Neon Genesis Evangelion: A Psychological Analysis
Reading Time: 11 minutesTake a peak into the minds of some of the most mentally ill characters in fiction.
The Lowest of the Low
When I first began watching anime, someone told me to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion if I wanted something that would make me think. Many non-viewers may think Evangelion is just another sci-fi, apocalyptic anime where good guys in mechas fight monsters. Anybody who has watched Evangelion knows that this is far off the mark.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is the story of what happens when a depressed teen is tasked with saving the world. Throughout the story, Shinji faces various daunting threats to humanity, but in the end, his greatest foes are his own weaknesses. This is apparent in most characters in Evangelion, the fact that they may be causing more problems than they are fixing in the war with the angels. Supposedly, creator Hideaki Anno used the characters of Evangelion to work through his own psychological issues.
Each character appears to have at least one major mental issue, most have more. The end result is a show that makes you question your own behavior and mental status. There’s quite a lot to learn from these characters, so let’s get into it. Before you scroll, however, don’t get your hopes up for any Rebuild of Evangelion content as I decided to limit this article to the original series and End of Evangelion.
Shinji Ikari
‘Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness; loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, such as sex, hobbies or sports; sleep disturbances, including insomnia or sleeping too much; tiredness and lack of energy, so even small tasks take extra effort; anxiety, agitation or restlessness; feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures or self-blame.’ Those are symptoms of major depressive disorder according to Mayo Clinic. That blurb could also serve as a description of Shinji Ikari’s character.
Piloting an Eva is nasty work, and it’s easy to get depressed when you hate, sorry, fear your job. Adding to that, Shinji has deeply rooted trauma as a result of his father’s harsh treatment and his mother ‘dying’ in front of him, which can also lead to depression. Shinji is extremely non-confrontational, which close mentor Ritsuko Akagi describes as the ‘hedgehog’s dilemma’: Shinji can’t get too close to people for fear of hurting them or getting hurt. This is especially harsh for people like Shinji who crave love but can’t help but shy away from it.
If Shinji’s mental strife had to be narrowed down to one issue, it would be that he avoids pain at all costs. He doesn’t socialize. He does as he’s told. On a few occasions, he even runs away from his problems. In the end, Shinji is forced to choose between returning humanity to normal or remaining in a state of perfect unity. He chooses to return to the world we know, as he remembers the lesson he learned over and over throughout the series: to live is to experience pain. There can’t be any good without it. I think that may be the most important takeaway of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Rei Ayanami
While Shinji avoids social interaction out of fear, Rei avoids social interaction simply because she doesn’t know how to act. Rei displays many of the symptoms of schizoid personality disorder. These include abnormal quietness, rare happiness (or any strong emotion), and, most notably, social ineptitude. That’s our Rei.
Beyond external issues, the First Children also struggles on the inside. Throughout the show, we find her asking herself who she is and what her purpose is. Where did these existential questions come from? Well, probably from the fact that she’s actually the first ever human reincarnated into a failed clone of her crush’s mom, and she has a whole tank of identical clones ready to replace her. That’s quite a bit to process, which leaves Rei with a lot of confusion about her identity.
Another notable addition to Rei’s character is her heart. Similar to Shinji’s hedgehog’s dilemma, Rei’s schizoid personality disorder is especially hard on her because she has so much love for humanity (probably because she created humanity). Her relationship with Gendo Ikari is significant, as he uses her throughout the series but she is completely devoted to him because he shows her the love she craves. In the end, she abandons him and decides to help Shinji save humanity, even though it destroys her. Rei shows us that you shouldn’t love someone because it’s convenient, you should love who you want to love.
Asuka Langley Sohryu
Despite Shinji’s father’s mental abuse and Rei’s literal death, Asuka may have had the roughest life of the main trio. Her mother was a workaholic that went insane and her father was a cheat. Most impactful of all, Asuka’s mother used to treat a doll like her daughter. She never acknowledged Asuka right up to the moment of her suicide. Asuka’s absolute sense of worthlessness as a child transformed her into what we know her as today.
Asuka is often compared to Shinji as both come from bad parental situations that led to feelings of worthlessness. Shinji just accepts that he’s worthless. Asuka needs reassurance that she’s not. She must be the best, and she must be praised. She starts to lose her mind as soon as she is surpassed in training by Shinji. She also craves the reassurance of love, though she would never admit it. She flirts with Shinji through bullying. She hates Rei, because she views her as someone who follows all the rules, a ‘doll’.
Many people peg Asuka as a narcissist, but she doesn’t quite fall under that category. Those with narcissistic personality disorder genuinely think they are amazing and don’t care about others. Those with histrionic personality disorder need others to think that they are amazing to improve their own low self-worth. This is a more accurate representation of Asuka. Additionally, those with HPD have been known to be inappropriately sexual to gain attention, which sounds exactly like everyone’s favorite tsundere. Basing your own worth on the opinions of others is an unhealthy way to live, perfectly demonstrated in the rise and fall of Asuka Langley Sohryu.
Toji Suzuhara
A dysfunctional family environment is a home situation that negatively impacts the children of the family for life. A child’s home situation can greatly impact the way he or she views and responds to various experiences, and if parents are absent or abusive, their kids can be greatly impacted mentally or emotionally. That is evident for Shinji and Asuka, but perhaps even more so for the Fourth Children. Toji Suzuhara, like all Eva pilots, is the son of a mother lost to science. His father is a workaholic, and his sister is in the hospital thanks to an injury from Shinji’s battle with Sachiel. He is the only one who can take care of her, and no one takes care of him, leaving him quite lonely and frustrated.
In many cases, a dysfunctional family environment leads to irascible or even violent behavior from a child. Toji gets pissed when he finds out Shinji was the Eva pilot who may have unintentionally harmed his sister and punches him. This seems irrational and obnoxious, but in reality this is completely to be expected from a teen with so much pent-up frustration. It’s important to remember that you never know what someone else is going through. Eventually, Toji and Shinji become friends and Toji’s mood improves.
Another interesting mental struggle that we see in Toji occurs later in the series, when he first discovers he is becoming an Eva pilot like Shinji. In the prior episodes, Toji had been a good friend that had brought some light into Shinji’s life. Suddenly, he becomes quiet and dark, overcome with the guilt of becoming what he once hated and the fear of being drafted into a war. Later, his Eva is hijacked by an angel and Toji is crippled in battle. Again and again, Toji’s life is permanently affected by traumatic situations, the kind a child should never have to experience.
Kaworu Nagisa
Kaworu, formerly the first angel Adam, is similar to Rei in that he is a higher form of life created in a lab. There are still plenty of regular human struggles in his character to analyze. In fact, Kaworu’s most significant regular human struggle roots from the fact that Kaworu isn’t a regular human.
An identity crisis is a period in an individual’s life where he or she questions his or her sense of self and purpose. Kaworu is chosen as Fifth Children by the shady organization SEELE, who send him in as a spy to contact the remains of Adam and birth angels. When Kaworu finds that he was double-crossed and completing his mission would save angels at the cost of humanity, he enters a long-brewing identity crisis. At heart, is he a man or an angel? It’s not the kind of identity crisis most people go through, but it is realistic in that it’s triggered by a dramatic change in environment (joining NERV), and it makes Kaworu question himself as deeply as his very purpose.
In the end, Kaworu chooses humanity and asks Shinji to kill him. As Evangelion is a show about mental health, this may be a nod to the ever-present topic of suicide. Kaworu says he wants Shinji to kill him because his death is finally something he can control. A constant feeling of being out of control, or depersonalization, can often lead to depression and later suicide. Despite only appearing in one episode, Kaworu reflects several important topics of mental health.
Misato Katsuragi
Misato is the fun, bubbly, cool-aunt type. She couldn’t possibly have a long rap sheet of mental issues like everyone else, right? Wrong. Many of those who struggle with their mental health hide it by being outwardly optimistic and fun. Misato is legitimately goofy and fun, but she only views herself as embarrassing. She condemns herself as childish and irresponsible throughout the show, especially when she is forced to endanger Shinji and Asuka, her wards. She looks to drugs and sex to help her cope with her issues.
Misato has an attachment disorder, or, as it’s commonly called, ‘daddy issues’. Attachment disorders occur in men or women who did not have a healthy relationship with a parent and now struggle to have healthy relationships in general. Misato’s attachment disorder is triggered when the angels take away her beloved father, first through work and then his life.
Misato often says the wrong thing to Shinji, Asuka, Ritsuko, and the other people in her life, failing to comfort them while they are in need. The most prominent display of her disorder is her relationship with her lover, Ryoji Kaji. She constantly compares him to her father, which eventually leads to their breakup. At times, Misato chews out Kaji as a horrible person she doesn’t want to be around. At others, she loves him more than anyone and fears she will lose him to other women. This polarity is a common sign of an attachment disorder.
Ritsuko Akagi
Ritsuko is the smart, serious counter to Misato’s goofiness, allowing us to see into the minds of both extroverts and introverts. One common struggle for the quiet, studious type is hyperfixation. This is when one’s interest in a topic becomes a detrimental obsession. Ritsuko acquires a work hyperfixation that costs her in her social life, but this is fixable and not too unhealthy.
What’s more unhealthy is hyperfixation with a person, which Ritsuko develops for Gendo. Ritsuko is a strong, responsible woman, and it is painful watching her obsession with Gendo lead her to make one bad decision after another. She becomes jealous of a child, Rei, simply because Gendo spends more time with her. She even lets Gendo catch her off guard and kill her while holding him at gun point (yeah, it comes to that.)
Hyperfixation has many similar symptoms to drug use, including a point where one hates his or her own addiction. Ritsuko continues to do what Gendo asks of her, hating herself the whole time. Ritsuko despised her mother because she too was a workaholic who was obsessed with Gendo, which adds to the self-hate. Ritsuko is a bright girl who ends up as a hot mess thanks to the dangers of hyperfixation.
Ryoji Kaji
Escapism is a reoccurring theme in Neon Genesis Evangelion, and almost every character on this list engages in it in some way. International man of mystery Ryoji Kaji is a bit more escapist than the others. Escapism occurs when one occupies their mind with something pleasant rather than face reality. Kaji can be found flirting more often than working. Sex is a common form of escapism. More uniquely, Kaji likes to garden, where he finds beauty and simplicity in stressful times.
Kaji relates to Kaworu in that he struggles with his identity, an issue not limited to adolescence. Kaji, employed by the government, is tasked with spying on both NERV and SEELE, making him a triple agent. If that doesn’t confuse your identity, I’m not sure what will. As the series progresses, we can see Kaji strain to decide which side is the lesser of the evils.
Despite being good-natured and smiley, Kaji plays a sad, lonely role in the series at first. As a triple agent, Kaji knows virtually all of the secrets of all of the characters, and Evangelion is full of dark secrets. Unfortunately, there’s no one to talk with about these atrocities. No one trusts him at NERV or SEELE, and he in turn can’t trust anyone, leaving him bottled up, stressed, and seeking escape. Luckily, he and Misato work through their issues enough that they are there for each other in the end. It is much healthier to face reality with someone rather than just run away.
Gendo Ikari
‘Disregarding or violating the rights of others; inability to distinguish between right and wrong; difficulty with showing remorse or empathy; tendency to lie often; manipulating and hurting others; recurring problems with the law; general disregard toward safety and responsibility; expressing anger and arrogance on a regular basis.’ Those are the symptoms of psychopathy according to Healthline. Just as Shinji is a textbook depressive, his father is a textbook psychopath.
Like many psychopaths, Gendo is a genius. Unfortunately, his intellect often causes more problems than it fixes thanks to his aggressive and distrustful nature. To Gendo, he is the savior of the world while everyone else is just a tool to salvation. Still, he expects a lot out of these tools and is greatly disappointed when they do not fulfill their roles, hence his immense dismay for Shinji.
Love and loneliness seem to factor into the psyche of every character, even the heartless commander of NERV. After his wife bonds with Eva Unit-01, he is driven by an obsession to be with her again. Ironically, even Gendo’s loneliness is a problem worsened by Gendo trying to solve it. If he hadn’t taken such drastic measures to be with Yui again, maybe he would still be on good terms with his son and coworkers.
Keel Lorenz
Lorenz isn’t a character that receives as much screen time or attention as the others on this list, but he is still of great importance because he represents the faction of SEELE. This is the mysterious organization that oversees NERV, and they will stop at nothing to see their plan, Human Instrumentality, completed. The Human Instrumentality Project would trigger the Third Impact, destroying earth, erasing all humanity, and uniting it as one perfect being. Lorenz cybernetically enhances himself to survive long enough to partake in Human Instrumentality. He is obsessed with this concept of a perfect world and is conceited enough to force this vision upon the world.
Lorenz is an ideal more than a character; he represents the belief that is opposed to Shinji’s development: only a painless life is worth living. There are things that can be assumed about his character. It is likely that he has struggled with pain in the past, triggering him to seek a perfect world. Connection issues could also be a problem, as Human Instrumentality is a saving grace for those who feel shunned or disconnected from society.
I already determined that Asuka is not a narcissist as she does not feel confident, she merely acts like it. Lorenz would be a better example of narcissistic personality disorder. He has the god complex that often comes with NPD, and he always believes he knows what’s right. Narcissists lack social skills, which could add to Lorenz’s case for Human Instrumentality. Lorenz is a narcissist, which is not uncommon in fiction. The overpowering confidence of narcissism is a common trait of antagonists in media.
Takeaways of Neon Genesis Evangelion
Through all of the suffering of these poor fictional characters, Anno reminds us that we all experience pain and insecurity. It’s because of this that we appreciate the moments of life where we feel safe and loved. If life was perfect, what significance would a moment of beauty or joy have? If love was always easy, there’d be no sacrifice or commitment, and our relationships would have no meaning.
The topic of love and connection is present in each character mentioned above. Once the battle for Human Instrumentality begins, we get to see each character’s own philosophy on relationships. Can a perfect connection really only be made through supernatural means? Should relationships have some degree of separation? What gives love it’s worth? The main conclusion, Shinji’s, is that Human Instrumentality is wrong as constant togetherness removes all meaning from togetherness. In the regular world, we are unified. We are unified in the fact that we all struggle.
If you’ve scrolled this far, thank you for reading. I hope you found learning about these psychologically complex characters as interesting as I did. Remember: if you ever feel that you are struggling with your mental health, that isn’t something to be ashamed of. It’s quite common, and if you seek out help or comfort, you’ll be glad you did. Don’t be a Gendo.
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