and I still don't know what Mari's addition is adding to the narrative.
I used to hate Mari for same reason but she didnā€™t annoy me in me 2.22 last time and she is forgettable in the third film but it does seem by the 10 mins footage she is being set up for a big role in 4.
Do I like her no, but I do now get why people Like her though most because of her VA in JP.
 
I used to hate Mari for same reason but she didnā€™t annoy me in me 2.22 last time and she is forgettable in the third film but it does seem by the 10 mins footage she is being set up for a big role in 4.
Do I like her no, but I do now get why people Like her though most because of her VA in JP.
I worried there wouldn't be enough time to develop another character in the more limited time span of the movies, or that it would be at the expense of the others. Her use in 2.22 was interesting and added to the start of the change in the story, but then she had minimal involvement in the third. It's good that she may be more significant in the last movie, but I still worry that it's been left a bit late. Nonetheless, I refuse to not be optimistic heh.
 
Call me cynical, but I'm pretty sure the main reason Mari exists is so they could market hundreds of figures to fans of big boobs and glasses. When you consider the quarter-century-long industry of churning out countless Rei and Asuka figures, and the catastrophic impact it's had on the world's dwindling supply of plastic, merchandising was bound to have been the main reason for introducing another EVA pilot.

 
Lots to chip in with here. This is probably gonna end up as another one of these unintentionally long posts. šŸ˜…
God help y'all.

Picking up with the Mari thing first and tying it into Geriatric hedgehog's point here...
I find your introduction to and reverse watch order of Eva fascinating!
It was just the way it ended up! šŸ˜†
I ended up an Eva fan, so it certainly did no harm.

But yes, starting as I did with 2.0, Mari is to a certain degree, for me, the original Eva pilot. And I like Mari as a character. Viewing her contribution to Rebuild with an understanding of the original TV series, Mari is very much like the anti-Evangelion factor within Evangelion, without any of the obvious psychological hangups of our other pilots. Personally, I enjoy her carefree nature and abnormal lack of fear.

Moving this on to Dai's take on Mari's purpose in Rebuild...
Call me cynical, but I'm pretty sure the main reason Mari exists is so they could market hundreds of figures to fans of big boobs and glasses.
Anime has certainly relied on merchandising in order to survive ever since Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka effectively undercut his own medium back in the 1960s when selling it to TV stations, but I like to believe that Mari's presence was actually brought about by a more plot-centered need.

You see, there's a pair of books available in Japanese called Evangelion 2.0 Complete Records Collection:
It's a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the second Rebuild film. The "External links" section at the bottom of the above page brings up a translation of the book's content, including an interview with Hideaki Anno.

Link to the page here:
In the section headed Part 3, Anno explains the reasoning behind the new character's creation:

ā€œEver since I started the new films I had decided on this 'one trick' where I would increase the count of female pilots by one with a new character. I felt that there was a danger where, if I didnā€™t do this, I would end up repeating the same story, and be unable to significantly change things. I felt that, even if I had to force it, if I didnā€™t throw a new Eva pilot as an extreme, foreign element into the films, then Eva would not significantly change.ā€

That being said, my attention has recently been drawn to a smartphone game called Evangelion Battlefields.
So far, the game has introduced another two new characters ā€” both female for reasons of marketability, of course.

This seems to have become rather a habit with modern anime and its spin-off media: Can't come up with a compelling story to hold your audience's attention? Just stick some new characters in to generate interest instead, then.

This is why you keep ending up with an overly large cast with not enough plot for everyone to take a proper role in. Some might argue that it's a trap that Eva Rebuild has now slid into, but your individual mileage may vary.
 
Last edited:
To me, that Anno quote suggests he's been making up the story as he goes along again, as he did with major elements of the TV series. The Rebuild movies certainly have the haphazard progression of having been outlined one at a time. This approach is akin to preparing pufferfish while hurtling downhill on a sled in the middle of an avalanche. The question is whether he ever figured out a good reason for Mari to exist after deciding to include her.
 
So...

Sorry to interrupt the discussion (that I haven't even had the chance to chime back in with yet šŸ˜…), but...

I mentioned previously that a reworked "next time" preview for Evangelion 3.0+1.0 had been created for the end of the Evangelion 3.333 re-edit film.

Well, 3.33 was broadcast on Nippon TV in Japan today (yesterday?), and it included the new preview at the end. Here it is:
 
Last edited:
Yeah, the fanservice promise cuts off before the end in that clip, but it's still there.
(Edited the above post with a higher-quality version of the preview.)

Oh, and for the record, the version of 3.33 that was broadcast is a TV version called ā€” wait for it ā€” Evangelion 3.03ā€. (I'm not making this up: I've seen a screenshot of the mid-film title card.)

EDIT: And here it is. It kind of makes a mockery of the "You can (not) redo" sentiment. šŸ˜…
 
Last edited:
I'd imagine that 3.333 is bound to get a home media release at some point; it's another way for Khara to monetise their efforts, after all.

You see, oddly, Khara have changed their minds about Asuka, Mari and Rei's plugsuit colours in 3.33 and have decided to change them for 3.0+1.0. That's required them to retcon them in this new edit of the preceding film. An odd decision. šŸ¤”

In addition to that, I read that the crashed assault craft seen in Lilith's chamber in 3.33 now has a NERV emblem on it... spraypainted over with the letters "WILLE" in 3.333. šŸ˜Æ
 
I'd imagine that 3.333 is bound to get a home media release at some point; it's another way for Khara to monetise their efforts, after all.

You see, oddly, Khara have changed their minds about Asuka, Mari and Rei's plugsuit colours in 3.33 and have decided to change them for 3.0+1.0. That's required them to retcon them in this new edit of the preceding film. An odd decision. šŸ¤”

In addition to that, I read that the crashed assault craft seen in Lilith's chamber in 3.33 now has a NERV emblem on it... spraypainted over with the letters "WILLE" in 3.333. šŸ˜Æ
Ugh, this is what happens when a movie is in production for almost a decade; the director loses all sense of what's actually important and just keeps tinkering endlessly.
 
Ugh, this is what happens when a movie is in production for almost a decade; the director loses all sense of what's actually important and just keeps tinkering endlessly.
It's very reminiscent of George Lucas not being able to leave the original Star Wars films alone.
 
It's very reminiscent of George Lucas not being able to leave the original Star Wars films alone.
I'm not very knowledgeable about Star Wars, but yeah, the term "Lucasing" came to mind to me, too. šŸ˜…

I'll come back to @Dai's original point about merchandising as well when the chance arises.
 
Call me cynical, but I'm pretty sure the main reason Mari exists is so they could market hundreds of figures to fans of big boobs and glasses.
Heheh I forget about the whole merchandising side but that makes perfect sense. Arrghh, I always want to switch off my pessimism in relation to Eva but this doesn't help heh

In the section headed Part 3, Anno explains the reasoning behind the new character's creation:
I can see the point about her inclusion being part of doing a different story but then there was 3.0... (by the way for the third movie I'm waiting for ultimate collector's edition Evangelion Ļ€ version...)

To me, that Anno quote suggests he's been making up the story as he goes along again, as he did with major elements of the TV series.
Given the original series then in my opinion he should not be allowed to create anything in any pre-planned way!

The question is whether he ever figured out a good reason for Mari to exist after deciding to include her.
I certainly hope so, it would be a real shame for a novel character to have had nothing poignant to add given the pedigree of the franchise overall. One thing I wondered about was whether the links between the souls in the Evas and their human pilots would play into her character, given that she has piloted units 2, 5 & 8... But there is just so little about her, though I'm hoping the mystery is with a purpose in mind. Let's see.
 
I mean this (rebuilds) was originally going to be him doing tinkering so isnā€™t that the whole purpose of the rebuilds: and heā€™s doing this all the way through hence why 1:11 or 2.22 even exist. And he is not banning us from watching the old versions like Lucas has
 
I mean this (rebuilds) was originally going to be him doing tinkering so isnā€™t that the whole purpose of the rebuilds: and heā€™s doing this all the way through hence why 1:11 or 2.22 even exist. And he is not banning us from watching the old versions like Lucas has
I agree the overall story absolutely should be different from the TV series. The kind of tinkering I'm talking about is when a movie that had already been delayed a dozen times continued to be delayed while he did things like repainting the colour scheme of costumes. Once mid-production changes reach that level of granularity, it's time to lock off the edit and ship the damn film.
 
What @thedoctor2016 says is true: production on 3.0+1.0 didn't actually start until late 2016 following the release of Anno's live-action Shin Godzilla.

The Eva finale was all ready for a June 2020 release but was put on hold because of Covid. It was then rescheduled for January 2021 but the same happened again. This is why it hasn't released yet.
 
Apologies if this is gobbledegook but attempting to work out how to link videos:


If this works then it's meant to be what I think would make the best alarm clock music to wake up to in the morning relaxed (whilst Supercar's Storywriter from Eureka 7 would be the best way to wake up pumped up heh)
 
Back
Top