Why isn't kensuke a more popular character

[Elect G-Max]

I really loved that whole series of events between Shinji and Kensuke in Ep. 4. It was so bittersweet. I consider it one of the more emotionally powerful stolen moments in the series, of which there are precious few. Every now and then, the show veers a tiny bit off track from its robots-battling-aliens-battling-evil-armageddon-plan master plot, giving us brief a flash of insight into the lives of the side characters. With very few brush strokes, Anno fleshes out these characters really well (if subtly).

That's definitely something that's missing from Rebuild, and one of the reasons why I still think Rebuild isn't quite as good as the original series.

[Nuclear Lunchbox]

That's definitely something that's missing from Rebuild, and one of the reasons why I still think Rebuild isn't quite as good as the original series.

Q  SPOILER: Show

We got some nice Toji in 2.0, even if only to introduce Sakura to the plot. But you're right, Rebuild could have used more poignant side character stories.

[SharpenedMoonlight]

Fixed.

HOW DARE YOU.
Tiffany Grant is the best Asuka ever, and Spike Spencer (Shinji), Allison Keith (Misato), Amanda Winn-Lee (Rei), and Tristan McAvery (Gendo) had PERFECT FITTING voices.

[Nuclear Lunchbox]

HOW DARE YOU.
Tiffany Grant is the best Asuka ever, and Spike Spencer (Shinji), Allison Keith (Misato), Amanda Winn-Lee (Rei), and Tristan McAvery (Gendo) had PERFECT FITTING voices.

[Kaworu06]

I'd like to add my two-cents to this topic. Kensuke is just fine where he is. He'd probably get killed in his first battle or test.

In my opinion, Kensuke played a valuable role to the plot. I may suck at explaining things, but I'll try. Ken was the guy who *tried* to befriend everyone. His honesty was perhaps the only reason Shinji got back in the EVA. (My volume 1 of PNGE was borrowed, so I'm basing this of my memory. sorry)

[amitakartok]

I seem to recall a story where one of the sideplots was Maya catching Kensuke hacking into the MAGI and subsequently handling his interrogation; she intended to scare the crap out of him so badly he wouldn't even think about a repeat performance but he started crushing on her like crazy and NERV eventually decided to handle the security breach by hiring him - not as a pilot but as a MAGI technician trainee.

Like I wrote in another thread, Kensuke might not be pilot material but even Eva pilots need a substantial support crew to keep their rides operational - and that's where he would come in.

[Zeldafan888]

He is just your generic otaku at best; while episode 4 tried to develop him as a character he is still at best the weakest out of the 3 student that we see outside of the 3 eva pilots, he does't have that much of a role in the plot other then being example of a character that is actually sane in a show filled with character that really need to see a Psychologist because of mental issues and etc unless such job does't exist in Evangelion world of angst and other psychological problem.

[/spoiler]

[Aiko Heiwa]

It seems like every character gets a chance to shine; Toji's was in episode 17(?) while Hikari's was mainly in episode 23 and the episode where Toji is in the hospital. None of the characters ever remain truly undeveloped; they're always given at least part of an episode.

Not the teacher!

I wanted to know more about old teacher guy.

[Hyper Shinchan]

That's all you need to know about him:

SPOILER: Show

In short, he spilled the truth about Second Impact, Evangelions and Human Instrumentality Project but they lobotomised him and deleted everyone's memory of that event, end of his story.

EDIT: I have no idea how I ended up quoting myself instead of editing my post, I fixed it now.

[Stryker]

Translation please.

[Gus Hanson]

I always thought Kensuke was somewhat popular but then again I have a bad track record at measuring character popularity based on general opinion rather than my personal experience. Perhaps his lack of popularity comes from his pro-military stance as he not only is a military buff in an era where the military plays second fiddle to the superiority of NERV but would probably jump at the chance of being drafted given the army games he plays in his spare time.

[Mr. Jive]

I see nothing wrong whit him being a military buff. I take them over emo characters anyway. Has anyone ever stop to think why he love the military so much? Maybe his mom was in the military and now that she dead the military is all he has left to remember her. Eva is about people who either hate or hold on to things that reminds them of their dead mom or dad right?


Kenny is also friendly and knows how to get people to get along whit one another. He knew that T sizzle and Shinji did not hate each other yet due to both guys not knowing how to express themselves they would never patch things up so it was up to him to find a way for the boys to talk it out. Kenny could also relate to what his fellow eva polits life were like whiteout having a mom around. Which mean all talk about him not being aware of other people feelings is a lie. Did anyone ever stop to think the reason why he wanted to be a Eva polit is to help his friends out on the battle field? I dought it was just to join in on the action. He's knows more about what going on in the world then the E3. Some people have a strong mind and heart to deal whit whatever comes their way and Kenny look like one of those guys whit a strong mindset. I think he would make good polit.

Someone say he has no inrest in romance? Just who was left for him to like? All the girls had eyes for the other guys ignoring him. Hell emoman and his dad has 6 females likeiing them at one point during the series. Which is just sad in my book. The last thing I want for him is to have a silly crush on one of the girls like he did in the manga which was a insult to his character. Besides all romance or so call romance ended badly by the end of the series. Which prove kenny was the smart guy to know worrie about romance.

And if anyone think kenny character was not develop enough,then you have to blame Mr. Anno for that one.

[Dream]

^ While the post was a bit hard to understand at places it does seem to outline most of Kensuke's interesting traits reasonably well. "Did anyone ever stop to think the reason why he wanted to be a Eva polit is to help his friends out on the battle field? I dought it was just to join in on the action" Also raises attention to something i wanted to bring up for some time... The phone conversation he has with Shinji in ep 19 (by the way, isn't that the last we see of Kensuke?) give all of his character and actions a completely new context.

EDIT: Right, i forgot that part on episode 22. Then again, i don't know if you could include that in his "character arc" for lack of a better term. And the idea that Shinji didn't go to class anymore because he couldn't face the classmates is a good one, but i think it's secondary to the escalating situation and the descent arc. "dream turning into nightmare" or something like that.

[Kendrix]

(by the way, isn't that the last we see of Kensuke?)

Certainly the last Shinji sees of him. - I don't think he ever goes back to school after the Bardiel situation, he probably didn't know how to face his classmates, since they'd obviously ask what happened...


But he shows up once more in ep 22, commenting on how the situation must be serious since none of the pilots are comming to school...

[MoroNoKimi]

I've always liked Kensuke. Now whenever I see a military or gun otaku in any other series or whatever, I think of him!

plus he and Touji are Heterosexual Life Partners what's not to love about that cough

Of course, it's true that he gets little character depth. Although certainly he's an excellent foil for Touji who is arguably more stereotypical, as was mentioned above.
There's only so much time and you can't fully develop every minor character as much as all the major characters and he's more minor than the bridge bunnies. Some people will just like him and some will not and I don't think he's a character that's likely to grow on someone one way or another.

[Nyanlathotep]

The more I rewatch the first six or so episodes (and I do it more often than the rest of the series because I like to get my friends into it), the more I really, really like the camping scene between Kensuke and Shinji. Kensuke acts almost as a counterpoint to the show, a friendlier take on the whole "
Shinji GETS A GIANT ROBOT AND ALL HE DOES IS WHINE KIDS WOULD KILL TO PILOT AN EVA GOD THIS SHOW IS STUPID" crowd.

I forgot the verbatim English from the sub, but it goes something like

Kensuke: "I wish I could pilot the Eva..."
Shinji: "Wouldn't your mom get scared?"

I dunno. I think Shinji's response in that scene hits hard. Even harder than the foreshadowing line right after about Kensuke lacking a mother. Like, it's one of those moments that just drills in the fact that they're both children. The scene takes on one of the more annoying criticisms of the show and it does so in such an organic way.

That bit alone makes Kensuke a pretty solid and interesting character in my book, even if he was acting as a strawman. He's the guy a lot of people want Shinji to be, but you know he's being unrealistic, and you know he'd feel different after actually having to pilot one.

[Dream]

^ Well, Kensuke did get to experience an eva's pain second-hand in episode 3.

[Nyanlathotep]

^ Well, Kensuke did get to experience an eva's pain second-hand in episode 3.

I wonder how much those laser tentacles hurt him. He probably didn't have a high synch ratio.

Oh god. On a tangential note, I'm imagining a scenario where Kensuke was the pilot of Unit 01 and ending up this grizzled stereotypical war vet.

"War. War never Changes. War has Changed. I watched a snail ride across the razor's edge." And then he goes bowling with Touji and repeatedly tells Shinji to shut the fuck up.

[MoroNoKimi]

Oh god. On a tangential note, I'm imagining a scenario where Kensuke was the pilot of Unit 01 and ending up this grizzled stereotypical war vet.

I would watch it, that sounds hilarious.

[user-02]

I wonder how much those laser tentacles hurt him. He probably didn't have a high synch ratio.

Oh god. On a tangential note, I'm imagining a scenario where Kensuke was the pilot of Unit 01 and ending up this grizzled stereotypical war vet.

"War. War never Changes. War has Changed. I watched a snail ride across the razor's edge." And then he goes bowling with Touji and repeatedly tells Shinji to shut the fuck up.

I would pay good money to watch that bowling scene.

"Shut the fuck up, Shinji, you're out of your element!"

Although Kensuke is much more of a Donny than a Walter.