>>2819085I think we commented that on the previous thread:
The title "I Need You" is a general statement for all humankind, meaning that humans need others to exist.
By no means does it mean that Shinji needs Asuka or anything like that, but I would rather say it means he "needs someone to be with and who can understand him". It doesn't necessarily means it has to be Asuka, but anyone willing to accept and love him. And, unless Asuka and Shinji mature fast enough to understand, accept and love each other (extremely improbable after all what happened between them, from my point of view), there's no hope for a relationship between them.
Maybe they could heal themselves to the point of becoming good friends, but I think it's completely illogical to believe they could ever end up becoming a romantic couple.
As I said, it's infinitely more credible to think they'll find other people to be with, rather than believing they'll have a deal with each other. And that's why the end of Sadamoto's manga is a bit more clarifying: even though they're back in real world, it doesn't mean they have to be together; as Yui said during Instrumentality, "people willing to return to live will be back", so they'll meet other people and probably have affairs with them, and not necessarily with each other.
I understand some shippers want to believe Asuka and Shinji's relationship could ever end up being a sweet marriage, but the truth of human interaction is not that simple.
But again, they're just fourteen years old. It's ridiculous to talk about them "being together forever after EoE" just because of the childish crush they had during the series.
