" They say, "To live is to change." I started this production with the wish that once the production complete, the world, and the heroes would change "

Anno

Do you feel that the characters in eva learned and grew at all over the course of the show?

Do you feel they learned at all for the thinks that happened to them?

Finaly and most importatly do you think that faced with a like situation would they reacte in a the same way?

examples

Shinji hid in his room when he head Misato crying over Kaji's phone message.

Misato ignored hearing Asuka's scream of " I hate myself " to work on the infromation Kaji left her.

etc

The very act of living is to embrace change.

This is a very interesting question, and probably deserves to be on the Evangelion discussion forum (you know in depth discussion) but, hell.

I'd say yes. While of course not all characters changed, and not all of them changed for the better, you have to admit, there was a lot more to them then say, the cast of Blue seed, Burn up W, or Voltron. The dillemas the characters faced in Eva were very human dillemas. That's one of the things that make Eva stand out in the middle of a sea of typical Saturday morning cartoon robot shows, (Voltron, Dai-guard, Mazinkaiser) or slightly more developed war is evil robot shows. (gundam)

The three pilots, I think, transform the most, and each embody a different kind of change.

Rei represents a positive change, come the final episodes and the movie, she has begun to feel human, become atracted to Shinji, and most importantly, refuses to be subjected to Gendo's whims, "I am Not your Doll"

Asuka, at least in the series represents a very negative change, allowing herself to be consumed in the turmoil of the human spirit, she goes from the glory of a champion Evangelion pilot to the depths of despair brought on by her extreme inferiority complex.
Then again, in the movie, we see her triumph over her loss and reconcile with her dead mother. Moments before being brutally disected by the Eva series.

Shinji, on the other hand, is in constant flux, striving to become something better the what he is, getting along with people, searching for approval fro his father.
At each of these, he constantly fails and despairs. However, he almost always finds a way to resurect huimself and to try again.
After all, you have not really lost untill you've given up.

There are many other examples of the character's constant evolution,
From Ritsuko, who also refuses to be subjected to Ikari's whims, and trys to kill herself and him, along with all of central dogma.
Failing this she does at least relize how much she has been fooling herself about Gendo. This is something some women never do. It proves futile however as her only reward is the fatal bullet from her lover's gun.

Misato realizes her weakness and trys to improve, although like a lot ofpeople, realizing is not enoug for her, because she still does that which she knows she shouldn't.

Touji also matures before and after his expierence in a eva. Going from smart ass bully, to sympathetic friend, to couragous big brother.

I think a lot of the characters in Eva learned from the things that happened to them, but that does not really mean, if faced with the same situation again they would handle it differently, the path of least resistance and all that...

But the optimist in me belives most of them found something worthwhile in themselves, and were made the better for it.

Shortly before degenerating into a sea of life fluid of course. :(

Misato stops drinking
Shinji starts to gain confidence till kaouru
Asuka starts to open up to people
Rei gains a will of her own

They did change, that's what the character development was all about.

Some of them changed for the worse, some changed for ...well, what seemed to be the better.

The characters seemed to change in accordance to eachother tho, which was interesting. Seeing the direct effects they had on one another, what they caused eachother to go thru.

But I think Olin said it quite well.

On the subject of Asuka's changes:

Have you noticed that one of the tracks on the EOE soundtrack is called "False Regeneration". This is the dramatic track played when Asuka comes back from her self induced 'coma'. Since Anno named all the tracks on the eva soundtracks, I'm thinking that he meant for her regeneration there to be fleeting, maybe negative. Maybe her greatest positive change, and Shinji's for that matter, is when they both chose to be reborn after third impact. They want to live.

maybe she was able to come back after second impact because she recognized her own self worth... that could be the reason...otherwise, why didnt Shinji bring say Misato out too?

I will say this again Anno did i great job of making most of the character understood, thats why I like the show so much. I'd honistly like to see this crew go another round with their inner demons and hopfully come out on top.

I think the instrumentality and the events leading up to it forced these characters to take a hard long look at them selves.

Shinji did at least learn he could stop running at give life a chance, if not he'd have stayed in the lcl.

Asuka's im not so sure about, she returned to " reality ", warshed next to Shinji " mabe cuz she wanted to be with/near him ), but this girl took more trama then anybuddy Shinji included. If she can open up to people she's got a shot but I see her with the same problem Misato has only have serface level relationships.

Misato i've got hope for if she can come back. Those to are two young to make it on their own with not guidence. If only Misato can realize she needs to actmore like a mother ( loose the drinking and express her feeling in a way that does not involve the exchange of body fluids), I think she could help those two, because she's got so many of the same problems.