re: kaji
I was cleaning out my documents and found this in a word document. I think someone might have said this on the Asuka imageboard or maybe even Evageeks. I wish I knew the author, but I'll repost it because I think it's pretty insightful. NEVERMIND, Google is my friend. Eva Yojimbo posted this on the EvaGeeks forum.
"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."
"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."