Hi there,
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 considered this in my post, but pointed out that it wasn't developed
enough for me to buy it. Remember, Kaoru willingly surrendered that
place via his suicide wish in the end of episode 24. This also does
nothing to answer the contradictory nature of his "supremacy" rant, on
which you rely extensively for your further argument.
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.
Your explanation makes a sort of sense, but falls apart here, where
you introduce human weakness into Kaoru's character. First of all, he
explicitly denies that he has that anymore (despite his still-human
form). Second, if he had human emotions, it seems to me he'd still be
attached to Shinji. I'm not exactly clear on how you think Gendo
"corrupted" Shinji in this case, because they've had no contact with
each other for the five years that have elapsed since 3rd impact. At
any rate, love (not puppy-dog brand, but actual love) is unlikely to
be turned completely into hate for no apparent reason.
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.
This doesn't cover Kaoru's characterization at all. In this story, he
*hates* Shinji, Shinji's mother, Shinji's father, anyone having
anything to do with Shinji, and the rest of mankind too. It's not that
he wants to get out and Shinji is the unfortunate bystander. He
honestly hates Shinji's guts. And I just can't buy it. Furthermore,
Kaoru already accepted oblivion over killing Shinji. So why doesn't he
do it again? Isn't that the ultimate escape. Remember how he said
"Death is the only absolute liberty"? Given *your* explanation,
Kaoru's first recourse would be to allow Shinji to kill him
immediately, thus not only escaping earth, but also avoiding the other
acts of drudgery that God probably has in store. Kaoru has betrayed
God once already, so why not again?
Even if I could buy that for some reason Kaoru started to hate Shinji,
there's still Kaoru's admission that mankind should be the one to
inherit the future, which instantly puts a big block in the way of my
believing that he suddenly doesn't think humanity deserves to exist.
Again, I'm not saying that there's no way to make this work (although
I frankly think that "Kaoru = villain" is as strange and petty as the
"Asuka = villain" plot device). My problem here is that there's a much
more efficient way to create a more believable villain without
completely tossing the characterization of Tabris in the toilet.
Another point of inconsistency that occurs to me is that Kaoru's job,
even if he kills all the extracted humans, will *never* be finished,
because some people (who weren't Shinji) managed to extract themselves
at one point. Otherwise, there wouldn't *be* any people. Killing
Shinji therefore probably doesn't offer any relief. The only remedy
would be to actually nuke all the souls out of the LCL, which Kaoru
seems to be able to do on his own. Why he should hate Shinji in this
case is uncertain, since there's no guarantee of escape.
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.
In America, too. It just seemed a little odd to me, especially since
there wasn't any particular reason to have it be that holiday. Perhaps
some sort of spring/summer festival would have been better.
Sparky
*********
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."--Isaac Asimov
For Evangelion fanfiction and links visit Heaven's Gate
http://members.tripod.com/Sage_Ohlmin/evafic.htm
A Dies Irae Production
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