Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Postby WunderBah » Mon May 17, 2021 7:14 am

This isn't to say Shinii doesn't get enough flack (which he's had, a lot). But compared to Asuka, I'm under the inpression that among the fandom she's gotten it much worse from people, especially when you consider the irony where throughout the series Asuka gets arguably the least amount of bare minimum moral support from the cast (Hikari aside).

Even with EoE Shinji's taken into consideration, I've still seen more sympathy given to him from various fans, unless I'm missing something?

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Re: Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Postby BusterMachine4 » Mon May 17, 2021 9:30 am

Yeah, Shinji is given a lot more slack by the fandom. In my opinion, though, the reason why is simple: it’s because of Asuka’s abrasive personality. Shinji is messed up, but relatively quiet and inoffensive about it, which makes it easier to sympathize with him (at least until he goes full psychopath mode in EoE). Asuka, on the other hand, takes her mental issues out on everyone she knows, and seems to hate Shinji, Rei, and Misato just for existing. It’s much easier to sympathize with a quiet person than it is to sympathize with an abrasive person.

Also, Asuka is canonically a homophobe, so that also makes it a bit hard for me to sympathize with her. :wink:

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Re: Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Postby Kendrix » Mon May 17, 2021 10:36 am

My impression was the exact opposite, which isn't so say that Asuka has no haters but she has tons of dedicated hardcore fans while Shinji is just kinda constantly the butt of memes/jokes.

Maybe everyone just notices the mean comments against their fave more, esp. if you relate to them...

In the end both their lives suck and there's no need to pit them against each other.

As for in-universe it should be noted that the adult cast isn't exactly blessed in the parental instincts or interpersonal insights department, & that Shinji just looks more outwardly needy & miserable, while Rei conveniently never complains and Asuka deliberately puts op a facade of confidence &independence. You get no points for noticing that Shinji could use a hug cause it's very obvious.
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Re: Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Postby FreakyFilmFan4ever » Mon May 17, 2021 5:14 pm

View Original PostBusterMachine4 wrote:Also, Asuka is canonically a homophobe, so that also makes it a bit hard for me to sympathize with her. :wink:

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Like, maybe? I dunno, she never displayed those homophobic tendencies in either NGE or NTE specifically, so, imo, the "canonicity" of Asuka's behavior outside of those works is a very grey area.

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Re: Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Postby BusterMachine4 » Mon May 17, 2021 5:42 pm

View Original PostFreakyFilmFan4ever wrote:Like, maybe? I dunno, she never displayed those homophobic tendencies in either NGE or NTE specifically, so, imo, the "canonicity" of Asuka's behavior outside of those works is a very grey area.

I mean, Asuka never got the chance to meet Kaworu in either Anno-written version of the series, and I find it highly unlikely that every single AU writer who included a scene between Asuka and Kaworu independently came up with the idea to make Asuka a raging homophobe, so I think that "Asuka hates Kaworu because he's gay" might have actually been an idea contributed by Anno.

Also, in case you didn't notice, my comment was kind of tongue-in-cheek.

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Re: Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Postby C.T.1290 » Mon May 17, 2021 7:21 pm

View Original PostBusterMachine4 wrote:I mean, Asuka never got the chance to meet Kaworu in either Anno-written version of the series, and I find it highly unlikely that every single AU writer who included a scene between Asuka and Kaworu independently came up with the idea to make Asuka a raging homophobe, so I think that "Asuka hates Kaworu because he's gay" might have actually been an idea contributed by Anno.

The only time she did encountered Kaworu was in Sadamoto’s manga adaptation. And she didn’t display any homophobic hostility towards him, more like calling him a pervert for entering the girl’s locker room.
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Re: Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Postby Blockio » Mon May 17, 2021 7:28 pm

Yeah, that. Besides;
I find it highly unlikely that every single AU writer who included a scene between Asuka and Kaworu independently came up with the idea to make Asuka a raging homophobe, so I think that "Asuka hates Kaworu because he's gay" might have actually been an idea contributed by Anno.

That bit is genuinely one of the most ridiculous things I've seen on this site in a long while. There were two instances of that, each of them a one-off joke that never came up again even when they met later, and that is somehow Anno's doing?
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Re: Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Postby silvermoonlight » Tue May 18, 2021 4:35 am

View Original PostBusterMachine4 wrote:Also, Asuka is canonically a homophobe, so that also makes it a bit hard for me to sympathize with her. :wink:


If this is a reference to the Shinji Ikari rising manga it was written by Osamu Takahashi not Anno so its not his voice it is another creator making a version he thinks is homophobic and is not the same version as in NGE EOE or Rebuild version.

Its also worth noting Osamu made Rei just as bad as that whole awful sub-plot was them splitting up Shinji/Kaworu so Shinji will go back to being a "real man", while creating a double standard as Rei/Asuka like each other and kiss each other as well as Shinji.

It is also true that some earlier fanfiction writers writing Evangelion fanfiction put this in but for context this was around the early 2000's and in the early 2000's LGBT fanfction was not fully main stream, so these stories are pure product of their time and should be viewed as such.
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Re: Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Postby Nuclear Lunchbox » Tue May 18, 2021 4:53 am

I'm not sure if Shinji does get more leeway from the community, for all the reasons mentioned above. Hell, he's the butt of every "get in the robot" joke in the book. I can see how people might be less inclined to like Asuka in the beginning for her abrasive traits, particularly if they're not too familiar with that character archetype. There are certainly people who disliked her after the show ended, since her behavior seemingly overshadows the underlying reasons for that behavior for those folks. But even with that said, I don't think they're necessarily representative of the majority of the fandom.

Asuka may get some shit for the way she treats Shinji and co., but I think it's just a different kind of flak than what Shinji gets. It's an interesting comparison, but I'm not personally behind it.

(And the bit about her being homophobic feels weirdly out of left field.)

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Re: Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Postby BusterMachine4 » Tue May 18, 2021 7:07 am

Okay, I’m sorry for the “Asuka’s homophobic” comment. It was just a stupid joke that got out of hand, and I regret posting it now. Can we get back on topic?

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Re: Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Postby Xenoblade » Tue May 18, 2021 2:03 pm

I really don't think either character gets special slack. Both characters have their die-hard defence force (with some overlap, especially in this NGE/EoE timeline), and both characters have their haters who prefer Rei's inoffensive nature as a character.

In an ideal world, everyone gives Misato a bit of slack 99% of the time, and she's a fairly easy character to forgive in most cases. That is, aside from when she arguably favours Shinji over the other pilot in her care, Asuka, which is something she does seem to do, and something I think we're supposed to notice. :emogendo:

I really don't think most people watching the show have it out for meek and mild-mannered Shinji, or the more fiery, sabre-rattling and independent Asuka. I don't think most viewers really care to give more leeway to one over the other, although some might not understand Asuka's nature before the Arael confrontation in Episode 22: Don't Be.
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Re: Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Postby Dakkky » Tue Jul 13, 2021 3:09 pm

Also, Asuka is canonically a homophobe, so that also makes it a bit hard for me to sympathize with her.

And when did she become homophobic? Did I miss something in the TV series or movie?
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Re: Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Postby Kendrix » Tue Jul 13, 2021 3:25 pm

That's a joke/meme.

There's a bit in the SIRP spinoff Manga where Asuka (& Rei) conspire to not let Kaworu get him which was supposed to be silly romcom at the time (Betty & veronica team up against Cheryl Blossom!!) but the phrasing is unfortunate by today's standards, but that's more down to it being 15 years old than anything to do with Asuka in particular, when you think about it it's rly amazing how much attitudes have changed in the last decade.
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Re: Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Postby BusterMachine4 » Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:23 pm

Asuka also has a lot of moments in other comedic spinoffs calling Kaworu a "dirty homo" or something along those lines, which caused me to joke that Asuka's homophobia is basically canon because of how many times it pops up in various Eva spinoffs. The joke went too far, though.

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Re: Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Postby BernardoCairo » Wed Jul 14, 2021 1:00 am

Let's separate facts from half-truths. Asuka is used as a vehicle to tell these "jokes" in some spinoff materials. The same goes for Ayanami. As Kendrix pointed out, it's all about the time period in which these stories were published. In short, we have evolved a lot in recent years.
With that out of the way, is Asuka canonically a homophobe? No. She never showed signs of being homophobic in any of Hideaki Anno's works (NGE and NTE). The same can be said about Sadamoto's manga. Is Asuka homophobic in every single spinoff? No. That's far from being true! In Campus Apocalypse, for example, Asuka was really nice to Kaworu. Do you want another example? Well, how about Angelic Days? Asuka and Kaworu don't like each other in this version. Still, she was never homophobic with him. In fact, she was shown to be concerned about his concert (which Shinji didn't attend).
Anyway, I would like to reiterate that spinoff materials have nothing to do with Evangelion's main continuities. To claim that Asuka is canonically homophobic is like saying that Kaworu is canonically an arrogant bastard who hates change, just because I read it in Angelic Days.

BusterMachine4, I understand that you were trying to crack a joke. However, we are talking about a sensitive and important topic here. You're unintentionally spreading false information. I guarantee that some people may even feel uncomfortable after reading your post. I'm glad you acknowledged your mistake. Do not repeat it, please.
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Re: Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Postby Dakkky » Thu Jul 15, 2021 5:38 am

BernardoCairo, Ah, then I see, thank you for the answer :D
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Re: Do you believe Shinji is given more slack in comparison to Asuka?

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Postby geistygal » Fri Oct 01, 2021 2:52 pm

View Original PostBusterMachine4 wrote:Asuka also has a lot of moments in other comedic spinoffs calling Kaworu a "dirty homo" or something along those lines, which caused me to joke that Asuka's homophobia is basically canon because of how many times it pops up in various Eva spinoffs. The joke went too far, though.


I don't think Asuka would actually be homophobic, at least in terms of having an actual hatred towards gay people. However, I definitely believe she would say whatever she thinks is the most cruel in order to get under someone's skin.


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