ng-evangelion
I haven’t done any analysis posts in awhile, and I found myself thinking about this the other day.
So, this childish aspect of Shinji seems way more apparent in Rebuild 3.0 than in any of the other media, including the original series (NGE). At this point, it’s well known that Anno believes Japanese adult society to be extremely childish as described in this article. He uses 3.0 as a medium to illustrate this point, both through a combination of Shinji’s attitude and the universal response he receives from almost every other character. I’ve seen some talk about this already, and while this is most likely the primary motivation for why Shinji is the way he is, I want to talk about how his childishness doesn’t actually clash with his character in the Rebuild continuity, but is a serious departure from his character in NGE.
When we think of Shinji as a person, a few descriptive words and phrases come to mind: wimp, weak, naive, “get in the fucking robot”. Shinji really isn’t like that, he’s just perceived that way because he actively avoids conflict. He doesn’t want to pilot Eva because he doesn’t want to fight (until he’s told to do it), he’s a wimp because he won’t hit Toji back (until he’s told to do it), and he’s weak because he doesn’t have the innate desire to ‘hero up’ and save everyone (until he’s told to do it). One of the most obvious examples of this is when Unit 04 is infected and Shinji makes it pretty clear that he’d rather die than kill whoever was trapped in the Eva. We label him with all these negative characteristics because we still view him as “the hero’, but he doesn’t possess any traditional heroic qualities.
So then, is it childish to avoid violence? Is it childish to feel helpless? Is it childish to depend on others? Not at all. Just because Shinji isn’t excited to fight in a giant robot or willing to face impossible odds alone doesn’t mean he’s childish. In NGE, I would argue that Shinji’s as mature as he can get for a 14 year old who’s been living on his own and then thrust into a world he doesn’t understand.
There is one scene I’d like to address quickly in episode 9 since I feel like it could be used as evidence against my claim here. So, after Shinji fails to get Asuka’s hint that they’re ‘all alone’, she basically calls him a child and storms off. Her vocal cues might be obvious to us, but let’s not forget that Shinji is only 14 and has probably never had practice with dating. The quip about the Wall of Jericho was way over his head too (in real life, the wall fell, so Asuka was implying that if he tried, he could in fact enter her room for some smoochy-time). But I highly doubt he ever learned about a wall built in 8000 BC, and so ultimately, Asuka mistakes his ignorance of history and romantic(?) cues for childishness.
Children are often ignorant, but ignorance is hardly exclusive to children.
Now in Rebuild, the opposite is the case. In 1.0, we do see a lot of the same Shinji from NGE, primarily his conflict avoidance. He still lets Toji punch him, he refuses to get into the elevator with his father, and he doesn’t want to pilot Eva until Gendo dangles a wounded Rei in front of him. But this changes pretty quickly, mostly due to his developing relationship with Rei. Shinji shows us something we haven’t seen before, namely, a fanatic fixation on achieving a particular goal. In 2.0, it was pulling Rei out of Zeruel, even if it meant starting Third Impact. In 3.0, it was retrieving the Lances, even when everyone told him not to (even Kaworu!). In these situations, he’s fixating on something and blindly charging ahead, throwing logic and caution to the wind, very much like a child who “doesn’t know any better”.
I find his character development in Rebuild extremely frustrating because 1.0 and 2.0 appear to cast him in a much more positive light. For example, during the picnic at the aquarium he’s very relaxed, he’s in his element, surrounded by friends, being praised for his cooking; that’s the type of environment Shinji needs to thrive. The dead, red landscape and bitter people he meets in 3.0 is the exact opposite of what he needs, and while everyone has had 14 years to grow and mature, Shinji has been removed the world and denied that opportunity for maturation. The hardships the remainder of humanity has had to endure has made ignorance and naivety simply unpalatable. Shinji, frustrated in this unfamiliar world, is almost nothing but naive and ignorant, and so he earns cold disdain and comments such as “Grow up, Shinji.” from the people around him.
Shinji has clearly reached his low point in the story, similar to the infamous Asuka hospital bed scene. It will be very interesting to see if he continues to perpetuate this childish attitude he has in 4.0 or if he begins to learn what it means to be an adult and moves forward to seize whatever future is left.
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