gothmaoist

qmisato

Some insight into the guns used in Evangelion and the obscene amount of detail that goes into them.

Gendo carries a CZ-75 pistol. As its name implies, this is an old gun, designed in 1975 under a secret patent. Currently, this the most popular handgun in the Czech Republic, where it was first designed.

Misato carries a Heckler & Koch USP, a personal handgun distinguished from the standard issue Glock 17s all NERV personnel carry. The H&K is a German gun, implying that she’d obtained it during her military stay in Germany.

Ritsuko carries an R-92 revolver, an obscure conceal carry originally intended for Soviet security in the 1990s. It’s not widely distributed, and has been put into disuse after the advent of the Udar revolver, so it’s uncertain as to how Ritsuko acquired such a rare gun in the first place.

In the show, Kaji’s gun is never actually revealed even though he is shown adjusting it in Episode 15. In Rebuild, Kaji pulls out a Heckler & Koch USP at an unknown assailant. Because Eva is so painstakingly detail-oriented and because of Kaji’s uncharacteristic show of fury, this leads many Japanese fans to speculate that this H&K is actually Misato’s gun that Kaji is using temporarily for whatever reason.

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ritsumaya2

fakespacegirl fakespacegirl

Shinji Ikari and Jake English are two extremely feminine, bisexual boys who hate masculinity from the inside out and can’t put into words why they’re so uncomfortable with men and being men. And honestly fandom has failed them and thousands upon thousands of people by celebrating them as gay dudes rather than fledgling trans women, which is exactly what they are. Everyone says, like, “yeah they’re feminine and they don’t like being men” and just stops right there, take that next step, stop celebrating them for being great male characters because they clearly aren’t male, they don’t want to be and they wouldn’t be seen that way if they could help it.

Stop seeing feminine men as great men where you could see them as great women instead.

smallsadpunk smallsadpunk

…

But they’re not… feminine at all… Especially not “”“extremely feminine”“”….????

Also, saying that cis men who are feminine should be considered trans women is Kind Of.

fakespacegirl fakespacegirl

I’m gonna be as polite as I can about this.

I’m an agender trans woman. I made this post, and several others before it, because I see a lot of myself in both of these characters. I see their pain and their struggles and I sympathize with them. I sympathize specifically because they have many of the traits and feelings I did when I still thought I was a cis dude.

These characters are, yes, extremely feminine. Shinji is coded in every possible way as a feminine boy, and yes, the show gets extremely misogynistic with that encoding. It’s pretty disgusting, but that doesn’t take away the fact that someone wrote this character as a boy who isn’t like the other boys. He’s not like the other boys at his school and he’s not like his father and he has more in common with Asuka and Rei- this is intentionally done. He acts in feminine ways and has struggles against his own maleness and the maleness and masculinity of those he encounters. That’s practically what the show is about, “How can Shinji Ikari survive in Gendo Ikari’s man-made nightmare world.” The constrast between them is highlighted with Gendo being masculine and Shinji being feminine. I don’t know how else to explain that.

Jake literally idolizes women. He embraces feminine traits without context or cohesion, he doesn’t feel ashamed of it or insecure about it. He takes the thinnest veneer of masculinity and wears it as femininely as he can, because believe it or not, no, bow ties and “oh golly me” is not masculine in the 21st century. He has been told all his life that he’s a boy and he’s been treated like one, but he doesn’t associate with maleness in meaningful ways. Hussie self-insert Dirk Strider is the only one “teaching him” to be a man, and it’s not really sticking: he’s still got more in common with Jane and Roxy than Dirk, except in the ways that boys are often pushed to be more masculine by other boys. This masculinity has actually caused him problems that he’s been called out for, and not much else- his confrontation with Jane after he forgot her birthday severely affected him, that was the first time he actually hurt a woman and he was very much disturbed by that.

These are a lot of things I have in common with them, so in my opinion, they should be seen as people who are eventually going to look at themselves as I looked at myself and say, “I cannot keep doing this and only this.” I wish that people wouldn’t stop short of that, because it normalizes that struggle with maleness as something for young boys to do and then get over and be men. I think that’s disgusting, personally, but it’s also unneccesary, because you could easily point to these characters and say “they want to be women” and that would very much help people who, like me, struggled with their feelings about their own maleness and how it effects other people and what it commands them to do, like hurt women.

I’m not saying cis men should be considered trans women. I’m saying boys shouldn’t have to be men.

Hope that helps.

ritsumaya ritsumaya

(Scarcely relevant, but friendly reminder that in the second-tier canon NGE2 game, Shinji not only allowed Kaworu to apply make-up, but also agreed to allow Kaworu to do so in the future and seemed ridiculously pleased at the result.)

Source: renewal-return

ritsumaya2

Anonymous asked:

Hi, I've read some of your analyses, and while I agree with most of them, I really don't get why you label Shinji as misogynistic trash, yes, he does pretty shit stuff to Asuka in EoE but it looks like it comes out as a product of his selfishness and frustration (after all, he's looking for a Kaworu-esque figure in her), he's afraid of Rei after the whole Rei III events, and probably finds Misato's attitude questionable, his actions don't really need misogyny to be explained, can you elaborate?

ritsumaya-deactivated20160612 answered:

(Reminder that I’m mobile posting, that I can’t upload images, and that I apologise in advance if autocorrect screws anything up!)

First of all, I need to specify that I will absolutely defend Shinji to the death in terms of avoidant personality disorder, depression, his passivity and perceived weakness, his selfishness, etc.etc.etc. I also identify heavily with Shinji, so calling Shinji trash is pretty difficult for me. However, Shinji is absolutely misogynistic trash. Surprisingly enough, characters are complex, and while I might adore certain aspects of a character, I hate others. My friends are well aware of much I like Shinji. Unfortunately, whenever I end up discussing him, I typically end up doing so within the context of misogyny, simply because I’ve been mostly doing Asuka analysis recently (on the other hand, my analysis of Shinji in my Hedgehog’s Dilemma post is much more positive, precisely because I’m analysing it from his perspective rather than from Asuka’s.)

(In fact, it’s Shinji’s flaws that make him interesting. But it’s the misogyny that I cannot forgive.)

Shinji more or less views the women in his life as sexual objects. From his initial encounter in Rei’s apartment (clenching the hand that held Rei’s breast and glancing towards Rei when the First Children dresses; certainly, he looks forward again, but it’s with this sense of desperately wanting to look back, tied down simply because that’s not societally appropriate) to his actions with Asuka, wherein he consistently focuses on her breasts and other feminine assets (there’s that sequence in End of Evangelion where we cut between flashes of Shinji’s eyes to extremely objectifying shots of Asuka, while Asuka yells at him and he completely ignores her; you can see my full analysis of it in my Asuka masterpost), Shinji suffers from male entitlement issues. Hell, the entire Hell Kitchen in End of Evangelion is Asuka trying to give Shinji as advice (in her typical brusque manner, which is also a character flaw on her part) and Shinji choking her to get her to shut up because he refuses to listen.

I mean, there’s also the whole scene on the train where we see Shinji visualising Misato, Asuka, and Rei naked and smiling, as Shinji angrily accuses them of keeping things vague behind smiles, which sounds like typical friendzoned dudebro rhetoric, as he tells them to speak to him because he feels awkward and later one when he responds to all of Asuka’s legitimate criticisms of his behaviour with, Then try being nice to me. That speaks, to me, of male entitlement and misogyny, to a point where Asuka calls him out on it.

That’s not even beginning to breach the whole masturbate over a comatose teammate whose entire arc concerns not being seen as a human thing. Saite da, orrete indeed. (This also isn’t even counting Shinji’s whole combat is a man’s job! stuff in the sixteenth episode, since that’s a result of his false confidence and he doesn’t really bring that kind of stuff up again.)

I used to be fourteen, anon. I used to be as misogynistic and shitty as Shinji, actually, and I know how easy it is and how good it feels to be misogynistic. I’ve gotten better. A lot better. People change. I went from trash to not-trash. So can Shinji, and post-Instrumentality, he probably will. Shinji in the new theatricals isn’t misogynistic at all from what I can tell, either, so please don’t confuse my yelling at anime Shinji for my lack thereof at Rebuild of Evangelion Shinji.

I love Shinji a lot, anon. But he is misogynistic and he is trash in that respect and I will call him trash for that specifically. He is a wonderful character, and person, in other respects. His selfishness, his filtration of reality, all of his flawsthey’re what make him an interesting, realistic, complex character. Misogyny, however realistic, is something that I can and will call him out on. I’m sorry if that bothers you, anon. Just wait until my character analysis of Shinji!

ritsumaya2

Anonymous asked:

Hi there! I really adore your eva analysis and I was wondering if you'd ever written anything on the subject of Yui Ikari. (I looking around for something relating to that, but I didn't find anything! My mistake if you have and I missed it somehow.) If you ever have the time, would you ever considering writing something regarding her potential motivation or role in NGE? I'd love to hear your thoughts on her! Either way, I love your blog! uvu

ritsumaya-deactivated20160612 answered:

Ahh, goodness gracious! Thank you so much for the kind words, and I’m terribly sorry about the late response. I’ve been mostly internet-less for half a month now (the occasional post you see might either my queue or one of the few times in which I have the time/ability to write

Regarding Ikari Yui (by the way, Ikari Yui »»» Ayanami Yui for a variety of reasons), I haven’t written an analysis specific to her, but I have written on her during my Hedgehog’s Dilemma essay. It’s mostly about how Ikari Gendo and Fuyutsuki Kozo misinterpret who Yui is and what her goals are, so you’ll probably find your answer there. If not, toss me another ask (don’t be shy! It won’t be a bother at all, I promise! I love analysing EVA).

Relevant section under the cut.

kainguroo

wait in rebuilds did they change her name to Ayanami Yui b/c that is some bullshit

ritsumaya

Haha yeah Rebuild Yui is “Ayanami Yui” complete with

a complete lack of agency during the Zeruel fight (so much for eldritch horror Yui)
related: a lack of her agency earlier, such as her protecting Shinji from the falling rocks
a shot of her tied up in the “engine” of Unit 01, implying her to be in great danger as if she were a trapped princess in need of Shinji’s saving
a lack of implication of Yui intending or plotting anything in favour of everything being Gendo’s fault with Yui having no input whatsoever.

It’s possible that Fuyutsuki was lying his ass off to Shinji to prompt Shinji to do things in an attempt to save hte mommy or otherwise manipulate Shinji and that eldritch horror Yui will rise in 4.44, but given the robbing of her agency in the Zeruel fight in favour of “GIVE AYANAMI BACK OR I WILL SET THE ENTIRE WORLD ON FIRE RISE UP YOUNG BOY AND MAKE YOURSELF THE SHOUNENSHIT HERO”, I think that the EVA team merely simplified the roles of both Yui and Gendo into the damsel in distress and the Evil Father Overlord [adjusts glasses] that the fans made the characters out to be.

(Gendo is indeed an asshole, but he’s a complex asshole, dammit.)

I swear, the New Theatricals are basically a fucking experiment in the filtration of reality. “Oh this is what you kids thought that so and so character should be? Here you fuckin’ go! Enjoy! Gotta go save your imprisoned mother Shinji-kun!”

Dammit, Anno, when did Rebuild turn into the third Pokémon film?

ritsumaya2

Anonymous asked:

I have not watched EVA. But I have been extremely curious about it, and read up on it a lot (including all of your analysis posts). It all seems very interesting, but the reason I've not watched it is I've seen gifs from both the anime and various films depicting the child characters sexually-- which makes me very, very uncomfortable. Can you speak to how common that is, how objectified their bodies are in those scenarios, and your thoughts on it?

ritsumaya-deactivated20160612 answered:

Oh my. That question’s a bit of a doozy, and I’m glad that someone has asked this. A bit of analysis and personal rambling under the cut, with warnings for #misogyny, #objectification, and the like. I will not include any images, because I have no interest in spreading nsfw stuff on my blog, but there will be some in-depth discussion.

davidwave4

I’d just add that 99%of the fanservice of the actual show is set up as a form of critique, not for superficial reasons. Things like Shinji falling on a naked Rei are set up as precursors to Anno’s full scale deconstruction of the male gaze/sexualizing mentality. Shinji is, at first, posed as the stereotypical male figure (for the male viewers to identify with) and then systematically inverted, systematically “queered” to the point where the viewer has to confront their notions of sexuality as a human lens. I can’t think of another show (anime or not) that does this.

ritsumaya

While I would agree that a lot of the fanservice is there to set up for a critique thereof, including the Rei scene (with Shinji looking at zir through his father’s glasses, when Shinji must later reject Gendo’s life path), I would not exaggerate that to be 99%. There’s still a lot of completely unnecessary fanservice in the anime that exists to … well, be fanservice. For example, in the very opening, do we really need to see Misato’s breasts outlined despite the rest of her being in silhouette? And so on.

One should face the reality of their favourite anime series as well. Evangelion isn’t perfect, and to gloss over its flaws is to gloss over the show as far as I’m concerned.

ritsumaya2

Anonymous asked:

Hi! I love your analyses on Evangelion. Forgive me if I just skipped over it, but if you have not done so, would you mind explaining what the "Cruel Angel's Thesis" really is, in and of itself, if there is one? Would it be considered the conflict of the Angels vs. Lilin, maybe even something with Kaworu and Shinji's relationship, especially in Episode 24, etc? (I've yet to watch the Rebuilds, sorry if they answered this!) Also, would you ever think of analyzing the theme song itself?

ritsumaya-deactivated20160612 answered:

Thank you so much! I’m glad that you’re enjoying my analyses. Ahh hm, well, I did write an entire analysis breaking down the main theses of Evangelion, but to recap:

We (humanity) filter reality in order to pick out whatever we want to see of our lives and of other people.
This makes us unwilling to see one another as they truly are and unwilling to allow others to see our true selves.
This isolates us and causes us to become depressed, seek validation from any source, and lash out at others, starting up a vicious cycle of false confidence followed by destruction, which can eventually lead to us hurting each other and ourselves to a point of death.
In order to break out of this cycle, you have to accept reality for what it is. You have to reject the mother (reject the safety of escapism and the womb of unconditional love and safety).
You have to learn to love yourself. And then you have to live life, understanding that you’ll be seeking happiness forever and that you’ll continue to hurt one another.
But if you love yourself and if you understand that the journey (life) is more important than the destination (happiness, which isn’t guaranteed), then you will most likely learn to love others and one day attain True Happiness in the Real World instead of false validation and isolated escapism.
Don’t die. Live. And love yourself. The true you, not any kind of false you, but the you that you are. And then make yourself better, loving yourself.

That’s it. That's Evangelion. The other things that you mentioned (Kaworu and Shinji’s relationships, the conflict between the angels and the lilim, etc.) are all parts that somehow figure into the larger thesis of rejecting escapsim/suicide and loving yourself.

And the New Theatricals don’t actually answer, ahem, much of anything. Actually, the themes of Evangelion kind of left the building as of the Rebuilds. That might change come 4.44, so I’m going to reserve judgment until then.

if you’re asking about the theme song, then, as a matter of fact I could analyse it to show you how the thesis that I summarised above is actually written all over the lyrics! I’ve been searching for a good English and/or Russian translation of the original Japanese, though, and so far I haven’t been able to find an accurate translation. I have a translatorfriend who might be willing to help (faun has translated “Thanatos” for me and I still need to wrap up and post my analysis of that).

ritsumaya2

Anonymous asked:

ritsumaya-deactivated20160612 answered:

Regarding Ikari Yui (by the way, Ikari Yui »>>>> Ayanami Yui for a variety of reasons), I haven’t written an analysis specific to her, but I have written on her during my Hedgehog’s Dilemma essay. It’s mostly about how Ikari Gendo and Fuyutsuki Kozo misinterpret who Yui is and what her goals are, so you’ll probably find your answer there. If not, toss me another ask (don’t be shy! It won’t be a bother at all, I promise! I love analysing EVA).

Relevant section under the cut.

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Anonymous asked:

ritsumaya-deactivated20160612 answered:

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skywhaler-deactivated20161127 asked:

Wait, you hate 2.22? Mind if I ask why? I got into eva because I saw the fight scene with zeruel from 2.22 on youtube and was like "I NEED to watch this", so all of my eva experience was constructed around building up to understanding and appreciating that one scene, and it became my favorite movie ever made because of it. My judgement mightve been clouded because I wanted to enjoy it too much. So is there something problematic about it?

ritsumaya-deactivated20160612 answered:

Ahh! Okay, allow me to clarify: I don’t hate 2.22. When I speak of fandoms about which I’m passionate I often use words to distinguish between my feelings for various iterations/aspects of EVA. 2.22’s a fantastic film; however, 2.22 is also my least favourite Rebuild, because frankly they tried to do too much and ended up doing too little.

I should write up a full review/analysis of 2.22, but let me just list some of the things that I loved and hated about the film (my personal favourite film ever made is End of Evangelion, with the Hell Kitchen-plus-“Komm, susser Tod” sequence more or less mirroring your feelings on the Zeruel scene).

I also haven’t seen 2.22 in a couple months, so if I say anything incorrect/miss something important, sorry.

kuribo4indahouse

Very interestin analysis!

My thoughts:

“I wanted to see Gendo and Shinji interact”

Here I disagree. You can (not) advance, no matter how much you try with that fucker. In fact he advances in the opposite direction in 3.0.

“(By the way, we still don’t have an explanation for Mari being able to pilot 02. What the fuck.)”

When Eva-02 is prepared for her they put another core in it. They also talk about it in the background.

“The test plug suit”

I took it as a way of symbolyzing rape in the following scene. Something truly traumatizing. I hope the effect on her gets explored during Instrumentality.

“Violence against women.”

I didn’t see it as violence against women at all.

“The unnecessary panty shot/etc. with Asuka.”

She is sexually attracted to Shinji in that scene. She is a teenager. That’s what that meant. I am not really angry in that scene BUT I wouldn’t put something like that in my film…if I make a film some day.

ritsumaya

Hm, let’s see.

Well, I wanted to see Gendo and Shinji interact because I was very intrigued at the entire Yui/Rei overlay sequence. I very much like Rei and Gendo dining together, and I figured that it’d be very interesting to make Gendo more of a grey morality (not that he already wasn’t in the anime). I suppose that I’m slightly miffed that that never went anywhere. I didn’t really go far on that bullet point, because that was more of an aside than anything else.
Since Mari apparently smuggled herself into Japan, why would they use her at all? There’s a trace of illogic that follows her the entire way through. Can I see the bit about the new core being put in? If I’m wrong, then I’m wrong. Thank you for correcting me.
In what manner does this symbolise rape? No, seriously: Asuka mentioned her discomfort with the outfit after an extended shot that included focus on her breasts and butt-crack (ugh), but in what manner does that symbolise rape? What would “rape”-ing Asuka do for her narrative? What is the point of the symbolism? And that just feeds into my point about Bardiel no longer focusing on Asuka but on Shinji. Yes, the original episode eighteen focused on Shinji, but they used Asuka and gave her explicit development and then decentralised the entire sequence that should have been a pivotal point for her.
If you don’t see it as violence against women, could you explain, actually referencing my post?
And so you would display a character’s sexual attraction to another character by giving the audience a shot of her panties? I don’t follow the logic.

ritsumaya2

Anonymous asked:

do you think that, based off your eva analysis and the hedgehog's dilema, toji doesnt show up in nge after the angel attack bc he came over the hedgehog dilema? like.. he is pretty much the only character ive seen in neg who has been able to take the reality of others and accept it, before eoe.

ritsumaya-deactivated20160612 answered:

Mm, you know, I honestly hadn’t quite considered that before. It’s true that Toji appears more down to Earth and ready to accept reality as is.

Yet Toji, too, is a product of the constraints placed upon him in the Hedgehog’s Dilemma society, regarding the manner in which he filters reality through “violence” and his seemingly intrinsic masculinity. On the former he not only hits Shinji to work out his emotions but also has Shinji hit him back in order to establish a line of communication between them, and so on: Since he cannot interact with another human being on an emotionally open level, he does so via the proxy of “masculine” contact (e.g. violence). Indeed, by placing full responsibility of his sister’s hospitalisation on Shinji, Toji narrows a grey worldview (what about the angel? What about NERV having forced Shinji to pilot? Could Toji have acted more responsibly during the attack and thereby prevented his sister from being wounded? and so on) into an extremely black-and-white portrait that transfers the full weight of responsibility to Shinji. Unfairly to Shinji. Narrowing one’s perception of reality? Hm.

His blatant refusal to consider anything feminine (a trait carried over for comedic purposes to the Rebuilds) is linked to his filtration of reality. In this case he has squeezed himself into the box of masculine-approved activities and feelings, perceiving his world as split into a non-existent duality.

Moreover Toji suffers from the Hedgehog’s Dilemma as well. Not only does he hide the truth of his pilothood from Kensuke and Shinji (the former of which is wholly apathetic, the latter of which does not know and cannot ask Toji why he’s been so downcast recently, because that would open a mode of communication unacceptable to a reality filtered through “masculinity”), but he and Hikari likewise dance through their communication with one another. Hikari communicates through her filtration of reality. Toji, through his. As a result their “relationship” is one of gently dancing around each other instead of truly expressing their feelings.

The sequence of Hikari humming happily as she prepares lunch, firm in her belief that she has at last made a break-through in her relation with Toji, while Toji is nearly dying in the EVA, is horrifying.

Hedgehog’s Dilemma indeed.

Yet Toji also takes part in one of the most bizarre sequences in all of Evangelion. While in the hospital, Toji has a moment of pre-Instrumentality, where he momentarily exists in the boundaries of Shinji’s Hell Train. The sequence itself is brief: Toji recognise Shinji and wonders what they’re doing here. But given what we know of Instrumentality—specifically, what Instrumentality represents (gaining empathy first for yourself and then for everyone)—that short clip supports that Toji has begun to resolve the Hedgehog’s Dilemma and cease to filter his reality.

Canonically, he and Kensuke aren’t seen again. Toji’s hospitalised and eventually moves away. Kensuke also moves away. Hikari sticks around enough to provide an escape for Asuka, but after Asuka flees the Horaki household, they, too, move away (taking Pen² with them). At least they’re around in Instrumentality.

Did I miss anything? Please let me know! At any rate, thank you for the interesting question: I love talking about minor characters.

ritsumaya2

hylean asked:

what are nerv's (specifically, gendo's) and seele's actual goals in eva, and how exactly do they oppose each other? how do these goals differ in the eva movies?

ritsumaya-deactivated20160612 answered:

Ah, all right. I think that I did talk about this briefly in one analysis, but I’ll go more into depth here. I’m writing this on mobile, so apologies for the lack of pictures and formatting and double apologies if autocorrect fudges anything up!

In Neon Genesis Evangelion, SEELE believes that Instrumentality and the return to Lilith is the correct path for humanity to take. In NGE2, the second-tier canon video game that was heavily influenced and partially written by the Project EVA staff, we witness SEELE’s version of Instrumentality, wherein they utilise Tabris/Nagisa Kaworu/Adam (as opposed to Ayanami Rei/Lilith) as the quantum messenger. Under SEELE’s command, the souls are harvested, with the souls of the members of SEELE surviving as immortal beings while the rest of humanity dies. In the anime, Ikari Yui opposes their goals and intends for an Instrumentality for everyone, which suggests that SEELE did it not plan to include all of humanity, which in turn supports NGE2’s explanation of SEELE’s intentions to be canonical. However, SEELE’s dialogue in End of Evangelion appears to suggest otherwise; the film portrays SEELE as a deeply religious organisation who sincerely believed in Instrumentality, perhaps because the members’ own hearts were empty and desiring death/escapism. I view SEELE as a combination of both: Given Yui’s commentary, I think that either SEELE initially intended the selves-as-gods Instrumentality and later changed their minds (after Yui’s death), OR that SEELE intended the selves-as-gods Instrumentality but recognised that plans had shifted as of End of Evangelion, prompting SEELE to simply be content with being tanged themselves.

The director’s cut of the twenty-fourth episode includes a very misleading conversation between Kaworu and SEELE. During the conversation, SEELE claims to support the angels as the true successors and assures Kaworu that the members do not plan to utilise Unit 01 as their private ark. Yet SEELE is lying blatantly to Kaworu in an attempt to manipulate Kaworu into taking out Gendo (re: NGE2). Kaworu, of course, listens very patiently to them, nods, smiles, and proceeds to dive into Terminal Dogma because the Fifth Children is suicidal and intends to return to being one with Adam because of that heart, overflowing with sorrow, as Rei puts so eloquently in End of Evnagelion. Anyway, the reason that I bring this up is because SEELE lies directly to Kaworu about the support of the angels and Gendo’s purpose. Hence, it is reasonable to interpret that SEELE likewise lied about not wanting to use Unit 01 as a private ark to ride out Instrumentality. Ikari Yui actually ends up using Unit 01 as an ark and becomes immortal in End of Evangelion, but I’ve already commented on Yui’s grey morality.

Now, Gendo. Gendo intended to use Rei to control Instrumentality; that’s why he implanted Lilith’s soul into the body and raised the First Children to be perfectly obedient to him. That’s also why he split Lilith’s soul in two, because a partial soul is less responsive and volatile than a full soul, hence, obedience. His specific goal was to reunite with Yui and spend eternity with her. This implies that he only wanted partial Instrumentality, so that he could still conceptualise the difference between himself and Yui. In any case, Rei III more or less gave him the metaphorical finger, took in Adam/Kaworu’s soul, and returned to Lilith.

In the Rebuilds/new theatrical versions, SEELE is implied in the third film to no longer have corporeal forms and to have somehow watched over humanity for quite a while. While the Illuminati nature of SEELE may explain the latter, the former is a bit more questionable. SEELE does not seem to be antagonistic and appears to wish for Instrumentality again, this time genuinely believing that Instrumentality and/or infinity is the way to go. It’s unclear if SEELE would prefer the former or the latter, but based upon the anime, it’s most probably the former.

Regarding the latter: The third film revealed that the Third Impact caused the proliferation of EVA-based life, being the combination of the Fruits of Life and Knowledge possessed by the angels and lilim, respectively. Because the Third Impact was stopped, the remains of the failed Impact are known as the failures of infinity.

As for Gendo’s plan, all we know is that he intends to reunite with Yui, that he lied to SEELE and purposefully interfered with both SEELE and Kaworu/Shinji’s plans in order to take out SEELE and Kaworu, and that he will put his true plan in motion in the fourth film.

(Kaworu/Shinji, by the way, intended to use the Lances of Longinus and Cassius to in some manner reverse or undo the effects of Third Impact. The most likely explanation is that Kaworu wanted to use Shinjiwielding the Fruit of Knowledgeto cause another Impact, this time lilim-based, since Impacts also terraform the planet. The effects of the Lance of Cassius are unknown at this time. Basically, Kaworu decided to give SEELE and NERV metaphorical middle fingers and fly away with Shinji in the sunset. Except that Kaworu was grossly misinformed, both on the Lances and on Shinji’s status as a F.A.R.)

We won’t actually be able to answer these questions until the fourth film comes out. So ask again then, and I’m sorry for being inconclusive!

See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

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