A question about Rei's physical appearance

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A question about Rei's physical appearance

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Postby Snow » Sun Mar 05, 2017 8:03 pm

Now, Rei was created to look significantly different from other characters to make her stand out easily and to highlight her odd psyche. However, i don't remember it being mentioned where the particular choices for her looks came from. I only remember one character with similar or matching physical traits as Rei before 1995. So is she more/less based on any character, or is she a pure design?
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Postby RadicalRandy » Sun Mar 05, 2017 9:20 pm

Well, if we're talking out-of-story, then I'd considering the blue hair and red eyes an anime aesthetic decision that you see in other shows (although red eyes is a strange choice). If we're talking in-story, then she's very specifically meant to look like Yui Ikari mixed with Lilith's DNA, causing her skin to be extremely pale and her hair and eyes to be unusual hues.
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Re: A question about Rei's physical appearance

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Postby Snow » Sun Mar 05, 2017 9:29 pm

Thank you for your answer. I was mainly wondering if the choices had some inspiration behind them, or if she was the ''prototype'' one, later influencing countless other copies and variants. But what comes to the story, i perfectly understand her strange appearance. The red eyes give her a good finishing touch on this.

Would i ever see her eyepair at night from a distance, i'd likely confuse her with the Shtora...
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Re: A question about Rei's physical appearance

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Postby NemZ » Sun Mar 05, 2017 10:40 pm

Originally probably just to keep them visually distinct and to stand out from the crowd, same as Misato's purple and Ritsuko being blonde for some reason... and yet nobody seems to ever notice anything odd about any of them. That the show went beyond that to make those characteristics meaningful in some cases is just a bonus.
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Re: A question about Rei's physical appearance

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Postby RadicalRandy » Mon Mar 06, 2017 12:44 am

It's a pretty common technique for anime in general to make the hair designs (see also: Yu-Gi-Oh) and clothing styles (see also: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure) ridiculous by real-life standards to make the primary characters much more distinct to compensate for their face designs being extremely similar. This, of course, goes completely unnoticed by other characters who don't pay much attention to the strange designs as if they were every day occurrences.
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Re: A question about Rei's physical appearance

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Postby Snow » Mon Mar 06, 2017 12:52 am

RadicalRandy wrote:It's a pretty common technique for anime in general to make the hair designs (see also: Yu-Gi-Oh) and clothing styles (see also: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure) ridiculous by real-life standards to make the primary characters much more distinct to compensate for their face designs being extremely similar.

Fair point.
RadicalRandy wrote:This, of course, goes completely unnoticed by other characters who don't pay much attention to the strange designs as if they were every day occurrences.

It doesn't really make sense however, since beyond Misato, Ritsuko, Kaworu and Rei everyone else has somewhat realistic hair/eye colours, altrough Ritsuko has her hair painted blond. But since no-one is questioning the whole bizarre situation between the Second and Third impacts, i wouldn't focus on someones haircolour.
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Re: A question about Rei's physical appearance

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Postby Reichu » Mon Mar 06, 2017 7:43 am

Ritsuko bleaches her hair, to be precise. This wouldn't be seen as weird because people in Japan are known to do this from time to time.

I never really bought into the "Rei has Lilith DNA" angle. It's implied that the first Rei was a product of the failed attempt to salvage Yui. Ritsuko's lines, "She was the only one born with a soul. The Chamber of Guf was empty.", could be taken as a hint as to how the first Rei got her soul. The salvage operation was trying to reconstruct Yui's LCL remains into a Yui shape and fix her soul within. Yui resisted, but the vacuum remained. Lilith and Eva-01 were still connected at the time, providing a path for Lilith's soul to fill that void.

Rei's physical differences from Yui could be chalked up to epigenetic influences from Lilith's soul. I've suspected that souls may have an ability to affect genetic expression, as evidenced by Eva-01 herself, who has green eyes like Yui.
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Re: A question about Rei's physical appearance

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Postby SoryuUberAlles » Mon Mar 06, 2017 10:35 am

^Epigenetic differences also explain an apparent 'plot hole' - Naoko recognises Rei-Yui on first sight at the age of four. If it's not obvious when she's fourteen then everyone must be pants wettingly scared of Gendou because that is one hell of an open secret. It could be her 'epigenetics' took her from a different path than her genes alone dictated. Being a SEELE issue vat person and a clone just combine to make her own unique person with a unique appearance.
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Re: A question about Rei's physical appearance

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Postby Reichu » Mon Mar 06, 2017 11:05 am

Rei is drawn to look like a young Yui, and uses the same VA, so I don't think we're meant to believe that Rei is an enormous divergence. More likely:

A. Most of the Gehirn staff that would have known Yui vanished over the years. (Nerv seems rather young for the most part... How ominous.)

B. If you did think Rei was a clone, so what? If you work at Nerv, it's your job to keep secrets and look the other way.
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Re: A question about Rei's physical appearance

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Postby Sachi » Mon Mar 06, 2017 11:11 am

View Original PostSoryuUberAlles wrote:^Epigenetic differences also explain an apparent 'plot hole' - Naoko recognises Rei-Yui on first sight at the age of four. If it's not obvious when she's fourteen then everyone must be pants wettingly scared of Gendou because that is one hell of an open secret.

How many people would remember what Yui looks like by the time Rei is fourteen? Gendo had all photos of her destroyed. Naoko was the only person who instantly made the Yui connection, and that's because she was a close colleague of Yui's before she 'died'.
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Re: A question about Rei's physical appearance

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Postby Snow » Mon Mar 06, 2017 11:23 am

SoryuUberAlles wrote:^Epigenetic differences also explain an apparent 'plot hole' - Naoko recognises Rei-Yui on first sight at the age of four. If it's not obvious when she's fourteen then everyone must be pants wettingly scared of Gendou because that is one hell of an open secret.


But of course, Commander Ikari doesn't exactly have the reputation of being a leader of openness, transparency and mercy. He pursues his own objectives with incredible determination, taking out anyone who gets in his way. Fear definitely is one of the most likely driving forces behind it.

Reichu wrote:Rei is drawn to look like a young Yui, and uses the same VA, so I don't think we're meant to believe that Rei is an enormous divergence.


They do look incredibly similar, in terms of facial features, almost identical. However, i am still to argue the extreme choice of having her possess blue hair, pale skin and red eyes does push her quite far from Yui. Rei doesn't exactly look like a person in that sense.

Reichu wrote:
A. Most of the Gehirn staff that would have known Yui vanished over the years. (Nerv seems rather young for the most part... How ominous.)


This one has bothered me for a while. Nerv's command staff seems to have been, with the exception of a few select individuals, been replaced by a new generation of workers. Did Nerv get purged on purpose by SEELE? Or Ikari himself....

Reichu wrote:B. If you did think Rei was a clone, so what? If you work at Nerv, it's your job to keep secrets and look the other way.


It would certainly have been a topic of discussion between staff. I don't find it hard to imagine Aoba and Huyga having a casual coffee break-conversation about that one quiet loser of a girl. This of course, assuming they didn't already know. They were of quite high rank, after all.
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Re: A question about Rei's physical appearance

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Postby SoryuUberAlles » Mon Mar 06, 2017 11:41 am

View Original PostSachi wrote:How many people would remember what Yui looks like by the time Rei is fourteen?


Much of the staff of NERV? Yui was a top scientist until she got vaped. Ritsuko literally just left the room before Rei was strangled.

Reichu wrote: A. Most of the Gehirn staff that would have known Yui vanished over the years. (Nerv seems rather young for the most part... How ominous.)


Consider Gendou, Fuyutsuki, and even Ritsuko herself. It seems almost everyone we know was with Gehirn actually did go on through - assuming they didn't die violently like Misato Dad and Ritzy Mom.

Snow wrote: Fear definitely is one of the most likely driving forces behind it.


Counter-argument: Fuyutsuki has almost as much of a Yui-crush as Gendo but he doesn't seem to care about Rei at all. Even if a lot of the Raising project parodies I don't think I've seen it. In that infamous scene in one of the video games he finds Shinji a more convincing resemblance.

Reichu wrote: Rei is drawn to look like a young Yui, and uses the same VA, so I don't think we're meant to believe that Rei is an enormous divergence.


Their voices do sound different though. I don't think Anno-san told her 'do Shinji's mom, but on a ton of antidepressants'. They're meant to sound similar except for...

Snow wrote: However, i am still to argue the extreme choice of having her possess blue hair, pale skin and red eyes does push her quite far from Yui.

EPIGENETICS! Your maturation can be affected by all kinds of things, never mind alien clone godhood. I personally do not believe Rei looks like Yui with blue hair dye and colour contacts (except when she was four.)
Last edited by SoryuUberAlles on Mon Mar 06, 2017 12:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A question about Rei's physical appearance

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Postby Snow » Mon Mar 06, 2017 12:05 pm

She does look pretty strikingly similar to me, at age 14. Reminds me of a doll.
Hmh, i guess she really isn't that different from her in physical terms.

Image

And what comes to Fuyutsuki, i wouldn't say he doesn't care for her. He does avoid him on purpose, though, possibly not to get on Ikari's way.
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Re: A question about Rei's physical appearance

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Postby NemZ » Mon Mar 06, 2017 1:52 pm

I would assume that the Gherin > NERV restructuring allowed Gendo the opportunity to purge most of the older non-essential staff that knew Yui previously.
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Postby SoryuUberAlles » Mon Mar 06, 2017 3:45 pm

View Original PostNemZ wrote: non-essential staff that knew Yui previously.


She was one of its most famous scientists, a daughter of a Seele member, involved in its most famous lab test to date, and married to the guy still in charge.

That would be like President 41 starting his second term by removing people who knew Hilary.

Although I've just realised it's entirely possible all of the people who knew are on Gendo's side, you'd have to believe that. If you thought Rei looked like Yui when she was four why would she be less recognisable when she was 14?

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Re: A question about Rei's physical appearance

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Postby NemZ » Mon Mar 06, 2017 3:48 pm

Was she actually famous though, outside of this small circle? I don't think we can really claim that.
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Re: A question about Rei's physical appearance

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Postby Sachi » Mon Mar 06, 2017 3:52 pm

View Original PostSoryuUberAlles wrote:She was one of its most famous scientists, a daughter of a Seele member, involved in its most famous lab test to date, and married to the guy still in charge.

Where are you getting 'famous' from? Project E was a secret. Seele is a secret. Most of what goes on at Gehirn/Nerv is a secret. Yui isn't a household name or face the same way a celebrity is. Why would anybody not associated with her know who she is, let alone what she looks like?
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Postby SoryuUberAlles » Mon Mar 06, 2017 4:32 pm

I am referring to the White House Staff knowing Hillary. As indeed they certainly did. The H-Rod became famous because she was the most politically active first lady since Eleanor. Bill couldn't have run an administration of people who had never met her.

View Original PostSachi wrote: Project E was a secret. Seele is a secret. Most of what goes on at Gehirn/Nerv is a secret.

And the Venn diagram of these groups is a circle. However small it is, she was a huge figure in them. Indeed, the smaller the more impact she would make in them.
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Re: A question about Rei's physical appearance

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Postby Mr. Tines » Mon Mar 06, 2017 4:37 pm

Sufficient of the SEELE/GEHIRN/NERV activity was public enough for Yui's fate to trigger a public scandal -- remember the newspaper articles shown in one or other of the flashback sequences (episode 16?).
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Re: A question about Rei's physical appearance

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Postby SoryuUberAlles » Mon Mar 06, 2017 4:45 pm

View Original PostMr. Tines wrote:Sufficient of the SEELE/GEHIRN/NERV activity was public enough for Yui's fate to trigger a public scandal -- remember the newspaper articles shown in one or other of the flashback sequences (episode 16?).


Aha!

(who made the FGC btw that stuff is solid gold)
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