Did anybody in NERV honestly care about Shinji as a person?

[xtr00kvltcorex]

I think Shinji's psyche collapses because everyone likes him, but they execute their feelings in too many varying ways that he cannot handle. An overload of love that he misinterprets as high expectations, disinterest, rejection or even hatred.

[pastelprince]

I largely agree with Robersora's post! The thing about most of the Eva cast is that they're all dealing with their issues in ways that are harmful to both themselves and others. Caring for people around you comes naturally for humans, but things like heavy stress (like trying to prevent the end of the world) and depression tends to protect you from sympathizing too much, sometimes to the point where not even you yourself know who or what you care about.

About Misato, I always got the impression that deep down she loved Shinji a lot (platonically) but til the very end it was buried beneath layers. I think that her outmost layer, the person she wants to project, cares for and likes Shinji, but when he'd need that care the most she becomes more emotionally indifferent. The combination of the rational mind she needs in her line of work and her own emotional issues dulls her empathy and she probably feels like she cares for him less than she'd like to admit and he becomes more of a project or problem, depending on the context. Then as she's dying, both those layers are cast aside and her true feelings shine through in letting everything go and just doing what she can to make him keep going.

[Boethiah]

I actually find it interesting how Misato empathizes with Shinji a lot because they've been through similar experiences. It seems selfish but it was enough to keep him from going off the deep end - at least for a while.

[mammaluser]

Of the shown main NERV characters it appears that every single one of them cared about Shinji in someway, the obvious examples are Misato (in every eva canon), ritsuko (specially in 2.22), fuyutsuki (specially shown in 3.33), maya, hyuga and aoba... even gendo (shown in EoE and maybe he's hiding his feelings like always in the rebuilds).

[Alaska Slim]

His father really wished for Shinji to become a strong, independent man. Unfortunately he had way too many hang-ups and thus, instead of guiding Shinji kept away from him, leading into a broken child. Quite ironic, actually.

I feel that one part of what makes Misato so compelling is exactly that dichotomy. Yes, she sent him to deadly missions to carry out her revenge. Yes, she played family life to substitute for the fact that she never had one. Does that mean she didn't care about him? No, because she did - even if she used him to a certain extend. Again, this is what makes her so rich an believable as a character, because in the end we all operate on give and take - even in human relationships.

Asuka clearly had a crush on him so she obviously cared a great deal about him,

Nah... Rebuild!Asuka had a crush on him, NGE!Asuka... It's more like she had expectations of him, as a fellow pilot of the Eva series, while also classifying him as a consolation prize when she couldn't earn Kaji's affections. When even that consolation prize turned out to have his attentions elsewhere... it made her absolutely livid, and compounded her sense of failure.

Did she care for him? Probably, but as you said, the drive for acknowledgement got in the way of her expressing any attachment to him other than through pseudo-sexual advances, which is probably the worst way to approach Shinji about anything.

I concur about Misato; her objectives surrounding him were at odds, but I dare say that the sympathy she held for him was winning out there at the end.

With Gendo, I say he clearly did not. Or even if he did, he buried it far beneath his need to see his wife again, along with everything else. He abandoned Shinji, so he wouldn't be pushed into moving on; to stop himself from gaining closure. Instead, he intentionally isolated himself; cultivated the feelings surrounding the loss of his wife, so as to turn it into motivation that would empower him to do the things "necessary" to see her again.

[Asuka Shikinami Langley]

I honestly felt they treated him like crap

the poor kid was traumatized.

also he was bit of wuss at times but can't really blame him.

[Bagheera]

With Gendo, I say he clearly did not. Or even if he did, he buried it far beneath his need to see his wife again, along with everything else. He abandoned Shinji, so he wouldn't be pushed into moving on; to stop himself from gaining closure. Instead, he intentionally isolated himself; cultivated the feelings surrounding the loss of his wife, so as to turn it into motivation that would empower him to do the things "necessary" to see her again.

I can't say anything about NTE!Gendo, but I think it's clear (from EoE) that NGE!Gendo did care about Shinji, but was so filled with self-loathing and so obsessed with seeing Yui again that he convinced himself that everything he was doing was ultimately in Shinji's best interests. After all, if he'd be united with Shinji in the end via Complementation everything would sort itself out, right? So everything that happens in the meantime doesn't matter, right? So that traumatized boy right in front of him is a problem that will ultimately correct itself, right? Right.

It will all be fine in the end, so keep calm and carry on. Such is the power of self-delusion.