Gendo’s only motivation, true to his self-serving demeanor, is his reunification with Yui, that is clear. SEELE each could have had a bagillion reasons for instrumentality, but the most important is resuming evolution, probably out of boredom and a sense of furthering the species. SEELE is irrelevant, Shinji and Misato’s perceptions of themselves and the world is the real issue. We need to care about them, or Eva isn’t worth anything, just go home or jerk off over Asuka hentai.
Eva is primarily about Shinji and Misato’s psychological development. Misato’s words in EoE right before her death deliver the main message of the entire series very succintly. Shinji has always been too preoccupied with other people’s feelings to realize his own, but at the end we can see how he changes and calls into question just where the line is drawn at the boundry of his feelings and those of whom he cares for, and just who infact knows what is best for who.
Which brings up the always controversial Kaworu debate. Personally, I think Shinji loved Kaworu as the only person who wouldn’t change his opinion of him no matter what. Kaworu is the single character in Eva who doesn’t care what anyone thinks about him, and is unafraid to express himself. If we need any evidence of his audacity, I’ll direct you to the shower scene of episode 24. ^^
Kwaoru is also symbolically such a Christ figure it isn’t even funny. Shinji has some of those elements to his character as well, as maybe Rei does. And while I will say that there are other important characters beyond Shinji and Misato equally deserving of interest, they are likely the two major driving forces of the show (Misato might be my favorite character, I can’t decide though. So much depthhhh).
[pointless ranting]When I First Saw It, I Was Completely Addicted To Gundam Wing. So It Wasn’t Such A Hard Transition To Get Into The Depressing Mood Of Eva. It Seemed Like A Harmless Series At First (Then Again, So Did Cowboy Bebop). But Anno Really Brought The Characters To Life With The Backgrounds Of The Evangelions And That Crazy Complementation Project. The Series Ending Left Absolutly Everything To Imagination. But EoE Closed It Like A Book.
And As For Kaworu, The Best Character In The Series >_<…Without Him, The Entire Series Would Have Collapsed Into More Episodes Of That Orange Train And Countless Shinji Whining. As Soon As He Found That Someone Cared For Him, But Actually Saying It, He Finnaly Opened Up And Allowed Himself To Fight Again.[/pointless ranting]
Duo: Uh, no. After Shinji killed Kaworu he slipped even further into his malaise, he wouldn’t even fight the Eva Series when they saw that they had killed Asuka or after Misato had died trying to protect him. Even his Eva had to basically throw him back into the pilot’s seat (in EoE).
Shinji Did Fall Into A Grievious State After Having To Kill Kaworu, But You Have To Admit That Kaworu Did Largely Effect Shinji’s Choice To Accept Human Complementation…
<img src=“http://www.rpgclassics.com/staff/tenchimaru/td.gif”> Wow, that’s pretty much my interpretation as well However, I think the ending is a bit different. When Shinji “lives” again, he wakes up next to a woman, who I think is a merging of Asuka (body), Rei (bandages), and Misato (cross), the perfect woman for Shinji. Asuka’s sex appeal, Misato’s maturity, and Rei’s kindness. I think she was created in order to act as his “Eve”, and that Shinji and Eve are supposed to start over mankind. Or they’ll die there, since Rei, who was a prophecy of death, looked at them when they were alone on the beach, thus maybe indicating that they would die as well.
Grah, I can never forumlate stuff well But yeah Merl, this is one of my favourite animes, you started with a topper. (My first too, not counting FFU)
“When Shinji “lives” again, he wakes up next to a woman, who I think is a merging of Asuka (body), Rei (bandages), and Misato (cross), the perfect woman for Shinji. Asuka’s sex appeal, Misato’s maturity, and Rei’s kindness. I think she was created in order to act as his “Eve”, and that Shinji and Eve are supposed to start over mankind.”
You may want to rewatch the series, if you think anyone was there for something they were “supposed” to do. I think it flies in the face of one of the main themes.
As for Asuka, pft. Kaworu would have been much better for Shinji. ^^;
Damn I still have to see THE END OF EVANGELION and maybe play Girlfriend of steel.
Kaworu has a double meaning: Kaworu Nagisa was a legendary prince that did some good stuff (I don’t have my sources right now so I don’t remember). While Tabris (His Angel name) is the “6th Hour Angel” (In which the sky was filled with darkness and Jesus died) and rules over choice and freedom (That’s how he choose to die to save humankind instead of following his mission)
The Thought Of Asuka Being 3 In One Is A Bit Of A Long Shot. I Think It’s Safer To Say That When Shinji’s Mother Told Him About Being Able To “Bring The People Back”, I Think That Shinji Merely Wanted Asuka. He Was Crying For Her Help Before, He Had That “Incident”, Hell, Shinji Was Secretly Crazy About Her, And It Was Those Deep Emotions That Broke Through His Insecurities And Brought Asuka Back
Shinji was love-starved. Whenever it was from a paternal figure (Gendo), Maternal (Misato), friends (Kensuke and Touji) or from some sort of romance (Rei, Asuka and Kaworu). I think Sil is a bit closer.
And for the love of god do you have to capitalize every word?
And it’s been over a year since I’ve seen it, and I lost my copy of EoE, so I can’t really check. And I didn’t mean that they were forced to do it, they had their own choice in it, but that it was the only way to start mankind anew.
I wouldn’t say he was love-starved. People did care for him. Even Ikari admitted that he avoided Shinji because he feared that he was only making him miserable (although this was also the same excuse Shinji makes at times too), the point though is that the responsbility is on Shinji. It’s up to him to open up and relate to other people and build his own human relations, and to stop relying on everyone else to do it for him and instead rely on his self. By no means do I find Shinji to be wholly pity-deserving, but then again I tend to put a responsibility on stuff on our selves, which may be influencing how I view him and the show, but meh
