3.0 Film Reaction Thread

[Charsi]

No doubt you've seen many a film that have mysterious goings on, what's going on, why the man is doing this, why that, and you're about a third of the way through the film before you realize what it's all about, and to me that is completely wasted footage because there's no emotion to it.

Certainly some insightful things.

No, it doesn't negate anything. And i'm not doing your homework for you, explain your objections.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

And i'm not doing your homework for you, explain your objections.

I'm pressed for time at the moment. I cannot respond in full until something during the weekend. In part, however, it has to do with different narrative voices and how they are used. Since Hitchcock's narratives in his movies are relatively straight-forward, I thought having you look over his techniques and findings as he experiments using various narrative voices and timing of the exposition throughout his career would be helpful in understanding why it seems the character do what they do and are what they are in Anno's Eva Q, especially since Eva Q is a large etude by Anno in the usage of the different kinds of narrative voices and timing in exposition. And since different narrative voices can have different effects on the exact same plot (a plot made up of the timing of exposition as seen through the vessel of one or two narrative voices), using solely the narrative voice to judge the plot isn't the best way to go about things.

Keep in mind that the narrative voice in Eva Q is very restrictive and, with few exceptions (mostly the scenes with Gendo and Fuyutsuki), mostly first-person oriented from Shinji's perspective. This isn't to say that having Shinji as the main narrative voice gives the film an "unreliable narration" (though how cool would that be if it did?), but it's certainly not an omniscient narrative voice, which means judging whether or not a particular character's action in the narration makes sense to the plot or character progression is rather difficult.

[Chrad]

A reply from the 'Scenes that bothered you' thread, but I think it belongs more in here.

But 3.0 wasn't really "break-necked" in its pacing. Much of the middle segment in the film was slowly and methodically paced out. Sure, the beginning was a little crazy in its pacing (which seemed really intentional because of how well-implemented into the film it was), and the end was a bit shorter than I initially would have liked it to be. But much of the movie took its time setting up the relationship between Kaworu and Shinji, which, I think, worked really well for the film.

Also, I don't understand. How can a movie feel like 6 different episodes crammed into 90 minutes if there isn't 3 - 6 separate accounts of a set-up, build-up to climax, and resolution throughout the film? (Such as the case with 1.0.) 3.0 had one Act 1 set-up (Shinji with Wille), one Act 2 where there was a long stretch where it build to a climax (Shinji with Kaworu), and one Act 3 resolution (Shinji with Asuka), therefore subverting any feelings of there being multiple episodes with multiple 3-Act-Structures crammed into the movie. Because if this irrefutable fact of the film's make-up in story structure, I really can't understand your argument at all.

The film didn't literally feel like six three act stories mashed together, but it had the same condensed storytelling feel of 2.0 and especially 1.0.it felt like the Cliff's Notes version of a much longer narrative, which is something I thought the move toward all original material would have helped them avoid.

The characterisation didn't have enough room to breathe. Kaworu and Shinji's relationship was clearly meant to be the big emotional hook of the film, but I didn't find it to be particularly deeper than what was presented in episode 24. Healthier and more relatable, but not any more substantial. Perhaps a big cause of this is that Kaworu having his own agenda and motivations but giving them up for the sake of Shinji's future is much more conceptually powerful than 3.0's heavy handed Jesus analogue. If this were the original depiction of their relationship, I doubt K/S's reach would have been as wide as it has been.

[Justacrazyguy]

Seesh, Crazyguy, you only decided to watch this movie now?

Well, yes. You see I hadn´t even wached the other Rebuild movies yet! And I had to make breaks betwen them because the computer generated aimation was hurting my eyes.

But anyway, the movie.

What can I say? It was fun watching Shinji lose all his hope. Ah! But then Kaworu appeared and Shinji was all happy but then Kaworu died and he lost all hope again.

I have no ideia what to think about most of the other new characters because most of them barely spoke because Shnji(14 year old emotionaly unstable boy he was) accidentaly almost killed everyone. And because people really wanted someone to blame for all for all the crap that happened to them they barely talked to him. And because the movie is centered around Shinji this means we end up knowing nothing about them.(so many becauses)

But who cares about them? They look like boring characters anyway.

So yeah, a fun movie. Shame that the computer generated animation looks horrible and half of the goddamn movie is made that way.

[ElMariachi]

At last, after making my sister interested in Evangelion, I got her to see first the series and EoE!
After that we got to see the Rebuild, one per day.
And today we finally saw 3.0.
And of course I managed to keep her completely spoiler free, the poor child thought that she would get what she saw during the 2.0 preview, that Shinji will come back after a little month...

...but damn even after seeing it before it still hurt emotionally!
I can't help it, everytime I see 3.0 it gets me down for the rest of the day and part of the day after...

[Stillborn]

...but damn even after seeing it before it still hurt emotionally!
I can't help it, everytime I see 3.0 it gets me down for the rest of the day and part of the day after...

It held me down for half a week.

And is still partially holding.

[CJD]

I'm willing to bet I had the hardest of it here, and it's because of that that I'm confident in saying: Don't worry, it gets better. Seven months later and the hard part isn't the movie anymore, it's just that the movie reminds you of how you felt. Like being clean of drugs for a long time and then having sudden addiction pangs when you walk by the corner where you used to buy your coke. Stay strong

[Stillborn]

Seriously. This movie reminded me of most of the reasons, I don't want to live on this planet anymore. It induced depression and powerless rage, that without release, turned into bile in the back of my throat and rotted inside me into enough stress to make me physically ill for few days.
That only happened once before (But back then It was so bad couldn't contain the initial rage and I needed a new PC since the old one recieved fist to the screen)

That movie made me physically ill. And even then I watched it more than once, just to make sure if I can find something enjoyable on next run. I didn't.

[Gendo'sPapa]

Bunch a softies around here.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Geez, and I thought I was an emotional sap at the movies...

[CJD]

Geez, and I thought I was an emotional sap at the movies...

It's Eva, man. What do you expect? Those types of reactions are standard fare from what I've seen. Ain't nothin' like Eva to cause emotional break downs.

[Nuclear Lunchbox]

Geez, and I thought I was an emotional sap at the movies...

I occasionally cry when something overwhelmingly cute and sad happens, but that's about it. Sometimes I feel hatred for characters, but that usually goes away an hour after I'm done watching.

[ElMariachi]

Stillborn... that's a work of fiction that didn't have any base on a real life story, so no need to go all suicidal on it, if 3.0 depresses you then go outside see friends or look another anime with joy while you wait for Final!

You're really scary when you get like that.

[Stillborn]

Stillborn... that's a work of fiction that didn't have any base on a real life story, so no need to go all suicidal on it, if 3.0 depresses you then go outside see friends or look another anime with joy while you wait for Final!

You're really scary when you get like that.

The point is... It DOES have enough in common with real life to make me depressed and furious.

Scapegoeats.
Probably everyone in NERV carries some level of responsibility for NTI, since their interactions with Shinji influenced him in some way, resulting in his final mental state at the end of 2.0. He IS mentally unstable kid so putting him in mind warping weapon of mass destruction may NOT be the wisest decision. At least not without giving him serious mental preparation and therapy between missions. Shinji is not without guilt, but it seems like all the collective blame has been pushed on one convinient person.

That's not fiction.

That's the mentality that leads to lynches in real life. Also during the greatest racial discrimination times, lot of inncocent black people ended up in jail, just because public wanted someone punished, and they perfectly fitted their biased opinion.


Units lives are unimportant in the face of "grater good".

This was also touched in movies like "Code Mercury", "Cabin in the woods" and even "Night meat train".

You really think things like that don't happen? While there is no supernatural element involved, how do you think CIA or KGB operated? For the good of their nation? How many just "disappeared" because they were considered a threat for the knowledge they may not even know they posses?

For the "grater good" is an common exuse that justifies everything. And it makes me sick.

[BlueBasilisk]

The point is... It DOES have enough in common with real life to make me depressed and furious.

Scapegoeats.
Probably everyone in NERV carries some level of responsibility for NTI, since their interactions with Shinji influenced him in some way, resulting in his final mental state at the end of 2.0. He IS mentally unstable kid so putting him in mind warping weapon of mass destruction may NOT be the wisest decision. At least not without giving him serious mental preparation and therapy between missions. Shinji is not without guilt, but it seems like all the collective blame has been pushed on one convinient person.

That's not fiction.

That's the mentality that leads to lynches in real life. Also during the greatest racial discrimination times, lot of inncocent black people ended up in jail, just because public wanted someone punished, and they perfectly fitted their biased opinion.


Units lives are unimportant in the face of "grater good".

This was also touched in movies like "Code Mercury", "Cabin in the woods" and even "Night meat train".

You really think things like that don't happen? While there is no supernatural element involved, how do you think CIA or KGB operated? For the good of their nation? How many just "disappeared" because they were considered a threat for the knowledge they may not even know they posses?

For the "grater good" is an common exuse that justifies everything. And it makes me sick.

El Mariachi has a point here. Having enough emotional investment in characters to feel something when they are hurt? That's fine. But when a work of fiction starts affecting your own mental or emotional well-being that much, it is perhaps time to take a step away and remind yourself that they are fictional characters. I had to do that after watching End of Eva when I was a teenager. Watch something funny and absurd or something upbeat and life affirming and remind yourself that there are good things in life along with the atrocities.

And the people of NERV? They're victims too, just like Shinji is. That's most likely why they jumped ship after NERV and SEELE's dirty laundry was aired out. Misato and the bridge bunnies had no idea Eva-01 could do what it did. Even Ritsuko didn't figure it out until the proceedings were well underway and she was the resident Eva expert.

Nobody told Shinji to get back in Eva 01, either; He left NERV of his own volition and came back on his own. Mari and Gendo are the only people he talked to before leaving and returning. Mari told him to run the heck away before he got killed, and Gendo just let him back in the Eva. The real guilty parties are Gendo, Yui, Fuyutsuki ad Seele for setting the whole shitstorm in motion in the first place.

But here's the thing; WILLE was not scapegoating Shinji, nor did they disappear him like some kind of secret police. If they wanted to get rid of him, they had ample opportunity before he ever woke up and even after. They took him to task for something which, as far as we know so far, he actually did, knowingly or not. Was the punishment harsh? Yes, and it seems worse because we know Misato and Shinji have a history.

Other than the bomb, which proved to be an empty threat since Misato couldn't pull the trigger, Shinji's treatment really is not that bad. The WILLE people are mad at him, which they should be after having to live in that wasteland for so long, but they let him wander around the ship for a bit, and we don't know what kind of freedom he would have been given after his interrogation, which is what that tiny cell was for. They didn't show any interest in actively persecuting him beyond the previously mentioned punishment, and they didn't bother chasing him down again until Kaworu goaded him into piloting the Eva, the ONE thing he was explicitly warned not to do. Even after, Asuka could have killed him or left him to die of exposure. Rei too. That she goes back for him and lets Rei follow along says volumes about the situation.

People are scapegoated in real life, and it's utterly deplorable. That's NOT what happened here. WILLE essentially told Shinji to sit down, shut up, and stop fucking with giant god-like weapons he can't possibly understand. That's not an unreasonable position, any more than telling people not to play around with nuclear weapons. If he had done that ONE thing, he would have been fine. But he didn't, and that particular ball is in his and Kaowru's court.

It's poor communication between WILLE/Shinji and Kaworu/Shinji that ultimately leads us to this outcome.

Just try not to let the movie get to you so much. Unlike real life, it's not an injustice you can fight against; the characters will dance as puppeteer Anno desires. And it's not worth damaging your own well-being being outraged at a movie.

Personally, I don't think 3.0 is a downbeat movie, and it's far less so than End of Eva. The world's a post-apocalyptic crapsack, but there are a lot more good people banded together to fight SEELE and Gendo's schemes this time and there's a glimmer of hope that, even after all that's transpired, things can be made better. It'll take a lot of hard of hard work and listening to other people, but it can be done. They state this a couple times throughout the movie.

That's a pretty uplifting message. No matter how bad things get, you can make it better.

[Kendrix]

Seriously. This movie reminded me of most of the reasons, I don't want to live on this planet anymore. It induced depression and powerless rage, that without release, turned into bile in the back of my throat and rotted inside me into enough stress to make me physically ill for few days.
That only happened once before (But back then It was so bad couldn't contain the initial rage and I needed a new PC since the old one recieved fist to the screen)

That movie made me physically ill. And even then I watched it more than once, just to make sure if I can find something enjoyable on next run. I didn't.

Another particularly hard case of post-Q-depression. Maybe ppl who have already sort-of survived it, like CJD and me, should open some self-help group.

I wasn't hit as hard as you, but it was the first time I could not make myself stop thinking about some depressing fictional event and concentrate on teh real life, or woke up with the depressing thoughts from the evening before still continuing linearly in my head, and I've had a LOT more horrible things happen to me than depressing movies...

That said, Q might be the bleakest, most depressing movie to exist since grave of the fireflies.

It hurts so much it's not even beautiful anymore - EoE never crossed that line.
At least there, the characters who died accomplished something with their sacrifices, and there's a chance that maybe they'll be happy in the future... But in Q, no one has a future.
They all got so old and/or wasted.
They were all cheated out of their futures by SEELE, who conveniently took the cheap way out/ never had to live in the world they created for their selfish ends.

I also definitely agree about the massive real world subtext - Living in a hellhole, war etc DOES corrup people, see the middle east etc.
The worst is that however horrible, dehumanizing, if not downright irrational/counterproductive Asuka's and Misato's treatment of Shinji may have been, it is COMPLETELY REALISTIC, and they would need to be *very* exceptionally strong people not to subcumb to that corruption and become this, not when their every day is this empty wasteland and constant fighting.
How did someone like Hitler ever get voted into Power? Because of the great depression.
Considering that the TI wasteland is way worse than 30ies Germany, and that WILLE is still relatively heroic..../trying to save the remainder of the world...

This movie has a particular way to throw ppl into existential horror for a while, esp if they [s]liked [/s] had a remote shred of empathy for Shinji.

Hang in there, buddy, It does get better.

[Stillborn]

I can tell you're trying to help, but it's not easy to let it go since it strikes so close to home.

Nobody told Shinji to get back in Eva 01, either; He left NERV of his own volition and came back on his own. Mari and Gendo are the only people he talked to before leaving and returning. Mari told him to run the heck away before he got killed, and Gendo just let him back in the Eva.

That's true only for Zeruel battle. Until then he was either guilt tripped into piloting, or pressured into it.

But here's the thing; WILLE was not scapegoating Shinji, nor did they disappear him like some kind of secret police.

To clarify this, that part wasn't about Shinji's treatment. But I'll get to that.

we don't know what kind of freedom he would have been given after his interrogation, which is what that tiny cell was for.

That is the only tiny piece that gives me some hope, that this was standard procedure for everyone suspicious from NERV until they proven trustworthy. But knwing Anno it will probably won't last.

Still, straping a bomb to him and stating it was sign of their mistrust for something he have no idea about is brutal. Especially from people he knew and trusted it must felt like deliberate betrayal. Reducing him to a specimen and asset is also cringe worthy.

When I think about it... It's the second time, that Misato couldn't handle Shinji.

First it was guilttripping him with Lilith and putting a burden of world protection on him ("You don't have to pilot but if you don't fight we all die and it will be your fault" kind of message). It's not the main problem, but it is another stone on the pile that finally pushed him to return to Unit 01 once he saw the destraction made by Zeruel (the other part was saving Rei). And that is one of the strings that leads him to accidently blow up the world.

On Wunder, she fails on the other side. "We don't need you anymore and don't like you anymore. We don't care what you want". She admonishes him for his eagerness to do something she was pushing him to do the last time. She effectively scares him away into hands of people who will gladly accept him... So he could blow up the world again for them.

But here's the thing; WILLE was not scapegoating Shinji, nor did they disappear him like some kind of secret police.

Now about that part. It was more aimed at Misato's new philosophy of "mission first human lives later".

It's that kind of utilitarysm I hated Uranus and Neptune from Sailor Moon for. Or above mentioned CIA or KGB in real world.

"Greater good" is a valid exuse for any action, no matter how horryfying, and is used too frequently for my taste. It doesn't make tossing lives into meat grinder any more noble, but it sure looks better on CV, than Gendo's wish for a family, or Shinji's desire to save friend. Makes the killer look pure and selfless.

That disgusts me.

It's poor communication between WILLE/Shinji and Kaworu/Shinji that ultimately leads us to this outcome.

That is true.

Just try not to let the movie get to you so much. Unlike real life, it's not an injustice you can fight against; the characters will dance as puppeteer Anno desires. And it's not worth damaging your own well-being being outraged at a movie.

Anno shows us something with this movie. And i don't like what I see.

Personally, I don't think 3.0 is a downbeat movie, and it's far less so than End of Eva. The world's a post-apocalyptic crapsack, but there are a lot more good people banded together to fight SEELE and Gendo's schemes

I guess script designed them as a good guys. But for me they are just lesser evil.

That's a pretty uplifting message. No matter how bad things get, you can make it better.

With enough levels of callousnes and cannon fodder.


Thank's for trying, but majority of my mind will always scowl at "end justify the means" actions, even if they are for my benefit. I would rather refuse that benefit.

Also I guess I will always feel more tuned with Shinji and people in his situation, rather than up there in grander politics on higher scale.

[BlueBasilisk]

That's true only for Zeruel battle. Until then he was either guilt tripped into piloting, or pressured into it.

That's true, but that one battle is the time that it really mattered since it set up the chain of events of 3.0. He was completely free to go that time and I believe one of the crew said he would have if Zeruel hadn't popped up at that moment. Whatever happened before, that one was all him.

That is the only tiny piece that gives me some hope, that this was standard procedure for everyone suspicious from NERV until they proven trustworthy. But knwing Anno it will probably won't last.

If the scenes from the teaser with the NERV staff being imprisoned and interrogated did occur during the time skip, I think it probably was.

Still, straping a bomb to him and stating it was sign of their mistrust for something he have no idea about is brutal. Especially from people he knew and trusted it must felt like deliberate betrayal. Reducing him to a specimen and asset is also cringe worthy.

I'm not entirely sure they buy his claim he doesn't remember. He tells them he remembers saving Rei, which happened near the end. And remember, Misato and Ritsuko were apparently talking to him while this all went down. Whether he meant it or not, his "I don't care what happens to the world" would be damning in their eyes, and "I don't remember doing that" would sound weak to people he hurt.

The bomb was a misstep and I wish they hadn't done it, but at the same time I can see what they were thinking, even if I don't agree with it. It was desperation, most likely, just like Shinji pulling the spears later.

Labelling him as a specimen wasn't some calculated move to hurt him. They did it while he was unconscious and they were unsure if he WAS Shinji. Once Ritsuko confirms that he is, they all call him by name. Misato even uses his name before she's sure. The implications in this scene are that at some point, something's been recovered from an Eva that wasn't human but looked like one and they're taking precautions in case he's a monster wearing a Shinji suit

When I think about it... It's the second time, that Misato couldn't handle Shinji.

First it was guilttripping him with Lilith and putting a burden of world protection on him ("You don't have to pilot but if you don't fight we all die and it will be your fault" kind of message). It's not the main problem, but it is another stone on the pile that finally pushed him to return to Unit 01 once he saw the destraction made by Zeruel (the other part was saving Rei). And that is one of the strings that leads him to accidently blow up the world.

On Wunder, she fails on the other side. "We don't need you anymore and don't like you anymore. We don't care what you want". She admonishes him for his eagerness to do something she was pushing him to do the last time. She effectively scares him away into hands of people who will gladly accept him... So he could blow up the world again for them.

Misato doesn't know how to handle Shinji. This is shown to be a flaw of hers on multiple occasions, and I think she admits as much. She tries, but can't seem to get it right, and when she does, Shinji doesn't listen anyway. Ritsuko calls her out on her make-or-break philosophy against the Angels when they're strategizing against Sahaquiel. Her "new" philosophy in Q is actually building on that.

She's learned from her mistakes in Q, but ends up making wholly new ones instead.

Now about that part. It was more aimed at Misato's new philosophy of "mission first human lives later".

It's that kind of utilitarysm I hated Uranus and Neptune from Sailor Moon for. Or above mentioned CIA or KGB in real world.

"Greater good" is a valid exuse for any action, no matter how horryfying, and is used too frequently for my taste. It doesn't make tossing lives into meat grinder any more noble, but it sure looks better on CV, than Gendo's wish for a family, or Shinji's desire to save friend. Makes the killer look pure and selfless.

That disgusts me.

Utilitarianism in regards to humans is a scary philosophy, but it's also a very common element in dystopian fiction, which Q certainly is, and like I said before, it builds on Misato's actions in the previous films and takes them to their logical extremes. The way I took it, we're meant to see this as a flaw. Misato has the right goals and the wrong methodology. If they can't stop NERV, there won't be any human lives TO save. That's probably why Ritsuko is there, to act as a voice of reason and rein Misato in when she gets too single minded. She had to do this at least once in the movie.

Actually, "the greater good" is pretty widely recognized as a paper thin justification for some pretty ugly actions, and, at least in my experience, there is an increasing amount of backlash whenever anyone tries to play this particular card for exactly that reason. A lot of people trot out Spock's line from Star Trek II: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." What they ignore is that Kirk later tells him why that's bullshit.

I don't know if the CIA or KGB ever claimed the greater good, but what they do is just the opposite; protecting the wants of powered interests/their own desires (if you see them as a solid "party" body) over the needs of the many. Which is exactly what Seele and Gendo do, and even Shinji in his own way. "I want Rei," "You tried to make me hurt Asuka/Toji," "I can make Misato like me again!"

There has to be a balance

I'm not one for "heroic sacrifices" myself. A life lost in a noble pursuit is still a life lost. "Attack on Titan" shares a lot of elements with Q, but it has one great moment where a character calls BS on this very thing. The dead are dead, no matter how they went out. It's the living who can make a difference, so don't throw that away for some misguided concept of a dignified death.

But many of the Wunder's crew don't seem to object to Misato's philosophy. They know what they're getting into and probably signed on knowing this. She's not chucking them blindly into a wood chipper while she sits back and watches the fallout.

One of the injustices present in either Eva series is that it's a catch 22 situation. Use the Children to fight an uphill battle against the Angels, they and everyone else will probably still die. Do nothing against the Angels, well, you're still going to die.

Anno shows us something with this movie. And i don't like what I see.

Just showing us something doesn't mean he endorses it. What remains to be seen here is where he's going with it.

I guess script designed them as a good guys. But for me they are just lesser evil.

Well yes, they do have aspects of that, but moral ambiguity is absolutely par for the course in Evangelion. It makes for compelling human drama. But in a direct comparison, Wille is still comes off as the much better option when compared to NERV. It's another common theme in dystopic fiction; how far will the good guys go when the situation is dire enough, and can they still save the world without crossing the line?

Also I guess I will always feel more tuned with Shinji and people in his situation, rather than up there in grander politics on higher scale.

This right here seems to be the crux of peoples' problems with this movie; how strongly they identify or sympathize with Shinji. The narrative focuses so strongly around him now that his treatment becomes the make or break point.

And I do feel bad for Shinji. He's in a really bad spot and in way over his head. But at the same time, I empathize more strongly with his ensemble; Misato, Asuka, Mari, Ritsuko, even Sakura. Shinji got to sleep through all the really bad stuff. He went to sleep, woke up, the world went to shit and people were mad at him, cold and distant. He did end the world, but he didn't have to live through the fallout.

Everyone else had to take the slow path and fight to survive in a world hostile to human life, and they had to do so with the knowledge that 1) they possibly could have prevented it, and 2) some among their numbers actively desired this outcome. And they've had to deal with this for fourteen years. That's as long as Shinji's been alive and half of Mari and Asuka's lives. Misato's had go go through that twice and was at ground zero both times. Asuka got infected by an alien, probably had her biological makeup altered, and she and Mari have basically entered temporal stasis.

Plus god knows how many inquiries, interrogations, and whatever other legal proceedings they had to go through before being released from custody and joining up with the founders of WILLE.

Compared to all of that, well, I feel like Shinji didn't exactly get worst deal, even he's still in an absolutely awful situation.

People are so quick to shit on WILLE, but they seem much more reluctant to stop and consider their problems than they are with Shinji's.

Edit: It feels like this is drifting off topic and into well-worn territory, so I probably won't respond like this again. If Eva's making you feel that bad, though, I think the healthiest thing to do would be step away from it for a while, either look at one of the light-hearted AUs or just something else entirely. I think we all love Eva, but why keep indulging in it if it's going to negatively effect you that much?

[Stillborn]

Quite a good rant, and can't find anything I could really dissect, so just a tid bits for now.

Compared to all of that, well, I feel like Shinji didn't exactly get worst deal, even he's still in an absolutely awful situation.

Worst, probably not. But at least equally bad on a different spectrum. And he is alone to deal with it. That's what hurt him the most. Kaworu tried to help... And it didn't wen't well.

People are so quick to shit on WILLE, but they seem much more reluctant to stop and consider their problems than they are with Shinji's.

Because Shinji is a puppy in a pack of wolves. A puppy that sat on nuclear launch button but a puppy nontheless.

It's easier to pity him, than a pack that may tear your throat. And as said before, they had each other for support and organization to live through the hellstorm. Shinji is alone to deal with this. We don' t know how much of it is true, but in his own mind he has been abandoned by everyone and it's crushing him. And even when Kaworu comes, he is to latye to fix him.

But if decade and half of dystopia turned all of Shinji's former friends into wolf pack, what will our mentally unstable puppy become in the end? Mad dog that will lash on everyone and will be put down?

Seriously, it maybe fictional, but it still hurts to think.

[ElMariachi]

@ BlueBasilisk : that was probably intended by Anno, but the movie did a great job on leaving a big veil of ambiguity about WILLE's treatment of Shinji : on one hand there is moments where they are harsh, like at the beginning when he was "escorted" by four guards with rifles pointed at his face, the crews looks of hate/fear/scorn(?) or Misato's infamous "From now on... you'll do nothing" with what looks like a big look of scorn, the "BM-03 Tentative name Shinji Ikari" designation, the DSS Choker itself and Ritsuko's comment that they don't trust him, Asuka's welcome punch and pure look of contempt...
yet on the other side if you look between the lines, you can see some ambiguities : first once Shinji arrived in the Command Bridge Misato released his restrains and dismissed the soldiers, didn't handcuffed him or anything to restrain his movements, later they actually bothered to explain to him what happened and is happening(it's just that Mark.09 crashed before they could go to the most important parts like neo-NERV, SEELE, the fact Rei as been cloned to be used as a pilot for the enemy or N3I and Shinji's own responsibility in it), Misato who finally couldn't bring herself to activate the DSS Choker after she couldn't convince him to stay with them...
And them you have yet another layer to look into : when they first retrieved him, on his foot was written "S.Ikari???", the first thing Misato asks is if it's really Shinji, and when you think about it, the DSS Choker is a complete overkill from it's intended purpose : WILLE don't want Shinji in an EVA ever again, yet his synch-rate with EVA-01 fell to 0.00%, they didn't imagined for one second that neo-NERV would have any interest on him, and seriously did they feared that that scrawny 14 years old boy could overpower the whole crew and steal 01 inside the "womb" or EVA-02 or 08 from the hangar?
And then later another piece of the puzzle fell : Kaworu reveals that the Choker was initially built for him, so WILLE put on Shinji an explosive collar which activate by summoning what looks like ATF swords to decapitate the wearer, with anti-Angel embedded inside and initially created to contain an Angel, just so Shinji couldn't get into an EVA that he couldn't possibly attain by his own means... then it hits you : it's possible that WILLE don't put the collar to punish Shinji mainly for what he did, but by fear of what he is : Ritsuko repeated more than once in 2.0 that a too great plug depth means the loss of the pilots humanity, and there appear a boy that spent 14 years fused with what is essentially a god and survived within it being sent into orbit! Then suddenly another doubt appears : what if Misato's extremely cold demeanor comes from the fact she isn't sure that this boy is really Shinji, and forces herself to remain detached to observe him to notice any sign of odd behavior that could betray the fact that it's not Shinji, but some sort of weird creature which took his appearance and wait the first opportunity to get into EVA-01 and finish what N3I started, after all she has a duty toward her crew-members to assure their safety with her decisions, she can't let her emotions cloud her judgment(even if they actually did when she refused to activate the DSS Choker)

That's what make Q so fantastic : there is a lot of layers and possible interpretations about the characters behaviors and true motives, and any could be true : are WILLE that cruel against Shinji? Did Fuyutsuki made the infodump of hell under Gendo's order to break Shinji or did he have his own agenda with Yui like in NGE? Are Kaworu's intentions what they really seems, or did he have some part of his plan with the two spears that he didn't told Shinji about?
And thanks to the 14 years old time skip and the brutal change of setting, we can't base our opinions about what we knew of the characters from NGE and 1.0 and 2.0. Everything is possible, and we will discover more about the character the same way we did when we discovered NGE for the first time!


And as you said, poor communication that lead to catastrophe seems to be one of 3.0's central themes : if only WILLE had the time to completely explain the situation to Shinji, if only Kaworu explained a little better his plan to Shinji before embarking him in the ride with EVA-13(was it so difficult to tell him that they need two different spear from the get-go and explain their physical difference? If so maybe Shinji would have understood why Kaworu had a bad feeling), if only Asuka had explained to Shinji why he shouldn't touche the damned spears(by her demeanor, it really looked like she knew something that Shinji didn't), if only Shinji was willing to stop just 30 seconds to let Kaworu explains himself... it's like the whole movie is a big animated RPG where all the characters made the wrong choices that led straight to the Bad Ending! The Hedgehog Dilemma pushed to its worst conclusion!

Finally, and again as you said, another thing that make 3.0 so special is the fact that this time the good guys are numerous, organized, know what's happening and thus actively fight SEELE and Gendo, giving a little flicker of hope in the obscurity, while in EoE the good guys were reduced to Misato and Asuka and in the end their efforts didn't threatened Gendo or SEELE a single second, and it was a literal Deus Ex Terminal Dogma that saved the day. Not such thing here : this time if mankind want to earn their happy ending, they will have to fight for it!

That's why I both love and hate the movie : I love it because of all the promises and new opportunities this new situation make possible, leading to a satisfying ending that's not horribly Pyrrhic like in EoE or a cop-out like the manga, but were the mankind wins for good and have a future that they decided by themselves and fought for instead of relying in the intervention of a superior being(even if said superior being is the progenitor of mankind)... but I also hate it because of the sheer amount of breaking Shinji had to endure, he already hated himself in NGE and partially in the previous films, but here his self-loathing reach new levels, there is also the fear that he will never be able to have a real relationship with anyone anymore, because of what he supposedly did and because of the fact that everyone kind of moved on from 14 years ago and forged their own ties of comradeship and friendship, leaving him behind.