Misato Katsuragi
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"Making something... Nurturing something is really great. You can see and learn so many things from the process." |
| Misato Katsuragi | |
| |
| 葛城 ミサト | |
| Age | 29 |
|---|---|
| Birthday | 12/08/1986 |
| Seiyū | Kotono Mitsuishi |
Misato Katsuragi[1] (葛城ミサト) is a Captain, and later a Major, at Nerv. She is in command of Nerv HQ's Tactical Operations branch, responsible for coordinating the Evangelions in actual combat (as opposed to the Science Division, headed by Misato's longtime friend Dr. Ritsuko Akagi). She is the daughter of Dr. Katsuragi, and the sole survivor of his expedition, otherwise wiped out as a result of Second Impact. As an adult, Misato is transferred to Tokyo-3 shortly before the Angels reappear. She takes Shinji Ikari, and later Asuka Langley Soryu, into her home. She also seems to have worked directly with Asuka in Germany[2] She has a pet "hot springs penguin" named Pen Pen.
Profile
Misato is described by Hideaki Anno as someone who "lives life so lightly as to barely allow the possibility of a human touch. She protects herself by having surface level relationships, and running away"[3] Misato does certainly seem to fear commitment, responsibility, and emotional disclosure.
The Misato first seen in the series appears to have two sides to her personality: at work she is a tough, competent Tactical Operations director, and at home she is a goofy, uninhibited person who likes skimpy clothing and knocking back beer after beer[4] in her messy apartment.
But the real Misato is a deeply troubled woman, with unresolved family and social issues. Part of this is due to trauma from being on the site of Second Impact but it has as much to do with her family life.
Despite being the head of Nerv's Tactical Operations division, Misato is apparently a relatively new arrival at Nerv HQ, as she gets lost on her way into the base, prompting Ritsuko to comment that she's "lost again" (i.e. it's not the first time that she has been in Nerv HQ, but she is has not been there long and still gets lost). In the next episode, Misato says that she just moved to Tokyo-3 "the other day" and there are still unopened boxes in her apartment.
Misato's Relationships
With her Father
According to her, Misato’s father was very much like Gendo Ikari[5] in that he buried himself in work and shrank from human contact, but also like Shinji in that he was described as fragile and weak. Misato thought she hated her father, but then he saved her life during the Second Impact by placing her in an escape pod. With Dr. Katsuragi dead and no chance to explore what she saw as a sudden turn in their relationship, Misato was left both extremely ambivalent about her feelings for him and with a burning desire for revenge against the Angels. In Episode 12 Ritsuko even accuses her of putting her vengence ahead of the fate of the world by concocting a mission that had virtually no chance of success.
With Kaji
When she met Ryoji Kaji in college, Misato was at first happy with him, but later admitted to herself that Kaji reminded her too much of her father, and fearing the implications of this, Misato fled from him.[6] It is also implied in Episode 25 that Misato was afraid of the pleasure she felt with Kaji, because she did not feel she deserved it.
In Episode 25 Misato also says that though she first wanted to be a "good child" so no one would hate her, she grew sick of that, and wanted to stain herself and her reputation. She is asked if that’s why she slept with "that man" (presumably Kaji), but is unable to sort out her feelings. The other characters in Instrumentality call her disgusting, and Misato has also said that of herself, admiting using sex as an escape from reality and loneliness.
Despite the intimate nature of their relationship, Miasto and Kaji address each other rather formally, using their family names, Katsuragi and Kaji, rather than their personal names, Misato and Ryoji.[7]
After Kaji's death Misato switches from drinking beer to apparently equal amounts of canned coffee.
With Shinji
Misato's first action regarding Shinji was to send him a photograph of herself to let him know what she looked like when she picked him up: it is a humorously inappropriate photo of her wearing cutoff jeans that reveal her thighs, leaning forward in a tank top revealing excessive cleavage, winking at Shinji and giving him the V-sign. She also left a lipstick kiss on it. The Japanese writing on it translates as "To Shinji: I'll be picking you up, so wait for me, okay?" (apparently written in creator Hideaki Anno's own handwriting). Misato also punctuated the photo with the highly inappropriate message, "Pay attention!!" with an arrow pointing to her barely covered breasts. This is an early indication of Misato's unusual personality, even before she appears on screen. Though she seemed to be joking when she mentioned "putting the moves on" him, her flirtatious behavior and the skimpy clothing she wore around him undermined her role as his guardian. Their relationship took a darker turn as the series progressed when in Episode 23 she attempted to offer Shinji comfort via sex, and in doing so escape her own loneliness. In Episode 24 she seems to realize her failure, commenting, "Shinji still hasn't returned either. I've failed as a guardian." Nonetheless she kissed Shinji deeply before dying in Episode 25', promising to "do the rest" when Shinji returned.
But before this, Misato seemd to care deeply for Shinji, being extremely distressed whenever he disappears (Episodes 16, 20). Misato has said that she wanted to be a mother to Shinji but could not, and indeed, though she often gives Shinji good advice, Misato keeps him at a distance, and later doesn’t even try to "parent" him, perhaps having understood that she’s not much better than he is when it comes to dealing maturely with her emotions.
Manga adaption
Misato in the Sadamoto manga
Misato in other Eva based manga
Misato in the GoS2 manga, the Ikari Shinji Manga, Neon Genesis Evangelion Academy....
Misato in Rebuild of Evangelion
Differences between Misato in Rebuild and the series.
Unlike her series counterpart, Misato seems to know that the giant in Terminal Dogma is Lilith, and even identifies her as such to Shinji.
Misato's rank in the first Rebuild of Evangelion movie is "Lieutenant Colonel", placing her higher in Nerv's hierarchy (However, any officers outranking her, apart from Gendo and Fuyutsuki, are yet to appear).
Notes
- Misato's ID card is fully visible in episode 25. Her age is listed as 29. Her blood type is AO (both the genotype "AA" and "AO" are indistinguishable as the "type A" phenotype). Her height is listed as 1.63m (5'4"). Her bust is 83cm. Her waist, 59cm. Her hip measurement is listed as 82cm. Her weight is 47kg (7st5lb).
- According to Sadamoto, Misato is a car buff[Source needed] , and her apartment is littered with several car magazines; Gainax character designer and animator Yoshiyuki Sadamoto is himself a car enthusiast.
Misato's Car is Renault Alpine A310.
Analysis
It is unknown why Misato was in Antarctica for Second Impact. One doesn't normally take one's daughter along on a classified and highly dangerous mission. Thus it has been speculated that perhaps she was intended to have some part in the experiment, especially as she is, at this time, approximately the same age as the pilots will be fifteen years later. However, there is no evidence presented in the show to support this theory. Also, Yui seemingly had no trouble bringing Shinji along for her Contact Experiment[8], so perhaps like her, Dr. Katsuragi wanted to show his child the "bright future".
References
- ↑ Misato is named after the Aircraft Carrier Katsuragi, which was built too late to enter World War II and scrapped before construction was complete. For more on how Misato and the other characters were named see Character Name Origins.
- ↑ in Episode 22 Asuka comments, "Oh, Misato's the person who was in Germany before you, Mr. Kaji."
- ↑ See author link for full text.
- ↑ The brand of beer that is Misato drinks is "Yebisu" which is actually a real-life brand of beer in Japan. When the series was originally broadcast in Japan, the TV network the series was airing on complained that they didn't want to advertise for Yebisu for free like this, so by Episode 2 the name was changed to the fictional "Yebichu" (named as a direct homage to the manga series, "Oruchuban (Ebichu)"). However, when the series was released on video and DVD the name "Yebisu" was restored.
- ↑ When Shinji says he doesn't get along with his father, Misato says he sounds just like her.
- ↑ The Kaji seen in the series doesn’t seem to relate to Misato’s descriptions of her father, a weak workaholic; perhaps this is an unseen side of Kaji.
- ↑ Misato only calls Kaji by his given name once, when she catches him sneaking into the LCL Production Plant, and, even then, only because she is addressing him formally by his full name and title.
- ↑ Episode 21
| 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 |
