Shinji gets a lot of flak for his behavior throughout the show for being a “crybaby”. People seem to forget the fact that he grows as a person (mostly because that growth is often not noticed by people who complain about NGE being confusing), as well as that, you know, he is a 14-year-old with severe family issues who suddenly found himself in a position of someone who has to save the world. For someone under that amount of stress, he behaves very adequately. And the “get in the robot, Shinji” meme makes no sense, because he actually DOES get in the robot almost every time.
There seems to be a decently-sized crowd of people who criticize Sasuke for being an “edgelord”. Don’t get us wrong, there are many things he can be criticized for — that one just isn’t one of them. It is a huge trivialization of his character, and people who do that often seem to forget that he acted extremely patiently and calmly during almost the entire first part of the show, even when faced with things he had no business to be calm about. His actions and behavior are often justified by his tragic past and make sense in the context — and when they don’t, you shouldn’t just dismiss him as “edgy”.
Light has been often viewed as a hero, a savior of the world, someone who sacrificed himself to make the world better. Thankfully, this fan narrative has started to shift in recent years, because it’s totally wrong. Light is no hero, he might be the protagonist, but that doesn’t make him a good person. He’s a terrible human being, and the fact that he is entertaining to watch, smart and charismatic should not fool you into believing otherwise.
Kiritsugu Emiya (Fate/Zero)
Similarly, Kiritsugu from Fate is not a good person, and his approach to life has never been right. I mean, it even gets debunked and proven worthless in the show, but a lot of people seem to conveniently forget that part. His utilitarianism is extremely idealistic and often can’t be applied to real world problems, and it makes sense to consider him more of an antihero. He loses almost everything near the end of the show, which should remind the viewer that he, indeed, was never right in the first place.
This one was quite obvious, but it is still worth mentioning. Eren’s erratic and bizarre behavior towards the end of AoT makes perfect sense if you put yourself into his shoes for a second. Facing a dilemma with no good choice, a decision of a caliber no person should ever face, he initiates The Rumbling — and it proves to be catastrophic. A lot of fans seem to be supportive of this choice, blind to the larger picture of problems that the show raises: problems of hatred and war that Eren alone was never able to solve. His decision was wrong, but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad protagonist just because of that. We all make mistakes.
Sometimes, fans’ understanding of a character is the complete opposite of what said character is.
Shinji gets a lot of flak for his behavior throughout the show for being a “crybaby”. People seem to forget the fact that he grows as a person (mostly because that growth is often not noticed by people who complain about NGE being confusing), as well as that, you know, he is a 14-year-old with severe family issues who suddenly found himself in a position of someone who has to save the world. For someone under that amount of stress, he behaves very adequately. And the “get in the robot, Shinji” meme makes no sense, because he actually DOES get in the robot almost every time.
There seems to be a decently-sized crowd of people who criticize Sasuke for being an “edgelord”. Don’t get us wrong, there are many things he can be criticized for — that one just isn’t one of them. It is a huge trivialization of his character, and people who do that often seem to forget that he acted extremely patiently and calmly during almost the entire first part of the show, even when faced with things he had no business to be calm about. His actions and behavior are often justified by his tragic past and make sense in the context — and when they don’t, you shouldn’t just dismiss him as “edgy”.
Light has been often viewed as a hero, a savior of the world, someone who sacrificed himself to make the world better. Thankfully, this fan narrative has started to shift in recent years, because it’s totally wrong. Light is no hero, he might be the protagonist, but that doesn’t make him a good person. He’s a terrible human being, and the fact that he is entertaining to watch, smart and charismatic should not fool you into believing otherwise.
Kiritsugu Emiya (Fate/Zero)
Similarly, Kiritsugu from Fate is not a good person, and his approach to life has never been right. I mean, it even gets debunked and proven worthless in the show, but a lot of people seem to conveniently forget that part. His utilitarianism is extremely idealistic and often can’t be applied to real world problems, and it makes sense to consider him more of an antihero. He loses almost everything near the end of the show, which should remind the viewer that he, indeed, was never right in the first place.
This one was quite obvious, but it is still worth mentioning. Eren’s erratic and bizarre behavior towards the end of AoT makes perfect sense if you put yourself into his shoes for a second. Facing a dilemma with no good choice, a decision of a caliber no person should ever face, he initiates The Rumbling — and it proves to be catastrophic. A lot of fans seem to be supportive of this choice, blind to the larger picture of problems that the show raises: problems of hatred and war that Eren alone was never able to solve. His decision was wrong, but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad protagonist just because of that. We all make mistakes.
