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Why is NERV hiring literal teenagers to pilot the EVAs?!
(thelemmy.club)
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this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2026
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I think there was a canonical reason like brain-elasticity allowing the pilot to interface with the EVA (which was actually problematic in some cases so they had to install a 1 directional filter for the teen to pilot the EVA and not vice-versa).
Also, pretty sure the EVA are literally crafted from the hybridization of DNA and godflesh and uses the pilot's own mother as a base. It's symbolic of the mother protecting their unborn child from the horrors of the outside world, including from their own father in Shinji's case, but ultimately failing and all the characters developing trauma as a result. So if it were adults the symbolism would be mostly lost.
I think it was also like they needed the neuroplasticity but they also wanted someone as mature as possible so they hit the like 14-15 demographic as a compromise.
Additionally, I don't think they planned to use kids. The hope was that they could develop an autopilot, some sort of clone, or if they were lucky no angels would attack until they were adults. Using kids was a last resort
A bit of a spoiler but they weren't entirely wrong about that plan.