In defense of Angeal and Banora apples
I often see criticism of Angeal in Crisis Core Reunion for stealing from poor farmers while leaving the richest family's dumbapples alone just because Genesis was his friend.
I understand the immediate instinctive reaction to take from the richest, however, if you follow the story closely you will see that there were no poor farmers in Banora. Which Angeal explicitly says anyway.
But I want to dig a bit deeper:
The whole Banora village was fake and was staffed with Shinra's employees, as well as served to keep employees from Project G under house arrest.
The only reason why Angeal's family was poor was because Angeal's mother, Gillian Hewley, refused Shinra's compensation since she suffered from guilty conscience for participating as a scientist in Shinra's Jenova experiments, and even doing the experiment on her own child. That she unsuccessfully tried to escape Shinra's house arrest with her baby certainly didn't improve her living conditions.
So, we know Gillian was offered large sums of money, and from "The Kids are Alright: A Turks Side Story" novel we know that fake villagers, who populated Nibelheim after the Sephiroth incident, were also Shinra's employees, and received enormous sums of money to live there and keep their mouths shut. So it's obviously Shinra's modus operandi in such situations.
So again, there were no poor farmers in Banora because people there, in addition to having farms, were handsomely paid by Shinra.
Also, one child eating apples can't do any significant damage to a farm.
Ok, so if we accept Angeal eating apples was no big deal, then why didn't he just eat the tastiest apples from the biggest landowner who, even if everyone was rich, would feel it the least? Why not ask Genesis, like Zack suggested?
Why would honor stop him from asking, but not from stealing in general?
It wouldn't, it's mistranslation, it's supposed to say pride *sigh*
Angeal: But I had my pride.
Angeal: Pride is burdensome/a tricky thing/troublesome.
I don't know why they translated it in a way that makes it possible to confuse it with one of Angeal's lectures on SOLDIER honor, and to make it seem like he's saying it's dishonorable to ask his friend but not steal from others. But this part has nothing to do with his code of honor as a grown man, he's just saying that as a kid, it would have hurt his pride to ask his best friend for food.
He stole because he was poor and it wasn't hurting anyone, he didn't ask Genesis because of his pride, and he didn't take from a friend because of honor - honoring their friendship.