Aida Kensuke
Aida Kensuke is a supporting character in the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise. He is a classmate of Ikari Shinji at Tokyo-3 First Municipal Junior High School, Class 2-A. As a dedicated military enthusiast and camera buff, he becomes one of Shinji's close friends alongside Suzuhara Touji. Together with Shinji and Touji, he is humorously grouped as part of the "Three Stooges" by Asuka and Horaki Hikari.
Overview
Aida Kensuke is a supporting character in the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise. He is a classmate of Ikari Shinji at Tokyo-3 First Municipal Junior High School, Class 2-A. As a dedicated military enthusiast and camera buff, he becomes one of Shinji's close friends alongside Suzuhara Touji. Together with Shinji and Touji, he is humorously grouped as part of the "Three Stooges" by Asuka and Horaki Hikari.
Appearance
Kensuke is distinguished by his round glasses, freckles, and the videocamera he keeps with him at all times. Visual tags associated with him include orange hair, long hair, hair between eyes, blonde hair, blue eyes, a green open jacket with a hood, collarbone, thigh gap, and no pants.
Personality
Kensuke is an eccentric military buff who enjoys solitary camping and simulated war games in the mountains. Beneath his quirky hobbies lies an exceptionally sharp observational eye for human behavior. Unlike Shinji, Kensuke is deeply fascinated by combat and yearns to pilot an Evangelion, frequently actively seeking out classified information.
Abilities
Kensuke possesses detailed military expertise and skills with video equipment, alongside survival capabilities developed from his outdoors hobbies. Utilizing his father's position at NERV, he exhibits adept intelligence-gathering skills. Furthermore, as a student of Class 2-A, he is secretly classified as a potential Evangelion pilot candidate.
Background
Growing up with a father employed at NERV, Kensuke gained early access to classified incidents. He befriended Shinji after bringing Touji along to film an Eva battle in secret. Learning of the Fourth Child selection, he directly petitioned Katsuragi Misato to become a pilot, though he was rejected. Following the tragedy involving Eva Unit-03, he drifted apart from Shinji and relocated overseas. In the spin-off ANIMA, he joins NERV JPN's intelligence division at age 17.
Relationships
Kensuke maintains a tight bond with Suzuhara Touji despite their contrasting personalities, and both serve as primary friends to Ikari Shinji. He interacts regularly with Horaki Hikari and Asuka Langley Soryu. In the manga adaptation, he harbors a one-sided crush on Asuka. He also approaches Katsuragi Misato directly regarding the pilot position.
Trivia
His name is derived from the character Kensuke Aida in Ryu Murakami's novel 'Fascism of Love and Illusion'. In the theatrical release of Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, Misato accidentally referred to him as "Aihara-kun," a mistake later corrected in home video releases.
