～Sorry, it's not Anno interview but it's just a trivia about Eva.～
Rebuild of Evangelion
Rebuild of Evangelion is consisted of four films of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone.『Evangerion Shin Gekijōban:序』
Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance.『Evangerion Shin Gekijōban: 破』
Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo. 『Evangerion Shin Gekijōban: Q)』
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time.『Shin Evangerion Gekijōban: 𝄇』
In Rebuild of Evangelion, the word "Neon Genesis" was removed and replaced with "エ(e) → ヱ(je)(*1)" and "オ(o) → ヲ(wo)(*2)", but in Shin Evangerion Gekijōban: 𝄇, it was restored.
*1) In 1946, the guideline for writing modern words in kana were promulgated. As a result, the "je" is no longer commonly used. In modern kana usage, all "je" in historical kana usage is replaced to "e", so "je" is not usually used. However, it can be seen rarely in proper nouns such as people's names.
*2) The spelling of "o/wo" was merged into "o" by the same guideline in 1946. However, the particle "wo" was left as it was, rather than being written as it was pronounced, because of its high frequency of use and strong resistance to be changed. This was supposed to be temporary until we make a transition to the Modern Kana Usage, but since it became a household word, it was remained as a particle in the "Modern Kana Usage" promulgated in 1986.
The Origin of Evangelion: 序, 破, Q
The movie titles "序, 破, Q" are derived from "序破急".
The third part was originally "急: Kyū" but was changed into "Q".(*3)
*3) the production team has chosen to represent kyū (急, "hurry") with the Roman letter Q, for "quickening.".
The term "序破急" is used to refer to a three-part structure.
序: beginning
破: middle
急: end
If we convert it to the four-part structure of 起承転結(*4): Introduction, development, twist and conclusion,
起 Introduction and 承 development corresponds to "序: beginning"
転 Twist corresponds to "破: middle"
結 Conclusion corresponds to "急: end"
*4) 起承転結: Kishotenketsu is the dramatic structure and development of traditional Japanese narratives. It consists of four parts: Introduction (ki), development (sho), twist (ten) and the conclusion (ketsu). Stories following the Kishotenketsu format have a well defined rising action, climax and a fall.
The term "序破急" originally referred to a three-part composition in Gagaku(*5). The song accelerates as it progresses with 序 beginning, 破 middle, and 急 end.
*5) a type of Japanese classical music for a Noh play.
The structure of the piece is:
"序 beginning" has no beat and a low speed
"破 middle" has a gradual acceleration with the addition of a beat
"急 end" has a faster beat.
It is also used in the tempo and sentence structure of Japanese music.
Shin Evangerion Gekijōban: 𝄇
The "𝄇" is a musical term, which is presumably indicative of the repeat signs.
The inclusion or non-inclusion of the ":" has a different meaning. This is because ":" has been added before the title of the Rebuild of Evangelion.
If the ":" is not included, then it most likely means bold double bar line, which indicates the conclusion of a movement.(*6)
This means that this is the end of Rebuild of Evangelion.
The part of the score that repeats between two symbols is repeat signs.
The symbol on the far right is bold double bar line / bold double barline.
*6) With the premiere of the third film, it was announced that the symbol to be used for the final film would be the musical symbol known as the bold double barline (𝄂 or ||). However, according to an article published by Anime News Network, it is actually the end repeat sign (𝄇 or :||).
<Original JP site: https://moto-neta.com/anime/eva-johakyu/>
*This article was published in July 2012. It may contain information that needs to be updated. Leave a comment if you notice anything. Thank you.