Sparky Clarkson wrote:
Frankly, the idea of Kaoru now wanting to just kill Shinji makes no
sense. None. The obvious first complaint is that this characterization
is completely incongruous with Kaoru's behavior in the series. Perhaps
you believe that Kaoru was only acting in episode 24. I'd like to hear
some good evidence for that standpoint: I've never been able to come
by any. The bottom line is that in the end of episode 24 Kaoru admits
that he would prefer death to a life without Shinji, and so requests
that Shinji kill him. In other words, Kaoru loves Shinji. It really
doesn't matter whether you think it's a sexual matter or not; the
import of the situation is rather clear.
That doesn't rule out a change in character. If you put some strong
motivating force for him to change his mind about Shinji, then I'm
sure you could convince me that Kaoru now hates Shinji.
I though that there was one present. From my reading of the story, I
got the impression that Tabris/Kaoru was being punished (by God? His
fellow Angels?) and had been given guardianship of the Earth so that he
could peform mom-up duties and keep the souls and LCL in a state of
readiness for God, whenever he got around to doing something with the
leftovers of His failed experiment.
Now, maybe I've seen "Prophecy" one too many times, or maybe read too
much Neil Gaiman, but I got the impression that Kaoru hated humanity (and
Shinji) because he had been denied his place in Heaven/at God's side/
Amongst his fellow Angels because of his duties. I'll buy that as reason
enough to despise his work and all aspects of it.
I mean, think about it. You're an Angel, you sat at God's right hand,
and now you're stuck on the mudball called Earth supervising a blob of
orange goo. all you have for company is the worst paranoid megalomaniacs
that humanity has (those annoying jumped-up monkeys) has ever produced,
SEELE. Matter of fact, the first time you came to Earth, ou could only
find one human who was even worth knowing, and now he's been corrupted by
that Gendo creep. You've been stuck here for five+ years watching the goo,
and the task doesn't seem to be over anytime soon, since God is
notoriously unclear about his long-range plans. If you were still a purely
spiritual being, all the time in creation wouldn't bother you, but for
some reason (because you once became human? because you're forced to
interact with them daily?) you now view time with mortal eyes. Five years
is a very long time to stare at orange goo that doesn't do anything.
After the first year, he'd be bored. After the second, angry. After
the third, you'd hate the job, and everything about it. After the fourth,
you'd hate the souls in the LCL, and yourself, and God, for sticking you
with this insane duty. By the fifth year, any chance at ending the boredom
would be welcome. If that meant killing a few humans,Ii think that'd seem
like a small price to pay, even if one of them was only slightly
imperfect, by angelic standards.
Well, that's what I got from it, myself. I find a lot of Lara's works
leave interpretation up to the reader. I don't know if this is intentional
or not, but it strikes me as a hallmark of her style.
As to the rest of your points, well, I can see them, and agree to a
certain extent, but I think you're way off on Kaoru. And Christmas, BTW.
In Japan, it's so totally secular that I doubt that the NERV gang felt
more than a twinge of emotion about the holiday's origins.
Dave Menard (Putting in his two cents)