Re: Gendo's nightmares -- Yeah, that plot thread was lost a bit in the recent Asuka-centric chapters. The implication was that his sleep is less troubled now, having accepted the fact of Yui never returning. He's still having a few dreams, though, and they'll play a big role over the next nine chapters. Shinji's dreams will too, to a lesser extent.
Re: the hate -- Yup, that was deliberate on Gendo's part. Both as a way to bring Shinji back to Tokyo-3 and as a way to cauterize the wound of their father-son relationship.
I feel that Shinji and Gendo are of similiar dispositions -- both are afraid of other people -- but they deal with that fear of Others and fear of loneliness in different ways. Shinji runs away from human contact but seeks validation of his existence through the approval of others. (Asuka, comparatively, seeks validation from others in order to sustain her fragile ego.) Gendo also runs away from human contact, but instead of practicing avoidance he just makes himself into as an unlikeable a bastard as possible in order to drive people away. Yui's his only real source of human affection and so his whole life is focused on getting Yui back so that he's not alone.
But you're right that a thread of hope remains with both Shinji and Gendo. Shinji telling his father he hates him was cathartic, but one declaration of hate isn't the end of the world.
As for the dinner conversation... that'd be spoilers if I said anything.
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Re: Gendo's nightmares -- Yeah, that plot thread was lost a bit in the recent Asuka-centric chapters. The implication was that his sleep is less troubled now, having accepted the fact of Yui never returning. He's still having a few dreams, though, and they'll play a big role over the next nine chapters. Shinji's dreams will too, to a lesser extent.
Re: the hate -- Yup, that was deliberate on Gendo's part. Both as a way to bring Shinji back to Tokyo-3 and as a way to cauterize the wound of their father-son relationship.
I feel that Shinji and Gendo are of similiar dispositions -- both are afraid of other people -- but they deal with that fear of Others and fear of loneliness in different ways. Shinji runs away from human contact but seeks validation of his existence through the approval of others. (Asuka, comparatively, seeks validation from others in order to sustain her fragile ego.) Gendo also runs away from human contact, but instead of practicing avoidance he just makes himself into as an unlikeable a bastard as possible in order to drive people away. Yui's his only real source of human affection and so his whole life is focused on getting Yui back so that he's not alone.
But you're right that a thread of hope remains with both Shinji and Gendo. Shinji telling his father he hates him was cathartic, but one declaration of hate isn't the end of the world.
As for the dinner conversation... that'd be spoilers if I said anything.
Re: P.S. -- No, I get what you're saying.