Kaworu Nagisa

Kaworu Nagisa (Japanese: 渚 カヲル, Hepburn: Nagisa Kaoru), real name Tabris (タブリス, Taburisu), is a fictional character from the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise, created by Gainax. In the series with the same name, he is the Fifth Child and pilot of a giant mecha named Evangelion Unit 02 for the special agency Nerv. He is the seventeenth and final exemplary of a series of enemies named Angels. Once he arrives at Nerv, he makes friends with Shinji Ikari, pilot of the Eva-01, showing great affection towards him. However, after taking over Eva-02, Kaworu attempts to reunite with the first Angel Adam, whom he believes is kept inside the organization's headquarters. After discovering that the entity locked up at the Nerv headquarters is actually the second Angel Lilith, he asks his friend Shinji to be killed in order to allow mankind to survive. Kaworu appears in the franchise's animated feature films and related media, video games, the original net animation Petit Eva: Evangelion@School, the Rebuild of Evangelion films, and the manga adaptation by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto.

Kaworu Nagisa
Neon Genesis Evangelion character
First appearanceNeon Genesis Evangelion episode 24: "The Beginning and the End, or "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"" (1996)
Created byGainax
Voiced byJapanese:
Akira Ishida
English:
Kyle Sturdivant (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Aaron Krohn (Death & Rebirth and The End of Evangelion)
Greg Ayres (Neon Genesis Evangelion Director's Cut)
Jerry Jewell (Rebuild of Evangelion)
Clifford Chapin (Neon Genesis Evangelion Netflix dub)
In-universe information
SpeciesAngel
GenderMale
TitleFifth Child

The character was originally conceived by Gainax as a cat controlling a boy and appeared in the twenty-second episode of the series. After several changes, director Hideaki Anno and screenwriter Akio Satsukawa portrayed him as the last Angel. Satsukawa wrote the script with a strong homoerotic charge, then rejected by TV Tokyo and modified.

Although he only appeared in the twenty-fourth episode of the original series, Kaworu's character enjoyed widespread popularity with audiences and animation enthusiasts, thus appearing at the top of several popularity polls. Critics blamed the ambiguity of his role, the lack of clarity of his work and the homosexual tones of his relationship with Shinji; others praised his open, affectionate and sociable personality. Merchandising based on him has also been released, particularly action figures.

Conception
Kaworu was originally conceived as a cat who possesses a boy with a core in his chest.

The name of the character was chosen by Akio Satsukawa, screenwriter who contributed, together with director Hideaki Anno, to the drafting of the twenty-fourth episode of the series, "The Beginning and the End, or "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"". Satsukawa opted for the surname Nagisa (Japanese for "beach"), in homage to the Japanese director Nagisa Ōshima.[1] The choice of a term related to the sea allowed him to connect to the names of other characters in the series, inspired by some ships of the Japanese Imperial Navy, and more particularly to the word nami (波, litt. "wave"), present in the surname by Rei Ayanami.[2] The name Kaworu was not written with the contemporary spelling カオル (Kaoru) with the katakana オ (o), but with the antiquated character ヲ (wo). The kanji nagisa (渚) was chosen for his graphic connection with katakana shi (シ) and the kanji sha (者), a detail that refers to the Japanese title of the episode, Saigo no shisha (最後のシ者).[3][4] Satsukawa created a pun with the phoneme shisha; it, depending on the variant, can take on the meaning of "messenger" (使者) or "dead", "deceased" (死者), referring to the narrative role of the character, an Angel destined to die at the hands of Shinji in same episode in which it appears for the first time.[5]

Gainax, two years before the broadcast, published a presentation document of the series entitled Kikakusho (企画書, litt. "Proposal"). In the twenty-second episode of the original project, a "bishōnen constantly accompanied by a cat"[6][7] should have appeared. The boy would have been allowed by Nerv to enter its laboratories and, after a clash in which Shinji would find himself "in the dilemma of having to fight against an anthropomorphic enemy", "the greatest secret of the organization" would be revealed.[6][8] In the first version of events, the real Angel should actually have been the cat and the boy a simple puppet at his commands; the initial project was abandoned, and some elements were merged into the character of Kaworu.[9] In some preliminary proposals he was endowed with a core, an organ characteristic of all the other angels, and with the ability to modify his own appearance with a metamorphosis, other ideas then set aside during the production of the series. Unlike all the other Angels, Anno decided to give him the gift of speech and make him converse in Japanese.[9] Anno conceived him as an "ideal male": "The plan was that the 'unconscious Shinji' would be Ayanami Rei, the Shinji who appears on the surface would be Ikari Shinji, and the 'ideal Shinji' would be Nagisa Kaworu".[10] His character design, cured by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, was conceived to be "more elegant and more refined" than Shinji, compared to which he should have been "taller, thinner and with a smaller face". For the somatic features of his face it was decided to blend together those of Rei, Shinji himself and Asuka Langley Soryu.[11] Following a personal request from the director, his eyes were dyed red by the colourist Harumi Takaboshi, to draw an analogy with Rei's and give him "a distinct impression".[12] Although he was conceived to appear only in the final episodes, during the making of the opening theme the main staff decided to depict him with a sketch by Sadamoto.[13] To underline his role as an angel in the editing phase, the sketch was inserted just before a frame depicting Rei Ayanami and the caption "Angels".[9][14]

Anno and Satsukawa, in production, wrote drafts for the script for the twenty-fourth episode, in which his relationship with Shinji would have presented less ambiguity. Kaworu and Shinji, in one of the writers' drafts, would swim naked in a river at night, play the cello and violin together, and kiss on the lips.[15][16] Anno, despite the strong homoerotic charge of Satsukawa's script, did not try to dissuade his colleague, keeping his underlying ambiguous atmosphere "intact". The Evangelion staff, however, rejected some proposals of the original scripts, considering them unsuitable for the time slot of the series, broadcast in the late afternoon by TV Tokyo. The scripts then underwent modifications, which did not change or alter the essence of Nagisa's character. To focus on his relationship with Shinji, Anno also eliminated the river scene and decided to insert a clip in which the two boys relax together in the thermal baths of Nerv.[9] The director, like other characters in the series, conceived Kaworu based on his own personality, and more particularly on his shadow, that is, the dark and unconscious side of the psyche postulated by Carl Gustav Jung.[17] According to some fans, moreover, he may have also taken as a model Kunihiko Ikuhara, director of the animated series Sailor Moon and a friend of him.[18] Ikuhara, in an interview, while stating that he was not in the least involved in the creation of the character, stated he had close correspondence with Anno, with whom he was on good terms from the early design stages of Neon Genesis Evangelion. During the production of Sailor Moon, the entire staff went on a trip to the spa, and Ikuhara chatted all night with his colleague, animator of some episodes of the series. The conversation that night may have actually influenced the character's personality and his conversations with Shinji; Ikuhara himself, watching the episode, noticed how "the situation with the bath was the same".[19]

Voice
Jerry Jewell (left) and Clifford Chapin (right) voiced Kaworu for the Rebuild of Evangelion saga and the Netflix series' dub, respectively

Akira Ishida voices Kaworu Nagisa in all his appearances in the original series,[20] as well as the later films, spin-offs, video games[21][22] and the Rebuild of Evangelion saga. In 1997, the year the film Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion was released, the voice actor claimed to have found the role "very difficult", and to have felt "a lot of pressure" for the dubbing of the film version. His emotional tension grew exponentially when he learned that there would be two feature movies, but he was satisfied with his performance.[23] During the recording of Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (2007), the first chapter of the Rebuild of Evangelion cinematic tetralogy, Anno explained in detail the role played by Kaworu in the new theatralical version and his relationship with Shinji, providing him with various indications and some confidential information, closed to all other voice actors. Even during the dubbing sessions for Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012) he felt tense, but, supported and instructed step by step by the director, he managed to overcome the performance anxiety and reprise the role.[24]

In English he is voiced in the original series by Kyle Sturdivant,[25] in the director's cut version by Greg Ayres,[26][27] in the two 1997 films by Aaron Krohn,[28] in Rebuild of Evangelion by Jerry Jewell[29][30] and Clifford Chapin in the Netflix' dub.[31][32] In 2019, a debate began regarding Netflix's English dubbing, accused by many fans of wanting to sweeten or censor the homoerotic relationship between Shinji and Kaworu. The reason for the controversy was the scene of the Nerv baths; in the old North American dubbing, by the A.D. Vision, the Japanese suki tte koto sa by Kaworu had been translated as "I love you", replaced, in the Netflix version, with "I like you".[33] Dan Kanemitsu, curator of Netflix subtitles and long-time translator of the studio Khara, when asked about the new translation, making it clear to always consult the author of the work for the most thorny and controversial issues; Kanemitsu also reiterated that he had followed the most grammatically correct translation of the term suki and that he had in any case tried to leave the background ambiguity intact, leaving room for the spectators to interpret.[34]

Appearances

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Kaworu appears in the twenty-fourth episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion. A secret sect named Seele and a group called Commission for the Instrumentality of Mankind sent him to the headquarters of the special agency Nerv to carry out a mission[35] as Fifth Child and replacement for Asuka Langley Soryu, who became unable to pilot the Unit 02. Kaworu, soon after arriving in Tokyo-3 city, meets Shinji Ikari, Third Child and Eva-01 pilot, premeditatedly.[36] He immediately became friends with him,[37] showing an unconditional and sincere sympathy towards him.[38] His position as pilot allows him to enter Nerv without mediation, but arousing the perplexities of Misato Katsuragi, major in the organization's operations department.[39] Kaworu has the appearance of a boy with gray hair, pale complexion and red eyes,[40][41] and therefore usually refers to human beings with the term Lilim.[42] The boy is subjected to a synchronicity test with Unit 02, obtaining a result so high as to astound the entire staff of the organization[43][44] and arbitrarily varying his rate of synchrony with the mecha.[45] All data about his past are erased, so as to conceal his true identity. Misato discovers that he was born on September 13, 2000, the day in which a huge calamity named Second Impact occured in the South Pole, caused by the first of a series of enemies called Angels.[46][47] He is revealed to be the seventeenth Angel and "last sacrificial messenger",[48][49] with the name of Tabris. In him is implanted the soul of the first angel, Adam, "recovered" by Seele, who captured Tabris when he is still in an embryonic state.[50][38] Unlike all the other Angels, moreover, he is able to develop feelings close to those of human beings[50] and to communicate with them.[51] Once in the headquarters he comes into contact with Rei Ayanami,[52] pilot of the Eva-00 in which the soul of another Angel is implanted, and confesses to sharing his nature as a hybrid.[53][54]

Kaworu, using his Angel skills, manages to manipulate and control the movements of Unit 02,[55] in an attempt to enter the Terminal Dogma of the Nerv headquarters and get in touch with the angel Adam, who is supposedly guarded within the structure.[56][57] The young man, despite his anthropomorphic features, proves to possess a series of anomalous abilities,[58] including levitation and the AT Field, a powerful force field characteristic of Angels and Evangelions.[41][39] Arrived at his destination he discovers that Adam is not kept inside the base, but the second Angel Lilith.[38] Kaworu, at the sight of Lilith, interrupts his attempt at contact and decides to preserve the lineage of Lilim, the humanity that descends from her, rather than causing their extinction,[59] letting himself be killed by Eva-01 and Shinji.[60]

Rebuild of Evangelion

In the Rebuild of Evangelion saga the character has an important role[61][62] and he is aware of details of Shinji's life, even before he can physically meet him.[63] He is introduced in the final sequence of the first film, Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (2007), in which he awakens on the surface of the moon to converse with a Seele member.[64] During the scene, he rises from a coffin placed on a lunar sea; next to him, moreover, there are four other coffins already open and four still closed, for a total of nine visible coffins. Behind him, for a moment, a white giant is framed, similar to the Angel Lilith.[65] He is completely naked, without the need for a suit or other means to be able to breathe on the moon. In addition, he addresses the commander Gendo Ikari, who is visiting a place named Tabgha base, as "my father".[66] In Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009), second installment of the saga, he descends from the moon aboard an Evangelion unit known as Mark.06.[67]. He stops the Third Impact, addressing Shinji with the phrase: "At least this time I will be able to make you happy".[68] In the original script, in truth, Kaworu should have said the line with the lighthearted smile of the original series; in the production phase, however, it was decided to give it an unusually troubled expression. Kazuya Tsurumaki himself, assistant director of the classic series and related movies, described her as that of a man who takes his wife back by force. In his own words: "[We thought it would be] more interesting if Kaworu looked like [he was thinking]: 'You've been with a woman while I've been away? How dare you…!'".[69]

In the third movie Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012), set fourteen years after the previous feature film, he works for Nerv and is commissioned to pilot the Eva-13 together with Shinji on behalf of Gendo,[70] whom he calls "king of Lilims". He shows Shinji, alone and scared of the new world, the consequences of his actions on planet Earth, trying to relieve his pain and be close to him. Furthermore, during the film, the two Children fly in the same Eva cockpit. To train, the two boys practice piano on the same a quatre mains musical base, in an attempt to tune their thoughts. Having reached a good harmony, the two head, aboard the Eva-13, to the Terminal Dogma of the Nerv base; towards the end of the film, however, Nagisa reveals that she is the first Angel, but downgraded to the role of thirteenth, and dies telling Shinji: "We will meet again".[71] Akira Ishida, Kaworu's interpreter, was asked if the sequence of the two boys united in the same Evangelion could be interpreted as a "love scene"; Ishida replied that he did not have a certain answer to the question and that he wanted to leave the interpretation to the enthusiasts, saying: "But, at the very least, them getting in the same unit is different, as they both pursue the same goal together. It seems [representative] of the depth of their connection".[24]

Manga

In the Neon Genesis Evangelion manga, written by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Kaworu is introduced in advance, in a narrative arc roughly corresponding to the nineteenth episode of the series.[72] In the 57th chapter of the comic he meets Shinji in the ruins of a church during a piano solo;[73] during his first appearance he kills a cat in front of Shinji.[74] He is later drafted into Nerv to replace Fourth Child, Toji Suzuhara, who died in a fight, fighting alongside Rei Ayanami against the Angel Armisael. His role as Angel also undergoes changes, being presented as a twelfth instead of seventeenth. Shinji, in this version of events, has strong suspicions of the Fifth Child;[75] he accuses Kaworu of violating his personal space.[72] Following Rei's death, Shinji temporarily moves to his home, afflicted and heartbroken by the loss he has just suffered.[76] During a bout of nocturnal hyperventilation Kaworu kisses Shinji on his lips, arousing his anger.[77] Over time, their relationship becomes increasingly cold and tormented, until the two definitely take different paths.[78]

Unlike the original animated series, in which a certain ambiguity remains regarding the true nature of the relationship between Shinji and Kaworu, leaving great freedom of interpretation to the viewers, for the realization of the manga Sadamoto decided to change the characterization of Kaworu and to leave less margin for interpretation. In the comic, according to him, Kaworu feels for Shinji "a reflection of Rei's feelings", but he himself fails to understand these feelings.[79] Shinji, irritated by his behavior, confesses that he felt "attracted to him", but in the end rejects him, "because he is not Rei". The Third Child, in one chapter, angered by his attitudes, comes to strangle him; for the scene, the author took inspiration by the film Betty Blue by Jean-Jacques Beineix, in which the tormented story of two young lovers is told, in which in the end he strangles her for love.[80] Sadamoto created Kaworu with the idea of representing "a situation in which Shinji finally comes to fall in love with someone"; according to him, Nagisa is the person who, most of all, understands the boy. In an interview Sadamoto compared his death to a "contradictory fumi-e", an ancient Japanese ritual consisting in the trampling of Christian icons, through which Tabris would ask Shinji to prove his love by killing him.[81] According to the character designer, on the other hand, in this particular moment of his life Shinji "does not want the affection of a girl, but the approval of another boy". Unlike Hideaki Anno, who wanted to give Kaworu the image of an "ideal man", Sadamoto, believing that human beings are the last evolutionary stage of angels, tried to represent him as a "pre-human", innocent and naive character. The artist was inspired by his own personal experience, and more particularly by a classmate of his as a youth, a charming boy with a very pleasant appearance for whom he felt great admiration. "I secretly thought it was very cool. It is not romance ... It is a delicate feeling in a delicate age".[82]

In other media

After the conclusion of Neon Genesis Evangelion's first airing, an audio track called After the End was released, in which the characters of the series, played by their original voice actors, jokingly discuss and prepare in bulk a new ending just before the deadline of the production schedule, breaking the fourth wall. Kaworu apprears; when Asuka calls him "homoboy", he tells her, "I would like you not to make such claims, for lack of evidence." Nagisa, along with Eva's other pilots, joins a super sentai-style superhero group named by Asuka Shin sentai Evangelion.[83] In the movie Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth (1997) there are sequences in which four boys from the third middle school of the city of Tokyo-2, with their respective instruments, practice a string quartet in the auditorium of the institute. Among the four there is the violinist, who looks like Kaworu; acchording to what is indicated by the superimposed writings, however, the event would take place eighteen months before the appearance of him in Tokyo-3. From the script it is clear that, despite the similarity with the protagonists of the series, the four boys should still be interpreted as actors of an imaginary sequence.[84] In the following film, Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997), the souls of all humanity unite into one collective consciousness, and Shinji, during a process named Instrumentality of Mankind, symbolically argues with Kaworu and Rei Ayanami.[85] Akira Ishida said that the Kaworu who appears in The End is not real, nor is it concretely present;[23] during the feature film he and Rei say to represent hope, "the expectation that men learn to understand each other".[86][87]

The character appears in video games dedicated to Neon Genesis Evangelion. In Neon Genesis Evangelion: Girlfriend of Steel 2nd, as in the original series, he has a close relationship with Shinji.i[88] Among the scenarios involving the two boys there is a scene in which they play the cello and the violin together; in another scenario Kaworu kisses Shinji on the lips.[89] In the video game Neon Genesis Evangelion 2 Kaworu feels a deep feeling of love towards Shinji, and, having little interest in the female sex, prefers to have a romantic relationship with him, avoiding any other bond.[90] In Neon Genesis Evangelion: Shinji Ikari Raising Project the player has the opportunity to make him Shinji's best friend and to start a romantic relationship between them;[91][92] he is brought up to Shinji by the will of Dr. Ritsuko Akagi.[93] He also appears in the manga Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days; in the manga it is revealed that Kaworu met, even before meeting Shinji, his father Gendō, at the time a young man with great problems of self-esteem and social interaction, without having changed his appearance in the slightest.[94] In the parodistic series Petit Eva: Evangelion@School he is a particularly popular student among the students of his school, the third municipal academy "Nerv" of Tokyo-3, and often demonstrates that he wants to fiercely protect Shinji, with whom he is in love.[95]

In the manga Evangelion - Detective Shinji Ikari, written by Takumi Yoshimura, Ryōji Kaji and Kaworu are portrayed as two private investigators to whom Shinji is forced to turn;[96] in this alternate universe Nagisa is presented as his new classmate, and he ends up investigating with him a case.[97] In Neon Genesis Evangelion: Campus Apocalypse his personality is relatively similar to that of the original series.[98] Kaworu, at the beginning of the manga, is seen by Shinji near a vending machine running away from the scene of a violent explosion along with Rei Ayanami, with whom he has an unspecified bond. On that occasion, Ikari encounters an unspecified gem for the first time, which he brings with him the following day. Nagisa, on the same day, introduces herself as her new classmate at the Nerv Academy. LIke the original series, he is immediately showed great interest in him, making him uncomfortable.[99] Shinji, involved in a battle of Kaworu and Rei against an Angel named Ramiel,[100] ends up fighting as guardian Shemuhaza at his side against the Angels,[101][102] here depicted as creatures who take possession of the bodies of deceased people for try to obtain gems called "cores", necessary for the survival of Yggdrasil, the tree on which the balance between the various dimensions of reality rests. Ikari, in one chapter, spies on him and Rei in a moment of intimacy, feeling a certain jealousy, and then remembers having already met Kaworu as a child.[103][104] Kaworu and Shinji eventually fight together in an attempt to save Ayanami.[105] Kaworu is one of the main characters of a pachinko entitled CR Shinseiki Evangelion: Saigo no shisha (ＣＲ新世紀エヴァンゲリオン ～最後のシ者～, "CR Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Last Messanger"), released in Japan in April 2009.[106] During the game Nagisa intervenes during Operation Yashima against Ramiel with his Eva-04.[107] In addition to various video games based on the original animated series, Kaworu has appeared in media not related to the Evangelion franchise, such as Million Arthur,[108] Hortensia Saga,[109] Keri hime sweets, Summons Board,[110][111] Divine Gate,[112] Monster Strike,[113] Final Gear,[114] Puzzle & Dragons,[115] and Puyopuyo!! Quest.[116]

Characterization and themes
I wanted to make Kaworu someone that could be loved by anyone, an incredibly good person. Almost as though, by the time Shinji saw him, there was nothing he could do but get a complex.

–—Hideaki Anno[9]

Kaworu is an erudite boy with a detached, straightforward and honest personality.[38] Despite his apparent naturalness and availability, however, he conceals his true feelings from other people, with the exception of Shinji Ikari.[117] Right from the start he shows great interest in the Third Child, the first person with whom he comes into contact after arriving in Tokyo-3.[118] In the twenty-fourth episode of the original series, for example, he claims that he was "born to meet him".[119] Kaworu, discussing with him in the Nerv baths, confesses his feelings with the sentence "I love you" (好きってことさ, suki tte koto sa), in which the word suki (好き) can take on the connotation of "to like", "to love".[120] Although Shinji is inclined to maintain a certain emotional distance towards other people, the Fifth Child is able to open his heart and make him express his feelings openly.[121] Kaworu shows that he feels disinterested and spontaneous sympathy towards his fellow pilot, towards whom he feels a sincere and unconditional affection, completely detached from his nature as a seventeenth Angel. After they met, Shinji, recognizing the sincerity of his actions, lets him approach.[38] Kaworu and Shinji, despite the short time spent together, are attracted to each other and build a relationship based on a profound mutual respect.[36]

Voice actresses Kotono Mitsuishi and Megumi Hayashibara described Kaworu as Shinji's Orihime, a mythological weaver, lover of cowherd Hikoboshi. Critics also compared him to Jesus Christ, since he sacrifice himself for humanity's sake.

Kaworu, for Shinji, turns out to be the first friend he can trust to and a homosexual romantic interest.[122] The Fifth Child, for his part, seduces his collegue with his mysterious charm,[123] becoming the only person Shinji has ever truly loved.[124] He is also the first person to tell Shinji to love him and accept him as he is, thus letting his heart open.[125] Kotono Mitsuishi and Megumi Hayashibara, Japanese voice actresses of Misato Katsuragi and Rei Ayanami, compared the couple to Orihime and Hikoboshi, two legendary lovers of the Japanese tanabata myth.[126] After his sudden death, in fact, the Third Child falls back into a state of profound affliction for the loss suffered.[127][128] According to Kunihiko Ikuhara, director and personal friend of Hideaki Anno, unlike all the other characters in the series, including Asuka, he accepts and loves Shinji unconditionally, without having to force himself to try to be different; according to him: "Shinji is bullied by his father, slapped by Ayanami, called stupid by Asuka and Misato yells at him to behave like a man; he doesn't receive much compassion from others, and I believe that in this situation the only one to tell him that it's okay as it is, is Kaworu".[129] Kaworu, shortly before dying, maintains his feeling of affection for his collegue unchanged, saying that meeting him made him happy.[130]

Since the first airing of the series, controversies have arisen over the relationship between Shinji and Kaworu, in an attempt to establish whether or not there is a relationship between them.[131] Writer Patrick Drazen, in his book Anime Explosion!, expressed his own interpretation, which excludes the idea of an emotional relationship between them.[132] Lynzee Loveridge (Anime News Network) interpreted Kaworu as a negative figure, saying that "Kaworu's kindness has a nefarious side", seeing him as an Angel who deceives and uses Shinji for his own personal purposes.[133] Evangelion Chronicle, an official magazine on the series, affirms the sincerity of Kaworu's affection, honestly interested in the boy.[38] For Mike Crandol (Anime News Network) he "is representative of blind, total and unconditional love and acceptance, but like those things Kaoru turns out to not be real at all".[134] His colleague Zac Bertschy, in a review for Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, also provided a similar interpretation. While not interpreting him as an antagonist or a negative figure, according to Bertschy his presence demonstrates Shinji's great emotional fragility and the difficulty of his long path of self-acceptance. He wrote, "Kaworu is a loving, considerate partner who cares deeply for Shinji's happiness, refuses to leave him behind and even takes Shinji's terrible burden as his own".[135] Elliot Gay (Japanator) described Kaworu as a positive figure, and for Shinji he represents "represents hope; the hope that maybe he can redo things".[136] Japanese scholar and writer Yūya Satō compared his role to that of the male characters of the yaoi, as well as that of the characters of the shōjo genre; for Sato, the appearance of Kaworu is more important on a thematic than narrative level, and would have the purpose of deepening the psychological aspects of Shinji. She also compared his role to the shōjo mangas, where the process and the relational dynamics of the protagonists have more weight than the conclusion or the fights.[137]

In Apollonius of Tyana's Nuctemeron, Tabris is the Angel of free will and freedom.[138][139] In Neon Genesis Evangelion, connecting to the Judeo-Christian tradition, Tabris chooses to be killed by Shinji, finding its absolute freedom in death.[140][141] Apollonius' Nuctemeron also mentions a demon named Cahor, spelled in Japanese as Kahoru (カホル), referred to as the Angel of lies and deceit, a detail that Evangelion Chronicle relates to his deceptive anthropomorphic features.[57] Critics compared Kaworu to Jesus Christ for his compassionate character and his sacrifice.[87] According to Yūichirō Oguro, who cured contents of the home video editions of Neon Genesis Evangelion, he presents affinities with Lalah Sune, a female character from the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise. For Oguro, their relationship with the male protagonist of the story traces an analogy between the characters: both appear in the last episodes of the series and seem to be able to understand the feelings and aspirations of the male main character, dying by his own hand.[142] Wired also compared Kaworu with Ryo Asuka, the main antagonist of Gō Nagai's Devilman.[143]

Cultural impact

Popularity

The character of Kaworu, despite the brevity of his television appearance, became extremely popular among fans of the series, so much so that he rivaled the female protagonists of Neon Genesis Evangelion Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley Soryu.[142] The character's appreciation was reflected in popularity polls, even years after the series first aired.[144][145][146][147][148] In 1997 and 1998 Kaworu took second and sixth place among the most popular male characters of the moment in two polls conducted by Animage magazine.[149][150] He also appeared in the monthly surveys of the magazine, remeaning in the top 20 in 1997 polls.[151][152][153][154][155] In 1998 Animage ranked him 23th among the 100 most popular anime characters,[156] and 43th in 1999.[157] In August and September 2009, shortly after the Rebuild films were released, he emerged in sixth and third place among the most popular characters of Newtype magazine;[158][159] in October he ranked fourth.[160] In March of the following year, Newtype included him among the most popular male characters of the nineties, giving him the second place, immediately after Shinji Ikari. He also ranked in Evangelion popularity polls, usually in the top three.[161][162][163]

Critical reception
The only one who tells [Shinji] that he's fine just the way he is, is Kaworu. "You don't have to try to so hard." Perhaps because of that, after Kaworu appeared, the girls who had been watching Eva and who found it interesting but didn't feel the kind of enthusiasm that the boys felt about it were able to finally connect emotionally with Shinji. Perhaps because of that everyone loves Kaworu.
–Kunihiko Ikuhara[129]

Criticism has generally been positive about Kaworu's character and its relationship with Shinji. Anime News Network' editor Lyznee Loveridge listed Kaworu and Shinji among the "alternative couples sure to touch your heart" list, describing their relationship as "refreshing compared to the selfish interactions between the rest of the cast".[164] Nate Schoonover (Non-productive.com) praised Kaworu's personality and the choice to include gay themes, describing it as "a powerful move".[165] For Caleb Bailey (Comic Book Resources), the hot spring scene "blazed the trail" on homosexual relationships in Japanese animation, being "ahead of its time".[166] Anime News Network reviewer Kenneth Lee criticized the character and the homosexual overtones of his relationship with Shinji. For Lee, Kaworu is an enigmatic figure "that further adds fuel to the fire of confusion", without giving answers to the spectators. He also criticized the opennes that Shinji shows for him, finding irrational. "The homosexuality issue seems nothing more than cheap shock value tactics to stun generation X", he said.[167] Mary Lee Sauders (Manga Tokyo) also criticized the character's immediate death and the abrupt termination of his relationship with Shinji.[120]

LGBT-oriented portal Pride.com also praised Kaworu and his relationship with Shinji, considering how at the time there were not many representations of gay relationships in the mainstream mass media.[168][169] Screen Rant[170][171] and Comic Book Resources[172] listed him among the best characters in the series. For CBR's Reuben Baron, in particular, his defeat is "the most dramatic example" of the narrative seriousness of Eva's later episodes.[173] Anthony Gramuglia cited Shinji and Kaworu among the best queer representations in Japanese animation, but criticized Kaworu's role in some spin-offs, such as Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Shinji Ikari Raising Project.[174] For Screen Rant's Jack Cameron, his confrontation with Shinji is "erhaps the most heartbreaking of fights in the whole series".[175] Writer Dani Cavallaro praised the last "memorable" sequence of the character, trapped in the hands of Shinji's Eva-01, marked by a long sixty-second freeze-frame.[176] The scene, according to the Asiascape.org site, would represent one of the most artistically and directorically successful moments of the series.[177] For Chris Beveridge of Mania.com, the image of your severed head falling, visible for a few moments in the twenty-fourth episode, is "an extremely powerful moment".[178] Carlo Santos (Anime News Network) appreciated the character of Kaworu and the role he played in Sadamoto's manga; he wrote, "the tension between the two boys soon becomes one of the most intriguing subplots".[179] Zac Bertschy, reviewing the movie Evangelion 3.0, praised the development of their relationship, describing it as the strength of the film.[135] Anime Reign magazine expressed a similar opinion, considering it one of the few merits of characterizing in the movie.[180]

Legacy

Kaworu Nagisa has been used for advertising campaigns[181][182] and a wide range of merchandising items: action figures,[183][184] nendoroids,[185] backpacks,[186] perfumes,[187] sweets,[188][189] cosmetics,[190][191] clothing,[192] toys,[193][194] key rings,[195] watches[196] and jewelery.[197][198] On 22 May 1997 Kadokawa Shoten published a book dedicated to him, entitled Kaworu - Evangelion Photograph (ＫＡＷＯＲＵ－カヲル－ 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン文庫写真集).[199] In August of the same year, Japanese yaoi magazine June published a volume entitled Zankoku na tenshi no yō ni (残酷な天使のように, lit. "Like a cruel angel"), dedicated to Shinji and Kaworu. The book, whose title is taken from the first verse of the theme song, contains a long interview with Hideaki Anno and dōjinshi from members of the Evangelion staff members or mangakas from the shonen ai scene, such as Reku Fuyanagi (Gundam Wing: Ground Zero) and Takamure Tamotsu (Umi ni nita sora no iro).[200] In 2005, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the series release, mangaka Mine Yoshizaki designed a female version of Angel Tabris action figure.[201]

In 2015 Kadokawa published a second book dedicated to him, entitled Kaworu 2015: Nagisa Kaworu shashin-shū (KAWORU 2015 －渚カヲル写真集－), containing unpublished illustrations, information and interviews to the main staff.[202][203] In the same year, the 7-Eleven chain put on the market 166 cm life-size statues of the character, auctioned and sold for over 1,728,000 Japanese yen.[204] In 2017 the official Evangelion Store inaugurated a summer festival dedicated to Kaworu, offering unreleased merchandising.[205] In 2018 it was used for products and features of the 500 Type Eva, a high-speed train entirely dedicated to Evangelion.[206] In 2019 Bandai announced a new card game dedicated to Evangelion titled Evangelion Card Game; one of the two sets of the game, called Ev02, is dedicated to the characters of Kaworu and Asuka.[207] Tony Takezaki paid homage to him in his comic Tony Takezaki's Evangelion, in which he is parodied by Keroro, the protagonist of Keroro Gunso.[208] Quotes, references and visual and conceptual tributes to the character of Kaworu are present in Spider-Verse,[209] in the dorama Nigeru wa haji da ga yaku ni tatsu,[210] in the anime Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei,[211] Hayate no Gotoku![212] and Keroro Gunso, in which he is parodied by Saburō, another character played by Ishida.[213] Japanese actress Chiaki Kuriyama has declared to have an artistic debt towards him and to have approached the world of dubbing after the character.[214]

Notes
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References
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  • Drazen, Patrick (2014). Anime Explosion!: The What? Why? and Wow! of Japanese Animation (Revised & Updated ed.). Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 978-1-61172-013-6.
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