Theory and Analysis:Kaworu's lines in Episode 24

After the 2019 Netflix re-release of Eva, the re-translation of Kaworu Nagisa's lines in Episode 24 were questioned by portions of the fan base, who believe it is mischaracterizing the original intent of the authors. This is mostly based out of the ADV Platinum DVD subtitle track, but it misses some facts regarding both the previously existing translations, but also Evangelion as it was originally written.

Background for the translation

The circumstances regarding the new localization aren't entirely known, and some believe the changes are executive decisions made by Netflix themselves. It seems strange that Netflix, a company very publicly commited to LGBT representation, would somehow want to censor anything in Eva, which it hasn't even marketed very heavily. However, it is publicly know that the translation is made by a localization group called VSI Group, and the translation work was supervised by Dan Kanemitsu. Dan is not just some random translator chosen by Netflix, in fact, he has worked directly with Khara since at least 2007. He is directly responsible for official translations of Eva done in the past, and has been involved with Khara since at least Evangelion 1.0. He is directly credited with the subtitle track for Evangelion 3.0, for instance. In fact, due to poor reception on Khara's part of the original 3.0 dub, Funimation had to re-dub Evangelion 3.0, which was only released in 2016, four years after the movie's original release. This dub was reportedly closely supervised by Khara, and it is likely Khara has also closely supervised the new translation, in order to avoid mistranslations and misinterpretations. While we can't know for certain how much involvement the show's writers, or Anno, have had with this translation, Dan is, quite possibly, the most qualified person on the planet to make this translation.

As such, it is not entirely accurate to say this is Netflix's localisation. Rather, this is Khara's localisation.

Older localizations

The debate regarding Kaworu's line isn't new. It is in fact, reflected in our wiki:
Kaworu uses the ambiguous "suki" form which has possible non-romantic and simply intimate connotations and can simply mean "like" or "fond of", and that he is deserving of "koui" (好意), which means simply "good will" or "favor", not "koi", "love".

Some images circling around the Internet compare "the original translation" to the Netflix one. However, this is untrue. In fact, the choice of "like" is in fact more common than "love". The original ADV subtitle track, released with the original ADV VHS release in 1998, used "like", though the dub, which took some creative liberty, used "love". However, the ADV DVD re-releases used "love" for both the sub and dub. The new Netflix/Khara release uses "love" for both the sub and dub. Likewise, several fansubbers have used both "like" and "love". One relatively recent fansub, by Sephirotic, had been considered by some as the "definitive" Eva localization, fixing some of the notorious mistranslations present in ADV's release, also used "like".

Additionally, the "koui" has been misheard by some early fansubbers as "koi", but the Japanese subtitles as well as the scripts for the show make it clear this is not the case. "koi" refers to romantic love as a concept, but "koui" is quite neutral, referring to good will, favour, sympathy, regard, appreciation etc. Some screenshots from a pre-2000 fansub with this mistake are also being circulated. The ADV VHS, ADV DVD and Netflix/Khara subs render this as "regard", "sympathy" and "grace", respectively.

The nature of Kaworu's lines

Much like the rest of Evangelion, the discussion of Kaworu's lines is extensive and polarizing both in Western and Japanese fandoms, not because of the words he used, but what he means by them.

While this article will not concern itself with trying to interpret Kaworu's intentions, the episode or the character, this ambiguity is completely necessary and present in the original Japanese script as Kaworu is not entirely human and shows clear lack of understanding of levels of intimacy, personal space and societal norms, key aspects in Japanese society. In fact, this is probably one of the reasons why Shinji is so shocked by him - he does not act or talk like a normal person, because he isn't one. Interpretations of Kaworu himself also vary wildly, including some that range from him as manipulative, or simply unaware. Simply put, one is not supposed to wonder what he says, but what he means.

The usage of "suki" in Japanese is complicated - in the way it's present in the original text, it can be used to signify friendship, affection, appreciation, intimacy, sympathy, fondness, romantic love, godly love, and everything in between. Like the rest of Eva, it is necessary to try and get the context for this in order to understand what the text is trying to get across. Regardless of what one thinks Kaworu means, the fact is that the original Japanese text is deliberately written as ambiguous and open-ended, and invites all of these interpretations. If the original Japanese text chose to use, more specific words like "Ai" or "Aishiteru", which explicitly mean romantic love, that would have taken the ambiguity present here. Even "daisuki", which essentially means "strong/big love/like" would have been possible. Similarly, "like" in English can be interpreted in many ways, but "love" carries a stronger weight in English.

Even the stranger choice, "worthy of my grace", might make more sense in retrospect. While this is a completely valid translation, it is certainly strange to just be dropped in an interpersonal conversation like Kaworu does. This might be why Shinji felt the need to ask Kaworu what he meant by that in the first place. After all, Shinji still shows a lack reaction besides surprise to these lines is still unsure of how to react, as the way Kaworu acts is also shocking to him. He only says something on his part later, when he says that Kaworu has betrayed him just like his father, and even when he mentions this to Misato later, he still uses suki.

Admittedly, "grace" does add some extra weight to interpretations of Kaworu as expressing a sort of godly love for Shinji, and perhaps not just him but humanity as a whole, as Shinji seems to be some sort of avatar of humanity to him. This is backed by additional context, as Kaworu says this just after talking about human nature and fragility and human hearts.

This is not the only case where cultural nuance can get lost in translation - some people point to Kaworu telling this to Shinji in NERV'S public bath (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a shower) as being further proof of romantic intentions, but as a matter of fact public baths are extremely common and casual social occurrences in Japan. Kaworu doing so in a public bath carries no specific weight at all, in fact, due to his lack of understanding of such societal norms, it probably makes no difference to him whatsoever. Public baths in Japan can be shared by friends, co-workers, classmates, but also lovers. They are about as romantic, or as casual as parks can be. Anno, in fact, has specifically explained how casual public baths are, specially in the countryside, which he is from. As a matter of fact, in Episode 10, Shinji and Asuka are frustrated that they can't go on a trip that includes going to public baths, and at the end of the episode Shinji shares a public bath with Pen Pen, while Asuka shares one with Misato.

Dan Kanemitsu has specifically defended the ambiguity here:

While I am not in a position to refer specifically to the decision involved in the scene you described, in all my translation of any title, I have tried my best to be faithful to the original source material. Bar none.

The power of storytelling sometime depends on the ability of audiences to establish emotional relationships with the characters, as well as, recognize intimacy between people based on inferences.

It is one thing for characters to confess their love. It is quite another for the audience to infer affection and leave them guessing. How committed are the characters? What possible misunderstandings might be talking place? Leaving room for interpretation make things exciting.

Dan's tweets on the matter

Supplemental material

In order to defend one or another specific interpretations, some fans are also circulating supplemental evidence regarding this episode. A lot of this is incorrect information, however. An image of a character guide sta,ting Kaworu is a "same-sex romantic interest" is real, but it is not an official Gainax statement. Rather, this is a character guide in a book with collected interviews, including some by Anno, Schizo/Parano. However, this character guide was not written by Anno or anyone else from Gainax, but by the interviewer/editor themselves. This is also contradicted by other supplemental material, such as the Evangelion Chronicle Encyclopedia's own character guide, which lists both Kaworu and Rei as "Favourable feelings" in regards to Shinji, however Asuka is listed as "Complicated feelings" and "Love/Hate". In fact, Anno has explicitly denied "carnal feelings" on Shinji's part in an interview, one of the very few instances in which he directly explained something about Eva's plot. Some interviews also seem to suggest staff was generally unaware of Kaworu leaving such a strong impression on the audience, or him even becoming popular at all.

This is not the only instance where people have mistakenly claimed obscure pieces of Japanese text as coming straight from Anno - it has happened even with visual novel video game guides featuring routes for Kaworu with Shinji, but also Shinji with Asuka, Rei, or even Misato and Hikari. Guides such as these are written by people with usually no links to Gainax or Khara whatsoever, and often simply serve specific purposes, like such video games. Most supplemental material simply does not mention Kaworu, or put him on the same level as other characters. How much Gainax or Khara supervise them is unknown, and there is no reason to assume they are even aware of every single line written on them. This is not even exclusive to Eva, as incorrect or inconsistent information is present in supplemental material for many anime, series and films. In fact, Anno and others have repeatedly stated many times that they will not provide all the answers, so it would seem strange that Anno would say that and then provide a character guide directly explaining what all characters mean to one another. The problem with this approach is discussed in our Theory and Analysis:What Is Canon? page.