>>280815950
>Asuka is literally Shinji's last pick
If we're talking NGE, not exactly
He definitively finds her attractive, and very likely looks up to her in some ways for being basically how he wishes he could be (brave, outspoken, talented, etc.)
Whenever some other character implies that he's attracted to someone, such as Rei, he either gets annoyed or flustered, but with Asuka his reaction is much more intense, to the point that he's rendered speechless out of embarrassment for a second
However, her abrasive behavior is off-putting to him, and has him convinced that she very much dislikes him in general
And being the people pleaser that he is, he takes this as his cue to stay out of her way as much as possible, at least until there's literally no one else he can go to
In NTE... yeah he kinda didn't give two shits about her, it was kinda sad actually

>>279843329