Dear Mike, thanks for the points given in your post, & for the
illustration in question!

From looking at your illustration, THAT is the 'Chibi-Rei' from the
train & mind sequences, who is drawn SMALLER than the Rei-1 first seen
beside Gendo.  If you can check the episode where Rei-1 is first seen
beside Gendo, you'll see what I mean, especially if you then compare
the image to any official 'Group height' shot of the cast from EVA.

In the shot I based my height calculations on, Rei-1's head comes up
to about Gendo's belt area, something which the Chibi-Rei shown in
your illustration would NOT be able to do!  The Chibi-Rei in your
image is at least another 'head' size smaller than the Rei-1 I'm
referring to, & going by growth charts, would be much smaller/younger.

As I said earlier, Shinji is drawn at various 'ages' in NGE, & again,
I wonder if there were specific 'cultural' advantages for that.  Or
for that matter, if the sizes used were supposed to be him at some
sort of 'milestone' in his life.

Sorry, I'm not sure of the exact phrase, but there *IS* a celebration
in Japan based on the age of children - something to do with
celebrating 3 different ages (??? 3, 7, 9 ???) sorry, can't remember
the exact details, if I can find it, I'll post it...

However, it's another of the 'Cultural Aspects' that would make more
sense to a Japanese, than to a Foreigner.

Especially if it could be tied into events in Shinji's life!  Example,
instead of Shinji finding something to 'celebrate' about at the ages
in question, all he gets is more 'grief'...  he sees his mother die,
his father leaves him, etc...

As far as Rei's age & sizing goes, as with other Anime productions, I
wouldn't be surprised if continuity was 'compromised' in the story
telling - I'm not sure if the existence of the 'Director's cut' is an
example of this or not - I'll let you decide for yourself whether the
saga of the last 2 TV episodes & subsequent movies fall into this
category.

Then again, perhaps they were cashing in on some sort of '3 Fates'
thing or even a reference to the Triple Goddess of Celtic mythology...
That is, the Maid, the Mother, & the Old Crone - although here using
Chibi-Rei as the innocence/naiveness of the Maid, Rei-2 as the
maternal instinct (I will protect you) of the  Mother, & the wisdom
and/or self-assertiveness of Rei-3 for the Old Crone.

I don't suppose Gainax would have done it deliberately just to get
confused fans to spend their times & bandwidth on it on the Internet?

Re Ritsuko bending down to talk to Rei-1.  She was being 'maternal', &
was doing a common adult to child behaviour.  At least in my mind, her
attitude simply screams out, 'Maternal Instinct Engaged' (Run for your
life, Gendo!  A man taking care of a child is seen as 'suitable
partner material' by many women - if he's a 'father', he's a
'catch'...)

Re Lillith's regeneration...  Was there any illustration of when Rei-2
put the lance INTO Lillith?  Or for that matter any 'canon' about
Lillith's state at the time?  It's just that Lillith DID regenerate
when the Lance was removed, & I'd question if Gendo had the Lance put
in Lillith to slow down any regeneration she was doing, regeneration
that may have been 'prompted' by the attacks of the Angels.

Re our form is limited by our minds - 'Before the Mind shapes the
Body, the Body shapes the Mind' - this comes from an experiment
conducted on baby chimps where the new-born chimp had a collar placed
around it's neck that stopped it from seeing it's own body.  When the
collar was eventually removed, the chimp was unable to co-ordinate
it's own body - limbs etc, as it had grown up without any knowledge or
appreciation of same in its 'world view'.

In a less gruesome manner, people who are seriously 'colour blind' are
used as 'spotters' in Search & rescue operations, because they tend to
identify  things by shape, & not by colour.

Yui produces an AT Field in Unit 1 -  Is it because Unit 1 is
producing the AT Field, at Yui's command?  That is, Yui herself cannot
do it, but utilises the abilities of her new 'body'?

Re physics & EVA's, as we don't know the exact nature of their
construction, we cannot say how it influences their abilities.  If
they incorporate Neutronium as vital parts of their S2 organs, that
would tend to prevent Humanity from building S2 organs.

Rei-3's 'regeneration' in EoE - another question, where did the extra
bio-mass come from?  From bodily reserves, or was it assimilated from
surrounding atmospheric material?  Or for that matter, from the hand
that Gendo so kindly donated?

The more you go into NGE, the more questions there are.  And it kinds
of irks me that there are so many unanswered questions & 'what ifs'
about the show, let alone the cultural icons & references that I won't
'get' because they aren't an integral part of my own culture.

When Lillith took on Rei's (Yui's?) aspect, was that because Lillith
was becoming Rei, or because Rei was becoming Lillith?  Or because the
two were merging together into a greater whole, symbolically changing
their appearance as they did so?

For that matter, the whole Yui-Lillith switch that creates 'Rei'.  If
Lillith was a 'mother' herself, is it relevant that the only Human
souls we KNOW to be part of EVA are both female, & mothers themselves?
Could that be why Yui was absorbed 100% in one go?  Because Asuka's
Unit 0, derived from Adam, wasn't 'wired' to have a 'gender change' in
it's soul, & couldn't properly absorb Asuka's mother?

Perhaps I'm reading too much into the traditional maleness of Adam, &
that Kaworu was male, while Lillith, Yui & Rei are female?

Then again, it could be worse, it could have been a cross-over/rip-off
with Ranma 1/2 or Futabakun change...

Location - Queensland, attend IJC meetings.

Yours, dbmacpherson@INHIBITIONSuq.net.au
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