DrForester said:
I realized what Rahxephon may have lacked in story compared to Eva, it more than made up for in Character development. In the end, everyone in Evangelion was the same (Some more dead than others, granted...). Shinji was still a wuss, Asuka was still annoying, Rei is still....Rei.
I disagree. I don't think the development was made obvious but it was there. At the very least, I saw the characters grow and change.
Spoiler warning for people who haven't seen the whole thing
Shinji was basically a little bitch throughout the whole series, very few would argue with that. He didn't like piloting the Eva and was always saying "I mustn't run away" even though he desperately wanted to. He only piloted Eva 01 because he was told to. At the end of EoE, in the most important decision of his and literally everyone else's lives', he decided not to run away. He decided that despite all the pain in life knowing he'd be hurt again, he decided that was better than being in some lifeforce soup where everyone would have to accept him because there were no barriers between individuals (this is largely why I like the movie more than the last two episodes)
Asuka thought she was the best but deep inside she was vulnerable and weak. She attempted to end her life when she realized she couldn't do what she thought she was best at, piloting an Eva. Being a pilot gave her worth when she thought she was worthless otherwise. Because of Shinji's decision at the end, she too decided that despite the pain of life, it was still worth living which is why she was still in one piece at the end. After building a wall around herself toward everyone, she finally opened up and touched Shinji's cheek showing some genuine affection.
Rei was in a literal sense a puppet created by NERV and Gendo to do what they wanted. Throughout the series and most importantly during dialog with Shinji and Asuka, she reveled that she'd do anything Gendo would tell her to do, anything. That wasn't the case. At the end when it comes time to fulfill what she was made to do, she decides that Shinji, not Gendo should be the force behind 3rd impact. Against what she was built for and against what she'd said all along, she decided for herself who would be the best vesicle and it wasn't Gendo.
She was also for the most part "robotic" at the very beginning, but started showing some emotion later on, defending Shinji when Asuka was blasting him and again, sacrificing herself to save Shinji later on.
All the supporting characters didn't really change at all. It was mainly the Eva pilots that showed growth and change IMO. I wonder if that was done on purpose or just coincidence.
Edit:
I forgot some other stuff about Asuka. In a real sense of the term, she did give up. She attempted suicide. She was later redeemed and given a second chance when she finally realized that the Eva wasn't just some toy but was in fact something entirely different and proceeded to kick ass. The reason why the Eva worked for her wasn't simply because she piloted it, but because there was a soul in there with her, that powered the AT field and it was in fact her mother's soul that was with her. I think that was a huge turning point for her, that her mother was still with her if not in a traditional way.
Edit 2:
*reads own post* This is exactly why I started this topic! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!!! See what I mean? I am becoming one of those asshats with the figurines and wallscrolls.
