Can discuss NGE and Rebuilds.
Who was objectively best for Shinji?
Elijah Bell
Cooper Hill
Kaworu.
Brandon Sullivan
Genderbend Kaworu.
Andrew James
Mari gets to ride him every night.
Justin Myers
Not Asuka.
Tyler Harris
Mana Kirishima
Benjamin Johnson
Tsubame
Chase Bailey
The layman's choices are probably Mari or Rei because they're stable. But Mari was right there when he was born, so she's like his big sister, and Rei is a clone of his mom, so she's like his little sister. Also if the litmus test is to just not have any issues at all, anyone that's not a main character at all could be good for him, so that's not much of an answer. Maybe Sakura could fulfill the gap? But in the same vein, so could Hikari, or anyone else.
Asuka is probably the last choice, given her attitude towards Shinji and everyone else through our the story, but if we're talking post-character-development where she addresses her issues (equal footing with the other two), then she's not such a bad contender.
I think Asuka cares about Shinji a lot more than Mari does. Maybe not enough to suicide rush like Rei, though.
It's probably most evident with Shikinami. We see her try to take the chance to understand Shinji when he asks about her motivations, and we see her try to take one for the team so that Shinji can connect with his father. After the timeskip, we see that she becomes more reserved when she's not in the pilot seat, and can connect to the people in her life like Kensuke and Mari, so it stands to reason that she's a lot more approachable with her insecurities gone.
I think given how their similar pasts tend to parallel each other, and how their responses to it are two sides of the same coin, that (despite the inherent risk) they'd be good candidates to understand the other's issues on a personal level.
I know I'll get shit for this, but I think this is why Asuka is a compelling pick for the position.
Blake Flores
Agreed. Rebuild is a different story, but NGE characterization of both characters makes it pretty unambiguous that Shinji and Asuka are the romantic pairing, with their mirrored backstories, issues, and resolutions. There is a reason why EoE both begins and ends with Shinji and Asuka alone together.
Ryder Brown
>But Mari was right there when he was born, so she's like his big sister, and Rei is a clone of his mom, so she's like his little sister.
OP here. I asked who is objectively best FOR Shinji, not whether who seem to be good together. Your dismissal of Mari and Rei simply because "errr well like they're like his sisters sooooo...." is superficial, shallow and judgemental because you're projecting arbitrary standards of what is and isn't appropriate. I didn't even specify whether I was asking about romantic relationships.
>but if we're talking post-character-development where she addresses her issues (equal footing with the other two), then she's not such a bad contender.
What character development did she have? The fact that Shinji "confessed" his cowardice with not helping her with Bardiel after she kept screaming at him over it (even violently within Unit 13's entry plug and the feeding scene)? That's not "character development" if she keeps screaming at another person about something and they relent and just tell them what they want to hear just to shut them up.
>I think given how their similar pasts tend to parallel each other, and how their responses to it are two sides of the same coin, that (despite the inherent risk) they'd be good candidates to understand the other's issues on a personal level.
Sakura: He [Shinji] saw another person die from the choker. Why would he want to come back?
Asuka: How should I know?
Asuka is not capable of understanding Shinji's issues at all. She even admits this. Even if she did, she's too obsessed with her problems (the bardiel incident) to even care about Shinji's. Shinji throws up from seeing the choker a second time and she gets mad and assaults him.
>B-but she covered it up with a scarf
Too little, too late. By then it was Rei that was helping him while all she did was watch and seethe from afar. Even if she could understand him, she simply would not be able to help him at all.
Luis Myers
Rei is too softspoken, is still trying to find her identity, and will still at some subconscious level coddle him like a son
Tsunderes are awful and asuka doesn’t even know what she wants. That’s a broken marriage waiting to happen
Mari is a loose slut but still the sweetest person to shinji and reminds him that he can be flawed
Misato is used goods
Jace Morales
>What character development did she have?
I meant after her instrumentality sequence. I think it's pretty clear she doesn't have proper character development during the timeskip, and this reflects in the way she hurts Shinji even though her intent is to look after him. I think once she gets back to the village, she's gonna have to go through the same process Shinji did. But I think after that, she's going to be a far more approachable person.
Asuka knows about Shinji's past with his isolation, and his father, and Shinji becomes aware of Asuka's past as well. So I think it stands to reason that they're able to understand each other better.
Parker Williams
The one girl that doesn't have a huge psychological baggage.
Jack Davis
>Shinji becomes aware of Asuka's past as well.
No indication of this at all.
>So I think it stands to reason that they're able to understand each other better.
But that doesn't automatically translate to her being "the best" person for him even if it was true. Even when armed with the understanding, she's too wrapped up in herself to help him in any meaningful way. Rei and Kaworu are the best answers to OP's question.
Tyler Moore
He literally gets her backstory in Instrumentality? Why else would that stuff be on screen?
Lincoln Kelly
Sakura
Levi Richardson
Mari.
Don't need to give you an essay why.
Jose Moore
Mari won.
Rei had a propper happy ending
Asuka has non-stop sex with Kensuke
It's canon. Get over it
Benjamin Richardson
>He literally gets her backstory in Instrumentality? Why else would that stuff be on screen?
True, however he's not present for it and he doesn't acknowledge it. We don't know how rebuild instrumentality works and since they were in different evas we can't say for certain he saw her backstory. The beach scene could be the first time in that instance they actually meet as indicated by her shocked expression and her saying "baka-Shinji?".
Camden Thompson
for the NGE timeline, I believe Soryu is the only one who can truly understand him due to their similar past, but they need someone to push them together and make them open up. I think she can push him forward to greatness once she understands him better and give him the moral and emotional comfort
the potential is there, but it requires an external force / person to make it thrive
for the rebuilds I'm not sure, mari seems obsessed with him so I guess she'll do everything to make him happy, sakura (toji's sister) is also an option since she was the only person to treat him as a person during 3.0
Joseph Davis
>sakura (toji's sister) is also an option since she was the only person to treat him as a person during 3.0
Sakura (outside of shooting Shinji) is bad for Shinji imo. She's too naive and fell for the "Shinji is the apocalypse" line hard even going as far to say that they'll never take the choker off. She simply wouldn't be able to understand or help him.
Jayden Green
maybe she didn't know the details of how exactly he caused but the apocalypse and she was very young when it happened, but I get your point
Jeremiah Clark
Not the one you're replying to. I think he saw her backstory. He pictured Kensuke wearing a mascot when he was saying Asuka will find her place of belonging. Shinji should've imagined Kensuke wearing his military larper get up not the pedo mascot.