FGC:Episode 01 Cut 022

FGC:Episode 01 Cut 022

Screenshots	Cut #	Description/Dialogue	Commentary
	022	A girl standing alone in the middle of the street. (Image of Rei.) From Shinji's POV.	MDWigs: Rei, a symbol of hope, that humanity can come to understand each other. thewayneiac: This shot, together with C-025, establishes from the beginning that there is something unusual and mysterious about Rei. OMF: Straight from Hamlet. The ghostly girl who appears from nowhere, and is gone. So ominous. It definitely gives a "Something is rotten in the state of Toyko-3!" impression. Additional Commentary   Shin-seiki: The Episode Commentary for #01 that comes with Platinum Vol.01 (which is translated from the original that was included with Renewal) has this to say about this cut: When Shinji comes to New Tokyo 3, he sees a girl that seems to be Rei Ayanami for just an instant. Considering how she is injured and wrapped up in bandages, when he later meets her in NERV Headquarters, the natural assumption would be that this was a phantom vision. But in Episode 26', "My True Heart For You," a different possibility is suggested. The girl that appeared for just one cut in this scene may be the Rei Ayanami who is "the existence that gazes upon man." Hmm... I suppose they probably have this in mind, but does anyone have any idea what they're referring to with "the existence that gazes upon man"? The quote doesn't ring a bell with me at all... Kendrix: Looks suspiciously like all these Rei apparitions from EoE, some of which appeared before the actual TI, implying a)temporal transcendence. and b) this being one of them. According to some interpretations, this is both the first time he sees her and the last time she sees him. And he can't recognize her/realize the meaning of this because he hasn't met her yet, which is just plain heartbreaking in an uniquely science-fiction-y way. Note that the second "bookend Rei" is explicitly floating and has her eyes covered by her hair/ classic anime "dark face" while this one is standing on the ground and has her eyes visible. The way she is right in the middle of the street and not anywhere you'd normally walk (the sidewalk, the cross walk...) just reinforces the "ghostly/out of place" look of her figure. That aside, there's also something surprisingly romantic about this when you consider that when Shinji eventually meets her properly, he's gonna have the faint feeling of having seen her somewhere before...~3