Neon Genesis Evangelion is a great anime but surprisingly it is quite controversial as well. No one appears to share one unified judgment on it and even its primary protagonist, Shinji Ikari is just as polarizing. His tantrums have been the butt of jokes and a lot of viewers think that he is just a pathetic cry-baby. Some people believe that he was not the appropriate choice for being the protagonist and many prefer Asuka Langley over him.
However, it would be wrong to judge Shinji based on these flaws alone since he is a fascinating and complex character by design. The show does a great job of capturing a depressed and struggling character with a problematic life, who is just struggling to hold on. He refuses to pilot a robot but that does not happen without any reason. When it is later revealed Evangelions are Lovecraftian horror that has caused nothing but pain and misery onto him.
Shinji does not get into the robot is just a baseless and misleading argument that is not true. He had piloted the Evangelion Unit-01, throughout the series so it is strange that arguments of him not piloting a robot are being made by some fans. He has only refused to pilot a robot four times throughout the series. One of those happened when he had slipped into a near-catatonic state and the other time was after the traumatic Evangelion Unit-03 fight. Shinji always had some good reason to refuse to pilot every single time.
In one of those four instances, he was manipulated by his father to murder one of his close friends. He was enraged by the kind of mission that he was being sent on and decided not to obey. His decision was driven by rage, not cowardice. His second and fourth refusals were the only potential points of weaknesses for Shinji but even in those cases, he did ultimately return to pilot. It later turned out that the decision to agree to pilot later was not the right one for him, so even then, his gut instincts turned out to be right.
However, the primary reason for hating Shinji Ikari boils down to the way he processes trauma in the series. Shinji was abandoned by his father and also lost his mom before he even arrived at NERV. His struggles were made worse by his earlier experiences of piloting the Evangelion. He was later blamed by Toji Suzuhara for the collateral damage done to his sister. It is sad that for every positive thing that Shinji ever did there was always an equally negative reaction.
As the story progressed, Shinji made new friends and started spending more time with people who liked him. The friendships that he developed by Episode 15, made him a much more confident and optimistic person. It was around this time that the viewers finally saw potential in him. When people are on his side, Shinji is just a different person. Over the next few episodes, Shinji faces some of the biggest challenges of his life. As Asuka slipped into suicidal depression, Shinji almost killed Toji. Misato is torn apart by the death of Kaji while Rei II loses her life as well. The only person who tells Shinji that he loves him ultimately turns out to be an Angel that Shinji must kill.
Most protagonists always have to mentor and support them. Whenever they are having a hard time someone steps up and helps them out but that is not the case with Shinji. Amuro Ray from Mobile Suit Gundam and Simon from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann both have support units around them to help them. Shinji is always alone and has to face the biggest challenges in his life without anyone’s help. It is therefore not right to hate Shinji because anyone would have crumbled if they were in his situation. Shinji is a great protagonist and a complex character who should be respected for being strong despite his tragic past.
Source:-https://mcateelogin.com/blog/neon-genesis-evangelion-hating-shinji-does-not-make-sense/
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