he isn't weak because he's an otaku self-insert, he's weak because he hasn't had a nurturing/parental figure in his life since his mom died. his emotional development is stifled yet he's still expected to "grow up" and endure the stress of saving tokyo from supernatural monsters. shinji is actually a good depiction of someone overburdened with responsibilities who never received the support from other people necessary to become a strong person, you'd think that people who agonize over missed developmental milestones like incels would relate to that
That’s what I am saying though. He lacks any real emotional bonds yet still does the best he can until it’s too much for him and he shuts down. He comes off as strong but with human limits rather than an infallible gary stu or an epic larger than life struggler like Guts.
The thing is though, THIS IS COMPLETELY UNRELATABLE TO OTAKU LOSERS. Anno treats Shinji like he’s weak when he really isn’t he just looks weak. The characters in NGE just come off as unrelatable normies which is why the message fails IMO.
Depressed loser NEETs need a hero’s journey like Gurren Lagann or something to give them energy or a realistic depression porn like NHK. NGE does nothing for us whatsoever, how are we supposed to understand these talented competent people with social circles and relationship problems. An otaku will just watch NGE, get confused then jerk off to oppai rei porn.
I’d understand NGE if it was aimed at normies, but Anno claims it’s about criticising/challenging otakus when it does nothing of the sort. Hence why NGE is dominated by waifu faggotry to Anno’s chagrin. All otaku can do when watching NGE is impose their fantasies on the girls, their personalities and conflicts are just so alien that they come off as bizarre constructs in JB looking vessels.
My theory has always been the effect of Breaking Bad. The phrase really blew up after the show ended. Since that show has multiple characters go through character transformations over the course of the show and since it's universally lauded normies think it's the holy grail formula for writing a good character.
As a result, for male characters, what you get is a guy who is always PTSD-ridden, cucked, and 'flawed'. It also serves as a perfect excuse to turn foid characters into Mary Sues. No matter how inconsistent the character is, they can always point in the direction of muh 'character development' to justify it.
Also the thing is, the change in Breaking Bad is natural and expected. Walt from the first episode very blatantly hates his mediocre shit life and wants to be the guy it’s not some arbitrary arc. Meanwhile Jesse is clearly wannabe gangster who’s not about that. It’s just a realisation of traits that already exist.
Hack writers think character development means turning good guy into bad guy and bad guy into good guy. Or turning a jerk with heart of gold into just a heart of gold (removing character flaws gary stu style). It’s a cathartic payoff that’s offset by the removal of traits that can influence the plot (jerks tend to shake things up with their attitude now he’s just a passive cuck)