Rusted rails. Further in, new urban transportation.
Announcer:““…a special state of emergency has been declared for the Kanto and Chubu regions…””
Reichu: Wada-kun's notes from the Literal Translation Project tell us:
Tokai is the district between Tokyo and Nagoya. Kanto and Chubu contains Tokai and the large area north of it.
thewayneiac: The figure running across the tracks in the background is a nice touch.
Reichu: I always wondered who that was. Considering that the city is completely abandoned, and apparently evacuated at great haste (people even left their cars right in the middle of the streets), what is this random person doing running around?
Dr. Nick: Looters, maybe?
Gundampilotspaz: It looks to me as if whoever it is, is running away. It must be just some poor soul who couldn't get to a shelter fast enough.
Shin-seiki: Could it be Shinji? Scenario: Shinji arrives at the train station, Misato isn't there waiting for him; he gets spooked by the emergency declaration, and goes looking for a pay-phone to see what's up with her. She arrives at the station after he left, and we first see her driving thru town, looking for him (“Why did I have to lose him now…”). Then we see him at the pay-phone, where, in short order, he meets Rei, Sachiel, and, just in the nick of time, Misato.
Reichu: Except, when we see Shinji, he has a large tote with him, which is not evident in the running figure. Aside from that problem, I like your theory; I was always wondering why Shinji was waiting for Misato at some random pay phone.
Brendan Brown: I got the impression that Shinji rode the rails as far as he could before they were all shut down.
Mr. Tines: And then maybe started to walk/hitch, given that she's having to search for him, but has some idea of where the rendezvous was expected.
Hexon.Arq: Where did Shinji come from originally, anyway?
Mr. Tines: The manga gives “Musashino, Tokyo 180”as the district part of the address on the letter he's carrying.
