Asuka Langley Sohryu

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Asuka Langley Sohryu (惣流・アスカ・ラングレー) is a 14-year-old fictional character from the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise and one of the main female characters. Asuka is designated as the Second Child ("Second Children" in the original Japanese versions) of the Evangelion Project and pilots the Evangelion Unit-02. Her surname is romanized as Soryu in the English manga and Sohryu in the English version of the TV series, the English version of the anime movie and on Gainax's website.

Character Overview
Asuka is one-quarter Japanese. Asuka is a native of Germany, having been raised there, though her nationality is technically American. Asuka's native language is German, and in both the series and the manga she tends to curse in German. Asuka was born to an American father (unknown) and a German mother (deceased). She is a child prodigy and has earned a university degree in an unspecified field as a teenager; she also speaks fluent Japanese, but has trouble reading and writing kanji. Asuka had years of training starting from a young age to become a pilot for the Evangelion. Asuka is very proud of being an Eva pilot, and near-constantly wears her A10 nerve clips in her hair because she wants everyone around her to know that she is a pilot. Asuka's iconic catch-phrase (always directed at Shinji) was "anta baka?!" (あんたバカァ?!), "anta" being a contraction of "anata" meaning "you" and "baka" literally meaning "fool" or "idiot". The official English voice recording renders this as "What are you, stupid?!"

Character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto explained that he "first designed an Asuka-type girl as the lead character", but felt it might be too similar to previous anime that he and Anno had worked on, such as Gunbuster and Nadia. He suggested to Anno that they change the lead character to a boy, which would be more in keeping with the robot genre. In the initial project, she was described as "a determined girl" who adapts to the situation in which she finds herself, passionate about video games and "aspires to become like Ryoji Kaji". In the nineteenth episode, she would have had to be seriously injured in her attempt to protect Shinji, who would have thus "proved his worth" trying to save her. As Sadamoto and Anno designed the series, Sadamoto came to believe that Asuka would occupy the position of an "'idol' in the Eva world". Asuka should have represented "[Shinji's] desire for the female sex", as opposed to Rei Ayanami's "motherhood", and would have been "the idol of Neon Genesis Evangelion". He also described his belief that the relationship between Asuka and Shinji would be similar to the relationship between Jean, Nadia's love interest and eventual husband in the earlier Nadia. Asuka's personality, as well of those for the other characters, was designed so as to be understood at a glance. Anno also thought of her as a Nadia with a different hairstyle.

Appearance
Asuka has long auburn hair and dark blue eyes. Asuka's hair is loose with the flanks held in twin tails with her red Interface Headset. She wears a school uniform as her most iconic outfit, which consisted of a dark blue pleated overall dress over a white button-up blouse with short puffed sleeves, a red bow attached to the collar, white knee socks with red stripes and black Mary Jane shoes. She wears a red watch on her wrist. She also wears outfits such as her pale yellow dress with a lavender choker and red Mary Jane shoes.

Her plugsuit is red, stylized with fancy layers and accents with a 02 symbol printed onto the plugsuit.

Family
Her mother, Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu, was a scientist of Gehirn's German branch of the Evangelion Project. When Asuka was four years old, Kyoko participated in a contact experiment with Unit-02, similar to the experiment performed by Yui Ikari with Unit-01. She survived the test but became insane, believing that Asuka's doll was her daughter and refusing to acknowledge the real Asuka, referring to her as "that girl over there." She eventually commits suicide by hanging herself; Asuka found her body when she went to tell Kyoko the good news that she had been chosen to become an Eva pilot.

Not many details about Asuka's father are revealed. What is known about his background is only what can be inferred from Asuka's own; namely that he is an American citizen and that his last name is Langley. Following Kyoko's hospitalization, he started an affair with a German doctor in charge of Kyoko's case, and would later marry her shortly after Kyoko's suicide. This new mother is immediately repelled by Asuka's defensive nature, and finds herself unable to become attached to her. While talking to Shinji, Asuka states that she doesn't hate her stepmother, but she feels as if she could never replace her real mother.

During Kyoko's funeral, Asuka's grandmother had said to Asuka that she was "a strong girl", but it was alright if she needed to cry. However, Asuka protested against the idea and told her grandmother that she had to take care of herself from now on. From that day forward, Asuka promised herself that she would never cry again. This causes her to repress a lot of her emotions, not to mention the emotional scarring that came from her mother's illness and death, leaving her twisted and vulnerable towards the end of the series.

Character and Relationships
Asuka is a very proud individual, especially in her piloting, and comes across to others as proud and strong, with a very high opinion of both her appearance (particularly her recently "busty" body) and her skill as an Eva pilot. She is stubborn and finds it difficult to express her true feelings to others. She does not like being looked down upon or told what to do as she wants to be viewed as an adult. She is aggressive and can be very opinionated. However, this personality is a front that protects a very vulnerable and insecure girl, a side which the viewer sees in her dreams or thoughts. She is often violent and intrusive of other people's space, especially Shinji's. She also has a strong need to be self-sufficient, and has a great deal of difficulty dealing with her self-perceived failure when she does need help; as her seiyuu Yuko Miyamura wrote of her experiences playing Asuka:

"'Just to let you know, Asuka wasn't the most open-hearted character I've ever met...every time I tried to draw myself in closer synchronization, Asuka would never allow herself to sync with me. Even in the end, she would never step across the line and draw closer to me. The last scene in The End of Evangelion was done, and still she had never stepped across that line and come forward. One day, I figured out that there was a wall in Asuka's heart.'"

Thus her relationship with Shinji is one of the core aspects of the series, and affects both characters on multiple levels (see next section).

Her best (and seemingly her only close) friend is her class representative, Hikari Horaki. Although Asuka and classmate Toji Suzuhara constantly argue, she gives Hikari advice about pursuing Toji. Asuka is openly infatuated with Ryoji Kaji, her former guardian after her mother died, and makes a number of advances toward him which he politely refuses. For this reason, she envies her and Shinji's guardian, Misato Katsuragi, especially after Misato and Kaji rekindle their romantic relationship. A common interpretation is to see Misato as Asuka's positive adult role model, with Ritsuko as a more negative model. Similarly, Kaji and Gendo are mirrors for Shinji, as are their respective relationships. The "Director's Cut" of Episode 24 also shows Asuka violently confronting Shinji and saying he's lying when he tells her that Kaji is dead. She also initially tries to befriend Rei Ayanami, but Rei is uninterested. Asuka interprets this as arrogance, and starts to developed deep antipathy towards her. In the English dub, she calls her "wonder girl". In Episode 22, they share an elevator ride in which Rei tells her she needs to open herself to her Eva as Asuka's synch scores are falling, but Asuka violently lashes out, and calls her "the Commander's doll", clearly projecting Rei onto her mother's doll and her own hatred of them.

In her early appearances, Asuka has a high synchronization ratio and displays exceptional skill as an Eva pilot. She is also very aggressive and confident in battle, which works both for and against her as the series progresses. After being defeated in battle by the Angel Zeruel, Asuka's self-confidence (and, correspondingly, her sync ratio and effectiveness as a pilot) begins to dwindle. This comes to a head in Episode 22, when the Angel Arael appears. Burdened by increasingly poor results in synchronization tests, Asuka is infuriated when she is ordered to serve as backup for Rei. She launches herself in Unit-02 and tries to attack the Angel alone but is overwhelmed by its attack, which forces her to relive the painful memories of her past and causes her to suffer a mental and emotional breakdown, and is unable to even activate her Eva in the following episode. Asuka runs away from home, and is eventually found by NERV in a bath tub, starving and near death, as without being able to pilot, Asuka believes she has no reason left to live.

The End of Evangelion
In The End of Evangelion, Asuka is placed inside Unit-02 for protection from the Japanese Strategic Self Defense Forces assault on the GeoFront. With Unit-02 submerged in a lake and bombarded by depth charges, Asuka declares that she does not want to die and, in a moment of clarity, realizes that her mother's soul is carried within the Eva and has been protecting her all along. She regains her self-identity, engages and defeats the JSSDF, and is later confronted by the Mass Produced Evas. During the battle, she successfully disables all nine opponents; however, Unit-02's power runs out, and the MP Evas' S² Engines allow them to remain functional even after being severely damaged and/or mutilated. They proceed to eviscerate and dismember Unit-02 using their Spear of Longinus replicas, thus causing Asuka's body to actually suffer the wounds inflicted to the machine and apparently killing her (her Entry Plug is never seen being destroyed, but the NERV staff appear to believe she's dead). During this final assault, Asuka is briefly able to reactivate Unit-02 through pure fury, but only enough for it to move its arm slightly, nowhere near the full "Berserker" mode that Shinji is able to achieve. Her final words before death are a whispered "I'll kill you", repeated more and more frantically. Inside Instrumentality, Asuka also demands that Shinji give himself to her, but Shinji is unwilling to give back any affection himself. Asuka confronts Shinji as he desperately asks for help and says he wants to stay with her forever, but Asuka rejects him, claiming he only wants to use her as an escape. Outraged, Shinji chokes her. She is the second person to come back from Instrumentality at the conclusion of the movie, after Shinji rejects it. Asuka caresses Shinji tenderly in a manner reminiscent of Yui, which stops him from choking her again. Asuka's final line is "kimochi warui", roughly translated as "How disgusting".

Asuka's interactions with Shinji
See: Theory and Analysis: Asuka and Shinji's Relationship (on EvaGeeks Wiki)

Throughout the series, Shinji carries out a deceptively straightforward relationship with Asuka, who is going through puberty and deeply confused and uncertain:

"'The thing I would like to say to the friend in my heart is, 'Asuka, you're just a fourteen-year-old kid, aren't you?' Fourteen is a time of life when you are thrown against the wall of life. You are forced to learn. It's puberty, where you decide what kind of life you're going to live, right? Evangelion came to its climax just as you hit that point, but after that, what would your choices be, Asuka? What good would you try to do? What kind of adult would you grow into?'"

Shinji and Asuka are seemingly attracted to each other, but neither is able to properly express their feelings. Asuka's overbearing attitude and inability to admit her vulnerabilities keeps her from opening up to Shinji. In the episodes shortly after their first meeting, she seems to enjoy flirting with him and teasing him sexually. Nonetheless, it is through her that Shinji finds the confidence he needed to work hard at synchronizing his movements with hers to defeat the Angel Israfel in Episode 9. She and Shinji kiss in Episode 15, but she almost suffocates him by holding his nose shut, not realizing this was making Shinji even more hesitant. As the series progresses and her abilities as a pilot diminish, the resulting damage to her ego causes her to become increasingly blunt to Shinji, as she feels insecure by Shinji's improving performance, something she feels is unearned as Asuka herself has trained her entire life for piloting Eva, unlike Shinji. The Director's Cut of Episode 22 reveals that, despite her actions, she still wants Shinji's affections and is saddened, frustrated and angered by his shying away from her (unable to recognize that her taunts and aggression are keeping him from getting close to her), and has interpreted his earlier passiveness and lack of reaction as conscious rejection. During Arael's attack on her psyche, when she thinks about Shinji, she states (internally),

"'Why are you there damn you?! You don't do anything! You won't help me! You won't even hold me!'"

These lines are juxtaposed with Shinji, for instance, rescuing her from the volcano in Episode 10, paying attention to her, showing the clash between Shinji's actions and Asuka's expectations, even as Asuka has difficulty accepting Shinji and recognizing his own insecurities, as well as Asuka's many provocations - like when she tried to tease him in Episode 9, only to be frustrated at him not picking up on her advances. She also seems to be very jealous of Shinji's friendship with Rei, which deepens her disgust toward Rei and fuels her venom toward her, especially in the later episodes.

The fractured state of Asuka and Shinji's relationship becomes a key factor on events in The End of Evangelion. Had Shinji been in a better state of mind, it is very possible he and Asuka could have defeated the Evas and stopped Third Impact altogether, a fact that greatly benefits SEELE. At the start of the movie, Shinji is shown with Asuka in her hospital room, begging her for help and trying to rouse her from unconsciousness. He accidentally pulls loose her vital sign monitors, exposing her breasts; he masturbates to this sight, but afterward is horrified and disgusted with himself for doing so. His guilt and increased self-loathing add to his previous traumas and cause him to become so uncaring of his own existence that he does not resist when the invading JSSDF soldiers try to kill him. This forces Misato to save him and to try to rouse him from this state so that he can escape the GeoFront in Unit-01. The beginning of the trauma of seeing the mangled remains of Unit-02 in the hands of the MP Evas causes Shinji to enter to panic, and he enters Instrumentality as Yui asks him what he wishes for and he has a vision of a woman's clutched breasts. Asuka loudly proclaims she can't stand the sight of him, but Shinji replies that it is because he is just like her, as she is implied to be in some sort of sexual fantasy or activity inside Instrumentality with him. Asuka then confronts him on his masturbation at the hospital earlier, claiming that not only she knows about it, but that it is, in fact, a habit, and she dares him to do it again in front of her. Asuka claims she wants Shinji all for herself or nothing at all, demanding his reciprocity and commitment. Shinji, however, replies that he cannot understand Asuka because she won't tell him anything. In a scene reminiscent of their kiss scene in Episode 15, he begs Asuka for help, stating he is afraid of Misato and Rei, while also revealing his true feelings for Asuka ("I want to help you, and I want to stay with you forever...You're the only person who can help me."). However, Asuka refuses, claiming he is only using her as an escape. Overwhelmed with his own hopelessness upon her refusing, Shinji loses control and strangles her.

However, in the aftermath of the film's finale, Shinji appears on a beach with none other than Asuka, the first person after him to return from Instrumentality. He tries to strangle her; she does not physically resist him, but instead lifts her hand to stroke his face - incidentally, as Yui had done earlier before as Shinji rejected Instrumentality. At this he collapses, weeping onto her, and as the film ends she says, "気持ち悪い. " ("Kimochi warui", translated into English in the subtitles as "how disgusting" in the dub, alternatively "I feel sick"). The exact meaning of the symbolism in this scene, as well as the intended meaning of Asuka’s final words, are unclear and heavily debated. As the series ends there, the specifics of her and Shinji's subsequent lives are left up to the audience. Official artwork seen on posters and DVD boxes for The End of Evangelion depicts Shinji and Asuka looking out over the ruins of the world. It is implied that this occurs very soon after the final scene. Asuka's exact feelings towards Shinji are contradictory, as she seeks love and support from him, but refuses to show it, and Shinji has difficulty reciprocating, due to their mutual misunderstandings. She displays much interest toward him and gets jealous of Rei's interactions with Shinji. In contrast to the simple "favourable feelings" Shinji has with most other characters, Evangelion Chronicle describes their relationship as "complex feelings" and "love and hate."''Shinji/Asuka: Colleague-Complicated Feelings;Colleague-Love/Hate Rei/Shinji: Colleague-Favorable; Kaworu/Shinji: Colleague-Favorable "Proud and assertive, Asuka possessed many strong qualities but lacked the ability to truly control her feelings. [...]It was only after Kaji's death and the Fifteenth Angel's psychological attack that Asuka came to realize Shinji and Kaji both occupied a similar place in her heart. This realization was quite shocking to Asuka, as she had thus far gone out of her way to dismiss and mock Shinji whenever possible. Asuka's default behaviour toward Shinji emphasized mockery and distaste, though she couldn't deny also feeling some semblance of romantic interest toward him. When their synchronicity levels "officially" indicated that Shinji was superior to Asuka in some way, she started suffering a kind of psychological instability and had a hard time dealing with the love/hate she felt for him" By chance, Asuka observed Rei and Shinji sharing a conversation. Asuka felt a very dark emotion welling up inside of her as she watched Shinji enjoying himself in Rei's company. During Instrumentality, Asuka encountered Shinji inside his inner world and told him she didn't need anything if she couldn't have all of him. Despite the significance of this statement, Shinji's response was vague at best and he only sought a place at her side because it was a "comfortable" place to be. Hurt by the notion that she was nothing more than an escape for Shinji, Asuka outright rejected him. As a result, the Human Instrumentality Project did not reach its intended result, and any changes to the relationship between Asuka and Shinji were left unclear. "Though Shinji and Asuka are both EVA pilots and living under the same roof、they are polar opposites. Despite their differences、Shinji did feel an attraction to Asuka at certain moments throughout their time together. When Shinji expressed his feelings to Asuka and sought her help during his instrumentality、she outright rejected him. Shinji and Asuka in the new world where the Human Instrumentality Project was not fulfilled Shinji had chosen a world where others existed、and for him Asuka became the first "Other". "Asuka Langley Soryu Piloting EVA-02 was Asuka's way of maintaining her self-respect, and it also served to deepen her confusing love/hate for Shinji. Her repeated failures in combat against the Angels during the war had forced Asuka to face her own weaknesses, and though she did make a comeback during SEELE's forced requisition of NERV headquarters, she fell in battle against the mass-production model EVA units. Immediately after Asuka's defeat, the Human Instrumentality Project was activated, Asuka was the first "other" to exist in the new world that was created when Shinji wished for a world where others existed, and she was found lying. next to Shinji."'' - The Essential Evangelion Chronicle, Side B   Hideaki Anno has also written a song about their relationship, which was fully produced and recorded, but ultimately unused, in favor of Komm, süsser Tod.

Manga adaptation by Sadamoto
In the manga adaptation by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Asuka is somewhat tamer than her anime counterpart. Though self-centered (seemingly even more so than in the anime), she's on slightly better terms with Shinji. She first appears in volume 4 of the series. She also has blonde hair instead of the auburn/red-head from the series.

There were many changes to the sequence of events concerning her. In the anime, her first battle (against Gaghiel) took up an entire episode and included an (arguably vital) assist from Shinji. In the manga, her solo defeat of the angel is only briefly mentioned in a video clip about her shown by Dr. Ritsuko Akagi to Misato, Rei, and Shinji.

Shinji's first actual meeting with Asuka is also depicted differently. In the anime, their first meeting is aboard the naval carrier Over the Rainbow, and Asuka allows Shinji into the cockpit of Unit-02 while she fights Gaghiel. In the manga, Shinji, Toji, and Kensuke first encounter Asuka at an arcade, where she is unable to grab the toy she wants from the machine she is playing. She then notices the boys staring at her and demands a "viewing fee" from them for seeing her panties (100 yen, as opposed to the anime in which Toji's "viewing fee" is a slap across the face). She and Toji begin to quarrel, and then Asuka accidentally bumps into a thug and is threatened by his gang. Asuka then proceeds to single-handedly take on—and defeat—the entire gang. Shinji is punched in the face by one of the thugs during the melee, and not until he arrives at NERV headquarters does he learn that the girl he has just met is in fact Asuka.

In the fight against Israfel, instead of staying in Misato's apartment, she is put in a special room with Shinji, monitored via a hidden camera by Misato. Also, her background is changed so that she is actually a test-tube baby. Asuka's mother and her husband were unable to conceive a child, and divorced after he had an affair. When he re-married and was able to have a daughter with his new wife, Kyoko decided to be artificially inseminated. The result was Asuka. Asuka's "father" is barely mentioned, though she claims that he was a renowned scientist and that the sperm bank was part of a eugenics program. However, despite her knowledge of her "father's" achievements, Asuka still suffers from an inferiority complex. In her mind, the circumstances of her conception mean that she is nothing more than spare parts or that she is artificial in nature, although she puts another spin on this while talking about it with Shinji. The feelings of inferiority that accompany these opinions are what drive her to overachieve and overcompensate. Also, Asuka has repressed the memories of her mother's death, making Arael's attack on her psyche especially traumatic; it is revealed that at some point before her mother's suicide, she tried to strangle Asuka.

The manga re-imagines the infamous hospital opening scene from The End of Evangelion with Asuka and Shinji, beginning much the same way it does in the movie. However, from here it diverges incredibly. Shinji shouts that the Asuka he wants isn't the girl lying before him and Asuka seems to awaken from her coma and temporarily strangles Shinji. Luckily, NERV hospital staff separate the two and Shinji is led out as Asuka angrily screams that she hates everybody. Shinji breaks down crying over this and is traumatized by what she said to him.

The manga also re-imagines the battle between Asuka and the MP Evangelions from the End of Evangelion. While she is defeated by the MP Evangelions, neither her nor Unit-02 suffer the same fate as they do in the movie. Just when the MP Evangelions are about to finish her off, Shinji arrives in Unit-01 and defeats them. While initially wondering if Shinji was waiting for the right moment to appear, she is grateful that Shinji saved her. However, just when they thought it was over, the MP Evangelions reactivate due to them having S2 Engines Afterwards, Asuka watches as Unit-01 fully awakens, is stopped by the Lance of Longinus, which returned to Earth, and is crucified by the MP Evangelions. She then tearfully watches as the MP Evangelions drag Unit-01, with Shinji still in it, into the atmosphere and begin the Third Impact. Her transition guide is Kaji, which she takes to mean that Kaji loved her all along. She then reverts to LCL.

The final stage of the manga depicts a re-imagined world after Shinji rejected Instrumentality, a world in which none of the Children appear to have been Evangelion pilots. After disembarking a train at a station in Tokyo, Shinji hears a cry for help from the train carriage: a girl is unable to disembark due to the crowd of people getting on. Shinji grabs hold of her hand and manages to pull her through the crowd and onto the platform: the girl is revealed to be Asuka. As they introduce themselves, they both experience a strong feeling of déjà vu, as if they have met before. After an awkward moment, Asuka gives Shinji a special "thank you" by thanking him in German ("Danke schön!") before each goes off on their own way.

Asuka as a human
In ANIMA, Asuka and Unit-02 were chosen as the keystones of Third Impact during SEELE’s invasion, but she was saved by Shinji in Unit-01. Three years later, Asuka is no longer as obsessed with victory and piloting as she once was. While still energetic and somewhat prideful, she’s now capable of dealing with defeat in a healthy way. In addition, she doesn’t seem to hate herself anymore, or to be so affected by the traumas of her childhood. All these improvements have allowed her to be more open with others, as well as with herself.

After helping Shinji in the fight against the rogue Rei Quatre and the first Angel Carriers in Volume 1, Asuka spends most of Volume 2 exploring the moon. There, she comes into contact with the Ark, an archive for the genetic information of all living beings that have ever existed. The overload of biological data ends up fusing Asuka and Unit-02 into one being, a human/Eva hybrid which receives the name of “Crimson A1.” In this form, she behaves like a curious little kid, and seems to be mysteriously attracted to Shinji/Super Eva’s heartbeat. Because of this, she goes with Armaros’ Torwätchers when they steal Shinji’s heart, because she believes them to be him. Fortunately, she returns to normal during the events of Volume 4.

Over the course of the three years since the avoided Third Impact, Asuka has mellowed enough to become friendly with Rei Trois. This continues after the other Reis gain independence, establishing a brief friendship with Rei Cinq and being very upset when she dies. Her interactions with Toji are also much more peaceful. She’s still good friends with Hikari, and this aspect of her personality remains even when she becomes Crimson A1. She also is in good terms with Misato, and seems to have gotten over her crush on Kaji.

Asuka’s relationship with Shinji has improved greatly, and thorough the course of the story it’s pretty clear the she cares a great deal about him. The first sign of this is when she fights an Angel Carrier on the moon. Realizing that they’re attracted to Shinji’s heartbeat, she yells “This heartbeat belongs to Shinji! It’s the sound of his life and his alone! I’ll never let a monster like you take it!” Later, right before she fuses with Unit-02, Asuka tries to maintain her ego by focusing on a book that Shinji had given her for the journey. While it works for a brief moment, it sadly doesn’t last. Her care for Shinji continues after becoming Crimson A1, with him being one of the few people she listens to. She even takes Super Eva by the hands and ‘teaches him to fly’ when its powers begin to fail. Their relationship becomes a key element for the plot of Volume 5, both at the start and at the end. It opens with Asuka, returned to normal, hugging Shinji in the entry plug of Super Eva and rescuing him from a berserk-like state. Then, during the climax of the final battle, Asuka, temporarily refused into the Crimson A1, summons a new Eva and a new body for Shinji, who had previously died. Asuka does this after Kaji tells her to “Think of the one you love. You must give him a vessel.”

Asuka as an Evangelion Synthesis
"Main article: Crimson A1"

Shinji Ikari Raising Project
"Main article: Neon Genesis Evangelion: Shinji Ikari Raising Project"

In this manga version, Asuka is a childhood friend of Shinji's. Although she still makes fun of him, she's also shown to have romantic feelings for him. As such, she was jealous when Rei joined them in school. The two of them dispute his attention for the remainder of the manga.

Neon Genesis Evangelion 2
"Main article: Neon Genesis Evangelions"In this video-game, Asuka is heavily featured throughout the story and its many alternative scenarios. She is a playable character in Scenario 02 of the PS2 version, and Scenario 04 of the PSP version. She has Shinji's highest "affection" stat in most scenarios.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days
"Main article: Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days"

Similarly to SIRP, Asuka is Shinji's childhood friend and has strong feelings for him. They constantly get into fights and Asuka is shown to be jealous of Rei and particularly Kaworu. At one point, Shinji is invited to play a concerto with Kaworu but he decides to take care of a sick Asuka instead. Her feelings of inferiority are preserved, and she tries to overcompensate, as she is especially violent in the earlier chapters of the series, but mellows out eventually. She and Shinji eventually realize their feelings and declare their feelings for one another, and by the ending are adjusting to being a couple.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Gakuen Datenroku
"Main article: Neon Genesis Evangelion: Gakuen Datenroku"

Asuka is generally the same as she is depicted in the original manga and routinely teases Shinji. She is an artificially created child, like Rei and Kaworu. She is the only one of the three to have had parents or go to school prior to her current one. It is later revealed that on one of her first assignments, Asuka was forced to kill her mother after Angels took possession of her body. Despite her hatred of Angels, she still befriends Kaworu after he reveals his true heritage to her. Unlike other versions, she also seems to get along well with Rei, and is visibly upset when Rei is shot by Gendo. At the end of the series, she is shown attending school alongside Shinji and Rei, starting up a normal life after Gendo's death and the defeat of the Angels.

Petit Eva: Evangelion@School
"Main article: Petit Eva: Evangelion@School"

In Petit Eva, Asuka is also shown to be Shinji's childhood friend, constantly getting into fights. She is very energetic. In the Nintendo DS videogame adaptation, she also shows romantic interest in him and almost kisses him before being interrupted by Kensuke filming them and the rest of the cast watching them.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
In the 2007 anime Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann, Asuka, alongside Rei, as well other female characters from other Gainax works, appear in episode 6, dressed in bunny outfits working in a bathhouse. However, it is revealed by the end of the episode that those girls were instead beastmen in disguise.

Other characters include Mahoro from Mahoromatic, Nono, and Lal'c from Diebuster.

Edge Of Spider-Verse
Asuka makes a cameo appearance alongside Kaworu, Rei and Shinji in the fifth chapter of Marvel's Edge of Spider-Verse storyline, as classmates of Peni Parker.

Others
Asuka is overall the most popular character in Evangelion-derived media, see List of Neon Genesis Evangelion media.

Asuka can be put in the player's charger as her guardian in Ayanami Raising Project. Asuka's endings include becoming a scientist, manga artist, singer, astronaut, nun, and more. She and Shinji share a comedic recount of their interactions in the series in ANIMATE Voice Cassette. In Girlfriend of Steel, Asuka is heavily suspicious of Mana being a spy and constantly feels jealous of her advances towards him. In her ending, she comforts Shinji after Mana's death. In Girlfriend of Steel 2, Asuka is Shinji's childhood friend. In her ending, she and Shinji sleep together and he sneaks into her ship, leaving for Germany together. She's a playable character in Battle Orchestra and more.

Character Notes
Asuka's Japanese surname comes from the Japanese WWII aircraft carrier Souryuu. Her German surname comes from the American aircraft carrier Langley, also from WWII, while her mother's name refers to the nearly completed Nazi German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin. Her first name comes from Asuka Saki (砂姫 明日香), who is the main character of a Japanese manga "SuperGirl Asuka" (超少女明日香) written by Shinji Wada (和田 慎二). Her mother's first name, "Kyoko", also comes from that manga's character Kyoko Aoi (葵 今日子). "明日 Asu" means "tomorrow" and "今日 Kyo" means "today" in Japanese. For her scenes featuring German terms, Anno asked for help from an American employee of Gainax, Michael House, who used high school knowledge of the language, and a Japanese-German dictionary from a local library. Gainax did not pay attention to the dialogues' German grammar, believing the series would never be successful enough to be distributed to native German speakers. Anno originally placed Asuka with a clear-cut personality, but the character rapidly gained his affection and he spontaneously started to develop her further. He says the character was truly born when he created the "Are you stupid?" line. Asuka eventually became his favorite character. Miyamura had originally auditioned for the role of Rei. Miyamura also designed Asuka's stuffed monkey doll.

Asuka's story reflected the changes in the latter half of the series: although she had been introduced in an essentially positive role, her character became increasingly dramatic and introverted, going against the expectations and the pleasure principle of anime fans. In the twenty-second episode, Anno focused on her troubled emotional state, harassed by her first menstrual cycle, but not considering himself capable of exploring such a delicate and feminine theme, he condensed everything into a single scene. Like other characters, Anno based Asuka on himself, and along Shinji and Misato, Anno considered Asuka as part of his conscious self. Anno felt difficulty in representing a female character, and liked to read romance novels written by women to better understand their feelings. His original intent was a long live action segment for the film: the original segment focused on Asuka. In the alternate universe, Shinji would never have existed; walking the streets of Tokyo-2, however, Asuka would hear his voice calling her, voiced by Anno. Sadamoto conceived their dance training in the manga as akin to a "kiss", underlining their psychological connection, in place of kiss scene in Episode 15. Asuka would be Shinji's symbol for his longing for the opposite sex, differently from Rei's "motherly" existence. As such, he decided to give Rei more room in the manga, emphasizing Rei's maternal role.

In a Newtype poll from March 2010, Asuka was voted as the third most popular female anime character from the 1990s. The June 2010 issue of Newtype ranked Asuka Shikinami Langley No. 8 in its monthly top 10 character survey. One reviewer describes her fatal flaw as "excessive Pride", noting that her mother goes insane after taking a test pilot experience on herself just as Asuka suffers a mental breakdown or contamination when challenging the 16th Angel herself. Mike Crandol, also of ANN, states that "Again it is Asuka that it is most interesting to consider in this [semi-romantic] light. Sensing a kindred soul beneath her aggressive exterior (or perhaps admiring the determination he lacks), Shinji comes to love her, but does not know how to express it. Likewise, it is hinted that Asuka has similarly romantic feelings for Shinji, but her ego prevents her from admitting it even to herself." Pete Harcoff of Anime Critic described Asuka as providing much of the comic relief, while also being an "annoying snot". IGN ranked her as the 13th greatest anime character of all time, saying that "On the surface, she's a simple character. ... But as the series progresses we see that her pride is a cover for deeper emotions and deep, deep psychological problems." Japanese critic Manabu Tsuribe considers that End of Evangelion was concluded by Shinji finding "an other" in her. For Hiroki Azuma, Asuka was the "symbol of the outside" in the world of Evangelion, taking Shinji away from his comfort zone in the "Nerv family", in contrast to Rei, who'd play an "imaginary healing" role, Asuka would be an independent person in reality. Japanese band speena wrote a song about their relationship, "ジレンマ" (Dillema), on her having love/hate relationship with hism despite her feelings.

Asuka was initially less successful and popular than Rei, however over time Rei's popularity gave in to Asuka's, particularly with the release of Evangelion 3.0. She is consistently ranked the most popular character in merchandising sales. Asuka is also credited as being highly influential in establishing the tsundere archetype in subsequent anime.

Non-franchise Video Games
Asuka appears in the Super Robot Wars game series, where she often butts heads with equally hot-headed and intelligent Kouji Kabuto, the pilot of Mazinger Z and Mazinkaiser. She is also implied to have developed crushes on famous heroes, such as Char Aznable (in the guise of Quattro Bageena) and Amuro Ray. However, the writers of the Super Robot Wars are evidently believers in Asuka and Shinji's suppressed feelings for each other. For example, in Super Robot Wars Alpha, Asuka jealously seizes a bouquet of roses Shinji meant for Lynn Minmei. In Super Robot Wars Alpha 3, she snaps Shinji out of his depressed state during the battle with the mass-produced Evas by declaring that she could not be with someone who'd simply lie down and die.

In KOF: Maximum Impact 2 the character Leona Heidern has an alternate costume that resembles Asuka's plug suit. She also has a costume that resembles Rei.

Profile & Appearance
Much like her original series' incarnation, Asuka Shikinami Langley is a very proud individual, especially in her piloting, and comes across to others as proud and strong, with a very high opinion of both her appearance and her skill as an Eva pilot. She does not like being looked down upon or told what to do as she wants to be viewed as an adult and be praised for her piloting skills. She is aggressive and can be very opinionated. this version of Asuka is significantly different in terms of her history and characteristics compared to Asuka Langley Sohryu: instead of graduating University at the age of 14, she joined the European Air Force, reaching the rank of Captain at age 14, she lacks a fear/hatred of dolls; as she would play with a hand puppet when in low spirits. Other significant differences include her never having any obsessive crush on Ryoji Kaji, not being a close friend of Hikari Horaki, more open to others as she feels open attraction towards Shinji, helps Rei so she can host a dinner party with Shinji and Gendo, lastly she confides to Misato shortly before piloting Unit-03 and joins WILLE under Misato.

In 3.0, 14 years after Near Third Impact, as result of the 14 years of constant war and struggle against remnants of NERV that still intended to cause another Impact, she became colder and far more aggressive than she used to be in spite of retaining most of her former personality. Her voice-actress noted that her current personality was comparable with that of an embittered mercenary. Though she actually worried about Shinji (possibly more than Misato), this worry still didn't abate her anger for the destruction that he inadvertently caused during the fight against 10th Angel. Unfortunately, because of everything she has gone through and her own anger towards Shinji she had no chance to tell him about Near Third Impact that he inadvertently caused. To make matters worse, the said anger also pressured Shinji into further being manipulated by Gendo and SEELE, had she put aside her anger and tried to reason with Shinji, he possibly wouldn't have caused Fourth Impact in the first place (in an allusion to both End of Evangelion and Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA). In spite of her negative interactions, Asuka actually never intended to let him die or run away from his problems after Near Third Impact.

Asuka seems to have a thematic association with cats; in Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo her Beast Mode has a distinctly feline appearance. She also wears both a hat and a helmet that have cat ear-shaped adornments. She also wears an eye-patch over her left eye. The latter glows during the course of the movie, showing that her left eye is maybe still intact but somewhat mutated.

Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance
Asuka makes her first appearance shortly after defeating the Seventh Angel in her Evangelion Unit-02 (S-Type Equipment).

Asuka´s pride is put to the test when Misato tells her that Rei invited Shinji to a dinner at her house, while at the time Asuka was cooking for Shinji also since she wanted to get his attention away from Rei, even later meeting Rei on a NERV elevator (the scene is much like Episode 22 from the series). Here she mocks Rei for being the Commander´s toy, and remarks that Shinji and Rei only became pilots due to their connections with Gendo, while she was chosen as a "real" pilot entirely because of her skill. Rei states that she is not a toy and just as Asuka intends to slap her, Rei stops her. Asuka feels empathy toward her as she sees her fingers wounded due to the cooking, and as she leaves the lift, Asuka asks Rei whether she likes Shinji. Rei explains that she doesn't know, but states that she just wants to make him happy, to which Asuka, saddened, throws a temper tantrum, though not before telling herself that Rei indeed likes Shinji.

After this event she takes on the role of the test pilot for the activation of Unit-03 after the incident in the USA with Unit-04. She chooses to do so on her own will as an act of kindness towards Rei, who intended to reunite Shinji with Commander Ikari at the same day of the activation test. On the way to the testing base, Rei through Ritsuko´s cellphone thanks Asuka, an act that makes Asuka oddly happy, since she admits to enjoying her solitude but comments that she has come to enjoy others' company as well. Misato and Asuka are brought closer by a conversation not long prior to the test, where Asuka tells herself that she can even pilot with a big smile just before the capsule is contaminated by the Ninth Angel.

Asuka is not seen for the rest of the film other than in a quarantine chamber with Angel-sealing Hex Pillars. Ritsuko says that although she is alive, her mind has the possibility of being corrupted due to the Eva unit having been possessed by an Angel.

Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo
In Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo, Asuka is one of the Evangelion pilots of the WILLE organization. While waiting to launch Operation US to recover Unit 01, Asuka is looking at the Moon and recites a poem before being surprised by Mari, the other pilot, wearing her school uniform and asking her if she agrees the Moon is beauiful. Mari asks Asuka if she agrees that the moon is beautiful. Mari explains she wants Shinji to be able to easily recognize them once he's recovered. Misato's plan is for Mari to lead the operation with Asuka in support, as her Unit-08 is less damaged, but Mari suggests Asuka take the lead instead for Shinji's sake. Asuka however is reluctant, and believes Shinji himself is dead and unrecoverable. Looking back on memories of Shinji and Misato before Third Impact, Asuka changes her mind, and puts on her old plugsuit from the previous film and improvises a repair. As they launch, Mari sings to Asuka. In space, she faces several Evangelion Mark.04 units, ultimately saved by Shinji awakening inside Unit 01. She shows aggression toward Shinji during their reunion out of both concern and his involvement in Near Third Impact, ranging up to a punch in the window of the room where he is enclosed. She informs him about the "Curse of Eva" which prevents pilots from physically aging before leaving, obviously too upset to explain to Shinji about what has happened on Earth. Suddenly, Evangelion Mark.09 attacks AAA Wunder, prompting Asuka to have Mari destroy it. However, the said Evangelion escapes, much to Asuka's exasperation, before she calls Shinji a "brat" as she knows that they have no chance to reveal NERV's true nature.

Asuka is later seen again with Unit-02, where she intercepts Shinji and Kaworu piloting Evangelion 13. She is shocked that Shinji has piloted another Eva, and demands him to get out of it immediately. Before she can incapacitate Evangelion 13, Evangelion Mark.09 attacks her and nearly dismembers her Evangelion before Mari intervenes with Anti-AT Field bullets. As she attacks Evangelion 13, Asuka tries to reason to the misguided Shinji that his actions would cause Fourth Impact and aggressively demands him to stop, even going so far as to threaten him with death. Unfortunately, her Evangelion’s power supply runs out, which gives Shinji the opportunity to swat her aside much to her frustration.

Horrified that he would go too far by removing two spears from Evangelion Mark.06 that fuses with Lilith’s remains, Asuka orders Mari to destroy Evangelion 13 by using Anti-AT Field bullets, only for the efforts to be proved futile when the bullets pass through it, and Shinji successfully pulls both spears. The process causes Lilith to explode, and Evangelion Mark.06 is freed from Lilith’s remains. Worse, Evangelion Mark.09 decapitates the said Eva and releases the Twelfth Angel inside. The freed Angel immediately turns into a giant core and Asuka attempts, futilely, to destroyed it. As she and Mari watch, the transformed Twelfth Angel shrinks in size and is devoured by Evangelion 13 and awakes, becoming a Radiant Giant and rising at high speed from Central Dogma in the process. This starts the Fourth Impact.

She and Mari, with their respective Evangelions immediately climb to the surface and watch AAA Wunder being attacked by Mark.09, which has become Adam’s Vessel. Asuka goes to intercept Adam’s vessel, and immediately resorts to using Beast Mode to attack it. The bewildered Rei Ayanami (Tentative Name) in Adam’s Vessel is confused on what her deceased incarnation would do, to which Asuka says she should decide by herself, prompting Rei to eject herself from Adam’s Vessel. When Adam’s Vessel ultimately reveals that its whole body as core with regeneration and counterattacks, Asuka reluctantly has her Eva self-destruct, but not without ejecting herself.

An unspecified amount of time after the end of the battle, Asuka finds Shinji's entry plug in the wasteland created by the Fourth Impact and finds him in an unresponsive state. She drags him through the desert, with Rei following, to "where the Lilin are".

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Time
Guiding Shinji and Rei through the outskirts of Tokyo-3, Asuka arrives at a town comprised of survivors.

When not on the Wunder she lives with Kensuke, much like with Mari on the Wunder, and he cares for her as a father figure,  Let’s talk about Ken Ken. First, when I received the script, I noticed Kensuke was written into it. Even though he wasn’t called Ken Ken, there wasn’t that kind of connection in the previous film, Q. In the TV series, he was one of the “three idiots.” Asuka will give people nicknames like “baka Shinji” and the like. Asuka’s not a human and can’t live with the people in the third village so she freeloads off of Kensuke. Asuka was isolated, she couldn’t grow up, only her hair grew. Ken Ken is trying to take care of an isolated Asuka. Ken Ken took the place of Mr. Kaji. Try to think about this everyone. Ken Ken is such a good guy. Do you think such a good guy would try to advance a physical relation with a troubled 14-year-old girl? Asuka says to Shinji that she's already become an adult but that doesn't mean sexually. Asuka says “I am alone (in the film)”. Asuka was isolated. Ken Ken has been watching over Asuka. I think Ken Ken is like a father [to Asuka]. Asuka and Kensuke’s relationship is not a romantic one but rather a parental one. When Shinji said “I think I liked Asuka,” it means that at the time he liked Asuka, even though he never came back 14 years ago. '''To be honest, at the time of recording the last scene, Director Anno and Assistant Director Tsurumaki explained it. Director Anno told me that Asuka’s ending scene correlates to the idea that Ken Ken is like a father to child Asuka. Asuka really wants the father and mother that she's never had and Kenken could see this so his intention was to foster something like that.''' Personally, I really think that “Ken Ken’s not a bastard.” I'm not a fan of the "Ken Ken" scene. I personally strongly think "no way Ken Ken is acceptable [as Asuka's partner]" I think the Original Asuka is not Asuka Soryu. My performance instructions were “Please do Soryu and Shikinami differently” Asuka Soryu was not a clone. When adult Asuka says, “Baka Shinji,” it has a special meaning. Ken Ken doesn’t make a move on Asuka. Ken Ken would never make a move on 14-year-old Asuka. Ken Ken whose affection is deeper than the sea, stands by Asuka's side without laying a finger on her. [Imitating Asuka's voice]. Miyamura confirms Tsurumaki was in charge of everything Asuka-related, and asks fans to create new fanworks on pixiv for her to see. Yuko Miyamura, MIYAMURA YUKO Corp. - Fanicon March 20th 2021, around 37 minute mark.   Asuka would rather isolate herself from the rest of the community. After Kensuke leaves on a supply run, Asuka takes a shower and strolls around naked in his house and finds Shinji. Asuka waits for Shinji to do something, but he remains catatonic. This irritates Asuka greatly, as she expected Shinji to "blush a bit or be impressed" at her naked body. Shinji notices she is also wearing a DSS Choker, and vomits, still traumatized by Kaworu's death. Kensuke appears, covers Asuka, and cleans Shinji's vomit. They talk and Asuka expresses irritation at Shinji's inaction, but Kensuke defends him. Asuka starts using a scarf around her neck to avoid triggering Shinji again. Asuka explains to Shinji how their existence in the village is full of hardships, and force-feeds him protein bars. Later, Kensuke finds out Shinji ran away, but before leaving to retrieve him, thanks her for feeding Shinji, to which Asuka responds: "It's not like I did it for him or anything". She keeps playing with her game console during those times, but leaves it behind when she goes to watch him.

When the Wunder arrives to pickup Asuka, Shinji insists on going with her, much to her surprise. Mari teases Asuka over Shinji again, telling her she thought Asuka didn't care for "boys his age", but Asuka expresses that Shinji "needs a mother, not a girlfriend". When the Wunder prepares to go to Antartica, Mari and Asuka get their new plugsuits. Asuka decides she needs to talk with Shinji. Shinji admits he failed to take responsibility during the incident with the Ninth Angel. Recognizing Shinji is growing up, Asuka confesses she loved him before the incident with the Ninth Angel, but she "grew up first".

During the battle at Antarctica, Asuka takes off her eye-patch and reveals the Ninth Angel contained within. She converts Unit-02 in a new form, but is absorbed by Evangelion 13. During the process, Asuka meets "her original", revealing that she is a member of the Shikinami series of clones.

In a flashback to Shikinami's childhood during Instrumentality, she laments not having a parent to care for her, and Kensuke tells her it is alright. In a callback to the beach scene in The End of Evangelion, Shinji thanks Asuka for telling him she liked him, and confesses that he also liked Asuka, causing her to blush and be overwhelmed with emotion. She is last seen in the other side of the train platform in the rebuilt world.

Trivia

 * Shikinami is the name of the Type II (Ayanami) of Fubuki class destroyer of the Japanese Imperial Navy
 * Miyamura is insistent on Shikinami being completely separate from Asuka Langley Sohryu and having been directed as such

Notes and references
Аска Лэнгли Сикинами


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