...You have to be japeing me. I love the implications that they had to make Shinji the Kaworei lovechild to justify their “Kawoshin bad” shit.
I hope this is a drawing that shows both Rei and Kaworu taking care of baby Shinji during Instrumentalization and nothing more, but that actually makes it worse bc it justifies the “Kaworu = Gendo” comparasions in the movie and it makes me sick. And also, Rei is wearing a ring on a chain and Kaworu may have a ring of his own in his hands. The same that Shinji/Mari was meant to be canon at the end, seems to also apply to Kaworu/Rei.
Well done driving further the message of “Being gay is just a confused teen phase, or gets cured in a safe, happy environment”. Bc that isn’t toxic or negative, nah, not at all... “Studio Khara hasn’t done queerbait with Kaworu, you dirty fujo!” Of course buddies...
The ones that told me that the ending is just ambiguous and that fujos should calm their tits owe me 50 bucks.
Wow, my last post aboth this got quiet a track huh. Maybe I didn’t word my self well, but it was more just “on the moment” rant after finally finshing this movie that I had to watch in snippets and with bad image and sound quality for 2 months. This are more my collective thoughts and criticism with all the AsuMari/Kawoshin situation and this movie and franchise as a whole now that we won’t get more canon/official material (I guess?), so take em with a grain (or a ton) of salt.
As always, warning of spoilers for both Evangelion 3.0 and Evangelion 3.0+1.0.
It saddens me seeing western fans supporting bad decisions when it comes to LGBT representation in countries that are still fighting for LGBT rights, such as “We are pairing these 2 men, one who could be bisexual and the other who’s gay, with women at the end bc being gay is just a confusing phase, and with time you end up dating/marrying someone of the opposite sex like normal people do” or “This two dudes have co-dependant relationship like this hetero couple do, but the hetero couple gets a happy ever after and the gay dudes get hit with the bad relationship hammer”. Makes my blood boil. You don’t have to end with someone of the opposite sex (hell, you don’t have to end up with anyone at all) to be happy in life. There’s nothing wrong with being gay/lesbian, bi, pan, ace or aro.
And this isn’t only about Kawoshin, AsuMari (And especially Asuka), were used in this movie mostly for the sexy chicks making out trope and as pieces of meat to oogle on (Or did you think that their rainbow costumes and they piloting an EVA together like Kaworu and Shinji that had and holographic figure that resembles a heart in 3.0 was a coincidence? Especially after what they did to the guys in this very film?).
I was a fan of Evangelion bc I loved the idea of a Mecha anime that also tackled controversial stuff: That showed the effects of bad parenting and trauma and how they could affect someone’s psyche and well-being, when talking about mental health is still taboo in Japan. That they weren’t afraid of showing a man telling another man that they loved them, to the point of sacrificing themselves for the other’s safety, when gay marriage is still illegal in Japan. That in EoE, they showed two women in love reuninting before dying. That they weren’t afraid to poke fun at otaku culture and the gross hipersexualization of teenagers in media, especially teenager women.
But what the rebuilds have shown me is that maybe Evangelion wasn’t all that special, and all those controversial topics it tackled back in the 90s Anime were mostly there for shock value and to woobify the protagonist. That maybe the religious symbolism was just there for aesthetic and that if you want something different from the Mecha genre then go watch something else. That maybe the hope they ignited in japanese queer fans when one of the protagonist could be openly bisexual and the other gay, was there to milk their wallets and nothing more.
And not only shippers and western queer fans are dissapointed at how Evangelion ended as a whole, there’s also tons and tons of lgbt japanese fans that feel used and upset, that they were given false hopes after 3.0, that they were queerbaited for nearly 30 years, but are afraid to speak up bc of their situation. If it was going to end like this, especially after a movie in which Kaworu reafirmns his feelings for Shinji and they are the only 2 important characters, needing to be perfectly sinchronized to pilot an EVA meant for couples, and Kaworu takes Shinji’s burdens in the form of a necklace that’ll kill him and puts them on himself, saving him once more; then I would have preferred for the Rebuilds to never have happened and let the franchise die with EoE.
If Anno wanted to do meta comentary about shipping and how it’s not everything to a show, that the protagonist doesn’t need a harem of people to be paired with for the story to be compelling and interesting, he could have done that sure, by leaving everyone single at the end. Leaving them in a new happy world, were angels are no more and EVAs are gone, and where they can start to heal from their traumas and get better. Where they can start being happy.
When Shinji and Mari are climbing those stairs at the end and they see what their friends are doing, let Shinji be alone, watching as Asuka is maybe enjoying herself buying the clothes that she wants, let him see Rei tending to the farm and smiling, let him see Kaworu playing the piano next to the sea with an audience. Let Shinji see them walking into their paths to recovery and being that what makes him more confident to start his own. That, for me, would’ve been a perfect ending, even if I didn’t enjoy what it comes before it. Bc Shinji wasn’t tied to any more time loops, that he could, finally, start healing and loving himself. Leaving the possibility of all different ships and pairings out in the open, the possibility of anything can happen now.
But it was clear as day when I saw Mari taking Shinji’s necklace and destroying it, making a parallel to Kaworu doing the same in 3.0, “an act of sacrifice made from selfless love”, that Shinji and Mari were the end game couple (that and Mari saying a line to Shinji that Anno’s wife told him irl after they started dating), even if they barely interacted with one another during this timeline and Mari only had contact with Yui, Gendo and baby Shinji in the Manga. What is done, it’s done. Kawoshin and AsuMari will never be canon, and that’s that.
Anno wanted to say goodbey to this franchise so badly, that he made a movie that in general is... meh. But it saddens me that a product that back 20 years ago wasn’t afraid to show a deconstruction of the Mecha genre and Anime as a whole, now was exploited to the point of becoming what it was criticising from the start: a product made for horny otakus that get off to nude drawings of teenager Asuka and big booby Mari, that Shinji ends up with the big booby and “motherly” waifu and with implied conservative commentary telling you that doubting your sexuality or not being straight is “just a phase”.
But sure, Star Trek JJ Abrams Reboot bad bc they made clearly queer coded character Spock straight and made a gay actor kiss a chick (I think that comes with the job of performance and being an actor, y’know... acting?), and Supernatural and Destiel bad bc the gay angel’s feelings weren’t reciprocated and was sent to superhell, but having the possibility of Kaworu’s sexual orientation being always hidden or used as a joke by other characters by implying that he ends up with Rei is ok or gets justified. Whatever helps you all sleep at night. I’m done. I shouldn’t be getting so angry at all of this, there are more productive things I could be doing with my life. And yet, here we are.
