So what happened to Asuka...

[Auska]

Oh ok! Thank you!

[Mr. Tines]

But with such a strong will to live she is "alive" again after the rejection of Instrumentality.

I would disagree in detail with that. Her will is strong enough for her to leave the Limbo of post-3I discorporation; but her demeanour on the shore is more like one seeking the final "out" of death.

[Mundane]

I never said she was happy to be alive, I just said she was alive. That's more or less what the OP wanted to know.

Well, maybe not the OP, but I'm sure others wanted to know.

[wildstraydog]

i think she decided in her will to come back because she didnt want to die. if i'm wrong then please someone correct me here >.<

[Timstuff]

When Asuka came to the revelation about her Eva's true identity, I think she got a grip of herself and got back her will to live. She clearly wanted to live by the time the movie ended.

[Mr. Tines]

Having her mother back certainly woke her up; but at the end of that sequence, both her mother and being an Eva pilot had been ripped from her, putting her back to

Not qualified to be the Second Child...
There's no reason for me to exist anymore.

If she truly wanted to live at the very end, her reaction to being strangled would have been more like



(or like this)

[Timstuff]

If she didn't want to live, then why would she caress Shinji's face? There's nothing to suggest that Asuka's will to live had left her again after her battle with the harpies or third impact. If she wanted to die, she would have let Shinji choke her, instead of pleading for her life.

And the reason why she didn't have a violent reaction was because she didn't want to hurt Shinji, nor did she want to be hurt by him. Keep in mind that she did have feelings for him, no matter how much she resented them. More or less, I think she begging Shinji to forgive her for acting like a b!tch towards him.

[Mr. Tines]

If she didn't want to live, then why would she caress Shinji's face?

"There's a good muppet. Adieu."

which reminds Shinji too much of



"There's a good boy. Adieu."

There's nothing to suggest that Asuka's will to live had left her again after her battle with the harpies or third impact. If she wanted to die, she would have let Shinji choke her, instead of pleading for her life.

Her last statement in Complementation

Asuka (voice):
But, if I have to be with you, I'd rather die!

Her just lying there, inert, unresisting, was just letting Shinji choke her.

[Timstuff]

Ever consider that maybe Asuka was bluffing, or had changed her mind at some point? If she wanted to die, she wouldn't have reached out to touch Shinji. There are a lot of things Asuka says that she doesn't mean, and since we didn't see her complimentation, I don't think it's a stretch that she did some soul searching of her own before it all ended.

You completely misread the ending scene it sounds like. The big shocker is that Asuka didn't lash out to defend herself, nor did she simply lay there and let Shinji end her life. She used a kind gesture to convince him to stop, because she wanted to live, not be killed by the boy who she resented loving. I have no clue where you got your interperetation from.

[Faußtin]

@Timstuff
Well, this is a question of the point of view. Though I would argue with that she didn't want to die and stroke him to stop strangling her. I think she wanted to tell Shinji that she forgives him and asks for his forgiving. A simple gesture is sometimes a lot more talkative, than an essay or and ode.

[Timstuff]

Yes, my thoughts exactly.

[Mr. Tines]

Ever consider that maybe Asuka was bluffing, or had changed her mind at some point?

I take it as axiomatic that the statements in Instrumentality are uncensored truth (just like Misato's revelation of her marathon week with Shinji (EDIT: obviously I meant Kaji here), that she did not want to show to Shinji, but could not prevent).

I have no clue where you got your interperetation from.

Looking at the series, looking at the movie, seeing a relationship that had crashed and burned before it began, between two mismatched people who are on completely different wavelengths. And knowing where Asuka had been before EoE, seeing on the beach confirmation of what her final violation would have done to her

[Timstuff]

Instrumentality did not get completed, so we don't know how much of other peoples' minds Shinji got to see. If he truly saw all of Asuka, he would have seen firsthand all of the things that she went through, and would have had a better understanding of her.

It's definately not as simple as everyone sharing all of their thoughts with each other though, because there's still a lot that Shinji doesn't know about other people. The final stage of complimetation, which would have been the creation of the hive mind, would have probably completely shared everyones' minds with each other. But from what we saw, all we can assume is that Shinji got a few glimpses into the minds of those closest to him, but not complete ones.

And you've still yet to show any evidence that Asuka had reverted to her pre-EoE depression at the end. She wanted to live, which is why she stopped Shinji. There's nothing to suggest otherwise, and also, we do not know what Asuka's complimentation was like, so I think she might have come to some revelations about herself that would result in an "attitude adjustment". Certanly, I doubt it would be something that would make her loose the will to live again, especially after she'd just gotten it back.

[Faußtin]

Ever consider that maybe Asuka was bluffing, or had changed her mind at some point?

I take it as axiomatic that the statements in Instrumentality are uncensored truth (just like Misato's revelation of her marathon week with Shinji, that she did not want to show to Shinji, but could not prevent).

Err... Didn't you mean "Kaji" there (highlighted)? If you were serious... well, I didn't notice that they had sex... Lucky bastard... :P :x

[AuthenticM]

Her last statement in Complementation

Asuka (voice):
But, if I have to be with you, I'd rather die!

You're forgetting that this was the Asuka inside Shinji's mind; which means that it was a reflection of what Shinji thought she'd answer. Asuka was killed by the MP Evas, and the next time we see her is on the beach with Shinji.

[Timstuff]

Yeah, that's also true. Another thing that confuses a lot of people is the scene during pre-instrumentality when Shinji chokes Asuka for the first time. That was all a reflection of Asuka within Shinji's mind, but some people mistake it for being Asuka actually communicating with Shinji. Most of what we saw during third impact was within Shinji's own mind, not the minds of others communicating with him.

[Ornette]

Her last statement in Complementation

Asuka (voice):
But, if I have to be with you, I'd rather die!

You're forgetting that this was the Asuka inside Shinji's mind; which means that it was a reflection of what Shinji thought she'd answer. Asuka was killed by the MP Evas, and the next time we see her is on the beach with Shinji.

Yeah, that's also true. Another thing that confuses a lot of people is the scene during pre-instrumentality when Shinji chokes Asuka for the first time. That was all a reflection of Asuka within Shinji's mind, but some people mistake it for being Asuka actually communicating with Shinji. Most of what we saw during third impact was within Shinji's own mind, not the minds of others communicating with him.

Are you guys saying that complementation was all in Shinji's mind and the minds of all the people who got complemented isn't interacting with Shinji's? As for the pre-instrumentality, it sure seems like they're interacting with each other there, Shinji sees Misato's sex week (which he didn't know about until that moment), Asuka even comments on that.

[Mr. Tines]

Err... Didn't you mean "Kaji" there (highlighted)? If you were serious... well, I didn't notice that they had sex... Lucky bastard... :P :x

Uh, yes. The marathon week with Shinji would be when she made good, post-3I, on her promise to Shinji (and ensured that he died happy).

You're forgetting that this was the Asuka inside Shinji's mind; which means that it was a reflection of what Shinji thought she'd answer. Asuka was killed by the MP Evas, and the next time we see her is on the beach with Shinji.

As Ornette pointed out (Thanks!) everyone was sharing a single mind at the time. We know that all the particpants are equally there because

1) Misato was blown to bloody chunks after Shinji left her
2) but one of the Rei-tachi came to upload her soul into Complementation
3) where she was able to reveal her sex-life to Shinji
4) which came as a revolting revelation to him:

Shinji (disgusted = thinking):
This is Misato? She does... this?

This is truth - Misato's uncensored, uncontainable reflections on her failure in the role of mother, and that she is still seeking that sort of comfort herself.

we don't know how much of other peoples' minds Shinji got to see.

"At least as much as we see" would be a lower bound.

And you've still yet to show any evidence that Asuka had reverted to her pre-EoE depression at the end.

The only other times we have seen Asuka that listless was in Hikari's bed, and in the bathtub. What drove her to slash her wrists out in the ruins was the destruction of what she identified as the core part of her being - piloting Eva. She has had that restored and snatched away again, as well as regaining and losing her mother; and then suffered a complete ravaging of body and soul.

Short of "and then a miracle happens" personality replacement, down and heading for the exit (rather than being stuck in the LCL limbo) is the most consistent mindset with what we have seen before.

[Ornette]

The only other times we have seen Asuka that listless was in Hikari's bed, and in the bathtub. What drove her to slash her wrists out in the ruins was the destruction of what she identified as the core part of her being - piloting Eva.

don't forget (thanks to the NPCs) finally realizing that Kaji is dead and won't be around anymore.

[AuthenticM]

What drove her to slash her wrists out in the ruins...

Wait, she did that?!