PCHeintz72 said:
Meh... I suppose it depends on your take of what is occurring. So, I really really dislike the NGE reboot (even if the graphics are better). The problem I while I always thought Misato too kind to be as manipulative as she was in the original TV series, the new reboot pretty much took it too far the opposite direction, she is not at all even remotely likeable to me. And Shinji has plenty of unresolved issues with his versions of these people.
If this bashes Willie... in canon reboot Willie bashes Shinji. Seriously, blaming Shinji, when he had no knowledge of what was going to occur, they did not try to contact him or anything, and his actions are at least in part because Nerv decided to leave the pilots in the dark about pretty much everything.
Oh don't get me wrong. Wille are hypocrite whores of the absolute maimum possible tier in 3.33.
They could have avoided so many problems by not being unreasonable idiots.
But Shinji was hardly blameless.
This sums up my opinion of 3.33:
The problem is, 3.33 was bad for the entire cast. Asuka was a bitch, Shinji was an idiot, Misato was a bitch... Ritsuko had a bit part... but rather than improving upon a problem, the author has taken their already shaky and characterisation and made it WORSE.
I do not want to read about the utterly incompetent military organisation who gets their shit wrecked by a single man with no extra technlogy or powers used, while he preaches at them about his moral superiority. So yes, even if they're unsympathetic characters, its bashing. Yes, they were really not very likable in 3.33, but its been flanderised in A&O, its been made WORSE. Okay. I can deal with this, what I CAN'T deal with is shinji suddenly deciding 'fuck diplomacy, I can murderhobo my way through their security'. At no point does he make even the SLIGHTEST effort to be diplomatic, he treats them like enemies right from the start.
Basically, I can REALLY see the authors opinions of the characters in 3.33 showing through in the work, to the point where its almost offensive.
And he's done the opposite to Asuka. She showed not the slightest sign of remorse in 3.33, but at the start of this, she's really apologetic and feels bad for being horrible to Shinji in 3.33... why? Where did this come from?
Its very clear that the Wille crew will be killed or left behind on earth as Aria comes to rescue Shinji, allowing the author some cathartic revenge for 3.33 on them. But I suspect Asuka is coming with him, simply because she's the only character so far who the author is portraying as sympathetic, or at least not a horrible bitch.
Its just... ugh. Its bashing. They're not just even bigger bitches than in 3.33, they're ALSO incompetent, and Shinji is this moral paragon (despite murder being his go-to option) who rants and preaches at them. (The rant about Tevos being a diplomat for a thousand years was really well done and quite poignant, but undermined by the other issues.)
It reads EXACTLY like the old Sasuke and Sakura bashfics that used to fill the Naruto fandom to the brim, and so far I expect that the primary reasoning for this whole story arc is just to pick up Asuka (and possibly Rei) and let shinji show off his new skills and new girlfriend to Wille, before heading back to the mass effect universe. Possibly after glassing what remains of Nerv's forces.