Counting Down the 20 Coolest Characters in Anime - #2 Asuka Langley Soryu, Neon Genesis Evangelion

"What are you stupid?"

I mean, I guess for some people this one doesn't make as much sense as say, Simon. I'm following up the pinnacle of awesomeness with a character from Evangelion? Blasphemy I say! Conventional logic tells us that the characters from Evangelion aren't so much cool as they are screwed up. Asuka Langley Soryu's cute smile and lovely features hide the fact that she's a deeply broken girl on the inside. So she's a crazy girl with psychological issues and a bad case of the Hedgehog's Dilemma, yea buddy that sounds real cool. But hey, I said before this list isn't about which character is coolest than who despite the tagline for this series. Characters can be cool is several ways and what makes Asuka so cool is the fact that she's a really good character. One of the best developed and most loved characters in anime. She's actually my favorite character of all-time, if I may fanboy a little here.

Asuka actually doesn't show up until about eight episodes into Evangelion's run. In a show whose principal characters to that point are: a meek and awkward 14 year old boy and  a seemingly emotionless girl who may or may not be entirely human; Asuka is a breath a fresh air. She certainly has the most personality out of the three EVA pilots, mostly due to the fact that she's prodigiously smart and exceptionally skilled when it comes to piloting the EVA. To some, Asuka acts like an alpha bitch and has a rather rude personality but it's shown that theres much more underneath. Asuka's distractors however are definitely outweighed by the number of fans that she has. She's easily the most popular of EVA's three main characters (though Rei has a rather large fanbase herself). Most of it comes from the fact that she's the epitome of the tsundere, a title that has been given to several other female characters on this list. Of all the tsundere's in anime, Asuka might be the most famous of all of them. Her personality often leads to the shows more hilarious moments (this being EVA those disappear later in the series). So yes, Asuka's personality is awesome, Tiffany Grant does an amazing job voicing her even though her Japanese counterpart is the more famous one. Asuka becomes known for frequently saying "baka" in reference to Shinji. In Japanese it's basically a word for stupid. As an EVA pilot, Asuka is lethally effective and has her moments of badassery. The episode where she and Shinji have to synchronize their moves together to beat an Angel has to be one of my favorite episodes in any anime ever. In the new Rebuild of Evangelion series, Asuka remains awesome, though is much more friendly than she was in the original series. However, she gets a pretty sweet eyepatch in the third movie.

When I say that Asuka is a very good, deep, complex character I really do mean it. Evangelion is a show that goes deep into the minds of humans and is one of the best analyses of the human condition that I have ever seen. It was the first show that I ever watched that made self analyze myself and I think any show that affects you in a real way is a great one. Asuka's condition is rather complex. As a child, Asuka was left without a mother and she resolved that she was never going to need anyone ever again. Behind Asuka's loud and confident personality theres a girl who is broken and alone. Evangelion explores the Hedgehog's Dilemma that humans are too afraid to get close to one another because they are afraid of being hurt. Asuka's makes up for how alone she feels by pushing people away and being mean even though deep down she just wants to be close to someone. Her illusion of being grown up means that she thinks that she doesn't ever need anyone because she's mature beyond her years. Theres much more to Asuka's condition than I've listed here, you'll have to watch Evangelion to really get the whole story. However, that is what makes Asuka such a great character, the hidden layers beneath the surface. Sure, what you may find could be distrubing and uncomfortable but that is what Evangelion does. Asuka isn't the biggest badass on this list but she's the one with the most depth and that is what really counts for me.