Asuka Langley Sohryu/ANIMA

Asuka Langley Sohryu Rebuild ANIMA

This article has a collection of images to further represent its content. To see its gallery, visit Asuka Langley Sohryu/ANIMA/Gallery.

Asuka Langley Sohryu惣流・アスカ・ラングレー
Novel	Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA
Affiliation(s)	NERV Japan
Rank/Title	Pilot
Age	17 (born 4 December 2001)
Known Relatives	Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu (Mother)

Asuka Langley Sohryu (惣流・アスカ・ラングレー, Sōryū Asuka Rangurē^?) is a fictional character from the Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA novels.

Profile

In the prologue of Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA, Asuka and Unit-02 were chosen as the keystones of Third Impact during the Battle at NERV HQ, the SEELE’s invasion, but she was saved by Shinji in Unit-01 Type-F.

Asuka held the belief that the Unit-02 was just a tool for herself achieve her objectives, and three years later, she still believed that the Unit-02 had stolen her mother, or her mother’s soul, from her. For that, she hated the Unit-02, and she had never hesitated to push it to the point of destruction if it helped her achieve her own goals.

After the Battle at NERV HQ, there were lots of differences in her actions: Her synchronization rate with Unit-02 became more stable than that of any other pilot. She became less likely to rely solely on force, and it stopped being such a struggle to raise her success rates.

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. All these improvements have allowed her to be more open with others, as well as with herself. Asuka was a realist. She didn’t actually believe that Unit-02 was her real mother, but during the preparation for the Moon mission, she decided that she wanted to return alongside the Unit-02 Allegorica

After helping Shinji in the fight against the rogue Rei Quatre and the first Angel Carrier 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 Evangelion’s heartbeat. Because of this, she goes with Armaros’ Torwarts when they steal Shinji’s heart, because she believes them to be him. In Volume 4, during an introspective sequence, Shinji sees her again and she kisses him, declaring her love for him. This helps Shinji to rematerialize her, and she returns to human form.

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 individuality, 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.

Illustration by Hiroyuki Utatane.

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 Type II, 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 Evangelion 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 Evangelion 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