Postby LightDragonman » Wed Jul 12, 2023 6:44 am
Might as well just repost what I wrote on a different thread here, because I still think that more than anything else, this series proves that Anno does have at least one character he has nothing but hatred for, that being Rei, alongside his scorn at those who refuse to see her as creepy like he does.
Given how he has said that he intended Rei to be creepy and views her as his least favorite character, alongside how 3.0 turned out in terms of how it treated Shinji's actions, along with how little screentime the last film gave in terms of Rei II, it really comes across that he hates or has contempt for those who have Rei as their favorite character.
I will say that he treatment in the first two films was at the very least solid. Seeing her go from an emotionless automaton to learning to love and care for others, especially Shinji, was something I found extremely heartwarming. All the moments between her and him, with the former in the end of 2.0 willing to give up her life for him, and Shinji willing to do the same for her was captivating for me to watch. His statement that there was no other Ayanami but her, and that's why he'll save her, when she viewed herself as expendable due to being a clone was something that honestly moved me. It gave off the message that "everyone is worth saving, regardless of upbringing or origins, as there's always someone there for you."
Only that changed in 3.0, and this is where I have problems, and see Anno's disdain start to come in. Given that 3.0 is meant to be Anno's true vision of the series, as opposed to the first two films being little more than what the fans want them to be, now she's replaced with a literal soulless shell, who is more in line with how Anno meant to portray her. At the very least, it did succeed in turning fans away from her, as her popularity plummeted in the polls to the point that Asuka and Kaworu now greatly exceed her.
But also in regards to the budding relationship between Rei II and Shinji, this film made it so that not only did he not save the former, but his attempt to do so ended the world. Which changes the whole message to "if you are little more than the object for one to try and escape reality, then you should die, and you really are worthless. Not to mention that you shouldn't bother to save someone you care about, as that person is little more than someone to coddle you, and the consequences for doing so are too great."
Which doesn't really make much sense in terms of the story or even the characters, given how it allowed the two of them to actually open up to others and learnt to care and love, alongside it being an extremely mean-spirited "screw you" to those who found his rescue of her to be heartwarming. But it does make sense from a meta-commentary angle. As Anno meant for Rei to be the symbol for an otaku's unwillingness to open up to actual people and how they prefer their ideal women to be. Given how Anno greatly likes "strong women" like Asuka and Misato over Rei, who he sees as a reflection of Japan's people to go for "weak-willed dolls" which he hates, this is reflected in how he treated her.
Either way, it makes investing in Rei's character and her relationship with Shinji a complete waste of time and even unhealthy in the eyes of Anno, leaving me feeling both cheated and stupid for ever having the gall to view it as anything other than the metaphor for unhealthy escapism over embracing reality.
Which then leads us to 3.0 + 1.0. Here, it backtracks, by having the replacement Rei go through an abridged version of the previous Rei's development, only for her to die, making her character feel pointless beyond just motivating Shinji. Then it turns out that no, Rei II was in fact saved and was waiting for Shinji all this time. It even says that he was correct for saving her after all. Great, now we can move forward.
Except that, because of all the stuff that's going on, all we get are a couple of scenes with the two, that barely last a couple of minutes, whereas the scenes he gets with Asuka and Kaworu at the end are far more extensive, even though his relationship with them wasn't built up as much (albeit Kaworu did get a whole movie in 3.0). Meanwhile, this one, that had been built up over the course of the previous movies, even in 3.0 to an extent, gets minimal payoff, concludes abruptly, which I found very unsatisfying.
It's like Anno knew he had to give it some sort of resolution, but because he still hates it because it's still just a symbol for an unhealthy escapist fantasy over embracing reality, he tried to wrap it up as quickly as possible. Especially given how he makes Mari, a brand new character that shared the least amount of time with Shinji, the one he runs off with at the end, as she's a symbol for a fresh start for him.
Given all that, I can't view this as anything other than Anno having nothing but scorn and hatred for Rei, her relationship with Shinji, and the fans who view her differently from how he intended.
Proud fanboy of Rei Ayanami. :p