is a fictional character from the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise. He is the Fifth Child (Fifth Children in the Japanese versions) and the seventeenth Angel, Tabris. He is sent to Nerv by Seele as a replacement pilot for Unit 02 after Asuka Langley Soryu's synchronization ratio falls below usability. He later breaks into Terminal Dogma to return to Adam, but after he discovers the being there is actually Lilith, he permits Shinji Ikari to destroy him.

Description

It is strongly implied that Kaworu is to Seele what Rei Ayanami is to Nerv. Although his personal data states that he was born on the day of Second Impact, the fact that the Mass Production Evas bear the word "Kaworu" on their Dummy Plugs suggests that Seele was in possession of clones of Kaworu just as Nerv was in possession of clones of Rei for the Dummy Plug system for the original Evas. In episode 24, Kaworu tells Rei that they are "the same"; the director's cut expands this scene, as Kaworu goes on to tell Rei that he and she are human vessels for the souls of Adam and Lilith, respectively. Kaworu and Rei also share distinctive and unusual physical attributes (extremely pale skin, red eyes, and oddly-colored hair) and both can project external AT fields.

Kaworu's dialogue in episode 24 gives clues to the reasons for the Angel attacks: they seek to return to Adam, thus triggering a form of Third Impact which would annihilate humanity and leave whichever Angel that made contact with Adam as the dominant lifeform on the planet:

"Adam: that from which we came. Must one who was born from Adam return to Adam, even though it would destroy Man?...wait...this is not...Lilith?! I see! I understand now! "The Lilim"; Lilith!"

Kaworu, however, chooses to sacrifice himself for the future of humanity:

"This is my wish: please, destroy me. Otherwise, you will be destroyed. Only one life-form can be chosen to evade the destruction and seize the future! And you are not the existence which should die. You need the future, it is what you live for!"

Despite his overall importance to the plot Kaworu has less than 13 minutes of screen time (and this at the end of the series, in episode 24). Furthermore, during the last minute of this time, no dialogue or action occurs; it is quite literally a 'static' scene. Kaworu makes a rather more notable appearance in The End of Evangelion, appearing with Rei inside Shinji's mind as the Human Instrumentality Project is being initiated. At first, when the giant Lilith/Rei appears to Shinji, he is terrified by it. It then transforms into Kaworu, a form which Shinji accepts. Kaworu, along with Rei, argues with Shinji in regards to the case of humanity and in favor of individualism and free choice (specifically, in favor of Shinji rejecting Instrumentality). In one of the last scenes, Yui Ikari and Professor Fuyutsuki continue the dialogue started by Rei and Kaworu.

Promotional materials for Rebuild of Evangelion include prominent images of Kaworu in his plugsuit with the other Children. He appears briefly at the conclusion of the first film in conversation with Keel. Kaworu will be the pilot of Evangelion Unit 06 in the second Rebuild of Evangelion film.

Implied homosexuality

Kaworu's interactions with Shinji have been a persistent topic of debate among fans of Evangelion since the series' first run. Shinji is unusually open, emotional, and physically receptive when around Kaworu, more so than with any of the other principal characters, while Kaworu treats him with a level of kindness and camaraderie that is completely unfamiliar to Shinji. In episode 24, Kaworu accompanies Shinji to a bath house. While sitting together in the bath, the boys display a remarkable degree of comfort around one another. At one point, Kaworu places his hand on Shinji's, and rather than hesitate or pull back (as he did in a previous episode, when Misato attempted to touch him), Shinji allows Kaworu's hand to linger on his own. In the English dub, Kaworu says "I love you" to Shinji shortly thereafter. The original Japanese dialogue uses the word "suki" (好き) which can be interpreted as "like" or "love." At the end of the bath house scene, Shinji tells Kaworu that he needs to go to bed, to which Kaworu asks, "With me?" Shinji is quick to decline Kaworu's offer, but he does spend the night at Kaworu's apartment, sleeping on the floor beside Kaworu's bed. Later, Shinji is devastated by his killing Kaworu, and remarks that Kaworu was the only person in his life to tell him that he was loved.

The topic is also referred to in largely comedic omake (bonus material).

Patrick Drazen sees Kaworu's offer of love for Shinji to be a tactic that Kaworu as the last Angel used to disarm Shinji, but Drazen also acknowledges that his view is in the minority.

Manga version

Adaptation by Sadamoto

In this manga series, Kaworu is portrayed as being ignorant of human emotions and taboos regarding social interaction and personal space, creating some comic relief. Also, some events concerning him are changed, and he appears earlier as well. He appears briefly at the end of vol. 7 in the presence of Seele. In his appearance in book 9 (when Shinji first meets him), Shinji finds him playing a piano in the ruins of a church. He asks Shinji if he knows the name of the song, to which Shinji replies "the Ode to Joy." (In the anime, he was sitting on a rock by the sea, humming the tune of the same song.)

Another important difference in this manga is that Shinji initially does not like or trust Kaworu. Just after their first meeting, Kaworu calmly kills an abandoned kitten that had been following Shinji; his pragmatic reply to Shinji's question of "why" (it was kinder to kill the kitten rather than let it eventually starve to death) made Shinji feel that Kaworu was like Rei when Shinji first met her. Later, Kensuke and Hikari see Shinji and Kaworu arguing. Shinji sees them and runs away, and Kaworu looks up and smiles at them; Kensuke thinks to himself, "Creepy...something inhuman..." After Shinji brings Kaworu to Nerv, he tells Asuka that she needs to open her heart to her Eva in order to operate it; this line was delivered by Rei in the anime. In the aftermath of the battle with Arael, Seele interrogates Kaworu, and he mentions that he finds human emotions and attachments fascinating.

In volumes 9 and 10, Kaworu pilots Unit 02 alongside Rei in the battle with the Angel Armisael. The Angel partially assimilates Unit 02, connecting the already-assimilated Rei to Kaworu and causing him to feel Rei's love for Shinji, which makes him cry. After the battle, Shinji nearly punches Kaworu after he calls Rei a fool. Despite this, Shinji stays in Kaworu's apartment rather than go home to Misato, believing that being around the emotionally distant Kaworu would be more tolerable than being around people who would also be sad about Rei's death. He reluctantly accepts Kaworu's offer to share his bed. That night, Shinji begins to hyperventilate while having a nightmare, and Kaworu kisses Shinji, using the lack of a handy paper bag as an excuse. Shinji becomes angered when he wakes fully and realizes what Kaworu did, and is even more angered when Kaworu asks him if what he felt while connected to Rei was love and attempts more advances. Later, after Rei re-appears, Shinji returns to Misato's apartment with the barest of good-byes, visibly upsetting Kaworu. Volume 11 plays out the same way as episode 24. However, Shinji is confused about his feelings towards Kaworu, and the latter tells the former that Kaworu's death at Shinji's hands will allow him to know truthfully what Shinji's feelings towards him are.

In the following chapter (75), Shinji admits that he was attracted to Kaworu, even though he knew he shouldn't be. With his confused feelings at everyone else he was close with abandoning him, and Kaworu being the only person showing the slightest bit of affection to him at the time, Shinji regrets killing the only person who has ever genuinely cared about him with no strings attached.

At the end of volume nine of the English adaptation of the manga, an article written by the editor Carl Gustav Horn compares Kaworu to the character Satan in Mark Twain's novella, The Mysterious Stranger.

Shinji Ikari Raising Project

In the noncanonical Shinji Ikari Raising Project, he's an agent sent by Seele to infiltrate Shinji's school (much like the original). Here, he's helped by Ritsuko Akagi. In the series, he teases Shinji frequently, drawing Asuka's (and eventually, Rei's) ire. He's also implied to be the cause of a blackout at Nerv (in an homage to the original outage in the anime). He's also a potential romantic interest for Shinji.

Character notes

In early designs, Kaworu was depicted as a school boy with a pet cat who could switch to an "Angel form". In vol. 9 of the manga, one of Sadamoto's artworks is a portrayal of Kaworu dressed in black and holding a black cat.

Kaworu was named by screenplay writer Akio Satsukawa. Kaworu's surname "Nagisa" comes from the Japanese word "渚 nagisa", meaning "waterside" or "shore," concerned with sea. It also comes from Japanese movie director Nagisa Oshima (大島渚). Adding to these, the character "渚", when divided, can be read "シ者 shi-sha". The title of episode 24 is "Saigo no shisha 最後のシ者 The last shisha". "シ者" includes two Japanese words "shisha" (the character "シ" only represents the sound "shi"). The first shisha is "使者"; a messenger, or an apostle (an apostle is usually translated for "使徒 shito" into Japanese). The last one is "死者"; the dead.

Gainax renders his name in Romaji as "Kaworu," not "Kaoru" as would be given by most romanization schemes. The reasons for the difference in the naming have not been explicitly detailed by the series' creators; one theory is that the name is based on the original kana of the name Kaoru Genji, from The Tale of Genji.

Kaworu's seiyū Ishida Akira went on to voice Saburou Mutsumi in Sgt. Frog; this is made fun of in the anime by making his (and by extension, Sergeant Major Kururu's) appearance in the anime a parody of Kaworu's breaking and entering into Terminal Dogma in episode 24 of Evangelion, as well as other nods to Evangelion in Sgt. Frog's anime and manga. Ishida would also later voice Athrun Zala in the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED series, another major mecha anime. Interestingly, in Super Robot Wars Alpha 3 (where the characters of Gundam SEED makes their debut), both teens are featured. Also, both teens were close to the protagonists of their respective series (Shinji in Evangelion and Kira Yamato in Gundam SEED), and piloted red mechas.

Marketing

As a promotion for its 10th Anniversary Special Edition of Evangelion, ADV Films published a humorous bumper sticker which reads "KAWORU DIED FOR YOUR SINS." (カヲルはあなたの罪のために死んだ).

References