Neon Genesis Evangelion and Rebuild of Evangelion features Shinji and several friends his age, dubbed "The Children," who have various levels of intimacy or affection toward him. There's also several couples and implications between characters outside it.
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Shinji and Asuka
- Neon Genesis Evangelion has teasing sprinkled about between Shinji and Asuka. They range between the tender (Shinji nearly kissing Asuka but backing down when he saw she was crying in her sleep; Asuka trying to warn him about who was the Fourth Child), the humorous (the Like an Old Married Couple Toji comment), the awesome (Shinji leaping into a volcano to save her; Asuka shielding him from an acid bath), the dramatic (their gone-wrong First Kiss), the slightly unsettling (Shinji accidentally peeping on Asuka when she was changing) to the thoroughly unsettling (the even more infamous scene in The End of Evangelion).
- The Rebuild of Evangelion films, being a somewhat Lighter and Softer remake, dramatically increase the frequency of the teasing and lower the disturbing factor; for example the Almost Kiss scene is changed into a lively chat where they agree on a First-Name Basis. Then there's the scene where Asuka is cooking for Shinji...
Shinji and Kaworu
- Over the years, there have been plenty of things these two have had going for them in terms of Ship Tease, but for some examples.
- The blushing, the showering together, the hand-holding, the sleepover, and the declaration of love, all in one episode.
- And during the bathing scene, 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. And shortly afterwards Kaworu tells Shinji that he loves him. At the end of the bathing scene, Shinji tells Kaworu that they need to go to bed, to which Kaworu is confused and asks, "Together?" 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. Shinji finds it quite easy to talk to Kaworu about his conflicted feelings and Kaworu is shown smiling at Shinji in a fond manner, causing Shinji to blush, and Kaworu tells him "I think I was born just to meet you, Shinji Ikari." 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 original Japanese also encompasses a more friendly "like" (though the term “Suki” can also be translated to “love” depending on the context), however, which is present in the new Khara translation Kaworu, as well as the first ADV one, adding a bit more ambiguity to the nature of their relationship... something that the adaptations tend to ignore.
- Look where Shinji's staring when he blushes in the shower.
- In the movie Death and Rebirth, Kaworu is brought up as a prominent link between the TV series and End of Evangelion. The death scene at the end echos the first scene of End of Evangelion, showing the sheer impact Kaworu's death had on Shinji.
- In End of Evangelion, Shinji meets Giant-Naked Rei and has a screaming fit of insanity (to be fair, so did many fans) but a second later, she transforms into Giant Naked Kaworu and asks, "Is this better?" Shinji smiles for the first time since meeting Kaworu and is shown to be fully accepting of his situation as Kaworu goes to grab his Eva. Yep.
- In the manga, meanwhile, the Ho Yay is much more sexualized but one-sided, with Kaworu as the aggressor. Shinji outright tells him he doesn't even like him, and rebuffs anything resembling an advance he makes. That still doesn't stop him from kissing a feverish, hyperventilating Shinji in bed—covering it up as mouth-to-mouth resuscitation—then rather aggressively interrogating him on the nature of love. Throughout their scenes together, Shinji is unnerved by Kaworu's "weird" behavior, but acts as a classic tsundere archetype. Only later after killing Kaworu at his request does Shinji admit he was attracted to Kaworu in a conversation with Misato. As well, Shinji reassures Kaworu that he never hated him when Kaworu tells him to prove his feelings for him by killing him.
- In the Campus Apocalypse manga, Kaworu says that he's only helping NERV for Shinji's sake and that otherwise he'd be out there enjoying life until all reality fell apart without him as a Cosmic Keystone. Because Shinji was nice to him, true, but...
- Campus Apocalypse Kaworu falls in love with Shinji because they met as children and Shinji patted Kaworu on the head. Kaworu sacrifices himself for Shinji in the end.
- After Kaworu reveals to Shinji that he is the final angel he expects Shinji to reject him... only for Shinji to say that he doesn't care. Kaworu turns his head away and bursts into tears of joy.
- Shinji/Kaworu is often used by Khara to sell merchandise, much like Bait-and-Switch Lesbians and pretty much everything even remotely marketable.
- In Rebuild 1.0, Kaworu awakens shirtless on the moon to promptly say "I'm looking forward to knowing you, Shinji Ikari." As lampshaded with many lulz by the fansubbing group, the Japanese word used can mean "to know in the biblical sense."
- And in Rebuild 2.0, after knocking out Eva-01 and putting Third Impact on ice, a very annoyed-looking Kaworu says, "This time, only you will find happiness". The creators even jokingly (or maybe not) suggested that Kaworu was annoyed that Shinji had a thing for Rei in this movie. This seems to have translated over to Evangelion Battlefields where he is shown to be jealous of Rei’s relationship with Shinji.
- When Gendo and Fukutsuki were at the moon and saw Kaworu seat on Mark.06 without a suit or even a shirt, Kaworu turns around to see Gendo. What does he say? "Nice to meet you, Father" as in "Father-in-law".
- In the Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days manga, Kaworu obviously has a crush of some sort on Shinji. He wants to play a concert with Shinji, but Shinji refuses to take care of a sick Asuka. After this, Kaworu dissapears only to return years later and seems happy to see Shinji dating Asuka.
- In Shinji Ikari Raising Project, Kaworu has the hots for Shinji so much that Asuka and Rei team up to push Kaworu away from him, especially since Shinji is shown to reciprocate. Before long, Kaworu completely dissappears for the rest of the story.
- In the early drafts
of Episode 24, the episode writer wanted to insert much more Queer Romance themes. In those drafts, they were going to go skinny dipping in the ocean together, and Shinji was actually going to confess his feelings for Kaworu. Anno confirmed in an interview that he rewrote the scene to keep the original script writers ideas (described as homoeroticism) in mind.
- And in Rebuild 2.0, after knocking out Eva-01 and putting Third Impact on ice, a very annoyed-looking Kaworu says, "This time, only you will find happiness". The creators even jokingly (or maybe not) suggested that Kaworu was annoyed that Shinji had a thing for Rei in this movie. This seems to have translated over to Evangelion Battlefields where he is shown to be jealous of Rei’s relationship with Shinji.
- Kaworu is available as a romantic option in some games, notably in Scenario 17 out of 19 in Neon Genesis Evangelion 2, and Shinji Ikari Raising Project, the latter in which also has an entire bonus path in which the player plays as Kaworu, to compensate for the *seven* other romantic options. In Girlfriend of Steel 2, he has a route that ends abruptly (but still heavily teases a mutual attraction between him and Shinji) and the player is instead forced to choose between Asuka or Rei anyway.
- In general, Girlfriend of Steel 2 pulls no punches about confirming that Kaworu is in fact not into women, despite his apparent claim that he tried to be interested in them his whole life. His whole focus appears to be on Shinji alone. In fact, he comes off as obsessed with Shinji, almost to the point of being possessive of him.
- In Shinji Ikari Raising Project, one of the non-Kaworu route endings has Shinji and Kaworu enter a domestic relationship after they run away together. Misato seems to be supportive of it as long as they love each other.
- In the 4koma gag comic strip (not confused with the anime adaptation), Puchi Eva or Petit Eva, Kaworu's blatantly in love with Shinji (he desires to be his wife in his profile and calls Gendo his father in law). There are a number of teases in several strips, including one with Kaworu moving in with his family (the angels) to live with the Ikaris. Yui's supportive of their relationship and teases Shinji about it. For an online Valentine's Day Special campaign in a mobile phone, Shinji and Kaworu were drawn sharing the Red String of Fate tied to their pinky, both bashful with a multiple heart patterned background.
- In 3.0 Kaworu and Shinji both play the piano under a heart-shaped tree, with Shinji learning how to play the piano instantly with some help from Kaworu. Later on he blushes when Kaworu tells Shinji he can just call him by his first name.
- Rebuild's theme songs Beautiful World and Sakura Nagashi are both very much to do with Kaworu and Shinji's relationship.
- Beautiful World can be interpreted as being about Shinji from Kaworu's perspective, as supported by the male pronoun "boku", and distinctly similar speech patterns. And as for the content... hoo, boy. Who else would profess so selflessly that their only wish is to sleep by Shinji's side? Who sleeps with him in both the original and the films? The singer doesn't care where it is, as "anywhere would do", and in 3.0, Kaworu and Shinji watch the stars together - lying on the cold hard ground. Yet again, the singer's single-minded fixation on Shinji is typical of Kaworu ("I don't need newspapers; they don't have anything important in them/but how are you doing?/if you're alright, then that's good") and also that selfless curiosity and general love of humanity cannot be attributed to anyone other than him - who else would call the world "beautiful"?
- Sakura Nagashi is a song about coping with grief, and mourning for a lover deceased. Guess who dies in that film... If the song is read in that light, then the lyrics are very revealing of Shinji's feelings towards Kaworu. ("...You were so beautiful. What would you think of me, living without you?") ("I can't believe we'll never meet again/I haven't told you anything yet.")
- One Last Kiss, the theme song for the forthcoming 3.0 + 1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, is about making the most of the time you have with your lover, from the perspective of what seems to be Shinji. The translated lyrics go "On the first day I laid eyes on you / The gears that began to turn / A feeling of unstoppable loss". Kaworu's death was very much inevitable, and Shinji pretty much fell in love with Kaworu the moment he first saw him. In the movie trailer, the camera focuses on Kaworu specifically when the song says "Can you give me one last kiss?", and then to Shinji. The final lyrics to the song say "I love you more than you'll ever know". Kaworu is the only person who Shinji truly loved throughout the franchise, and he didn't even get to confess his love to him, meaning that Kaworu died without knowing how much Shinji loved him. It seems that the movie is setting up a Big Damn Kiss between them.
- KHARA released engraved Kaworu and Shinji wedding bands and necklaces from wedding company KISS that read "Good things happen when we play together". What about any of that is 'ambiguous'?
- Then there’s both sets of the official nendoroids for Shinji and Kaworu (Uniform and Plugsuit) which has Shinji and Kaworu are displayed together in the example photos◊, being treated as a set despite them being sold separately. The same courtesy is not extended to either of Shinji’s female potential love interests as they are displayed as the sole models. The Plugsuit official photo which has the two together is rather interesting as well.◊ Someone at Good Smile must be supportive of their relationship.
- According to this excerpt, Kaworu is described as a same-sex love interest for Shinji.
- There’s also this official art◊.
- Evangelion Battlefields, a smartphone game story which takes place during the Rebuild movie continuity, has Kaworu act as slightly less of a satellite character to Shinji, as he interacts with characters outside of him and seemingly has his own motivations. That said, even so, a lot of his dialogue in the seasons involve Shinji in some way as he attempts to gather intel on Shinji in what’s heavily implied to be a new time loop that only he, Gendo and his superiors seem to be aware of. As per tradition, he still gets plenty of Ship Tease with Shinji, as Shinji is shown to turn to him for comfort and is depicted as incredibly insecure about his relationship with Kaworu, even fearing that Kaworu may abandon him if he starts to see him as a nuisance. Kaworu reassures him that he has nothing to fear.
- In several of their conversations, Shinji is depicted with a blushing sprite when speaking to Kaworu. This isn’t often seen in his interactions with the other characters, with the implication there being that he’s jealous.
- Shinji finding out that Kaworu speaks with and is naturally nice to other characters besides him is what spurs his insecurity toward their friendship.
- According to Kotone, Shinji and Kaworu spend a lot of time with each other and asks how they interact with each other since they’re both boys. Kaworu is also shown frequently going to Shinji’s room.
- Kaworu’s official photo book also pushes Kaworu and Shinji’s relationship, with several pages being dedicated to Shinji’s internal monologue about him, as well as a lot of official art.◊
- The longer promotional videos for the final Rebuild movies often show Kaworu during the “Can you give me one last kiss” sequence before showing Shinji.
- In Girlfriend of Steel 2, the manga adaptation of the original anime, and Evangelion Battlefields, Kaworu is implied to be jealous of Shinji’s affections for Rei. In Evangelion Battlefields in particular, he’s interrogates Rei Ayanami (Tentative Name) on her feelings for Shinji in quite a few of their interactions.
- Similarly to the rings, Kaworu and Shinji have a dress and skirt themed after their appearance together in the movie. There’s even a lingerie set for the characters with Kaworu’s line, now modified from “ I think I may have been born just to meet you, Shinji Ikari” to “I think I may have been born just to wear this”, as a tag line for the set.
Shinji and Rei
- Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's manga adaptation of Neon Genesis Evangelion puts heavy emphasis on Shinji and Rei's relationship over every other character, including Asuka, as well as exploring Rei's character in general. Consequently, the story can be easily interpreted as a tragic love story between the two, with the fate of the world resting on them resolving their issues together. A central theme they share is holding each other's hands, which they do several times throughout the series. And when the Instrumentality occurs, they are the only ones left who haven't been completely subsumed into the greater collective conscience, giving a symbolic Adam and Eve vibe as Shinji convinces Rei that Instrumentality isn't the gift he wanted from her.
- Taken to a surprisingly larger extent in the Rebuilds with Shinji and Rei. 2.22, in particular, includes Shinji cooking for Rei because he's never seen her eat lunch, which, as in the apartment-cleaning scene it replaces from the series, causes Rei to blush and thank him. This, in turn, inspires Rei to convince Gendo to have dinner with his son so that they might bond, as well as attempt to cook for him. Misato teases the idea that she's doing all that because she loves him, and it's then blatantly stated to be as such, by Asuka of all people, in a later scene where Rei describes her feelings for Shinji. Then there's then entire Zeruel fight, which begins with Rei charging the Angel with an N2 missile while declaring that she's doing as such so Shinji wouldn't have to pilot anymore, and ends with Shinji going into a berserk rage and tearing her from Zeruel's core after she's absorbed, tenderly embracing her and thanking her for trying to bring him closer to Gendo, then reassuring her that "this is all [he] needs" as they fade into white and Third Impact begins. Wow.
Others
- Toji and Hikari are a Beta Couple in the main series. In the Rebuild continuity, they are an Official Couple in Thrice Upon A Time married and with a daughter named Tsubame.
- In the ANIMA light novel series, in Volume 3 upon their reunion in North Africa, Hikari gives Toji the remains of her sister Kodama's saltified body, and makes him promise to take it back to Hakone so that she has a reason to return. Then before returning to the European army, she gives him a kiss. In the final volume, when Armaros's essence takes over Hikari and her Heurtebise Eva, the two people she subconsciously chooses to become her Torwachters are the people who she loves the most: Kodama and Toji.
- Misato and Kaji clearly paralleled with Asuka and Shinji in the main series. In Rebuild, Thrice Upon A Time confirmed they spent a night together sometime during the events of the second movie, which left Misato pregnant with a son.
- In the Rebuild movies, Asuka and Mari mainly have it from Mari's side, as she frequently Trolls Asuka and calls her "princess," building up quite the camaderie by 3.33. She even berates Shinji over her.
