Teeaboo Reacts – Neon Genesis Evangelion (EVA) Episode 24 – Severed Connections

25 Comments

1. Craig Neely
   April 18, 2019 @ 8:33 pm

   Some viewing notes on the finale, in case you weren’t aware: EoE occurs just after the events of episode 24 and somewhat in parallel to the events of 25 and 26, but from an entirely different perspective. The two complement each other in a way that isn’t clear until it all clicks into place near the end. If you don’t get the answers you wanted in the first part, they’re coming.

   The timing is important because it helps us feel where Shinji is at by the start of EoE. He’s been through absolute hell the past several months, hurt, betrayed, used as a tool, and everyone around him he relied on for support and normalcy are crumbling (Asuka, Ritsuko), dead (Kaji), gone (Toji, Kensuke), cold (Misato), and alien (Rei). This whole show he’s been keeping people at a slight distance, and when he finally lets someone in they turn out to be "the enemy" and he has to kill them in order to survive. "Kaworu was the one who should have survived." he says. That’s a hard thing to think.

2. Dana
   April 18, 2019 @ 8:36 pm

   Kaworu Nagisa easily one of the most beloved characters in the Evangelion franchise, in the mangas (there is more than one), the movies, and the series.

   He is always in the top two most popular characters in poll after poll, sometimes number 1, sometimes 2 (Asuka is the other one). His merchandise sells more items than any other character other than Asuka.

   Yeah, Kaworu is popular, and I love him, as much as he loved Shinji.

3. sssnak3
   April 18, 2019 @ 8:37 pm

   I always thought that the smile was Kaworu’s default expression and that is part of what makes him so unnerving, his body language never coincides with what he is saying.

4. HerrKestas
   April 18, 2019 @ 8:38 pm

   Love your videos I hope we will get at last 3 hours of End of Evangelion analysis

5. Riccardo Rolgi
   April 18, 2019 @ 8:42 pm

   Kaworu = reincarnation of adam with adam’s soul
   Gendo has the embrio of adam born from second impact (with kaworu)
   Rei= yui’s clone body with lilith soul from the chamber of guf. that’s why even when they used the lance of longhinus it didn’t wake up, because it is incomplete

6. Ramiel
   April 18, 2019 @ 8:45 pm

   Finally, Kaworu and Ode to Joy.

7. MM F
   April 18, 2019 @ 8:48 pm

   Fun fact, that red shot of Kaworu’s face that is in a Rei bit of the latter part of the episode is one of the flashes in the OP.

   Kaworu is one of my favorite things in Evangelion. Although his segment of the story comes off as a bit rushed in NGE, it still is the source of tons of interesting discussion points. In fact, this is probably one of the most commonly discussed episode in the whole series and one of the most popular. Also, while I think NGE and End of Evangelion are definitely a few steps above any of the other Evangelion content like the Rebuilds, the manga, etc, Kaworu is a character that has really benefitted from some of that extra material. Some of which draws from earlier plans for the series where he is around for longer and plays a more important role. If you ever get around to it, there is some really cool stuff there.

   The big argument with this episode is to what extent Kaworu’s intentions and his relationship with Shinji were pure. When I first watched the series, there was also loads nasty homophobic stuff involved in the discussion although that has thankfully died down over the years. There is definitely a reasonable cynical argument that I have seen made that casts Kaworu in a much more negative manipulative light where he is only using Shinji to achieve his goals until giving up and suiciding making Shinji feel bad in the process. But thematically, I have always preferred seeing him as having generally good intentions. I think he did "love" Shinji as much as an Angel could although perhaps you could say it is a bit more like fascination. Kaworu comes off as a Lilim-phile with his humming of classical music and fascination with the human mindset. As such, I’ve always seen the connection between him and Shinji as serving as the end of the progression that has shown up a few times of Angels gaining increased closeness to humanity.

   As one last interesting note, Hideaki Anno once said that Kaworu was what Shinji saw as an ideal version of himself. This fits nicely with Shinji’s sad spiel at the end of the episode about how Kaworu was better than him.

8. regurii
   April 18, 2019 @ 8:50 pm

   Fun fact: in the kaworu guide book, idk how much of it has been translated yet but, (other than being officially listed as shinji’s homosexual love interest) it says kaworu is the only truly GOOD being in this series. Out of all the humans, angels, etc, he’s the only one who is pure good. He’s the angel of free will too, so to be purely good… He’s a good boi (Kinda funny since he seems so suspicious at first)
   The rebuild movies gives him a lot more screentime so their relationship build-up seems more natural, tho Kaworu is one of the only good things about rebuild…

9. Menage
   April 18, 2019 @ 8:53 pm

   After EoE you should watch the video "Evangelion Explanation in 7 Minutes!!!" and maybe even react to it. It’s the most accurate explanation of Eva’s lore out there.

10. Krljavi Dzo
    April 18, 2019 @ 8:57 pm

    Everyone’s reaction to 25-26 episodes http://i.imgur.com/TSDqjrO.png

11. ehoba
    April 18, 2019 @ 9:00 pm

    This is the turning point of NGE.
    Lilith didn’t exist in the first script but Anno decided to change the underground giant into Lilith in this episode.
    They had gathered much information about Kabbala so Anno was unsatisfied with the original plotline.
    The underground giant was Adam before they made this episode.

12. IntI Joshua
    April 18, 2019 @ 9:01 pm

    I would recommend you to see Welcome to the N.H.K
    A little known anime, but without a doubt quite good
    Nothing more,
     Good reaction and I say goodby

13. Kameron Shrum
    April 18, 2019 @ 9:07 pm

    Only 6 minutes into the show, "is this a fucking angel… do not trust…" very perceptive!

14. alexej24
    April 18, 2019 @ 9:07 pm

    Kaworu’s designated "Angel" name is Tabris, who is the angel of Free will if im not mistaken.

    There is certainly a lot to dissect in this episode and in the upcoming ones but ill highlight some things that come to my mind (though you do an excellent job of picking up a lot yourself so kudos to that)
    In general a LOT of things are thematic foundations for what will happen in End of Evangelion, so its ok to have difficulty understanding what Kaworu or seeles refers to when they adress certain topics.

    I’ll say one thing though, the "white moon" is not our moon that orbits us but a reference to the spherical cavaty that was found at the northpol (?) where the second impact happened 15 years go.
    What the black moon refers too, well youll get the chance to find out soon.

    Additionally as you mentioned we as the audience know that the giant in the basement of nerv cant be adam as he was shown in embryonic form before. Now we know that the Giant is Lilith.

    Furthermore, Kaworu and Rei "look" human but if you recall episode 4 I think it was , one of the earlier ones, Rei’s body was examined back then and there are hints to pick up that something about rei’s body is unusual. Also Ritsuko’s comment of what the angels body was made of back then gives further background of what "body" could mean when Kaworu mentions it here.

    And one of the major Plot points : What the AT field represents. Its more then a physical barrier, its an "Ego" barrier, or individuality barrier.

    More potential answers will emerge from EoE so ill hold back for now. But the answers will not be the "in you face" kind of answers but the implicative type of answers.

    Looking forward to next week!

15. SleepyFoxx
    April 18, 2019 @ 9:08 pm

    IIRC that comment Kaworu makes about the black and white moons is the only mention of them in the series. Like a lot of things it gets expanded on outside of the show (in a video game of all things) and while interesting it’s really not necessary to enjoy the show so it’s not worth getting hung up on. After all, under all the pseudo-religous, pseudo-scientific window-dressing it’s just a story about people.

    That said, we’re in the home stretch. It’s been a fantastic show so far but you’re about to see what makes it so legendary.

16. alegra _
    April 18, 2019 @ 9:09 pm

    Alright, my time to shine with a comment for once! Because goddamn, that long still shot at the end is one of my favorite fucking pictures of all time.
    There’s not even a background and yet, it perfectly captures Shinji’s utter, absolute loneliness and isolation at this point.
    Asuka, Rei, his friends from school, Misato, Kaji, even Ritsuko… *everyone* is gone, he doesn’t have anyone to comfort him or to talk to anymore. Despite still being surrounded by a lot of people he’s now completely alone…
    Then, out of nowhere, Kaworu appears and gives him hope, the kind of friendliness and acceptance he needed –
    only to put him in a position where he’s ultimately forced to kill the one, single person who gave him hope during these times.
    There’s no one who can communicate or tell him what to do down there anymore, the decision is his alone.

    The boring background, the comparably tiny Kaworu in his hand all work together to perfectly signal you this emptiness.

    In a way, you can see Shinji’s entire arc up to this point culminating in this single picture…and that’s why I honestly never cared that they let it sit still there for so long.

17. ま〜ん斉藤さん
    April 18, 2019 @ 9:10 pm

    私としては、先に「End of EVANGELION」を見ることをお勧めする。25話と26話はその後の方がいいと思う。

18. Ana Carolina
    April 18, 2019 @ 9:12 pm

    Ah, yes, the (arguably) gay angel.
    Kaworu is a very interesting character, and it’s rather sad we don’t see more of him in the anime. He makes this episode a strong contender for my favorite – though I may like episode 23 a bit more, as Asuka’s psyche is fascinating.

19. Craig Neely
    April 18, 2019 @ 9:16 pm

    Thanks for the kind comments in this episode and the last.

    This is densest “deep lore” episode, but I think you understood an impressive amount of it for a first viewing. It’s part of the show’s charm to me, but I wish they had had a more relaxed production schedule as I think this could have been two episodes’ worth, easy. It’s also made more difficult because some of what Seele is saying here are lies, on top of Kaji’s earlier confusion about Adam/Lilith. In retrospect, Lilith looks nothing like Adam, the winged giant we saw in the flashbacks to the Katsuragi expedition.

    My interpretation is that Seele is telling Kaworu “Hey, we’re on your side, you Angels are the true owners of the Earth, your body (Adam’s) is in Nerv’s basement, go get it”. But then later we see them expressing the hope that Unit 1 will win, so it seems that their intent was to trick Kaworu into going to Nerv only to be destroyed. They needed him out of the way for their plans to work.

    Kaworu on the other hand is drawn to the body of Adam, like all the other angels, but I think he’s also being genuine with Shinji. He comes off like a cultural connoisseur or someone who comes to appreciate humanity. I see it as classic instinct vs. free will. His instinct will lead to humanities’ destruction, so he chooses to die rather than let that happen.

20. Remedy Bug
    April 18, 2019 @ 9:19 pm

    Just a head’s up: people without Mega accounts prob aren’t going to be able to watch EoE that way: I watched last week’s ep on there and hit the mega bandwidth limit just after the end of the ep.

    I guess no one likes Death because it’s a recap movie, but I thought it was really interestingly arranged, and has some interesting stuff like the opening scene. Not worth a reaction but I’d still say it’s worth checking out. Originally they were released as Death+Rebirth and End of Eva on separate DVDs, but Rebirth was also the first half of EoE so the whole thing’s kind of weird.

21. MutterSchwein
    April 18, 2019 @ 9:19 pm

    Ah, the original and most influential white haired anime boy finally graced another person with his appearance. 😛

    Fun fact: Kaworu is voted the 2nd most popular male anime character of the 90’s(in Japan) just right after Shinji despite his short screen time.

22. Heinrich Agrippa
    April 18, 2019 @ 9:21 pm

    What the last several episodes have been ramping up to, Good ‘ole episode 24: "You Were (Not) Ready".

    There’s an interesting contrast to how Shinji tentatively allowed Kaworu to hold his hand as opposed to how violently he yanked it away from Misato in the previous episode. This in spite of the fact that he’s lived with Misato for months yet only met Kaworu the previous evening. Granted, part of it is likely because Shinji sees Misato as an older-sister/surrogate-mother figure, which made her attempt at physical intimacy pretty fucked up (see my last comment about how that gesture was very likely _not_ platonic), making Misato even more screwed up than you might have initially thought and Shinji’s disgusted reaction quite justified. However, the way Kaworu deftly passed through the prickly surface of "Shinji The Hedgehog" more easily than anyone else ever could demonstrates his otherworldly nature – how he’s such a pure, empathetic, perfect "angelic" being to the point where he can erode your own personal AT field so quickly and thoroughly you’d literally go gay for him.

    I saw Kaworu’s smile at Rei as less smug, but more sympathetic. A sort of sad and resigned "Welp, this is the end for me, but you’ve still got some shit to go through. Good luck." Incidentally, even if you didn’t particularly like him. Kaworu is actually very, _very_ popular. The marketing team clearly realized this early on and slapped him onto posters and just about every other form of Eva promotional material. If all you ever saw was the merch and advertising, you’d think this one-episode pretty-boy was a main character. It’s to the point where in the following decades, multiple anime have tried to cash in on his likeness by using thinly veiled Kaworu clones as characters. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has the highest popularity/screen-time ratio of any anime character of all time.

    I find it both cute and sad that Hyuga essentially confesses his feelings for Misaso when it seemed like they’re all probably going to die. It’s been hinted at a few times as a clearly one-sided crush, but it’s still bittersweet yet tactful that Misato doesn’t outright reject him but just says "thank you". It’s clear she doesn’t reciprocate his feelings but at the same time doesn’t want his last moments alive to be getting shot down by the girl he likes. It’s one of those little humanizing moments that didn’t necessarily need to be there but makes this fantastical story about people feel so real.

    Also, good luck figuring out the whole Lilim/Adam "Black Moon"/"White Moon" thing. It’s probably one of the most dense, cryptic, out-of-context lore drops ever.

    Finally, you may have figured out that Megumi Hayashibara is both the voice of Rei and Yui, but did you realize that she’s also the voice of… *Pen Pen!?* Clearly Pen Pen is the key to all of this.

23. grungehamster
    April 18, 2019 @ 9:24 pm

    Since you’re watching Utena and Evangelion at the same time and I’m already sharing the special brand of bizarre that is Kunihiko kuhara’s commentary over on those videos I will go ahead and mention that there is a rumor that Kaworu was based on Ikuhara. Ikuhara has commented on this claim:

    https://evaresources.wordpress.com/staff/ikuhara-kunihiko/

    The magical power of “You’re fine just the way you are”

    I have been asked directly by a few people before now if I was the model for Kaworu. Where did that information come from? I was completely uninvolved [in Kaworu’s creation as one of the principals. Kaworu is very good-looking, so if I said I was his model I imagine I would receive complaints from his fans.

    However, it’s not the case that I have no idea at all [what the speculation might refer to]. During the period when Evangelion was still in its preparatory stages, I was in very close contact with Anno-san. At that time, the staff of Sailor Moon went on a company trip to an onsen, and Anno-san was also among our members. [1] The two of us ended up talking the whole night. Even after everyone else had collapsed we went on and on, drinking sake and talking, sitting side by side in an open air bath and talking.

    So, I think the conversation we had that night had perhaps the same flavor as the exchange between Kaworu and Shinji. I also felt this way when I saw episode 24 for myself. Well, the situation with the bath was the same; that’s easy enough to understand.

    But, it seems there are rumors – I’m not really sure – that the line of dialogue, “You are worthy of love,” was something I said to Anno-san, and so on (laughs). I don’t think it was a case where I was Kaworu and Anno-san was Shinji. Only, if I had to say which [is which], Anno-san seems to say more Kaworu-esque cynical things, right?

    So, I remember telling [Anno] a story about the time of my adolescence. When I was 14 or 15 years old, I was truly in despair, thinking my life prospects were very bleak. With tests and such things, I had the feeling that I was not permitted even a slight failure. Today it seems like even failures receive attention, or that there is freedom to be “dame,” but at that time it seemed that you would have no future after failing even once. Up until the 70s there was the anpo toso [2], but when that ended, an atmosphere – “ah, as we suspected, you can’t revolutionize the world” – began to spread.

    So, I thought that I would be dead before I was twenty years old, and any life I lived beyond that would be a kind of omake – that was the story I told [to Anno]. Probably, just the fact that I was able to tell that story was of value to both of us.

    Beyond that, Anno-san loved Sailor Moon and told me he wanted to make a similarly enjoyable work. [3] I wonder if an aftershock had occured when this consciousness that was moving towards the pursuit of realism – a science fiction-like world setting, the details of machines, and so on – came into contact with a work like Sailor Moon.

    Maybe that was a period where something like the pleasure of an ordinarily enjoyable anime seemed novel to Anno-san. My own impression of Anno-san is a feeling like he’s not human. He’s big, hunches over, and seems to resemble an Evangelion. [For example,] often he’s had a utility knife, and cried out “Yah!” as he slid the blade out (laughs).

    He’s ordered to come back by his father, he’s slapped by Ayanami, he’s called stupid by Asuka, he’s yelled at to straighten up by Misato… Shinji doesn’t receive much affirmation from others. I think, in this situation, the only one who tells him 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. Hmm? Have I ever said to anyone, “you’re fine just the way you are”? Isn’t that something I’m always saying?

    [1] Evangelion director Hideaki Anno participated as a staff member. Among other things, he directed the bank transformation sequences of Uranus and Neptune in Sailor Moon S, and worked on the genga of episode 103 of Sailor Moon S and of the Ikuhara-directed series Sailor Moon R.

    [2] The term anpo (or ampo) toso refers to the widespread protest movement against the U.S.-Japan security treaty, which led to massive demonstrations in 1960 and 1970 (against the signing of the 1960 treaty and its renewal in 1970).

    [3] Among other things, the appointment (as Misato) of Kotono Mitsuishi, the voice actress of Sailor Moon’s protagonist Usagi Tsukino, and the appointment (as Shinji) of Megumi Ogata, who had voiced a young boy in R, give an indication of Anno’s strong respect [for the series].

24. Scientist Formerly Known as Kyoma
    April 18, 2019 @ 9:26 pm

    I never really understood the inclusion of the bits of Ode to Joy in this episode, but after looking at the lyrics, there seems to be a lot there that could tie into it. "…Within thy sanctuary.
    Thy magic power re-unites all that custom has divided…", "All who can call at least one soul theirs,
    join our song of praise;", "Brothers, above the starry canopy
    , there must dwell a loving father.", "World, do you know your creator?" I dunno, maybe I’m looking too far into its inclusion.

25. TyrWolfsblood
    April 18, 2019 @ 9:26 pm

    There is an interesting thing about the AT-fields here. Kaworu describes them as the barriere of the heart, but the whole time he was with Shinji in this episode his AT-field was down (otherwise it would have been identified as blue). So Kaworu presented his heart as completly open and at its most vulnerable. I think Shinji felt that and thus he was so open when talking to him. He could feel Kaworus heart and felt no threat only his acceptance and love, making it more enraging when he felt betrayed and even more destructuve, when he kills him in the end.