Kawaii Shinji's Sand Castle

[Kawaii Shinji]

In EoE, what does the scene where Kawaii little Shinji is building a Sand Castle mean. Is this one of the scenes that you have to interpret for your self or does it realy represent something?

As far as I can tell it shows Shinji's lonliness ever since childhood.

Also I noticed his Sand Castle turned out to be a pyramid, not your average child of that ages Sand Castle, then I saw that the building Eva-01 activated in and made the big explosion in the shape of a cross was also a Pyramid, are they connected in any way?

[Satoru]

Yes, that pyramid was Geofront.

Your interpretation is correct but I guess any interpretation would be...

I think that the fact that it was a pyramid like in Geofront, could mean that NERV and the Evas are all that makes him what he is (all he strugled to build: his life) but at the same time, it's all that he hates (again his life). It's a very dark vision of his past and at the same time a very pessimistic vision of his future (he destroys the pyramid)...
However, he starts building it again and that could relate with Instrumentality/Third Impact. And although very sad, it shows that Shinji could decide for life, and not for death, in the end...

[Katfum]

It's also kinda neat to note that Shinji is standing in the same position relative to the pyramid as that curved monolith in the Geo-Front.

You could interpret the scene as a sort of Biblical metaphor, with Shinji as God, creating something, partially destroying it, then rebuilding it. Either that, or his rejection of humanity, after the death of Kowaru, and his subsequent return, when he rejects the Nirvana of Instrumentality. He starts building something (relationships) with others (Misato, Asuka, Rei, etc.), they leave (become isolated from him), he destroys it (withdraws completely from the world), but regrets that decision, and rebuilds it by himself (post 3rd Impact).

Still, that weird symmetrical playground really creeps me out. And was it just me, or did that other kid shown briefly look an awful lot like a doll?

[jww1477]

I don't think so... too many dolls in Evangelion already.

I LOVE this scene. The swingset going in full motion as he builds the castle with the others, Shinji finally gaining some semblance of happiness, and then they leave - just like everyone else in his life - the swing comes to a complete stop, he angrily kicks it all into dust... and then what does he have as he sobs over the remnants - nothing. So he rebuilds... just like he does in the impact.

Such a well done scene. Kudos to Anno on this one.

[Akai*Tenshi]

I always interpreted it as being symbolic of Shinji's anger towards Gendo. He gets angry when his friends leave with their mothers [Yui was obviously not around], and Gendo had abandoned him, and the pyramid [NERV] could be represenetive as Gendo, so Shinji destroys the pyramid [showing how his relationship with his father was screwy], only to attempt to rebuild it... I dunno if that made sense, but yeah.

[Constantine Dragomirov]

Ahh yes, truly a wonderful sequence, left me totally blank the first time I saw it. Well, here’s my interpretation:

The Pyramid is a symbol of life and material world. It is used in SEELE’s coat of arms, along with the seven eyes (Soul, God, spiritual) and the human figure (Ayanami – the connection between material and spiritual).

The NERV headquarters is also a pyramid (actually it’s 2 pyramids, one is inverted and goes underground). The playground in that EoE sequence is located close to the NERV HQ construction site, so Shinji had a perfectly logical reason to build his sand castle in that particular form, seeing what was looming over him.

True that the sand castle is a metaphor of Shinji’s life, just like the NERV HQ is a metaphor of Gendo’s life (it is Gendo’s sand castle in the playground of Geofront). Since Evangelion basically revolves around Shinji, I’d also say that it could be Shinji building the NERV HQ, just like he was the one to destroy it in EoE (cross explosion and the emergence of Unit 01).

I really missed the connection between Shinji’s position to his sand castle and that skyscraper’s position to the NERV pyramid, probably because I didn’t know what the hell that skyscraper stood for and tended to ignore it. The suggestion that it is a metaphor of Creator in front of his Creation is really cool!

Any of you guys actually know the layout of the HQ? It’s obvious the EVA cages and Terminal Dogma are under the pyramid, but is Central Dogma with the control center also there? Probably no, since EVA-01’s waking destroyed the pyramid yet the command centre was perfectly all right. Which could mean it, and therefore Gendo’s office, are in that skyscraper. This makes perfect sense, for if Gendo considered himself the Creator of NERV and a future God he would occupy exactly that position in the pyramid/skyscraper metaphor.

The other children are really freaky, they’re drawn in a totally different manner (which reminded me of little kids from Sailor Moon-like anime – those HUGE eyes and HUGE irises). As far as I can remember, when scenes from a character’s past are shown (i.e. memory flashbacks), we see NO FACES of people other than established characters (I recently reviewed eps 21-22, and it’s true! So many people totally without faces!), yet these kids DO have faces, albeit freaky. Hmmm….

Consider also the fact of how realistically the Shinji choking Asuka scene is done – totally unlike “dreams”. After some pondering it even led me to believe that Shinji really did try to kill Asuka, but right now I’m not sure (there was some reasonable disproving). So maybe it is the force of Instrumentality, allowing Shinji to manifest his dreams, memories, and imagination into the material world somehow, giving a realistic perspective and filling in the gaps (such as the missing faces, which he forgot, and had to construct anew).

Now as for the playground. It looks normal at first, until you begin to notice the symmetry, the swing following Shinji’s mood, and suddenty the structures and their shadows form the mirrored word “EVA”. I doubt the engineers would be insane enough to design such a playground on purpose, and definitely it was impossible to build such a telekinetic swing, therefore making these details, just like the children’s faces, not memory but CREATION, a mirror of Shinji’s subconsciousness.

Hot damn, the show’s so friggin’ deep the more we dig the more stuff comes out. And unlike Nostradamus’ prophecies which could be interpreted in a million ways, Anno actually makes sense!

[Longinuss]

That sandcastle was representation of shinji's own psyche. He was happy but when he lost his mother and his father (other kids leave) left him he's persona broke (breaking the castle / Sealing himself from others so he wouldn't be hurt.) He starts to build up his person but succeeds only in the end of EoE.


Yea right...

[Dazman]

I don't believe itz all that complex, but itz constructed to attract complexities...

I think itz just there to show the encapulation of Shinji - the child and not the eva pilot - in a pyramid in the geofront... for shinji there are no fairy tale castles of childhood, which is why he is incapable of constructing one in the sand