Glossaries _ Characters _ Kaworu Nagisa

Name: Kaworu Nagisa
Designation: Fifth Child, Pilot of Eva Unit 02
Age: 14
Relations: Adam (Source of Life)
Episodes: 24-26

Japanese Voice: Akira Ishida
English Voice: Kyle Sturdivant; Aaron Krohn, Greg Ayres

About Kaworu: One question that has, and will be on the minds of many an Eva fan for quite a few years, is whether or not Kaworu is gay.  Now, first of all, let me just say that I have nothing against anyone being of a different sexual persuasion, and my agravation over the issue isn't agravation with homosexuality, but the fact that people have a tendancy to jump to the obvious answer or solution.  In this case, people want to know why Kaworu acted the way he did towards Shinji, why he said "I love you" to Shinji.  I find that many people are caught up in this issue so much so that they ignore the enormity of his character and importance in the plot of the series.

For a character who, for all intensive purposes, only appeared in one episode, you cannot deny his importance to the plot, his importance often is misunderstood, not so much within the Eva community, but certainly  within the anime community as a whole.   Simply bring up Kaworu, and you can be guaranteed that your average anime fan will immediately agree that Kaworu is gay, or disagree and say that he is gay.  And they will believe this absolutely, and the fact that they believe this in part obscures his importance.

There are a number of things that we as westerners misunderstand about Kaworu's interactions with Shinji.  For starters, many find that the bath scene is a reason why Kaworu is gay, however in Japanese society, there is not so much of a social taboo like in western society about nudity.  It is a perfectly normal and acceptable thing, for two people of the same gender, whether aquainted or unaquaited, to take a bath in a hotspring together, and consequenlty be naked together is not so much of an odd thing.   One of the more blatantly misunderstood things is when Kaworu tells Shinji "I love you".  This is more so related to translation than anything.  The word they often translate into "love", doesn't translate properly into English.   It is more of an indication of fondness or interest, slightly more than platonic, but not as profound as intimate or romantic love.  And I would assert that Shinji blushing was more so from embarassment than arousal.  Though arousal is a more prevalent reason for a male character in anime to blush, I would argue that it was simply do to the fact that Shinji was embarassed by this.

Regardless of how you want to interpret Kaworu's supposed love for Shinji, I would suggest you take his angelic identity into account.  Kaworu is an Angel, much like Rei.  Granted Kaworu is much more socially capable, and has a much firmer grasp on human emotions, I would argue that like Rei, has doesn't have a sense of sexual identity.   Humans ate of the fruit of knowledge, while Angels ate the fruit of life.   Humans were blessed with knowledge, and doomed to pain, while Angels were blessed with eternal life and doomed to second rate status.  Humans and Angels are two very fundamentlly different beings in a religious sense.  Though humans are flawed and imperfect being, they are loved best of all God's creations, and are capble of obtaining salvation and oneness with God.  Angels are more perfect, depending on what mythos you perscribe to, they are viewed as perfect, or nearly perfect.

Kaworu's love for Shinji bears a strong resemblance to God, and consequently Jesus' love for human life.  God loves us, Jesus loves us, but it is not a romantic or sexuallized form of love, nor is it purely platonic.  It is something more profound and meaningful, and Kaworu is very much a Christ figure within the show, he sacrifices himself for the sake of humankind, so that they can attain salvation.

Kaworu's love for Shinji, if that is what you will call it, is indeed something more profound than some simple intimate love that is much more prevalent in our society.   The importance of his character should not be obscured by the arbitrary belief that he is gay.  Denying the possibility of something greater will only limit your understanding of the character, as well as the series.

Relevent Resources:
Wells, Amanda - The Charm of Tabris
Wells, Amanda - Too Cute