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The Mystery of Shinji's Cassette Tape in ...

The Mystery of Shinji's Cassette Tape in Evangelion: 1.0

Jan 27, 2021

November 9, 2012, 11:00

Hey, If you had to choose between the women in Eva, would you choose Rei, Asuka, Mari or Misato? I am for Asuka!

I've been in love with her for 17 years. My heart hasn't been able to reach her.

In order to prepare for the screening of "EVANGELION:3.0 YOU CAN (NOT) REDO." on November 17th, "EVANGELION:1.0 YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE." and "EVANGELION:2.0 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE. ADVANCE." will be aired this week and next week on Friday Roadshow (a Movie Channel in Japan).

The title of the movie "Jo(1.0), Ha(2.0) and Q(3.0)" is a phrase used in Gagaku(*1), Noh(*2) and sword fighting. But it doesn't end here. "EVANGELION: 3.0+1.0 THRICE UPON A TIME" will be released in 2013.

It's going to be a mystery.

*1) A type of Japanese classical music. Gagaku is a musical art that was created by the fusion of music brought to Japan from continental Asia and Japanese original music and dance. (Wikipedia)

*2) A major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. (Wikipedia)

The "1.0" that will be broadcast tonight is a remake of the 1995 TV anime "Neon Genesis Evangelion" up to and including Operation Yakushima, with some rearrangements.

The first part of the story is similar to the TV version, but the story keeps changing, and the climax, the battle against Ramiel, is completely different.

Ramiel is the 5th Apostle in the TV version, and the 6th Apostle in the new movie version.

Asuka does not appear.

The main characteristic of Shinji in the new theatrical version is that he has become a positive and challenging boy.

I mean, even in the TV version, he had to face impossible conditions and fight against the danger of death, no wonder he was scared and would run away.

However, the movie version realistically portrays the situation he is facing even more harshly, and depicts Shinji as still being able to head up.

Especially in "1.0", he gets cornered to the point where you think, "You can run away! Quick!"

Fans who had seen the old TV version said "That's not Shinji-kun, that's 'Shinji-san'" on the Internet when the movie was released.

Even such a Shinji is still closed-minded at the beginning of "1.0".

The cassette tape he is listening to is depicted as a symbol of that.

So, please check out today's broadcast, what he is listening to is S-DAT.

Super Digital Audio Tape. This itself is fictional, but it's based on a digital audio tape, commonly known as a DAT.

The player is believed to be modeled after the Sony WMD-DT1.

WMD-DT1 DAT Walkman

Well, to be frank, nowadays DATs for home use have been stopped production and are almost non-existent.

Even back then, there were probably very few junior high school students who listened to DAT on a regular basis.

What's interesting is that the TV version keeps repeating the 25th and 26th track over and over again.

This is also the case in "1.0", but in "2.0", which will be aired next week, when he meets Mari, it was unexpectedly unlocked to the 27th track. It surprised a lot of fans.

By the way, what is a digital tape or DAT?

Digital tape was standardized and released in 1987 as a tape that could record and play back in high quality sound without degradation due to digital recording.

In short, it was supposed to be the next generation of audio equipment at the time.

It was to be a very high performance machine, with a sampling frequency higher than that of a CD. The price of a machine that could both record and play back was quite high.

The original model that Shinji had.

If I tell you that the WMD-DT1 actually cost nearly 50,000 yen (almost $500 ), you'll understand how expensive it is.

That's almost 5 times the price of a cassette walkman. It was also much more expensive than today's iPods.

Moreover, it was a playback-only device and could not record. There is only one type of playback-only DAT Walkman, the WMD-DT1.

It is completely over-specified for home use.

Normally, DATs were widely used in the professional field, especially for master tapes due to the difficulty of deterioration.

Only a small percentage of hobbyists used them at home. I'm sure there are many people who experienced those days who have never seen a DAT.

However, a copyright problem was discovered because the sound quality was the same as or better than that of a CD, which made it possible to make complete copies.

In the end, it became impossible to record in CD quality, and it hardly became popular for home use.

However, it has become more and more popular for professional use, and Pioneer has released a model that can record at 96 kHz (44.1 kHz for CDs).

Since 1992, MD has exploded in popularity as a cheap, high-quality, and non-degrading media.

In addition, with the spread of personal computers, CD recording also became common. When this happened, there was little point in using DATs for home use.

In the 2000s, MP3 and WMA players became available at low prices, and the production and sales of DAT players for general use ended in 2005.

Digital recording technology has advanced and most of them are no longer in production. There are only a few left for professional use.

Hmm? The TV version of Evangelion was aired in 1995.

It's a little strange that Shinji has a DAT at that time.

If you listen carefully to the dialogue, you can see that this digital tape player was originally belonging to Shinji's father, Gendo.

Shinji, who has been saying that he hates his father, has been listening to it for a long time. Even though it is a separation from the outside world. This is a very interesting point.

"Rebuild of Evangelion - Full Complement Document" says that this is "a metaphor for the 'expected new generation' becoming 'expected old generation', or a metaphor for the transition of generations from the 'circulating thing' of tape to the 'out of circulation thing' of disc.

Of course, this is a matter of speculation, but it certainly seems to make sense that he has a DAT that he is not supposed to have until the new movie version in the 21st century. And moreover, it's moving to the 27th track.

The book also describes the songs in Shinji's S-DAT player, as well as other background music.

  • "You are the only one

  • "Blue Legend"

  • "FALL in STAR"

These three songs are from "Lilia ~from Ys~", a spin-out vocal album for the 1992 King Records release Falcom-produced game "Ys".

The singer is Kotono Mitsuishi, who played Lilia, the heroine of the OVA. In Evangelion, she plays Misato Katsuragi.

The song "You are the only one" is playing at Lawson's when Misato and Shinji go shopping, and "FALL in STAR" is wired into the city.

And the one Shinji is listening to is "Blue Legend".

Please pay a little attention and listen to it when it airs.

If you want to listen to it carefully, you can find it on Shiro SAGISU Music from "EVANGELION: 1.0 YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE". (The "Ys" version is now out of order.)

Anyway, "EVANGELION: 1.0 YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE." was also initially released in 2008, when DVD was the mainstream and only the DVD version of the film telecine was available; it was fighting for market share with HD-DVD, and BD was starting to become the mainstream.

Then in 2009, a digitally remastered version of BD was released. Nowadays, it is common for movies to be released on BD.

The change of media may be even faster than the flow of time of the work.

By the time "3.0" and "3.0+1.0" are released, will there be some media that will overwhelm us? Something like "SS-DAT".

(Writen by Tamago mago)

<Original JP site: https://www.excite.co.jp/news/article/E1352389676935/>

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