Hideaki Anno on Moyoco wrote:“My wife’s public image is that of a strong woman, but actually she’s very sensitive, fragile and weak. She constantly has to face her difficult past, and she couldn’t escape the reality of having to provide for her family. It’s just that she needed to don a piece of armor called “toughness” over her heart. I can sense that deep inside she battles loneliness and alienation and she is barely holding her emotional balance in check. That’s why I want to devote whatever time I have outside of work to my wife. That’s why I got married to her, and I want to protect her with everything I have, forever.”
This is a quote from Insufficient Direction, and the picture Anno paints of his wife is somewhat similar of Asuka, Q Shikinami in particular.
In Q Asuka is shown to be uncapable of keeping her anger in check during the reunion, and in the last act of the movie shows a huge range of emotions going from attacking Shinji head on to lecturing him for not helping her and then subsequencially kicking him and walking with him holding his hand.
The events of 2.0 and the consequent repercussions could also be the "past she couldn't escape" that she constantly face.
Do you think a connection is really there or I'm just overthinking it?
I think that the connection with Asuka was already made in the past but I didn't found anything on the subject.