But the outrageous events in Episode 12 of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' didn't stop with Rei Ayanami's death.
Just as many viewers were still stunned and emotionally trapped in that twist, a key character made his appearance — Kaworu Nagisa.
In Jing Yu's past life, Kaworu had been the most beloved male character in all of Evangelion — arguably the only male character who was never truly hated. Well, aside from the fact that he's technically an Angel in human form.
Graceful, calm, and handsome, he gave people an overwhelmingly pleasant feeling.
But here's the catch — due to budget constraints in the original anime's later stages, a lot of content was rushed or cut. In the original series, Kaworu appeared in Episode 24 and was promptly written out within ten minutes.
In that tiny window, the show had to explain that he was an Angel in human form, introduce his bond with Shinji Ikari, establish that he fell for Shinji, and then have him willingly die by Shinji's hand.
Too fast. Way too fast.
In any other romance-based show, this much story would be stretched across three to five episodes.
Jing Yu, while respectful of the source material, knew that Evangelion's final episodes were so packed they had zero fluff. It made the pacing feel uncomfortably dry and hard to emotionally absorb.
So, in the Great Zhou version, he fixed that.
How?
By adding more screen time.
Kaworu didn't just show up and have a bathhouse conversation with Shinji. The two spent more time together — talking, bonding, building an actual relationship.
And in that time, Jing Yu focused on fleshing out Kaworu's feelings for Shinji. Of course, Shinji's emotions were framed more as friendship — the deep relief of finally finding someone who understood and accepted him in a cold, confusing world.
That way, when Kaworu eventually took control of Unit-02 and descended toward the sealed Angel Lilith beneath the base, Shinji's overwhelming sense of betrayal would feel completely earned.
Because in the original, the bond happened too fast. Ten minutes to BFFs? Even Jing Yu found that implausible.
Now with this version, viewers were hit with confusion of a different kind:
"Wait... what kind of plot is this?"
"So Kaworu fell in love with Shinji? Is this… You know, that kind of love?"
"You're judging an Angel with human standards again. Do Angels even have gender? He just chose to appear as male. If he wanted, he could have shown up as a cute girl."
"No, no, no, that's not the point. The point is — what the hell is wrong with Jing Yu's brain? Rei just died, and now we've got this new plot twist with Kaworu outta nowhere? It's too chaotic!"
"I'm seriously lost here. The show is still amazing to watch, but emotionally, I feel defeated. It's like Old Devil Jing is dragging us by the nose the entire time. I can't believe it's already Episode 12, and he throws in an Angel who falls in love with the protagonist at lightspeed. Jing Yu's imagination is seriously built differently."
"Forget it. I'm turning my brain off. No analysis. No theories. Just vibes. Inhale, exhale."
"You think you can watch brain-off? Bro, this isn't about overthinking — Jing Yu's just compressed too much into too little time. If you can't keep up, that's on you."
"But why make it so dense? It's not like he works for the network. He could've just made a few more episodes. With this show's ratings, they'd make bank no matter what."
"I mean, I don't mind. The pacing is tight, yeah, but that's kind of the point. This show isn't about teary farewells or dragging out emotional arcs. If Jing Yu wanted cheap drama, he could've made Rei's death all about flashbacks and melodramatic last words — but he didn't. He laid out the characters and the stakes clearly, and then moved on. It's cleaner this way. Personally, I don't want any cringe romance in this show."
"That may be true, but it still felt sudden! Kaworu is seriously handsome. They could've easily done an episode from his POV. Sigh."
"Exactly. We female viewers love this stuff! Human-Angel romance is real love, okay? Honestly, it's more compelling than Shinji and those two messes of girls."
From the very first minute, Episode 12 gave off a persistent vibe:
You have no idea what's coming next.
And yet, it never felt nonsensical.
The plot had already laid the groundwork: Rei's clones, Kaworu's arrival as the Fifth Child.
Even if the pacing was tight, viewers could only vent in frustration — it didn't affect how much they liked the show overall.
Still, Jing Yu had no real choice. The original was structured this way. Sure, the later 'Evangelion' movies added more detail — but not much. Jing Yu still remembered Hideaki Anno's interviews vividly and added extra material where it made sense.
But rather than inventing new plots just to force in character arcs, Jing Yu chose to respect the original structure as much as possible. 'Evangelion' was a legend in his past life for a reason — if he started rewriting things willy-nilly, who knew if that would ruin it?
And so, the story progressed.
At the climax of Episode 12, Shinji piloted Unit-01, holding Kaworu in its massive, monstrous hand.
The screen froze.
The visual contrast between the terrifying form of Unit-01 and the fragile, beautiful image of Kaworu made the entire audience hold their breath.
They joked, they raged — but they liked Kaworu.
"Thank you, Shinji."
"I was hoping you'd stop Unit-02. Otherwise… I might have had to keep living."
"Why, Kaworu?"
"Because surviving is my fate. Even if it means humanity's destruction."
"Kaworu… I don't understand what you're saying!"
Kaworu and Shinji's dialogue left the audience bewildered. The scene ended with the iconic freeze frame of Unit-01 holding Kaworu.
5 seconds passed.
10 seconds.
In the fan groups:
"Did the stream freeze?"
"Is he gonna kill him?"
"No way…"
"Guys, is it lagging? Why isn't it moving?"
"The music is still playing! It shouldn't be frozen!"
"It's been, like, 15 seconds. Still no movement?"
"No idea."
"What is this?!"
"It's gonna jump scare, isn't it?"
"This is so nerve-wracking…"
Everyone was holding their breath.
Jing Yu didn't even push it that far. In the original, the freeze-frame lasted over a minute. Here, he cut it down to just over 30 seconds.
Then, as the background music reached its crescendo...
Blood burst from Unit-01's hand.
Kaworu was reduced to pulp.