Misato's Major

[Number 44]

Misato and Ritsuko went to college together right? It's fairly obvious what Ritsuko's field of study was, but does the series ever state what Misato took which qualified her to work at NERV?

If not, any guesses?

[InstrumentalityOne]

I think it was never mentioned in the anime nor manga.

Maybe Economics/Managament for managing NERVs personnel?

Or maybe she just needed ANY master to work for NERV.

Some organizations are like that.

[berto]

ROTC?

There is no real information on what Misato and Kaji studied that qualified them at their jobs. Usually spies are trained in military compounds and NERV officers are supposed to be part of the UN (I think) so she might've been trained by them. Ether that or Misato got that job because or her friendship with Ritsuko.

[InstrumentalityOne]

Either that or Misato got that job because or her friendship with Ritsuko.

Misato´s father was involved in the Second Impact affair too.

[oOoOoOo]

In Canada, at least, the military will pay for your education and you can get fast-tracked to officer status, and they own you for X years after the fact. I don't think it really matters what your degree is. Her Nerv training would have been separate, I think. Her tactical chops, athletic abilities, and people skills (along with various connections) would have helped her out. Plus, Nerv's going to want to keep a survivor of that experiment close at hand.

Hey, maybe Kaworu was birthed from the scar on her stomach.

You're welcome.

[The Abhorrent]

While there is no real concrete evidence for this, I'm guessing education. That's mostly the case of the AU seen in episode 26, but there just might be another reason. Asuka is cited as having a college degree herself at the age of 13. Considering her special status as an Eva pilot, it's entirely possible she received some form of home-schooling so she could cover the subjects more quickly.

Considering Misato was Asuka's guardian before Kaji (though I have no idea for how long), it's entirely possible she could've been Asuka's teacher (up through to high school diploma level at least). She may have even taught the young Eva pilot how to speak Japanese as well (writing & reading it.... must've slipped), which would've been necessary for her eventual move to Tokyo-3.

The only issues I can forsee with this is the fact Misato is never shown to speak German (though it's implied she was in Germany when caring for Asuka), but there's also no evidence that she can't either. So that could quite simply be a "why not?" senario. The other is Asuka's college degree, which is never really elaborated upon. It would presumably have to come from an official institution, and (presumably) isn't an honorary degree. Whatever Asuka would likely be covering would rival the extents of Misato's formal eduation, though she could easily be a great tutor for those subjects as well. It's a gray area in any case. If Misato had a background in education, it could why she was assigned to be Asuka's guardian before the start of the series. And why she's shown to be a teacher in the AU segment of episode 26.


Connect the dots, fill in the blanks, make something up.... well, we may never know the real answer.

[Dirty Mick]

Hey, maybe Kaworu was birthed from the scar on her stomach.

That must've been one hellova c-section.

[Allemann]

There is nothing in Misato's behavior that shows she had an university education. She must have gotten her diploma with her body.

[CATO]

There is nothing in Misato's behavior that shows she had an university education.

How so? Could you please elaborate on that?
If you're making reference to her promiscuity, irrational behaviour, impulsiveness and "matter of fact" approach to life, then you're describing the best of my classmates.

[berto]

Misato´s father was involved in the Second Impact affair too.

Well, yeah, but she can't exacly ask him to use his connections to help her get the job. Sure, his name can get her resume to stick out from the rest but that's about all.

There is nothing in Misato's behavior that shows she had an university education. She must have gotten her diploma with her body.

I don't know, I don't think she ever got passed her college phase. She lives like a college student, off bear and junk food, but she definitly shows like she knows what she's doing at work. It's not like she's ever had to ask someone to dumb down what they are saying or if she was ever at a loss of for words or actions during crunch time. She does her job well, it's her personal life that gives that impression.

[Azathoth]

Getting Piss Drunk with a minor in Fucking Anyone Who Reminds Me Of Dad.

Honestly though, what was she studying? She never shows any knowledge of anything other than vapid, down-to-earth life advice and matters strategic. A lot of people never seem to take it into account, but Misato has to have some real military training, and it's never addressed in the series, not even at the point where she kills three armored soldiers armed with assault rifles by way of a single handgun, without reloading or taking cover, in a matter of literally seconds. And then takes about two heartbeats to get herself under control.

It's moments like that which make you feel that there's really a good deal more to Misato than being a drunken chump with an Electra complex, but unfortunately Anno never really explores it. I have a little hope for Rebuild on that front, actually, because they do have to tell us what went down at 2I and that will hopefully lead into a bit of Misato backstory. And isn't there a scene in the trailer of Misato choking somebody or something?

My best guess: she went to college on military scholarship, majored in Communications or something easy, and got her degree more for the sake of having one that for any academic discipline in particular, because it's necessary to get into OCS (I actually have no idea if that's true for the JSDF but I would assume so).

[Gamer137]

SEELE may be behind it knowing her Dad died in Antarctica and she's the only survivor. I doubt any kind of regular college education is going to place you third in command of four Eva units. Well almost four units. Of course she could have just entered an Operations Management course and finished up at a military institution.

[soul.assassin]

For me, the likely course that Misato would've pursued was, like some of the posters here, Management and Administration at a military institution; otherwise, as a high-school teacher in the Ep. 26 AU she would've taken up Education.

IMHO it's pretty obvious as to what Kaji's educational attainment was: considering his writings in the fictional "2015" book, more likely he majored in Philosophy.

[oOoOoOo]

There is nothing in Misato's behavior that shows she had an university education. She must have gotten her diploma with her body.

Dear misogynist and/or troll, please cut off your fingers and disconnect your internet.

[Voland]

All I can say about this is...



I´d stop the "I know how people with a degree should be like". Whether I like to binge drink, fuck microwaved melons and cross-dress and role play as your mom (dear reader, please take no offence, that´s a generic "your mom") has NO RELATION WHATSOEVER to whether I didn´t graduate, graduated with an easy degree, or I became a neurosurgeon after 15 years.

[ran1]

Dear misogynist and/or troll, please cut off your fingers and disconnect your internet.

I'm sorry to agree with Allemann, but after this line of reasoning here:

I don't know, I don't think she ever got passed her college phase. She lives like a college student, off beer and junk food

I find it somewhat difficult to believe that she got through college on her own without the help of big daddy NERV. Not to say that she slept around for it, but considering that her lover's a superspy and her daddy caused second impact...

It's that old Hollywood adage: "it's all in who you know."

[oOoOoOo]

This is going to blow your mind, ran1, but I used to attend lectures intoxicated. I used to throw up and then keep on drinking. I did drugs every single day. I used to have sex with people whose names I didn't even know, sometimes two at once. I've given blow jobs to strangers in nightclub bathrooms, while drunk and on drugs, after throwing up earlier that night. I ate poorly and never cleaned my room. I was an adolescent camwhore. Oh, and I was obviously bipolar the entire time. I used to take a few shots before breakfast, too.

Guess what? Between grade seven and the day I got my bachelors degree, I was on the honour roll every fucking year.

If I can do it, someone as tame as Misato sure as hell can.

[carla]

wow, are we discussing how smart Misato is, now? funny, i never thought her stupid. and i was always sure that she had finished her college degree, whatever it was. it seems inconceivable to me that NERV, which is a subset of the UN, would hire someone without a college degree as an operations director.

sure, she's lazy and her personal life is a mess, but most of the time she seems to follow all the bridge bunnies' technobabble and ritsuko's explanations without much of a problem. these explanations may be watered down to laymen's terms for ease of understanding, but i'd hardly think not knowing every minutia of ritsuko's post-post-post-doctorate in metabioengineering means she's unintelligent.

as for her degree, i always thought management, myself, or maybe economics, complemented with military training. for Kaji, i always thought international relations, for some reason (seems fitting if you want to work for the UN. i don't think he originally set out to be a super spy), or maybe something in the area of humanities, like psychology or english. well, not english english 'cause Kaji can't speak a word of it (lol ), but... you know, language, writing, something like that. again, complemented by military training. in the james bond school of espionage. or at least the german branch of it.

[Oz]

I strongly believe Misato majored in the elaborate studies of Fanservice.

[wyze2099]

I strongly believe Misato majored in the elaborate studies of Fanservice.

Nah, that was her minor. :)

But seriously, I have to agree with those who say that Misato is MUCH smarter than she's often given credit. Sure, she's a lush and a slob in her off time, but that seems more a case of her not really knowing what to do with her off time. Her personal baggage comes back to haunt her thoughts when she slows down long enough, but whenever she's doing her job as a tactical commander, she shows competence and brilliance. She has her game face on. She does her best work under pressure, with the fate of the world on her shoulders.

While Misato doesn't remind everyone of her college education with every sentence she speaks like Ritsuko, she's not stupid. She never was.