Weird_ocean wrote:I personally hate this development. And not because shipping. It's the fact that they reduced Asuka's character to being a weak little child, that is helpless without "Daddy-Kensuke". Kill me.

I feel like Kensuke is just one element that can help Asuka get better. He's like a friend who's there for you in difficult times. But ultimately, it's up to you to make the change happen.
Of course she would be depressed at the beginning of the movie. She is a clone who has been trapped in a child's body for 14 years, unable to eat or sleep. All she has left is to watch the world pass by her eyes while she remains the same forever. It doesn't seem like a very nice "life" to me and I don't see how Kensuke could have helped that. But now she has a new body given to her by Shinji, so things could change.

I agree that Soryu is an infinitely better and more realised character, but I've come to the conclusion that the comparison is kind of unfair. You have to look at things for what they are.

BernardoCairo wrote: But now she has a new body given to her by Shinji, so things could change.

It is clear that there are two different types of opinions in this discussion: one is that which believes that during instrumentality a profound internal change occurs in Asuka and the other is that which supports that Asuka remains substantially the same.
Imo if the only thing Asuka gets is to have an adult body then the beach scene alone would have been enough, and therefore all the rest of the instrumentality with little Asuka would be useless.
As far as I'm concerned it is right to give importance to this part and it is appropriate to ask why those words of Kensuke are addressed to the little Asuka and not to the Asuka as we have always seen her with her fourteen year old appearance.
Little Asuka is not just a memory from the past, but for Asuka she also symbolizes her deepest and most delicate part and her need to be loved.
After Kensuke appeared and said those words, little Asuka stops crying, her eyes widen and she has an expression of amazement on her face, just as if she had discovered something she didn't know, as if she had reached an important awareness.
At that moment Asuka suffers because she feels alone and unloved by anyone and it is on this that she evidently finds the answer she needed.

There is a relationship of friendship, trust and respect between Asuka and Kensuke, but on Asuka's part it is a cold, distant relationship with limits, otherwise Asuka wouldn't say "I'm alone and I'll always be alone" at his house and she wouldn't always play wonderswan. It is clear that she can't really feel Kensuke's affection, because she is incapable of needing anyone.
In my opinion the change that occurs during instrumentality concerns precisely this.
Kensuke's appearance and his words convince Asuka that there is nothing wrong with her, that she deserves to be loved too, and that therefore Asuka can accept that she needs others and feels their affection. Little Asuka's reaction indicates that this message has truly been deeply received.
The relationship between Asuka and Kensuke from now on will not be a father-daughter relationship (it wouldn't make sense between two people who are both twenty-eight years old), but it will be a relationship between two people who are both free to feel and express the need and affection they feel for each other.