ElMariachi wrote:As for Asuka in FINAL, well what's strange is that Shinji did asked her what happened to her eye,
That's probably more indicative of how Asuka now thinks of him, than of whatever actually happened. If anything, his behavior there should shut up anyone claiming that he plain didn't give a fuck about her.
@Topic:
That there could have theoretically been a better/ideal way to do something that a calmer, more mature person may have realized doesn't mean that we can expect anyone, especially not some 14 year old, to instantly come up with that ideal solution.
That "ideal reaction" isn't always identical with "average human reaction" should not really need saying.
It's not like there was really a concious choice involved, he just froze up completely and went into complete refusal mode because he couldn't make one.
That he's refusing some authority figure in favor of someone's life is already an indication of him having quite a noble streak somewhere (google "milgram experiment"), but it's still quite untempered and mixed with naivity, this typical thing teenagers don't realize that when you point out a problenm, you need to come up with an alternate solution that's actually better, and a common belief of naive people that any solution that doesn't guarantee ideal outcomes (irony*cough*) is inacceptable.
For Shinji to actually blame
Gendo for once instead of assuming any problem Gendo has with him is immediately his own fault (including the fact that Gendo abandoned him as a mere toddler) is actually a huge step forward here.
Don't expect him to arrive at a differentiated, multilayared analysis of an event right afterwards.
Someone who just mastered simple multiplication isn't gonna be doing complex multidimensional analysis the next day.
"Fight EVA 03 and just try getting Touji out alive"
isn't an ideal solution, either, or even a guarantee to get him out alive, and
that's the whole point - the result may have been exactly the same, but (and that's pretty much the point of either version of Kaji's speech) at least he would know that he did all he could and might arrive at a place where he didn't need to have that much regrets about it.
That's what it was all about - being comfronted with a situation where there's no ideal solution.
That's what it was about, no anything quite as hamhanded as certain people seem to be proposing.
It seems downright cruel to discribe someone who's just been involved in a very personally violating experience that involved the death or maiming of his best friend as "playing the victim and refusing to fight"
That's just as huge, glaring distortion of what actually happened, seriously, go rewatch it right now, and stop expecting random teenagers to act like professional soldiers.
Most people would be incapable to actually shoot some guy with a hostage next to him, even if he were threatening to kill the hostage anyway. Most people wouldn't be capable to just go and kill a person, or do something that might kill one, anyway. It's a natural inhibition humans have that actually has to be lowered through specefic training, and having it is not necessarily a bad thing.
As for Manga!Kaji, you have to take the whole situation into account, he just took that kid with him and went to seek shelter for the both of them, and he's measuring himself, and even the person he loves with the very same bar - It's really more of an indication of Manga!Kaji's own huge survivor guilt complex and skewered worldview than it's anything about Shinji personally, the one he's really pissed at is his younger self; He's just showing this kid the world, as every bit as unforgiving as he personally percieves it.
Sure it's harsh, but it kinda worked, if anything, I'd see this as a "flawed human being trying to do what they thought was best/right/true" moment.
