Gaghiel as one of the less-interesting Angels in Neon Genesis Evangelion; according to Smith, the Angel provides a problem for Asuka to solve in her first appearance, but "lacks any sort of significance beyond all that". Comic Book Resources' Theo Kogod criticized Asuka's behavior in her first appearance; he negatively transposed the scene in which her skirt accidentally rises due to the sea breeze and slaps Toji, Kensuke and Shinji, and, since none of the boys could control the weather, Kogod considered it "an overreaction—the first of many". The sequence in which the episode's title appears with the sound effect of Asuka's slaps received appreciation. Writers Kazuhisa Fujie and Martin Forster in their Neon Genesis Evangelio: The Unofficial Guide also said Asuka's line "Are you stupid?" has become popular since her first appearance in the eighth episode. Screen Rant's Adam Beach ranked the battle against Gaghiel among the best fights in Neon Genesis Evangelion; Beach described it as "memorable" for both Asuka's introduction and the marine setting, praising its "interesting choreography". His colleague Jack Cameron expressed a similar view, while Daniel Dockery of SyFy Wire similarly ranked the fight among the best "non-depressing moments" in Neon Genesis Evangelion. Newtype magazine praised the episode's drawings and Asuka's facial expressions. Alex Walker of Kotaku ranked "Asuka Strikes!" among the best Neon Genesis Evangelion episodes. Multiversity Comics' Matthew Garcia said the episode's treatment of Asuka in view of her team is interesting. For Anthony Gramuglia of Comic Book Resources, she is a refreshing character compared to Shinji's insecurities in the previous seven episodes, and this invigorates the series with a "great deal of joy". According to Gramuglia; "She changes the show, offering a diversity of perspective that livens things up". Crunchyroll's reviewer Noelle Ogawa similarly wrote; "From her confident introduction aboard a battleship to her forceful and agressive battle style in her bright red Eva, she is a joy every time she's on screen". Jemima Sebastian from IGN compared a scene from Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), in which King Kong on a ship suffers an underwater attack from Godzilla, to the fight between Gaghiel and Eva-02, describing it as a possible homage to Evangelion. References Text was copied/adapted from Episode 08 at Evangelion Wiki, which is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA 3.0) license. Citations Bibliography External links 1995 Japanese television episodes Neon Genesis Evangelion episodes Science fiction television