Best Pair: What Eva Characters Do You Ship?

[Bagheera]

Considering the popularity of Shinji and Rei as a couple, and now that I've seen the proposal for Kaworu and Asuka as a couple, I'm surprised I've never seen much mention of Kaworu and Rei as a couple.

It's actually very common. Kaworu/Asuka is a footnote by comparison.

[Na7e]

It's actually very common. Kaworu/Asuka is a footnote by comparison.

I would never pair Kaworu off with anyone...seriously he's an asshole. For all his love and understanding...he ends up doing more damage to Shinji than anyone else in the entire show.

[Bagheera]

I would never pair Kaworu off with anyone...seriously he's an asshole. For all his love and understanding...he ends up doing more damage to Shinji than anyone else in the entire show.

Not because he's an asshole (and he's not, at least not in the show). He hurts Shinji because he doesn't understand humans, and thus doesn't realize how much his "gift" will hurt his friend. That's not being an asshole. It's just what SKU would call "cruel innocence".

[Na7e]

Not because he's an asshole (and he's not, at least not in the show). He hurts Shinji because he doesn't understand humans, and thus doesn't realize how much his "gift" will hurt his friend. That's not being an asshole. It's just what SKU would call "cruel innocence".

SKU? Yeah...it's to strong of words to describe him. I mean yeah he's a nice guy. But...what he did was really vile, and for being the angel of Freewill he railroads Shinji into kill me or everybody else dies.

[Bagheera]

SKU?

Utena.

Yeah...it's to strong of words to describe him. I mean yeah he's a nice guy. But...what he did was really vile, and for being the angel of Freewill he railroads Shinji into kill me or everybody else dies.

No, it's not vile. That's the point. It's tragic, but there's no malicious intent there, nor even selfishness on his part. He's genuinely trying to do something wonderful for Shinji and humanity. His inability to grok what that means doesn't make him vile, a jerk, or anything else (save perhaps clueless).

[Na7e]

Utena.

Not to get off-topic, but how is that show? I was thinking about watching it.

No, it's not vile. That's the point. It's tragic, but there's no malicious intent there, nor even selfishness on his part. He's genuinely trying to do something wonderful for Shinji and humanity. His inability to grok what that means doesn't make him vile, a jerk, or anything else (save perhaps clueless).

I can agree with that. It was more the act itself than his personality. I guess that would work with Rei wouldn't it...what with giving Shinji the power of a god?

[ONIAgent150]

I love Mana/Shinji. Sue me. She is so good for Shinji, getting him out of his shell while not berating him like Asuka.

[shiun]

She isn't, honestly. Hell, the pairing didn't even exist in-universe until the DC edits retconned it in, and even then it was more "I should be able to get this silly boy to pay attention to me. What's wrong with me?" than "I've got it bad for Shinji." IOW it was more about her own issues than any real affection for Shinji.

Ahh true true, she doesn't really have it bad, but I guess she was looking for some comfort in Shinji somehow/subconsciously.

It would be good for a one-shot, same as Kaworu and Shinji, but it would fall apart for all of the same reasons. Kaworu's just not playing in the same universe as the rest of us.

One-shot... well, it is harder to make longer fics for them in the NGE universe but I don't think it's totally impossible for reason stated later.

It appears as though Mari will be very, very sad at some point (also naked and confronted by the Reis). I predict dire things upon her meeting with Asuka, if for no other reason than the fact that Mari wrecked her ride. "Get your own Eva, you skanky bitch!"

HAHAHAHA oh god, but the love/hate relationship would be ever so juicy. All that tension has to go somewhere!

Considering the popularity of Shinji and Rei as a couple, and now that I've seen the proposal for Kaworu and Asuka as a couple, I'm surprised I've never seen much mention of Kaworu and Rei as a couple. Sure, they don't have too much interaction together, but helping someone discover their true extraterrestrial identity has to make an impression on them. When people say, "I feel like I've met you before?" Kaworu and Rei have that going on. The way they stood side-by-side during Instrumentality reciting gooey poetry, finishing each other's lines? The time they shared a torso together?

Kaworu/Rei is actually much more known than K/A. In all honesty, I only discovered K/A because I was looking at photos of Asuka in Pixiv and found a lot of K/A fanart. At first I asked myself why, but after some mulling over, I thought, why not?

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but I've been thinking as to why Kaworu and Asuka are compatible (a.k.a. the draft to my K/A manifesto):

Main argument: Opposites attract (alternatively, they complete each other)

1. Kaworu is calm and Asuka is fiery. If they ever get into a fight, only Kaworu would be able to (unintentionally) calm her down because he'd be asking so many questions about Asuka's ~feels. I remember something about Kaworu being curious about human emotions, so that's definitely a time to ask.

2. While Asuka is a selfish egotist, Kaworu is caring by nature, or at least that's how he is on the outside. I doubt Kaworu will lose patience caring about her.

3. Kaworu is willing to give love and Asuka is in need of love. The only question is if that love will be healthy or not in human standards.

4. Kaworu is very playful and would very much be intrigued in pursuing our tsundere queen Asuka.

5. Kaworu is understanding, or at least wants to understand a lot of things, and Asuka has so many issues that needs understanding.

6. Kaworu's the only possible character to be able to take Asuka's bullshit in a gentle manner (aside from Rei, probably?). He's 'emotionally' stable enough to handle whatever Asuka would throw to him. Since, well, in essence, he can't understand those feelings.

7. Asuka has a lot of human experience material for Kaworu to learn.

I see their relationship like this: Kaworu shows and gives Asuka love (despite not knowing what love is exactly). This love will give Asuka the opportunity to grow emotionally and probably start reciprocating once Kaworu tears down her barriers. As Asuka continues to do so, Kaworu will learn and see for himself 'why' people love or even do what they do at all.

The thing is, they're both crazy; however, Asuka is not irredeemable. If the Asuka we know is also Shikinami, it means that she will know the right things to do provided that she was shown kindness and all that first. There perhaps she could convince Kaworu to stop all the crazy things he thinks of. In any case, Kaworu is on the side of the humans.

Please feel free to point out stuff, I really am planning to do that manifesto haha

TL;DR I will go down with the K/A ship.

[Mr. Tines]

Not to get off-topic, but how is that show? I was thinking about watching it.

It's often called the shoujo counterpart of NGE. Check the thread in the anime subforum, but beware spoilers.

[Bagheera]

I love Mana/Shinji. Sue me. She is so good for Shinji, getting him out of his shell while not berating him like Asuka.

That's why she's a horrible fit for the show: she is bullshit in human form. Asuka is built like a real person (so is Rei, for that matter), but Mana's just a caricature.

It's often called the shoujo counterpart of NGE. Check the thread in the anime subforum, but beware spoilers.

Also, its fucking awesome.

[bobbyfischer's ghost]

That's why she's a horrible fit for the show: she is bullshit in human form. Asuka is built like a real person (so is Rei, for that matter), but Mana's just a caricature.

I would have said cookie cutter character, but yeah I feel Mana does a disservice to both Asuka and Rei as characters. I'm glad she stays in the non-canon where she belongs.

[Justacrazyguy]

My favorite couple is ReixShinji, no doubt.

Unfortunatly, the plot does not agree with me. And tries to destroy every chance of them ever staying together.

[Na7e]

My favorite couple is ReixShinji, no doubt.

Unfortunatly, the plot does not agree with me. And tries to destroy every chance of them ever staying together.

I guess if you thought the Ikari twins were going to have a burgeoning romance at the end of episode 6 then I guess you could be dissapointed.

[Justacrazyguy]

" Disapointed" is not enough to describe my feelings after the relationship that Shinji and Rei created is destoyed in 10 seconds(Rei II being killed).

But, atleast I have fanfics.

[Bagheera]

" Disapointed" is not enough to describe my feelings after the relationship that Shinji and Rei created is destoyed in 10 seconds(Rei II being killed).

It was destroyed a long time before that, dude. I mean, what did you think would happen when Asuka showed up?

[Justacrazyguy]

what did you think would happen when Asuka showed up?

The plot didn´t exactly roll out a red carpet for a ShinjixAsuka relationship either, or any other relationship that involves Shinji.

[Bagheera]

The plot didn´t exactly roll out a red carpet for a ShinjixAsuka relationship either, or any other relationship that involves Shinji.

True, but that should've been a clue it wasn't going to end well for anyone. That was never the point of the show, and the show was never shy about telling us this.

[Justacrazyguy]

You have a point. I guess I just loving shiping characters too much.

[Mr. Tines]

It was destroyed a long time before that, dude. I mean, what did you think would happen when Asuka showed up?

The sweet incipient S/R thread was dropped unceremoniously when Rei just vanished for the next couple of episodes, without even the usual sort of unsuitable brash outsider developments that one might have expected.

[Kendrix]

as stupis as it sounds (and probably is) my first thoughts when Asuka showed up were literally "oh no, there's the obligatory rival love interest!"
Because honestly, she had it written all over her, the abrasive personbality, how she instantly took a dis-linking to little Rei, that I recognized her as the second sillhouette from the opening...
If you ask me, it's pretty much the classic love triangle setup, with the obligatory tragic death of the less lucky girl. Because if they actually got together, Shinji woul actually get to be happy for a while and we can't have that, or the plot would be over.

The sweet incipient S/R thread was dropped unceremoniously when Rei just vanished for the next couple of episodes, without even the usual sort of unsuitable brash outsider developments that one might have expected.

Sort of, but I didn't pervieve it as that much of a effect since they were obviously taking a few episodes to properly introduce the new girl... and episode 11 already gave Rei plenty of screentime, with 15 - 18 giving the roughly equal amounts of winning-over-the-Shinji. Even most of the Asuka episodes had at least one significant Rei scene in there, (save for ep 8 because someone had to guard the base while Shinji has his funny ship ride)
It probably feels like much nore of a break because episodes 14 and 13 (wwhich were low in interaction between the main trio anyway) were *also* squezzed in between.

at very least in ep 15, it pretty much picks up where ep 6 left off, with Rei going all Hinata.