it appeared in the Series Opening.
Note
A newspaper article on Second Impact.
Note
And the above as it appeared in the Full Opening
Note
The United Nations demands answers. According to the script, the man in the foreground is the U.N. Director.
Note
"But then they tried to revive the god on their own."
As it appeared in Episode 21, Keel and Gendo can clearly be seen in the background.
Note
This is the first image with no known counterpart. Under the rightmost Rei's chin you can see a man aparantly staring down at something. The rest of the image is very hard to see.
Note
Once again, there is no clean counterpart to this image. All anyone can see here is bubbles, or perhaps enlarged molecules.
Note
This is Lilith's Head, upside down.
Note
The above image as it appeared in the Full Opening
Note
"That god was Adam. And, from Adam, humans were created in her image. Those were the Evas."
In this image, Eva-01 is literally growing on Lilith.
Note
The above as it appeared in the Full Opening.
Note
Shinji: "People? They're humans?"
A low angle on the above.
Note
This is the above as it appeared in the Full Opening.
Note
Ritsuko: "Yes, they're human."
This is the Secret Dead Sea Scrolls from the opening credits.
Note
The above as seen in the Series Opening
Note
This is the only known version of this image. It seems to be a group of men in heavy overcoats or parkas trudging through the snow. Perhaps it is investigators heading for the sight of second Impact.
Note
"The Evas do not intrinsically have souls, but human souls reside within them."
This image shows a bearded man, but he doesn't seem to be Gendo. In fact, he looks more like Lincoln than anyone else. So it's unknown who he is, as there is no other known version of this image. Another man can be seen in profile in the lower left.
Note
Once again, there is no known counterpart. This is a piece of equipment of some sort. It closely resembles a Russian Soyuz space capsule, but as there is no known reason why it should be one, it's probably something else.
Note
...But you be the judge; this is a Soyuz.
Note
The blob near the top of this image resembles a brain. There is no other version available.
Note
"They were all salvaged."
A man reading a book, which is opened to a page that seems to show embryos in various states of development. Is this tome a part of the Dead Sea Scrolls that explains Angelic Anatomy? Once again, there is no known "clean" counterpart to this image.
Note
This is the only known version. This seems to be a drawing of sunflowers. It's anyone's guess as to why.
Note
These men closely resemble the American, French, and British Seele comitteemen.
Note
At last another image with a counterpart. This is the above from the Full Opening.
Note
"The only vessel that contained a soul was Rei. "
More bubbles, in this "no counterpart" image.
Note
This one is well nigh impossible to see. Someone please tell us what it is. It seems to exist only in this version. Note: some people see the blob in the lower right corner as a woman in an ankle length skirt.
Note
This image, available only in this version, shows another brain, this time in an x-ray or CAT scan.
Note
This one seems to be a model of molecules. There is no known counterpart.
Note
"She was the only one born with a soul. "
This is the most remarkable, and hardest to understand, of all the Tank Images. It exists only in this version. This is Fuyutsuki's report on second Impact, but it has a different photograph clipped to it. (The original was a picture of the Giant of Light.) This change must have been deliberate. It seems to show an object floating in water. There is nothing else here to provide scale, so we can't even judge its size. It's unknowable what this thing is, but as it's clipped to Fuyutsuki's report, it must have some connection with Second Impact. Here are two likely theories:
1. It's Misato's escape capsule.
2. As we know that Second Impact scattered Adam's embryonic children about the world to begin their incubation period, it might be an egg-case containing an Angel (or the Adam Embryo itself, or even Kaworu.)
In the absence of any other proof, these must remain theories.
Note
Fuyutsuki's report as it appeared in Episode 21.
Note
"The Chamber of Guf had been emptied."
This looks like one of the large steel doors in Nerv Headquarters. You can see the number "42" written on it. We have no other version.
Note
"The Rei-like things here have no souls."
Yui, who secretly plans to remain inside Eva-01, bids Gendo farewell before her contact experiment. The script refers to the outfit she is wearing as a "Divesuit", rather than a Plugsuit. Apparantly it was specificly designed for contact experiments rather than piloting. It seems to be equiped with wings.
Note
The above as it appeared in the Full Opening.
Note
A close shot of the above. No clean version exists.
Note
"They're just vessels."
A photograph of Yui on a report of some sort, or perhaps an Id card.
Note
The above as it appears in the Full Opening. Part of the Eva Graveyard is visible in the background.
