Asuka Langley Soryu
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"The person in charge exists to take responsibility." |
| Asuka Langley Soryu | |
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| 惣流・アスカ・ラングレー | |
| Age | 13[1] |
|---|---|
| Birthday | 12/04/2001 |
| Seiyū | Yuko Miyamura |
Asuka Langley Soryu[2] is the Second Children, designated pilot of Evangelion Unit-02. She is 1/4 Japanese and 1/4 German (from her mother Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu's side), although her nationality is American, as is, apparently, her father's.[Source needed] Until some point in 2015, Asuka lived in Germany[3], where she met Misato Katsuragi and Ryoji Kaji. After traveling to Japan with Kaji, Asuka moved in with Misato and Shinji Ikari and became one of the major characters in the series.
Contents
Profile
Education
Asuka claims she graduated college despite being a minor[4]. What degree she received is not stated. She is attending school with the rest of the children in order to learn kanji.[5]
Personality
The series' creators have described Asuka as a girl "who seeks to put herself above all others"[6]: in the very first scene Asuka appears in, she is standing on the control tower of the aircraft carrier, physically standing high above the landing pad where Shinji, Misato & Co. exit their helicopter transport. This also occurs later in this same episode, when Asuka feels driven to show off Eva 02 to Shinji, and is compelled to stand on top of Eva-02 to look down on Shinji far below. Also, when Asuka initially finds Shinji and orders him to come see Eva-02 with her, she is standing at the top of an escalator he is riding.
Asuka and Kyoko
After her contact experiment with Evangelion Unit-02, Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu went insane and committed suicide. Before Kyoko killed herself she would talk to a doll that she thought was Asuka and ask her daughter to die with her, as Asuka's father wanted neither of them. On the day she was chosen to be an Eva pilot, the young Asuka opened the door to see that Kyoko had hanged herself along with the doll. When her mother told Asuka that she was not wanted, and so should die with her, it might have been the impetus for Asuka’s entire teenage personality, as she certainly tries to make people "notice" her, and also to assert her independence and adulthood.
As an Eva pilot
As a consequence of these needs, Asuka loves to pilot an Evangelion because it gets people to pay attention to her, but beyond that, Asuka seems to have a genuine zest for piloting, because it makes her feel powerful. Asuka is so proud of being a pilot that she constantly wears her Interface Headset, even when in a swimming pool or at a hot springs bath. But because Asuka does not pilot out of a pure warrior’s spirit, she is trapped in the same bind that Shinji Ikari is, of being unable to have an identity separate from an Evangelion. Asuka is also the character with the most consistent "color scheme" in the series. Her Plug suit, Interface Headset, Evangelion, and hair are all red. This might be meant to symbolize her temperamental, passionate personality or to solidify the sense of identity she needs from her Eva. This can be further supported by the fact that she is also the only Children whose number designation matches with her Evangelion's.
Asuka is so identified with piloting that the loss to Zeruel in Episode 19 devastates her. This, followed by a mind-rape from Arael that forced Asuka to relive childhood trauma, and then being rescued by Rei Ayanami, whom she despised, started a breakdown that lead to a nearly comatose state in which she cared about nothing.
Relationships with Other Characters
With Shinji
Asuka is attracted to Shinji Ikari, which appears to cause conflict in her. Initially Asuka seemed to view Shinji as competition in Episode 08 because of all the praise he was getting, and she tried hard to show off to him[7], even though Shinji didn’t act like competition. Following this, Asuka showed frustration with Shinji’s accepting nature and reflexive apologies, often arguing with him[8], but Asuka also flirted with Shinji and seemed disappointed when he didn’t respond.[9]
Episode 22 shows Asuka internally complaining of this. "You won't do anything!" (After the "Wall of Jericho" sequence from Episode 09, in which Shinji didn’t take to her reverse psychology), "You won’t help me! (Shinji had actually saved Asuka from the volcano in Episode 10) "You won’t even hold me!", (upset that Shinji didn't hold her while they kissed in Episode 15), demonstrating the true nature of her feelings towards him.
With Rei
Asuka’s relationship with Rei Ayanami is also strained. Though it starts with Asuka often mocking Rei, later in the series Asuka acts blatantly hostile towards her, likely reflecting Asuka’s own deteriorating level of control. But the motivation is the same in either case: Asuka hates Rei because she’s the opposite of everything Asuka has tried to be. This antithesis is also spelled out thematically though re-occurring motifs. When Asuka makes her first appearance, she is standing facing the "camera" silhouetted against the Sun behind her, just as Rei is often seen against the moon. In addition, Asuka’s blue eyes and red hair are the inverse of Rei Ayanami’s blue hair and red eyes.
Asuka also sees Rei as mechanical and doll-like because of her tendency to only do what's ordered. When confronted in episode 22, Rei admits that, if ordered, she would kill herself, which sends Asuka into a frenzy because of her traumatic childhood experience with dolls.
With Others
Asuka tends to push people away, acting abrasive towards others if not snubbing them completely. She also tends to avoid relationships with boys of her own age (despite her popularity with them)[10], possibly to enhance her own image of "maturity". For this same reason, Asuka prefers to chase after the adult Ryoji Kaji though he ignores her advances.
Episode 22 demonstrates that Asuka also tries to appear totally independent in order to distance herself from the sadness caused by her mother’s death, swearing that she would never cry again. Episode 25, however, reveals that Asuka really doesn’t want to be alone, that retreating from others didn’t cure her pain. Despite her outer strength, Asuka does not have inner happiness.
End of Evangelion
In Episode 25' Asuka appeared to have regained her power through contact with her mother’s soul, but it is debatable as to how much Asuka was in control, and how much was Eva-02 acting independently.
During pre-Third Impact Instrumentality, Asuka told Shinji that she knows how he masturbated by her bedside at the start of Episode 25', and told him to "Do it again like usual... I'll even stand here and watch." But she also said that couldn’t have Shinji all to herself, she didn’t want anything from him, indicating that she wanted to possess him utterly. In Pre-Instrumentality, Asuka also told Shinji to stay away--for all he ever did was hurt her--and accused him of only going to her for help because she was the person who would hurt him the least.
Although Asuka was the first person to return to human form after Shinji rejected Instrumentality, it was unclear why she did this. She may have been motivated by a strong will to live, or merely a desire not to be so close to others’ souls, as one of her lines towards Shinji in Pre-Instrumentality was, "But, if I have to be with you, I'd rather die!"
Despite wearing bandages that coincide with her final battle injuries in the final scene of The End of Evangelion, the fact Asuka was able to move her right arm and caress Shinji's cheek suggests she imagined herself in her own heart as healed. Asuka caressing Shinji's cheek to begin with also suggests that her personality could change for the better.
In Other Media
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"Making something... Nurturing something is really great. You can see and learn so many things from the process." |
Manga Adaptation
Apart from having a different shade of hair color (more of a strawberry blonde), Asuka's personality and origins are vastly different from those seen in the anime, being given a far less sympathetic treatment. In the manga she is a test-tube baby, proud of being "The product of an elite sperm and an elite egg". She is also trained in the martial arts, and singlehandedly beats up a group of thugs who threaten her and Shinji. Her family situation is also different- the issue of her father, Langley, is never brought up, but as in the anime, she does want her mother's attention and love. She was actually throttled by her dysfunctional mother, and later "reenacts" this with Shinji when hospitalized.
Unlike the anime, where Shinji has romantic feelings for her, Sadamoto's Shinji thinks of Asuka as "a real bitch", and his relationship with her is one of with a disagreeable coworker but gradually evolves into something of a friend. Similar to the anime, when they first meet in the manga, Shinji calls her "Soryu", and later "Asuka", her first name implying a greater degree of intimacy. However, after Kaworu's death, Shinji comes to visit Asuka in the hospital, similar to The End of Evangelion. He confesses his need for Asuka, saying, "The Asuka I want to protect isn't this empty shell!" She wakes up from her sedated state after this, and begins to choke Shinji, screaming about how she "hates everyone."
In Rebuild of Evangelion
Asuka's counterpart in Rebuild of Evangelion is Asuka Shikinami Langley, whose character develops in a markedly different manner from the original Asuka, aside from the change in name.
References
- ↑ Going by Asuka's birthday, she is actually 13 for the majority of the series, as opposed to 14 (the "official age" for Eva pilots). Curiously enough, her age is provided as 14 in official materials, even, in some instances, right in juxtaposition with her birthday (e.g., Evangelion Chronicle)!
- ↑ Asuka is named after two warships, one Japanese, the Aircraft Carrier Soryu, the other U.S., the USS Langley. For more information on how Asuka and the other characters were named, see Character Name Origins.
- ↑ In Episode 08, Asuka's seiyu, Yuko Miyamura, noticeably struggles to pronounce Asuka's extended piece of German dialogue as she is starting up Eva-02. The English voice actress for Asuka, Tiffany Grant, quickly recites the German startup list much more fluidly. Aside from the fact that Tiffany Grant speaks German in real life, English and German are fairly closely related languages, while German is entirely alien to a speaker of Japanese. In the original Japanese track, Asuka actually speaks German only at two distinct points in the entire series: in Episode 08 when Asuka recites Eva 02's startup checklist, and later in Episode 22 when she has a phone conversation in German with her stepmother. For the English dub, Tiffany Grant (aided by her ability to speak German in real life) inserted many German words and phrases into Asuka's dialogue throughout the series.
- ↑ She tells Shinji of this in Episode 10.
- ↑ Characters in the Japanese writing system that are borrowed from Chinese and represent words, as opposed to hiragana and katakana, which represent syllables.
- ↑ Platinum Vol 2 Episode Commentary. Retrieved 2011/03/03.
- ↑ When Asuka first meets Shinji she dismisses him as "boring", but when she hears from Kaji about his surprisingly high sync rate, she feels compelled to show off Eva-02 and its production model features, and then to demonstrate her prowess first hand by dragging Shinji into battle with her.
- ↑ "Anta baka?" becomes a trademark line delivered by Asuka frequently, usually directed at Shinji. The best translation is "Are you stupid?".
- ↑ In the "Wall of Jerico" scene in Episode 09 or the "Kiss" scene in Episode 15 for instance. See Theory and Analysis:Shinji and Asuka's Relationship for more details.
- ↑ See the locker full of ignored love letters in Episode 09.
| 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 | 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 |
