With the exception of Shinji, none of the characters in Rebuild are as deep or psychologically complex as they are in the original NGE. But we could have gotten to know more about the characters beyond the bare minimum. So it's frustrating when I see Mari and her big bouncing melons hogging up the screen that belongs to the character I do like and do want to see develop and be fleshed out more? She's being forced upon us like the Spinosaurus was in Jurassic Park 3, I don't want to see Spinosaurus I want to see more T-Rex!
Couldn't have they used the screen time they used giving Mari fight scenes, on developing Shinji and Asuka's relationship, or explaining how the hell Impacts work so we'd be less in the dark when the time skip came in 3.0? Nope!
and that's probably
2) She has no redeeming flaws, compelling backstory, or deeper psychological complexity.
I wouldn't mind Mari so much if she had a decent backstory or was compelling in her own right or had a backstory that could stand on par with the other characters. Aside from her being a 'Badass Eva pilot with big tanks' we know absolutely NOTHING about her. We don't know her likes or dislikes otisde of the Eva, we don't know what her connection to Nerv or Seele was, and she's completely and utterly perfect at EVERYTHING. Almost to the point of being a Mary Sue.
Sachi wrote:Also, Mari isn't a Mary Sue.
She can speak multiple languages, she pilots Unit 02 better than Asuka, she doesn't appear to have any flaws or characteristics aside from some quirks (like getting turned on by LCL). She doesn't appear to exist for anything but marketing so they have another female eva pilot to sell figures. She's a MARY SUE! Give it up people!
The rebuild series is 3/4ths of the way over and we still have no clue about who she is, what her role in the story is supposed to be, and with only one movie left and all the other plotlines left to resolve and tie down. Mari's probably not going to get any development or fleshing out.
3) She hasn't had any meaningful (onscreen) interactions with any characters
Aside from the presumed decade long relationship between Asuka and Mari that 3.33 did bugger all fleshing out. There isn't a single thing Mari has done in the Rebuild series that couldn't have been done by another character, or that could have been improved by excluding entirely. Couldn't have Asuka been a lone wolf Eva pilot in 3.33? Anno could have had Shinji witness Rei getting eaten without Mari pulling him out of the shelter. Anno could have used Kaji or Misato for that.
4) MariAsu Shippers and Fanart
This is more my personal preference than anything else. I'm no homophobe. It's your own personal business with what you and your partner do in the privacy of your own bedroom regardless of your gender, or what you like in your doujin and Manga. But full disclosure I don't like Yuri, and after 3.33 there was a torrent of erotic Mari x Asuka 'stuff' flooding the internet. Pinterest, Tumblr, The Boorus (EVEN THE SFW ONES!), it's inescapable. I go on the internet to look up some Asuka fanart for reference or for inspiration, and even with the safe-filter on, I always manage to stumble upon at least one image of Mari sticking her tongue down Asukas throat.
I did ship Shinji and Asuka once upon a time. But after rebuild and the 14 year time skip it's pretty much an impossibility that they can be anything like they once were in 2.22. So whenever I see MariXAsuka fanart, erotic or otherwise I feel like it's a big middle finger to all the Shinji X Asuka shippers who were holding out hope for some kind of closure on that front.
Not to mention, I'm consistently worried about being called homophobic simply for saying I don't like the Idea of MarixAsuka. It seems pandering, and if Mari and Asuka are in a Lesbian relationship it seems to be more for fanservice than out of a desire to add anything compelling.
But the focus of Eva is the Tragedy, not the shipping. So this is more of a personal preference and annoyance on my part.
5) She's completely unneccessary and messes up the whole tone of the story
She's like a character from an entirely different anime in the Evaverse. Mari belongs in something like Diebuster, not Evangelion.
Evangelion is a story about loss and depression and unhappiness, so when you follow that up with bouncing boobies and peppy attitude, it seems dishonest. not to mention confusing. Her inclusion just clashes with the serious tone the series has. Not even the fanservice moments in the original series really messed up the semiserious tone the series goes for, but Mari and her huge cabbages really do.