manga-and-stuff: Secrets of Evangelion01: AngelsRecent remarks by Gendo and Fuyutsuki of NERV intrig
manga-and-stuff: Secrets of Evangelion01: AngelsRecent remarks by Gendo and Fuyutsuki of NERV intriguingly seem to confirm that certain details of the Angels differ in this version of events. Although the first Angel to appear, Sachiel (in Stages 1-5), had been previously assumed to be the Third Angel as so coded in the anime, it is now suggested that in this version of events it was actually the Second. Fuyutsuki commented that the Angel Sahaquiel (Stage 30) the Tenth Angel as coded in the anime was actually “[number] seven,“ to which Gendo replied, “Yes. And five remain.” According to this differing classification, then, the Third Angel would be Shamshel [Stages 9-10], the Fourth, Ramie! [Stages 15-19], the Fifth, Gaghiel [Stage 20], and the Sixth, Israfel [Stage 22-26]. Note that the Angels Sandalphon and Matarael—the Eighth and Ninth respectively—have not appeared in this version of events, as they did in the anime, where they followed Israfel and preceded Sahaquiel.The Angels appear to vary in size, shape, offensive and defensive strength, and tactics, but as a rule they are immense, uncommunicative, enigmatic, and ultra-powerful entities. The nigh invulnerability of the Angels derives from both their A.T. Fields and their own physical makeup. Dr. Ritsuko Akagi has observed that the composition of the Angels appears to have both wave and particle properties (as do, for example, the photons through which the electromagnetic spectrum is expressed) and that the waveform pattern of the Angels is 99.89 percent expresses information similar to that of the human genome. Major (then Captain) Misato Katsuragi, remarked that the Evangelion Units had an identical degree of similarity, suggesting an affinity between the Eva Units and the Angels. As the Eva Units were designed to defeat the Angels, this similarity is perhaps not surprising. While it has also been demonstrated as possible to delay or damage Angels through the use of weapons of mass destruction [and therefore in theory a multi-megaton weapon of sufficient strength could destroy one entirely] the tendency of the Angels to be sighted only when closing on target has raised the considerable issue of collateral damage accompanying the use of N2 bombs. Previous to the orbital manifestation of the Angel Sahaquiel, the Angels had always first appeared in the environs of Tokyo-3 and immediately moved to attack NERV HQ. The exception was an incident involving the transshipment by the UN aircraft carrier Over The Rainbow (possibly the former U.S. ship Theodore Roosevelt) of Eva Unit-02 and the then-embryonic First Angel, Adam, which was attacked in mid-ocean by the Angel Gaghiel. Of the Angels, the Kabbalist Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi remarks, “Those who would not concede human superiority…were relegated to the task of leading the chaotic forces that plague the universe and man in particular…[The] risk of deviation from the cosmic plan was corrected, legend tells us, by the attachment of the Divine Name EL [from ‘elohim’] to the functional name of each angelic being, so that it could never exert more of its power than God wished. Thus each celestial being was confined to its task, like the angel Shalgiel who dealt only with snow.” According to this Kabbalistic view, then, it is incorrect to think of the Angels attacking NERV as “invaders” from “outside”; it would be more accurate to speak of them having been present among/in certain aspects of creation and of having recently “awakened.“ Source: Neon Genesis Evangelion / Shin Seiki Evangerion / 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto -- source link