[EVA] Eva Manga Stage 74

[Carl Gustav Horn]

On Oct 31, 2006, at 4:53 AM, M wrote:


>> If the anime Kaworu made love to Shinji, the manga version fucked  
>> him.
>>
>
> Actually, I would have to say just the opposite.
>
> After browsing various discussions of the Eva manga, it seems that  
> most people have negative opinions of this last manga stage and  
> Kaworu in general.  However, as far as I can tell, they are missing  
> the real significance of this stage which marks one of the most  
> important deviations yet from the anime.
>


It was put bluntly, but I actually meant it as a statement of  
admiration for Sadamoto, and how he ended up giving the character an  
impact and intimacy equal to what he had in the anime, but by using a  
quite different approach.

The personality Sadamoto gives Kaworu is somewhat in parallel to the  
one he gives Shinji--that is, openness by comparison to the anime.  
 From the opening lines of the manga, we know Shinji doesn't mind  
telling people how negative his self-image is--in other words, he can  
express his feelings more readily.

The essence of Kaworu is ruthlessness, including the ruthlessness of  
having to make a choice--a choice which, by the way, could be  
imposed, limited, or just plain false (part of free will must be  
examining the choices that are presented to you, and asking if these  
are really the only choices). The kitten can be seen as a metaphor  
for what the strong bade upon the weak throughout EVANGELION. People  
like Kaji were once just orphaned, starving "kittens" in the rubble,  
too. Couldn't they have brought the kitten back to base, to school.  
or in town? Not by Kaworu's logic.

Kaworu doesn't seem ruthless in the anime, but Shinji projects all of  
his hopes and wishes upon him without realizing Kaworu didn't promise  
him such things. To a human being, if someone says they love you, it  
means they want to make you happy. Kaworu never says that. In fact,  
Kaworu's expression of love is accompanied by a fascination of how  
fragile Shinji's heart is, not how he's going to strengthen it by  
being there for Shinji.

--C.