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Asuka Langley Sohryu


Asuka Shikinami Langley (式波・アスカ・ラングレー?) is a fictional character from the Rebuild of Evangelion film series. She first appears in Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance. She is the designated pilot of the Evangelion Production Model-02 (including its repaired variations), as well as the test pilot of the ill-fated Evangelion Production Model-03.

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.[1] 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 EVANGELION: 3.0 (-46h), a flashback set shortly after Near Third Impact shows Asuka with her hair cut short, her eyes and temples are covered by a grey bandage, later replaced by her usual hair length, and an eye-patch covering her right side. Both display Angel-Sealing Hex Pillars, hinting at her status as a an Angel-Human hybrid. Underneath, Asuka has a large craniotomy scar.[2]

In Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, 14 years later, as result of 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.[3] 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 the Tenth 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 film, showing that her left eye is maybe still intact but somewhat mutated.

History

Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance

Asuka on Unit-02 (Rebuild)

Asuka's first appearance

Asuka makes her first appearance shortly after defeating the Seventh Angel in her Evangelion Production Model-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.[4]

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 (-46h)

In EVANGELION: 3.0 (-46h), Midori Kitakami recalls events from sometime between both films, Asuka is one of the Evangelion pilot for the WILLE organization. She is sent looking for survivors, with her Evangelion Production Model-02α-EIV being piloted by Mari Makinami Illustrious. Although Mari already took on her "princess" nickname for Asuka, at this time Asuka is dismissive of her, and acts dismissive towards her, calling her "rookie". She tracks down a younger Midori Kitakami and fights off an awakened Failure of Infinity. After rescuing her, Asuka briefly tells Midori that "an idiot" is responsible for it all, telling Midori to fight on if she wants to beat him. This has an effect on Midori, who starts looking up to Asuka.

EVANGELION 3.0 (-120 min.)

In EVANGELION 3.0 (-120 min.), Asuka is waiting to launch Operation US to recover Unit-01 from space. Asuka is looking at the Moon and recites a poem[5] before being surprised by Mari, the other pilot, wearing her school uniform and asking her if she agrees the Moon is beautiful. Mari asks Asuka if she agrees that the Moon is beautiful.[6] 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 Evangelion Production Model Custom Type-08α 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.[7][8]

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo

Already in space and enroute to salvage Unit 01, Asuka 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-A.T. 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-A.T. 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.[9]

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,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Asuka would rather isolate herself from the rest of the community.[19] 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.[20] 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, she brings him with her authority as Temporary Special Senior Major from WILLE, not before knocking him out. Mari teases Asuka over Shinji again in their shared room, now filled with books, 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 Antarctica, 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".[21]

In the initial stages of the Operation Yamato at Antarctica, both Asuka and Mari fights hordes of Evangelion Mark.07s by fighting as a duo, showing much more unisson than the previous fight in the NERV HQ and previous missions. Asuka leaves Mari to deal with the defensive weapons that guard Evangelion 13 as she tries to stop it using the Shutdown Override Signal Plug. As she tries to pierce 13's core, her own unit emmits its own A.T. Field stopping it. Upon this, Asuka decides to takes off her eye-patch and reveals the Ninth Angel was still inside her, she removes the Angel-Sealing Hex Pillar from her eyes and injects Angel blood into Evangelion Production Model-New 02α (JA-02 Body Assembly Cannibalized). Before she could do anything, Evangelion 13 awakens and destroys the new form hand and the Shutdown Signal too. Evangelion 13 removes her entry plug from inside the New Unit-02α. Inside the entry plug, she meets another Asuka, there she shows her collar, showing the Angel infection and the DSS Choker activated and exploded, but before it could rip her head off, the other Asuka removes her from the plugsuit, disolving her body and leaving before the DSS finished the explosion. During this, Asuka meets "her original", revealing that she is a member of the Shikinami series of clones. WILLE can't detect New Unit-02α activity and her pilot status is unknown, not long after, the Wunder is attacked by Evangelion Mark.09-A. Gendo and Evangelion 13, finally bites the entry plug where Asuka is, finally destroying the final Angel, initiating the Fourth Impact.

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.[22][23] Asuka reappears inside one of Eva 13's entry plugs, which Shinji ejects to safety. Her plug ends up landing right outside of Kensuke's house.

In the rebuilt world, Asuka is last seen by Shinji from afar, sitting on a bench at a train station platform.[24][25]

Voice Actors

  • Japanese: Yuko Miyamura
  • English: Tiffany Grant (Amazon)
  • French: Marjolaine Poulain, Céline Melloul, Emilie Rault (Amazon)
  • Italian: Ilaria Latini (Amazon)
  • Portuguese (Brazil): Fernanda Bullara
  • Russian: Maria Bondarenko (Reanimedia)
  • Spanish (Spain): Graciela Molina, Ana Pallejà (Amazon)
  • Spanish (Latin America): Azucena Martínez (Zima - 2.0), Georgina Sánchez (Amazon)
  • Catalan:
  • German: Julia Ziffer (Amazon)
  • Hindi:
  • Korean:
  • Chinese (Taiwan):

Trivia

  • ShikinamiWP is the name of the Type II (Ayanami) of Fubuki class destroyer of the Japanese Imperial Navy.
Evangelion 2
  • Miyamura is insistent on Shikinami being completely separate from Asuka Langley Sohryu and having been directed as such.
  • Asuka marks the number of Angels she defeated in her Entry plug, but it is in simulations only, in Evangelion 2.0, she had 10 markings. [26]
  • Asuka gets to pilot the Shin Getter-1 of Change Getter Robo!!WP in Super Robot WarsWP DD crossover event, released on 27 November 2023. Asuka gets new voice lines, and she fights using Evangelion weapons with the Shin Getter-1.[27]
  • The books that Asuka brought on from Germany in Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance were: LEGION CONDOR - Sie flogen jenseits der Grezen by Richard Liebsen, FLUGZEUG BEWAFFNUNG by Hanfried Schliephake, Zeitgeschichte in Farbe, Papierflieger - falten wie die Meister by Paul Jackson, STAEDT, Echinodorus by Christel Kasselmann, Origami-Gesellschaften, Bis zum letzten Tag by Albert Kesselring, Knitted Lace, Kunststricken, Deutsch, Teneriffe Lace, LÖWENHERZ, Der Herr der Ringe, MANDEL ZIEGEL and OLYMPISCHES PISTOLEN SCHIESSEN.[28]

References

  1. On Asuka's dolltranslation: Asuka embroidered the name on the doll herself. (And that she's bad at it.) Also that Asuka's been repairing it for the past ten years, which is why the thread color and thickness of the stitching isn't always consistent. It was designed by Moyoco Anno.
  2. https://twitter.com/khara_inc2/status/1656313151393091585?s=20
  3. Evangelion Q Records Collection
  4. "At the End Of Evangelion (first series ending) Asuka had been through a lot of horrible things. As her voice actor I went through the pain and sorrow she had. I hated feeling like that. In the new movies, Asuka is more approachable. So, I felt that Asuka was able to become closer with Shinji, Rei, Misato and everyone else. It made me happy as an actor." - Gold Coast Film Festival - Yuko Miyamura Interview
  5. From the Manyoshu, about a spouse returning home. Specifically the Somonka, the "song of love between love and women." Asuka is looking at the moon, and the Manyoshu states that: "looking at the moon always indicates the missing feeling/lovesick."
  6. The book Mari is holding has, in its introduction, an anecdote about the phrase "The moon is beautiful":
    Natsume Soseki tells students to translate 'I love you' in English class. The students thought of translations such as "I love you" (我、汝を愛su) or "I seem to love you" (僕ha、そなたを、愛Shou思U). "You guys, are you still Japanese?"
    Soseki continued to talk to each other. "Japanese don't speak such suggestive wording. It should be translated as 'The moon is very beautiful'". Indeed, when men and women in the Meiji period met in public, saying "the moon is very beautiful" would mean "I love you". After this, in Japanese, the phrase, 月が綺麗ですね, "the moon is beautiful" has since been regarded as a representative romantic line in which a man and a woman confess their love in a romantic situation."

    Mari is prompting Asuka to express these feelings herself.
  7. Mari sings a song called Youngsters, about a lost loved one to Asuka. These are the remaining lyrics:
    That man of yours is no longer with us.
    So why are you looking for him?
    You're going without a clue
  8. EVANGELION 3.0 (-120 min.) prequel manga, translation at Evageeks
  9. In earlier storyboards shown in Peaceful Times in 2015, Asuka was apparently supposed to caress Shinji in a manner similar to EoE. The video still matched Avant 2 almost perfectly, but this part was modified.
  10. "That's what I was told during the recording, and I thought, "Why?" (laughs). But there are many kinds of love scenes. When a father takes a picture of his daughter in her furisode (a long-sleeved kimono), it's [parental] love. The daughter is like, "Hey, stop it, Dad!" I'm not trying to force to deny it, but Kensuke is a good guy... If he's a good guy, he won't touch her. If Asuka is lonely and wanted to be pampered, it ends only at "there, there". There's nothing more to it than that. In other words, Kensuke is a good guy." - Miyamura June Newtype interview
  11. Asuka and Kenken's facial expressions, and their movements also seemed intimate. When I asked General Director Anno "Why are they intimate?", He said "No?" (Laughs). I remember having a conversation saying "It's not bad ..." I'm smiling. "
    "Kenken is a really good guy. He can watch over Shinji with the attitude of waiting” until he recovers, "and I felt that to Asuka he was like a father. I'm sure Kenken is like a father. I think he was patient and waited for Asuka to open her heart and accepted him. I also want to be told, "Miyamu (Miyamura) can stay as it is" (laughs). ). However, in my interpretation, Asuka and Kenken have a clean relationship! - 25 Years as Asuka
  12. Shinji's still fourteen both inside and out, and I don't think he could have helped Asuka, a girl fourteen on the outside but twenty-eight on the inside. Kensuke's twenty-eight on the outside and on the inside, so wouldn't he be the person who could do it? In the group for all the EVA voice actors on the LINE messaging app, Miyamura Yuko posted, "If Kensuke's the one who can be there for her, then please be there her." - Tetsuya Iwanaga (Kensuke), 3.0+1.0 booklet interview
  13. 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.
  14. Character designer Hidenori Matsubara commenting on Asuka and Kensuke's relationship, translation by Richitzer: "I was just talking with Kazuya Tsurumaki, the director, about Eva... He said he loves Asuka. He was still annoyed over the Asuka and Kenken thing." This tweet is from April 12th, a day after they started work on the Evangelion 3.0 (-120 min.) prequel manga at Anno's suggestion.
  15. Of course. When the recording of “Q” was finished, there was no explanation about what would happen in the future, and when I asked why [Asuka’s name was changed to] “Shikinami”, I was only told that "it’s a battleship ...". So I found out about Asuka in this movie for the first time when I read the script.
    I decided from the beginning to perform Shikinami and Soryu as two different people.
    "A little while ago you said something about Shikinami and Soryu are different people, were you aware of how you separated your performance?
    I separated my performance or should I say I made it different from the start so it’s completely different. For Soryu, Kaji was the one she was infatuated with, but in the case of Shikinami, the part of the story when she's interested in Kaji never happens and so she’s a completely different person from the start. - 25 Years as Asuka
  16. Miyamura had also insisted on Shikinami and Sohryu being separate characters in earlier opportunities.
  17. "We weren't aware of the timeskip initially"
    I was told to completely forget about Sohryu's existance"
    "We're not yet done playing Asuka or Rei
    - Miyamura on Hayashibara's Tokyo Boogie Night, March 19 2023"
  18. In the early 3.0 imageboards, Asuka wouldn't stay with Kensuke at all. Rather, she'd return to the Wunder and Kensuke would take care of both Shinji and Rei. She'd also rescue Shinji instead of Mari. See EVANGELION: 3.333 Breakdown.
  19. Asuka is also implied to not be fully trusted by Wille (much like Shinji), as she is seen wearing a DSS Choker. Her quarters with Mari on the Wunder are also a sort of isolation chamber. This is referenced as such in concept art for the 10th Khara anniversary exposition. Asuka and Mari are referred to as "dangerous persons" that must be kept apart from the crew. This further adds to her estrangement from humanity.
  20. Miyamura says this is because Asuka no longer sees herself as human, but rather as an Angel, and has grown indifferent to being seen naked.
  21. "I think I felt sorry for Shinji because he’s depressed and there’s nothing he can do. The only thing Asuka can say is “Do the best you can."Asuka is doing her personal best, so she can tell other people to do their best. That's why I wanted Shinji to wake up and say, "I'll do my best," but I guess she felt like she couldn't reach Shinji no matter what she said. Asuka's effort is not rewarded. [When Asuka says,] “You are too mentally weak,” she blame’s Shinji. When I performed this line of Asuka’s, I really almost cried. In the 14 years of effort Asuka has accumulated, by saying this, I didn’t expect Shinji to do anything about it but she was unable to say what she wanted. But, in this way, thanks to saying what she wanted, I have a feeling that Asuka was able to progress.[...]
    -Finally, the way Asuka says "Baka Shinji". How did you come up with this?
    This was also a storyboard shot, so I think I was shown a picture of Asuka's appearance at that time and performed it with that impression. That "Baka Shinji" is just a love letter to the people who have supported Shinji x Asuka!" - Yuko Miyamura, 3.0+1.0 booklet interview
  22. "–– How did you feel in your performance when Asuka told you that she had grown up first?
    I know how Asuka feels. For example, when I met a classmate at a class reunion, I had grown 14 years older, and although I was 14 years older and had various life experiences in those 14 years, the boy I liked at that time [in junior high school] remained a junior high school student, both emotionally and physically, and was an adult. If you haven't grown up at all, you won't feel like you used to. I think the other boy is the same [as Shinji] as what I’m talking about. -Megumi Ogata, 3.0+1.0 booklet interview
  23. "I think she wanted to see him one last time. She never said that she loved Shinji, not even once, looking back from the TV series. Well, past tense, I guess. Because we can't go back to 14 years ago. We can't go back to that time, but I (Asuka) loved you then. It doesn't mean that she loved him then but doesn't love him now, or that she loves someone else now, but that she genuinely wanted to tell him that. I think Asuka wanted to end to her childhood, to get some closure. But I think it was amazing that Asuka was able to say so clearly that she loved him. She's really an adult.
    "I was going to, but then we met again and he [Shinji] said "I" liked Asuka too. But it's the scene I like the most. I think it's very nice that they tell each other that they loved each other back then, even though they can't go back. And Asuka is so cute in that scene. Seeing that, my heart was filled with joy. I felt that she was being treated like a woman, that she was being cared for. Her plugsuit is tattered and plump, though. Also, as I said in the pamphlet, I think the line "Baka Shinji" is a love letter to everyone who supported Shinji and Asuka.
    - Miyamura Newtype May interview
  24. Sound director in a VTuber interview: In a recent interview with V-tuber Vivian, the sound director for Evangelion 3.0+1.0 says he did not instruct the seiyuus of Shinji and Mari to act as lovers, he interpreted their relationship to be that of friends. It is mentioned that the station scene was not instructed as romantic. Whether they're lovers, friends, or family is left up to the viewer. Even the seiyuu will have different opinions about it. I'm sure this is what Anno is intending, for Eva to be like a "mirror" and give back what the viewer sees in it. That is Eva's appeal.
  25. "However, at the stage greeting this time around - when Ogata talked about one more Shinji who remains behind after having sent off everyone - the feeling "I want him to go meet the adult Asuka!" grew stronger too." I think that Shinji also almost certainly meet the adult Asuka, meet Yui, and various other people but I definitely want the fans to complete the rest of the story." - Miyamura: AnimateTimes
  26. ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版破 全記録全集 設定 資料版 p.71
  27. https://twitter.com/srw_dd_pr/status/1728700126263497016
  28. ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版破 全記録全集 設定 資料版 p.196


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