Evangelion Which Shinji is the better character?

[Thaeonblade]

Which depiction of Shinji Ikari is the better character? Anime Shinji? Manga Shinji? Or Rebuild Shinji?

Anime Shinji is labeled as the wimp of anime heroes. A supposed spineless loser who can't seem to nut up and spends most of his time whining. Yet, the anime makes it clear that Shinji has little to no power over his role in Gendo's schemes and does display a lot of courage and strength given the situation.

Manga Shinji starts out more bitter and is more blunt with his emotions. Yet, he's more of a scrapper, more willing to fight to the bitter end rather then quit and give up. He even tries to punch out Gendo after Toji dies and manages to put up a fight against the MP evas.

Rebuild Shinji seems much more proactive and badass, but can be seen as an unintentional shadow clone of his father. He does fight for those that he loves, but he seems to always end up making things worst. Some would argue that it's mostly due to Hideki screwing with him, but the point remains.

Thoughts?

 

[Thaeonblade]

And I think I posted this in the wrong thread...can one of the admin's put it in the NGE Talk section?

 

[FinalMax]

The joke of Rebuild Shinji is that he is specifically meant to be what the fandom has wanted him to be for years. Yep, he is what the audience wanted. It's why I'm amused at how people don't like him that much, but still prefer him to the original anime version. A critique on the idea of "must make characters more badass" as a design principal for storytelling.

And yes, this does need to be put in the NGE Talk section. I'll get Wata on it.

 

[lord geryon]

The joke of Rebuild Shinji is that he is specifically meant to be what the fandom has wanted him to be for years. Yep, he is what the audience wanted. It's why I'm amused at how people don't like him that much, but still prefer him to the original anime version. A critique on the idea of "must make characters more badass" as a design principal for storytelling.

And yes, this does need to be put in the NGE Talk section. I'll get Wata on it.

The problem is that while Shinji became the badass we wanted him to be, the story was changed to create retarded levels of grimangstderp to shovel onto his head.

 

[Jimbobob5536]

Rebuild is probably the best Shinji, but he is also stuck in the worst situation.

 

[TC_Hazard]

Rebuild is probably the best Shinji, but he is also stuck in the worst situation.

Basically.

Guy was alright until 3 where everything went to hell because proper communication just never occurs to anyone.

 

[PCHeintz72]

Rebuild is probably the best Shinji, but he is also stuck in the worst situation.

Basically.

Guy was alright until 3 where everything went to hell because proper communication just never occurs to anyone.

Lack of proper communication and secrets and messed up/broken personalities were the only way the series could play out... and ditto for the movies.

Everyone was specifically set up, by experts with ages to plan, to fail at their tasks...

I seriously Doubt either Shinji would have deliberately, or even inadvertently done what was done in either if he had known of the possible consequences... Ditto some of the other characters.

 

[shioran toushin]

actually i still like -ANIMA- Shinji better...

Spoiler

even if he became an EVA, then 'died' and became ANOTHER EVA and whathever...

 

[Watashiwa]

Don't mind me, moving threads...

Also, Gakuen Datenroku Shinji was pretty interesting, but the best Shinji has always been

Spoiler

ARSENAL Shinji

 

[MnemoD]

I voted for Rebuild, admittedly because I feel like he's a fair amalgam of anime and manga Shinji. He's got manga Shinji's actual balls, but anime Shinji's shit-tier situation. Plus, Rebuild!Shinji actually somewhat gets the ladies.

Why no, I'm not biased, why do you ask?

 

[Lord Raa]

Don't mind me, moving threads...

Also, Gakuen Datenroku Shinji was pretty interesting, but the best Shinji has always been

Spoiler

ARSENAL Shinji

What about

Spoiler

Can't Believe Shinji

?

I mean, there are literally dozens of people waiting for more of that version of Shinji.

 

[Azure]

How about SRW@ Shinji, being able to bright slap Kira Yamato and reject Instrumentality and call out at Gendo for all his bullshit should count for something.

 

[xedalpha]

Hmmm, Rebuild Shinji, because he seems to be a development of all that came before. This may have caused him to seem stronger, but in turn it has, as stated, caused them to drop more shit on his head to compensate. I just hope they at last put him to rest in 4.0 and give him his outright happy ending, I think it's been long enough a wait for him to get one.

 

[PCHeintz72]

Hmmm... of the three canon continuities...

- Shinji in Rebuild is likely the best...
- Misakto in TV series,
- I've not decided which I like best for Ritsuko or Asuka... and the rest I do not care about much. Though I *hate* that they changed the name of Asuka in the movies...

Of fanon continuities:

For Shinji:
- 'Alpha and Omega' by Xed Alpha
- 'Once More With Feeling' by Crazy-88
- 'True Angel' by Innortal
- 'Thousand Shinji' by Academia Nut (up to but not including last chapter)
- 'Shinji the Mighty' by Mike313
- 'Reload of ARSENAL' by The Sage of Toads
- 'Detective Ikari' by Mister Cynical
- 'Tear' by CW Smith

For Ritsuko:
- 'Innocence lost' by Random1377
- 'Empty World' by BlackHowls-CrimsonHowls
- 'Superwomen of Eva Treacherous Web' by orionpax09
- 'Superwomen of Eva 2 Blue Defiance' by Mike313

For Maya:
- 'Superwomen of Eva The 4th Degree' by orionpax09
- 'Superwomen of Eva 2 The Magic Touch' by Mike313
- 'Should a Chance be Taken Saga' by Random1377

For Asuka:
- 'Neon Genesis Evangelion Deviance' by Random1377
- 'EVA Sessions Ten Year Whole' by Gob Hobblin
- 'Unbroken' by Donderkind
- I cannot remember if it was 'Nephilim' by AngelNo13Bardiel or 'Nephilim Complex' by The Shadows, one of them had an Asuka I liked

While I'm sure I could think of others for various reasons, these are the ones to immediately come to mind.

You will also note I did not list Misato... to be honest, never overly liked her portrayal in fanon as the super helpful good samaratan guardian... She wanted angels dead, and really was not all that innocent toward shinjis issues... That is not to say 've not read good portrayals of her though.

 

[rdde]

I had thought that anime Shinji was fine. I like Rebuild Shinji a little less, and disliked the world setting in Rebuild's episode 3. A bit more suspension of disbelief than the usual is required for it.

 

[MnemoD]

Don't mind me, moving threads...

Also, Gakuen Datenroku Shinji was pretty interesting, but the best Shinji has always been

Spoiler

ARSENAL Shinji

What about

Spoiler

Can't Believe Shinji

?

I mean, there are literally dozens of people waiting for more of that version of Shinji.

Which you SHOULD BE WORKING ON. OR ANY OF YOUR FICS, REALLY. YOU KNOW, THOSE THINGS THAT HAVEN'T BEEN UPDATED EVER?

[/hypocrisy]

 

[tcm]

I think that Shinji as character in general is brilliant. Yes I hate his actions with a passion. Yes I think he is a spineless coward. But he is a brilliantly realized coward. Imagine that you are a person whose goal in life was to get by and just live a normal life, and instead you are thrust into the plot of a monster of the week anime. The outcome would not be much different.

 

[tcm]

For what it's worth, I think my favorite Shinji in terms of "drink a beer with" is the one from A Century Apart, where his actions are filtered through the lens of a Navy officer. And so are Asuka's, which makes her a much more approachable character. Just in that they both have a degree of self confidence, honor, and pride in their actions that is purposefully missing from any of the anime series or movies. And that absence is so strong a character trait in each case that you can't really describe either without using it. Shinji is "spineless". Asuka suffers from an extreme case of hubris. Without them, you can't have a real Evangelion story, as both factor heavily into the events of all three series.

 

[DhampyrX2]

I like anime Shinji because they didn't try to screw with the character just to please the fanbase. And I REALLY prefer anime Asuka to her later counterparts. It seems like every "rebuild" messes up more and more of the universe and degenerates all of the characters to a greater degree. Look at the differences between anime and rebuild Misato, for example. I agree they need a happy ending for SHinji in the next rebuild but it would be hard to come by. Mostly because I want to believe each of the previous rebuilds are some kind of horrific hallucinations/world resets of Shinji's after 3rd Impact and the real Asuka will have to somehow delve into his mind/alternate universe with Rei's help to pull his head out of his ass. Oh and maybe they can have the REAL Misato survive the gunshot. I prefer they dysfunctional family of the Katsuragi household to all that has come after it.