Ritsuko Akagi (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Template:Infobox Neon Genesis Evangelion character
In the fictional anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ritsuko Akagi (赤木 リツコ, Akagi Ritsuko) is NERV's head scientist. She is heavily involved in the repairs and maintenance of Tokyo-3's defences against the Angels, particularly the Evas.
She is the daughter of Naoko Akagi, the developer of the MAGI supercomputer. In many ways, Ritsuko is living in the shadow of her mother, whom she both admires and despises. Naoko was the head scientist working on the Evangelion project before her death, and Ritsuko is continuing the work her mother began with the Evas, as well as the MAGI computer system which controls NERV HQ that her mother designed. Flashbacks to a teenaged Ritsuko reveal that she is a natural brunette, but as an adult she bleaches her hair blonde, possibly to try and distinguish herself from her mother.
Ritsuko is extremely intelligent, with a strong dedication to her work and a stoic, detached attitude which is frequently contrasted against Misato Katsuragi's hot-headness, especially during Eva combat. Her occasional jibes at Misato are a source of comic relief in the series. She has a great affinity for cats, and Misato chides her at one point for substituting her cats for human affection. She also is a heavy smoker, as evidenced by an ashtray on her desk filled with cigarette butts stained by her lipstick.
Information
Friends
In flashbacks, it is revealed that she was one of Misato's first friends in college, following the Second Impact. Ritsuko was also friendly with Ryoji Kaji, and jokingly flirted with him (frequently misinterpreted by fans as evidence of a past romance). However, as the series progresses and Kaji informs Misato of the truth of the Human Instrumentality Project, Misato and Ritsuko's friendship dissolves. This fracturing is accelerated by frequent (and sometimes violent) clashes between the two 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 the pilots' survival.
Another notable friendship is with her understudy, Maya Ibuki. Maya holds Ritsuko in very high regard; in the Japanese dialogue, she always refers to Ritsuko as sempai. In The End of Evangelion, Rei/Lilith penetrates Maya's AT field by assuming the form of Ritsuko and typing "I need you" on Maya's laptop; Maya exclaims "Sempai!", eagerly embraces "Ritsuko," and immediately reduces into LCL. This has led fans to debate whether or not Maya's feelings for Ritsuko have romantic or sexual undertones, in the same manner as the debate over the relationship between Shinji Ikari and Kaworu Nagisa.
Relationship with Gendo Ikari
Along with Gendo Ikari and Kōzō Fuyutsuki, she is the only person at NERV fully aware of the Evas' true nature and the purpose of the Human Instrumentality Project. It is revealed in the later episodes that Ritsuko was romantically involved with Gendo, as her mother was before her. However, she eventually realizes that Gendo is using her in the same way that he used her mother. In revenge, she destroys the Dummy Plug system before the eyes of a horrified Misato and Shinji. As a result, Gendo has her incarcerated within NERV HQ.
The End of Evangelion
After SEELE attempts to hack into NERV's MAGI supercomputer, Ritsuko sets up a temporary countermeasure that halts the takeover, forcing SEELE to use the JSSDF to attack NERV directly. Later, she confronts Gendo and Rei Ayanami in Central Dogma, and attempts to activate the self-destruction capabilities of Tokyo-3 to stop Gendo from initiating the Third Impact. However, the command is overridden by Casper, the third MAGI personality, which was modeled after Naoko Akagi as a woman. Gendo speaks an inaudible confession to Ritsuko - to which she responds "Liar" - then shoots and kills Ritsuko. Shortly afterwards, an image of Rei appears over her corpse, which has fallen into the lake of LCL underneath Lilith.
No definite answers have been given as to why Casper rejected the self-destruct command; some fans believe that Naoko favored Gendo rather than Ritsuko, and was also perhaps taking revenge on Ritsuko for having an affair with the man whom she once was involved or for her confession in the series of her hate of Naoko "as a woman." (Ritsuko herself commented that "her mother" had betrayed her, not Casper).
Manga versions
Adaptation by Sadamoto
There is little difference between Ritsuko in the anime and in Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's manga. However, in the manga she has a noticeable disdain of Rei, stemming from the jealousy she felt because of Gendo's care for Rei. At one point, during one of Rei's medical checkups, she loses control after Rei rebukes her and tries to strangle Rei. Realising that she was acting like her mother before her, she stops herself from killing Rei, but warns Rei against telling anyone what happened. She is shown to be embarrassed by her actions.
Shinji Ikari Raising Project
In this series, Ritsuko assists Kaworu with his covert operations in NERV and Shinji's school, where Ritsuko acts as the school nurse.
Character notes
Series creator Hideaki Anno derived Ritsuko's family name "Akagi" from the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi, whose World War II service record included both Pearl Harbor and Midway.