Maya Ibuki

Maya Ibuki
伊吹マヤ
Age	24
Birthday	07/11/1991
Seiyū	Miki Nagasawa

First Lieutenant Maya Ibuki is one of the three main computer technicians at Nerv HQ, along with Makoto Hyuga and Shigeru Aoba, and serves directly under Dr. Ritsuko Akagi. Maya frequently acts as Ritsuko's assistant, particularly with work on the Magi supercomputers that control the base, and computer readouts from the the Evangelion units. During combat against the Angels she, along with Aoba and Hyuga, operate the primary control stations on the Command Center's bridge level, monitoring the status of the Evas and their pilots in battles and directing support for them.

Profile

Maya is an optimistic and cheerful though sensitive young woman, who often hides her eyes or retches during the more violent Eva battles. When the JSSDF soldiers stormed Nerv headquarters in The End of Evangelion, she also refuses to fire on any of them, saying that she does not have the nerve to kill another human being.

Maya has also been shown to have a faithful, trusting nature. She is in awe of the technological advancements current society has achieved. In particular, that this advancement followed Second Impact 15 years ago: unlike the 14 year old Eva pilots, Maya is old enough that she was a child at the time of Second Impact and thus unlike them probably remembers having to grow up through the ensuing global chaos in which human civilization painfully rebuilt itself, in a society struggling to feed its people. It is possible that Maya idealizes human science and technology because it is what ultimately saved the world she grew up in from the brink of collapse.

Maya believes in the technological utopia that Tokyo-3 represents, remarking with starry-eyed enthusiasm "That's a city of science for you. It's really an era where science reigns supreme!", though Aoba dismisses her beliefs by saying "Talk about an old-fashioned line". Notably she admires Commanders Gendo and Fuyutsuki for their coolness in the stifling headquarters during a power outage, not realizing that Fuyutsuki had his feet in a bucket of water (Episode 11).

Maya has some girlish affectations, including having a rabbit-face sticker on the side of her laptop screen, and a pink cat pillow which she sits on at her station. Maya is notably shorter than most of the other Nerv personnel (only halfway between the 5'4''/165 cm Misato and the 14 year old Eva pilots), so it appears she has to sit on a pillow so she'll be the proper height at her control terminal. Maya’s cat pillow might be related to Ritsuko Akagi’s affinity for cats, since Maya has a strong bond with Dr. Akagi. She is seen reading what appears to be a romance novel during a slow day at Nerv.

Maya is friendly to the Eva pilots and supportive, and expresses her misgivings to Ritsuko about particularly dangerous new technologies such as the Dummy Plug system (Episode 14). It's not clear just how much Maya knows about Nerv's hidden agenda, but it is implied that, while Maya doesn't have the malicious pragmatic edge of Ritsuko and Gendo, as Ritsuko's aide she ultimately knows more about Nerv's agenda than Misato or Hyuga. She does seem to think that the destruction of the final Angel would end Nerv's mission and she had no idea why Seele would want to kill so many people to get the Evas, so it appears she honestly doesn't know that Nerv's true goal is the human instrumentality program.

At first Maya's attraction to Ritsuko only appears to be a professional admiration, enhanced by Maya frequently being seen working aside Ritsuko, and Maya always referring to the other woman as "Ritsuko-sempai" or merely "Sempai", an honorific directed towards a person of higher rank. However, Maya’s transition guide in Episode 26' takes the form of Ritsuko Akagi, who types "I need you" (literally: "INEEDYUO") on Maya’s laptop with her hands over Maya’s, and then embraces her. Before turning to LCL Maya cried "Sempai! Sempai! Sempai!" with a look of ecstasy, tears flowing from her eyes. This suggests that Maya was secretly in love with Ritsuko, though whether Ritsuko knew about this attraction or reacted to it is uncertain. Some have taken Maya’s appearing uncomfortable when Kaji flirted with her (Episode 17) to be further proof of her sexuality.

In Other Media

Rebuild of Evangelion

Maya reprises the same role in Rebuild of Evangelion, although her relationship with Ritsuko seems more distant than in the TV series. As of Evangelion 2.0, no hints to her sexuality are given.

Notes

• Despite being a minor character, Maya is a disproportionately popular subject for merchandising, either on her own or alongside the more significant female characters. Hyuga and Aoba do not receive this kind of attention.
• Maya is named after two warships- the canceled aircraft carrier Ibuki and the Takao-class Heavy Cruiser Maya.

Characters

Main characters: Shinji Ikari | Rei Ayanami | Asuka Langley Soryu

Nerv staff: Misato Katsuragi | Gendo Ikari | Ritsuko Akagi | Kozo Fuyutsuki | Ryoji Kaji | Maya Ibuki | Makoto Hyuga | Shigeru Aoba

Classmates: Toji Suzuhara | Kensuke Aida | Hikari Horaki

Other characters: Kaworu Nagisa | Yui Ikari | Naoko Akagi | Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu | Dr. Katsuragi | Mr. Langley | Keel Lorenz | Pen Pen

Rebuild of Evangelion: Asuka Shikinami Langley | Mari Makinami Illustrious | Sakura Suzuhara | Ryoji Kaji (Jr)

Miscellaneous: Minor Characters | Minor Characters (Rebuild) | Extracanonical Characters

Theory and Analysis: Name Origins (Warships) | Designs | Relationships | Profiles

Resources: 2015: The Last Year of Ryohji Kaji