Five Thoughts on Neon Genesis Evangelion’s “The Works of Man” and “Asuka Arrives in Japan”

Sixteen

Misato Katsuragi might be the most competent and caring character in Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Time after time, Misato’s found herself thrown into a difficult situation, usually some sort of apocalyptic event, and it’s only through her quick thinking, improvisation, and trust in her team that she’s constantly averted disaster. While the rest of the high-ranking officials at NERV, working with 100% selfish motivations, watch the Eva operations play out like they’re science experiments, Misato works to save the world. She cares about the Eva units but she cares more about the Eva pilots.

With “The Works of Man” and “Asuka Arrives in Japan,” Hideaki Anno and the rest of the creative team remove Misato from the NERV command center, where everything she could need is at her disposal, from her technicians to Japan’s entire power supply, and throw her into an environment where she’s forced to contend with dumb, insecure, and egomaniacal men who refuse to take her seriously. And still she flexes on everyone.

Originally Hideaki Anno and character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto envisioned Misato as a grown-up version of the girl next door, which probably explains some of her . . . wilder portrayals. Anno allegedly based her personality of Usagi Tsukino, aka Sailor Moon, going so far as to cast Kotono Mitsuishi, the pretty guardian herself, in the role. (It’s a shame that casting didn’t extend through the English dubs; the further I get through either of them the more I’m convinced both the ADV and Netflix dub do the material a disservice.)

Misato’s a survivor of the Second Impact, which blew a hole in Antarctica, melted the ice caps, and wiped out half of humanity. In fact, her father, Dr. Katsuragi, is one of the people directly responsible for that cataclysmic event, when he and his team accidentally uncovered Adam and the Spear of Longinus. As the world crumbled around them, as both he and the teenaged Misato fought their terrible injuries, Dr. Katsuragi put his daughter into a protective capsule just before he died. After she was rescued, she went mute for several years, finally emerging from that shell in college, unable to stop the flood of words. Ritsuko Akagi, her co-worker and best friend, always said Misato was making up for lost time.

Like pretty much every other character in Evangelion, Misato struggles to define her relationship with her parents. She mentions her mother only a few times at most and resented Dr. Katsuragi for never being around when she was growing up. After he sacrificed himself to save her, she harbors guilt and confusion about his final act. Later in the series, she admits to her college boyfriend Kaji, introduced in “Asuka Arrives in Japan,” that she dumped him when she realized how much he reminded her of his father. Part of the reason she joined NERV was to process her feelings about Dr. Katsuragi. Because she isn’t a monster, she found an emotional attachment to the people and work involved.

I suppose that’s what everyone at NERV is trying to do: process their feelings and view of the world through those giant sentient robots.

Seventeen

Also like with many of the women in this series, Misato’s portrayal is complicated. On one hand, you have this assured and empathetic character — one who brings in a sad, lonely boy because she can see the derision he and his father share toward one another, one who adopts a penguin used in experimental trials to keep from getting euthanized (I realize this detail is from the manga and never mentioned in the show, but we’ll just say it’s consistent) — this complex and very real character whose actions and motivations can be cleanly traced through her traumas and experiences. And then, on the other hand, who have this girl whose breasts bare their own laws of physics, who’s often framed with her anatomy taking up a significant portion of the screen.

So, the Gainax Bounce, or gainaxing. It’s a form of fan service, especially popularized by Studio Gainax, where women the movement of women’s breasts tend to be far more exaggerated than physically possible. Sometimes, animators spend more time on their bounce and jiggle than they do on action pieces. Naturally, this extends to their butts as well. All the woman in Evangelion are subject to this in one way or another, including, uncomfortably, the teenage pilots. Misato, however, bears the brunt of this.

Often, Anno and his team play it for laughs. You see this mostly in the stinger previews for the next episode after the credits, where Misato promises to stay tuned because there will be plenty more fan service, delivered in a performance that mocks the audience for wanting/expecting this service. Anno and company try to push back against otaku culture and its demands, although it’s a soft push at best since they still regularly and gleefully participate in it, like some high school boy claiming he’s woke.

In-universe characters are used to perpetuate Misato’s sexuality. Shinji’s friends, Toji and Kunsuke, appear every morning at Shinji’s apartment in the perpetual hope of getting Misato’s attention and getting a glimpse of her in her morning clothes. Again, we have a two-pronged approach here, where Anno and company point out the adolescent fantastics and desperation in ogling Misato, while also allowing that leering, lustful gaze to be foisted upon her.

Misato is also aware of her femininity and sexuality. Like Cowboy Bebop’s Faye Valentine, Misato is aware of the effect she has on people around her and she’s not afraid to use her femininity for her benefit. In her introduction, she sends Shinji a photograph of her making sure to note her cleavage. Sometimes this comes off as playful, like when she grins broadly and flashes the peace sign at Shinji’s friends. Other times, it’s weaponized.

And then, of course, there’s how she uses her sexuality and femininity to get around dealing with other people. Since it’s a tool she can use to manipulate men, sexuality is also something she has difficulty expressing within herself. In Eva, there’s only one character Misato allows herself to get initiated with, and that’s after blowing him off and abusing him for years.

I think we can appreciate Misato for being comfortable in herself and in her body, for having a sex-positive personality, for not being defined by her pining for some dude. At the same time, we can ackowledge that she was created by men for a demographic, at the time, made up primarily of men. Even if they try to thumb their nose at the whole otaku fan service idea, Mistao Katusragi still ends up printed on body pillows. Though, better it’s her than Asuka and Rei.

(In all fairness, fan service extends through shojo titles, too. Here, men often find themselves naked and in compromising positions, though there’s nothing to the extent of the Gainax bounce in these instances. And, in both cases, the sexualization and objectification of these characters exist for the young cast members, the often too young cast members. It’s not like we get to see Professor Oak frantically rushing back and forth between the baths.)

Eighteen

All that would be far more questionable if these two episodes didn’t allow Misato the chance to flex, to show off her best qualities. In the first, “The Works of Man,” she and Ritsuko Akagi, NERV’s head scientist, observe a demonstration for a new mechanical force constructed to combat Angels, and take away influence from NERV. Jet Alone (its name a reference to Jet Jaguar from the Godzilla movies), developed by Japan Heavy Chemical Industries, is powered by an interior nuclear engine and programmed to run remotely, eliminated the need for a pilot.

During the opening ceremonies, the executives of Japan Heavy Chemical Industries are all too happy to dismiss the Eva project. They point out the flaws in using cybergenetic giants, operated by teenagers. Despite the Eva’s duchess, they point out all the times the machines have gone berserk, wreaking untold levels of damage and destruction. They outright mock the use of adolescent pilots and guffaw, roll their eyes when Ritsuko claims the human heart is crucial for a successful operation, like a bunch of Silicon Valley dude bros who fester at the altar of meritocracy.

Throughout all this Misato, dressed in clothes she does not find comfortable, holds herself in a bored, dispassionate, and passive stance, going so far as to tell Ritsuko to give it up, that she’s making a scene. Later, when they’re shown to their quarters, a locker room, she kicks the door in.

Sure enough, when it’s time to show off Jet Alone’s capabilities, the Japan Heavy Chemical Industries technicians lose control and it runs amok. While every runs around in pure panic, ready to surrender to an inevitable nuclear meltdown, Misato takes control. She summons Unit-01 to take her to the robot where she enters the heavily radiated interior, the very air humming and vibrating with poison, and averts disaster.

“The Works of Man” is not among Evangelion’s best episodes, though it does manage to come together in the third act, in large part thanks to Misato. Here we see her risk herself without question in order to save everyone. Anno and company present this through Shinji’s perspective because a.) he’s constantly frustrated by how Misato acts at home, where she drinks malt beer instead of coffee to start her day and dresses in skimpy outfits to flirt with his friends and b.) we as the audience can see and understand the impact of her actions.

Of course, NERV set up the sabotage. They were prepared to sacrifice all the people around the Japan Heavy Chemical Industries complex if it benefitted NERV’s influence. This is above Misato’s pay grade but you get the sense if she knew about it, she would still act to make sure the least amount of people got hurt.

Nineteen

Something similar happens in “Asuka Arrives in Japan.” In this one, Misato, Shinji, Toji, and Kensuke convene on the UN armada, delivering Unit-02 and its pilot Asuka to Japan. The military remains dismissive and irritated with NERV at large: the admiral openly complains about how the funding NERV receives should by rights go to the military, despite how none of their efforts ever work at combating the Angels. From the moment our crew sets foot on the UN aircraft carrier, the military officials degrade and passively aggressively attack the Eva people, openly scoffing at them and calling them children.

The admiral isn’t interested in making things easier for Misato either. He refuses to sign over the transfer of Unit-02 until they dock in Japan. He does what he can to bar NERV’s access to the bridge. He’s a crusty old coot, undoubtedly too much like the highest-ranking officials in any military organization, threatened by the people around him and susceptible to his many insecurities. Misato reacts to all this with a nervous eye twitch, trying to quench any outburst at his ineptitude.

It’s not until after the Sixth Angel, Gaghiel, attacks and he loses a good portion of the fleet, after Asuka launches Unit-02 of her own accord, and after Misato takes control of the bridge, does he reluctantly agree to help.

When she assumes command, none of the admiral’s previous behavior weighs on her, apart from a dismissive “idiot” anytime he tries to intervene: her focus remains solely on combating the Angel. She drops any ditz or frivolity with Gaghiel’s appearance. She hones her attention and runs through options and operations in a second. She strategizes and acts like there’s nothing between her and the Angel.

Because she’s a professional.

Because, even in a production from 1995, she knows how fruitless it is to wallow in resentment toward timid patriarchal figureheads.

That being said, it’s interesting how the episode treats her in view of her team. “Asuka Arrives in Japan” introduces Kaji Ryoji, her ex-boyfriend, who is helping deliver the Second Children, Asuka, Unit-02, and a mysterious briefcase. (It contains the last remnants of Adam.) Kaji spends much of his screen time trying to take the wind out of Misato’s sails, bring up past embarrassments, doing what he can to bring her down in esteem. He makes jabs at her private behavior and mannerisms. He does that whole, “Well, aren’t you cute?” routine and Misato can do nothing but stew at him.

Maybe this comes from the resentment he feels toward her after she ghosted him. Maybe he thinks they’re relationship remains like it was when they were in college. In any event, he runs away during Gaghiel’s attack. While, true to form, Misato saves the day.

Twenty

Hideaki Anno has described Misato Katsuragi as “a woman, 29, who lives life so lightly as to barely allow the possibility of human touch. She protects herself by keeping relationships on the surface and then running away.” She has her own loneliness and insecurities to overcome, all of which she buries within her work. Over the course of Evangelion, we get a character used to keeping people around her but never allowing herself to develop deep relationships with anyone suddenly having to care about others on a more emotional level, and not exactly know how to do it.

It might be for this reason everyone seems so shocked she has Shinji move in with her, in how she eventually comes to care about him and how she never figures out how to express that affective. She views herself as a motherly figure to him, sometimes a big sister, though never as solely a commanding office. Still, overwhelmed, unsure of what to do in the hardest situations, she makes questionable choices. Like telling Ritsuko when she brings him home she’s not planning to put the moves on some kid. “Of course you’re not!” Ritsuko screams, so loud Misato has to hold the phone away from her. “Why would you even say something like that?!” Or like the elevator scene in End of Evangelion.

More often, however, we see her trying to keep everything calm between Shinji and Asuka. We see her realize the extent of what she doesn’t know when it comes to NERV and watch her efforts to get to the bottom of its mysteries. And then how those discoveries lead her to rethink her position in the organization and her efforts to save the world.

Evangelion wears her down. The show erases the borders and boundaries Misato set up for herself. Part of the only reason she makes it through is that she’s driven by a need to save people. She throws herself headlong into danger, but that doesn’t phase her as much as having to navigate the atmosphere that’s so very against her.

She may not allow people to get too close to her, but she also doesn’t want to watch them all die in front of her. By the end, she’s given the opportunity to rebuild, though we can only guess as to how that plays out.