I thought the actions of the soldiers in EoE were completely brutal and one of the most horrifying things in the entire series. I think it was one of the unexplored aspects about the human psyche, but I guess in the end, it was just another trouble in communication. I guess they were just following orders and really believed that all of the people in NERV were bad. Given their capabilities of destruction with the Evas and what appears to be a general mistrust for them, it doesn't seem too far-fetched. But I think it's jarring in a show that displays a positive view of humanity (IMO) and then dump Nazis in the middle of it.

Also, I read that in World War II, it was a common practice to ensure 100% casualty rates. I don't know how much common knowledge it is, but it could be definitely evocative of that.

War is not a pretty thing where you shoot someone, they fall over.... the respawn on the other side of the map. Nor is "I surrender" an automatic shield....

Dartz wrote:First of all... Geneva conventions don't apply in internal matters in a State.

Second.

The easiest way to stop an Evangelion is
1: With another Evangelion
2: Killing the Pilot before they get aboard.

You can't nuke it. It's far too mobile. A nuclear strike capable of taking down an Evangelion would have to be massive. The fallout... both political and otherwise... would be a nightmare.

You can't use conventional weapons. That's like stopping a hurricane with a fan.

Even if you don't consider the Geneva convention the entire operation was probably carried out in violation of the Japanese legislation, the fact that they didn't want to inform the Diet until things were finished it's a clear sign of an extra-legal operation authorized by the executive in breach of the existing legislation.
Anyway about the nukes: EVAs and Angels are shown to be immune to the so called N^2 bombs that apparently are at least powerful as a small tactical nuke. Actually I doubt that they didn't use them if it wasn't because they're useless, it's not like they can't control public opinion and mass media, closing Neo Tokyo 3 like the old Tokyo could have proved to be a quite effective way to manipulate the public opinion (since it was probably already closed or with limited access since the beginning and after the fight against Armisael there wasn't anyone around except the NERV personal).
As an example the EVA-01 (and 02? I don't remember) are hit by a N^2 bomb in Girflriend of Steel but they're pretty much immune (Misato also says to Shinji that even if the JA exploded he would be safe inside the EVA).

All the soldiers were dissatisfied due to the Second Impact causing a stagnation in entertainment technology. Their video games were still at mid-90s level, and shooting up 2D opponents is not as satisfying as near photorealistic, extensively rendered enemies. Since they didn't have the latter, they looked to the closest thing, actual enemies.

I think the callousness of the Soldier was there to stress that humans can be bastrads sometimes. Bigger bastards than Angels.
It is frequently stated in the movie how Humans are tougher Enemies than an Angel could ever be.
Homo Homini lupus and so on.

Kendrix wrote:I think the callousness of the Soldier was there to stress that humans can be bastrads sometimes. Bigger bastards than Angels.
It is frequently stated in the movie how Humans are tougher Enemies than an Angel could ever be.
Homo Homini lupus and so on.

From this point, I think that maybe the JSSDF are used as an example of humans not being able to connect to each other, or even a subversion of the idea that it's possible.

chaosakita wrote:From this point, I think that maybe the JSSDF are used as an example of humans not being able to connect to each other, or even a subversion of the idea that it's possible.

Like a lot of things in the film, it shows us humanity at its worst and our inability to stop hurting each other, and so lends weight to Shinji's decision to restore individuality.