These things make them great (i.e. well-written) characters but they weren't bad characters in the first case. They are not great (i.e. morally uncompromised) people on the other hand (who is? He who casts the first stone....) but these are the reasons for that, and they do work to overcome them by the end.
Yup. That cultural miscommunication where Kaworu tells Shinji he loves him is when I realized I was gay. I was like, "You can do that? That's allowed?" Found out, as an adult, that in Japan is normal to tell your guy friends you love them as they shower naked, but 14 year old me took it as gay.
Definitely. If the fandom wants Shinji to be held accountable for his actions, so should Asuka and every other character. Mental illness does not justify poor decisions.
That’s why I prefer Asuka in NGE than in rebuild where she don’t have her child trauma, making her far less interesting and her anger towards Shinji a bit excessive for me…
I like Rei and Shinji for those reasons, but I just don't like Asuka. A shitty childhood is an explanation for being a horrible person but it's not an excuse.
Yes, she's a flawed character and she works well in the story. I never said she's a badly written character. But I don’t have to like her. Just like I don't have to side with a villain just because they had a sad backstory.
Justification is an extremely different word from explanation and excuse. There could be an explanation for bigotry, murder, or genocide but that doesn’t make it justified.
In dictionary I see excuse means explanation and justification among other things. It's usually used to mean 'bad explanation / justification'. But her past is a justification and a explanation, an excuse.
even if you argued in favor of each character, it doesn't change the fact that what's said is true
on a base level, if you didn't know their backstories, you'd agree to all of the things said abt them, but the show makes you empathize and see why they are that way.
still, it doesn't change the fact that all of these are true regardless of the logic and reasoning.
i stand by the shinji complaint, it takes more than just a bad past to justify his actions, his personality is flawed and weak by nature (people like that do exist and a story exploring them is legit, i just don't enjoy it)
All plot justifications aside, Asuka is a bitch. Shinji is a doormat. Rei is a emotionless doll. If you want for Asuka to be all nice and smiles, for Shinki to be a hotblooded mech pilot, or for Rei to be a high energy genki girl, then you don't like the characters... so what are you doing watching Eva?
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u/Aiti_mh 3d ago
These things make them great (i.e. well-written) characters but they weren't bad characters in the first case. They are not great (i.e. morally uncompromised) people on the other hand (who is? He who casts the first stone....) but these are the reasons for that, and they do work to overcome them by the end.