So what did Asuka see in Kaji?

[Lavinius]

No, the answer is "Asuka's an entitled teenager."

Her delusion there goes beyond what can be dismissed by mere pride, and she isn't lacking knowledge of society, so I call it craziness, the word for the unspeakable.

Really, I don't know why you're asking those questions since they aren't interesting. The interesting one is "why did she want Kaji?" That's what I was addressing earlier.

How's that an interesting question? She wanted Kaji because Kaji is Kaji.
What I'm trying to understand is Asuka's state of mind regarding Kaji. What does she actually think about their relationship? Why does she think this? Why does she think that she thinks this?

[Monk Ed]

What does she actually think about their relationship? Why does she think this? Why does she think that she thinks this?

It seems obvious enough just on the surface that she thinks things like "Kaji's the only man who's man enough for me!" I think to a very large degree she's not thinking any more deeply about it.

[Chuckman]

Asuka avoids thinking too deeply. That way lies ~die with me~.

[Kendrix]

The way she cries for him in episode 22 pretty much exposes him as a parental substitute before anything else.
Except, her actual father cheated on her mom, and she doesn't want to rely on anyone, least of all on men. She saw her father have a horrible sort of power over Kyoko; He left her, and that contributed to her going nuts, even if the accident sure helped. (Or that's how Asuka seems to have percieved it. "Your daddy hates your mommy. No, he probably didn't want us to begin with...") so she sees love as entwined with power play - and she wants to be the one exerting the power, not the one being controled/ dependant.
And there is that whole complex about wanting ti be an "adult"
Simply put, her self-image could afford an older boyfriend way more than a father figure.
Similar statements could be made about her relations to her housemates.
And, I mean, he is suave and cool and all stuff. Kinda like the sort of actor or teacher your average teen would have a puppy crush on. It just got a bit... out of hand with Asuka, because her situation is not that of an average teen.

I think he handles it quite appropiately, you could tell that he was being careful not to make her feel rejected/insulted. ("I'm honored"*no further reaction*)

[Ornette]

What I'm trying to understand is Asuka's state of mind regarding Kaji. What does she actually think about their relationship? Why does she think this? Why does she think that she thinks this?

Simple, because Kaji is Kaji.

[Bagheera]

How's that an interesting question? She wanted Kaji because Kaji is Kaji.
What I'm trying to understand is Asuka's state of mind regarding Kaji. What does she actually think about their relationship? Why does she think this? Why does she think that she thinks this?

I addressed that here. I don't know what else to tell you.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Asuka sees in Kaji the same thing I see in Kaji: Ultra-manly charm. Seriously, he's like a Japanese version of Will Smith. What teenage girl wouldn't fall for him?

[NemZ]

Lavinius: You need to do a better job explaining what it is you're confused about.

[Chuckman]

Asuka sees in Kaji the same thing I see in Kaji: Ultra-manly charm. Seriously, he's like a Japanese version of Will Smith. What teenage girl wouldn't fall for him?

Rei.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Rei.

LOL! But Rei's technically 9 years old. (Among a great many other things.)

[Charsi]

What does she see in Kaji?

Validation. She picked the coolest grown-up she could find that hung around for any length of time and badgered for him to accept her as a partner. Not as a child or a subordinate, but a partner, and is willing to do whatever she thinks will earn acceptance as his peer.

She finds validation in the acceptance of others, and where they "rank" relative to her defines what sort of validation she wants from each individual. She wants a relationship with Kaji's to validate her as his peer. She wants Shinji's praise to validate her as his superior. She (probably?) wants to do certain things with Misato - shopping and whatnot - for validation as an adult and/or woman. She wants to turn down an endless wave of schoolboy confessions to validate her as someone way out of their league. I imagine it would have been enough had Kaji even pretended to be amenable to an adult relationship; she has no intention of carrying through since all she seeks is the validation that comes from recognition. But she'd pretend to follow through, just like she pretends to date various men.

She's constantly searching for how she is perceived by others, mentally placing those others in the social hierarchy relative to her, determining what sort of perception they SHOULD have of her, and acting out in a way that encourages it. She plays games to draw out people's opinions of her out or to make them think thoughts of her that she wants them to have.

You might think that's an awfully Machiavellian description but she's not a bad person in and of itself. She just has no sense of self worth, probably because of her past/upbringing. She tells herself she doesn't need anyone when the exact opposite is true, she needs everyone to constantly reinforce how much she's needed and how valuable she is.

k, that's my Asuka essay out of the way, heh. Refutations welcome.

[Bagheera]

k, that's my Asuka essay out of the way, heh. Refutations welcome.

No, I think you're pretty much spot on there. Tying that need for validation not just to Kaji but to everyone else as well in a good point, and one that's often overlooked.

[Gus Hanson]

I always thought it was just a simple case of puppy love.

[AlexanderSoryuu]

The way she cries for him in episode 22 pretty much exposes him as a parental substitute before anything else.

While I agree that NGE has some incest undertones, your logic is beyond me. She wanted to have sex with Kaji. Not because of her dad, but because of herself. She's selfish, she wants to feel better about herself. She needs to feed her ego. If she doesn't feed it, then it'll shrink, if it shrinks, then 'DIE WITH ME INTENSIFIES'. Feeding her ego is her way of running from her true self, it's her own way of fighting the emptiness and darkness of her heart 'that will never disappear as long as we remain human'.

See, that's why she wants Kaji. An adult, someone worthy of the great Asuka! Someone who's not a lil' kid, someone cool.

But the ultimate proof that Kaji isn't a parental substitute for her is the moment in episode 22 in which she sees Shinji next to Kaji and realizes that he's replaced her feelings for Kaji. If you tell me that she sees Shinji as a parental substitute, then the discussion is over.

[Rei IV]

But the ultimate proof that Kaji isn't a parental substitute for her is the moment in episode 22 in which she sees Shinji next to Kaji and realizes that he's replaced her feelings for Kaji. If you tell me that she sees Shinji as a parental substitute, then the discussion is over.

More like Kaji substituted any affection/feelings he had for Asuka on to Shinji, thus leaving her raging on the fact that she's been replaced.....Or least that's my *twisted* interpretation of the scene.

[AlexanderSoryuu]

More like Kaji substituted any affection/feelings he had for Asuka on to Shinji, thus leaving her raging on the fact that she's been replaced.....Or least that's my *twisted* interpretation of the scene.

I like that, very much so. It's a pretty decent assumption that has basis but the "Why are you there?! You won't do anything! You won't help me! You won't even hold me! No one! No one! No one!" lines seem to imply what I described in the earlier post, and I believe that theory was featured on 'Asuka and Shinji's relationship, Theory and Analysis' as well.

Either way, I love your interpretation a lot and am looking forward to seeing you make more interesting points.

[Rei IV]

It's actually just a joke on my part. Mr. Tines, one of the admins here, was the one who came up with that "theory" when Evangelion 2.0 was released, or at least the camrip, some years ago, probably referencing the famous scene were Kaji comes on/attempts to kiss Shinji. I believed the joke stemmed as a slight against LAS, pretty much mocking the idea of Asuka and Shinji together hence the "conclusion" that Asuka is in fact jealous that Shinji is the object of Kaji's affections. You'd be surprise the wide range of different views/interpretations folks on these boards have in regards to certain characters, scenes, and etc....

Being a hardcore Yaoi fangirl trapped in gay man's body, I totally like the idea of Kaji taking an interest in Shinji leaving Asuka raging.....Nothing against our beloved fiery redhead, though.

[AlexanderSoryuu]

It's actually just a joke on my part. Mr. Tines, one of the admins here, was the one who came up with that "theory" when Evangelion 2.0 was released, or at least the camrip, some years ago, probably referencing the famous scene were Kaji comes on/attempts to kiss Shinji. I believed the joke stemmed as a slight against LAS, pretty much mocking the idea of Asuka and Shinji together hence the "conclusion" that Asuka is in fact jealous that Shinji is the object of Kaji's affections. You'd be surprise the wide range of different views/interpretations folks on these boards have in regards to certain characters, scenes, and etc....

Being a hardcore Yaoi fangirl trapped in gay man's body, I totally like the idea of Kaji taking an interest in Shinji leaving Asuka raging.....Nothing against our beloved fiery redhead, though.

I love the whole concept of it, and in a way, it has some basis seeing Shinji's look and position in the scene. It's thought provoking, which is always a great thing. Well, it feels like I'm derailing the thread now so I'll just ask if it's alright for me to PM you sometimes, I'd like to discuss Rei IV with someone who isn't anally devastated because his precious Rei isn't cooking anymore. I'm one of those poor souls who think the 'change' in her character was great.

Not a hardcore yaoi, or a yuri for that matter, fanboy myself but I still find the 'Kanji x Shinji' scene in 2.22 to be the most hilarious scene in Evangelion, cracks me up everytime.


In order to feel better about myself and this post, I'll just add that I firmly believe Asuka views Kaji as a tool to make herself feel better and ultimately doesn't feel any huge respect for him. Kaji, ol' sport, you're still stuck in the vibrator zone.

[NemZ]

More like Kaji substituted any affection/feelings he had for Asuka on to Shinji, thus leaving her raging on the fact that she's been replaced.....Or least that's my *twisted* interpretation of the scene.

Kinda? Kaji fairly obviously tried to shift her advances onto Shinji, and treated Shinji much more like a parent than he ever did for Asuka. In some ways this parallels Shinji's early frustrations on learning of Rei's relationship with Gendo and that neither was responding to him as he wanted them to.

[K40s]

Taking into account Misato kissing Shinji in EoE, How would you think Asuka would have reacted if Kaji actually responded to her advances?

Screw this! the world is already fucked up, I'm getting me some jailbait!!