Happiness is on the way, Catastrophe arrival
Interviewer
In the end, I like the current form of "Ha”. There are many parts where I feel a sense of consistency, a sense of "Oh, so this is how it's going to turn out". But when I ask why, I am always surprised. For example, the part where Rei plans the dinner party is quite memorable but how did that become the center of the drama?
Tsurumaki
I wanted the whole movie to somehow develop as if it was going to be happy until the incident at Unit-03 triggered by the explosion at Unit-04.
"Shinji will not only get along with Rei, but even with Gendo." I wanted the flow of the film to make the audience feel that way.
I wanted a flow that would make the audience feel happy, not in a big way, but in a small way that would warm their hearts.
This time, the top of such happiness is when Rei cooks a meal and welcomes Gendo and Shinji.
Everything seemed to be going well, but then it all came crashing down at once.
I thought it would be more cinematic in structure if the flow headed suddenly toward a catastrophe.
Interviewer
There was a bento scene in the TV series, but having the meal part added to the Unit-03 incident gives it a very unpleasant feeling.
Tsurumaki
The meal part in "Ha" was supposed to be more at first.
There was even a scene of Rei's "garlic ramen with no roast pork" after the Eighth Angel part.
Interviewer
Was the aquarium scene part of that flow?
Tsurumaki
I remember that was an idea that came from Anno.
The episode where they go to the aquarium was in the early stages of the plot, but the meaning changed a lot.
In the beginning, I remember that the idea was to "make Asuka and Shinji get along a little better" or "to send all the children somewhere else, since there is no change if the only place they meet is at school".
As a result, the meaning of the scene changed when Kaji did something a little like preaching.
Interviewer
It seems to lead to the watermelon scene later on.
Tsurumaki
It does, so I thought it was okay.
It became a little more cinematic by having such a long scene.
The other scenes are very short.
Interviewer
The whole view of the plant looks like a sephirothic tree.
Tsurumaki
That was also Anno's idea.
I wanted "Rebuild of Evangelion" to be a more realistic world, so I wanted it to look like a real plant that cleans polluted seas.
However, Anno likes the taste of giving another meaning to the design itself.
For example, he wanted the Arctic base in the cold open to look like a religious facility.
I had the image of an offshore North Sea oil plant in mind when I was creating the storyboard.
Interviewer
What is the meaning of the North Pole as a place for new EVA in the cold open?
Tsurumaki
It is an Arctic base jointly managed by Russia and Europe.
That is why there is an announcement in Russian after the English announcement at the announcement station.
I don't know why it was the North Pole either.
After the second impact in Antarctica, the red sea has been expanding and the Japanese islands are already involved.
But the North Pole was not yet that contaminated, and I thought I could still have a blue ocean (laughs).
Even if it would be black because it is in the middle of a storm.
In the TV series, they almost never left TOKYO-3.
So it is interesting to portray the whole of Japan watching over Operation Yashima in "Jo" and the surroundings of the Eva world.