I can't quite get a read on Anno. Sometimes he'll answer a question like who's his favorite character almost flippantly with "Asuka, because she's cute" and sometimes he'll describe Eva as being almost autobiographical and diagnosing himself as stuck at the Fruedian oral stage and fundamentally disliking living things.
He's also described Eva as like a puzzle, and not wanting to give answers and instead let people come up with their own interpretations.
I guess what I'm trying to say is I both wouldn't be surprised if he did pull much of the visual symbolism out of a hat, or if he did come across it while exploring western philosophy and decided to incorporate it.
There's some great bits in Extra Curricular Lesson with Hideaki Anno, like him talking about disliking the parts of what he makes he sees himself in or sleeping through a fire in his apartment.
He's also described Eva as like a puzzle, and not wanting to give answers and instead let people come up with their own interpretations.
I guess what I'm trying to say is I both wouldn't be surprised if he did pull much of the visual symbolism out of a hat, or if he did come across it while exploring western philosophy and decided to incorporate it.
There's some great bits in Extra Curricular Lesson with Hideaki Anno, like him talking about disliking the parts of what he makes he sees himself in or sleeping through a fire in his apartment.
https://youtu.be/rGJ_Kq8qifQ?t=429