Shinji ikari

Shinji Ikari (碇 シンジ, Ikari Shinji^?) is a fictional character created by Gainax and designed by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, protagonist of the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise. Shinji is a young man who was abandoned as a child. by his father, Gendō Ikari, who left him in the custody of a teacher. His father later contacts him and asks him to pilot a humanoid robot called Evangelion-01, in order to protect the city of Tokyo-3 from creatures known as angels, which threaten to destroy humanity.

Shinji becomes the pilot of EVA-01 and during his stay in Tokyo-3, he makes friends and grows as a person. His talent for piloting and synchronizing with Unit 01 has earned him praise from NERV commanders, an organization led by his father. His hard duty as a pilot and the cruel events to which he is exposed are the main cause of his suffering, physically and above all, psychologically. So much so, that at one point in his life Shinji begins to confront his inner self, to question his existence, his social function and decide his own path, as well as to formulate arguments and questions about life and the reality that confronts him. surrounds.

Shinji's portrayal differs depending on the media in which he is depicted, such as in the official manga adaptation, where he is depicted from the point of view of the author, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, as well as in other series spin-off derived from the franchise. Shinji has become a very popular character among fans, having appeared and topped multiple polls and rankings. Nick Verboon of Unreality Mag, stated that "the protagonist Shinji is one of the most nuanced, popular and relatable characters in anime history".

Conception

Hideaki Anno, creator of Gospel and on whose person the character of Shinji Ikari is based.

The franchise's director and creator, Hideaki Anno, described Shinji Ikari as a boy who "flies from human contact and has become so convinced that he is a completely unnecessary person that he can't even think of committing suicide." Anno also describes Shinji and Misato Katsuragi as characters "extremely fearful of being hurt" and "unsuitable—lacking a positive attitude—to be what people call heroes in this adventure". Shinji is not your typical stereotypical hero, but instead characterized by a lack of energy and emotion displayed, instead focusing on heroism or bravery.

He suffers from the Oedipus Complex, which is characterized as a libido-destroyed conflict throughout history. Shinji's relationship with his Evangelion and his pilot status is very ambivalent; the entire series can be seen as a bildungsroman (learning novel) revolving around Shinji.

"Look at Shinji. Why are you still fighting like an EVA pilot? History keeps changing. He said it's because everyone tells him to do it. Because only he can do it. Because he has to do it to save humanity. They are truly noble and disinterested feelings, and Shinji believed that those reasons were genuine. Incorrect; he wanted his father to approve. Tell him he was a good boy. How selfish of him, really, to be a human being. "

Megumi Hayashibara, voice actress of Rei Ayanami, about Shinji's character.

Shinji is also considered to be an alter ego or reflection of the creator of Evangelion. Anno has referred to the series' story as a metaphor for his life.

He was named after Gainax co-founder and Anno's friend Shinji Higuchi, a name that can be translated "man and God" (shinjin).His last name, Ikari, means "anchor"; in Japanese. Designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto based his design of Shinji on Nadia, the main character of the popular Gainax series Fushigi no Umi no Nadia.

Megumi Ogata, Shinji's voice actress, has said that she found the last scene of The End of Evangelion difficult to pull off. According to her words, Ogata was so overcome with emotion that she literally "she strangled" him. to her co-star Yuko Miyamura, Asuka's voice actress, during that scene, which made it difficult for Miyamura to say her lines after that. Ogata also considers Shinji one of the most memorable roles of her career.

Appearances

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Shinji makes his first appearance in episode one of the anime, Angel's Attack, where he is summoned to the city of Tokyo-3 by his father, Commander Gendō Ikari. Unknowingly of Shinji, his father planned for his son to serve as the pilot of a humanoid robot called Evangelion-01. Reluctantly and disappointed that his father had only required his presence to pilot the Eva, Shinji agrees and defeats Sachiel, initially experiencing difficulties in managing the 0-1 unit. After the angel's attack, Shinji is taken to live with Misato Katsuragi and begins attending school in Tokyo-3, where he meets Tōji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida, his first friends. When the angel Ramiel appears and attempts to destroy NERV headquarters, Shinji and his fellow pilot, Rei Ayanami, work together to destroy the Angel. Shinji later meets Asuka Langley Sōryū, a pilot hailing from Germany, and the two successfully defeat Gaghiel.

Shinji, Rei, and Asuka attack the angel Sahaquiel, risking their own lives in the process, and defeat the angel mainly through Shinji's efforts. Shinji later gains the Ultimate Synchronization ability, making him realize that he was born to pilot the Eva and earns praise from NERV commanders. Shinji, Rei, and Asuka are later sent to fight the dark angel Leliel, whose AT field sucks Shinji into a parallel universe. Shinji comes face to face with the Angel, during which he also confronts his inner self, formulating arguments and philosophical questions. He is brutally freed from the angel's power through the intervention of Yui, whose soul is inside the Eva.

After the traumatic incident in which Shinji is forced to fight Eva-03, a unit that was being controlled by the angel Bardiel, while his friend Touji was still trapped inside, Shinji decides to leave Nerv. However, the angel Zeruel soon appears and decapitates the other EVA units. Shinji then realizes that only he can defeat him and returns to NERV. Halfway through the battle, Unit-01's external power source runs out, causing Shinji to finally achieve a 400% sync ratio with his Evangelion, allowing him to continue his assault and destroy the angel. However, Shinji is sucked into the EVA and is trapped inside its core for a month. In the final episodes, Rei sacrifices herself to save Shinji and is revived through one of her clones, Asuka goes berserk and enters a catatonic state, while Shinji goes into a deep depression.

Due to Asuka's inability to pilot, SEELE sends out a mysterious replacement pilot named Kaworu Nagisa. The boy quickly gains Shinji's trust, with whom she forges a deep romantic relationship. However, Kaworu turns out to be the 17th Angel, Tabris, and takes possession of EVA-02 without piloting it and attempts to catch up with Adam. Shinji chases after him and fights with EVA-02 which he eventually destroys, with Kaworu realizing that he wasn't actually Adam but Lilith, refusing to cause Third Impact. Later he asks Shinji to end his existence since for him, who was destined to live forever, death was the only absolute freedom. Shinji is left with no choice but to do so, but he suffers the horror of having to take the life of the only person he said he loved him. A broken Shinji grieves to Misato, to whom he tells that "Kaworu said that he loved me. I love him too." After Kaworu's death, Shinji's mental state worsens.

The End of Evangelion

In The End of Evangelion Shinji's story picks up where it left off in episode 24, portraying his slide into depression and his eventual loss of will to continue living. Shinji remains in a catatonic state for much of the movie, while all of the NERV officers, including Misato and Asuka, are killed. Shinji decides to pilot the Eva to save those still alive, but Misato's ordered release of Bakelite accidentally blocks his entrance to Unit-01. Later, when the human Complementation began, Shinji inside Eva-01, faced the gigantic figure of Lilith in the form of Rei. Shinji screams in horror at the sight of it, until the creature leaves Rei's form behind and takes Kaworu's, who affectionately receives the EVA in her hands. Seeing him, Shinji immediately relaxes as he enters an ecstatic state, allowing the process to continue. Kaworu, together with Rei, guide Shinji in the process of Human Complementation through a series of dream visions exploring his mind and soul, in whose universe the vision of humanity is gestating that will lead to determining the outcome and end of the story of evangelion.

Personality

"[I wanted] to make an innovative character, without ambitions, the kind of person who would commit suicide, but who did not dare to do so. My intention was to create a melancholic character who had renounced life." - Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, character designer Neon Genesis Gospeln.

"Shinji is a normal guy, the kind of normal type that can be found anywhere. How could he have reacted when he was suddenly thrown into an unnormal situation? [...] I tried to imagine these things like I do with all my papers, but then I stopped. And I decided I'd just like to immerse myself in history. "

Megumi Ogata, voice actress of Shinji Ikari.

Shinji's character is extremely complicated and introverted, being a character prone to harboring numerous doubts about the value of his own existence, with few friends and totally incapable of communicating with others. Due to his inability to To express himself, he continually evades confrontation with other people and tends to obey orders imposed on him without complaint. Hideaki Anno described him as a child who runs away from contact with others and has given up trying to "understand himself"; he is "a cowardly young man who feels he has been abandoned by his father, in order to convince himself that he is a completely unnecessary person, so much so that he was reluctant to commit suicide". Likewise, the hedgehog dilemma, a concept described by the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer and later adopted by Sigmund Freud, is the subtitle of the fourth episode and is mentioned by Dr. Akagi to describe the relationship of Shinji Ikari and Misato Katsuragi. Misato accepts Shinji's departure as the best thing for him, since his closeness only brings them pain. One of the fundamental themes of Neon Genesis Evangelion is precisely interpersonal communication, therefore, the representation Shinji's relationships with other people is an integral part of the series' plot.

Shinji's behavior at the prospect of piloting an Eva is a far cry from the conventional acts a person with heroic characteristics would exhibit; Shinji only agrees to do so with great reluctance and after expressing his negative feelings and emotions about it, such as anger, fear, and vulnerability. Shinji is not even familiar with the concept of a hero, not convinced of his role as a hero. pilot or his role as a "fighter", constantly wondering what was the reason that led him to pilot the Eva despite the suffering that entails. These doubts appear for the first time in the twelfth episode of the anime, and play a vital role in the development of Evangelion's plot. Shinji's voice actress, Megumi Ogata, has expressed that "Shinji is a very outsider, because he doesn't behave like an anime character, but rather who speaks in a quiet and reserved manner, as if he had suddenly been thrown into an anime world".

Regarding interpersonal relationships, Shinji tends to adopt a passive behavior, an attitude that leads him to suffer, without any determination of his own, the will of others. Due to his father's abandonment, he considers himself as an "undesirable type" and on several occasions he has stated that "Nobody loves me, nobody cares about me." In turn, Shinji is incapable of feeling affection for another person.Despite his desire to be accepted and loved by others, especially female figures and his father, he is still essentially incapable of accepting love from others.

Psychological aspects

One of Shinji's most prominent psychological aspects, in addition to the aforementioned hedgehog dilemma, is his Oedipus complex. From the beginning of the series, he has shown an extremely conflictive relationship with his father, Gendō, and a certain interest in into Rei Ayanami, who is genetically a clone of her mother, Yui. To Shinji, Rei represents both a potential love interest and a mother figure. In the final episode of the series, the story of which takes place entirely within Shinji's consciousness, he says the lines "To my father, thank you", "To my mother, goodbye", and "And to all the children... Congratulations!" Taking this aspect into account, the plot of Evangelion is analyzed as a modern and more complex interpretation. from the legend of Oedipus, in which the young man feels loved and hated at the same time by his parents. The first two Shinji sentences would symbolize that he was "released"; from his rivalry with his father, and freed from desire for his mother.

Reception

Shinji has received critical acclaim over the years for his unique character side; whose anti-heroic traits keep him from being the typical stereotypical hero. He was ranked number twenty-five on IGN website's first list of best anime characters. Editor Chris Mackenzie commented that the IGN staff loved him "not for what he is, but for what he can be". In 2014, IGN ranked him the best anime character of all time, noting that Shinji is a "genuine work of art", and commenting that heroes "are often who we want to be", and that "he [Shinji] was perhaps the most emotionally true-to-life character in anime history". In a March 2010 Newtype poll, Shinji was voted the most popular male character of the 1990s. In the 19th and 20th editions of the Animage Grand Prix, he was rated the best male character of the year.

Pete Harcoff of Anime Critic gave a positive review of Neon Genesis Evangelion, but maintained a negative view of Shinji's character, stating that Shinji was "ineffective and disappointing to watch. Shinji's role in the Rebuild of Evangelion films garnered a better response as he was seen to be more kind and friendly to other characters, in contrast to her role shown in the television series.

Spike Spencer, Shinji's English voice actor, has received acclaim for his role, particularly his performance in The End of Evangelion. Mike Crandol of Anime News Network praised the subtle nuances Spencer brought to the role, feeling Spencer had improved on her previous performances, where she tended to parody Shinji's inner turmoil. Pete Harcoff, while still critical of Shinji's character, he also complimented Spencer, stating that she gave a solid performance as this one.

Relationship with Kaworu

Cosplays of Shinji Ikari and Kaworu Nagisa.

The relationship between Shinji and Kaworu Nagisa has been a persistent topic of debate among Evangelion fans since the days of the original series, commonly being interpreted as a romantic interest of a homosexual nature. The twenty-fourth episode of the series, The Last Messenger, shows scenes in which both boys enjoy each other's company, sleeping and bathing together, and a confession of love from Kaworu. In the original script for the episode, a scene with both characters swimming in a river was scheduled to take place, followed by another in which they would play the cello and violin together, and finally a kiss scene, but these ended up being vetoed by production equipment and time constraints.

Notably, Kaworu was the first individual to show love to Shinji, and also the first to whom Shinji opened his heart, even stating to Misato that "Kaworu said he loved me. I loved him too." His relationship with Kaworu was so strong to the point where, after his death, Shinji again plunged into a deep state of depression that caused him to withdraw into himself again. According to character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, at that particular time in his life, "Shinji didn't want to get the love of a girl, but instead wanted to get the approval of another guy." For his part, the director of Sailor Moon, Kunihiko Ikuhara, has said that "[Shinji] is bullied by his father, slapped by Ayanami and called an idiot by Asuka, while Misato orders him to behave like a man; he doesn't receive much sympathy from others, and I think that in this situation the only one who tells him that everything is fine, is Kaworu ».

Some of the original cast voice actors also agree that Shinji and Kaworu are a 'couple'. During the event The Symphony of Evangelion (1997) at the Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Japan, the seiyūs Megumi Hayashibara and Kotono Mitsuishi agreed that if Shinji was "Hikoboshi", then his & #34;Orihime" it would be Kaworu. Orihime and Hikoboshi are Japanese deities, former lovers whose platonic meeting is celebrated every year during the Tanabata festival. In the game Neon Genesis Evangelion: Ikari Shinji Ikusei Keikaku, Shinji can also develop a relationship with Kaworu and not only with the female characters.

In the film Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, the third installment of the tetralogy Rebuild of Evangelion, the relationship between Shinji and Kaworu is further explored, and Shinji's emotional clinging to Kaworu after losing everything that was important to him is shown. After Kaworu's death, which occurs before his very eyes, Shinji falls into a pitiful state of mind, and upon being found by Asuka doesn't show any kind of will.