eva is not a romance series

i'll agree this movie felt very cold between the old characters, save kaworu, but to me it felt like a statement of anti-fanservice. i also think it stayed truer to the original feeling of the series when it was jarring your senses. this movie simply didn't have any happy scenes that the original used to cut the tension, such as shinji/asuka banter or misato enjoying a beer, which makes it less likable/familiar.

the only parts of the movie i didn't like were the extreme coincidences to move along the plot, like the sudden code blue's (to be expected from this series i guess) and rei showing up at the right time. to me this movie got the notion of shinji's inner tumoil and confusion across on screen very well without any constant loud exposition.

i'm also really glad there wasn't much (imo) pretentious psycho-babble or someone yelling the same thing over and over to drill in the character's point. it was much better crafted as a character piece. i felt asuka's pity towards shinji come off as a disappointed respect, and it added more to her character.

as for romance, shinji wouldn't ever end up with rei because she's a clone, and asuka's out of the question because she is eternally too immature for a relationship. it's not like you're supposed to like the characters enough to pair them off anyway...

there are many perspectives to view this show, so adding one that's very dower and cold was great for someone like me who doesn't care for moe crap. i think the disparate ratings are coming from people who like everything packaged up nicely and ready to eat, whereas this story in the future takes some time to cook (and it probably will not be continued in 4.0 anyway).