So what did Asuka see in Kaji?

[tehprognoob]

One thing that's been on my mind is that Asuka's inexplicably attracted to Kaji. Why? He's around twice her age and is a total playboy, so why did Asuka like him???
One explanation that I came up with in the shower(to convince myself that my favorite anime character was NOT a ****): She saw him as more of a father than possible love, but because she saw the fatherhood so late, her feelings for him developed late. Here's a supporting article for my theory. (scroll down to "the Stages") (discretion advised... this psychology @#$% is pretty disturbing.)

[Legendary]

Yeah, because so many teenage girls FLASH their fathers.

[Sailor Star Dust]

Asuka latches on to Kaji as a father figure of sorts (I cannot emphasize the "of sorts" enough), and 13~14 is around the time teenagers start to develop serious crushes anyway. She likes the fact Kaji's charming, handsome, and smart, traits she probably wishes she could see more of in Shinji.

In terms of Freud and psychologically-speaking:, Asuka's crush on Kaji could be due to not having a male role model in her own life. Due to what little we know of Langley and Asuka's stepmother however, Asuka doesn't seem to have a father complex. (Misato and Shinji on the other hand... Although Shinji has a mother complex as well.)

By the way, please try to make your writing style more legible: http://wiki.evageeks.org/EvaGeeks_Forum_Rules_and_Guidelines#Posting

[Reichu]

Kaji is the cool adult male in Asuka's life -- I'm not sure exactly what he does, but they seem to spend a lot of time together for Nerv-related reasons -- who has become the unwitting target of Asuka's misguided efforts to be confirmed as an adult to the fullest. In her mind, this requires being seen as more than just jailbait by the cool adult male. Her most daring effort is a total failure, but Asuka will be damned if she'll give up!

...how did I do?

[Agent_Koopa]

Does there need to be an explanation beyond "hot older male"? Even in Evangelion, not everything has to happen for a reason.

[skikes]

Freud... Let me first inform you that no respected psychologist would ever really reference Freud. Most of his hypothesis have been completely disregarded. They've stayed prevelant because at the time his ideas were quite shocking and dealt with a lot of very taboo subject matter and so in infamy his name became synonymous with psychology. Not all of his findings are bat-shit crazy and some, on a very basic level can still be applicable today but Fraudian purists are generally snubbed.

Not that even in this case Freudian psychology would aply to Asuka.
Asuka is 14 and so if Kaji is twice her age that would make him 28. I don't think that would qualify him as a "father figure".
He's handsome, charming and yes, he's a "player". To be attracted to that kind of male isn't fraudian it's basic animal instinct. Kaji is an alpha male.

[Sailor Star Dust]

Actually, Kaji's 30. ( at Asuka.)

Reichu: Sounds good to me at least.

[Eric Blair]

Two Words: Elektra Complex.

[Reichu]

Two Words: Elektra Complex.

According to Freud, a girl, like a boy, is originally attached to the mother figure. However, during the phallic stage, when she discovers that she lacks a penis, she becomes libidinally attached to the father figure, and imagines that she will become pregnant by him, all the while becoming more hostile toward her mother. Freud attributes the character of this developmental stage in girls to the idea of "penis envy", where a girl is envious of the male penis. According to the theory, this penis envy leads to resentment towards the mother figure, who is believed to have caused the girl's "castration." The hostility towards the mother is then later revoked for fear of losing the mother's love, and the mother becomes internalized, much the same as the Oedipus complex.

Okay, yeah, Asuka has resentment towards her mom, but we're missing the whole "wants her daddy" part. Nice (i.e. lazy, do better next time!) try, though...

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

There's an awful lot of complexes being thrown about here. I had always assumed that as the most dashing double agent in Tokyo-3, Kaji would naturally be an object of allure for Asuka. She's not Shinji.

[NemZ]

1) He's an attractive human male who puts up with most of her crap.
2) He's an adult; while normally that would be a turn off, Asuka desperately wants to be seen by others as a self-sufficient adult and she views sex as a way to somehow prove this.
3) It's entirely likely Asuka has not had any appropriate role models at all, nor any similarly-aged companions on which to crush.

[Reichu]

I had always assumed that as the most dashing double agent in Tokyo-3, Kaji would naturally be an object of allure for Asuka.

Asuka threw her boobs at Kaji before she had even set foot in Tokyo-3.

@NemZ: Sounds mostly like a restatement of what I said.

[Eric Blair]

Okay, yeah, Asuka has resentment towards her mom, but we're missing the whole "wants her daddy" part.

You're thinking of Langley; I am simply reinforcing the notion she loves her "daddy" however, since she has no real parental figure, like Shinji, she latches onto the closest thing she has in that department, i.e. Kaji.

Notice how I am NOT ruling out her attraction to him, simply giving it a more conceptualized name, that also parallels Shinji's own Oedipal complex.

Nice (i.e. lazy, do better next time!) try, though...

Luckily for me, I don't value my sense of self by you saying I rock at posting, Reichu darling.

[Eva Yojimbo]

The right answer (no seriously, it is, read on):

Asuka's psychology is bound up with her childhood trauma and, especially, her early disillusionment and rejection of the typical comforts of childhood. Especially having a mother and father to rely on for everything. She decides to become extremely independent at an early age; swearing she will never need anyone else. Later on this produces her superiority complex in that she feels that she can't ever show any weakness or she'll be hurt like she was when her mother rejected her. But this doesn't stop her from secretly WANTING that security. She wants to give in to someone who can take care of her, comfort her, and allow her to be the innocent, care-free child she never got to be. All throughout NGE she challenges Shinji to become that person; especially brilliantly depicted by Anno in the famous "Walls of Jericho" scene/allusion which links to her ep. 23' mind rape.

It's not that Kaji represents a father figure per-say but rather that he represents the projection of individual comfort and stability that she longs for herself. Asuka sees in Kaji what she WANTS to be. She wants to be so cool and comfortable with herself, but she's unconsciously not, and because Kaji seems to very much be, she naturally latches on to him to be the one to take care of her. Notice how much more passive and submissive she acts towards Kaji (like a little girl) compared to the tough persona she puts on around Shinji. With Kaji she wants to be submissive, with Shinji she has to be dominant because she doesn't dare submit to someone so obviously weak. Hence her constant challenges to Shinji disguised as criticism.

[AuraTwilight]

He's hot as hell.

[Sailor Star Dust]

Yojimbo: Good job with the speicfics you went into. I forgot about some of those points when posting earlier.

Also: 22' was Asuka, 23' was Rei.

[Eva Yojimbo]

Thanks, SSD. I always wonder when I post stuff on the Discussion Boards these days just how much of this has become common knowledge. Though I guess there's always a cross-section of newbs and NGE "scholars" lurking around.

[Reichu]

Jimbo: Good post -- but it should have incorporated the stuff about Asuka trying to use Kaji to validate her "adulthood" for completeness. NGE hardly shies away from the paradoxes common in human experience. Asuka can want to be an adult AND be a child again at the same time; it wouldn't be out of the question for Kaji to be a focal point of harshly conflicting desires.

[Eva Yojimbo]

Thanks, Reichu. The only reason I didn't include that aspect (her wanting to validate her adulthood) was because it was already mentioned above. I guess for completeness, though, I should have. But between the lot of us I think we've thoroughly answered the OP's question. :)

[Mr. Tines]

Notice how much more passive and submissive she acts towards Kaji

I wouldn't qualify her behaviour as exactly passive when she's getting close to trying to rape him



She does act much girlier to him -- that message she leaves on his phone; how she glomps him.

This is all as mysterious as if she were having a crush on Dr. No era Sean Connery (plus hands on access).