Ritsuko in 3.0 & Beyond

[Rei IV]

LOLz at Ritsuko not having her own thread. She really must be despised.

Anywho, I created the thread after reading some posts in the "Misato's relationship with Shinji tread in 3.0" which suggest Ritsuko maybe secretly working for Gendo and that she somehow "rigged" the DSS collar (how?), which suggests a (eventual?) possible betrayal to Misato and WILLE. This is NOT the first time someone's suggested Ritsuko's role as spy/double agent of some sort or being in love with Gendo (if it ever existed). Now, I don't see any evidence of ANY relationship between the two character in the previous movies and judging her role in WILLE, Ritsuko may very well have a position of power that is equal or similar to Misato's and could very be argued she helped her establish the "anti-Nerv" organization. More importantly, Ritsuko had more than 14 years to decide where her loyalties lied and that's ONLY if such a relationship existed. 14 years seems an awfully long time to fixated on someone.

[CorporalChaos]

Ritsuko only stayed by Gendo's side because SEELE raped her.

[Seele00TextOnly]

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[Darkwing]

While I think Gendo must have some sort of mole in Wille (He was able to move way too quickly to recover Shinji) I'm not going to say it's Ritsuko. Aside from the obviousness aspect, there are Seele00textonly's points. Honestly the healthiest thing for Ritsuko EVER would be not bieng intersted in Gendo.[/u]

[K40s]

While I think Gendo must have some sort of mole in Wille (He was able to move way too quickly to recover Shinji) I'm not going to say it's Ritsuko. Aside from the obviousness aspect, there are Seele00textonly's points. Honestly the healthiest thing for Ritsuko EVER would be not bieng intersted in Gendo.[/u]

Why? if Nerv placed unit-01 in space and had the nemesis series guarding it, they would certainly get feedback if their space prison was breached and the security guards protecting it were wiped out...

[Shinoyami65]

Why? if Nerv placed unit-01 in space and had the nemesis series guarding it, they would certainly get feedback if their space prison was breached and the security guards protecting it were wiped out...

They did. They knew Shinji had been recovered, and Gendo sent the Mark.09 to rescue him. The only reason that they didn't take Eva-01 was because Shinji apparently has more priority as an Impact trigger. They may have been trying to get Shinji back when the Nemesis Series Mark 04C attacked, and when that didn't work they sent Eva Mark.09 to do it. They even fitted it with a special jetpack for a fast getaway.

[Darkwing]

Why? if Nerv placed unit-01 in space and had the nemesis series guarding it, they would certainly get feedback if their space prison was breached and the security guards protecting it were wiped out...

Timing. Shinji is with Wille just long enough to wake up and get alienated, but not long enough to adapt, and hear out their side, and for them to mellow out towards him a bit. And if Gendo had any influence over the tesserect, then it's not likely he'd need Wille for Shinji's recovery.

[Kendrix]

Remember that there was no implication that this Ritsuko was actually in a relationship with him. (even if there was a deleted scene implying such a thing, and at least the upper structure of the tube room did make it into the actual movies in Q)
And if she was... then what would that haircut imply?


While Ritsuko seems callous as ever in regards to Shinji (She's like "kill him already, Misato!" all the time, but that's not really that jarring since unlike Misato or Asuka, she never gave a fuck about him to begin with, so it's not that much a change.) what struck me was her line when they actually beat the nemesis series.
"...This is really the ship of hope"
This sounds very uncharacteristic for our usual token cynic/pessimist, while she's still the one proposing the "safe" method all the time, it seems like she did mellow out a bit/ get at least a minute measure of optimism, and it sorta smells of Misato's influence, so maybe their friendship is the reason that Ritsuko ended up on WILLE's side.

yes, Misato changed a lot, but while she is a complete and utter asshole to Shinji, and seems to have lost her once ample concern for human life (Asuka implies her "Motto" completely reversed) one must not forget that numerous other parts of her character stayed very much the same, as we see in the battle scene, her usual reckless tactics, her inspiring speech about finally turning the tides... pretty much good old Misato thinking there, she seems determined to save this world.
Still sufficient to actually convince Ritsuko.

Seems like WILLE is actually a cool, inspiring thing to be part of unless you happen to be the universally reviled prisoner.

[Darkwing]

Oh and let us not forget the single most interesting visual clue we have from Ritsuko. 14 years after the end of the world, and she can still find hair dye!

[Shinoyami65]

Oh and let us not forget the single most interesting visual clue we have from Ritsuko. 14 years after the end of the world, and she can still find hair dye!

Ritsuko spies for Gendo in exchange for hair dye! Of course!

There is an interesting shot of Ritsuko right after Misato fails to press the DSS Choker trigger, where she seems to be looking at Misato with something akin to sympathy, but then hardens her gaze and then gives the order to cease pursuit of Eva Mark.09. I guess she does sympathise with Misato's inability to kill Shinji, but doesn't really share the same feelings (probably because she was never as close to the pilots as Misato).

[CJD]

There is an interesting shot of Ritsuko right after Misato fails to press the DSS Choker trigger, where she seems to be looking at Misato with something akin to sympathy, but then hardens her gaze and then gives the order to cease pursuit of Eva Mark.09. I guess she does sympathise with Misato's inability to kill Shinji, but doesn't really share the same feelings (probably because she was never as close to the pilots as Misato).

The thing that I found interesting about Ritsuko in 3.0 was that, whereas all the other characters belie their thoughts when around Shinji, Ritsuko doesn't. Asuka is angry. Sakura is welcoming but also slightly frightened by him. Misato is cold and distant, but also conflicted and caring. Ritsuko, on the other hand, is just cold and distant. The closest things to emotions she portrays, in regards to Shinji, are caution and urgency. While the rest of the crew are full of emotions about Shinji, from hate to fear to caring, Ritsuko, I think, views him more as a specimen. He's an anomaly, a dangerous one but also an interesting one, and I think that she views him as that.

This, honestly, shouldn't be as surprising as I thought it was when I first noticed it. She's a scientist, and she's always been very scientific, even if she tones it down a bit in personal conversations. She looks at things from a scientific perspective, not an emotional one. She's capable of understanding that other people are less logical and more emotional, but she doesn't share the mindset. She might be capable of it, but if she is she denies the process.

I suppose it's unfortunate Tines isn't watching Rebuild because as far as I know he's the resident Ritsuko expert.

[Mr. Tines]

I suppose it's unfortunate Tines isn't watching Rebuild because as far as I know he's the resident Ritsuko expert.

Well, so far, she'd been relegated to second-tier minor character status...

[Gendo'sPapa]

Ritsuko isn't going to have that much to do in Final. A necessary sacrifice of the movie franchise's shortened runtime & decision to focus almost exclusively on Shinji has relegated Ritsuko to being Misato's sidekick. Ritsuko really exists now just so there's a science whizz present & someone for Misato to bounce her thoughts & actions off of.

If Ritsuko DID have a relationship with Gendo in this telling of the story than it's strictly going to stay in the background. She's not a spy because as previously stated if she wanted to hurt them she had her chance long ago.
ALSO, this view of Ritsuko wanting to kill Shinji at every given chance is hyperbolic. All things considered she's actually being considerate to sit down & tell him all the details (For the most part) in person. She only tells Misato to kill him AFTER the most powerful Evangelion showed up out of the blue & ripped through their lead ship just to get him for their nefarious deeds.

Ritsuko is going to drop a lot of technobabble in Final & maybe even get a good death scene. But don't expect the movie to dedicate any significant time (i.e. mor than 2 minutes) to her as an individual.

[CJD]

Well, so far, she'd been relegated to second-tier minor character status...

You're right, that was pretty stupid of me.

[Kendrix]

Her talk about "punishment" implies that she does blame him, though.

I'm convinced that her haircut is a little nod to fans of the original so that we'd think of it as a post-breakup haircut and that Misato helped her over it/convinced her, inspiring her and making her someone who'd believe in a "ship of hope" or hope in general.
Don't think we'll get flashbacks about it, Ritsuko is basically another bridge bunny at this point. Out of her, Misato, Asuka and Mari as candidated for the secondary tier of characters someone had to get the short end of the stick.

That one look of hers certainly was sympathy for Misato's situation.
The way she talks to her/say her name in the finale when they decide to retreat alsu suggests that they're still quite close/ may have grown even closer during the time skip, as none of them is hiding anything anymore, there's room for a base of trust.

But yeah, she didn't give a fuck about Shinji before, so it's not really a change. If anything, she changed for the better by becoming slightly less cynical.

[Mr. Tines]

a post-breakup haircut

But, please to call it "character development"

Ritsuko is basically another bridge bunny

Exactly. She's had her plot thread excised, and is now just the lead purveyor of technobabble.

[Shinoyami65]

Exactly. She's had her plot thread excised, and is now just the lead purveyor of technobabble.

Well, the films really are all about Shinji. A lot of other plot threads (Misato, Kaji and Ritsuko's college days, Gehirn, etc.) were excised since there's only so much they can pack into only four films. It's frustrating, but there's not much we can do but compain.

[Warren Peace]

"Our chance of winning is zero." I hope Ritsuko starts moving into negative numbers next time she gives Misato the odds of success. There's a reason no one listens to you, Fantine!

[Darkwing]

"Our chance of winning is zero." I hope Ritsuko starts moving into negative numbers next time she gives Misato the odds of success. There's a reason no one listens to you, Fantine!

If you think about it 3I is really Misato and Ritsuko's fault. As we know whenever Misato asks Ritsuko how possible something is, and Ritsuko gives a low number, the chances of sucess are inversly porpotional to the figure given. So all Misato had to do was ask Ritsuko the chances of Shinji safely saving Rei without any horrible consequences, and boom, everything would have been fine.

[Seele00TextOnly]

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