Postby SleepS » Thu May 19, 2011 12:36 pm
I've been playing catch-up on this thread all day and it seems to have drawn some pretty concrete conclusions several years ago, but since the thread is bumped anyway...two cents?
Its been pretty clearly established and seems to be generally accepted that Asuka's final line is in part, if not completely, directed towards Shinji. Everyone can seem to agree that an unborn child is not causing her to feel sick or some bad salmon she ate, etc. Personally, I think that the intent of the line was to convey disgust specifically towards Shinji's behavior in the moment, and nothing else (whether this behavior is his spineless crying or his inability to end her life for her is the question up in the air). As AEF and Shin-seki pointed out, there is a definite reoccurring glare on Asuka's face towards Shinji. When looking at Evangelion's visuals for clues, which I have learned to do from the encouragement to do so from this forum, I always take it from the perspective of what if these were human performances, and not animations. Her glare is cleary directed at Shinji and she delivers her line to Shinji. Yes, it can be argued she may look away when the camera cuts away, but I feel like we would have seen her new focus were we not supposed to assume her gaze stayed on Shinji during the remainder of the scene, as she expresses her bad feeling. I work as an actor professionally, and this may have no weight here, but generally, if a line is delivered directly to another character in the manner Asuka does so, its probably going to be about them and meant to effect them in that acting moment. Not always the case, but again, I don't think anyone needs much convincing on the idea that she is talking about Shinji, at the very least, in part
However, I do think the story about the original line and Miyamura's reading of it actually SUPPORTS the idea that Asuka is expressing disgust at Shinji's behavior in the now, and not at his actions in 303 as it often times is confused to be. The original line was supposed to be something along the lines of, "I'll never let someone like you kill me," correct? Had this been left in tact, it could easily be concluded that she's insulting Shinji's manhood and again brining attention to his emotional, weak way of handling...well, everything. Personally I would conclude she meant something like, if someone has to kill me, I would rather it be anyone but a pussy like you. But alas, that's not the line. ;)
But knowing Anno's original intent helps us better understand where Auksa is coming from. I think Ornette is right, that Anno as a director, was trying to help his actress find the appropriate characterization of Asuka in the final moment. I think the confusion comes from, and I apologize for being harsh, Miyamura dropping the ball a little. We know that Anno was unhappy with the way she was delivering the line. So he asks her how she would feel if a man came and masturbated over her while she slept. This is Shinji. He is talking about Shinji here; we know he did this to Asuka. Therefore, he is ultimately asking Miyamura, after all is said in done, in the final moment of Evangelion, how she feels about Shinji. This means, at least in my opinion, that Anno wasn't trying to hint to her that the final line was about the scene in the hospital bed, but was in fact just trying to get her to discover a deeper layer of what her character thought and how she viewed Shinji.
Problem in my opinion? Miyamura answered as herself (maybe Anno is a little to blame, for phrasing the question the way he did, but generally when working, actors talk in terms of I and me when it comes to their characters. At least in my experience). We get confirmation during the train sequence that, at least to some degree, Asuka was okay with Shinji jerking off to her, and even says she'd watch. Direct evidence from the movie that would negate the assumption that her bad feeling at the end of the movie would be about his jerk off fantasies. Ulimately, what I think Anno as a director was trying to do with that scenario, is get Asuka's final opinion of Shinji out of the actress; sort of like making sure she did her acting homework to get the truth out of the line read. It would also explain his sigh, seeing he clearly has Asuka saying she was okay with him masturbating to her, and the actress said it made her feel disgusting. Probably not the answer he was looking for. Regardless, he kept the line, because he obviously got the desired acting moment he wanted. So apparently, it didn't bother him too and he's being a bit dramatic with the sigh.
...And that was longer than expected (I generally lurk around here, and never post anything as long; just read). But now I'm done. I hope I wasn't completely nonsensical and didn't just regurgitate conclusions already drawn in 2006. *scurries back to the shadows*
Last edited by
SleepS on Sat May 21, 2011 12:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
chaosakita wrote:I'm surprised a more definite conclusion on this topic has not been achieved yet. When asking Miyamura for a final line, Anno clearly had prompted her for something-her response to Asuka's situation. I feel that Anno's intent in such a line has been clearly shown, although this doesn't prevent it from having further meaning.
