Chapter 16: Kaworu
For someone who reads the bible and claims to be a religious devout, Gendo, NERV and SEELE seem to have forgotten one of the first and most important lines in that holy book.
The line spoken by Jesus himself to his followers.
The most important rule of human decency which if not followed, makes every other rule moot and worthless.
That rule is. "Do unto others as you'd have done unto yourself." Or in other words: Practice what you preach. Since actions speak much louder than words.
Slightly earlier.
Ritsuko POV
"For someone who likes to brag about how they got straight A's in triple science back in Germany Asuka, I'm honestly remarked at how shockingly little you know about the simple techniques behind mankind's survival through the generations"
I irritatedly remark as I lead my sole companion and object of affection Maya through a maze of alleys which will take us back to my flat.
"You do realize don't you that humanity as a species only survived this long and thrived as it did over the lower species explicitly because of teamwork and cooperation right?"
I sigh inwardly unseen by Maya.
"Any first grader in biology will tell you that while the mammals just below humans in terms of cleverness can only co-exist in peace in at best, in small groups of families, only humans can form tribes and nations."
Maya tries to make small talk but my brain momentarily drifts beyond reality as I go off on a tangent with my self-made rant that I know no one likes to hear but myself.
The last time I tried to hold this kind of discussion among my fellow scientists, I put the whole laboratory to sleep seconds in. I wouldn't make that mistake again.
"Tribes and nations. Groups of organisms who managed to get their s together enough to stop fighting pointlessly and actually work together is the reason humanity thrived as well as it did.
Yes. Sometimes we still fight. But for the most part, common sense wins out in the end and we know when to put aside our differences for the greater good. "
I hold out a hand, lost in sentimentality as the world before me seems to vanish as I drift deeper and deeper into the realm of my inner unspoken thoughts.
"Do you think one man built the great marble city of Rome? Do you think one slave was all it took to build the Egyptian pyramids? Do you think the Great wall which kept the Chinese empire from being totally invaded by the Mongols and Feudal Japan would have been possible under just one lone worker?"
I clench my fist and shake my head as a sarcastic grin creases over my lips.
"Because if you think that Asuka. Then you're no smarter than a headless baboon and even a headless baboon knows when to swallow its pride.
The world didn't end when the Angels invaded or when Gendo took over NERV.
It ended when you decided to start attacking your other pilots instead of the Angels like you were supposed to do. You barbarian!"
My whisper grows unintentionally to a low mutter as I utter the last part of my pointless monologue causing Maya to look at me with newfound pride and respect like she never had before.
"There's a time and a place to be violent and to fight Asuka. But it's not with Shinji, or Rei."
The mention of Rei being undeserving of Asuka's unwarrated and causeless wrath, finally breaks my discomfort enough for me to snap back to reality.
I had finally said what I should have long ago with Maya as my witness.
Rei did not deserve to be mistreated and stripped of her dignity, fully human or not. She was still a sapient being capable of emotions. And from how I had seen her behaving around Shinji recently, she could indeed love. Something a robot or psychopath or psychopathic robot could not do.
Now I could finally begin to move forward in my first steps of a long and brutally challenging reformation that was long overdue after all the horrific atrocities I had helped perpetuate in my selfish carelessness.
"Well said Senpai. Well said" The brown-haired junior officer proudly commended as she patted me lightly on the back as I searched around in my trouser pockets for my keys.
"We will make a very effective team."
My plan was a very simple one and for that reason I found it a very simple plan.
My apartment had a big pipe and a large vent for ventilation. It was the reason it was so expensive.
If I just put a chair next to the vent, took the screws off and...
You see where I;m going with this.
Mari POV
I knew Angelo and his friends would welcome Shinji and Rei warmly.
But I didn't know he was this eager beaver about it.
Not that I held it against him of course. On the contrary, it warmed my heart to see how aside from me there were others in this cold unforgiving world who properly appreciated all the unfair hardship us pilots had been through just to give humanity a fighting chance for survival.
I never understood why the pilots were not given more attention, or more importantly better treatment.
If little kids could fanboy so hard over superman and batman when they were nothing more than fictitious figments of imagination that were obviously not real, I would have thought the Earth would be a little more excited over a real superhero of at least equal if not far great power.
While Superman kept Metropolis safe and Batman protected Gotham, the fate of the entire human race depended on Shinji and Rei. Even after the impact, easily several million people rested on Shinji and Rei's victories.
Truly appalling that the only thanks they got instead were unheated apartments to live in and uncaring guardians who not simply neglectful but downright harmful to be around.
I would have thrown the Asuka toy into the bin if my dependable sister ini arms Rei hadn't done it for me. Even I could only be so forgiving of the German redhead's multitude of transgressions against my friends, my country and the countless innocents who had to suffer for her ruthless sadism.
Had Shinji not been hit so many times on the head, he might have smashed the Angels like a bug instead of having to engage them in a long and drawn out struggle during which an uncountable number of buildings were smashed to smithereens.
If only Rei not been in left in such sour moods each time however short she was forced to abide Asuka's presence. In the elevator. During meetings. Bumping into her during their respective trips to NERV on duty. Her Sync rates would no doubt have been much better and she wouldn't have suffered so many close shaves with death forcing Shinji to risk his neck even more than he already had.
These deathly near defeats were not only frightening to even hear about for me, they cost more hapless civilians their very lives as they forced Shinji and Rei to risk ever greater synchronizations with their Evangelions.
Double edged swords that could prove just as fatal for their pilot as any Angel it might be called upon to combat.
Especially when pushed to the limits it was never built for.
It was safe to say that Shinji and Rei had broken every boundary ever conceived for their Evangelions maximum power. A stunning achievement certainly but also a grave risk that brought about several near impacts which seriously endangered the final survivors of mankind.
I could only ballpark the deaths caused by their EVA's alone without the Angel's involvement whatsoever.
If you're so sick of Shinji being better at piloting than you Asuka. Why didn't you just improve? Why not just take pointers from him as he frequently adapted strategies watching Rei in action and I did the same observing Shinji even before I arrived in NERV.
You could have asked him to teach you his skills. It would have been a great bonding experience for the both of you.
But now isn't the time for such frivolous afterthoughts.
Asuka's gone. Tokyo 3 is behind us.
Angelo wants a selfie of his gang standing beside Shinji and Rei striking their most badass pose using the high-tech computer his maestro "Mr Doctor Professor Sherwood" somehow lugged along.
I had better go join them.
The picture won't be complete without me, Rei empathetically insists and she refuses to let the shoot start until I get in position next to her.
We were going to need a fitful slumber if we're going to be ready for what the next two days will throw at us. So far in spite of how close we cut it with our improvised getaway from Tokyo 3, it's felt too easy.
Things can never be this simple no matter how lucky.
This disused storage silo was said by Angelo to be completely unknown, erased from NERV's records since the day it was abandoned as an unnecessary expense and its valuable cargo was shipped out.
But knowing what I know about Shinji's father from the short time I've worked under him, I can already tell he has some grand trump up his sleazy sleeves.
At the risk of sounding ridiculous, we may have just activated his trap card.
As I somewhat wearily stumble into place and ready my eyes for the blinding flash that will immortalize this moment for eternity as the first picture in a camera that will soon be full of memories, I cannot help but shake the awkward feeling that something or rather someone is already homing in on us.
That we are not truly hidden despite Angelo's most silver-tongued reassurances.
That it's not me, nor Rei but Shinji who has to worry about this unknown eerie presence that feels familiar despite its strangeness.
It will find us before we find it.
It keeps me up for close to midnight as I twist and turn in my assigned bed next to Rei's.
Sweat coats my entire body yet I'm shivering.
The faint sound of a certain Russian folk song Kalinka which I heard only once in my lazy youth during my brief brush with classical music echoes in my head.
The more I cover my ears, the louder and clearer I hear it.
It still plagues my senses as sleep overtakes me. I'm humming the notes perfectly in my dreams.
Angelo's adorable pink haired wife Lola tries to politely shush me, her abnormal hair tones a genetic hand me down from the long forgotten Puella Magi Madoka magica. I don't stop since I'm asleep and not in control of myself.
"Kalin...ka...ka...ka" I'm mumble with a drool fast asleep.
Kaworu POV
Polluted crimson seawater crashes against a nearby rock as I steady my Ushanka hat bearing the emblem of my incorruptible motherland that continues to stand proud and free of NERV's grasping claw of greed. I was thankful that the winter had not fully come for this paper-thin layer of cloth was but a poor prop replica designed solely for the appeal of petty commercialism.
The biting winds of the freezing blizzard proving as effective a hinderance to the invading armies as to my people. My resilient countrymen who have lived through winters deadlier than the first impact that started this whole apocalypse.
It covers my face and gives me obscurity from prying eyes but mostly, I just wear it as a sign of hope that perhaps one day when my self-appointed fight for liberty finally draws to its unknowable conclusion that I shall have some hope of once again walking the slippery steps that led up the hill of the bustling Kremlin.
There was life and laughter in a barren wasteland that had only grown colder since the impact brought with it dramatic changes that rocked even the very climate hard.
Sections of the ozone cracked causing some lands such as the once fertile Brazil and Spain to overheat and be consumed by searing flames.
A spilt and weakened crust caused erupting volcanoes with their towering stacks of ash to do the total opposite for others.
To cut a long tale short. Hell was freezing over for glory greatest country Russia or as it was more commonly called by the relative few that acknowledged its existence: Arstotska.
But come Muscovite. Let the workers unite.
A collective regime of peace and love in spite of its flaws.
I had finally found the medicine.
It took many cycles through the filthy night time streets of the seat of Japan's corrupted power to find a pharmacist still open and to agree a fee.
Medicine under NERV had become an exotic rarity.
My commander would be very grateful. She had been seriously ill for several days now and in spite of her valiant resilience, I knew she could not hold out for much longer.
She needed my presence right here and right now.
I run over broken shells and dodge between jagged sea rocks in my haste for the temporary base of operations we had prepared.
A small but foreboding basalt cavern at the very edge of the coastline where no one went.
It was simple but it was the perfect den from where we could spy on our enemies while remaining well unseen. It was only a temporary measure anyhow until she recovered from the terrible illness that excessive exposure to the toxic seawater caused by NERV's excessive dumping of pollutants.
Call me a moronic hippie if you will, but I found this extremely irresponsible and most of all unsustainable for an already dying planet on the breadline as it was.
Water was the vital fluid of life.
If one needed evidence that NERV's goal was not world salvation or protection of mankind then look no further than the way they treated a once vibrant all-important ecosystem that made up a solid 97 percent of the water supply of Earth.
And contained all manner of vital life which provided former Japan with a superior diet that shot its liffe expectancy of its once much more contented people into the straphosphere of well over one hundred years.
My commander and I took no issue in the necessary act of self-preservation through fishing, whaling and other such foraging.
Our contention lay with the careless disregard to the environment which would destroy it altogether.
You didn't need Angels when there would soon be no more clean water either river or sea, and no sea life.
My feet are grievously blistered and my breathing shallow and ragged when I make it back to the cavern bearing the small bag of yellow sand-like powder that provided relief from water poisoning along with a small bottle of clean water to swallow it down.
On the wet sandy floor beside a smooth sandstone, there she lay.
My great and wonderful commander in all her surreal oceanic glory with her eyes lightly closed, a painful grimace spread across her pale and sickly face.
The fingers of her two delicate small hands were outstretched. Too weak to remain clasped together.
Her eight extra tentacular limbs in her shoulder length sky blue hair hung limp.
Her simple choice of outfit, a plain white dress that stretched from her shoulder to her knees only complimented her incorruptible innocence that she had somehow maintained despite seeing the horrors of the realm that lay above the sea from where she came.
Picture a smiling Rei Ayanami with slightly longer hair and a cute white hat and you had a pretty good mental image of my new employer whose service I had freely entered of my own free will.
My usually stiff lips fell wide agape and I clasped a hand over my wide-open mouth.
It hurt to see such a chipper character with such grand designs for a dying world's salvation to be brought so low. The imperialist dogs of NERV would pay a high price in blood for this insensate sin against my lady.
I was still in the process of composing myself for a few final condolences apologizing for my utter incompetence at being too late to save her when following a brief sniff of the powdered medicine I had laid beside her, her eyes snapped open much to my eternal relief.
I quickly rose to the moment of importance, touching my brow as I stood up as straight as I was able.
"What serendipitous timing. Ensign Kaworu." The young lady who was part squid and part human commended, haughtiness and humility intertwining in her ill but still strong voice as she looked me up and down.
"As it is in my humble duty to be, milady." I meekly reply with a shallow and chaste bow. "Your sincere praise humbles me."
She coughs up blood and I quickly take the opportunity to retake the medicine and present it before her as the cure to her rapidly worsening malady.
She accepts it wordlessly along with a drink from my flask to help swallow. Even with it, it still takes some time for her to finally get it down as she coughs several times more staining more sand red.
"NERV. Your disregard for the environment and in particular the oceans will be your undoing" I swear silently on bent knee as her body seems to react almost instantaneously to the curative effects of the medicine.
Squids heal fast and my commander was no exception as within the next few minutes, all colour seemed to return in a flood to her face and she was soon able to stand without me having to lift a finger.
She gives her atrophied muscles a good stretch as she takes a triumphant leap in victory of vanquishing her illness before addressing me once more.
"The Inkvasion needs to begin tonight" She grimly states. "The humans from that dark and forbidding tower in the horizon blew the final squid when they destroyed almost all of my entire colony with a big slick of oil and nuclear waste."
"It's unforgivable" I uncontrollably add, clenching my fists.
"Recently, they've started taking trips down below to try and round up any survivors left." She continues cutting me off. "Any squid person unlucky enough to fall into their insquidious grip is slowly gassed to death in a way that leaves their outer skin intact to be displayed in a gift shop."
"A gift shop!" I incredulously cry, holding my arms over my head in morbid astonishment.
"They're setting up a great white fleet to try and scour the entirety of the sea until they flush out every last one of my people."
She pauses in sentimentality as a faint trail of ink slides down her left cheek.
"My people...With thoughts, feelings, hopes and dreams. Fully capable of the core emotions love and hatred. Just like any human and more. "
She brushes me aside as I try to hold her in her obvious anguish which borders on insanity.
As harmless and nonviolent as my commander usually is, in her madness she parallels the Kraken itself in her unearthly rage that could shake the pillars of heaven.
"I'm well now thanks to your medicine. I can stand just fine. The inkvasion begins tonight, my faithful acting general in chief of my armed forces."
She glares coldly at my less than positive reaction to her statement as I hesitate briefly over whether to break the unfortunate news that I am currently her sole follower.
"Which currently consist of just you and me but will soon dwarf even the population of the human race through my brilliant tactical flair and your loyal obedience and faith in my great decisions."
"But of course Milady" I reply as she pauses briefly to signal that it is time for me to voice my affirmations and any doubts I might have, of which I had but one.
"Except..."
"Except what, general? Are you just a cowardly minnow after all?" She once again slices through my line of speech, her words sharper than the tip of the sharpest swordfish.
She grits her teeth as she steps forward causing a cold chill to course through my veins, quickly shocking me into utter submission.
"What's the matter? Squid got your tongue?"
I don't answer. Though a great deal taller than my commander and several times more muscular and capable in both hand to hand and ballistic combat even in my weakened state, my commander's disappointment in me still scares me.
More out of heartbreak than fear.
I should have just kept quiet and followed her on in her false confidence. Her rapid recovery had made her reckless.
"But Milady. You've just gotten better from your incredibly serious illness which was almost fatal even for a strong and unyielding paragon such as yourself. I merely wondered if a little more rest would be necessary before..."
"Your concern is appreciated and duly noted general. But your lack of faith in my boundless prowess and ability to adapt regardless of external hardship, is equally disturbing." She explains, softening a little at my sincere concern.
"You should know better than anyone how as long as a squid's vital centre stays intact, they can regenerate quicker than even the Angels. It is no different for me. While for the previous few days it was true that I could not recover without the help of the drug, that is no longer the case."
She gives her thin and lanky arms another lively flex to emphasize her point as she applies pressure to both her legs in turn in the manner of a patient proving their recovery to their doctor.
"You see. I am fully recovered and well. I am in no further need of rest that will only delay the inevitable. And besides, I believe the villains in that dark fortress are holding one of my own kind captive."
"One, one of your kind?" I stammer uncomfortably.
"There lives a certain young woman in the deep confines of that black prison with the same shade of blue in her shortened hair as mine. Her preference of white in her regular choice of outfit as well as the way she longingly stares at the sea each time I see her makes it apparent that the one reason we did not recognize her as another squid girl until now must be because her tentacles have been permanently cut off."
"Do you mean Miss Ayanami, the so called "daughter" of their chief in command Gendo Ikari?" I politely ask as she once again signals with a long pause to declare that I am once again permitted to speak freely briefly. I finally begin to understand the urgency of this mission but there are still certain doubts plaguing me that must be resolved.
"If this is the case as you claim, that she is indeed one of your own kind then pray tell Milady.
Where are her tentacles? You yourself stated in no unclear terms earlier that squids or part-squids such as yourself are capable of regeneration."
It wasn't that I had any aversion to a rescue mission that involved the other "good" Angel in existence alongside myself but I still needed full perspective.
"Squid's can't regenerate if they are sick as you saw with me the previous few days." She impatiently went on. "And as you can clearly see from her puffy eyes and incredibly pallor in her complexion, miss Rei Ayanami as you call her is clearly not in good shape. See how she treasures the few moments she is not forced to constantly be by their chief in command, this Gendo as you call him.
All these uncanny resemblances cannot be coincidence. You are a logical being, general. Make an earnest attempt at least to understand my clear and coherent line of logic."
"I understand perfectly" I gratefully affirm, pleased that her motivations are sturdy and watertight after all.
"And there is also a captive in their base that I would personally like to save if possible. One that will prove immensely invaluable in our noble campaign to Inkvade."
"Who is this?" She curiously asked. "I thought you swore off NERV for good after you claim you were revived by the great Lilith."
"I did." I confirm, forcing myself to keep speaking in spite of my own sad memories which are flooding back even at the mere mention of my past failure that I was not proud off in the least.
"But there was one boy. I hold a personal place in my heart for him for he gives everything when those he served gave him nothing. There is not much you need to know about him. Suffice to say that he is a wonderous bard whose Cello raised the city walls with every note and who took regular trips to the sea resort of the city in spite of his duties to pay his respects to the sea and all the comforts it gave him."
"I'm not convinced of his usefulness" Squid girl cynically breaths.
"He would play to you as if you were a goddess and he prays fervently before the horizon where the sea meets the sky each day. And he is perhaps the one soul that has any affection in his soul whatsoever for Miss Ayanami enough that he does his best to sooth the distresses her captivity causes her whenever he can. I even saw her save him from jumping into the sea earlier today and if you would believe it, I was there to personally witness the intimate and romantic contact they made to one another as their lips met in a moment of passion deeper than the deepest sea trench."
I swoon in remembrance of the kiss they shared. If only I had not been several feet below the bridge in a place where the howling wind would only tear to pieces everything I could have tried to call up.
So that I could finally apologize for not realizing how wrong I had been and how right Shinji had been about everything.
This was the reason I tearfully pleaded with Lilith (who I could tragically not see as my true mother due to my patriotic dogmatism to mother Russia) to be given the chance to return to this endlessly painful existence of hardships rather than embrace eternal peace at long last as was my due as a part Angel and her child.
"I must find you again Shinji should hell bar the way" were my first words upon reawakening on the beach where I would meet my new mistress squid girl already dying from the toxicity of the polluted seawater.
"Do you think miss Ayanami as one of your kind would have risked her life to save his if she didn't care deeply for him. Does this not prove his undying loyalty to our cause?" I snap, getting desperate and impatient despite my complete obedience to my commander.
A few tense moments pass as I hold out my arms in solemn prayer with my eyes firmly shut.
Normally I was not known for my piety but I could only pray that this once for my prayers to be granted.
"The determination and conviction in which you present your argument is duly noted, general." She eventually says upon seeing my increasingly fervent ardour for her merciful sympathy.
"I suppose you do have a point. Once we've inkvaded their base and made it our base of operations as our first foothold into this land, we can go and get the boy..."
"His name is Shinji" I note, unable to take him not being at least referred to by his proper name in light of all the good he'd done for me and everyone else.
She grunts but reluctantly amends her sentence for my sake which gratifies me greatly.
"...Shinji and my fellow squid Rei. Then we can make them our first new members in our growing army which we will use for future inkvasions."
"I can think of no better plan, milady" I joyously answer as we begin to make our way out of the cave and onto the beach from where we will begin our first attack on the wretched hive of the world's misfortunes.
Another great metal ship dumps a barrel of black sludge as we look the horizon up and down ourselves.
What liars. Trying to blame their laziness and incompetence on the impact.
Just one more reason I didn't watch the news.
I had decided when I first signed up to become squid girl's general for her nonexistent army that I needed a name. A superhero identity and mantle like how Bruce Wayne called himself Batman and Clar Kent "Superman".
Something to make it official to myself if no one else that I fought for a higher calling than money and bloodlust.
I toyed with several titles. Aquaman, but it was already taken by another competent enforcer of justice.
Posidon. But that would be an insult to Olympus and I would most likely be dragged under the sea for disbodedience.
Water-hazard. That name just sounded silly and nonthreatening. And I wanted to seem threatening so that I was taken seriously in the Inkvasion I planned to take central stage in.
Mr Nice guy. That title would just be too kind to myself after the countless mistakes I
had made. It was giving myself forgiveness I had not yet earned.
In the end I decided a certain element of moral ambiguity was needed. At least until I could prove to Shinji I was truly sorry for what I'd done.
I went with the dark avenger. It perfectly defined my role in the battle for mankind, the seafolk and the Angel's struggle for world's dominance.
The dark part implied I was evil but avenging was always seen as heroic or at the very least justifiable.
"The dark avenger's night of terror has begun." I proudly announced, cracking my knuckles in eager anticipation of my first chance to fight NERV hand's on.
"And so, has the ultimate and final inkvasion of mankind."
I rubbed my hands together and allowed myself to briefly de-compose as I let out a maniacal and menacing giggle.
Rei POV
For the first time in a long time, my dreams are a peaceful haven from the struggles of reality.
I haven't slept this well in my life since today.
Usually, it's a heart wrenching nightmare that ends with me sweating all over and my eyes stressed beyond all belief.
But today for the first time, I can take solace in my dreams.
For today there is just one thing in my dreamland rather than the countless worries that hunt me from the real world into the night world.
I see Shinji. But for the first time since I can remember having a dream of him, he smiles at me pleasantly instead of taking off in a panic.
Even in my dreams, Shinji is afraid of me. He is afraid that I will simply shatter his heart like the countless other jerks that derive great joy from his suffering.
Seeing him like this gives me the chance to remember what it was about this simple boy whose one strong suit seemed to be piloting if you didn't count his other great talents of being a talented chef and a world-class cello player which no one else did in these worrying times where each day was a fight to survive. Though it was mostly because of NERV and not the Angels, I now knew that.
There was once an ancient art in Japan they called Bushido.
To train the mind, the soul and the body and to practice balance.
To be brilliant and powerful and to possess the peace and tranquillity of a warrior.
But where could my commander and Asuka do so?
What did Asuka know to do but to fight even when the Angels were at bay and she was not in her EVA.
When she had no Angels to fight, Asuka took her fury out on her fellow friends instead.
There was no wisdom in that. And certainly, no mastery of bushido.
Shinji had the paycheque of a filthy toilet scrubber. But he still found space to build his existence as the rising sun. Brilliant and powerful.
He could pilot well. But he could do more than that. He could cook mouth-watering food to tickle even my picky taste buds and utterly slay chords with his cello in a way not even Mozart and Beethoven could come close to with their musical talents.
But most of all he knew the true purpose of war was to achieve peace and only peace.
He had an appreciation for peace that no one else did. That was what really defined him as my eternal love.
In short his talents made life worth living while also being able to protect life.
Those who had no appreciation for peace, had no right to play any part in a war this vital.
Just as those who had no appreciation of life had no right to be in command of it.
Japan, the pure land of bushido and zen had forgotten the meaning of bushido and zen.
...
Thank you once again for reading. So yes Kaworu didn't die.
He's an Angel and Angels are harder to kill than humans.
There are two reasons why many great empires in Anime fall apart. The lack of a standing army (not a fighting army, a standing army) and a lack of bread and circuses.
Without a standing army, it is too easy to invade and without bread and circuses, the army will turn on each other because there is no reason for them to keep fighting.
The moon kingdom in Sailor Moon had no standing army. It was a happy kingdom full of nice parties and weddings where everyone loved their queen but it relied on just a few unprepared guardians and didn't defend well enough (and didn't let sailor Saturn do her job despite her being their most powerful weapon).
Laputa from Laputa castle in the sky, had a standing army but no bread or circuses. As the main character put it "A king with no compassion doesn't deserve a kingdom. No matter how many weapons you have or how great your techonlogy, the world cannot exist without love."
Naruto had neither bread and circuses, nor a standing army. The Hokage was stuck doing a desk job in an office when he was the most powerful ninja and should have been on the battlefield and Naruto was put in a team with two bullies he had every right to hate as were a lot of trainee ninjas.
There was also no attempt to improve the lives of ordinairy citizens outside of traning more ninjas to fight which wouldn't address issues such as hunger, lack of education and depression.
Evangelion pretends to have bread and circuses, since Gendo pretends that he cares about his son and pretends he finds Shinji and Rei important. It pretends to have a standing army since it has Evangelions to fight the angels. But in reality it has neither since Gendo wants to destroy the world and he wants the Angels to win and he does it by keeping Shinji and Rei depressed and dependant on him so that they go along with everything he says.
Also. Why not use conventional weapons such as missles and miniguns against the Angels instead? An Evangelion can't do much more than bite and kick. A hail of bullets would be just as painful and a lot less traumatizing especially if the snipers stand at range and shoot as opposed to getting up close.
Special thanks to fictionelement777, neoWarkid4, bandiras, An enemy of the state, Fantasian, Kycosoccerref and every other unnamed guest for your kind and generous reviews.
You are all great people.
See you all next time and bye.