, real name , is a fictional character from the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise created by Gainax. In the original television series, he is the pilot of a giant mecha named Evangelion Unit 02 for the special agency Nerv, as well as the seventeenth and final member of the Angels which threaten humanity and that Nerv is meant to fight. When he arrives at Nerv, he meets Eva-01 pilot Shinji Ikari, showing great affection towards him. After revealing his nature as an Angel to Shinji, he asks him to kill him to allow humanity to survive.
The character, originally conceived by Gainax as a cat controlling a boy, was supposed to appear in the series' twenty-second episode. After several changes, director Hideaki Anno and screenwriter Akio Satsukawa decided on him being the last Angel, and he was included in the twenty-fourth episode, "The Beginning and the End, or 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door'". He later re-appears in subsequent works in the franchise, including the Rebuild of Evangelion films, video games, the original net animation Petit Eva: Evangelion@School, and the manga adaptation by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. His role is notably significantly expanded in Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, the third film of the Rebuild saga.
Although he only appears in a single episode of the original series, Kaworu significantly alters the narrative, in particular Shinji's character, and proved popular with audiences and animation enthusiasts, topping popularity polls. An ambiguous character by design, Kaworu's nature both narratively and thematically has been widely debated, and he polarized critics, with some disliking his ambiguity and the romantic undertones of his relationship with Shinji, while others praised his personality, finding him to be open, affectionate and sociable. His prominent role in Evangelion 3.0 also attracted attention, with reviewers generally appreciating his relationship with Shinji. Merchandise based on Kaworu has been released, particularly action figures.
Conception
thumb|left|alt=Sketches of Kaworu and a cat|Kaworu was originally conceived as a cat-like Angel who possesses a boy.
Akio Satsukawa, a screenwriter who contributed to writing for the series' twenty-fourth episode, "The Beginning and the End, or 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door, chose Kaworu's name. He opted for the surname Nagisa (Japanese for "shore") as a homage to Japanese director Nagisa Ōshima. The choice of a term related to the sea allowed him to connect to the names of other series' characters inspired by Imperial Japanese Navy ships and in the surname of Rei Ayanami. The name Kaworu was not written with the contemporary spelling with the katakana , but with the archaic character . The kanji was chosen for its connection with the katakana and the kanji , a detail referring to the Japanese title of the episode: . Satsukawa then created a pun with the phoneme shisha, which can mean or .
Two years before the series began broadcasting, Gainax published a presentation about the series entitled . Kaworu was originally going to appear in the twenty-second episode of the series as a "bishōnen constantly accompanied by a cat". Nerv would have allowed the boy to enter its laboratories and, after a clash in which his fellow pilot Shinji Ikari found himself "in the dilemma of having to fight against an anthropomorphic enemy", "the greatest secret of the organization" would be revealed. In the first drafts, the Angel would have been a cat controlling a boy; however, this idea was abandoned, and elements of it were merged into Kaworu.
Anno conceived him as an "ideal male". According to him, "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". Character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto conceived him as "more elegant and more refined" than Shinji, and compared to him he would be "taller, thinner and with a smaller face". For the somatic features of his face, he decided to combine those of Rei, Shinji, and Asuka Langley Soryu. While designing him, Sadamoto envisioned him with a "younger" voice than in the final version. In one of the drafts of the twenty-fourth episode, he is described as a blond-haired boy, 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; in the editing phase, the sketch was inserted before a frame depicting Rei Ayanami and the caption "Angels".
In the early stages of production, scriptwriter Akio Satsukawa wrote some drafts of the twenty-fourth episode's script, in which Kaworu's relationship with Shinji would have been expanded upon and presented with less ambiguity. Some of his ideas included Kaworu and Shinji swimming naked in a river at night, Kaworu proposing to Shinji to play piano and cello together and a kiss scene between them. Anno originally gave him an outline that Satsukawa greatly expanded upon, something that struck Sadamoto. The drafts underwent several modifications before being accepted as the definitive script. However, they did not change or alter the essence of Kaworu's character; Anno said the draft's "atmosphere" was preserved in the script. Anno explained he wanted to hold on to the idea of an Angel "conversing in human language", mentioning it as a progression from Shinji's conversation with the Angel Leliel in the sixteenth episode. He also considered expanding Kaworu's role in the expanded director's cut version of the episode, but decided to prioritize clarifying Kaworu's connection to Seele instead. and mentioned that Kaworu was not supposed to hold Shinji's hand in the bath scene. This was an animation error; he was supposed to touch it instead. According to some fans, he may have used Kunihiko Ikuhara, the director of the animated series Sailor Moon and his friend, as a model. In an interview, Ikuhara denied the rumors, comparing Kaworu's cynical personality to Anno himself, while stating he was not involved in the creation of the character. He also said he had close correspondence with Anno, with whom he was on good terms since the early design stages of Neon Genesis Evangelion. During the production of Sailor Moon, the staff went on a trip to the spa, and Ikuhara chatted all night with Anno, who also worked as an animator for some of the series' episodes. When watching the episode, Ikuhara noticed how the situation with the bath was the same as the conversation he had with Anno. as well as the later films, spin-offs, video games, and the Rebuild of Evangelion saga. In 1997, when The End of Evangelion was released, Ishida said he found the role "very difficult", and felt "a lot of pressure" during 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. 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 theatrical version and his relationship with Shinji. <!-- providing Ishada with various indications and some privileged information, closed to all the other voice actors. (This needs clarification. Indications of what? What information? "Closed" i.e. not shared?>)--->During the dubbing sessions for Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012) he felt tense, but with the director's support, he overcame his performance anxiety and reprised the role. For the final installment, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, Ishida noted he had trouble saying the character's "complex" lines.
In English, he is voiced by Kyle Sturdivant in the original series; Greg Ayres in the director's cut version, Aaron Krohn in the 1997 film duology, Clifford Chapin in the Netflix' dub, Jerry Jewell in the first dub of Rebuild of Evangelion and Daman Mills in the Amazon Prime Video's dub.
In the Netflix dub, one of Kaworu's lines to Shinji was changed from ADV DVD's "I love you" to "I like you". This was a controversial choice among some fans, who felt it altered their relationship and contributed to queer erasure. Dan Kanemitsu, studio Khara's in-house translator responsible for the updated Evangelion subtitles, production assistance, and other official Gainax and Khara translations, including the Rebuild of Evangelion films, explained in an interview that he consults the original creator when the meaning is unclear or ambiguous. He defended the importance of ambiguity, citing Anno's commentaries on Evangelions ambiguity and open-endedness, his commitment to accuracy, and conveying the text's intended nuances across a cultural gap. Shinji's voice actress, Megumi Ogata, also agreed with the translation for the Netflix/Khara release, saying she originally interpreted Kaworu's lines as "like", and that she is glad the new version is closer to the original Japanese version.
Appearances
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Kaworu appears in the twenty-fourth episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion. A secret sect called 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 as the Fifth Child and the replacement for Asuka Langley Soryu, who became unable to pilot Eva-02 following her breakdown. Soon after arriving in Tokyo-3, he meets with Shinji Ikari, who is the Third Child and Eva-01's pilot. He befriends him, showing unconditional and sincere sympathy towards him. His position as a pilot allows him to enter Nerv, but Misato Katsuragi, a major in the organization's operations department, becomes suspicious of him. He is subjected to a synchronicity test with Eva-02, and his high results astound the organization's staff, since he can arbitrarily vary his rate of synchronization with the mecha. All data about his past is erased to conceal his true identity, but Misato discovers that he was born on September 13, 2000: the day the first of the Angels caused a calamity called the Second Impact to occur at the South Pole. He is revealed to be Tabris, the seventeenth Angel and the "last sacrificial messenger", who has the soul of the first Angel, Adam, implanted in him. Seele, who captured Tabris when he was still in an embryonic state, "recovered" it. and communicate with them. Once in the headquarters, he comes into contact with Rei Ayanami, the pilot of Eva-00, in which the soul of another Angel is implanted, and confesses to her he is also a hybrid.
Using his Angel abilities, Kaworu manipulates the movements of Eva-02 to enter the Terminal Dogma of Nerv's headquarters and contact the angel Adam, who is supposedly being guarded within the structure. Despite his anthropomorphic features, he possesses several anomalous abilities, including levitation and an AT Field, a powerful forcefield that is characteristic of Angels and Evangelions. Upon arriving at his destination, he discovers that the second Angel Lilith is being kept inside the base rather than Adam. Upon seeing Lilith, he interrupts his attempt at contact and decides to preserve her lineage, which humankind is descended from, rather than cause their extinction. He allows himself to be killed by Eva-01 and Shinji to allow humanity to survive.
In the ending film of the series, Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997), the souls of humanity unite into a collective consciousness, and during a process called Human Instrumentality, Shinji argues symbolically with Kaworu and Rei Ayanami. Akira Ishida said that the Kaworu who appears in The End of Evangelion is not real or concretely present; He also appears when Gendo Ikari dies, along with Rei and Shinji's mother Yui Ikari.
Rebuild of Evangelion
In the Rebuild of Evangelion saga, Kaworu has a prominent role and he is aware of details of Shinji's life even before meeting him. 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 member of Seele. During the scene, he rises from a coffin placed on a lunar sea, with eight coffins next to him: four already open and four still closed. Behind him, a white giant is framed, similar to the Angel Lilith. He is completely naked, and somehow can breathe on the Moon. He addresses commander Gendo Ikari, who is visiting a place named Tabgha Base, as "father". In Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009), the second installment of the saga, when Shinji tries to save Rei and unwittingly starts Third Impact, he descends aboard an Evangelion unit known as Mark.06. He stops the Third Impact, addressing Shinji with the phrase: "At least this time I will be able to make you happy." Originally, Kaworu would have said the line with the light-hearted smile of the original series; however, during production it was decided to give him a troubled expression. Kazuya Tsurumaki, the assistant director of the original series and its movies, described him as a man who takes his wife back by force. He also said: "[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...!. Staff initially wanted to give him a "showier entrance", and originally give him a scene talking to Asuka when Eva 03 is possessed the ninth Angel.
In the third movie, Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012), set fourteen years after the previous film, he works for Nerv and is designated to pilot Eva-13 with Shinji on behalf of Gendo, who he calls "king of Lillith". He shows Shinji, who is alone and scared of the new world, the consequences of his actions on planet Earth. Shinji is initially reluctant, but Kaworu offers him an opportunity to revert the damage done by Third Impact. To train, the two boys practice piano on the same a quatre mains musical base. Having reached good harmony, the two board Eva-13 and head to the Terminal Dogma of the Nerv base. Asuka and Mari Makinami confront them, but Kaworu falls for a trap set by Gendo and accidentally causes Shinji to start the Fourth Impact. He reveals he is the first Angel, but was demoted to thirteenth, and dies telling Shinji that "We will meet again." Akira Ishida, Kaworu's voice actor, was asked if the sequence of the two boys united in the same Evangelion could be interpreted as a "love scene"; Ishida replied he "could not make that interpretation", and left it up to what the director said or the fans' speculation, 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.". In the 57th chapter of the comic, he meets Shinji in the ruins of a church during a piano solo. In his first appearance, he kills a stray cat in front of Shinji, arguing this would spare the cat further pain. He is later brought into Nerv to replace the Fourth Child, Toji Suzuhara, who died while fighting alongside Rei Ayanami against the Angel Armisael. His role as an Angel also changes, being presented as the twelfth instead of the seventeenth. In this version of events, Shinji has strong suspicions of the Fifth Child, and he accuses Kaworu of violating his personal space. Shinji has a nightmare and starts to hyperventilate, and Kaworu uses this opportunity to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation by kissing Shinji, which angers him. Over time, their relationship becomes increasingly cold and tormented, until they take two different paths.
Unlike the original series, in which their relationship is ambiguous and up to speculation, for the manga Sadamoto changed Kaworu's characterization, leaving less margin for interpretation. According to him, Kaworu feels "a reflection of Rei's feelings" for Shinji, but he fails to understand them. Irritated by his behavior, after killing Kaworu, Shinji admits he felt "drawn to him", but in the end rejects him "because he is not Rei". Sadamoto created Kaworu to represent "a situation in which Shinji has to confront liking someone"; according to him, he is the person who understands Shinji the most. In an interview, Sadamoto compared his death to a "contradictory fumi-e", an ancient Japanese ritual consisting of the trampling of Christian icons, in which Tabris would ask Shinji to prove he liked him by killing him. According to Sadamoto, in this particular moment of his life Shinji "does not want the affection of a girl, but the approval of another boy".
In other media
After the conclusion of Neon Genesis Evangelions first airing, a self-parody audio track written by Anno called After the End was released. On it the series' characters, played by their original voice actors, jokingly discuss and prepare a new ending just before the production schedule deadline, breaking the fourth wall. Kaworu appears; when Asuka calls him "homoboy", he tells her, "I wish you wouldn't make statements when you lack evidence for them." Nagisa, along with Eva's other pilots, joins a super sentai-style superhero group named Shin sentai Evangelion. In the movie Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth (1997) there are sequences in which four children from the third middle school of the city of Tokyo-2, with their respective instruments, practice a string quartet in the school's auditorium. Among them is a violinist who looks like Kaworu; according to what is indicated by the superimposed writings, however, the event would take place eighteen months before his appearance in Tokyo-3. From the script, it is clear that, despite the similarity with the protagonists of the series, the four children should still be interpreted as actors in an imaginary sequence.
He appears in video games dedicated to Neon Genesis Evangelion and is available as a romantic option in Neon Genesis Evangelion: Girlfriend of Steel 2nd, Neon Genesis Evangelion 2, and Neon Genesis Evangelion: Shinji Ikari Raising Project. He's also present in Raising Project manga adaptation as an agent sent by Seele at Ritsuko's behest. In the manga Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days he knows Shinji's father, Gendo, years before the main events without having changed his appearance. In the chibi parody series Petit Eva: Evangelion@School Kaworu is president of the school student council particularly popular among the students at his school who tends to protect Shinji, whom he loves. 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. In Neon Genesis Evangelion: Campus Apocalypse, his personality is similar to that of the original series. At the beginning of the manga, Kaworu is seen by Shinji near a vending machine running away from the scene of an explosion with Rei Ayanami, with whom he has an unspecified bond. Like the original series, he immediately shows great interest in Shinji, making him uncomfortable. He is also present in Neon Genesis Evangelion: Legend of the Piko Piko Middle School Students. Kaworu is one of the main characters of a pachinko entitled , released in Japan in April 2009. During the game, Nagisa intervenes during Operation Yashima against Ramiel with his Eva-04.
In addition to video games based on the original animated series, Kaworu has also appeared in media not related to the Evangelion franchise, such as Million Arthur, Hortensia Saga, Keri hime sweets, Summons Board, Divine Gate, Monster Strike, Final Gear, Puzzle & Dragons, Puyopuyo!! Quest., and The Battle Cats. Kaworu briefly assists Shinji in Neon Genesis Evangelion: Anima, also featuring a "Dark Kaworu" who hates humans and music; he is also present in the crossover franchise Super Robot Wars.