"Richard Liang" <rhliang@interchange.ubc.ca> wrote:
> Disaster wrote:
> > "Richard Liang" <rhliang@interchange.ubc.ca> wrote:
> > > I think though that this realization comes with his maturation after
a
> > > series of ups and downs.  Shinji grapples with his problems through
the
> > > course of the series, and examines a lot of his own reasons for
being,
> > > etc.  I'd call that a stage in growing up.
> >
> > I think maybe we are talking about a fine line here. The only forward
> > momentum that Shinji ever shows where his growing up is concerned is
right
> > at the end of EoE.
>
> He shows other signs of maturation and becoming more comfortable with
> people over the course of the series though, and even develops a bit of
> backbone.  But all that gets tossed out the window with him killing
> Kaoru.  In this sense his "growing up" is debatable, as it turns out
> that this progress is only a setup for the fall that the killing of
> Kaoru is to bring upon him.  That's the only time I find Shinji to be
> REALLY frustrating... at first he's a bit annoying, but after about
> episode 4 I don't disagree with any of the things he does, until EoE
> when he *ahem* visits Asuka in the infirmary, and has to be forced,
> kicking and screaming, to pilot Unit 01.

That's the thing though isn't it. We "grow" with Shinji as he becomes a
strong "hero" for our story. We become engrossed in his battle against
"evil" which in this case is his own weaknesses. We become happy for him
and proud that our hero has become strong. Then suddenly all that dies,
all that growth, the advancement that took so long, was so hard to achieve
thrown out the window. We have died with the story. We died the death that
Anno gave the hope within Shinji's heart. Utterly destroyed we then can
see from a unique perspective, what Anno is trying to tell us. It would
have been a different message if we were full of hope and courage, if we
knew that our hero could do it even though it cost him dearly, that he
would cast away all fear and trepidation and face down the evil
selflessly. Instead, we must rely on a weakling, someone as frail as
ourselves, that we can not depend on. What do we see? We see a coward and
empty shell thrown into the Eva to go out and become impaled upon what we
think is the enemy.

There is nothing left for us, nothing left for Shinji. We have become
pointless, we no longer enjoy what is happening, it's not happy anymore,
it's starting to look like there really isn't going to be a happy ending,
no hope at all.

> > > What do you mean by eliminating all hope?  Do you mean he built up a
> > > world in which things were looking up (up to about episode 16), and
then
> > > proceeded to tear it apart?  I could see that.  Shinji is at the
centre
> > > of this... after seemingly finding a reason to live (to gain
approval
> > > and help others) he then learns that, in fact, no, that's not a good
> > > enough reason to live.
> >
> > Anno is quoted as something similar to this. It was his goal to
destory
> > all traces of hop and or happyness by the end of the series so that he
> > could begin the story. Kinda of like having to destory the spirits of
his
> > audience so they can appreciate the condition that he found this
message
> > in. Then give you the message.
>
> I came up with a description of the series a while ago, something like:
>
> Episodes 1-6... This is our world, painful as it may be.
> Episodes 7-15... But you know, things will be alright.
> Episodes 16-24... Wait a minute, are you SURE about that?
> Episodes 25-26/25'-26'... Even in the darkest possible situation, yes.
>
> Alternately:
> Episodes 25-26/25'-26'... Wait, what happened?  :)
>
> Hah, now if only I could understand the message :)  It's so profound
> that I'm still trying to digest it.  I remember feeling somewhat
> swindled after watching the TV ending, like, "Wait, so all that other
> stuff leading up to now doesn't matter anymore?  But I *liked* all that
> stuff!"

You were meant to like all that stuff. That's why it was there, why it was
taken away from you. I mostly agree with your "summary" up there. I want
to direct your attention to the end of EoE though. After we have had our
salvation and our return to the hope of renewal. You'll notice that Shinji
and Asuka don't look overly happy. It's because there is no hope yet. The
story is very much not over as Anno was so adamant in saying. They have to
build their own world now. The story has begun and they have climbed only
the first hill. It's a big hill but it has laid down the foundations for
their future climbs through life.
--
Carpe Jugulum
Disaster
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