Until some point in 2015, Asuka lived in Germany, where she met Misato Katsuragi and Ryoji Kaji.Īsuka and Eva 02 are transported from Germany to Japan by the Pacific Fleet. Her mother's death and her father's infidelity and remarriage have left deep scars on Asuka's psyche. Asuka's new stepmother initially tried to bond with Asuka, but she ended up being discouraged as she found the young girl's overly serious disposition for her age and coldness towards her to be somewhat disturbing, and the two have kept each other at a mutual distance ever since. Following Kyoko's death, her father married his mistress. At Kyoko's funeral, Asuka refused to cry, declaring she would have to look out for herself now. After being selected as an Evangelion pilot at a very young age, an overjoyed Asuka rushed to tell her mother, only to be devastated on finding that her mother had committed suicide, having hanged the doll in Asuka's place. Kyoko eventually turned suicidal, and asked Asuka to die with her, which Asuka agreed to, as she was too young to understand what her mother asked of her and believed it was the only way she could convince Kyoko to be her mother again. At the same time, Asuka's father proceeded to have an affair with Kyoko's doctor. When Asuka was very young - prior to her selection as an Evangelion pilot - her mother was involved in a contact experiment with Evangelion Unit-02 and lost her mind as a result, thinking that a rag doll was her daughter and ignoring Asuka. In the absence of further details confirming this, this one instance of Kanji being used for a character's given name remains anomalous, if fascinating.Īsuka 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. If this is meant to be intentional and not an oversight or blooper by one of the animators, it makes Asuka the only member of the main cast for whom the Kanji in her given name is given in any universe or continuity. Given that Asuka's canonical name in all other materials is in Katakana, the most likely explanation is that Asuka's name being written in kanji is only applicable within the alternate universe scenario seen in Episode 26, as a meta-instance of the rules and established details of the original series being pushed aside. This consistency is repeated in the New Theatrical Edition where Asuka Shikinami Langley has her given name rendered as アスカ, same as her original series counterpart. The use of Katakana given names is seen at numerous points in the series - in ID cards or on-screen information on individuals - and is consistent throughout. This particular rendering of her name - in the original Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series, no less - is unique, because all canonical materials render Asuka's given name in Katakana as アスカ, consistent with the Katakana rendering of all Evangelion characters' given names. Asuka is shown here as 明日香 - using the same Kanji as Wada's heroine, with the meanings of 'clear/bright/to understand' 'day,sun,date' 'fragrant incense' respectively. A brief shot from the Episode 26 alternate universe sequence shows the words 'Ikari' and 'Asuka' under an umbrella. Her mother's first name, 'Kyoko', also comes from that manga's character Kyoko Aoi. Her first name comes from Saki Asuka, who is the main character of a Japanese manga 'SuperGirl Asuka', 超少女明日香, Cho-Shojo Asuka, written by Shinji Wada. Her middle name comes from the American aircraft carrier Langley, also from WWII, while her mother's surname refers to the nearly completed Nazi German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin. Adding to the mystery, aside from Ritsuko Akagi all the other characters share the same Kanji in their surnames as the warships they were named after, making their names at least as improbable.Īsuka's Japanese surname comes from the Japanese WWII aircraft carrier Soryu. Although the change could have been because 'Green Dragon' would be a rather fantastical surname, Japanese surnames with the character for 'dragon' in them exist. No explanation has been given for the difference in name. The warship's name literally means 'Green Dragon', but Asuka's name contains characters for 'All' and 'flow/flux/current/stream'.

Asuka's surname is spelled differently from the name of the warship Soryu(蒼龍). For more information on how Asuka and the other characters were named, see Character Name Origins. Asuka's given name (center, upside down and scribbled over) rendered in kanji as 明日香 during the Episode 26 AU sequence.Īsuka is named after two warships, one Japanese, the Aircraft Carrier Soryu, the other U.S., the USS Langley.

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