| Ritsuko Akagi | |
| Series: | Neon Genesis Evangelion |
| First Major: | Angel Attack |
| Last Major: | Take Care of Yourself |
| First Issue: | Volume 1 |
| Last Issue: | Volume 13 |
| Firstgame: | Shinji Ikari Raising Project |
| Designer: | Yoshiyuki Sadamoto |
| Occupation: | Head Scientist at Nerv |
| Affiliation: | Nerv |
| Family: | Naoko Akagi (mother) |
| Significant Other: | Gendo Ikari (lover) |
| Nationality: | Japanese |
Dr. Ritsuko Akagi (赤木リツコ, Akagi Ritsuko) is a fictional character from the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise, created by Gainax. She is the head of the first section of the technology department at Nerv headquarters,[1] and one of the main developers of Evangelion units.[2] In 2005 during college, Ritsuko met Misato Katsuragi, who became her best friend,[3] [4] and befriended her boyfriend Kaji, whom Ritsuko considered annoying.[5] [6] In 2008, after completing her studies at Tokyo-2, Ritsuko joined Gehirn Research Center as the head of Project E.[7] Following her transfer to the special agency Nerv, Ritsuko became responsible for the management of the Magi supercomputer.[8] At Nerv, Ritsuko comes into close contact with her mother's lover Gendo Ikari, learning secret information that is withheld from almost all other members of the organization.[9] [10]
She was voiced by Yuriko Yamaguchi in the original series, Sue Ulu for the ADV Films dub, Colleen Clinkenbeard for the Funimation Rebuild dub, Erica Lindbeck for the Netflix dub and Mary Faber for the Amazon Prime Video Rebuild dub.[11]
Ritsuko is rational, and has a strong sense of discipline and detached judgment.[12] She finds it difficult to reconcile these sides of her character, which are often a source of violent, emotional contrasts.[13] [14] Ristuko shows great determination and indifference, and, hesitates to talk about herself, even with longtime friends. This ultimately fractures her friendship with Misato by the end of the series. Despite her rational and reserved exterior,[15] Ritsuko is sensitive, expressive, and passionate. At the beginning of her university career, Ritsuko dyes her hair blonde to differentiate herself from her mother Naoko, whom she hates.[16] [17] She later falls in love with Gendo Ikari, with whom she enters into a secret romantic relationship and offers him her scientific skills and body.[18] [19] [20] Ritsuko is jealous of Rei, the center of Gendo's attention. This Jealousy proves valid when Gendo betrays Ritsuko by turning her over to SEELE rather than turn Rei over to their custody. After being stripped and sexually degraded before the SEELE members she is informed of Gendos' betrayal and released. She carries out reckless acts of revenge against him, destroying the Rei clones, and revealing the secrets of both Rei and the Evas to Misato and Shinji. Ritsuko is then detained by NERV and interrogated by Gendo where she declares her misery in their relationship, her hatred of Rei and accuses Gendo of forcing himself upon her. Gendo declares his disappointment with her before leaving her sobbing and pleading for her mother. [21] Ritsuko is seen once more before the split in the series ending continuities in which she warns Misato that Kaworu is probably the final angel. For whatever reason it seems that Misato disregards this warning completely and the final Angel takes her by surprise. In The End of Evangelion, Ritsuko is no longer able to manage her feelings of love and hate. She is released and forced to deploy the 666 firewall for the MAGI system to prevent their being compromised from numerous external MAGI systems' hacking attacks made by SEELE. She immediately escapes capture during the assault on NERV headquarters and heads to the Lilith containment in terminal dogma, where she knows Gendo and Rei will later appear to trigger the third impact. Once they arrive Ritsuko attempts to destroy headquarters, uttering the phrase "Mom, do you want to die with me?". However, the Casper computer, in which Naoko's womanly personality is imprinted cannot bear to kill her lover Gendo and thus refuses the command to self-destruct, and Gendo in turn utters an unknown statement to Ritsuko as a final act of manipulation. Ritsuko, completely defeated, sees him for the liar he is before Gendo shoots her dead.[22] Newtype magazine compared Ritsuko to previous Anno characters, such as Kazumi Amano from Gunbuster and Electra from Nadia.[23]