Asuka: Should We Hate Her?

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The Cruel
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Postby The Cruel » Mon May 11, 2015 4:53 pm

I 'll quote here something what I mentioned about Asuka before in another thread:

For me, Asuka is like a exotic animal who immigrated into a foregin environment and makes herself at home in her usual way. She would be difficult to tame, if I don't pay attention to her habbits and needs.

In moments where she is complaining, agressive, provoking or even violent, I would give her at first the illusion, that she is superior to me, then at the right moment when she is vulnerable, I'll make her think different about me.

With the right mind, mood, attitude and coolness I should be able to handle her.

But she can also push me into my limits.

There are moments which make me very angry at her like the incident with Leliel in Ep. 16 or in Ep. 18 when she says to Hikari a lot of shit about Shinji and Rei behind their backs whereby Hikari knows them longer than her and she makes me angry the most in EoE when she gave Shinji the final push to start 3I.

And the moments I feel sad for her are her flashbacks, her breakdown and the scene in the Hospital.
Instead to jack off at her I would've just closed up her shirt and put the blanked over her and tell her how much I care for her and hope for her to wake up.

Her last battle against the MP-Evas presents her weaknesses a lot.

All her life long she lived a lie that she and others persuaded to herself. And no matter how much she wants this lie to become the truth, she should face it and appreciate what and especially who she has left.

Overal though she is my favorite character in Evangelion despite her flaws. She has skills, lots of it and when she is happy then she would be for sure. She was just mean in the wrong moments and she had sadly almost never shown some kind of gartitude face to face when the opportunity was there.

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Postby Gob Hobblin » Mon May 11, 2015 8:43 pm

I'm surprised ANY of the kids get hate, frankly: Asuka tends to get a lot of it, thanks to her bristly characterization and frankly abusive behavior, but even Shinji gets slammed a lot. Do these characters deserve it?

Well...they are thirteen year old child soldiers fighting physically impossible beings for the sake of a world that's already ended. I have no idea how you can even begin to rationalize hating one of those characters. It's like hating a some little kid slammed up on mau-mau, given an AK47, and turned loose on civilians. Sure, the child is the dangerous one in this equation, but who should be blamed: him, or the one who doped him up on drugs, gave him the rifle, and pointed the way?
Though, Gob still might look good in a cocktail dress.
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Postby Guy Nacks » Mon May 11, 2015 9:32 pm

View Original PostMr. Jive wrote:If fans don't hate shinj for being a hateful, disgraceful, disrespectful, ungrateful, violent misogynistic brick, then they have no right to hate anyone else from this anime. Those scores he was getting were fake and made up by his mom inside unit one. He was expose in ep 16 when he try to take down a angle on his own, only for it to get throw back in his face. He turn his back on his friends then treat the two female pilot like crap? Is there any wonder why things don't end well for him? I don't feel sorry for him nor do I see how anyone else could feel sorry for him. This dude is a loser.


:pointup: This interpretation is so misguided it's hilarious.
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Postby xPearse » Tue May 12, 2015 6:42 am

View Original PostMr. Jive wrote:If fans don't hate shinj for being a hateful, disgraceful, disrespectful, ungrateful, violent misogynistic brick, then they have no right to hate anyone else from this anime. Those scores he was getting were fake and made up by his mom inside unit one. He was expose in ep 16 when he try to take down a angle on his own, only for it to get throw back in his face. He turn his back on his friends then treat the two female pilot like crap? Is there any wonder why things don't end well for him? I don't feel sorry for him nor do I see how anyone else could feel sorry for him. This dude is a loser.


Asuka don't seem to be well like by fans in Japan. In fact, when she was being strangled at the end of the movie, fans were cheering about it. That right those sick fools were enjoying the whole thing. That just wrong and mess up. Her Japan VA once said she could not embrace Asuka like she wanted to due to Asuka having a wall around her heart. Wow. She seem to be more likable by fans in the U.S. and her U.S. VA like her very well too. Problem is she like for the wrong reason. Fans don't like her for trying to be strong and independent, instead it cause she hot and should be bang by her psycho roommate who she can't stand. So many garbage fics has her as a lame love interest while there so many images on the net whit her wearing that silly cat hat, while her back turn whit her ass sticking out is just sad. I don't think she a bad person but she is a troublesome person. It could be due to her feeling being use by everyone and in someways she was so it not like she was wrong to feel that way. Asuka did have a dark pass yet she chose to become the person she wanted everyone to see her out of her own free will. She has nobody to blame but herself for the way she turn out. I'm not saying she deserve it but I don't feel sorry for her either.

Oh, I like you. Could you indulge me in your thoughts on the other characters? Also, I don't like it how Shinji gets top readings and such just because his mother is in it, either. Since Rei and Asuka actually earned their positions through training and the like, while Shinji on the other hand didn't.
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Postby LukeMM95 » Tue May 12, 2015 12:36 pm

I can't hate a character who has a legitimate reason for being a bit of a bitch. Over the course of the series, we see that deep down Asuka isn't really a bad person and that her behaviour is just a defence mechanism, similar to how Shinji likes to isolate himself from the world around him.

Now Asuka Shikinami Langley on the other hand is very easy to hate, mostly due to how underdeveloped she is. She has all the bitchiness that the original character had (maybe even more so) but since we never see any other qualities beyond that, we have no reason to like her. I mean her first scene has her attack Shinji, a person she's never met before, for no reason. The original Asuka at least had a reason for slapping the boys when they first met. And yes, she does have a few moments thrown in to show her more sensitive side but it just doesn't feel natural. She just comes across as a one-dimensional tsundere and nothing more.
Last edited by LukeMM95 on Thu May 14, 2015 5:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Gob Hobblin » Tue May 12, 2015 12:57 pm

^

There is a point where Shikinami almost becomes a caricature of Soryu.
Though, Gob still might look good in a cocktail dress.
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Postby Reichu » Tue May 12, 2015 1:08 pm

View Original PostLukeMM95 wrote:The original Asuka at least had a reason for slapping the boys when they first met.

Because, y'know, the currents of air were totally under the boys' control.
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Postby LukeMM95 » Tue May 12, 2015 1:21 pm

View Original PostReichu wrote:Because, y'know, the currents of air were totally under the boys' control.

I didn't say it was a good reason.
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Postby KingXanaduu » Tue May 12, 2015 2:56 pm

View Original PostLukeMM95 wrote:I can't hate a character who has a legitimate reason for being a bit of a bitch. Over the course of the series, we see that deep down Asuka isn't really a bad person and that her behaviour is just a defence mechanism, similar to how Shinji likes to isolate himself from the world around him.


You can hate the behavior of certain individuals, but you can't hate the individual entirely. You can only hope that they learn and improve in time.
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Postby Bagheera » Wed May 13, 2015 7:40 am

Hating an anime character seems kind of silly, particularly one who's a traumatized child. I think we all have far better things to do with our time, no?
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I hate myself. But maybe I can learn to love myself. Maybe it's okay for me to be here! That's right! I'm me, nothing more, nothing less! I'm me. I want to be me! I want to be here! And it's okay for me to be here! -- Shinji Ikari, Neon Genesis Evangelion
Yes, I know. You thought it would be something about Asuka. You're such idiots.

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Postby Dream » Wed May 13, 2015 7:22 pm

View Original PostBagheera wrote:Hating an anime character seems kind of silly, particularly one who's a traumatized child. I think we all have far better things to do with our time, no?


Look where you are :tongue:
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Postby Bagheera » Mon Aug 03, 2015 11:07 am

You know, it's funny how uptight people get about Asuka given that she has less blood on her hands than anyone else in the main cast (the only ones in the extended cast who edge her out are Maya and Hikari, and to a lesser extent Touji and Kensuke). I mean, who do we know who jerked off over the sedated body of a hospital patient? Who then proceeded to strangle said patient to death on two occasions (whoops, sorry, he only completed the deed once)? Who ended human civilization as we know it? Take your pick, but it wasn't the redhead. Who's the eldritch abomination who will leave you a sobbing wreck just by looking at you (and gods help you if she actually touches you!)?* Who has the annoying habit of spying on people as a ghost for shits and grins?

Asuka's got an attitude, but she's not wrecking the world around her. The rest of the cast is. Food for thought.

*Oh wait, you don't want that Rei, i.e. the one with a complete soul who's a bit irate about how she's been treated. You want the "nice" one, the one who's a shell of her actual self on account of the fact that all of her violent tendencies are currently housed in a berserker-prone giant humanoid cyborg. Yes, that's much better. :rolleyes:
For my post-3I fic, go here.
The law doesn't protect people. People protect the law. -- Akane Tsunemori, Psycho-Pass
People's deaths are to be mourned. The ability to save people should be celebrated. Life itself should be exalted. -- Volken Macmani, Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra
I hate myself. But maybe I can learn to love myself. Maybe it's okay for me to be here! That's right! I'm me, nothing more, nothing less! I'm me. I want to be me! I want to be here! And it's okay for me to be here! -- Shinji Ikari, Neon Genesis Evangelion
Yes, I know. You thought it would be something about Asuka. You're such idiots.

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Postby Ash1969 » Mon Aug 03, 2015 12:50 pm

Asuka is my favorite character, but you forget about all those JSSDF troops she killed in EoE.
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Postby Bagheera » Mon Aug 03, 2015 1:17 pm

View Original PostAsh1969 wrote:Asuka is my favorite character, but you forget about all those JSSDF troops she killed in EoE.


No, I didn't forget at all. Rei and Shinji nuked the whole planet's population, and Gendo and Ritsuko engineered the situation that would force their hands. And don't forget, even with the soldiers Asuka still never strangled anyone or shattered their minds with a look or a touch. And Misato, well . . . she was in charge of sending children into combat situations, so . . . yeah. Even with the soldiers she still has less blood on her hands than the rest of the main cast, and the people she killed were entirely in self-defense.
For my post-3I fic, go here.
The law doesn't protect people. People protect the law. -- Akane Tsunemori, Psycho-Pass
People's deaths are to be mourned. The ability to save people should be celebrated. Life itself should be exalted. -- Volken Macmani, Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra
I hate myself. But maybe I can learn to love myself. Maybe it's okay for me to be here! That's right! I'm me, nothing more, nothing less! I'm me. I want to be me! I want to be here! And it's okay for me to be here! -- Shinji Ikari, Neon Genesis Evangelion
Yes, I know. You thought it would be something about Asuka. You're such idiots.

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Postby Dream » Mon Aug 03, 2015 8:53 pm

We should hate all the characters in the series :P
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Postby Bagheera » Mon Aug 03, 2015 9:02 pm

View Original PostDream wrote:We should hate [s]all[/s] none of the characters in the series :P


FTFU.
For my post-3I fic, go here.
The law doesn't protect people. People protect the law. -- Akane Tsunemori, Psycho-Pass
People's deaths are to be mourned. The ability to save people should be celebrated. Life itself should be exalted. -- Volken Macmani, Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra
I hate myself. But maybe I can learn to love myself. Maybe it's okay for me to be here! That's right! I'm me, nothing more, nothing less! I'm me. I want to be me! I want to be here! And it's okay for me to be here! -- Shinji Ikari, Neon Genesis Evangelion
Yes, I know. You thought it would be something about Asuka. You're such idiots.

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Postby Arcadia's legacy » Tue Aug 04, 2015 3:55 am

I think we're asking the wrong question. It's not that we should hate her, but can we like her? are there any likable attributes Asuka has?
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Postby Bagheera » Tue Aug 04, 2015 4:02 am

View Original PostArcadia's legacy wrote:I think we're asking the wrong question. It's not that we should hate her, but can we like her? are there any likable attributes Asuka has?


INTERVIEWER: Who's your favorite character?

ANNO: Asuka. She's cute!

Snark aside, Asuka has plenty of likable attributes. It's worth remembering that something doesn't have to be friendly to be appreciated -- think of things like tigers, and thunderstorms, and people like Solid Snake, and so on and so forth. Strength and brilliance and tenacity have their charms, after all. Between sympathy for her pain and her extraordinary performance in EoE I find it very easy to like Asuka. But of course I'm biased, so YMMV.
For my post-3I fic, go here.
The law doesn't protect people. People protect the law. -- Akane Tsunemori, Psycho-Pass
People's deaths are to be mourned. The ability to save people should be celebrated. Life itself should be exalted. -- Volken Macmani, Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra
I hate myself. But maybe I can learn to love myself. Maybe it's okay for me to be here! That's right! I'm me, nothing more, nothing less! I'm me. I want to be me! I want to be here! And it's okay for me to be here! -- Shinji Ikari, Neon Genesis Evangelion
Yes, I know. You thought it would be something about Asuka. You're such idiots.

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Postby FreakyFilmFan4ever » Tue Aug 04, 2015 9:14 am

Episode 11 distinctly show likable attributes in Asuka's character. I would even go so far as to say that the episode solidifies Asuka's core character as a good person who simply wants to be helpful. It's just that this aspect of Asuka is constantly drowned out by the issues in her life that she's constantly up against and trying to run away from. (Having an extremely distant and deranged mother figure will do that to a very small child.)

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Postby Iuvenal » Tue Aug 04, 2015 10:49 am

View Original PostFreakyFilmFan4ever wrote:Episode 11 distinctly show likable attributes in Asuka's character. I would even go so far as to say that the episode solidifies Asuka's core character as a good person who simply wants to be helpful. It's just that this aspect of Asuka is constantly drowned out by the issues in her life that she's constantly up against and trying to run away from. (Having an extremely distant and deranged mother figure will do that to a very small child.)


I didn't really get this from 11 - I got a reprise of earlier themes that Asuka made up for in assertiveness and bravado what she lacked in competence and real confidence, a good measure of pointless abuse, and some bonus derision aimed at Shinji's budding philosophical streak (she must have studied physics or astronomy at whichever university she attended).

Her plan did work though, so she had that going for her which is nice.
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