Who is this guy? He looks like some kind of evil ambassador.
„
The classic pose.Did someone just say "Gendo Pose?"
The purpose of this page is to list occurences of Gendo Pose (also known as Ambassador Pose) in other anime and manga; other types of Gendo lookalikes may also be included at editors' discretion.
While it started out as an offshoot of Tributes to Evangelion, this page is not concerned with whether or not these findings are related to Evangelion in any way. Although it includes all the poses mentioned in Tributes and considered to be genuine nods to Evangelion - these are usually from shows that also contain other, more obvious references - chances are most of the poses here are entirely unrelated to it. Gainax didn't invent the pose, and some of the shows here, such as Detonator Orgun, are indeed older than Evangelion. Folding one's hands in front of one's face as a sign of deep thoughts and/or cunning plans appears to be a rather common character design trope in anime. Gendo simply is the most profilic member of this vast family of posers, and this page exists simply for cheap laughs.
So, without further ado, enjoy the bestiary.
The Gendo Pose
The Pose: way older than Evangelion. Hyouma Aoi from Combattler V (1976)
Gourou, the president of the cosplay club, from Cosplay Complex
Director Foreston from Detonator Orgun
Gilda from El Hazard: The Alternative World
Producer Kitayama from Excel Saga
Rikdo Koshi, Excel Saga
Yao's father from Miami Guns (opening animation)
Yao's Father again (episode 7)
Becky from Pani Poni Dash
Dantalion from Shakugan No Shana
Chief Kachou from You're Under Arrest (first TV series)
Rammy from Sol Bianca: The Legacy
Chief Oosugi from Dai-Guard
Mr. Joker from Read or Die
Miria Jenius from Macross 7
Airi Masaki from Tenchi Muyo GXP
Shiro Amada from Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
Gihren Zabi from the video game Mobile Suit Gundam: Journey to Jaburo.
Chronicle Asher from Victory Gundam
Zechs Merquise from Gundam Wing
Random Gundam Wing cannon fodder
Fixx Bloodman from Gundam X
Sergei Smirnov from Gundam 00
AEU politicians from Gundam 00
Gilbert Durandal from Gundam SEED Destiny
Gen Fudo from Aquarion (TV series)
The president of the Allied Governments from Gravion
Huey Laforet from Baccano!
Random American military commander from Blood+
Eneus(as Fuyutsuki) and Eitarou Sakuma(as Gendo), from Macademi Wasshoi
The Gendo Pose (cont'd)
Hanji from Attack on Titan
Sohma Yuki from Fruits Basket (on the right) displaying a variant of the pose, in which the fingers are not interlocked. (Gendo himself displayed this variant many times.)
Akemi Homura from Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion
Kuroki Tomoki from WataMote
Nishikinomiya Matsukage from Shimoneta: A Boring World without the Concept of Dirty Jokes displaying a lovely Gendo, in what is almost certainly an intentional NGE reference. (Especially when you consider that he raised a Rei expy to protect his daughter, and has been manipulating events from behind the scenes for the whole duration of the series. He's smiling in another cut in the same episode because his plans have finally come to a head.)
Nishikata from Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san (Skilled Teaser Takagi-san), an anime that began airing in January 2018.
Characters from Wotakoi (Love is Hard for Otaku). They never say Gendo, but the scene plays the beginning drum beats of "Decisive Battle" while showing this, and they call out the guy on the left as being the "Fuyutsuki."
Tamaki Suoh's father, from Ouran High School Host Club, displaying a Gendo-like pose.
Minor character from Food Wars (食戟のソーマ Shokugeki no Sōma) displaying the Gendo pose, glasses included.
Character from Robotics;Notes displaying the Gendo Pose, with a Fuyutsuki stand-in.
Dr. FranXX, from Darling in the FranXX, displaying a strong Gendo Pose (in addition to the similarities of their roles in the plot), with a Fuyutsuki stand-in next to him.
Seto Kaiba, from Yu-Gi-Oh!, with an impressive Gendo (I'd give it a 7/10). He happens to be a bit of a schemer as well, so that works.
Sora, from No Game No Life, with a lovely Gendo. His hair is actually somewhat darker in this shot than appears to be the norm, and I don't believe he usually wears glasses either. Seems to be a completely intentional reference. 10/10.
A member of the council that manages human affairs in the short Bureau of Proto-Society, from Anno's Animator Expo. Considering Gainax staff's penchant for self-reference, and the character's role as essentially a member of a SEELE-equivalent, if this isn't an intentional reference... well, I'd be very surprised. 11/10.
Screenshot from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, depicting UCC coffee cans with a silhouetted Gendo Pose on them (as well as a clear reference in the dialogue shown here).
Haruma Yamazaki, from Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches. He is the student council president, who plans to use the powers of the eponymous witches of the show to engineer an Instrumentality-esque ending in which he can achieve his wish (the which Instrumentality ending is stolen by the protagonist, Yamada-kun). He pushes his glasses up as well, after this shot, only increasing the Gendo similarities.
Deishuu Kaiki, from Monogatari. He's a bit of a schemer himself, so the pose definitely fits.
Nami from One Piece.
Subcommander Gunji from Mahoromatic, with Gendo Pose/hair/glasses... yeah. Don't need to say any more here, do we?
Aritomi Haruki, of the secret organization "STUDY", from A Certain Scientific Railgun S, posing with flashing glasses.
Kotomine Kirei, the main antagonist (among many) of Fate/Zero, doing teh pose.
Roy Mustang, the "Flame Alchemist", of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
Matoi Ryuuko, from Kill La Kill episode 13 exhibiting the Gendo Pose, along with some very Eva-esque dialogue. Sasuga Imaishi. (Dialogue: "No, it's me that I'm afraid of.")
Reigen Arataka, from Mob Psycho 100. Here he is in episode 3, doing the pose while conning someone into paying for a fraudulent exorcism. Likely an effort to seem cool and experienced.
Prosecutor Sena, from KonoSuba 2, episode 1. In a show that never shies away from referencing pre-existing franchises (such as the Star Wars-esque text crawl at the beginning of this very episode, or the numerous Ace Attorney references in it as well), it seems to this editor that the pose is an intentional Gendo reference.
Lucius, from Thermæ Romæ Novæ, episode 2, displayinɡ a Gendo pose. He is pondering the strange new bathhouse in which he finds himself, and wondering how he can implement its innovations in his native Rome. With an accidental Fuyutsuki stand-in.
Terada, from Mob Psycho II, episode 9.
Miku Okazaki, from Gal Gohan, chapter 29, in a clear Gendo homage. As a subsequent panel on the same page shows, she actually stole another character's glasses to do the pose.
Rin Tohsaka, from Fate/Stay Night: Heaven's Feel II. lost butterfly, doing the Gendo pose as she worries about her sister's unfortunate condition.
Youko Tachibana, from Youko-chan, Sugariyoru., doing the Gendo pose, as she plots to defeat her most powerful enemy: social anxiety.
The Gendo Pose (cont'd (cont'd))
Kyoh Goshoin, from Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta?, episode 2, performing a Gendo pose with some very Gendo-ppoi dialogue.
Bizarro multipart entries etc. that require longer descriptions go here.
A Chinese animated show that rather blatantly rips off Macross and Gundam. It has a Gendo clone for a starship captain, fusing Gendo's looks with Lelouche's sweeping hand gestures. Although this guy might have made the classic Gendo pose at least once in the show, it's hard to even be sure given just how ridiculously choppy and cheap the animation is. It just goes to show how important the pose is to Gendo - the glasses, the face and the beard need the pose as part of a foursome.
Death Note
Considering the nature of the series, it's not very surprising that Death Note features tons of characters doing the pose. The posers include:
Light Yagami
Soichiro Yagami
Chief Kitamura
Takeshi and Hatori, from the Yotsuba Group
Roger Ruvie, the superindend at Wammy's House
Aizawa
Choice examples from Death Note's menagerie
Two handsome devils
Chief Kitamura
Roger being shockingly cool
Hellsing Ultimate
Hellsing is a series full of crazy, scheming bastards, who all seem to love the pose. Glowing glasses and stylish gloves add to the fabulousness.
Integra Hellsing, manlier than most men"Gentlemen, I like war."
Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water
Hideaki Anno directed Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water prior to Evangelion, and it seems like it represents the time Anno got interested in the pose in the first place. Unsurprisingly, the real poser is the villain Gargoyle, who uses this pose a lot in the late "Space Arc". Also worthy of note is that he's voiced by Fuyutsuki's voice actor (the late Motomu Kiyokawa) and apparently shares Fuyutsuki's facial features under that mask (from the very brief glimpse we get). Bonus points go for being polite, cultured and having a very distinctive style of his own while being a magnificent bastard par excellence.
To top it off, Jean Roque Raltique pulls his own variant early in the series, much like Rei pulls off her own variation of Gendo's pose when sitting in class. Of course, this kid's nowhere near as deliciously sinister as Gargoyle, but he gets props for the effort.
Anno was in for it before Eva
Jean doing a Gendo pose with some scheming dialogue to match (although nowhere near Gargoyle's take on it). Probably Episode 1 or 2.
"Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm an Atlantean of wealth and taste..."
Zipang
Zipang, a WWII time travel anime made in 2004, features a truly mind-boggling variant of the pose, courtesy of captain Umezu.
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