I've made the comment on these forums before "Does Japan not believe in psych evaluations?" because these kids are desperately in need of constant monitoring and therapy and they get....."GET IN THE ROBOT and FACE THE TERRIFYING COSMIC HORROR! Also, if you fuck up once EVERYONE DIES!". Nope, Can't see how that would end up with the kids losing their fucking shit.
I mean, they're fucking 14. There are mature adults who suffer from PTSD and end up not being able to hold down jobs from serving in a conventional warzone, but somehow these kids are expected to work miracles and then get blamed for showing weakness and cracking under the intense pressure of it all. I mean, maybe that's the point, because use of child soldiers is inhumane, war breaks people and your command not giving a fucking shit about you as long as the mission gets accomplished is pretty fucking standard. Soldiers are heroes until the moment they're discarded and told "good luck. Have fun adjusting to the terrible things you've seen and done." I have no doubt Anno knows this.