Shinji and Asuka

[Shin-seiki [ANF]]

This is in response to a post by tv33 in the "Favorite Pairings' thread, but deserved a new thread, to avoid going way off topic.

tv33 wrote:

That is what I thought you meant but I was not sure, It was Asuka that broke the kiss and then stated how it was a mistake, so I am not sure if the fact that nothing happened that night is what led to her rising resentment of Shinji. Though it was more of a combination of his superior piloting skills, as well as there ambiguous relationship that led to there falling out.

Um, this is big subject to cover adequately so bear with me...
First let me reference an old post that addressed the subject of how the events of that night began to affect Asuka's attitude towards Shinji:

Quote:

By ep18 tho, it is apparent that she has a serious bug up her *** about Shinji, and it's pretty plain that what happened in ep15 is what's bugging her.

I then explained:

Quote:

In ep18, first we see that something is bugging Asuka when she arrives in class: >Shinji: What's up? You left home much earlier than me but you're pretty >late. >Touji: Oh, no marital quarrel today? >Asuka: I just didn't want to see your faces! You Three Stooges! Then, while walking with Hikari: >Hikari: I'm sorry, Asuka. You always walk home with Ikari. >Asuka: Don't worry, I'm with Shinji as a duty, and I'm not in the mood to see > his face now. And, also: >Hikari: But Ikari-kun seems naive. >Asuka: Actually, he's just a dolt. He's an idiot too. He hasn't got any idea as to how to relate to others. But what's really bugging her is revealed in a clever, indirect way. Check out these screen-caps; the yellow subtitles are the dialog of the soap opera playing on the TV in this scene: One should never ignore what's playing in the background on the TV or radio in NGE; it almost always is relevant to what's going on with the characters in the scene.

But, as turns out, Shinji's non-reaction when she tried to show her feelings for him actually had a tremendous effect on Asuka; over time, it started to really eat away at her, and she came to see it as an unfeeling, even humiliating rejection of her attempt to reach out to him for affection.

Originally posted on: 07-Jul-2003, 01:49 GMT

[Shin-seiki [ANF]]

This is all made clear in the Extended Mind-rape Sequence that takes place in the Director's Cut of ep22. I think this is one of the most powerful scenes in the whole series; I remember feeling a huge sense of revelation the first time I saw it, as it makes everything about Asuka come into focus: the constant bluster and insults that she directs at others is a facade that she uses to hide just how desperately lonely and miserable she really is inside.
For the benefit of those who haven't seen it, I'll post shot by shot screencaps of the part that relates to her feelings towards Shinji. Keep in mind that this scene is less than 30 seconds long; as usual, Anno crams a tremendous amount of meaning into a short space.

















Originally posted on: 07-Jul-2003, 01:51 GMT

[Shin-seiki [ANF]]

Originally posted on: 07-Jul-2003, 01:52 GMT

[Shin-seiki [ANF]]

The money shot of this sequence is the next to last; it appears to be Asuka at the sink in the bathroom when she broke off the kiss and ran in there to gargle.
Compare what she said aloud to Shinji:


to what she was really thinking and feeling at that moment:


Originally posted on: 07-Jul-2003, 01:53 GMT

[Shin-seiki [ANF]]

All of this has its big pay-off in this Complementation Scene in Ep.26'
The scene seems to flash back to ep15:

(Shinji and Asuka in Misato's apartment)


Asuka:
Say... wanna kiss?..


Misato:
You mustn't!


Asuka:
Or are you afraid?


Misato:
It's not something kids should do.


Asuka:
Okay, here goes...



Originally posted on: 07-Jul-2003, 01:54 GMT

[Shin-seiki [ANF]]

That was just set-up; now all the bitterness and resentment in Asuka's heart over what happened between them (or what didn't happen, to be more precise) in ep15 blows up in Shinji's face like a time bomb, as Asuka lets Shinji have it with both barrels:


Asuka:
You don't understand anything! Stay away from me!


Shinji:
(Hand twitching) ... I do understand.


Asuka:
No you don't, you IDIOT!!!


(Asuka kicks Shinji - Shinji's hand convulses)


You really think you understand me!? You think that you can help me?
That is so ARROGANT! You couldn't possibly understand me!!

Originally posted on: 07-Jul-2003, 01:56 GMT

[tv33 [ANF]]

Why do you use me :bawling:

Quote:

One should never ignore what's playing in the background on the TV or radio in NGE; it almost always is relevant to what's going on with the characters in the scene.

Damn right, I love how they did that

So you are saying because Shinji did not hold her wile they kissed, it led to all these problems? Interesting theory, and some good evidence to back it up as well.

However I believe Asuka by her nature is not capable of love (at least at this point in the series) She wants to be strong and only rely only on herself, rather then others (This is of course is because her mother died) Although deep down she may have wanted to be with Shinji, I don't know if she could ever fallow through with it.

Originally posted on: 07-Jul-2003, 02:03 GMT

[DufFuS101 [ANF]]

One thing I like to add. Asuka also seems resentful over the how much attention is she recieving from him. One scene in the Director's Cuts episode 22 shows Asuka at the train trying to call Kaji on her cell phone. She spots Shinji chatting with Rei and is visually distressed in seeing this. "He spends a month disolved in EVA and he's already back to his old ways." In EoE, once again a train scene shows Shinji stareing at Rei when Asuka blocks his view, "If you can't be all mine, I don't need you!".

Originally posted on: 07-Jul-2003, 02:11 GMT

[Shin-seiki [ANF]]

DufFuS101 wrote:

One thing I like to add. Asuka also seems resentful over the how much attention is she recieving from him. One scene in the Director's Cuts episode 22 shows Asuka at the train trying to call Kaji on her cell phone. She spots Shinji chatting with Rei and is visually distressed in seeing this. "He spends a month disolved in EVA and he's already back to his old ways." In EoE, once again a train scene shows Shinji stareing at Rei when Asuka blocks his view, "If you can't be all mine, I don't need you!".

Indeed. Asuka greatly resents any attention that Shinji pays to Rei. Check out the pool scene in Magma Diver, for instance...

Originally posted on: 07-Jul-2003, 02:15 GMT

[SeI ThIm [ANF]]

Agreed

Originally posted on: 07-Jul-2003, 04:27 GMT

[Siendra [ANF]]

...jeese...I havent seen anything that well constructed here since the last Lance thread...

Originally posted on: 07-Jul-2003, 06:47 GMT

[DufFuS101 [ANF]]

Well, this post was too well done. I don't think anybody would disagrea.

Originally posted on: 07-Jul-2003, 17:15 GMT

[Shin-seiki [ANF]]

DufFuS101 wrote:

Well, this post was too well done. I don't think anybody would disagrea.

This sort of thing became inevitable, once I figured out how to post pix. I think it's necessary to look at the images to analyze EVA, because so much of what Anno is trying to get across is communicated at a purely visual level.

Originally posted on: 07-Jul-2003, 19:51 GMT

[tv33 [ANF]]

I was never disagreeing with you, I said

Quote:

Though it was more of a combination of his superior piloting skills, as well as there ambiguous relationship that led to there falling out. .

That is was thoes two things togther that led to Asuka "hateing" him.

Originally posted on: 08-Jul-2003, 08:19 GMT

[Shuboltz [ANF]]

kaji was right, they are still childs.

i think i came up with some weird theory...

Originally posted on: 08-Jul-2003, 08:50 GMT

[saiyajin prince [ANF]]

siendra wrote:

...jeese...I havent seen anything that well constructed here since the last Lance thread...

Ahhh I miss the old days!!

Originally posted on: 07-Jul-2003, 22:56 GMT

[DufFuS101 [ANF]]

Naw, we were just having a temporary downtime as stuff like the renewal and the live action was taking up everyones attention. Now that things has cooled down and people who wanted info about that stuff got what they wanted and now we can have serious discusions.

Shuboltz, it be nice to hear your theory.

Originally posted on: 07-Jul-2003, 22:59 GMT

[saiyajin prince [ANF]]

Yea...but the thread wasn't like this in long time.

What theory?

Originally posted on: 07-Jul-2003, 23:21 GMT

[EVAN -1 [ANF]]

I had to go through this the hard way.

Researching to find the director cut scenes and begin to rebuild my damaged mind, and re-inputting back the square peg into the circle slot.

The funny thing was that when I introduced eva to my friend, got the situation down without the extra info.

Some people can recognize the levels between the male and female dance easier.

Originally posted on: 08-Jul-2003, 16:23 GMT

[saiyajin prince [ANF]]

What sqaure peg in what circle slot:???:

Originally posted on: 09-Jul-2003, 00:41 GMT