Is there anything that backs Asuka's Hype?

[amitakartok]

She has a college degree. She has a job. Why does she need to learn a new language instead of just saying, "Okay, I'll live in Japan until this whole Angel situation is stabilized and then I'll move back to Germany"?

Because she has no way of knowing how long the Angels will keep coming. And Asuka made it clear that she never even considered what's going to happen once her piloting abilities are no longer needed.

[Bagheera]

So she needs to go to school so she can work on her Japanese so she can go to school...

No, she needs to go to school so she can learn to fucking read so she can get by in Japan while she's there, which could be months or years for all she knows. It also keeps up the illusion of normalcy and keeps her out of trouble, which are obvious benefits.

But Asuka went to school in Germany, not Japan. (Not being from Germany I can't say what their standards are.)

But she's in Japan. That's what matters. Germany's standards are irrelevant here because they're not the point of comparison.

[Atropos]

Because she has no way of knowing how long the Angels will keep coming. And Asuka made it clear that she never even considered what's going to happen once her piloting abilities are no longer needed.

The first part is not quite true—Ritsuko makes reference to "the last Angel" to Misato, with the big reveal being that it's Kaworu, not that there is a "last Angel" period. Implying, in other words, that the higher-ups at NERV—if not the general public—are aware that there are a limited number of Angels, and the war is not indefinite.

As for the second bit: yes, she shows nothing but contempt for everything besides Eva piloting. She already has the skills she needs to accomplish that. Why would she then want to learn the language of a country she clearly disdains?

[Monk Ed]

And the point there is not that she understood the concept (which Shinji also understood perfectly well) but that the math was a snap for her. Being able to work through the equation and doing it in your head on the fly are two very different things.

People often forget that part, so to those doubting these words, check out the scene in question: Before the thermal expansion business, Asuka solves a difficult equation for Shinji in literally 5 seconds, with typing time included.

[amitakartok]

The first part is not quite true—Ritsuko makes reference to "the last Angel" to Misato, with the big reveal being that it's Kaworu, not that there is a "last Angel" period. Implying, in other words, that the higher-ups at NERV—if not the general public—are aware that there are a limited number of Angels, and the war is not indefinite.

I know the NERV leadership is aware that there's a limited number of Angels but as Asuka doesn't need to know it in order to do her job, it might be beyond her security clearance.

In fact, keeping her in the dark would help Gendo in driving her crazy by having her suffer and be humiliated by Shinji again and again and again and again, with no end in sight.

[Atropos]

In fact, keeping her in the dark would help Gendo in driving her crazy by having her suffer and be humiliated by Shinji again and again and again and again, with no end in sight.

Was Gendo trying to drive her crazy? I thought he just didn't give a shit about her, since she was completely irrelevant to his plan. (And, in the end, she was!)

[amitakartok]

Irrelevant yes, but for as long as she was capable of piloting, she had the capability to interfere.

I think he wasn't specifically trying to drive her crazy; he just created a situation where the problem solved itself.

[Lavinius]

Why would Gendou even want to break Asuka? How would ruining potentially the best fighter Nerv has advantage him in any way? Nerv's strength, his own pilots' and Evas' strength, are his strength against the rest of the world.

[Atropos]

I think he wasn't specifically trying to drive her crazy; he just created a situation where the problem solved itself.

Saying he "created a situation" still implies that he was deliberately trying to fuck with her. Which he wasn't; I recall Ritsuko saying that they can't let "Rei or Shinji" find out about the secrets of NERV, and doesn't even mention Asuka.

Poor Asuka! Nobody cares about her.

[Dream]

I just always assumed that the children's public reasons for attending schools (with the possible exception of Shinji) were half-baked excuses to keep the children there for various reasons. Nerv/Seele keeping up appearances, Marduk institute grouping all candidate in swiftly accessible areas, Misato wanting to give the kids stable/healthy environments, etc.

Nerv already owns the city anyways, "Needs to improve her Japanese" might as well be a polite codeword for "She's going to go to school because we want her to".

By the way, hearing about some of the real-life examples of young graduates in this thread is a very interesting (and painful! ) experience. Thanks for sharing that.

[Mr. Tines]

When considering any special allowances made, we do have to remember that as the pilot for their ruinously expensive Evangelion, Asuka was pretty much the justification for the whole on-going NERV German branch. Special treatment for pilot training would come out of the small change.

University systems do differ greatly between countries -- the US system of picking some odd side courses over 4+ years is not universal. By contrast, my first degree came on the strength of sitting a set of papers just on mathematics, in May 76,77 and 78. And, strictly, the first 2 sets don't actually count on the final result.

[amitakartok]

Why would Gendou even want to break Asuka? How would ruining potentially the best fighter Nerv has advantage him in any way?

Getting her out of the way.

For example, if Asuka would've beaten Zeruel (somehow), that would've put a massive dent in Gendo's plans (but not SEELE's). Despite being a glorified meatshield in Gendo's scenario, Asuka still has the potential to interfere - but she's also mentally unstable enough for circumstances to put her out of the way, without him having to take an active role in it.

[ElMariachi]

For example, if Asuka would've beaten Zeruel (somehow), that would've put a massive dent in Gendo's plans (but not SEELE's).

In NTE yeah, but absolutely not in NGE, here Gendo's plan is to get rid of all the Angels and then use the ADAM embryo , Rei and Lilith to launch his own version of Instrumentality, Asuka is completely irrelevant and won't be able to do anything to stop him once his Instrumentality starts, or how do you think she could had stopped an intangible monster giant even in an Eva's standards?

[Monk Ed]

No, amitakartok meant it for NGE, because Zeruel is the Angel from which Eva-01 acquires its S2 engine. Not that I agree that that's a reason to break Asuka; that whole situation has more of an air of taking advantage of a situation than a carefully-laid plan. Taking an S2 into herself had a lot more to do with Yui's plans than Gendo's anyway; Gendo had all the trump cards he needed for his own as far back as episode 14, by his own words.

[ElMariachi]

Gendo had all the trump cards he needed for his own as far back as episode 14, by his own words.

Pretty much, EVA-01 getting a S² organ was just an unexpected icing on the cake.

[Bagheera]

Pretty much, EVA-01 getting a S² organ was just an unexpected icing on the cake.

It was central to Yui's plan, actually, and if Unit 02 had gotten one it would have made her a credible threat no matter the scenario. But it's unlikely that would happen given that Kyoko had no designs on becoming a god; it just wouldn't be a factor for her regardless.

That said I agree Gendo probably never gave Asuka the slightest thought.

[Coldwire]

Actually he did once. Well, he was referring to unit 02. I'm talking about ep 22, when Fuyutsuki objects about using the lance, Gendo mentions that it wouldn't be a good idea to lose unit 02 yet or something like that. They needed her to help defeat the other angels albeit admittedly she didn't really help much until EoE.

[Reichu]

They needed her to help defeat the other angels albeit admittedly she didn't really help much until EoE.

Seems like all she accomplished in EoE was getting Seele to go "oh, fuck it" and send in their clown posse slightly earlier. And also getting Eva-02 ripped apart into carrion. Good job, Asuka.

[ElMariachi]

Well, it did delayed the MP-Evas long enough so Gendo could start his plan, or at least would had started it, had Rei didn't decided to start her teenage rebellious phase at that exact moment.
So yeah, Asuka served her purpose in Gendo's plan: Angel exterminator and meat shield once the open war against SEELE begins.

[Reichu]

Well, it did delayed the MP-Evas long enough so Gendo could start his plan, or at least would had started it, had Rei didn't decided to start her teenage rebellious phase at that exact moment.

Gendo seemed to start his plan immediately after Yui activated, and Yui did THAT immediately after the Soryus died. It's like Yui wanted access to the MP Evas, but didn't want any would-be heroes in her way. If that's true, then all Asuka really did was alter the timeline by some insignificant amount, assuming that if she hadn't done something to piss Kiel off and make him send in the harpies, Yui would have lured them in herself. (Or Seele would have just sent them down all the same, since the underlying reason they were flown in was to trigger Third Impact on site.)

Though I guess seeing Eva-02's grotesque corpse provided at least some useful destrudo fuel for Operation Destroy My Son's Sanity. So Asuka played her part by going down with her mom in horrific fashion. Good work, Soryu-kun!