KawoShin

KawoShin is the slash ship between Shinji Ikari and Kaworu Nagisa from the Neon Genesis Evangelion fandom.

Canon
Kaworu only appears in Episode 24 and the End of Evangelion. By the time they meet, Shinji feels completely alone. His friends have moved away, Tokyo-3 has been destroyed, he has lost all hope of earning his father's approval, he is afraid of Rei and Misato, and he is unsure of where Asuka is or how to connect with her.

Kaworu is friendly, gentle, and open towards Shinji, and Shinji, quickly opens up to him in turn, even blushing when the two first meet. The two take a bath together where Kaworu holds Shinji's hand (an action which Shinji does not reject) and tells Shinji he deserves affection and that he likes/loves him. Later that night when the two sleep in the same room, tells Shinji that he believes he was born to meet him. However, the next day, Kaworu is revealed to be the Seventeenth Angel.

Hijacking Unit 2, Kaworu breaks through Terminal Dogma, supposedly attempting to initiate Third Impact. Shinji initially refuses to believe that Kaworu is an Angel, but quickly realizes he must stop him. Shinji defeats Kaworu, and Kaworu, saying he was glad to have met Shinji, asks Shinji to kill him in order to allow humanity to continue on. Shinji hesitates, but eventually does so. Shinji is left broken and distraught by the decision. He is mentioned during Instrumentality in the context of Shinji's guilt over killing someone he saw as human.

In End of Evangelion, Kaworu, as Adam within Rei-Lilith's body, appears before Shinji to calm him before entering Instrumentality. Rei and Kaworu, in their forms as Lilith and Adam, discuss with Shinji about the future of humanity and his choice of rejecting Instrumentality.

Fanon
Like Shinji's other pairings, KawoShin has proven incredibly divisive and controversial, with strong fans and strong detractors.

KawoShin's supporters often state they were drawn in by Kaworu's kindness towards Shinji, with many viewing the pairing as a potential means for Shinji to begin opening up to others more. They view Kaworu as his most healthy potential relationship as a result of this. In addition, this wish often results in many enjoying it as a "tragic" pairing of sorts, with plenty of fanwork within the Angst genre. Many Kawoshin fans also praise the pairing due to its nature as a same-sex pairing in a 1995 anime, with many LGBTQ+ fans gravitating towards it, and viewing it as positive representation of themselves. Kaworu has earned the joking nickname of "Gay Space Jesus" from them. Fans consider the pairing canon due in part to what they see as a mutual confession and reciprocal affection within the show, and point to some material such as Hideaki Anno Parano, an interview and essay collection with Anno and others, in which the editor's character guide describes Kaworu to be a "same-sex interest", Anno talks about their relationship in an 1996 interview with JUNE magazine, with the early drafts drafts for episode 24 that included Kaworu and Shinji kissing and skinny dipping together, something he eventually rejected. Supplemental material however only ever describes them as friends. Some cast members seem to like the ship, while others deny it.

Meanwhile, detractors often suggest that Shinji was too broken and Kaworu too naive for either to properly understand their feelings. They point out that Shinji was portrayed as unambiguously straight to that point, so his sudden attraction to another man may be interpreted as an intense desperation. Furthermore, other characters were also kind to Shinji - such as Misato - and Kaworu's death damaged Shinji immensely, putting doubt on the suggestion that their relationship was, or could have been, healthy. Many have questioned the extent to which Kaworu, as an Angel, actually felt or understood what he claimed to Shinji. Some further argue that Kaworu was purposefully manipulating Shinji, in order to further damage him, considering his links to Seele, the main antagonists of the series. Kaworu seems to represent a form of idealized, unconditional and self-serving affection that is strongly deconstructed and disapproved of throughout the series. However, series creator Hideaki Anno, has claimed he intended for Kaworu to be an "incredibly good person". Even in this context, it remains possible that their relationship was meant to be destructive in spite of - or perhaps because of - Kaworu's good nature. Some fans also claim this makes it a negative case of queer representation.

Nonetheless, Kaworu and KawoShin have proved popular. While there is evidence in Kaworu's lack of appearance in the TV ending of Evangelion that he was intended as a one-shot character, some spin-offs have expanded on Kaworu and his dynamic with Shinji, and there exists a large amount of fan material dedicated for it like fanart and doujinshi, as also happens with the other two major Eva ships, ReiShin and AsuShin. In the comic parody Petit Eva, Kaworu openly states his desire to marry Shinji, and in Shiinji Ikari Raising Project, Shinji is Kaworu's only romantic option, though Shinji himself has six other options. In Girlfriend of Steel 2, he is one of the three romantic routes for Shinji, but doesn't have an ending, unlike Asuka and Rei. In Angelic Days, Kaworu seems interested in Shinji as well but wishes him and Asuka's relationship well in the end. Kaworu also expresses interest in Rei in some spin-offs. Most notably, Evangelion 3.0 focused largely on their relationship, albeit with a similar tragic ending.

As with other ships, Kawoshin gained another popularity spike after the 2019 Netflix release of Evangelion. However, decision to translate "suki" as "like" as opposed to "love" as in the DVD translation had sparked controversy among Kawoshin shippers and non-shippers alike. Many fans, especially LGBTQ+ fans, felt as though the new translation censored the nature of their relationship. On the other hand, other fans argue that there is evidence that Khara attempted to bring the dialogue closer to the original Japanese script, therefore making the backlash unwarranted.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Shinji/Kaworu on FanFiction.Net
 * Shinji/Kaworu on FanFiction.Net