One of the main characters in the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. She is a 14-year-old redhead who is half-German, half-Japanese, and all trouble. She likes to show off and to insult Shinji.

There is an ongoing flamewar among some Eva-no-otaku over whether Asuka or Rei is cuter.

There are many different spellings of Asuka's name. This is the correct one from the AD Vision English translation for their dubs.

There are a lot of different spellings of the names, a Japanese way of putting it would be Souryuu/Soryu Asuka Langley. She is 50% American, 25% German and 25% Japanese so that makes the names a bit confusing. Her mother Kyoko Zepplin Sohryu or Souryuu Kyouko Zeppelin was probably 50% Japanese and 50% German so her father was American.


Update 19/04/01

The Second Children, and dedicated pilot of Eva-02. She is one quarter German and Japanese, but her nationality is American. Highly intelligent, she graduated from university at the age of 14 and boasted a higher synchronization rate than the Third Children in the early stages of actual combat. The suicide of her mother led her to develop an overly-aggressive character, and she maintained her mental balance by outwardly publicizing her superiority. Birthdate: December 4, 2001, Blood type: O, Age: 14.

Source: The End of Evangelion : Glossary contained within The End of Evangelion - Theatrical Program.

Asuka Langley Sohryu is a character in the anime (and manga) Neon Genesis Evangelion. She is a brash, opinionated and sometimes cruel 14 year old girl of Japanese, American and German ancestry who has been selected to pilot an Evangelion unit, a role that she is very proud of.

Although she is a central character, and perhaps manages to steal the show, she was not an initial character, being introduced in the eighth episode, one-third of the way through the series. The series so far had been built around the characters of Rei Ayanami and Shinji Ikari, whose range of expression went from downcast to despondent. The vivacious and cheerful Asuka immediately made the dynamic of the children much more interesting. Her egotism, which often came out as contempt for Shinji and Rei, was first used for comedic effect, and the results are (in my opinion) rather funny.

Neon Genesis Evangelion being what it was (which is a depressing mind screw), Asuka's outgoing demeanor is slowly peeled away to reveal insecurity and tragedy. Asuka only feels good about herself when she is the absolute best in the world, an impossible goal, and one which finally breaks her down. In the movie, End of Evangelion, she is finally able to face her fear of failure, and finds a newfound meaning to life. Very briefly.

Her main character trait is her extroversion and self-confidence, which is in exact contrast to Shinji's introversion and self-doubt. Philosophically, Evangelion is about how people cope with loneliness and isolation. Asuka is a study in how it can be ignored and overcame---at least briefly---by the mindset of being purely outward focused. What is ironic is that Asuka is in many ways what she thinks she is: intelligent, competent and very, very brave, and it is only her ego that gets in the way of her success.

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