From Episode 21...

Gendo, "Oh no, this isn't Shinji..."

Gendo is wearing a lab coat & is standing beside Rei-1.  Gendo has his
HAND on Rei-1's SHOULDER (NOT her head).  Gendo is NOT leaning over to
rest his hand on Rei-1's shoulder, but IS bending his elbow UPWARD to
rest his hand on Rei-1's shoulder.  Rei-1's chin is about level with
the fork (or crotch) in Gendo's pants, & the top of her head is about
where Gendo's belt should be.

Comparing this 'first introduction' illustration of Rei-1 beside
Gendo, with your 'Trinity' illustration & official cast drawings of
Rei-2 beside Gendo, I can only conclude that the 'Chibi-Rei' shown in
'Trinity' is MUCH smaller than Rei-1 was, when Rei-1 was first
introduced in the TV series.

Example, going by 'Trinity', the top of Chibi-Rei's head would NOT
come up to Gendo's belt, but would be about level with the fork (or
crotch) in Gendo's pants, indicating that Chibi-Rei is a head SHORTER
than Rei-1 was.

If 'Chibi-Rei' was drawn as being smaller than Rei-1 (about the size a
five-year old would be, as compared to the size of a 10 year old ???),
that MAY have something to do with the number of years since the
'creation' of the mind/person that is 'Rei', rather than the actual
'size' or apparent age of the body 'Rei' was in.

Then again...

The Japanese 'age celebration' for children is called 'shichi-go-san',
& refers to the set of 'lucky numbers' of seven, five & three. (7, 5,
3).  The festival occurs in Mid-November, & children aged seven, five
& three make visits to shrines to celebrate their 'luck' in reaching
the ages in question.  There may be other Cultural attachments, but
that's it in a nutshell.

While the ages of 3 & 7 may be irrelevant, the age of 5 MAY have
significance to how 'Chibi-Rei' was drawn in the Train & Mind
sequences.

The Japanese phrase, 'gozou-roppu', starts with the character for 5.
One meaning of this phrase is, "inside one's mind"...

Could the use of NGE characters drawn as five-year olds be influenced
by the above expression?  Or possibly be related to some other
cultural or psychological development milestone?

At what age DO we develop a clear cut sense of 'self' & 'others'?

Also re your 'Trinity' image...

Rei-3 has a navel.  This is usually a physical remnant that indicates
where a child was attached to a placenta via an umbilical cord...
Depending on how the Clones were created, such things may or may NOT
have been required.

Question?  IF as some people have indicated, the creation of the
clones from Lillith did not require 'traditional' umbilical cords or
placentas (or items with similar effects & purposes), why would the
Clones have navels?  Plastic surgery to make them look more human?  I
note that some of  the Clones in the Dummy Plug lab appear to have
navels, although many of the images of them
don't clearly indicate this.

As to the Lance being a 'paralytic agent', animals that are capable of
regenerating limbs exhibit the phenomena known as 'stump current',
where the stump of a severed limb has curious electrical properties.
Adult Humans have a LOW 'stump current', & cannot regenerate lost
limbs, although children & babies have a higher 'stump current' & have
been known to regrow the tips of severed fingers.

If the Lance was some sort of 'interruption' to Lillith's normal body
functions, then the appearance of multiple limbs might be proof of
Lillith attempting to regenerate herself, but being prevented by the
Lance.  Especially since Lillith 'regenerated' immediately the Lance
was withdrawn.

Ritsuko bends slightly when saying hello to Rei-1, & I must question
if *I* was correct in it being a 'Maternal - Adult to Child' response.
On reflection, it could be a 'bow', a form of Japanese Politeness.
That could be relevant, IF Ritsuko (the young new-comer) was trying to
be polite in front of Gendo, her superior at the office.  (It never
hurts to ingratiate yourself with your boss by being nice to the
boss's kids...)

Hope this clears things up somewhat.

Yours, dbmacpherson@INHIBITIONSuq.net.au
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