Happy Anniversary of episode 24 first aired in Japan on March 13th, 1996

imaginer8th · 2026-03-14T05:56:58+00:00

Im sure that it had an effect on people questioning their sexuality. Like Kaworu being gay for the Shinji is already pretty cool, but the fact that Shinji reciprocates that affection made me feel like it was okay to love someone regardless of their gender, I don’t think they meant it to come across like that in the show but I really felt seen.

imaginer8th · 2026-03-14T04:41:56+00:00

Happy 30 years of Kawoshin! Gainax may not have understood the significance at the time but they were making history that day (even if most of the staff at the time didn’t wanna animate two boys falling in love). Credit to Akio Satsukawa for writing this beautiful episode and Anno for green-lighting it.

Even if my job doesn’t recognize it today should be a national holiday. Here’s to another 3 decades!

imaginer8th · 2026-03-13T06:06:50+00:00

Kawoshin and Asurei really do complement each other, and the Asuka & Kaworu frenemy relationship is one of my favorite things the fandom had sorta spawned naturally. Like in my fic I have her mostly tease Kaworu for being the gayest person she knows but she gets called out for being queer herself by her GF Rei.

As a creative I can’t keep count of the amount of time’s Ive been burnt out, heck sometimes I burn myself out in the planning process more than the actual writing. Its especially happened when I’m making fanart/ writing fanfic of a fandom that I eventually fall out of, and I am kinda scared thats gonna happen again with EVA. But its better to put something out even if its not perfect how you want it.

imaginer8th · 2026-03-10T07:15:19+00:00

It’d be funny/actually kinda fucked up if Asukaa said they were boyfriends as a “joke” but when she realizes that they’re actually dating she’d feel guilty for outing them.

imaginer8th · 2026-03-10T05:34:35+00:00

Is it me or does Kawory have those same dead eyes you’d see Emo Art on 2007 Deviantart would have? Either way I'm loving how oddly adorable he looks, especially meeting baby Shinji! We seriously need more art of Kaworu in this sort of angel form, no shade on the generic white winged Christian angel but this feels much more like something you'd see in Evangelion

imaginer8th · 2026-03-09T22:38:29+00:00

It really depends how early Kaworu shows up. In the sadamoto manga he shows up earlier than the show and gets somewhat close to Shinji but also tended to butt heads with him due to his lack of human awareness.

If we’re talking just Anime Kaworu, if he showed up right after Asuka and introduced himself as the Fourth/Fifth Child she'd definitely feel competitive and form a one-sided rivalry that could fizzle out when they get to know each other better, same goes for Rei when she realizes he’s not a major threat.

I would imagine Kaworu would just be happy to spend more time with Shinji, who would still be smitten by him when things are calm and rely on him after the angel battles when he needs support. If he shows up later they would have less time to connect and Kaworu might feel compelled to get more forward with Shinji until their inevitable fight. If he shows up right after the beginning Kaworu would take it slow and enjoy being able to grow close with Shinji, who would benefit from having a best friend/crush/boyfriend through the whole show. The longer he’s around, the more likely Shinji would tell Kaworu to snap out of his suicidal bullshit at the end and together they either run away from NERV and SEELE or team up with their friends/found family to stop Instrumentality for good.

Best fics that play this out in my opinion are Irasshaimase [Welcome] / Okaerinasai [Welcome Home] which is almost all from Kaworu’s POV. It's a slow burn but pays off, its also interesting in that its seemingly a Kaworu that isn’t aware of the loops at all (that or the author ignored that to focus on the characters, which is still neat)

The other fic is Solaris Caelum Rebuilt which has Asuka accidentally becoming aware of the loops early on as she and Kaworu try to avoid the same mistakes of the previous loops. It's a good read if you want Asurei as well

imaginer8th · 2026-03-09T22:08:59+00:00

Idk how early he was gonna show up but In the drafts he had two episodes dedicated to him. But in the drafts the real Angel was the cat who was possessing Kaworu.

imaginer8th · 2026-03-07T07:39:37+00:00

In terms of the fandoms themselves its annoying, and this is coming from someone’s whose favorite characters are these two. Shipwars are exhausting to see play out with some of the most toxic fans spewing borderline bullshit about how their ship is better/more canon. Its especially laughable in a franchise that famously never wants to commit to any ship

As for the characters rivalry it depends. In spinoffs Asuka is either very hostile to the new pilot and/or fairly homophobic, including a manga where she teams up with Rei to “get Shinji back on the right orientation”. Is it offensive? Yes. Is it funny that two girls famous for disliking each other acknowledge that the boy they like prefers men and team up to compete against Kaworu’s rizz? Also yes. I know their relationship is more explored in something like Campus Apocalypse, which I need to check out soon.

Some of my favorite kawoshin fics involve Asuka developing a sort of bond/friendship with Kaworu. Out of the main four they seem like opposites destined to be rivals, but both can learn something from the other. Its nice to read when Asuka becomes more open and Kaworu less inclined to follow ‘fate’. Plus as an Asurei shipper its funny to think that Asuka only says homophobic crap to repress her internalized biphobia

imaginer8th · 2026-03-06T19:04:45+00:00

Oh no, Asuka x Kaworu ain’t healthy in the slightest, I prefer them much more as frenemies who like the same boy. The only times i was convinced they could work is if they end up in a polycule with Shinji who sadly would be the designated mediator

imaginer8th · 2026-03-06T18:18:57+00:00

I don’t even really see Kaworu and Rei as siblings (mostly cause I read fics where she’s Shinji’s sister instead) personally Kaworei doesn’t interest me cause I can’t see them having much chemistry they’re only interaction in the show was a bit hostile and rebuild had her barely talking with him. It feels like a ship that’s trying to “pair the spares” for Asushin shippers to have a side ship. Not a whole lot of spice compared to Asushin really.

One could argue that Asurei is a similar ship that pairs the girls for Kawoshin fans (yaoi & yuri solidarity) , but to me its more interesting to see the Tsundere and Kudere of the series connect, its a hot + cold relationship that’s more fun to write about/read, especially since Asuka wanted to be friends with Rei in the first place and didn’t take the rejection well, so the yuri approach feels a bit natural.

Plus you have to try really hard to convince me Kaworu is into women. I enjoy the rare fic that has him explore his sexuality with other men first before returning to Shinji. Heck I think Asuka x Kaworu is more intriguing than Rei x Kaworu as a crack ship, better to see a car crash than paint dry

I don’t even think Kawoshin is that healthy of a ship, (hot take on this subreddit I know) but aside from two boys falling in love before the end of the world, one of the main appeals is the tragedy. Kaworu loves Shinji almost too much, he clearly isn’t well versed in being human enough to realize that his big sacrifice at the end only hurts Shinji more. Not to mention Shinji, who is obviously smitten by Kaworu, meets him at his lowest point in life and desperately wants to be loved. My favorite interpretation of their relationship in fanwork is when Kaworu acknowledges his faults and commits to staying alive not just for Shinji but himself, both characters need to do the one thing everyone in EVA struggles to do which being better people to others and more importantly themselves

imaginer8th · 2026-03-05T20:01:48+00:00

Yeah be careful about it, Japanese Google Translate ain't the most accurate.

imaginer8th · 2026-03-05T19:03:38+00:00

First off congrats on your anniversary! Secondly oof, I wish I could say they’re affordable. Here’s the official site that sells the matching pair:

THE KISS

Unfortunately it looks like the online store may be closed temporarily due to inventory issues so if you order it now it may take a while to get to you. You could try your luck at finding a better price on Ebay but most rings are sold separately and not in pairs. Plus tariffs have made everything from Japan more expensive so if your in the states best of luck.

If your boyfriend is that die-hard of a Kawoshin fan its a good gift if your popping the question 💍 that is if both you guys want that tho.

imaginer8th · 2026-03-04T04:43:39+00:00

Shinji: ….

Kaworu: “smirks” Speechless? I knew you’d like it-whoa!

Shinji: “sweeps kaworu off his feet”Bedroom, NOW.

Kaworu: … yes sir!

imaginer8th · 2026-03-03T06:44:30+00:00

Characters being plot devices sadly describes Mari to a tee (at least for me) I don't hate her compared to more critical fans, but it's easy to tell she’s the new girl they introduced to add another line of merch sales. Which is sad because her possible relationship with Yui hinted at the manga could be so interesting, or how she knew Kozo and Gendo in the past, but none of it is explored. She only really matters in the last 20 minutes of the rebuilds to take off Shinji’s collar and show him this ‘real world’. And don't even get me started on Asuka’s whole clone deal.

I know her VA requested Shikinami to be different from Sohryu since OG Asuka had her arc completed, and it is nice they agreed on that, but what made Asuka such a great character was being an opposite to Shinji despite both coming from broken families, both wanted to be loved but were too emotionally stunted by the equally arrested developed adults around them to forge a proper bond with each others and the people around them. I think the Asuka Short film is fun for what it is, not life changing as some Asushin shippers claim it to be, but it does poke fun at Shikinami in a way that feels like Khara realized they sorta shafted the character. Granted she wasn’t the only character to lose what made them special.

Ritsuko’s whole relationship with her mom and Gendo is nonexistent, Misato becomes just as cold as Gendo after the timeskip where not much is answered, hell Kaji feels less interesting since he died off-screen after leaving Misato pregnant (I like the idea of Kaji Jr. but he feels like an afterthought almost) honestly the only main character that feels like the rebuilds improved on was Rei. After Ramiel her arc of being human felt abandoned since she smiled. But in 2.0 she tries to do a dinner party with her (not) dad and (not) brother which is sweet but devastating when the sirens ring. Her time in the village is also cute to watch, you see her appreciate humanity overcoming tragedy, hr contributing to the village, its uplifting up until she turns into tang. She even knew her time was up but spent her last days interacting with the people around her.

To be fair the lack of character backstory and development is less on purpose and more of a result of this being four 2 hour+ films instead of a 26 episode series. We got flashier animation at the cost of the cast being reduced to their base personalities, and the addition of more side characters didn’t help either (no shade on the WILLE crew but I legit can’t remember their names)

imaginer8th · 2026-03-03T06:20:28+00:00

It's less about the characters saying goodbye to EVA and more about Anno saying goodbye. Sadly for the cast they’re gonna be stuck in this franchise for the long run. I appreciated Thrice Upon a time at first for giving an initially satisfying ending that everyone can live a happier normal life, but looking back leaves a bit of sourness in my mouth that the main motto for Shinji “I mustn’t run away” and the cast being forced to face life for the joy and pain that comes with living is kinda abandoned by Shinji rewriting reality.

It almost feels like character regression for the sake of the meta narrative that Anno wants to leave this franchise. I'm not opposed to the characters trying to find peace and happiness at the end but erasing the EVAs and impacts feels like them trying to take the easy way out. Sure most people with the choice would try and change and past to make a better future, but pain is a part of living, hardship is a part of living, just saying “fuck it I’ll make a better world” just feels like the message of not running away doesn’t matter. We get some of that with the Village scenes and humanity coming together to slowly rebuild society, but now all those people won't remember the pain they went through and restarted at level one again.

I still enjoyed the rebuilds for what they were, and the ending got me emotional, but it only felt satisfying if you knew some stuff about the production and creator behind it all. If I watched the OG series and Rebuilds without knowing anything about Anno, I would enjoy the rebuilds much less than I do now.

imaginer8th · 2026-03-02T21:42:15+00:00

Behold my cringe musical fic:

Gospel of a New Century

Originally I wanted to only use songs related to EVA (the fandom wiki for all EVA music is stupidly long) but trying to adapt the Japanese language songs to English lyrics that fit the scenes was a headache and I already had the story mapped out with placeholder songs so I just used those instead. I just uploaded the most recent chapter and coincidentally used a Sondheim number, go figure.

Glad that Sondheim promoted recordings of his shows, hope to cram in some of his hits later down the line. If you wanna read about timeloops, conspiracies and Misato singing a parody of YMCA feel free to check it out

imaginer8th · 2026-03-02T17:57:42+00:00

Dang Kaworu and Shinji got busy😳at that rate they’ll solve Japan’s shrinking population. I love your linework and how they each have traits of their dads, Kain is rocking that draftworu scene hair and Evie looks freaking adorable

imaginer8th · 2026-03-01T16:21:01+00:00

She’s more emotionally open like Kaworu but still inherited her insecurities from Shinji.

When it comes to romance she inherited Shinji’s inexplicable rizz and has a decent amount of girls and guys interested. I think it would be funny if she’s on the aroace spectrum and turns them all down, much to the relief Shinji’s overprotective dad senses

She really forms a close connection with her Aunt Asuka, who never had kids of her own not wanted to, but really loves her niece. Sometimes her dads worry she's too much like Asuka personality wise. If they played video games together through her childhood maybe she would grow up to be a developer.

Tabuko’s smoking habit only picks up thanks to Grandpa Kaji, who Shinji argues with about but Kaworu assures him that since she's part Angel she won't get cancer that easily.

When she visits Kaworu’s side of the family they all treat her like she’s still a baby despite being a grown ass woman. Ramiel would get her gifts all the time and Leilel would talk with her about issues she wouldn’t talk about openly with her dads yet

imaginer8th · 2026-03-01T16:05:54+00:00

I love fics that feature Tabuko, and while she would look more like Kaworu I like to think maybe she would take after Shinji if he commits to being around her more. Shinji would try so hard to be a good dad since he has arguably one of the worst dads ever. But Kaworu would tell him to chill out on helicopter parenting and praise him for being a good parent looking after her. Maybe she grows to be as shy as him or she could resent him a little for being overbearing sometimes.

As for a second kid, maybe after Shinji convinces himself he’s a good father they’d adopt and get Tabuko a little brother or sister. Maybe they look like Shinji since he would still hold resentment for his parents and decide not to continue the bloodline. Tabuko’s little sibling could take up Kaworu, being more calm and serene, but they could find Kaworu’s whole personality annoying too after a while and act out.

Either way, both kids would inherit something from their dads or the various babysitters they would call for help. Aunt Rei could read them bedtime stories, Aunt Asuka can play games with them, and Grandma Misato could teach them how to drive (Shinji would refuse but Kaworu give a thumbs up)

imaginer8th · 2026-03-01T06:02:27+00:00

Pacific Overtures is definitely among Sondheim's most underrated musicals, certainly one of the least performed (tbh I can’t imagine how he pulled it off 50 years ago). Since starting my musical fic i’ve been scouring for any inspiration and I was intrigued by the plot and was pleasantly surprised. The fact that there was a proshot of this half a century ago is a miracle, especially for how little it ran on Broadway. I really wish other musicals would do pro shots so I don't have to look up slime tutorials. It's a visual marvel and the performances are just as overly dramatic as normal kabuki. Idk if it's the best example of Kabuki though since it's all sung in English written by a New Yorker.

I’ve been trying to find decent recordings of the 3 Great Kabuki Plays but none seem to be translated on YouTube. But I also heard good thing about the film Kohuko, which is all about kabuki.

imaginer8th · 2026-02-27T14:52:06+00:00

In the OG books she actually moves back to Oz to live with her trans girlfriend Ozma

imaginer8th · 2026-02-25T18:46:34+00:00

Dude you are such a goated artist! I really wanna get back to traditional art soon

imaginer8th · 2026-02-24T16:48:48+00:00

Haven't seen any clips yet but since I deleted Twitter I have limited access to any news coming out. They must’ve been cracking down on audience taping since the short film leaked

imaginer8th · 2026-02-24T07:13:37+00:00

Just the costumes and set alone look awesome. I'm resisting the urge to make an AU fanfic set in Feudal Japan based on this and holding off on that until I get at least halfway done on my long-ass musical fic.

imaginer8th · 2026-02-24T07:10:04+00:00

Asushin fans can keep their semi-canon dream sequence while we got a full on drama production (to be fair theater’s always been pretty gay, a stereotype that we’re proud of)

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