FGC:OP Cut 025

Screenshots	Cut #	Description/Dialogue	Commentary
	025	EVA-01 turning around. SE <<>>	Reichu: A very dynamic shot, taken from C-266 in episode #02. (According to the storyboards, the original plan was to use #02/C-260 here.) Since the OP is liberally showing off EVA-01 (NGE's iconic central mecha), this seems like an opportune place to mention some things about the Evangelions' design. Common "wisdom" holds that they (or the first four Evas, anyway) were based upon the so-called “Barons of Hell”, but this appears to be nothing but unsubstantiated Internet rumor (see here). The burden of proof is on this rumor's proponents, and unless they can turn up actual evidence (and any sources related to NGE don't count), this idea should be disregarded as another unfortunate n00bism. What is known, however, is that the Evas were fundamentally based upon the oni (commonly translated as “demon” or “ogre”, but actually a specific type of Japanese monster). Says Anno-kantoku himself (in an interview published in Aerial Magazine): "There's a monster in Japan called the Oni; it has two horns sticking out of its head and the overall image of the Eva is based on that. I also wanted to give the impression that beneath this ‘robot monster’ image is not so much a robot, but a giant human." An early sketch Anno did of an Eva clearly betrays their oni roots. Working from this basic premise, and corresponding with Anno along the way, Ikuto Yamashita developed the Evas we know and love [with the exception of EoE's “harpies”].* Regarding this task, Yamashita said the following in the first volume of the manga: "So why did Evangelion wind up with that shape?" … The director instructed me to make, “the image of [an oni].” A giant just barely under the control of mankind. I get the feeling I've seen that correlation before … The image I had for the design concept was the fairy tale, Gulliver's Travels. Enormous Power Restrained. … What I came up with was a giant that looks like a relief on a wall. … I happily discarded the efficiency and feeling of giant size that you can guess at by sight alone. … after the designs were handed in, it caused a stir — even among the staff, positive and negative opinions were flying. And from here on out, I imagine it will cause a stir among comic readers and animation viewers." I wonder how much of the “stir” stemmed from the fact that the Evas diverge so heavily from their “giant robot” precursors. They are not boxy, rigid, and robust like traditional mecha, but sinuous, with more flowing curves than straight lines. The “armor” betrays the organic forms that lie beneath, for an Eva is, as Anno said, not a robot but a giant human — a majestic, awe-inspiring combination of athletic gracility and raw savagery. But for all of their human qualities, the way in which these have been exaggerated gives the Evas an uncanny, alien feel. The Evas we see in the show are slightly different from what Yamashita cooked up: They've been streamlined somewhat and are, by and by, far more lean — stretched and pinched until their already wacky proportions are exaggerated further, often to a ludicrous degree. It actually would've been nice if the creators had given the different Evas a range of body builds (harpies and EGK nonwithstanding), rather than adhering (in theory, anyway) to one; that way, we could have had both Yamashita's body-builders and the show's anorexic athletes, among potential others. This conceptual evolution can be seen in the book Sore o nasumono: Shin-seiki Evangelion Concept Design Works. Along with other things, it's interesting to see how the horn configuration changes along the way, finally producing only one horned Eva, Sho here, who is somewhat more evocative of a unicorn than an oni!