Misato Katsuragi
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2008-07-07T04:40:33Z
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/* Character notes */
{{Infobox animanga character
| name = Misato Katsuragi
| series = '''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise|Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'''
| image = [[Image:Misato Katsuragi.jpg|230px]]
| caption =
| first =
| last =
| creator = [[Hideaki Anno]] (series creator)<br>[[Yoshiyuki Sadamoto]] (character designer)
| voiced by = [[Kotono Mitsuishi]] (Japanese) <br /> [[Allison Keith]] (English)
| nickname =
| alias =
| age = 29
| gender =
| born = December 8, 1986
| death =
| title =
| relatives = Father: Dr. Katsuragi <br /> Owner of: [[List of characters in Neon Genesis Evangelion#Pen Pen|Pen Pen]] <br /> Guardian of: [[Shinji Ikari]] and [[Asuka Langley Soryu]]
}}
{{portal|Evangelion}}
{{nihongo|'''Misato Katsuragi'''|葛城 ミサト|Katsuragi Misato}} is a fictional character from the [[Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise]]. She is the operations director at [[Neon Genesis Evangelion glossary#NERV|NERV]], initially with the rank of captain; she is later promoted to major. In [[Rebuild of Evangelion]], Misato's initial rank is [[lieutenant colonel]]. Her duties at NERV include acting as a field commander for the Eva pilots, issuing orders and relaying battle strategies as well as processing input from [[Ritsuko Akagi]] and the technicians monitoring the Evas. She also handles many bureaucratic aspects of NERV's operations.
At the beginning of the series, Misato first brings [[Shinji Ikari]] to NERV and is able to convince him to pilot the Eva [[Evangelion (mecha)#Evangelion Unit 01|Unit 01]]. She then chooses to have Shinji move in with her rather than live alone, and later takes in [[Asuka Langley Soryu]]. As the series progresses, through her former lover [[Ryoji Kaji]] she learns the truth behind the [[Human Instrumentality Project]] and the depths of deception that NERV and [[Neon Genesis Evangelion glossary#SEELE|SEELE]] have gone to to keep the Project secret, even from her.
==Biography==
As revealed in a flashback <ref>''Evangelion'', [[She said, "Don't make others suffer for your personal hatred."|episode 12]]; also in the manga</ref>, when Misato was 14, she accompanied her father, Dr. Katsuragi (the leader of the Katsuragi Expedition) to [[Antarctica]]. She was badly injured as the [[Neon Genesis Evangelion glossary#Second Impact|Second Impact]] was beginning, but her father placed her in a protective capsule (resembling an [[Neon Genesis Evangelion glossary#Entry Plug|Entry Plug]]) just before he was killed.<ref name="e12">''Evangelion'', episode 12</ref> The capsule saved her life, but her injuries left a large scar on her chest<ref>''Evangelion'', episodes [[MAGMADIVER|10]], 12, and the manga</ref>. Another flashback reveals that she was aboard the ship which brought [[List of characters in Neon Genesis Evangelion#Deputy Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki|Kozo Fuyutsuki]] and [[Gendo Ikari]] to the ruins of Antarctica two years after Second Impact.<ref name="e21">''Evangelion, episode 21</ref> After seeing her in her room, Fuyutsuki was told that she had not spoken since the incident.<ref name="e21"/> Her [[mutism]] went away when she began to attend [[university|college]], and she became more social and talkative, so much so that Ritsuko, while reminiscing about her friendship with Misato and Kaji at that time, thought that Misato seemed to be attempting to "make up for lost time."<ref name="e21"/>
Misato's job(s) before being employed at NERV are not specified, but in the manga her last job involved genetic experimentation on animals, as [[List of characters in Neon Genesis Evangelion#Pen Pen|Pen Pen]] was a result of one such experiment. She chose to keep Pen Pen as a pet rather than let him be [[animal euthanasia|euthanized]], and converted a refrigerator into a heated sleeping area for him.
The [[cross]] pendant that she always wears was put around her neck by her father just before sealing the protective capsule.<ref name="e12"/> It is not revealed in the anime or manga if the pendant has significance to Misato beyond a link to her father, or was of any significance to her father.
According to Misato's ID card,<ref name="e8">''Evangelion'', [[ASUKA STRIKES!|episode 8]]</ref>, she is 1.63 meters tall (slightly over 5 feet 4 inches) and her [[Japanese blood type theory of personality|blood type is AO]] (however the sections of the card listing her age and weight have been scribbled out).
===The End of Evangelion===
In the events of ''[[The End of Evangelion]]'', Misato saves Shinji's life by killing three soldiers under the command of the [[Neon Genesis Evangelion glossary#Japanese Strategic Self Defense Forces (JSSDF)|Japanese Strategic Self Defense Forces]] with her gun. She drags him into her car and drives toward Unit 01's launch bay and is eventually shot in the back while rushing Shinji through the launch bay's door. She shrugs off the wound, then has an intense and emotional conversation with Shinji to get him out of the [[suicide|suicidally]] [[defeatist]] [[emotions|emotional]] state he is in. She gives Shinji her now bloodstained pendant, as well as a [[French kiss]], with a promise to "do the rest" when he gets back. She then shoves Shinji into the elevator to the launch bay, and collapses once the doors close. She asks (the now dead) Kaji if she did "the right thing", remembers Asuka and Pen-Pen, and then dies as the entire area is decimated by the JSSDF, tearing apart her body in the process.<ref>DVD commentary for ''The End of Evangelion''.</ref> Just moments before the explosion, an image of Rei is shown above her body. Her remains are then transformed into [[Neon Genesis Evangelion glossary#LCL|LCL]], which presents the possibility that Misato was [[Human Instrumentality Project|complemented]] and could return to physical form if she had the will to.
===Relationships===
Misato appears to have some sort of affinity to Shinji despite being over twice his age. She finds Shinji's presence to be a grounding and stabilizing influence. In the manga, talking with Shinji at the train station after his first attempt to run away from NERV, Misato confesses to Shinji that she took him in not because she thought it was her duty to do so, but because she was lonely. It becomes apparent to Misato that many of Shinji's problems in dealing with people closely echo her own, although their coping mechanisms are opposites of each other, and that they seem to be caught in a "[[Hedgehog's dilemma]]."<ref>''Evangelion'', [[Hedgehog's Dilemma (Neon Genesis Evangelion episode)|episode 4]]</ref> After Asuka moves in, Misato finds herself often acting as a mediator between Shinji and Asuka. There is also a sexual tension between Shinji and Misato, but this aspect of their relationship is only hinted at (apart from the "adult kiss" scene in ''The End of Evangelion''; however, the context of the scene gives this action multiple possible meanings). More prominently, she tries to be both a friend and a maternal influence for Shinji (which carries over to the other pilots), balancing this with her duties and responsibilities as his commanding officer at NERV. Near the end of the series, Misato and Shinji's shared and separate traumas put distance between them, and Shinji can neither let himself comfort her (''see next paragraph'') nor be comforted by her (in the wake of [[Rei Ayanami]]'s death).<ref>''Evangelion'', [[Rei III|episode 23]]</ref> During her Instrumentality<ref>'"Evangelion'', [[Do you love me?|episode 25]]</ref>, she expresses regret that she was not able to "be a mother for Shinji" in the end. (In the DVD commentary for ''The End of Evangelion'', [[Amanda Winn-Lee]] jokingly states to Misato that "...you cleaned his tonsils with your tongue! That's not a very 'motherly' thing to do!!")
Misato and [[Ryoji Kaji]] were lovers during college (it is implied in both the series and ''The End of Evangelion'' that not only did he take her [[virginity]], but also that they once spent a whole week in bed doing nothing but [[sexual intercourse|having sex]]), but they had long broken up and do not see each other again until she flies out to the [[United Nations|UN]] fleet ferrying [[Evangelion (mecha)#Evangelion Unit 02|Unit 02]] and Asuka to Japan.<ref name="e8"/> After he returns to NERV headquarters, Kaji flirts with Misato, who constantly insults him ("You're stupid", "I hate you", and "Dating you was the biggest blemish of my life."). However, they rekindle their [[Romantic love|romance]] after Misato confesses that she broke up with him because she realized that Kaji reminded her of her father. (In the manga, however, she broke up with Kaji because she felt that he was interested in her solely for sexual reasons, since he himself doubted whether he was capable of [[true love]].) After Kaji reveals that Misato has been kept in the dark by her superiors and Ritsuko about NERV's secrets, she begins to use Kaji to find out what [[Gendo Ikari]]'s [[intention|"true purpose"]] is. This culminates after Shinji is "reborn" from Unit 01's core after the battle with the Angel [[Angel (Neon Genesis Evangelion)#Zeruel|Zeruel]], when Misato and Kaji make love again. Kaji tries to "avoid the subject," but then gives Misato a data capsule containing information on what she requested. (A line of dialogue spoken by Misato during this scene - suggesting that she only smokes after sex, "so you're the only one who knows" - vaguely implies that Misato has never slept with anyone other than Kaji, although this seems to be in contrast to Misato's character as established in former and subsequent episodes.) Before he begins his last assignment (which leads to his murder), Kaji leaves Misato a final phone message encouraging her to move on and to seek the truth using the information he has given her. Misato is devastated and breaks down into tears after hearing the message, revealing - perhaps too late - the sincerity of her feelings for Kaji. After this point, however, she becomes more proactive in learning the truth of the Instrumentality Project for herself - though in the remaining episodes she appears to be subject to recurring sobbing fits when in privacy.
Misato and Ritsuko are friends at the start of the series, and flashbacks reveal that Ritsuko was one of Misato's first friends in college. However, their friendship dissolves as Misato learns more about the Instrumentality Project and Ritsuko's role in its development, as well as her complicity in its secrecy. They also clash frequently (and sometimes violently) over the lives of the Eva pilots during combat, as Ritsuko is willing to sacrifice the pilots if the situation appears to warrant it while Misato is dedicated to their survival. Ritsuko seems disgusted with Misato for going to Kaji immediately after Shinji's "rebirth" from Unit 01 instead of being at home with Shinji<ref>''Evangelion'', [[WEAVING A STORY 2: oral stage|episode 20]]</ref>, and, later, she snidely comments on the fractured relations between Misato, Shinji, and Asuka, which Misato angrily retorts by accusing Ritsuko of substituting her cats for human affection.<ref>''Evangelion'', [[Don't Be.|episode 22]]</ref>
==Personality and psychological health==
While on the job, Misato is very professional and capable, in stark contrast to her life at home. Until Shinji's arrival, her living space was a complete mess. She cannot cook for herself and relies solely on instant food (she is often considered [[disgust|gross]] by Shinji and Ritsuko for combining food like [[ramen]] and [[curry]]). She also drinks copious quantities of [[beer]], and drinks one first thing in the morning to get her day started (later in the series she apparently switches to [[Japanese canned coffee|canned coffee]] as a supplement). She also [[tobacco smoking|smokes]], though only occasionally and only during chaotic events.
For most of the series, Misato has no apparent issues with displaying and emphasizing her femininity, and enjoys the attention this gains her. She enclosed a picture of herself in the NERV materials sent to Shinji when he was summoned to Tokyo-3. In the picture, she is wearing a skimpy outfit with an arrow pointing to her breasts and a caption which is translated in English as "Pay attention" in the Platinum Edition subtitles and "note the cleavage" in the manga. <!--Is this the same halter top and short shorts that she usually wears around the house? I can't remember-->In volume 2 of the manga, Shinji returns home from school to find the apartment unlocked and Misato in the shower; he thinks to himself, "That's not ''safe''...''anyone'' could walk in!" Shinji's friends [[List of characters in Neon Genesis Evangelion#Kensuke Aida|Kensuke Aida]] and [[Toji Suzuhara]] develop crushes on Misato, attention she appears to enjoy. Misato's subordinate, First Lieutenant [[List of characters in Neon Genesis Evangelion#Makoto Hyuga|Makoto Hyuga]], also falls in love with her (though as opposed to Toji and Kensuke, his feelings are sincere, as shown in ''The End of Evangelion''). He often risks his life and job by providing sensitive information to Misato, and agrees to set NERV HQ to self-destruct when [[Angel (Neon Genesis Evangelion)#Tabris|Tabris]] attacks.
Series director Hideaki Anno described Misato as "...a woman, twenty-nine, who lives life so lightly as to barely allow the possibility of human touch. She protects herself by keeping relationships on the surface, and by running away."<ref name="What were we trying to make here?">{{cite book | last = Sadamoto | first = Yoshiyuki | authorlink = Yoshiyuki Sadamoto | others = Essay by [[Hideaki Anno]]; translated by Mari Morimoto, English adaptation by Fred Burke | title = Neon Genesis Evangelion, Vol. 1 | year = 1998 | month = December | origyear = 1995 | origmonth = July | publisher = VIZ Media LLC | location = San Francisco | id = ISBN 1-56931-294-X | pages = 170–171 | chapter = What were we trying to make here? }}</ref> The disparity between her professionalism on the job and her slovenliness at home, as well as her issues in her relationships with her father and Kaji and the ambiguous nature of her relationship with Shinji, ties into her psychological issues. While grateful to her father for saving her life, she also admits to hating him, as he devoted his life to his work and neglected her and her mother. Her reason for joining NERV (and later, her drive to fight the Angels) is related to her issues with her father. Kaji implies in one discussion that Misato suffers from nightmares about her past, as he describes her as "sleeping uncomfortably." Also, Misato admits "seeking her father in Kaji's embrace."<ref>''Evangelion'', [[Take care of yourself.|episode 26]]</ref> In [[Sigmund Freud|Freudian]] terms, this can be interpreted as a confirmation of an [[Electra complex]] (as opposed to Shinji's merely implied equivalent [[Oedipus complex]] for his mother).{{Or|date=September 2007}}<!--Have any papers on Evangelion touched on the complexes?-->
==Character notes==
Like many characters in ''Evangelion'', Misato was named for a ship: the ''[[Japanese aircraft carrier Katsuragi|Katsuragi]]'', an ''Unryū'' class WWII Japanese aircraft carrier. Her given name is from a heroine in Minako Narita's manga ''Aitsu''.<ref>{{cite web | title=''Evangelion'' character names | work=Translation of essay by [[Hideaki Anno]] about character name origins; includes a link to the original essay in Japanese | url=http://www.evacommentary.org/appendix/character-names.html | accessdate=August 19 | accessyear=2007}}</ref>
Misato drives a bright blue [[Renault Alpine A310]]. She is a devotee of this particular marque of car, as on her bedroom wall she has a poster of an earlier [[Alpine A110]] shot from the back duirng a race. She also carries an [[Heckler & Koch USP|H&K USP .40 S&W]] as a sidearm. It is only seen a few times throughout the series, but she is revealed to be a crack shot with it.
In the ''[[Super Robot Wars (series)|Super Robot Wars]]'' games featuring Evangelion and Gundam (UC timeline), Misato gets a crush on ace pilot [[Amuro Ray]], alluding to their seiyuus' other famous anime roles as [[Usagi Tsukino|Sailor Moon]] and [[Mamoru Chiba|Tuxedo Kamen]] respectively. She also makes some Sailor Moon comments when admiring the Nobel Gundam from ''[[Mobile Fighter G Gundam]]'' on ''[[Super Robot Wars MX]]'', and points out similarities in voice with Vega from ''[[Gear Fighter Dendoh]]'' and [[Murrue Ramius]] from ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED]]'' (two other characters voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi).
In Rebuild of Evangelion her hair has been darkened so as not to appear purple. Instead it takes on a black hue. Also in Rebuild, from what can be gleamed from Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone, she is more involved in what's going on at NERV and actually knows about their possession of Lilith.
==References==
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{{Neon Genesis Evangelion}}
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[[Category:Neon Genesis Evangelion characters]]
[[Category:Japanese anime and manga characters]]
[[Category:Fictional captains]]
[[Category:Fictional majors]]
[[Category:Fictional lieutenant colonels]]
[[es:Misato Katsuragi]]
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[[ja:葛城ミサト]]
[[pl:Misato Katsuragi]]
[[ru:Мисато Кацураги]]