The meaning of 11.03 seconds in the "Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time"——the Stories of People Living in the Post-Near Third Impact
Introduction
I saw "Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time"(2021) at TOHO Cinemas Shinjuku on March 10.
After seeing the old Evangelion movie and "Q:3.333" in theaters this past January, I was looking forward to the release of "3.0+1.0". However, due to the declaration of a state of emergency, the release schedule of "3.0+1.0" has been postponed again, and it will finally be released on March 8.
I had already seen "Q:3.333" in the IMAX® Laser version in January, so naturally I was going to see "3.0+1.0" in the IMAX® Laser version. This is because the IMAX® Laser version offers a great environment to watch the movie, with a large 4K screen with high contrast and a rich 12-channel sound system that can reproduce both high and low frequencies. However, when I tried to book tickets for the IMAX® Laser version on the web, the seats in the back of the center that were easy to see were literally "completely" occupied, making it impossible to get a ticket. So I looked for a theater with a large screen that I could enjoy, even if it wasn't IMAX®, and I was able to reserve a seat in a pretty good position at TOHO Cinemas Shinjuku, Screen 9(screen size: 8.0x19.2m).
So I was able to see "3.0+1.0" without any problems, and since it has just been released, I decided to write this note, trying not to spoil it too much, but also thinking that there is something that I should write about now.
"Evangelion: 3.0+1.0" and the Great East Japan Earthquake(3.11)
The same week "3.0+1.0" was released, March 11 marked the 10th year since the Great East Japan Earthquake(3.11) in 2011. After the earthquake, there were rolling blackouts, and trains operated in total darkness without any lights. For those of us who had seen "Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone"(2007), the planned blackouts were very familiar to us as "Operation Yashima", the gathering of all the power and energy in Japan into one place, and in a way, the story of Evangelion became a spiritual support for the people of Japan.
I bring up the topic of the earthquake here because Evangelion and the Great East Japan Earthquake exist as parallel memories in our stories. The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred between "Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance"(2009) and "Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo"(2012). It occurred to me that our experience of the nuclear disaster and radioactive contamination in the Great East Japan Earthquake could be the incident that bridges the previous "3.0" and this "3.0+1.0". I will explain this in the following.
First of all, at the end of "3.0", Asuka Shikinami Langley utters the term "density of L Field". The reason behind this expression is probably the radioactive contamination caused by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster that occurred after the Great East Japan Earthquake. It is dangerous for humans to be exposed to highly radioactive substances during the nuclear disaster. A place with a high density of L Field is also dangerous for humans. In the beginning of "3.0+1.0", Asuka walks with Shinji Ikari and tentative name: Rei Ayanami to get to a place where human traffic is possible.
"EVANGELION: 3.0+1.0 Teaser 2'" in the official app "EVA-EXTRA".
The beginning of "3.0+1.0" is set in Paris. There is higher density of L Field than expected, and Ritsuko Akagi has set a time limit of 720 seconds to restore the Sealing Pillar No.1 Euro Nerv. This is a reminder of the limited time that decontamination workers were allowed to work in order to reduce the risk to the human body. When Maya Ibuki sees the message "Je vous laisse"【*1】, she respects and mourns the people of the Euro Nerv who would have tried to preserve the installations until the end of their lives. When they finished their restoration operation, they had only 11.03 seconds left to work -- reading this backwards, it means 03.11, the day of the Great East Japan Earthquake. I received a message from the work that the restoration of the Sealing Pillar No.1 Euro Nerv is a tribute and memorial to the people who worked on the decontamination of the nuclear disaster. "3.0+1.0" was destined to be released on this week, the 10th year since the Great East Japan Earthquake.
"EVANGELION: 3.0+1.0 - LE FILM AVANT1 (Du début jusqu'à 10:40) Version 0706", Paris, in the official app "EVA-EXTRA".
The Stories of People Living in the Post-Near Third Impact
In "3.0+1.0," the characters who have grown up and are living in the Third Village are depicted. If the Near Third Impact is compared to the Earthquake, the people living in the Third Village overlap with the people living in the world after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. How do people who lost their families in the Near Third Impact still manage to live? What does it mean to be alive? WILLE(German for "will"), an anti-Nerv organization led by Misato Katsuragi, and KREDIT(German for "credit side"), a support organization, are protecting the Third Village from high density of L Field = high concentration of radioactive substances.
In contrast to Shinji, who retreats into his own ego, Rei Ayanami(tentative name), as she blends into the Third Village, observes and is surprised by each and every ordinary scene, and learns its social meaning from the behavior of the people. Working hard on the field, taking a bath together, saying "good morning" when we wake up in the morning, saying "goodbye" when the sun goes down, holding hands, returning lost items to their owners. --In other words, Rei Ayanami(tentative name) is finally learning about society, which ultimately leads to Shinji's decision to live by his own will(Wille).
"EVANGELION: 3.0+1.0 Teaser 3" in the official app "EVA-EXTRA".
Taking this background into consideration, we can see that "3.0+1.0" is very different from the old Evangelion. It fully affirms that even after the disaster (Near Third Impact), people can still look forward and live their daily lives with their own will, despite the painful experience. Perhaps the word "Shin"(シン) in "Shin-Evangelion"(シン・エヴァンゲリオン) has the meaning of "Shin"(シン) in "Shin-Sai"(震災)【*2】.
Footnotes
*1: "Je vous laisse" literally means "I leave it to you", but in conversational French it means "Good-bye". In the Third Village, Rei Ayanami(tentative name) is taught the meaning of "Good-bye" by Hikari Suzuhara. Before the final battle, Mari Makinami Illustrious says "再见"(zàijiàn) to Shinji. The Chinese word "再见" means "Good-bye," which literally means "seeing again". It contains a message from Mari to Shinji, and from Hideaki Anno to us, "See you again". Even the same "Good-bye" can have different nuances depending on which language and which word is used to express it, and in "3.0+1.0" we can feel the attention to such exquisite nuances. As Shinji says in the trailer of "3.0+1.0", "Good-bye, all Evangelions", "Good-bye" is one of the keywords of "3.0+1.0".
"EVANGELION: 3.0+1.0 Teaser 2'" in the official app "EVA-EXTRA".
*2: In "Shin Godzilla"(2016), the story also takes place after the collapse of the Tokyo Bay Aqualine tunnel at around 8:30 a.m. on November 3. If the date were reversed, it would be March 11, the day of the Great East Japan Earthquake. "Shin Godzilla"(シン・ゴジラ), "Shin Evangelion"(シン・エヴァンゲリオン), and "Shin Ultraman"(シン・ウルトラマン, 2021, summer), all share the same of "Shin"(シン), which may be the "Shin" of "Shin-Sai"(震災, the earthquake and disaster).
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