I don't see why it'd need back up in the series when the following material does nothing but to underline that it is in the creator's intention that she really went to university. Just because we don't know if Anno personally ensured that it go into the RCB? Hell, even Sadamoto acknowledges it, and there it's Ritsuko making that comment.

As for the age, that problem only arises because of their stupid decision to apply the seiyu's birth dates to the characters.

I'm not questioning if it's possible for someone to have a degree by her age, I'm just questioning if it's believable for Asuka. So far, I'm not buying it. If she really had such a degree I think it would tend to lessen her need for the "I'm an adult" stuff, not feed into it... or at the very least she'd occationally mention it when in that sort of mood to give it more authority.

One line may be questionable, but a second is confirmation. Find me one mention of this by anyone or anything else in show, even if it's just Asuka mentioning it again, and I'll let it drop. It doesn't have to even directly deal with college... just someone pointing out that she's highly intelligent or some such will work.

Yes the RCB says so, as does the CI. Is this the first time those sources have been questioned by someone on this board? Hardly.

As far as the manga goes, Sadamoto also makes her into a test-tube baby and some sort of ninja so you'll have to excuse me if I consider that version of her character slightly less than a cannon portrayal.

Why NERV stuck her in the middle school is irrelevant.

I don't see any reason to doubt her.

If you want to make an issue of one line of dialog not being enough to substantiate something in the show then a lot of what we know about NGE is thrown out of the window.

I have a mildly interesting hat to throw into this ring.... no actualy evidence from the series to back it up, more from IRL , but anyway...

Has anybody here ever heard of CTYI? Well, that's the Irish name for it, but I know there's similar programs for kids in America and on the continent...

Anyway, it stands for Center for Taleneted Youth of Ireland, and is an organistation that runs summer courses at colleges for kids who have a high IQ..

I did some when I was about 14 years old meself.

One thing people always asked me was why I was going to College for the summer, or when I was graduating or whatever. Now these courses had nothing actually to do with college... they were just summer camps basically held on a college campus...

But I wonder if something like this couldn't be what Asuka would be referring to? Okay, so it's only fan-wanking on my part, but it is something that seems a lot more likely for a 14 year old than a full college degree...

Unless it's a degree in media....

Dartz wrote:Unless it's a degree in mathematics

Fixed. (see above for references).

Because you only need to know how to think clearly in the abstract to do that -- understanding of people and the world around (necessary at some level for soft subjects) doesn't enter in to the equation.

There is no canonical source that provides any argument against her statement being take at face value.

And accepting it makes her and her reactions seem much more plausible to me.

But still, it also fits the other way.... she could just be talking up a 3-week summer camp with a nice diploma at the end as a full college course.... which would fit a different interpretation of Asuka being boastful to the point of stretching the truth, and somewhat childish at the core....

Making a mountain out a molehill....

I don't know.... I always thought it was the explanation that fit best because I did that CTYI thing, and used to make the exact same boasts myself when i was 14.

But aniyway, there's no evidence to support it, I just thought it would be a nice bit of colour, rather than taking things so straight. It show's she's even lying to herself, or willing to stretch the truth to make people think she's awesome, or to prop her own ego up..

Makes it seem more house-of-cards like to look at it this way. But that's just a ficcers viewpoint, not a series analyst.

I always thought taking it at face value was the explanation that fit best, because I was about 2 years younger than most of the other students in my years when I did my maths degree, and her reactions to being bested were pretty much the same as mine.

I guess we're both speaking a little from experience then. There's no reason not to take it at face value either, and it would fit too...

It's just not as colourful I think, and doesn't make as good a story... But that is from a fanfiction perspective. If you're going from a proper series analysis perspective, then Occams Razor shaves it close and smooth, and you'd have to take it at face value, in the absence of anything else...

Her driving desire to achieve much to be recognized seems to go along with the college degree thing in my opinion.

From a fanfic perspective, which interpretation makes the better story really depends what you are trying to do with the setting and the characters.

I did the American CTY. It doesn't count as a college degree, but it is a college-level course. Things like this aren't unheard-of.

The truth about Asuka is she wanted to go to Harvard but was forced to go to brown. Thats why she is such a prick throughout the series.

devil_eAter wrote:The truth about Asuka is she wanted to go to Harvard but was forced to go to MIT and look out the window to Harvard in sadness. Thats why she is such a prick throughout the series.

fixed?

TheAyanamiOtaku wrote:

devil_eAter wrote:The truth about Asuka is she wanted to go to Harvard but was forced to go to MIT and look out the window to Harvard in sadness. Thats why she is such a prick throughout the series.

fixed?

Well they DID build Eva-04 (or 03? Whichever one was Toji's) at MIT.

Well, she's a child prodigy isn't she?

Evangelion__x wrote:Well, she's a child prodigy isn't she?

That would be the question, yes.

NemZ wrote:

Evangelion__x wrote:Well, she's a child prodigy isn't she?

That would be the question, yes.

I was under the impression that she was genetically engineered to be a perfect child or something. It might have been from the manga...not sure if it's canon or not.

Gamer_2k4 wrote:

NemZ wrote:

Evangelion__x wrote:Well, she's a child prodigy isn't she?

That would be the question, yes.

I was under the impression that she was genetically engineered to be a perfect child or something. It might have been from the manga...not sure if it's canon or not.

It's manga

One of Sadamoto's worst fuck ups

Not genetically engineered, just selective genetic recombination to produce an elite child. Her mom used "high caliber" sperm from some unnamed male scientist.

She must be at least somewhat intelligent. She can fluently speak German and Japanese at a very early age. There are individuals on Okinawa who have been exposed to both languages their entire lives, and they still can't speak both languages fluently.

I'm part of the "there really isn't any reason to doubt her comment" crowd. There really isn't any reason to think the contrary.