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NAGISA KAORU
He is the Fifth Children sent as a replacement for Asuka. He appeared only in
episode 24.
Soon after arrived, he felt attracted to Shinji. He was attracted to Shinji's
frail heart, which is easily hurt. Why is he attracted to Shinji's weakness
(or is it a weakness at all?) If he was indeed like Rei, unable to feel any
emotion, perhaps he was envious of Shinji's ability to feel pain and joy. Perhaps
it was the lack of emotion that created a sense of longing within him, hoping
that ADAM can fulfil what is missing. Could that also be the reason why all
Angels wanted to return to ADAM? The 15th and 16th Angels both reached inside
the mind of the EVA pilots to gain a better understanding of the human physche.
Nagisa made a lot of references to Lilith. Is he referring to Mankind when he
referred to Lilims? Are we originated from Lilith? (This will lead into many
other issues that span beyond Nagisa, but this is an appropriate place to raise
this since Nagisa's references tie everything together)
Of Lilith and Adam
In postbiblical Jewish literature, Lilith came to be identified as Adam's first
wife, preceding Eve. They were both created the same way - out of earth. The
pair were at odds with each other because Lilith refused to submit to Adam.
She was created to be the helper of Adam, but she wanted to be equal to him.
Thus she fled the Garden of Eden, found another shelter and bred thousands of
demon children with her demon lovers. Adam wanted her back and requested God
to send three angels to bring her back. The angels told her that if she refused,
one of her demon-children would die every day. Lilith refused to return to Adam
and vowed that she would harm newborn infants. Thus that is the Mythos of Lilith.
Adam literally translates as "Mankind". He is all of us. He is civilization.
Adam is the Image of the Divine; he, and all physical things, are the final
result of Divine Manifestation. If Nagisa did refer Lilims to Mankind, then
he would in fact be implying that Lilith and Adam are one and the same or vice
versa. Yet at the same time, he referred to ADAM and Lilith separately:
"Adam, our mother being. Those born from Adam must return to Adam? even annihilating people?
No! Different. This is Lilith. . ."
Perhaps Mankind has both Adam and Lilith within. Adam is our consciousness.
He is our egos, our waking selves. Adam is everything about us that imposes
"proper behavior" within society. Lilith, created along with him, is the Shadow
Self. She is our subconscious, that part of us that is most animal like, defiant,
uncivilized, passionate, and basically natural. She is everything that our (screwed-up)
society frowns upon; a society that has been taught for thousands of years to
suppress everything within us that is most natural and enjoyable.
Our "Adam" constantly tries to subdue the "Lilith" within us and he is foolish
enough to think that the "Lilith" is under control only to realize later that
her demon children always return to haunt us. If we let "Lilith" take over,
we reduce ourselves into a thoughtless animal, useless to myself or anyone else.
But if we would accept the "Lilith" within us as an equal and co-exist peacefully,
we can still live a controlled life without deceiving ourselves that we are
in complete control. This analogy symbolizes some major themes of the story:
Technology is Omnipotent
On "The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still", episode 11 Maya stated "The scientific city
that it is. It's the era when the science is omnipotent." We have lived in and
depended on technology for so long that we start to believe that it can do anything.
Even a lot of decision making is dependent on it. Not only have Lilith departed,
but Adam had completely forgotten her. It was not only until the electrical
power went out, did everyone realize how fragile technology is and that depending
on each other is much more reliable than something that depends on electricty.
Believing technology is omnipotent is not only self deception but self gratification
as well.
Ambivalence is a necessary thinking process
We constantly despise conflict within ourselves. Society had taught us to use
logic only. Thus we learn to impose Adam within ourselves. But we do not realize
it is through this process of constructing and destroying ideas do we arrive
at meaningful decisions and learn from our mistakes. The MAGI system is an illustration
of this human thinking process based on a balance between logic, emotion and
self-preservation.
We can never escape from the Lilith within
We have seen that Shinji had tried different means to suppress his inner "demons."
He tried very hard to forget what he did not like, to subdue Lilith. But this
just breed more and more demons within until they all strike someday. That was
the case with Asuka. Piloting EVA subdued Lilith for a while, but Lilith ultimately
came back on her with full force. Shinji learned to accept and co-exist with
the Lilith within, and life became worthwhile.