Why so little love for Hyuga and Aoba?

[Güf Trüp]

The two Bride Bunny Boys always seem to get overshadowed by Maya. I get that people are more likely to buy merchandise of a cute girl than of a nerd and a slightly douchey guitarist, but that doesn't mean they can't have decently sized fanbases! Can someone explain to me why they're so unpopular? And I want a better reason then "they're tertiary characters", because everyone else at least gets some recognition.

[The Killer of Heroes]

They're stock characters that have nothing going for them.

Maya has the lesbian angle at least, and more lines in general IIRC.

[Atropos]

They're not neglected in the world of fanfic, at least. And their spirits will live on in the dozens of cheap imitations that came as a packaged deal with the Rei clones.

[Kendrix]

I do get the impression that Hyuuga does have his share of fans, at least for a tertiary character.
poor Aoba's the one who gets no luv. similar syndrome with kensuke. the idea with all of the school kids was "looks like a stereotype, bus has more to it", but I rarely see anyone looking past the "looks like a stereotype at first" part of Kensuke, while Touji and Hikari get all sorts of love.
Maybe it's because of that super annoying American voice actor he got?
But it gets ridiculous when you get those fics where not even Shinji and Touji like him.

With Hikari and Maya, of course, we do have the whole "Girls are special, men are average" effect where girls start with audience sympathy - especially glaring with Hikari since she has the smallest role out of the trio.

There's no reason why the Bridge-bunnies shouldn't have fanclubs, they do get decent chunks of characterization - on a show like, say, bleach or Naruto, that's all a random Shinigami or Cloud Ninja would get, and still have massive fanbases.

I guess Hyuuga and Maya are more accessible because they
a) have ties to more relevant characters (Ritsuko/Misato) that probably make it easier to include them/give FF authors more to work with (Aoba does get implied to be sorta friends with Maya, but Maya's another tertiary character and I guess things with romantic connotations are more "interesting" to FF writers)
b) Have a certain vulnberability/ cluelessness that ppl mind find cute - Dunno, Aoba has always been my favorite *because* he's more independent/ capable of sorta taking charge like he does in EoE.

He needs more luv. Definitely. I mean, the only thing that ever got him any attention is basically not having a girlfriend at the time of third impact.

I swear, unless I go for an absolute kill-em-all (still undecided after that mood Q put me in... Do you believe I was once planning to give it a hyper happy end?) I'll end my ff project with Aoba happy and with a hot gf, even if I bloody kill everyone else. Similar thing with Asuka, for different reasons.

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

Are you guys kidding?! Hyuga and Aoba are two of the most exciting characters in Evangelion.



Who else could make tapping at keyboards and announcing sensor readers so exciting!

[The Killer of Heroes]

I'm not sure I would describe any of the bridge bunnies as clueless actually, Kendrix. They certainly know more about what's going on more of the time than say, Shinji.

They're not at god-tier knowledge like Gendo, but they know some stuff.

[SimplyMason0]

Cause they aren't pretty thus not marketable

I'm actually more interested in Aoba since we don't see much of him at all. Maya and Hyuga have a decent amount of story of such minor characters. He really doesn't do much really in regards to the other cast. He was a former rocker who changed careers to something bigger while still keeping the cynical nihilistic beliefs while legitimately helping to save the world. That sounds pretty interesting for such a background character.

[Stryker]

else could make tapping at keyboards and announcing sensor readers so exciting!

Hyuga and Aoba should be Radio Announcers for sports, except instead of sports, its Evangelions versus Angels. It would be the most entertaining and nail-biting experience, because not only is it essentially gladiator fighting, if one guy loses, everybody dies! People could bet on the competitors too, and some of the money goes to NERV. Millions would be made!

[user-02]

The two Bride Bunny Boys always seem to get overshadowed by Maya. I get that people are more likely to buy merchandise of a cute girl than of a nerd and a slightly douchey guitarist, but that doesn't mean they can't have decently sized fanbases! Can someone explain to me why they're so unpopular? And I want a better reason then "they're tertiary characters", because everyone else at least gets some recognition.

Asked and answered, man.

Occam's razor: they're dudes. Male characters get less fan interest than females. Especially if said female happens to like the ladies, which piques fan interest further.

[Nuclear Lunchbox]

Well, they just aren't that important to the plot. The only times when we ever see any real "character" in them is during the fights in Nerv HQ during EoE, except for a few other times with Hyuga and Misato.

[Blue Monday]

Aoba is hands down my favourite Bridge Bunny.

[Nuclear Lunchbox]

Aoba is hands down my favourite Bridge Bunny.

Hell yeah! Who could forget the air guitar?

[Lavinius]

I believe the yaoi fangirls may be able to find a way to provide love for Hyuga and Aoba.

[Merridian]

Makoto Hyuga and Shigeru Aoba Are Dead sounds like such a great idea for a fanfiction story that it's probably already been done.

[Trajan]

They have their fans.

If I'm not mistaken, they lasted much longer than I anticipated in the hurt/heal game we played a few years ago. You just have to remember that a tertiary character becoming popular is rare and not the norm.

[Oenara]

In a similar vein, why do Western fans refer to Ibuki as Maya, but never Shigeru or Makoto? Is it the same with Japanese fandom?

[Stryker]

It's shorter and easier to remember Maya, Aoba, and Hyuga. They are easier to remember, and contain less syllables (making it faster and easier to say).

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

In a similar vein, why do Western fans refer to Ibuki as Maya, but never Shigeru or Makoto? Is it the same with Japanese fandom?

Ritsuko calls Maya, "Maya" most of the time. You hear the occasional "Ibuki" once in a while, but it's mostly Maya I think.

[Squigsquasher]

We never really find out much about either of them, and they don't get much development. Maya, aside from being a potential lesbian (which everybody loves) is the only character who isn't emotionally detached from reality at NERV, which makes her the least suitable person to be working there. She hates having to watch the pilots suffer, and actually displays some level of emotion, whereas Hyuuga, Aoba, Ritsuko and even to some extent Misato are rather cold and overly professional about their jobs.

As for Kensuke, I'm a big fan of his. I wish he got a bit more attention payed to him. I hope that in future Evangelion material (the final Rebuild film, the manga, and the inevitable Rebuild of Rebuild of Evangelion which we will probably get because Anno is a perfectionist and will decide "You know, Rebuild was good, but we could do it better. Let's do another series!" not that I'm complaining) he gets a turn in the spotlight. Having him finally get to pilot an Eva, and end up heroically sacrificing himself would be a good approach I feel, especially if it's to protect Asuka, who can't stand him after all.

[Dream]

I know you said you didn't want "they're tertiary characters" as a reply but i don't really see any explanation beyond that. It's true that Maya tends to be more remembered among fans (i would say because she's more emotionally involved and is more overt in her concern for people) but i wouldn't be so sure if the difference is enought as to be considerable. I think saying that Hyuga and Aoba don't care about the pilots or what happens at NERV might be erroneus, at least in the former's case.

And Kensuke is just a douche/tool in my eyes, frankly.