Games - Misato Katsuragi

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	Games - Misato Katsuragi

Misato Katsuragi (葛城ミサト Katsuragi Misato) is a fictional character from the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion and The End of Evangelion movie. She is the head of operations at NERV, initially with the rank of captain. She is later promoted to major.

At the beginning of the series, Misato first brings Shinji to NERV and encourages him to pilot the EVA-01. She then chooses to have Shinji move in with her rather than live alone.

Misato was with her father, the leader of the Katsuragi Expedition to Antarctica, during the Second Impact which killed the entire expedition except Misato. Before he died, Misato's father placed 14-year-old Misato in a protective capsule (which looks like an Entry Plug) which saved her life. She has a deep scar on her chest from that incident, and became mute and refused social interaction for several years after. 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 is related to her issues with her father. She always wears a cross pendant which her father put around her neck before sealing the protective capsule.

After her period of mute catatonia, her personality changed when she began to attend college, where she became more social and talkative. (Ritsuko, whom she met in college, commented that she talks so much it's as if she's attempting to "make up for lost time"). At the time of the series, she is very extroverted (and some would say alcoholic). She exhibits great concern for the Eva pilots under her command; indeed, she is something of a surrogate mother to Shinji in particular, and after Asuka arrives in Japan, she also lives with Misato. Misato also has a strong drive to fight the Angels.

Misato dated Ryoji Kaji during college, but they had long broken up and do not see each other again until she flies out to the UN fleet ferrying EVA-02 and its pilot Asuka Langley Sohryu to Japan. After he returns to NERV headquarters, Kaji and Misato flirt and fight: Kaji teasing Misato, and Misato constantly insulting him: ("You're stupid," "I hate you," and "Dating you was the biggest blemish of my life.") But they rekindle their 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 perceived him to be interested in her solely for sexual reasons since he doubted whether he was capable of true love.

Beautiful, gregarious, and sassy, Shinji's friends Kensuke and Toji develop quite a crush on Misato, and she is often regarded as the fans' favorite character in the series. While on the job, Misato is very professional and capable (she takes out three armed JSSDF operatives in four seconds in 'End of Evangelion'). However when she gets home to her apartment, a more carefree side of her personality can be seen. Until Shinji's arrival, her living space was a complete mess. She cannot cook for herself and relies solely on instant food. 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 canned coffee.)

Misato often plays the role of mediator between Shinji and Asuke, who constantly fight and argue. It seems that she has some sort of affinity to Shinji but this relationship is never really shown (apart from one scene in End of Evangelion when she gives him an "adult kiss"). She comes off as a very sexual woman; she sent Shinji a picture of herself in a fairly skimpy outfit (before she had even met him) and writes, "Note the cleavage" and draws an arrow pointing to her breasts. It seems she also seems to enjoy the attention from Shinji's classmates (especially Kensuke and Touji), which makes her seem very similar to Asuka.

Mental Health

Because of the disparity between her professionalism on the job and her slovenliness at home, some fans believe her to have AADD (adult attention-deficit disorder), in which case she can't organize her private life, but on the job she is very professional because of the so called hyperfocus. According to this theory her "morning beer" and the other beers during the day (and later coffee) are her self-medication. Kaji also implies in one discussion that Misato suffers from night terrors, as he describes her as "sleeping uncomfortably." Like him, she also has mood swings which could be symptoms of bipolar disorder, though not of the same severity as he does.

Some fans, however, think that Misato is supposed to be a caricature of the modern career woman rather than an AADD case.

And yet some other fans simply accept that these traits are just idiosyncrasies of Misato's character, and not necessarily evidence of mental disorders or a commentary on the state of womankind: in this context, Misato is simply sloppy, tosses and turns when she sleeps, suffers from PMS-related mood swings like other women her age and enjoys her beer. It should also be noted that many anime characters routinely enjoy alcohol, but are not portrayed as suffering from alcoholism, a disease that needs to be treated for the person to function in society.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Misato Katsuragi ]

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