Does Anno just hate Shinji Ikari?

[Warren Peace]

Anno should take it as a supreme compliment that some people think he's stacked the deck against Shinji SO much, they can't imagine how it could possibly end well for him.

[KingXanaduu]

Anno should take it as a supreme compliment that some people think he's stacked the deck against Shinji SO much, they can't imagine how it could possibly end well for him.

EXACTLY!

Just as Anno can completely screw with us by giving us a negative Mind-fuckery that was Q, he also can do the exact opposite and give us a positive ending we won't expect! I mean, think about it, we're all expecting that Final is going to be SO depressing that all of us are gonna be in therapy for YEARS, so what better way to troll us than giving the characters he created a happy ending that they deserve.

In a way, it's like how he grew out of his own depression, so will his characters too. :)

[Stillborn]

It's like Fuyutsuki said: It's easier to destroy than build. It was easy to just send everything Shinji gained, down the toilet, and there is no getting it back and now Shinji has to start not only from scratch, but from the point of negatives. Anno joyfuly destroyed everything, so the best we will get is some barely holding construction next.

[ElMariachi]

EXACTLY!

Just as Anno can completely screw with us by giving us a negative Mind-fuckery that was Q, he also can do the exact opposite and give us a positive ending we won't expect! I mean, think about it, we're all expecting that Final is going to be SO depressing that all of us are gonna be in therapy for YEARS, so what better way to troll us than giving the characters he created a happy ending that they deserve.

In a way, it's like how he grew out of his own depression, so will his characters too. :)

That reminds me of a theory I posted long ago that the Rebuild coincidentally made a great parallel with Anno's life and career :

- 1.0 was his debut in the anime industry, his initial struggling to make a name. That's when he got know with his work in Nausicaa.

- 2.0 was his golden age and the beginning of his depression : the first half with it's lighter and softer themes is the time of Nadia, he's now a director, plays on the big league, fame, respect and money is right ahead!
But dark clouds are gathering in the horizons : directing a series is very difficult, finishing Nadia was particularly tiresome and drained him a lot, making him doubt and was the starting point of his depression, that's the second half of the movie, with the Bardiel incident, Zeruel and N3I wrecking everything, that represent the time of the first half of NGE : there's still action and hope, but everything is fairly dark.

- 3.0 was Anno's darkest hour, the worst of his depression : everything is broken, Shinji is alienated and feels hated by everyone, there don't seem to have any light at the end of the tunnel, and when there's one, it turns out to be a fake(hello spears), all hope seems lost, that how Anno felt during the second half of NGE and in EoE. There are some little rays of hope in the distance (Shinji and Asuka returning in EoE, Asuka grabbing Shinji to drag him to safety followed by Rei Q in 3.0), but we don't know what will come out of that.

Now at the time EoE was released, that was the end of Evangelion's story, but Anno's story continued, and now where he is? He's famous, rich, immensely respected for his creative talent, happily married and, well, happy! In the end, things weren't as bad as he though, and with time and effort he won through his depression and have now a better life.
So what if FINAL will parallel this new chapter of Anno's story by being much more hopeful and easy on Shinji : hey, maybe the situation isn't that bad! Maybe he's not the one who destroyed everything, maybe there are still a lot of Lilin alive, all living in giant settlement and working to rebuild the world for after the war! Maybe Shinji will find a place to call his own(ie a true home), hope, his place in the world and will help to defeat neo-NERV and save the world for good!

[Sailor Star Dust]

Just as Anno can completely screw with us by giving us a negative Mind-fuckery that was Q, he also can do the exact opposite and give us a positive ending we won't expect!

Somebody else mentioned (and I completely agree) that seeing Anno's other works, you'll notice his films don't necessarily have happy endings, but the characters end up in a much better state than at the start of the film: Love & Pop, Shiki-Jitsu, etc.

[Bagheera]

Somebody else mentioned (and I completely agree) that seeing Anno's other works, you'll notice his films don't necessarily have happy endings, but the characters end up in a much better state than at the start of the film: Love & Pop, Shiki-Jitsu, etc.

Yeah, that's a very consistent theme in his works. The notion that Anno will give us a downer ending now given his place in life at the moment is completely nonsensical, but some folks are dead set on having their miserable ending. Can't fix stubborn, I guess.

[Stillborn]

Well... In Eva characters end up in worse point than they started, so there's that.

[Chroma]

If Anno truly hates Shinji, I don't think it's an active and malicious hate (despite what's gone on in Rebuild). I don't think it's a hatred that festers within Anno's very soul.

No, if Anno hates Shinji it's subconsciously. Anno has expressly stated that all of the characters in NGE/NTE (aside from Mari) are created from aspects of himself. His cowardice, his pride, his fear etc. NGE was a way to deal with his life, feelings, and beliefs in the past. But Anno is a different person now; married, happy, wealthy - he succeeded in getting over a majority of the issues he used to have.

However, with NTE he's revisited the series that was his greatest sense of catharsis, and he once again has to deal with his cowardice and indecisiveness and self doubt and every part of himself that Shinji represents. So it may be that, subconsciously, Anno is going hard on Shinji/Himself to finally pass on the lessons he's learned in life - Shinji's terribly shitty life in NTE is like when a parent stops being the nice-but-firm parent and instead becomes the tough-love parent.