The Hate on Shinn Asuka Explained

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I have a love-hate relationship with the anime Gundam SEED Destiny. After the original SEED ended, I thought I wanted another one and SEED Destiny came along. A few episodes later, I thought this was SEED all over again. With too much repetition and a lack of originality, it was like the first series was recycled. On the plus side, I enjoyed the added human emotions and plot twists. I’m single, so romance won’t turn me on, but I loved the tragic Shinn-Stella twist. And when Meer got shot, my first reaction was thinking, "what a waste!" Heartaches and tears would add flavour to the series.

But I got to admit that things went too far. I feel that we have to blame the main character for the weakness of this show.

I've seen a lot of annoying Gundam pilots before, but why does Shinn Asuka annoy me the most? The character had potential from what I saw in the beginning of the show. Shinn Asuka is the result of the earlier war. His family was killed as mobile suits, including the Freedom, dueled in the air. He is connected with Kira Yamato in some ways as he is the living consequences of his actions. Unlike the overly meek Kira, Shin proves to be a livelier and more entertaining person at the start of the series, only to degrade later on.

At first, I wasn't really sure what made me loathe Shinn, but here is my attempt to explain my reasoning.

Who is Shinn Asuka?

Those who followed Gundam SEED Destiny like me are familiar with him. Like what was stated above, his story starts with him and his family fleeing from a battlefield. They are caught in crossfire between the GAT-X131 Calamity and the ZGMF – X10A Freedom and the resulting explosion blew his family to pieces. The traumatic death of his family made him hate Orb for failing to protect them. He later joins ZAFT and got the mobile suit ZGMF-X56S Impulse.

Lunch_Pkmn_Adv.jpgHe is involved in several interesting twists across the series. Athrun Zala becoming his commanding officer, much to his displeasure, is one of them. He then hooked up with Stella Loussier after he saved her from drowning. The two were doing well until Stella died in combat. Blaming Kira Yamato for Stella’s death, the angry Shinn nearly killed him in their duel, and he received the ZGMF-X42S Destiny as a reward. He pilots the suit well, wrecking most of the Earth Alliance forces before Athrun Zaladefeated him.

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Wondering why I went through all of this trouble to narrate his story? By delving into how things went for Shinn, maybe we could see why the character suffered a meltdown.

Special Mention: Shinn Resembles Kira

Before we go deeper, I have to say that I never liked Shinn's character design. It is not exactly crappy and it could have been worse. But it is not the best either. It's pretty plain. Amuro Ray was pretty plain too and the same could be said for the rest of the Gundam pilots. It's a subjective issue, but I wished they made him more unique. If not for his pale complexion, I would mistake him for Kira Yamato.

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We may love a rebellious hero, but based on what I saw, there was nothing oppressive going on around Shinn. In fact, I could say that ZAFT had problems with Shinn instead. He just refused to listen.

Emotionally Weak

We often hear how this brat will act according to emotions and not to reason. Revenge drove him and made his behaviour erratic. Shinn Asuka is perhaps the angriest character there is, even worse than the homicidal Wing pilots. As violent as they were, they were cool about what they were doing. Shinn on the other hand is all about anger. He is angry at Orb, angry at Kira Yamatao, angry at Athrun Zala, and probably angry at anyone who is against him. He is so angry that I became tired of his angry tirade.

Lunch_Pkmn_Adv.jpgAt some point, I’m not sure what he is so angry about. And it seems this uncontrollable angst made him whine more than previous pilots. It just made Kira Yamato and Athrun Zala look good. And thanks to his uncontrollable rush of emotions, he tends to cry a lot. In fact, the epic battle between him and Athrun ended with him crying near the wreckage of his suit, in the arms of Lunamaria. Man, that was hard to watch! With so much anger and tears, I thought Shinn Asuka lacked b**ls.Lunch_Pkmn_Adv.jpg

The Complex Character Doesn't Fit

To conclude it all, Shinn Asuka is a mishandled protagonist. They created a hero that couldn’t handle their complex characterization. Being friendly and gentle while mingling with an emotionally dark psyche has never worked, no matter how interesting the concept is. It failed to turn him into a hero or an anti-hero. The result was an emo character that no one could connect with. In the end, Shinn Asuka could be the most annoying Gundam pilot there is.


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Jed Relativo Jr.
Excuse me, I think this article is copied. I suggest you talk to hubpages where the article is stolen or the author will file a ca
Aug 21, 2018
0
Jed Relativo Jr.
Excuse me, I think this article is copied. I suggest you talk to hubpages where the article is stolen or the author will file a ca
Aug 21, 2018
0
Jed Relativo Jr.
Excuse me, I think this article is copied. I suggest you talk to hubpages where the article is stolen or the author will file a ca
Aug 21, 2018
0
Jed Relativo Jr.
Excuse me, I think this article is copied. I suggest you talk to hubpages where the article is stolen or the author will file a ca
Aug 21, 2018
0
Jed Relativo Jr.
Excuse me, I think this article is copied. I suggest you talk to hubpages where the article is stolen or the author will file a ca
Aug 21, 2018
0
Jed Relativo Jr.
Excuse me, I think this article is copied. I suggest you talk to hubpages where the article is stolen or the author will file a case.
Aug 21, 2018
0
Jed Relativo Jr.
Excuse me, I think this article is copied. I suggest you talk to hubpages where the article is stolen or the author will file a case.
Aug 21, 2018
0
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