C.T.1290 wrote:Not even...someone like Asuka? Or Gendo?

Asuka is a 10/10 person.
Gendo is another story.

pwhodges wrote:More in the Anglosphere than in Japan, I believe. This already suggests that our reactions to him are coloured by our varied social prejudices.

Male Japanese Main characters come in two flavors. Uber Masculine neatheads like Goku or Jojo who always beat the bad guy by hammering him into a bloody pulp. Or weak, ineffectual, prone to wanking off over unconscious women, and crying all the time. They themselves are usually the ones getting hammered into a pulp. and neither shall there ever be balance between the two.

To answer the original post. Shinji doesn't deserve the hate. Nor do I think he is as hated as the OP makes him out to be. I think most people see him with Sympathy, and are more frustrated that the narrative around him doesn't allow him to succeed or BE a hero like those meatheads I mentioned. They're more frustrated that his character stagnates rather than moves forward.

No, not at all. The way I see Shinji, and I'm sure a lot of others here do as well, is as a person who realistically reacts to the situation he's in like a normal person would. Not every protagonist has to be a Fearless Battle-Hardened Badass(TM).

Well, I'm guessing that Shinji isn't really deserving of the hate. Not as much as some of the other characters.

Or myself even.

We don't know you beyond what you write here - and I know well that we only expose a little of ourselves on forums such as this. So there's no justification for anyone to agree with you, if that's what you're looking for.

pwhodges wrote:We don't know you beyond what you write here - and I know well that we only expose a little of ourselves on forums such as this. So there's no justification for anyone to agree with you, if that's what you're looking for.

You don't have to agree with me. I'm just aware that not many people on likes me very much. Like what Gob Hoblin said to me, I was considered annoying, obstinate, and maybe just plain stupid and thick headed. He and the others seem to think that, and maybe you do as well if I'm not mistaken.

Jersey Jimmy wrote:No, not at all. The way I see Shinji, and I'm sure a lot of others here do as well, is as a person who realistically reacts to the situation he's in like a normal person would. Not every protagonist has to be a Fearless Battle-Hardened Badass(TM).

Exactly the reason I think he is one of the best protagonists I have seen in a long time. Sure, he is obnoxious and when I watched NGE for the first time, I wanted to hit him for every second sentence he said (but the second part goe for basically all characters on my first watch, so it evens out), but anything else simply wouldnt fit the show and what it stands for

@C.T.1290
I wouldn't care too much about what others think. If they are even thinking something.

Sure, he is obnoxious and when I watched NGE for the first time, I wanted to hit him for every second sentence he said (but the second part goe for basically all characters on my first watch, so it evens out)

I loved the characters from the first time I watched the show. I guess I'm just like them. I've never felt the frustration many people seem to feel.
I also wonder if it's a cultural thing.

In NGE, his actions were a result of Nerve 'forcing' him to pilot the Eva. When he screwed up or did something wrong, I felt sympathy towards his situation and conditions.

In the Rebuild films, it's a bit more of a gray area; he consciously made the choice to kickstart the Third Impact by saving Rei, so some of the anger is probably justified.

I relate way too much with Shinji to be able to like him, but then again I relate quite a lot with all of them. In the end, they all have issues and by the end of the story they have their problem "solved", if that's what you want to call it. All of them develop and share their personal issues and it would be foolish of us to despise them just because we don't understand or possibly don't want to face our very own cruel reality...

No, people say that he cries in the corner like a wimp, but I bet a lot of people would be crapping their pants if they had to fight giant monsters like he does

Re: Shinji's supposed wimpiness, I think most fans are remembering the first episode and EoE — which is understandable, but it kind of skews your perception. In Ep 1, he's wrestling not only with fear but resentment of his father, who is asking him to do something incredibly dangerous years after abandoning him. In EoE, he's suffering a total mental breakdown, and locked out of Unit 01 by the bakelite infusion (most people don't remember the bakelite).

For most of the series, Shinji is a dutiful soldier, and even shows flashes of cockiness ala the prototypical anime mech hero — though these flashes are usually followed by reality smacking some humility back into him.

Shinji is unusually vocal about his fear, in a way that most men would frown upon. This is part of his character, but I think it's also necessary for a television show. There would be little dramatic tension if he were stoic — how would the audience know what he is thinking otherwise?

All in all, he's braver than most people but he also whines a lot. Both of those things can be true.

Honestly, I don't think he does. Shinji's actions (or rather lack of in some cases) are incredibly frustrating to sit through, sometimes infuriating in fact. But I can't find it in myself to hate him - mainly because his character's core is arguably the most human of all in the cast. We are selfish, we are cowardly, we do crumble under pressure and some of us do hate ourselves for said reasons. If anything, many of his decisions and ways of acting are very close to how many people in reality would act if put in the same set of circumstances, as much as we'd like to deny it.

The juxtaposition of Shinji's incredibly human state of mind in comparison to the much more 'anime' characters of the show is a make or break aspect of the series overall. But to me - he's relatable. Relatable characters are easy to sympathize with and harder to hate. I wanted to see Shinji move forward and progress, to stop hating himself and accept who he is. If you think about through this lense, he can potentially become your favourite.

no.