A character analysis of Ryoji Kaji from Neon Genesis Evangelion, the show’s most duplicitous and inscrutable character, featuring supplemental analysis by @circuitbird​.

Let’s get this melon rolling.

“Klaatu barada nikto”

Kaji is a shameless referential character, meaning we understand him by understanding the characters he references, of which there are three — Japan’s most famous womanizing superagent Ryo Saeba from City Hunter, the flirtatious spy Emma Peel from The Avengers, and Klaatu, the leading character in the 1951 sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still.

The Klaatu reference is perplexing. Klaatu is no womanizer or spy. He’s not even human — he’s a mild-mannered Alien, purportedly hundreds of years old. But we’ll get back to that.

Episode 11 of NGE is called “The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still”, a plain reference to the 1951 movie. If you’ll remember, this is the episode where Kaji weasels his way into an elevator with Misato to crack a few nauseating lines before falling on top of her in a miserable heap.

If the viewer catches on to the Klaatu reference, though, they’ll realize:

Kaji was responsible for the electrical supply collapse in Tokyo-3, Kaji is a triple agent, Kaji will die, and Misato will see his work through post-mortem, Everything we know about Kaji so far is a lie.

Here’s a quick summary of the film:



Klaatu, an extraterrestrial, visits Earth to warn the UN of an impending inter-planetary fallout. He claims the only way to prevent abject destruction is to abandon their nuclear weapons, cast away their differences, and pursue world peace. No one takes Klaatu’s warning seriously, so Klaatu pretends to be a “carpenter” (a perfect, unassuming guise), befriending a woman named Helen and her teenage son Bobby.



Finding Earthly modes of diplomacy lacking, Klaatu sabotages Earth’s electrical supply as a wake up call to governments all over the world. He seeks refuge in an elevator, but ends up getting trapped inside with Helen. Klaatu admits he sabotaged the power, telling Helen that if he were to be assassinated, she must tell his android bodyguard “klaatu barada nikto” to nip the ensuing destruction in the bud. Klaatu is eventually found and shot by government agents. Helen attempts to relay Klaatu’s message to the appropriate sources, but it proves too late.

Of course, Misato is a Helen-type and Shinji is a nod to her son Bobby. The pill Kaji gives Misato in Episode 20 is Evangelion’s answer to the phrase klaatu barada nikto.



What we don’t see matters. Episode 11 foreshadows the entire plot of Evangelion. But if you don’t notice the Klaatu reference, Kaji will pass — flawlessly — for a lascivious irrelevant goofball. Unlike Klaatu, Kaji keeps his cards close to his chest. He has a cover to maintain, hence the innocuous question:

(A page out of a real-life manual for spies; The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception.)

Turns out, people don’t suspect much from the resident playboy slacker. Kaji has a special zest for alienating people: he wears a creased button-down with the sleeves rolled to work, his hair is tossed into a long ponytail, he’s rarely clean-shaven, and his tie is so haphazardly fitted that he might as well be playing dress-up. He revels in insane, swinging contradictions: he shows up hours late to dates and weddings, but is habitually early to work.

His cover gives people plenty reason to avoid him (Maya), underestimate him (Gendo), or some combination of the two. When he and Misato reunite, Kaji immediately starts badgering her with stock one-liners so painfully unimaginative that you might suspect he wants her to hate him.

Throughout the show, we are given glimpses of a serious and dedicated government inspector, an irreverent and carefree bum, a lecherous flirt, and a sexless romantic. There is also the liar, the truth-teller, the private poet (as we will see), and the wise but lonesome gardener. Kaji shuffles through a Cosa Nostra of personalities like flipping through a deck of cards. To get to the core of who he is to see beyond the obfuscation and the insincerity — generally, all Evangelion characters have a False Self and a True Self. But Kaji takes this principle to the Nth degree:

These two scenes are technically hours apart. Asuka accuses Misato of being contrived, not realizing that Kaji has Misato effortlessly beat in that department. Asuka thinks Kaji doesn’t know who Misato is. Kaji never mentioned her. He doesn’t look thrilled for their inevitable reunion.

Not surprising, because at this point, Kaji still believes Misato is a cheater. Remember how they broke up: Misato secretly thought he reminded her of her father, but like Hell she was going to tell him that. Instead, she cooks up the perfect lie:

Misato would’ve rather portrayed herself as a cheater than expose her ugly truth, because the truth is uncomfortable and the implications unpleasant. Kaji believed the lie, hook, line, and sinker.

Evangelion is rife with deception: Ritsuko is exposed as a highly emotional jealous wreck whereas Misato belies a cold interior, Rei becomes the instrument of wisdom where she was previously limited in her experiences, it’s Asuka who shows Shinji grace during the final scene of EoE and not the other way around, etc.

Which follows that Kaji is exposed as a failed spy trope. Natch:

Spy-fi, defanged

Ryo Saeba and Emma Peel flirt with anything that casts a shadow, they smoke, drink, and have sex with abandon. Their sexual escapades often involve no-name characters who are tragically written off or killed after the deed. This is the Bond Girl stereotype in full force.



In 1997—one month before EoE hit theaters—Gainax released 2015: The Last Year Of Ryohji Kaji, a photobook/diary designed to serve as Kaji’s journal throughout the show, laying bare his true thoughts and intentions.

The Last Year is half-diary half-poetry. The more functional parts of the book reveal the serious and dedicated government inspector I mentioned before: there are espionage notes, voice recording monologues, and bizarre photographs, including a snapshot of Rei’s apartment Kaji burglarized, among other things.

The rest of the book exposes Kaji for a lonely, suicidal, guilt-ridden shell who genuinely has trouble juggling all his different masks. He privately concedes to loving Misato. In defiance of the Bond Girl stereotype, Kaji entrusts his work in her hands. Misato takes up his cigarette and Kaji takes his exit with a resigned smile.

Reminder that Kaji doesn’t resent the comparison to Misato’s father in Episode 15. When Misato apologizes for lying to Kaji, Kaji declines to accept it and insists that Misato was right to leave him. In The Last Year, Kaji wonders if he even wants Misato to remember him after he dies:

Kaji’s passive suicidalism directly foils Gendo’s struggle for immortality. Gendo also represents a more salient version of “traditional” masculinity; this post unravels more to that end.

The show clues us in, too:



Kaji’s gardening work is all nurture. He tells Shinji that he’s genuinely happy taking care of watermelons, and as we later learn, flowers.

And speaking of Shinji:

Kaji, Misato, and the battle for influence

Misato is no doubt strong and domineering. She’s Shinji’s formal commanding officer, as much as she’d like Shinji to believe otherwise. But if push comes to shove, she’d drag Shinji through slab and concrete if it’s to get him up and doing something.



Misato tries to compensate for what Shinji lacks (a mom) by experimenting with motherhood, but she ends up acting more masculine than what Evangelion deems appropriate:

In all of Kaji’s interactions with Shinji (sans their first meeting on the ship), Kaji is in a nurturing element (babysitting and gardening). When push comes to shove, Kaji insists: no one is forcing Shinji to do anything.

As Kaji seemingly stands as a Father-figure to compensate for where Shinji is lacking, he ends up acting more like a Mother:

(Remember the frame where Kaji tells Shinji to keep his gardening hobby a secret: Shinji appears right beneath Kaji’s watering can, creating the impression that Kaji is “watering” Shinji.)

Misato subverts motherly stereotypes subsequently assumed by either Shinji or Kaji. Misato doesn’t clean her apartment or do chores (Shinji does - literally 82% of the time), and is perfectly content with eating snacks and instant cup ramen for as long as her body can stand it, in contrast to Kaji, who goes so far as to grow his own food.

Misato as a failed mother merits its own analysis, because the conversation is wrought with complexity. But if we’re talking about food, drink will naturally follow. Which is the perfect segue into…

Coffee and beer

Misato likes beer. No use scrutinizing that: you’re probably hearing the dying bird sound as you’re reading this sentence.

Kaji likes coffee. Or at least, he’s associated with coffee in the same way Misato is with beer. Below is a coffee cup, spilled when Shinji tells Asuka that Kaji is dead for the umpteenth time:

The pattern of spilled coffee resembles the splattering of blood.

And here’s the same coffee cup, replicated in Asuka’s Hell Kitchen scene in EoE:

While no alcoholic in the strict sense, Misato is a habitual drinker. She’s also a bit of an understater, because a “little untidy” isn’t how I’d describe her apartment, and probably not the turn of phrase Shinji would use either:



Let’s jump to Episode 17 for a moment. Kaji chugs a can of UCC coffee and chucks it at the trashcan—creating a complete mess in the process—before channeling his Playboy Slacker cover to hit on Maya, who is certainly, painfully, and obviously, a lesbian.

Misato enters and, during a shot people find random and weird, Kaji decides out of nowhere that he’s going to neatly clean up the messed up coffee cans, right before switching into his “sincere” side:

The cluttered coffee cans signal Kaji’s cover. Likewise, the cans are organized when he turns it off. In the very same episode, Shinji says Misato likes “neat guys” when Toji refuses to help clean Rei’s room. Toji’s justification? Cleaning up is not the manly thing to do:

Note that this won’t be the first time Toji and Kaji’s POVs about what is or isn’t manly are contrasted:

And of course, when Kaji dies and Misato takes up in his steed, Misato makes the switch from beer to coffee:

Post-coital-tristesse

This analysis wouldn’t be complete without mention of this scene:

Belying his words, we know Kaji didn’t meet Misato for sex, because he brings the pill ahead of time. This scene makes for incredibly uncomfortable viewing. The sounds of pleasure are Misato’s… and afterward?

Post-coital tristesse (PCT) is the feeling of sadness, anxiety, agitation or aggression after sexual intercourse, mostly in males. Its name comes from New Latin postcoitalis and French tristesse, literally “sadness”.

But there’s more - this cut (Episode 20) references this cut (Episode 22):

The connection isn’t just visual:

KAJI WITH MISATO (EPISODE 20): Well, I’m honored.

KAJI WITH ASUKA (EPISODE 22): Well, I’m honored.

Kaji isn’t happy, that much is clear. He’s about to die and he knows it, but that doesn’t say much about the parallels with Asuka’s scene. Kaji goes on to elaborate that he is “honored to be used by a lady.” In fact:



KAJI (EPISODE 20): Indulging our carnal desires is more realistic as humans. We can fool them a little.

Pretending to be sex-crazed fiend is more realistic, yeah, for a man. Kaji’s right, though, it definitely helps further his own work-related agendas.



Moving on to End of Evangelion, where we’re treated to another Kaji/Misato sex scene. This time, it’s 2008, and they’re in college:

It’s no coincidence we’re focused on an electric fan — Kaji dies in front of a giant one. Kaji hardly sounds eager, passionate, or enthusiastic. Against all expectations culled from his machismo-fueled persona, in actual sex scenes, Kaji is at best ambivalent, with Misato beckoning him to the call.

So what’s the truth?

I’m telling a lie even to myself. Dancing letters decorated with lies. If this letter were worth reading, the lies would be worth telling. It is so difficult like trying to get something fragile on a swinging boat. A liar can be a liar when he keeps his lie to his grave. So I decided to tell you a lie. I put this letter in the bottom of the baggage. Because no postman will come to pick it up. —excerpt, The Last Year of Ryohji Kaji

In the manga, Kaji’s seeks redemption for inadvertently killing his little brother post-Second-Impact. Kaji’s backstory may or may not be relevant to the anime, as it was “published” in 2001. But in any case, manga!Kaji doesn’t think himself worthy of love, as he perceives it undeserved happiness.

In the anime, too—only after Kaji’s knows he’ll die does he “confess” his love for Misato. But even then, it’s a half measure:

Properties of the Love Interest in Evangelion





As a finishing word: NGE’s love interests are Kaworu (Shinji), Kaji (Misato), and Yui (Gendo). Kaworu, Kaji, and Yui, are similar: they’re simultaneously easygoing, warm, and mysterious. They all have natural inclinations to profundity and philosophizing, to varying degrees. They all have hidden depths. (There are specific Kaji-Kaworu parallels, explored here and here.)



They all die. Their deaths exasperate the mental breakdowns of their “other half”: Shinji is nearly comatose in the wake of Kaworu’s death, Misato grows more solemn and reclusive after Kaji’s, and in the process, fails to keep Asuka from running away. Gendo is the most drastic case, as he is willing to bring about mass global calamity to reunite with his wife once more.

I can’t think of any character in Rebuild who embodies these shared traits better than Mari. Recall how Mari more or less delivers Kaji’s Zeruel speech in 2.22? She’s pitted as Asuka’s Kaworu for a reason.

Bodes well for her in 3.0+1.0? Impossible to say.