Xard wrote:Shinji too essentially suffers from similar problems and fears but his way of being is much more timid and he minds others more generally.
Yeah but lets take into account Shinji's afraid of any form of connection or being left behind, so he tries REALLY hard to make people like him, the exact opposite of Asuka; in girl terms, Shinji would be the clingy girl who calls you at every single hour with nothing to say simply because she's deathly afraid of losing you.
And believe me, between a bitch and a wallflower, I've seen the bitch win always IRL.
Asuka's only real friend is Hikari [...] while girls mostly can't stand her, mostly due to jealousy if the ep 9 picture is anything to go by. In any case it's clear Asuka doesn't have friends other than Hikari and [...] Nothing we see indicates she's close with any of the nameless classmates.
Yeah, but then again, we never see the pilots doing anything normal; while your statement seems true and is validated by your facts, the same can be purposed; Soryu is much more social (again, going by the pictures of ep. 9) but in the end, her competitive streak tends to isolate her from actually being able to let people in.
...what she did to her poor date in ep 15 on the other hand had no comedy in it and that on its own pretty much keeps Asuka securedly in "egotistical bitch" camp who is generally only interested in what she can get from others rather than others on their own.
Again, not to play devils advocate but Asuka did go out on that date as a favor for Hikari, and in the end the guy she was dating was such a bore she decided to dump him, bitchy? maybe... then again, we don't know just how boring that guy was... so I believe Asuka did it after trying (unsuccessfully) to engage him in some way and finding out to her dismay he was a boring as any other idiot she might find.
Reichu wrote:That fundamental visceral repulsion remains. She's just a really unpleasant, egotistical person, and I probably can't get over it because I don't find anything about her compelling enough to distract me from that.
I have a very interesting theory about all of this, which is basically what I call the Asuka principle; the people who hate Asuka-type characters; loud, rude, obnoxious, bitchy, etc. do so simply because they are able to do, and get away to a certain extent with a behavior pattern many people would like to be able to do; it's always interesting for me to see how many people who "hate" Asuka for how she is/behaves fundamentally exhibit the same behaviour issues as her, down to their abrasive personality, rudeness, and tendency to do as they please and, if found wrong, getting them to accept it is like pulling teeth.
Yes, she needs some decent parenting and psychological help... so she can get over herself.
Doesn't that particular statement applies to mostly everyone in Eva, and everyone in the forums too?
The "best" is an illusion clung to by those who can't tolerate the ambiguity of the real world.
Not quite, the best is simply the ability to do what others do in a more efficient and successful way, people who use the sentence you just used, Reichu dear, tend to be the sore losers who, try as they might, are always second best.
Bagheera wrote:I've often wondered that as well. If her quip about having a college degree is true [...] I think Asuka might have turned out very differently. A scientist, perhaps, likely based in Japan (Kyoko only moved to Germany for Unit 02's final assembly and contact experiment, as I recall), and probably a lot more well-adjusted.
For some reason, I think that Asuka wouldn't really be that "scientific"; the only reason why she graduated at an early age is to pander her ego and make people notice her; sure, she might be smart, she might even be able to dual-enroll on college and take some AP classes, but I doubt she'd persue somethign like that, especially with her genetic make up and the fact she is more well adjusted; I can see this happier Asuka working as a model/idol/spokeswoman or maybe even playing sports... more of an "action girl" than "science girl".