Bagheera wrote:And to answer your question, because they show an appalling lack of compassion for someone in Shinji's situation, which is especially disappointing given your own experiences. You can relate to him more than most, but instead of giving him the benefit of the doubt and sympathizing with him you condemn him.
Oh come on now, my vague story is nothing THAT dramatic. Nobody died or anything... I was just too busy selfishly wallowing in melodrama while life went on for everybody else, and things were worse then they needed to be because of it. That's all.
My problems with EoEShinji are twofold:
1. I don't believe his characterization falls believably in line with where the series was going. Yes he should be somewhat down, but acting the way he does seems as though he's completely forgotten all the things he's learned about himself, responsibility and the need to make hard choices in the entire show.
2. I'm not interested in sympathy, but rather going deeper into actual empathy. If I put myself in his place with all the same pressures and failings (assuming this still actually qualifies as 'me') it's possible I'd fuck it up just like he did, sure... and if so, I'd be just as hard on myself as I am on Shinji now.
Most people want to go into peacemaker/caregiver mode and smooth things out, but that's just bullshit motivated by the feeling that if they were in his place they'd want someone else to take that burden of guilt away so they could escape back into the status quo. The difference is that if you know deep down that it really is your fault all those pleasant, trite little forgivenesses are hollow and cruel. In a situation like that taking the easy way out and accepting those cheap forgivenesses is like betraying all the people you hurt yet again, just compounding your guilt every day you go on pretending that everything is okay again.
Kaji in the manga sums it all up very nicely: "We don't deserve to be happy... and Shinji, neither do you."
And to bring it back around to the topic, neither does Yui, which might in fact be part of her reasoning behind accepting her self-imposed exile. The things she has done, even if they were aimed at the greater good, are simply too monstrous to forgive.